Those of you that have been following our travels for a while will know that our journey from St Lucia to Australia was done with the support of the World Cruising Club in the form of the World ARC Pacific 2023. Before leaving the UK, we had actually signed up for the World Rally from Caribbean to Caribbean, but had made the decision to delay the second part in order to explore Australia and New Zealand.
In September 2024, the time had come to continue our rally journey.
The rally´s base in Indonesia was Medana Bay Marina in Lombok. Here we joined with 20 other boats to prepare for the passage back to the Caribbean.
The journey to the Caribbean would have several long passages with limited stops on route, so it was important to ensure all was ship shape before we set off. Much of our time at the marina, was taken up with boat preparation – a few maintenance jobs, including some teak deck repairs and the usual rig and engine checks. We also took the opportunity to use a local driver to run us around for gas hoses, oil, diesel, laundry and, of course, the market for food.
Although we were busy preparing, we still managed some exploring. Before leaving Lombok, there was time to see a little of the island.
First stop was a visit to the Lombok Wildlife Park. This was a compact park with animals and birds from Indonesia and neighbouring countries. Many of the animals had been rescued and it was interesting to be able to get up close to so many of them. Our favourite experience here was the chance to meet one of the resident orangutangs. She was very friendly and took a shine to Tony!
Another fascinating visit was to the Islamic Centre. Here we were able to see the call to prayer and our guide was able to explain the procedures during prayer time.
Leaving Lombok, our first stop would be Christmas Island. As there would be limited moorings available, WCC had organised a split departure. We were in the second group.
Finally, our departure day arrived and, at 11am on Monday 23rd September leg 10, group 2 officially started on the 650 nm passage from Lombok to Christmas Island.
Heading west south west, a south easterly wind was perfect. The whole passage was smooth with winds of Force 3 (7-10 knots). In some places we had up to 2 knots of current with us and Escapade made steady speeds of 6-7 knots.
After 4 days and 20 hours, we arrived safely at Flying Fish Cove. This would be a brief stop of 48 hours, so we were keen to get started on the exploring.
How fabulous to be so close to the animals. Good luck with the next leg.
So you’ve been on The infamous Christmas Island where any ‘illegal’ boat arrivals to Australia are detained before sending to Nauru.
Hope the red crabs weren’t on the march while you were there.