Trip from Bali to Cairns

[timoregan]

My yacht is currently moored in Bali. I am back in Australia, planning to return to Bali for a holiday in July / August.

Has anyone had any experience of Medana Bay Marina in NW Lombok?

I would like to hear from anyone who has done the trip from Bali to Cairns.
I would prefer to travel along the north side of Flores, Lombok etc as there are numerous good anchorages listed in the latest Indonesian Cruising Guide (2015).

What is the best time of year to do this? Obviously I do not want to travel in January - March as this is the Cyclone season in NE Queensland.

I have a Beneteau 473 Monohull sailing yacht.

Tim O'Regan

[worldsoup]

Hey Tim,

I don't know much about that route but I'm keen to crew on a boat going from Bali to Oz. Do you need a hand?

Cheers,
Nick

[RaymondR]

The trip east from Darwin is dominated by the fairly consistently blowing south east trade winds.

Unless you don't mind tacking to windward this usually means waiting in Darwin until about October until north westerlies start, making your way to Gove to get a weather window to cross the gulf and then again at Seisia for another weather window to make Cairns from the Cape.

On my first trip I waited in Gove for five weeks for the strong easterlies to moderate, passed over the gulf in three days and down to Port Douglas in five days.

On the second easterly crossing in 2013 I only had to wait for about two weeks in Gove and about the same in Seisia but had to motor all the way from Gove to Cairns.

If you can get your hands on a set of pilot charts they show the statistics for wind speed and direction for each month. The ones put out by the US are the best as they are bound up into a single folio and tend to cost much less than the Admiralty ones.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

If you can get your hands on a set of pilot charts they show the statistics for wind speed and direction for each month. The ones put out by the US are the best as they are bound up into a single folio and tend to cost much less than the Admiralty ones.

Or you can go to Climatology of Global Ocean Winds and get the info on line for free.

Select a fortnight and hover over various spots on the chart to get the stats.

[timoregan]

Thanks for that info guys. I will definitely look this up on the Internet and bookmark it for future reference.
At present I am most likely to leave the yacht in Bali, on a mooring. Then I can explore the nearby islands with non-sailing friends quite easily. There seems to be a need to keep the CAIT up to date whether I am using the yacht or not, but otherwise it seems relatively straight forward .

I will know more in early September.

Thanks again for your helpful information.

Tim

[daletournier]

Hi Tim, Dale from Freeform here ( we met at Port Dickson). In regards to Medana Marina I was there in 2011, its not really a marina or wasn't then, its a nice little bay with some moorings. Some of the moorings are a little close to reef. May have changed since then. There's also moorings over at Gilli air just opposite, be very careful of these moorings, strong South westerlies come through in the afternoons and the moorings aren't really designed for large cruising boats, although we've all used them. We had to save one boat while it was dragging it's mooring to the reef. I'm aiming to arrive at Gove from the Philippines mid to late October and wait for opportunity to cross the gulf. My thinking is to aim at rounding Cape York early December, late enough that the trades are hopefully non existent and early enough in the cyclone season that there is a very low chance of one occurring (fingers crossed).
Your biggest challenge is most likely crossing from Kupang to Gove, will need to wait for window.
Cheers Dale.

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[daletournier]

Quick correction, arriving at Gove approx early-mid November not mid October.

Sent from my GT-N7105T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Lance]

Hi Tim I did part if that trip in July from Bali to Timor and Roti before heading south to Broome.
We went over the top and headed south through the gap after Flores where we found wind SE.
We motored pretty much 60% of the time.
Yes lots of anchorages make sure you cruise down to Komodo .
The top NW of Lombok has the protected bay opposite the Gillis and some experienced boat service/ building on the beach in the corner.
We had a considerable encounter with rapid like overflows on closing the Timor coast.
Heading further East I think you should pass Roti as a start point but you could miss good surf .
Anyone heading to WA wanting to avoid the crooks in Kupang, Baa Harbour Roti now has a Harbour Master glad to clear your CAIT out.
I checked in my Cait at Batam
opposite Singapore then saw no one official until Kupang who I then opted out of for the Roti alternative.
Customs and Immigration were done smoothly in Kupang paid customs ten bucks service fee deal .
When leaving for Oz to meet the Oz customs notifications BS 96 hours try calling the National Communications Centre Canberra the guy took my details nicely and that was it however totally different when not so welcomed from Broome Nazis.
Keep your Grib Files updated with plenty of Internet coverage towers on just about every Island with local Simpati Sim Card