Yachting

(Wang) #1
MAY 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 49

A BOOK AT BUNK TIME


Voyage of the
Harrier is available
via Amazon, in
paperback (£8.33)
and e-book
(£2.99) formats.
You can also follow
Julian's exploits
on his website:
http://www.julian-
mustoe.com

A narrow escape from


fearsome drug smugglers


Julian Mustoe sails into a drug smuggling rendezvous in the Timor Sea as he rounds Australia


round a large, bright red,
fl oating object as if they were
guarding it. The object of
their interest consisted of
four packages, each about
three metres on a side, and
evidently lashed together. It
looked very much like a drugs
rendezvous. The three boats
confi ned themselves to their
tight patrol while I sailed by as
inconspicuously as I could.
On day seven I sighted yet
another large boat about two
miles away. She was on course
to pass well astern of us. The
sea was calm and visibility
was good. I left the cockpit
and went below to make a
cup of tea. Before the kettle
had boiled I heard and felt a
great crash from aft. On deck
I found that Harrier’s stern
was overhung by the bows
of the boat. She had collided
with my stern gantry, which
now had a bent stanchion.
On her deck were six rough-
looking aborigines, all staring
straight at me. One man, on
the foredeck, looked like a
hobgoblin. He was barefoot
and dressed only in a pair of
ragged cotton trousers. His
head was entirely painted
white apart from the eyes and

T


he east, south and
west shores of
Australia are well
protected by large
tracts of ocean.
Her northern border with
New Guinea and Indonesia,
however, is guarded only by
the Arafura and Timor Seas.
These stretches of water are
narrow. The distance from
Timor, for example, south to
Australia is only 300 miles.
The consequence of
Australian border protection
policy in recent years has
been the development of
an active trade in people-
smuggling from the north,
particularly across the
Timor Sea. It is also a busy
highway for terrorist traffi c
and illegal drugs. I set off
into these troubled waters
on 31 October 2010, with a
feeling of trepidation.
During the southern
summer the doldrums move
south of the equator to cover
nearly the whole Timor Sea.
I sailed and motorsailed
westward in light winds and
over a smooth sea. Once or
twice a day, a large cloud
towering overhead would
bring a heavy rain shower

mouth. This individual bade
me, with a contemptuous
gesture, to ‘Clear off!’
Their boat then departed
toward the north with
the six crewmen laughing
together loudly. I had been
deliberately rammed.
Fear is, proverbially, a
part of prudence. I started
my motor quickly and
moved off as rapidly as
possible. I was lucky that
the six men were intent
upon intimidation rather
than being determined to
rob or murder me. Had
they rammed me at speed
amidships, Harrier would
have sunk and nobody
would ever have known.
The rest of my passage
was uneventful. I sighted the
coral atoll of South Keeling,
the main island of the
Cocos Keeling Islands, on
22 November. A gap in the
reefs on the north side gives
entrance to Port Refuge and
to some sheltered water in
the lee of Direction Island.
a classic tropical isle with
white coral sand beaches,
limpid turquoise water and
groves of palm trees swaying
in the warm wind. W

and a strong blast of wind,
calling for a reef.
On day three I had my fi rst
brush with smugglers. On the
northern horizon I sighted
a fi shing boat, apparently
hove to with a large, dark
object fl oating alongside her.
Presently she left her station
and came steadily toward me.

I started my motor, advanced
the throttle and kept on
course to the west. The boat
looked powerful but she was
either unable or unwilling to
overtake me. To my relief she
soon bore away north towards
her previous position.
My voyage returned to
tranquility for the next two
days, then I sighted a group
of three large fi shing boats
some two miles to the south.
I could see through binoculars
that they were circling closely

‘I heard and felt


a great crash


from aft. I had


been deliberately


rammed’


Retired and divorced, Julian found
himself a free, if impoverished
man. Voyage of the Harrier records
how, in 2001, aged 68, he set off
from Plymouth to sail around
the world singlehanded in a 26ft
Folksong, following the track of
Darwin and FitzRoy’s voyage of
discovery aboard HMS Beagle.

Julian Mustoe


A navigational blunder wrecked
his boat on a Patagonian beach (see
Learning Curve, YM April 2014), but
he acquired a 25ft quarter-tonner,
had many more adventures and
fi nally completed the voyage in 2012.
He encountered further hardship in
October 2015 when his rudder failed
in the Norwegian Sea and his boat
sank under tow. He is now in the
process of getting afl oat once more.

There’s always a good read hidden on a sailor’s shelves. Tell us your favourite. EMAIL [email protected]


PHOTO: COURTESY JULIAN MUSTOE

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