E23 – HORN ISLAND
Waiting at Horn Island.
Our agent in Indonesia had let us down big time and we were now back and forth between us and them to get our Indonesian Visa’s that should have been ready a week ago and still wasn’t ready. In fact, after paying them money, they denied any knowledge of us and denied doing visa applications. Eventually, they decided to honor their promise and applied for the visa but it left a sour taste in our mouths and certainly we would never recommend them to others. They are a well known Marina in Indonesia too which is why I chose them. I guess I thought they would be reputable. I’ve since heard many other cruising yachts have mixed experiences with them. Some good and others have an atrocious experience.
This meant we were stuck at Thursday Island waiting for the visa before we could step off for Saumlaki in Indonesia which was our original plan. Eventually, after waiting too long, we just pulled the pick up and crossed the Arafura Sea bound for Darwin to check in. At least we were going to make ground to the west which was our plan and we’d get to see a part of Australia I had never seen before but had heard lots about.
Going ashore at Horn Island was easy and there was a supermarket right there near the jetty. We didn’t know it at the time, but there were two supermarkets, we just picked the most expensive 🙂 We also had to say goodbye to one of the best crew Starlight ever had at Thursday Island. Thanks for sharing the trip from Cairns with us Kate!
We shared our anchorage with crocodiles sunning themselves on the nearby mudbanks less than 50m away. Great to look at, but they are truly dangerous animals if not respected. Having said that, the mechanic, who is also a commercial diver, came to look at the rudder and decided it needed to be inspected underwater…right there at the Horn Island Anchorage. Quite honestly, I was nervous for him, but he had lived there and dived there his whole life and felt safe doing it. The end result was that there was a very small amount of play in the bottom rudder bearing, but not enough to cause any problems and he deemed the steering A OK and good to go.