July 88 found us in the Whitsunday Islands Australia on Blue Spurr our Nicholson 38ft Ketch. Dave, Sarah and I were anxious to get underway and as soon as the weather improved we headed north inside the Great Barrier reef to Cairns. The yacht club there had a grid where we dried out and antifouled the bottom on a tide, reanchoring in the river to await a good forecast. We were planning to head through Trinity Pass in the barrier reef to Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. We spent the next few days checking over the equipment ready for our voyage. We expected to take about 5 days to cover the 500 miles to Papua.

Saturday 30th July The strong wind warning which had been in force for a week was cancelled this morning so we weighed anchor and set off. We had a strong SE and sped towards the pass. After 2 hours the wind warning was reinstated, but we decided to carry on under reefed headsail and mizzen only. We flew along and reached Port Moresby in 72 hours. A lot of yachts had decided to miss Papua because of bad publicity, but we really enjoyed our stay there and the hospitality of the Port Moresby yacht club. We took several rides into the city; Sarah was due to have her 16th birthday at Christmas so we visited the British embassy and got her a passport. During our three weeks in Papua we came to a decision which changed the whole outcome of our voyage and led us to discover what must be one of the world's last paradises.

As it was coming to the end of August we were worried that it might be too late to cross the Indian Ocean and reach South Africa before the start of the Hurricane season. We got out the pilot books and decided to alter our plans and sail up to the Med. through the Red Sea. Having previously driven overland to India and Sri Lanka, we decided to explore new territory and call at the British Indian Ocean Territory of the Chagos Archipelago, en route to Aden. Having made this decision we left Port Moresby on 22nd August bound for the infamous Torres straits. The entrance to these treacherous waters is a tiny atoll called Bramble Cay, 200 miles westwards. There were strong north setting currents and we were glad to have our Sat Nav to confirm positions.

Bramble Cay appeared as expected and we entered the straits, we decided to anchor every night so we would not be sailing around coral reef in the dark. With a strong SE trade and 8 knot current we sped along to Stephens Island where the anchorage is really rolly but safe, the next morning the wind was still strong so we had to put in a reef. We anchored at Bett Island behind the lighthouse for the night. We weighed anchor at 7.00am and headed for the Prince of Wales channel, the current was tremendous and we covered the 23 miles in 2 hours, sailing past Thursday Island and into the Gulf of Carpentaria., the current swept our bows first one way then the other as Dave struggled to hold us on course past the brown coral heads and rusting wrecks marking the unfortunate accidents of previous sailors. With a steady trade wind we set course for Darwin and arrived 5 days later on 2nd September. We called the customs on the VHF and were told to anchor near the quarantine buoy for 2 hours, unfortunately it was 120ft deep with a 5 knot current so we decided to tie up to the buoy to await their arrival. Clearance was very quick, after the inevitable reams of official papers and we proceeded to Francis Bay to anchor for the night.

Next day we moved to Fanny Bay to anchor off the yacht club and avail ourselves of their facilities, which included showers. Washing machines and a bar. We stocked the boat with food and diesel for the long voyage to Aden. We had intended to go to Bali but couldn't get a visa in time, however other cruisers coming from there told us we could have 5 days if we bribed the officials, so we decided to head 1,000 miles NW to Benur the main harbour and main entry port.

We left Darwin on 20th September with a very light wind, on the evening of the 21st the wind dropped altogether and we were becalmed for 7 days. During this time the boat was surrounded by sharks and we amused ourselves by catching one and drying the meat, 5 more days of light winds during the day and becalmed at night until 5th October, when we got a little stronger wind and made 4 knots for 2 days finally sighting Bali on Friday 7th October. 17 days after leaving Darwin. We dropped anchor and Dave went ashore to see the officials, after much negotiation 100 Aus Dollars changed hands and we were allowed to stay 5 days. On our 2nd day a Swedish boat came in and we rented a mini bus with them to tour the island for 2 days. First we went to see Balinese dancing which was really wonderful, and then we drove into the mountains to visit various temples.

The second day we drove inland to see the jungle and rice paddies. We spent our last day in Bali buying souvenirs and filling up with diesel and water. On Wednesday 12th October there was no wind but we had to leave so we motored through the pass at 5,00pm and headed for Christmas Island 550 miles west. We were beset by very light winds and it took us 9 days to reach the anchorage. On Thursday20th October we arrived within sight of the island at 4.00am and hove to until dawn. We anchored in the small harbour and went ashore to check in. The customs were very friendly and drove us back to the boat showing us the principle shops on the way.

The next day Dave dived to scrub the hull whilst Sarah and I cleared up on deck. On Sunday we decided to walk to the next village, a car with 2 young men in it stopped and offered us a lift. We explained that we were just exploring and they gave us a tour of the whole island in their car. At one time the islands income was from phosphate, but the company closed down, resulting in a mass exodus of the population so that only a few hundred remain. There are however, plans to reopen the .factory.

Whilst we were in the hills we saw the migration of the red crabs. It was incredible, the crabs live in the hills and go down to the shore once a year to mate. The roads were covered in a red seething mass and many were squashed beneath the wheels of our car. High in the hills millions of crabs were heading for the beaches and lower down on the quay we saw more of them every day. We spent a few days with the people of Christmas island. They were of Malay origin and really friendly. We were invited to visit their homes and were given some lovely Malay meals. The young men gave Sarah some music tapes and magazines and we were really sorry when it was time to go.

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