The Tanimbar Islands are situated in the Arafura Sea roughly 300 km to the north of Darwin in northern Australia. It's topography is similar to northern Australia with low lying features in the southern parts, and gives a first impression of being barren.

The Dutch were the first Europeans who knew about this place in 1629, but never settled there. Even today, the area remains largely untouched by western influences. Life goes on pretty much as it has always done except that some of the older customs such as head-hunting no longer exists.

SV Lowana's crew set off from Darwin after surmounting problems which threatened to dash the expedition before it even started. After some hard pushing up through the Van Dieman Gulf they have entered the open waters of the Arafura Sea into progressively boisterous seas.

This extract begins in the early hours of the last day of the sea crossing between the Australia and Indonesia, and closes after having stepped ashore at the capital of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Island group.

Excerpt:

It's pitch black outside so we can’t see the waves, but we can certainly hear them coming. The seas have become even lumpier. Some are quite sharp faced and hit the side of the boat with solid thumps. Successive waves come from different places making Lowana pitch and yaw hard, and there is water coming aboard and going out the scuppers.

A loud roaring noise signals a particularly big wave coming. It catches us abeam and we lurch straight into a hard roll as it passes underneath. The mast lies almost flat in the water one side, then immediately comes up before dipping into the ocean again on the other side.

It’s not hard to lose ones bearings whilst occupied in furiously grabbing hold of something. As the boat settles back upright I am disoriented for a second or two, but that’s all it takes. Even as I am checking the wind-vane, the wind got behind the mainsail and it gybes. The boom comes thundering across and the whipping mainsheet catches and knocks over the barbeque with a loud bang. The boat and rigging shudders violently as the boom slams against the restraint of the mainsheet.

Lowana is at risk of being rolled as she lays over exposing her belly to other large curlers coming through. The boom must be brought back quickly to get us back under control, but since I can’t see anything it will need good timing.

With heart in throat and a certain anxiety about any damage already in the mast, the gybe is managed fairly smoothly and the boat brought back on course. By now everybody is out of bed having been rudely awakened with a dose of adrenalin. No one wants to go back to bed. It seems they don’t feel tired any more.