Mesanak Island

Hi everyone,
We are now anchored in the bay on the SE side of Mesanak Island with Kakadu and Swiss yacht Sostene. We are at 00 24.316N 104 32.737E in 9m over sand. Yes, we are in the northern hemisphere!

Zen Again Track

Mesanak Island is about 25nm NW of Kentar Island, so we have progressed further towards the Singapore area than anticipated. Kakadu arrived off Kentar before dawn and decided to press on to here. We arrived about 4 hours behind them after a 56 hour passage. We motored for 43 hours which was very tedious, but had several good sails between the motoring sessions.

Last night we motored a lot. At one point we came upon a group of 50+ fishing boats all closely packed together. Needless to say we gave them a wide berth. In the early morning a W wind came in and we had a great sail for several hours. We were close reaching at a steady 7 knots boatspeed. Of course that wind died and the motor went back on.

Calm seas, with scattered thunderstorms

At 0917 this morning we crossed the line, offering King Neptune a tot of rum in hopes of his being kind to us. At midday a rainstorm clobbered us with heavy rain, some small hail and 25-30 knot winds. The boat needed a wash, and so did we! Thanks King Neptune.

On the equator - exactly! 

All in all it was quite an eventful passage, what with disintegrating V-belts, filtering and transferring fuel at sea, crossing "the line" and catching our first rainstorm at sea since the Darwin-Dili rally.

At Mesanak Island

Tomorrow we expect to head towards Nongsa Point Marina. There we can have a shower, hopefully do the laundry, and arrange to "clear out" of Indonesia. Once cleared we will probably head over to Danga Bay Marina in Johor Buru, Malaysia, which is immediately north of Singapore. The Sail Malaysia rally starts from Danga Bay early next month and in the mean time we will explore Singapore by land.

Enroute towards Kentar Island

Hi everyone,
We've had a varied 24 hours since the previous blog. The light wind we had yesterday afternoon died after sunset and we had to motor all night. The sea was "glassed out" for hours. At about midnight the engine started making nasty noises so we quickly reduced revs to idle and had a look at the engine. The V-belt which drives the freshwater pump and alternator was disintegrating. We shut down the engine and fitted a spare in 15 minutes. Hopefully it will last for as long as the original, which was on the engine when we bought the boat.

This morning the wind returned, albeit still very light, allowing us to motor-sail (sort of). At around 1100 a rainstorm appeared to have our name on it, giving us some good sailing for an hour. We even had to put a reef in for a while as winds got up over 20 knots. We didn't get any rain. Once the storm moved on we were back to motor-sailing.

We are clearly out of the SE trade wind season here now. Since Belitung cumulus clouds have built up each morning, with some becoming quite large rain/thunderstorms. In the evening they dissipate, and last night (for example) we had clear skies from about 0200. It's sultry and humid all day and all night, with the heat from the engine adding to the discomfort.

Scattered thunderstorms

Last night we were visited by a migrating swallow. He flew around the boat, trying out places to land and hovering over parts of the boat. We thought it had flown away, but in the morning we found him perched on the pushpit. From there he flew into the cabin, and we think he flew out of the forward hatch - we can't find him anyway! Kakadu reported they had birds aboard too when we did our sked. Other wildlife seen includes flying fish and a sea snake.

We now have about 80nm to run - just a Fremantle to Bunbury! It looks like the wind is starting to die again, so we expect another tedious motor overnight. In preparation for yet more motoring we filtered and transferred 40 litres of fuel from jerry cans into the main tanks while motoring this morning. The main tanks now have plenty of fuel to get us to Kentar Island.

We expect to cross the equator tomorrow morning. Rum and other tributes have been prepared to offer King Neptune!

Departed towards Kentar Island

Hi everyone,
This morning we departed Belitung Island with sv Kakadu towards Kentar Island, a passage of about 240nm to the NNW. Four other boats departed at the same time, two of which are heading for Lingga Island which is a larger island west of Kentar Island.

We motored for several hours this morning until a light easterly breeze settled in. It was only 5-6 knots and when we tried to sail we were doing only 2-2.5 knots. Ultimately Kakadu shamed us into changing up from our "cruising" 100% Number 2 jib to our "racing" 150% Number 1 Genoa. With that we were able to do 3-4 knots, occasionally more. We've been having a lovely sail since then.

We've seen very little traffic. A couple of ships in the distance and a handful of fishing vessels. The sea is flat and the sky is half-filled with Cumulus clouds. Nice. Another 3-4 knots of breeze and it would be perfect.

At this speed we'll be at sea for two days and three nights, but in these light but usable winds it will be very pleasant. Of course the conditions are very unlikely to remain static!

Trust all's well where you are.

Cape Kelayang (Day 2)

Hi everyone,
We had a great night's sleep last night thanks to the light winds and anchorage protected from the SE breeze.  This morning we had a swim, scrubbing growth off around the waterline - a never ending job in the tropics.  After that we soaped-up in the cockpit and jumped back in to rinse off, then had a quick shower in the cockpit using our fresh-water solar shower.  Very nice.

At 0900 we met Graham and Anne from Kakadu ashore and went for a walk around part of the bay.  There are some very nice beaches and the boulders certainly make them spectacular.  Behind the beaches are the remains of what appears to be either defunct or never completed resorts.  Doesn't exactly add to the natural attraction.  There are new buildings being constructed, but these appear to be where shows and speeches would be held, not where tourists could stay.

Bouldery beach

More boulders

After the walk around we had lime juice, banana pancakes and coffee for $2 per person.  We sheltered in the cafe as a thunderstorm came through with 30+ knot NE winds and heavy rain.  Once that passed we returned to our dinghies and headed back to the boats.  The NE wind was blowing directly into the bay and a 1+ metre breaking sea was setting the anchored boats pitching wildly.  It also made the dinghy ride "exciting" and extremely wet!

Back aboard safely we let out a couple more metres of our nylon snubber line on the anchor rode.  It was stretching and recovering dramatically, probably stretching 0.5m over a 4m line.  That's what nylon's good at!  The bow of the boat was going under at times as she pitched.  Happily our Manson Supreme anchor held well.

Riding out the thunderstorm

Several more thunderstorms came through.  It seems a low pressure area has developed to the east of us and is creating the storms.  We had some heavy rainfall with strong winds, then steady light rain for several hours with quite a sea running through the anchorage.  By mid-afternoon the rain stopped and the wind reduced to 5-8 knots, and the sea was dying down.

Later in the afternoon I went ashore and had four 20 litre diesel jerry cans filled.  With the almost full main tanks they give us plenty of fuel to get to the Singapore area.  Even if we have to motor all the way - which is a real possibility.
Tomorrow we plan to depart towards Kentar Island which is just across the equator.  Graham and Anne on Kadadu may have a line-crossing ceremony in store for us.  They have crossed the line before, so are (apparently) entitled to play King Neptune.  It's a worry.  :)

Cape Kelayang

Hi everyone,
Today we sailed from Manggar to Tangung (Cape) Kelayang, also known as "Boulder Bay".  The 55nm passage took us 11 hours, motoring for most of the way due to very light winds.  We are now anchored amongst about 15 other yachts at  02 33.224S 107 40.470E in 6m over sand/mud.

Zen Again Track

The passage was made a little more interesting by a set of thunderstorms which passed us by, but did give us a little wind for a short time.  Other yachts had much more excitement, with some experiencing 40 knot winds and torrential rain.  The seasons seem be changing, with the SE trades and clear skies giving way to cloudy skies and (at this stage) light and variable winds.

Thunderstorm nearby

Boulder Bay is the best known tourist attraction on Belitung Island.  It is a nice bay with white sand beaches and huge granite boulders scattered along the beach and across the bay.  We plan to explore tomorrow, in addition to obtaining more fuel to ensure we have plenty to get to the Singapore area.

We expect to stay here until Wednesday, when we'll probably head for Kentar Island, 240nm north.

Manggar (Day 2)

Hi everyone,
We've had a great time here at Manggar on Belitung Island for our second day.

Last night we went ashore an hour earlier than required in order to have daylight for the dinghy trip in.  That gave us time to walk around the area.  The local houses are interesting, with the newer ones being quite impressive and featuring extensive use of tiles - not only on floors but also outside walls.  They like bright colours here!

After the walk we returned to the meeting point and chatted with the local organisers.  They have big plans to develop a marina here, but don't yet have funding.  Various cruisers gave their opinions about such a prospect.  I think the main point is that Manggar's location at a river mouth is very advantageous.  Step 1 is to dredge the bar so yachts can get in safely.  Just having a calm anchorage where boats can be safely left while crews tour ashore will attract yachts.  Then a marina could be gradually built if sufficient yachts use the port.

With all the cruisers (about 20 people) gathered we were bussed to the venue for dinner, traditional dancing and finally modern singing/dancing.  The event was free and included free beer!  The traditional dancing was interesting with the girls wearing aprons as part of their colourful outfits, and colourful striped socks too.  The band featured traditional instruments but also an accordion and violin.  We guess these are the result of Dutch influence during colonial times.  All very colourful, and we were required to join the traditional dancing after the demonstration.

This morning we brought aboard our water supplies and retrieved our diesel jerry cans.  It proved impossible for the organisers to provide free fuel on a Sunday.  Given we have enough fuel aboard to get us to the Singapore area we decided not to delay our departure to load extra fuel.

This afternoon we went ashore again to chase our port clearance papers.  We couldn't depart Manggar without having the proper stamped forms.  While waiting for the papers the organisers arranged a short tour for us.  Two tour guides took us around on the back of their motorbikes.  We visited the area of town where a complete new compound is being built for their official Sail Indonesia events later this month.  They are building a nice cafe strip adjacent to the beach where their traditional boats are kept.  I really hope some boats are still passing through when the official events are held.

The tour then took us to Samak Hill which overlooks the sea on the site of old Dutch buildings.  The site has a big restaurant and we had some great coffee there.  The guides took plenty of photos at each stop on the tour.  Here's one...

Nice Coffee!

When we returned to the port our papers were ready for us and we bade farewell to Hans and his crew. They have made us very welcome and really gone out of their way to meet every need.  It's a great shame the dates of the official events here are so late - far too close to the start of Sail Malaysia given the distance to the Singapore area from here.

On returning to Zen Again we found Dan and Elise on Babar had arrived in the anchorage.  We spent an hour with them, catching up on news and briefing them on Manggar.  After returning to Zen Again from Babar we saw The Doctor heading in to the anchorage and talked to Rob and Diana on the radio.  Good to catch up with our Tipperary Waters Marina friends again.

Manggar

Hi everyone,
We are anchored off the town of Manggar on the east coast of Belitung Island.  We arrived at 0650 this morning, anchoring in 5m at 02 50.740S 108 18.207E.  The 240nm passage took 49 hours and we motored for all except 1 hour.  For much of the passage we were motorsailing, which was better than simply motoring.  Overall though it was very tedious.  It was good to have Kakadu in company with us.  We stayed in touch by VHF and HF depending on how far apart we were.  Kakadu arrived an hour after us, having managed to sail more than us overnight.

Zen Again Track

Track in to anchorage off Manggar
Note1 - port/stbd marks not present
Note2 - uncharted shallow area just N of anchorage

Overnight we motored along at reduced revs to ensure arrival at dawn.  When dawn arrived we were approaching some outlying islands and made our way from there in to the anchorage.  We were assisted by some GPS waypoints emailed to us and radioed to us by other Sail Indonesia yachts.  The anchorage is off the bar of the river mouth around which the town is built.  Some yachts have crossed the bar into the river, which certainly offers a nice calm anchorage but the bar is too shallow for us.

Sailing!

On arrival we called the local coordinator and were invited ashore to clear in to the port and to arrange fuel and water supplies.  We were also told that a free lunch and dinner were being laid on for the Sail Indonesia yachts.  So despite the overall Sail Indonesia schedule being poorly thought out some of the towns are adapting to the reality of yachts arriving much earlier than officially dictated.

We went ashore and presented our papers, and also our empty jerry cans (4 for water, 5 for diesel).  The local people were very friendly and several have excellent English which certainly helps.  After the formalities and promises of filling the jerry cans we joined a dozen or more other cruisers for a free lunch.  We were all driven to a local restaurant and had a very good feed.

Kakadu at anchor off Manggar

We returned to the boat after lunch after explaining we couldn't stay ashore all day going from one feed to another to another - we needed some sleep!  We promised to return for the dinner with traditional dancing this evening.  The dinghy ride back to the boat was extremely wet and we found the tide had turned creating a nasty wind over tide situation.  The boats were bouncing around all over the place and getting aboard was a challenge.  Hopefully the situation will ease before dinner time!

Approaching Belitung

Hi everyone,
Today has been hot and horrible. We've been motoring continuously in very light winds. Much of last night the water was "glassed out", meaning no wind whatsoever. Today the temperature has been well over 30C with high humidity, plus the heat from the engine has turned the cabin into a cooker. No fun at all.

Nonetheless, we are making steady progress towards Belitung. At the moment we are motor-sailing in a light SW breeze of about 3-4 knots. We have about 60nm to go. We have reduced engine revs to 1600 to help ensure we don't arrive in the dark. The entrance to Manggar harbour is quite shallow and we are uncertain of the chart accuracy and offset, so we need to approach in daylight.

Last night we managed to get too close to a fishing vessel and found ourselves inside a large ring of buoys off one side of the vessel. Since we had got in unscathed we guessed we'd get out similarly, so we very gingerly snuck across the net between two buoys. The net must have been suspended a few metres below the buoys - luckily! Lesson learned.

This morning we crossed a busy shipping lane SE of the Karimata Strait. The strait separates the Java Sea from the South China Sea. We had ten ships within 10nm on our AIS display at one stage. We had to zig zag our way through, but didn't need to contact any of the ships by radio.

During the day we added diesel from jerry cans on deck to the main tanks. We also stopped the engine for 15 minutes to check fluid levels, V-belts etc. Running the engine for long periods certainly chews up diesel, a little oil (in our trusty old engine), and brings service requirements rapidly closer. We'll probably need to change the oil and filters again before reaching the Singapore area.

Trust all's well (and cooler!) where you are.

Java Sea Again

Hi everyone,
Tonight we're at sea, on our way from the Kumai River to Belitung. Belitung is the roughly circular island west of the southern coast of Kalimantan/Borneo. The passage to Manggar on the east coast of Belitung is about 210nm.

We departed the town of Kumai on Wednesday afternoon after visiting the markets for fruit & veg, and delivery of our laundry. We motored downriver, initially in calm conditions. The wind came up as we made our way downriver, until we were battling into a strong wind directly "on the nose". The engine had a good workout. We anchored with Kakadu and several other yachts at 02 54.281S 111 42.313E in 5m over mud. The anchorage gave good protection from the 20+ knot S wind and we had a quiet evening and night.

Shortly after we arrived at the anchorage one of the bigger yachts headed out rapidly towing a dinghy from another boat. They were off to assist a yacht which had grounded in the approaches to the river. They returned successfully with the yacht in the early hours of the morning.

We got underway at 0600 today in company with Kakadu. We retraced our track into the river mouth, finding minimum depths of 4.5m. Once "in the clear" we sailed for about an hour in about 8 knots of breeze, but then the wind lightened off. We've been motoring or motor-sailing ever since, and are thoroughly sick of the sound of the engine. But very glad it's still "turnin'n'burnin".

This morning we received an email from Sail Indonesia giving dates of the final events at the last two destinations. Unfortunately the dates are ridiculous, allowing next to no time to get from the last destination to the Singapore area to join the Sail Malaysia rally. We still plan to visit the places - Belitung and Bangga - but prior to the official events. This year's Sail Indonesia has been poorly organised (IMHO), but great fun nonetheless.

Right now we're motoring along under a stary sky. There's a thunderstorm in the distance to the north. There are about a dozen fishing vessels scattered around us - all well clear. There's just a 3-4 knot breeze from the S, and that is slowly dying. We're heading SW to round the shallow water off the SW coast of Kalimantan/Borneo. Doing 5 knots through the water, with the sails adding 1 knot to the 4 knots from the motor (running at 1800rpm in "economy cruise mode"). In a few hours we'll be able to alter course to the NW and head for Belitung.

Trust all's well where you are...

Kumai River (almost)

Hi everyone,
Tonight we are anchored north of Cape Puting, at the SE corner of the bay at the mouth of the Kumai River. We anchored here after a faster than expected passage left us with no light to cross the bar and head upriver to the town of Kumai. We are anchored at 03 23.324S 111 47.903E in 6m over mud.

Zen Again Track

We covered 163nm in 28 hours, for an average speed of 5.8 knots. Not bad at all in winds mainly in the 10 to 15 knot range, on or behind the beam. We had expected a 36 hour passage, which would have put us off the river bar at dawn. Instead we would have arrived at midnight if we hadn't diverted to anchor.

As usual we had to dodge ships and many fishing vessels. Not major incidents though. Kakadu stayed ahead of us and found the spit NW of Cape Puting extends further than charted and is shallower. They gave us a waypoint of 03 24.3S 111 38.8E, where we found at least 5.5m of water. We approached the waypoint from the SSW and departed E towards the anchorage.

Tomorrow we'll head on up the Kumai River, arriving only a few hours later than expected but having had a good night's sleep on anchor!

Enroute to Kumai River

Hi everyone,
We had a quiet day at anchor at Bawean Island today. Baked some bread, checked the engine, topped up the diesel tanks from jerry cans, checked all shackles etc on deck, repacked the asymetric, and then rested for the passage ahead. At 1700 be hoisted the main, weighed anchor and departed Bawean Island. The anchorage was in a very pleasant bay. The locals were friendly but didn't ask for anything from us - a unique experience for us so far in Indonesia.

Unflagged fish trap off Bawean

Last night we had our first real rainstorm since the Darwin-Dili rally. It came through at about 0300 with 30 knots of wind as well as quite heavy rain. Lasted for perhaps half an hour, with most of the rain and wind in 10 minutes. We had a cuppa while checking we weren't dragging. The rain gave the deck and the sheets a much-needed wash. The sheets (ropes) were getting so salty they'd stand upright all on their own.

Tonight we're sailing at about 4.5 knots boatspeed under full main and #2 jib. We're doing 6 knots over the ground, which if we keep up will see us arrive in Kumai in the dark, which we don't want. Our plan is to arrive at dawn on Saturday and then proceed immediately up the river to the town of Kumai. We plan to arrange a tour up-river from there to see the Orang Utangs in particular and the jungle and wildlife in general.

Kakadu departed Bawean Island with us. They're gradually pulling away from us, as they should in nice 8 knot beam reaching conditions. It's certainly champagne sailing, or would be if we could keep up with Kakadu! ;)

Trust all's well where you are.

Bawean Island

Hi everyone,
We arrived at Bawean Island at 1145 today after a 44 hour passage from Lovina Beach. We covered 198nm on the log and 219nm over the ground, so had current with us predominantly. We ran the engine for 13.5 hours, much less than most of our recent passages in percentage terms. Our average speed was about 4.5 knots and maximum speed on the log was 8.2 knots (surfing down waves on Monday night). We are anchored in 4.5m over sand at 05 43.93S 112 40.26E.

Zen Again Track

The sail last night was very pleasant with winds from 4-12 knots. The wind held in for most of the night, swinging back from E to SE as the night wore on. We only had to run the engine for two hours, when the wind was so light we couldn't do more than 2 knots boatspeed. We dodged a bunch of ships overnight, and also one yacht which shall remain nameless. The yacht didn't see us coming, didn't answer calls on VHF 16, was showing incorrect nav lights, and failed to give way to us. After closing to 100m we finally alerted them to our presence with a torch. They kept standing on so we gybed away.

This morning the wind held in well, from 6-12 knots from the SE. We gybed to and fro to make the best progress possible. A number of yachts appeared as we approached the island, all of them obviously motor-sailing or purely motoring.

Approaching Bawean

Yesterday evening Kakadu was 15nm east of us. By mid-morning today they had closed up to about 7nm behind. They anchored about 2 hours after us, having started about 3 hours after us. The two yachts are very well matched in light airs. Like us they sailed most of the passage. Some of the yachts here apparently motored all the way!

At anchor at Bawean Island

After arriving we spent 30 minutes swimming around the boat to cool off and to give the hull a bit of a clean. Remora fish found the boat very quickly and were most upset when we started wiping off the slime they were feasting on!

This evening we had dinner aboard Kakadu. We decided to depart together tomorrow afternoon for the mouth of the Kumai River. We hope to complete the 180nm passage on Saturday morning. The wind appears to be more consistent in this area, so hopefully we'll have a good sail.

Java Sea

Hi everyone,
This morning we traversed Selat Sapudi and entered the Java Sea. We're now over the continental shelf and sailing in about 70m of water. Quite a contrast to most of our sailing to date where we've been "off soundings".

The nice breeze we had last night lasted until we approached Selat Sapudi, when it gradually died. We ended up motor-sailing through the strait for a couple of hours. For several hours while clearing away from the strait we were in water only 20m deep and had to dodge many fishing boats. Once the water deepened to 20m there were lots of commercial vessels.

A light S wind appeared as we cleared the strait and we elected to sail WNW. We tried the asymetric for a short while but it didn't help us much in the sloppy seaway. Then we had to get rid of it in a hurry when a LPG carrier came tearing down on us. My scan of the horizon wasn't as good as it should have been while trying to get the asymetric working. Oops. Anyway, we got it down and gybed to pass behind the ship (which showed no sign of having seen us). Later in the day we had to change course to pass behind a small cruise ship / big ferry which again showed no interest in giving way to sail.

As the day went by the wind gradually backed around to the E. We motored for a further couple of hours when it went very light from the SE. We are now sailing in a 6-8 knot E wind, with the apparent wind on the beam and doing 4 knots through the water. In the afternoon we sailed past many fish traps. A bizarre incident occurred when I looked up from my book for my 2 minute check ahead to find a fish trap only 2 boat lengths (20m) ahead. Simultaneously the VHF came to life with "careful careful careful". Really! I grabbed the tiller and we missed the trap. I have no idea who transmitted the warning or if it was intended for us. The nearest craft was a fishing vessel 0.5nm away. Always happy to accept "guardian angel" advice! :)

The sun has now set and we're waiting for moonrise to occur shortly. Who knows how many fish traps are passing by unheralded!

We hope to arrive at Bawean Island sometime tomorrow afternoon. Kakadu is about 15nm east of us, having had to free a fishing net from their rudder in the Selat Sapudi. I expect they'll have closed the range by dawn.

Trust all's well where you are!