Boat wanted - Queensland to PNG or Indonesia

[porrop]

Hello all.

I am new to the community and would appreciate any help getting information on how to hitch a ride from Queensland to PNG or Indonesia.

My wife and I are taking a few months to have a little adventure, trying to make an overland trip from Sydney to India and Nepal.

Although we don't have any sailing experience, we are quick learners and can offer other skills (though my wife did do a 40 day trip down the amazon river on a canoe she built out of balsa wood). My wife is a medical doctor (and ex-fire fighter) and I am a mechanical engineer. We both speak english, spanish and portuguese fluently and can cook and clean like our lives depend on it. We are both physically fit and should have no problem completing any task assigned to us (given that we are also given instructions on how to accomplish the task). We are clean, respectful, easy going people who can provide great conversation and medical and mechanical assistance if needed.

Our trip will begin in early June and we should be getting to Cairns (or another point of departure depending on who is willing to take us on) by the end of the month. Our dates are not fixed so we can adapt our schedule to meet the boat's departure date.

If anyone is planning a trip around late June (or any other route in that area) and could use a couple of extra hands, or just have advice/tips, please let me know (you can contact me directly at porropedro@gmail.com).

Thank you all in advance,

Pedro Porro

[Auzzee]

Hi Pedro. There are a few races and rallies between Darwin and Indonesia commencing in June. You will be able to get information and possibly advertise yourselves as crew if you make contact with the Darwin Sailing Club and the Dinah Beach Cruising Yacht Club, both of Darwin.


If you will be in Townsville or Cairns, I suggest you contact their sailing clubs. In June, the south-easterly trade winds are blowing and boats moving north, south of the equator, have excellent conditions. This makes the trip along the Queensland coast to Thursday Island, and on up to PNG, the Solomon Islands, and the Louisades, a very pleasant one. Indeed, I think there is a rally to the latter.


Sailing through both Indonesia (and south east Asia generally) and PNG is pleasant at this time of year and mostly safe.


Best wishes.

[porrop]

Hello Admiral Auzzee. Thanks for the advice.

I had checked through several threads of people trying to hitch a ride out of Australia, and several people have been commenting on the races coming out of Darwin. It's not exactly ideal since getting to Darwin will be a bit tricky considering travel costs within Australia, but if it's our only option, we may well have to find a way to do it. Would you be able to give me an approximate time-frame for getting to PNG from Cairns (or Indonesia from Darwin)?

Also, since I want to be as helpful as possible, do you know of any training I can do online for learning how to sail (or any other on-board skills that could be useful). We are currently living in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, so real life training is a bit out of the question. Any recommendation would be helpful since looking up tutorials on youtube is a bit unfruitful.

Any advice on how to sell ourselves as worthy crew or tips on how to approach the sailing clubs?

Thanks again,

Pedro

[Auzzee]

Sailing is a very easy skill to acquire. The best qualifications you may be able to display to the average cruising skipper, is a willingness to learn and the ability to get on well with everyone else on board. The trip north to PNG is best undertaken in May, June and July. PNG is but a stone's throw away from Cape York. The time frame for a cruising boat is, however, a bit of a moveable feast. The trip from Cairns to the Cape is wonderful and while it can be done in a matter of days; most people will take a couple of weeks. In contrast, the Darwin to Dili, or East Timor race will be over in three days.
Again, I recommend you contact the various sailing clubs in Cairns, Yorkey's Knob and perhaps Townsville for the east coast route. There will be many boats leaving this month from North Queensland bound for Darwin. They will then either head east across the Indian Ocean, or north to Asia.
Cheers.

[porrop]

Thanks again, Auzzee. I've been finding some sites to familiarize myself with the different components of the different types of sailboats as well as general terminology and the principles of sailing. Looking forward to getting some real life experience.

Could anyone tell me how visa policies work when coming in by boat? I've read that PNG requires all incoming foreigners to come in through Port Moresby and that to get the visa on arrival, you have to have proof of return or onward travel. How does one get this proof of return/onward travel if one comes in by boat (or plans to leave overland into Indonesia)? In reality, this is also a concern both for Indonesia if going straight there from Darwin or if crossing the land boarder at Jayapura from PNG since we also plan to leave Indonesia by boat. If anyone has any indo/advice, I would greatly appreciate it.