Tuesday 4 March 2014

Nongsa Outbound Morning Day 2

Hi everyone,
We had a pleasant night aboard with the NE wind holding in beautifully at 10-15 knots. We are currently at 00 16.6S 105 38.7E - in the southern hemisphere!

The thick haze we experienced all the way from Port Dickson is now gradually disappearing, so last night we started to see the stars quite well. We could see the Big Dipper to port and the Southern Cross to starboard - very nice.

Traffic was fairly busy in the evening but thinned out this morning. We had to change course to sail around a large ship anchored and showing "not under command" lights. At the same time we were racing a tug and barge, trying to get ahead of him and cross his bows. We eventually did. There were a few fishing vessels but not many. We're now sailing along on an empty sea, although on AIS we can see several cargo ships to our north in the Archipelagic Shipping Lane. They are lanes which all ships can use to transit through the Indonesian Archipelago.

For an hour or so last night our two USB GPS receivers both suffered from loss of signal. They are the GPSs we use on the laptop. The two Garmin chartplotters which have built-in GPS receivers were fine, although one did show lower than normal signal strength. The USB GPSs are mounted under the side deck so it's not surprising they lose signal first. Within an hour the satellite positions improved and all receivers were happy again.

The wind has now swung a little, from NE to NNE, putting it a little further aft of the beam. Very nice sailing.

Trust all's well where you are!

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