welcome John and good sailing. I am relatively new also to this forum although have been at sea most of my life, in british merchant
marine and as a fisherman in the
english channel.
I currently
live aboard my sailing schooner in the
Philippines, cruising around the visayas and
indonesia. I have a 75 ft 2masted. gaff rigged schooner, handbuilt in papuan ironwood and
teak, in Bira, south sulawesi. Shes quite large and heavy, almost 45 tons, so i need a 3 man crew - filippinos to sail her.
We had four months cruising around the Indonesian islands of celebes and Moluccas then crossing the celebes sea to
Philippines.
Indonesia is real difficult with the port
regulations, immigration,
customs etc.
I am planning a voyage later this year - retracing the footsteps of general macarthur, from Leyte, philippines, to Irian Jaya,
Papua New Guinea, and the Solomons eventual
destination will be
Brisbane and returning via cairns, Port Douglas, Torres strait to the Philippines.
Do you have any knowledge of regulations concerning visitng wooden sailing vessels entering australian ports, information about sailing along the great barrier reef and queensland.
regards - david shaw - captain RIMA