Ko Muk/Mook - Thailand

Ko Muk/Mook – pleasant island with steep granite cliffs, rain forest, rubber plantations and wide white sandy beaches. The anchorage was quiet and calm with only a few other yachts in the sheltered bay. “Mister Percival” was at anchor there so must have survived the anchoring challenges along the way from Langkawi. We spent new years eve on the boat watching some of the fireworks. I was in bed by 10, being an early riser I struggle to stay up later than 10pm. I also rationalise I would rather see the new year in and watch the sun rise as opposed to seeing the old year out by going to bed late.

The passengers/crew Elad and Andrea liked Ko Muk/Mook so much that they decided to stay.
I left Ko Muk early morning (4.00am) on January 2 and headed to Phuket - Au Chalong as I needed to check into Customs and Immigration before to long otherwise I would have to answer a few questions as to my whereabouts since leaving Malaysia. Taking more than 10 days after leaving Langkawi is, allegedly, questionable.

Ko Bulon Le - Thailand

Ko Bulon Le – Small island with fishing villages and rubber plantations. Finding a sheltered anchorage proved interesting with the prevailing north east monsoon winds. The night we arrived the anchorage was very calm and we all had a good nights sleep. It rained in the morning, we played Banana-gram – a type of scrabble. Andrea won most of the games. We went ashore wondered through the rubber plantations and had lunch at one of the quaint resort restaurants. After lunch we stopped for a beer at the Marina resort on the way back to the boat. We bought some squid in the fishing village and cooked up salt and pepper squid with a cucumber salad for dinner. During the night the anchorage became so rough with the increased swell that at 4.00am we left to head north. I enjoy sailing at night, this was a new experience for Elad and Andrea. It was also there first experience of sailing without the motor. They enjoyed the relative quiet, with wind blowing in the rigging and the water lapping against the hull. This was short lived as by 9.00am we were back motor sailing again. There not being enough wind to make a decent passage to Ko Muk/Mook. We dropped anchor at midday in the sheltered bay on the south west of the island.

Ko Turatao - Thailand

Turatao – large island east of Ko Lipe is a National Park with no resorts. It rained most of the time. The beaches were, sadly, littered with human detritus – plastic, fishing nets styrene foam etc. We ventured ashore and clambered over slippery rocks and boulders for several kilometres to see a water fall. It is a beautiful island and is worth a longer visit when I head back to Langkawi. The boat was bobbing in the water like a cork when we got back to it. Several other boats that had been at anchor had departed. We decided to head to more sheltered anchorage for the night.

Ko Lipe - Thailand

I dropped anchor at Sunset Beach Ko Lipe at 12.30pm. A very pleasant sail. Ko Lipe is a small island, one of the Butang group of islands I used the Powerdive or hookah unit to dive and check the anchor in 8 metres of very clear water. I was also able to see the bottom of the boat so cleaned barnacles off the rudder, keel and prop. Other than some scarring on the front of the keel where we connected with a reef around the islands off Sumatra the condition of the bottom was not too bad. The day before leaving Telaga I had taken the dingy to a beach and scraped off the barnacles. The marine growth in this part of the world is phenomenal.

In the evening I met up with some of the Aussie lads I’d met in Phuket when I was there three months before and had a few beers at a beach bar.

Christmas day I planned on meeting up with Steve from “Inesfail”. I first had a beer at the Boom Boom bar where Mr Man, who keeps an eye out for the dingies on the beach. While enjoying a quiet Singha beer and getting into the Christmas spirit a very happy, newly married bloke from South Carolina offered rum shots. There were only three people in the bar at the time. Against my better judgement and dismissing past painful experiences I accepted. And it was Christmas after all. As you can imagine it went down hill from there. One is supposed to learn from ones mistakes. However, this ‘one’ obviously doesn’t. It was a good afternoon and evening with Taylor, Lindsay, Elad and Andrea. I woke up on the boat on Boxing day morning feeling a little jaded. The roar of the unsilenced, ubiquitous long tail boats is almost enough to wake the dead. The tranquillity of the morning quickly evaporated as the long tail tripper boats take tourists about the Butang Islands.

There are many beach bars and resorts on Ko Lipe. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to do a pub crawl of all the beach bars and try to recall the bars that one may have frequented. I’m sure this has been attempted many times.

In my happy state on Christmas day I had offered Elad and Andrea a crew spot (I don’t take passengers) on Sadiqi heading toward Phuket. They had been staying at the Porn Resort in a small palm frond hut. On December 28 we loaded up their backpacks and headed toward Turatao island. There not being much wind we motor sailed most of the way. We anchored in the relative calm on the west side of Turatao island. Dinner on board was Thai massaman curry on a bed of rice with some cardboard Californian red wine – a pleasant evening.

Langkawi to Ko Lipe

Thursday December 23, 7.30am I hauled the anchor and departed the Telaga frog pond. Not much wind. The wind soon increased 10 to 12 knots from the south east once out of the shadow of the Langkawi hills. The destination was Ko Lipe, Thailand around 20 miles. Shortly after leaving Langkawi I changed the time back one hour to +7 hours GMT/UTC. The asymmetrical spinnaker was hoisted, Jimmy Buffet lamented on the stereo – it was so good to be sailing again.

Langkawi - Telaga

On December 10 I returned to Telaga frog pond from a little jaunt around the islands - beautiful place - pity the water is not so clear. I spent more time working on the boat - fixing boat in exotic locations - than motoring. There is not much wind in this part of the world so more motoring than sailing is done to get anywhere. I thought I had found the leak that caused the fo'c'sle to become a swamp - with unwelcome new life forms, cultures etc!
There was not a great deal of space available in the frog pond when I arrived. The Darwin Ambon and Malaysia Rally boats had arrived. It poured down with rain all day Saturday which thoroughly tested the deck for leaks - here are only 2 minor leaks - the fore cabin is dry. Must be the first time since leaving Carnavon :o) I’d had to undo most of the aluminium toe rail and epoxy the bolt holes. It was too bloody wet to do anything else other than put the boat back together on the inside and have a few beers.

The outboard motor had become increasingly difficult to start and eventually on the way to the marina cut out all together. While rowing back to Sadiqi past yacht “Chandrika” out of Maine USA, I met Grahame and Sue. Sue’s comment was “you are showing us what we will have to get used to” as they were just in the process of buying a second hand outboard. Subsequently, some wine was drank and stories shared. Sue and Graham are keen Rock Climbers. I hope to meet them again in Thailand.

I stripped down the carburettor on the outboard – a few profanities at Rex – before finding the problem. Somehow water had leaked into the small 5 litre filler tank, I had been pouring water into the outboards internal tank. The outboard is now working very well after having dismantled the carburettor three times. The engine still sounds like an angry little cement mixer.

Monday December 21 – Telaga frog pond – it’s still raining and I thought this was the dry season. Many of the boats have headed off to Thailand. I had been spending a fair bit of time provisioning the boat for the trip to Ko Lipe Thailand for Christmas, then Phuket in the new year. I had also been trying to find and plug the elusive deck leaks - still! Water was still streaming into the forecabin when it rained. I keep thinking that I may have found the source only to find that water is still feeding the swamp monster that has taken up residence there.

The wind picked up a fair bit yesterday and caused some havoc in the frog pond. One large catamaran was seen dragging anchor toward on of the small sheltering islands. Fortunately the owners arrived to rescue it in time. I learned, well thought I did, from previous experience not to get involved. During the night, reading a book “Prey” by Michael Critchon, The wind was gusting up to 25 knots. I heard a slightly different noise outside. On getting up to investigate I saw the hull of a yacht less than a meter from Sadiqi’s starboard side. A few profanities muttered! A yacht was dragging anchor and fortunately had not hit Sadiqi. I proceeded to shout and shine a torch on the yacht to wake the occupants if they were onboard, which they did not appear to be. I then grabbed the fog horn and blew into to it several times to attract attention.

The yacht by this time was heading to the rocks of on of the sheltering islands. Hmm, dilemma. I decided to try and rescue the boat, against my better judgement. I rowed over to the yacht in the dingy. I usually remove the outboard motor from the dingy at night if there is a chance of rough weather. One of the things I learned from “No Rules Ron” a few years ago. Dingys and outboard motors, being perversely human, are apt to conspire to some sort of truancy.

I tied the dingy to one of the side stays on the runaway yacht and climbed on board, moved forward to the foredeck to assess how I was going to let out more rode/chain. There was no snubber line. Probably, why the anchor had broken free. A snubber is a short length of nylon rope, that has some stretch, connected to the anchor chain and the boat, to reduce the snatch on the anchor from the boat rising in waves. I manually pulled the anchor chain off the gypsy and let out about 20 meters of chain. The yacht fortunately stabilised and stopped dragging toward the rocks. I had a look around to see what else I could do and saw a dingy heading toward the yacht. The owners arrived, I helped them raise the anchor and move the boat back into the frog pond. This meant the boat was upwind of Sadiqi again. I made sure they let out more chain when the anchor was dropped. The yacht was from Scotland and the skipper’s wife kept muttering; there is always a first time. I left them, then rowed downwind to Sadiqi, as rowing an inflatable into the wind can be hard work. Oh the joys of being a “Boat bum”. Driving on the Freeway in rush hour traffic is still very much less appealing than the cruising adventures so far.

Rescuing boats is also one way of meeting people. Peter and Jean from Scotland on board “Mister Percival” were grateful and we had several beers on board the next day. “Mister Percival” is built of steel and is not much longer than Sadiqi.

Some really good news was the arrival of the replacement Tacktick wind transmitter unit. This is a wireless anemometer and wind direction instrument, which sits at the top of the mast. A good bit of kit when it works. As mentioned previously it spat the dummy and was not talking to the rest of the system. I discovered that it was still under warranty and was advised by Tacktick UK to contact Coursemaster in Australia, the Tacktick agents. It was with great relief after picking up the replacement unit that it worked. It was such a relief to receive good service for a change as opposed to the usual indifference and run around. Thanks Tacktick and Coursemaster.

Wednesday December 22 I cleared Malaysian Customs, Immigration and Harbourmaster in preparation to head to Ko Lipe, Thailand. I only get a three month visa in Malaysia having arrived in Langkawi October 22. I only get a month visa for Thailand, unless I travel to a Thai embassy where I would be able to get a 2 month visa with a 1 month extension. I’ll stick to the 1 month visa and keep moving.

Langkawi – Kuah - continued

I noticed the boat batteries were struggling. The Stecca solar regulator showed the batteries, when charging, only reaching 80 percent of their capacity. While I as at Rebak Marina and had access to 240 volt AC power I charged the batteries. At one time I noticed the charging voltage peak at over 15 volts. This is some sort of equalisation charge. Being mindful of battery charging I know this was not good for sealed, no maintenance lead acid batteries. The electrolyte was likely to boil and gas, reducing the electrolyte which can not be added back. Otherwise the batteries, ACDelco (lead calcium), 5 years old, have performed very well.

Just as well I gave up on the idea of going to Andermans. Claude and Nelson went to Penang to get an Indian visa to go to Cochin India and were told that no tourist visas will be issued to any foreigners in Malaysia and Thailand. They are having to fly to Perth WA to get a visa for India. It was sad to say good bye to Nelson and Claude, I cooked up a dinner of Pad Thai for them onboard Sadiqi the night before I left Kuah, Bass Harbour.

Boat maintenance in exotic locations. After a few days in Bass Harbour getting provisions etc,. I got itchy feet it was time to move. I had been told about the fiord like bays and islands to the south of the Langkawi archipelago and decided to head there. There not being much wind I motored all the way in the shelter of the high islands.

I found the leak, well thought I had, that turned the fore cabin fo'c'sle into a swamp with squishy wet foam matrasses and damp wall carpet exuding the odour of damp Labrador. The swamp monster hopefully has been exorcised.

While working on the boat and exploring the islands I watched the sea eagles leisurely soar about the rocky, jungle covered islands. I observed one eagle lock talons onto the prey of another eagle in flight and spiral down for a short distance. This seemed to be more a game than survival tactics. The Sea Eagles had a similar call, not as piercing, as that of the Fish Eagles on the Zambezi river. There are two birds of prey in Langkawi the Sea eagle and a kite. The Kite being more common and brown. It was very peaceful to be away from the hassle and bustle of Bass Harbour. The islands with jungle tenaciously clinging to the steep rocks almost appeared to float on the flat water. Alas, the water was not very clear for snorkelling of scuba diving with visibility at around a meter. I could hardly see the propeller while cleaning it under the water.

I needed to find some shelter form the swell to work on the toe rail of the boat. The toe rail is and aluminium extrusion attached to the edge of the deck with about 60 nuts and bolts on each side. I thought I had found a sheltered cove. I made the unfortunate mistake of dropping anchor near one of the tourist Fish Eagle feeding spots. A procession of small traditional boats, with the so called traditional outboard motor, carrying tourists sped into the bay, for several minutes before speeding away to the next tourist spot. The tour guides throw fish or chicken skins to attract the eagles that then do their performance and take off. After the 50th tour boat came through I had had enough and had to leave. It was hardly a sheltered bay.

Journey so far

The journey so far Fremantle to Langkawi Malaysia

Langkawi - Kuah

On Friday November 26 I departed Rebak Marina and headed to Kuah the main town on Lankawi Island. The plan had been to meet up with Nelson and Claude on “Black Swan” and discuss plans for going to the Anderman Islands. It was a very pleasant sail to windward in 10 to 12 knots of breeze. I passed a fleet of racing yachts sailing under spinnaker heading in the opposite direction. I dropped anchor in Bass Harbour near Kuah town just after midday.

It was a real relief to be on anchor again and for the boat to swing into the breeze. At times on Reback I felt like I was going to melt with the sweat dripped off me. Also the breeze has helped dry out the inside of the boat for all the rain leaking through the deck. The battle against culture – mould and mildew was started.

After doing some research into the trip to the Anderman Islands I decided not to go due to extreme bureaucracy, cost and hassle of getting the one month visa. The visa would cost around US$100.00 but required going to Penang by ferry three times to first to fill in lengthy forms, then to leave the passport then to pick up passport and visa. This takes about 2 to 3 weeks. While in the Andermans you have to radio in twice a day on HF with position reports. To damn hard. I’ll stick to scuba diving off the islands in Thailand. Nelson also asked if I would be interested in joining them to deliver a 47 foot yacht from Cochin (India) to the Bay of Islands (New Zealand). I did give this some serious thought even just doing the leg from Cochin to Fremantle. However declined with thoughts of cyclones and leaving the boat for too long unattended. There was no real financial incentive to do the trip. As nice as it would have been to sail to Fremantle in January/February. I’d also miss most the best part of the sailing season in the Anderman sea off Thailand and Malaysia.

Langkawi - Rebak

The boat was still floating when I returned to Rebak. However, she clearly was not happy with having been locked up and abandoned for 10 days. The boat smelled none to good green furry stuff – mould and mildew, culture, had taken up residence. A very good test for the Oil of Clove and water treatment. I had several days at Rebak resort to enjoy the facilities and meet some of the Marina residence. The swimming pool was a welcome relief from the heat The marina did not get much breeze due to the shelter from surrounding hills and trees. There being little breeze meant there were mosquitoes – squadrons of them. I met up with Mark and Rachel from “Galyva” who live onboard their boat at Rebak Marina. Mark is a shipwright and runs his business SeaSpray Marine Services in Langkawi. Someone worth knowing if you need to get some work done on your boat in this area.

The TackTick wind transmitter at the top of the mast was not talking to the rest of the wireless sailing instrument system. I had replaced the aged Brooks and Gatehouse Hornet sailing instruments nearly two years ago. Fortunately I found the receipt and the unit was still within warrantee - just. The Tacktick system uses wireless technology to communicate between devices, not cheap however it has been reliable. The mast head wind unit and displays are solar powered These instruments display boat speed, depth, wind speed and angle plus a vast amount of other information. The system is linked in with the Standard Horizon CP500 chartplotter using NMEA 0183.

Langkawi to Perth the easy way

The middle of November I bit the bullet and returned to Perth for a visit to sort out the loose ends that I had not managed to resolve prior to my departure back in May 2010. I parked “Sadiqi” in Rebak Marina as I did not have the confidence, after recent anchoring exploits, of leaving the boat on anchor while away. The marina is part of a resort on Rebak Island. The charge for 14 days was RM 438.90 around AU$140.00. Not to bad considering you get access to most of the resort facilities. This was the first time in nearly 6 months that Sadiqi was tied up in a marina.

I flew “no frills” AirAsia to Perth via Kuala Lupur at an unbeatable price. Despite having to pay for meals, water and any extras the flights are very cheap. Bear in mind that if you want to choose a seat you will pay extra. At these sort of prices, around AU$600.00 return, I was half expecting to have to pay to go to the toilet. The flight was, thankfully, uneventful and I arrived early in the morning in Perth. Western Australia was extremely dry, not only due to lack of winter rain but very low humidity by comparison to the tropics. It was very good catching up with friends, all of whom seemed the think that I looked 10 years younger – must have been the tan and loss of weight. Yes, I am enjoying the sailing adventure.

Thanks to my dear friend Patricia for feeding me and suffering my company while I was in Perth. Thanks to Helene for the fantastic fruit cake – defiantly won’t get scurvy and for the tip on using a few drops of Oil of Clove in water to get rid of mould and mildew on the boat. It was very pleasant catching up with some of the people I used to go cruising with off Fremantle. I am indebted to them and all the people I have sailed with over the years for their companionship and the knowledge I have acquired. To “No bloody Rules” Ron I shall miss the trip south to Busselton this Christmas – my thoughts will be with you. Thanks go to all my friends in Perth, I do miss you. I have to rationalise this by thinking of the new friends I have not met yet in my adventures.

I was asked a few questions; one of them was if I had been afraid at any time. I couldn’t say that I hadn’t been afraid during the two and half thousand miles of this adventure so far. Fear, a certain amount of that is, is what helps to keep us alive. However, dwelling on fear can be very destructive. I had a few moments, usually when I was very tired and far from anywhere in the ocean, where the thought that I was alone and what if something went wrong. “We” tend to create a situation in our mind that is usually far worse than what actually transpires. In a recent book I read “Who Moved My Cheese” counteract the thoughts of fear with “What would you do if you weren’t afraid”. Deal with the situation!

Some of the “loose ends” that I returned to Perth were resolved. I was not able to sell the mooring on the Swan River. This is getting expensive to maintain and license. Anyone interested please email me.

The AirAsia flights are tough to fault and both I and my luggage arrived in reasonable condition back at Langkawi via Kuala Lampur. My blood most have thinned in the tropics as I found the air conditioning on the flight very cool.

Langkawi

Langkawi – a duty free archipelago made up of 99 islands on Malaysia’s north west coast – is the country’s best-known holiday destination. Surrounded by stunning turquoise sea, the interior of the main island is a mixture of paddy fields, rubber planations and rain forrest covered hills. Despite the number of resorts dotted around the islands it was not over crowded as Phuket appeard to be. Exchange rate – roughly 3 Malaysian Ringgit to $US1.00

Friday night I had dinner on "Black Swan" with Nelson, Claude and friends of theirs; Rob and Trisha. Rob and Trisha had sailed their Sadler 25 foot yacht "Bluet" from the UK. They have been living on "Bluet" mostly in the Mediterranean for the past 10 years. Heck and I thought Sadiqi’s 30 feet was small. Amazing a difference a few feet can make. Saturday was a very slow day nursing a sore head for some reason. It was a very pleasant evening.

Nelson had to go to Phuket to get some engineering done on his engine. He lent me the motor bike he had hired. I would not attempt to ride a motor bike in Phuket as I’m sure my guardian angle would abandon me. Nelson visited a friend in a Phuket hospital who had almost not survived a motor cycle accident there recently. I had the pleasure of Claude’s company for a few days. Riding a motor bike in Langkawi was relatively easy – the roads, traffic lights and general infrastructure are all very good. In fact after Indonesia and even Thailand Langkawi is very civilised by comparison. I did, however, have two disconcerting flat tyres while riding the bike.
November – a Tropical Depression passed in a North Easterly direction over Phuket, with strong winds affecting Langkawi. Many yachts made for the safe havens of Telaga and Rebak Marina’s anticipating the worst. Black Swan headed to more sheltered and a less crowded anchorage. I chose to stick the storm out in the “frog pond” outside Telaga Marina. As usual around midnight the wind howled. The CQR anchor dragged not once but twice! After the second slide down the anchorage, fortunately with out hitting any other boats, I changed over to the Admiralty/Fisherman’s anchor. B-anchor just was not holding in the mud and what ever else was at the bottom of the frog pond. The Admiralty/Fisherman’s anchor held fast.

I finally found the leak that nearly caused me to abort the trip to Cocos Islands back in June. Some bright spark had sealed the limber holes with epoxy that allows water to drain from hidden compartments into the bilge.

Phuket to Langkawi

Sunday October 17 – Chalong Bay - I hauled the anchor and headed south east toward Langkawi Malaysia. I had checked out with Immigration, Customs and Harbour Master on the Friday. This was again relatively painless costing 400B (about AU$15.00) and took only half an hour. I had planned on leaving on the Saturday. However, a few drinks and a meal with a couple of the lads from the Sand Bar left me with a sore head, so I took my time getting the boat ready for the sail south.

I had spoken to Brent, a great source of local knowledge, thinking that I would island hop on the way south. Brent advised sailing straight to Langkawi given the time of year and it still being the South West Monsoon.
South west monsoon - Summer – Hot with fluky winds predominantly from the south west
North east monsoon – Winter – Light and variable winds predominantly from the north east.

The distance from Phuket to Langkawi is aproximately 115 miles – another 24 plus hour non stop trip with some decent wind. After a month at anchor in Chalong Bay it was so good to be out sailing again in 10 to 15 knots from the west, with Smithy (Windpilot) on the tiller and full sails up. The seas were a little lumpy as the water depth is only 50 to 100 meters deep and the swell was from the west.

At 15.00 I decided on a change in plan and headed for Ko Rok Nok and Ko Rok Nai small islands some 40 miles south of Phuket. I referred to the Indian Ocean Cruising Guide by Rod Heikell to get info on anchoring around these islands - a very good cruising guide, by the way. I planned to over night there. I anchored in 12 metres of water between the two islands and noticed the tidal current. My back and arms gave twinge at the impending hauling in of the anchor in 12 metres of water with all chain rode! That’s another story and yes I was told so.

The following day I hauled up the anchor and continued south. The winds dropped around latitude 6 degrees with sails slatting. I attempted to fly the MPS but was unable to in the lumpy seas in decreasing wind. Nothing for it other than to fire up the motor and head to the Butang Islands and Ko Lipe.

I anchored, again in 12 metres of water, on the south side of the small Ko Lipe and had a rough night rolling in the swell. I hauled anchor the following day and moved to the northern side of the island, hoping also to find a shallower anchorage. Things that go bump in the night! I had anchored reasonably near a mooring buoy in 6 metres of water in the channel between the small island of Ko Lipe and the larger island of Ko Adang. There was a reasonable tidal current running. During the night the fisherman’s anchor must have tripped with the change of tide and Sadiqi drifted back and bumped onto the mooring buoy. The mooring buoy bumping against the hull does not make for a good nights sleep, this, of course, happened at 3am! I had thought about taking the easy option picking up the mooring lines. Fortunately, I reset the anchor a good distance from the buoy, when I awoke at a more reasonable hour there was a fairly large wooden vessel on the mooring unloading its cargo onto hoards of longtail boats.

I rowed ashore to Ko Lipe, had a brief walk around part of the island, noticed it was starting to gear up for the oncoming tourist season. I think I’d prefer the less inhabited islands in the Butang group when the tourist season (Nov to Feb) was in full swing.

I departed Ko Lipe and headed for Langkawi island. There were squadrons of fishing boats trawling the waters between the Butang islands and Langkawi. Sadiqi managed to escape without becoming ensnared with the fishing fleet. Best to avoid sailing between a pair of trawling boats as I think they were trawling a net between them. I changed the time zone on entering Malaysian waters to UTC +8.

Thursday October 21 I dropped the anchor in Telaga harbour Langkawi island, Malaysia.
Nelson and Claude on “Black Swan”, whom I had met in Sabang Indonesia, came over for a chat. It was great to have someone in the know about what, how and where things are in Langkawi. The check in with Immigration and Customs was absolutely painless at Telaga harbour. However, being a Friday in a Moslem country, the harbour master was not open until Sunday. Nelson took me for a ride on the hire motorbike to Kuah the major town on Langkawi and I checked in with the harbour master there.

Phuket Chalong Bay

Tuesday October 12, it must have been time to move on. My 30 day visa for Thailand was due to expire in a few days. I changed the oil and serviced the engine in the morning. Rex rowed past and asked me to keep an eye on his boat while he went into town to vessel control to organise a bond for his boat “Pequod”. The weather forecast was for thunder storms and strong winds. I went ashore to get more engine oil and other supplies. On returning to the dingy several of the lads were having a beer at the Sand Bar and I felt compelled to join them, as you do. From the comfort of the bar we watched one squall go through Chalong Bay.

After several beers I returned to the boat. I was stowing stuff below when I noticed a dramatic increase in wind. I checked the wind speed and it was at 45 knots! I looked over at Rex’s boat and, alas, she was sideways onto the wind and dragging anchor! A few expletives were expressed! “Pequod” is a CAL 46, could be described as a 15 ton motor cruiser with a lot of windage, and poor visibility from the wheelhouse. I climbed into my inflatable dingy and raced over to the drifting boat, tied the dingy on the stern, then tried to figure out what to do and how to turn on the engine. The boat was almost upon a floating fish platform or fish farm with styrene floats, wood and corrugated iron sheds. By the time I figured out how to start the engine my dingy was sandwiched between “Pequod” and the fishing platform! When I tried to move Pequad forward the dingy flipped upside down and caught on the platform. I was dragging the platform by my dingy – not good. More profanity when I saw my 5 horse power outboard motor upside down in the water! I raced back, (46 feet is a lot of boat) managed to untangle the dingy and put it right way up. In the wind and rain I gingerly moved “Pequod” forward and managed to get away from the platform, without fouling the anchor lines holding the platform in place and with my dingy in tow. During the storm chaos I kept an eye on Sadiqi, noticed several other boats were sliding and having to be re-anchored. The wind and rain had abated a little. I had not managed to raise the anchor on Pequod and was dragging it through the mud until I could find space amongst the other boats to go forward and raise it. I noticed that another smaller fishing platform was following Pequod astern! I managed to raise the anchor and untangle the anchor line for the smaller fishing platform. I was covered in sticky ooze from the anchor chain. Fortunately, Pequod had an electrical anchor windlass. I had lost my sense of humour by this time. I finally managed to find enough space between other boats to drop the anchor. I made sure the anchor was bedded by going astern on the engine. I rowed over to the fishing platform and noticed that one of the sheds had a decided lean. I luckily managed to recover my shoes, fuel container and carpet that had been in the dingy, then rowed back to Sadiqi. I was not game to try and start the outboard after it had it had been drowned. I was busy trying to wash the outboard with fresh water and dry it out when Rex rowed by and asked if I had moved his boat – Jeez you think!. What an adventure.

The next day I thought winter had arrived in Thailand the maximum temp was only 27 degrees Celsius, the wind howled and it rained pretty much all day. It was too wet and windy to do anything on the boat. Fortunately, the winds were not as strong as the day before. Sadiqi’s anchor (B-anchor) dragged only a few meters. The leaning shed on the fishing platform/fish farm that Pequod and attacked the day before blew over during the day.

Thursday was a little dryer. I had the opportunity to take the two stroke outboard motor apart and attempt to resuscitate it. Earlier attempts at starting it had failed. When the carburettor was apart I found that the engine had been full of sea water. The service manual advised; that in the event of submersion the motor should be immediately taken to a Mercury Service centre. Hmm. After a painstaking few hours the outboard was reassembled and ready for a test. It actually started first time, however it sounds like an angry cement mixer. The motor will never be the same again. Rex was conspicuous by his absence. There is a moral to this story and as with this whole adventure I have learned another lesson.

Phuket Au Chalong

On arriving back at Au Chalong and the Sand Bar where I had tied the dingy I noticed that it had been moved to a new tie off line. Brent, from the Sand Bar was surprised and relieved to see me back so soon and told the story of my dingy going missing. The dingy had filled with water in the heavy rain, the high tides and strong winds had broken the line on which it was tied. The other hard tender that had been attached to the same line was still missing. My dingy had been found by some fishermen who had reported it to the police. Brent had paid US$60 for its recovery. It could have been worse I could have lost the dingy and outboard motor all together!

Sadiqi had drifted about 20 metres on the anchor and fortunately had not hit any other boats or been hit by other drifting boats. Fortunately, “B-anchor” the CQR had held reasonably well in the muddy bottom and just buried itself deeper. Rex, who had been keeping an eye on Sadiqi, had had a tough night when the mooring his boat “Piquad” had been attached to parted and he nearly ended up on the beach. He had to kedge himself off at 2.00 am! Apparently several other boats had ended up on the beach. I had been lucky. However, the experience has not given me much confidence in leaving the boat at anchor for any length of time.

Bangkok

The train arrived at Bangkok station at 10.00pm. I took a taxi to a hotel in the Silom area and briefly wondered around the seedy, raunchy Phatpong area before going to bed. The streets of Silom by night were completely different during the day with the temporary stalls selling very different wares. Bangkok was frenetic, busy and hot. I had intended to do some tours around Bangkok and take an overnight bus to Phuket. I was overwhelmed and decided to get the first available flight back to Phuket and the boat. The train to the airport was easy and very pleasant.

The AirAsia flight from Bangkok to Phuket cost US$140. I think the difference in price had something to do with flying out of Bangkok’s fancy new huge airport terminals and me sitting toward the front of the plane. The pleasant flight took just over an hour.

Chiang Mai

I planned on visiting friends in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city in the mountains north of Bangkok. I had my reservations about leaving the boat on anchor for more than a day. However, that is something I had to learn to get over or become a slave to the boat. I spoke to several people to keep on eye on Sadiqi while I was away. Armed with the “Lonely Planet, South East Asia on a shoe string” I ventured into the Thai hinterland.

Sunday October 3 I flew AirAsia (US$90) from Phuket to Chiang Mai – good 2 hour flight. I stayed with friends Eric, Fiona, Russell and Stacey. What fantastic hospitality – many thanks to Eric and Fiona. It was interesting sleeping in a large bed that did not move, for the first time in four months. For some reason I did not sleep particularly well the first night. Russell, waiting to start University next year, was a great tour guide. We did the tourist thing of visiting Markets, a Wat (Temple) some shops then found a beer, chilled out and watched the world go by – very pleasant. The following day we did pretty much the same except near a lake where we kicked a rugby ball around, had a good lunch and a few beers while watching the world go by.

The fast train (Sprinter) from Chiang Mai to Bangkok cost US$20 took 13 hours. While waiting at the train station the stately “Eastern & Orient Express” rolled into Chiang Mai. Now that would be travelling in style of a bygone era. In the 3 car (Sprinter) train it was very pleasant sitting back and listening to the Clickity Clack of the wheels as it rolled through the towns, villages, plantations, rainforests and mountains of urban and rural Thailand. The train went through tunnels and passed dense, verdant green vegetation. We passed quaint, immaculate train stations with manual track switching and signalling gear – not much in the way of electronics other than lights. At one of the stations it was fascinating watching the station master frantically pull on large leavers to change tracks and signals.

It was an interesting and pleasant journey with the train only stopping at a few stations or waiting for a train to pass coming the other way. When the train had descended from the mountains we entered the flat lands where there was rice paddy after rice paddy. I think there was more water around than normal after some heavy rains in Vietnam.

Au Chalong

Thai food – fantastic and very reasonably priced. There are always food stalls on streets as the Thias don’t seem to do much cooking at home. Fortunately, it is cheaper to buy delicious food from the stalls than it is to cook it. The rationalisation of eating out: After finding ingediants, buying, carting, cooking, eating and cleaning up it is far cheaper to buy good food on the street. A good green curry and rice would cost less than two dollars.

On a rainy day I ventured for a Thai massage, no hanky panky and no boom boom. The masseuse certainly knew where to find the pressure points. I pretty much felt like I was being run over by a truck. It was a bit like beating the head against the brick wall it felt really good when it was over.

Boat maintenance – Rex and I went to the huge Rolly Tasker sail loft near Phuket town and bought rope and courtesy flags at very reasonable prices. I went to The Boat Lagoon, which has many boat chandlery shops, found a Volvo Penta agent and paid US$140 for an oil filter and two water pump impellers! How can one justify that sort of extortion? Yes, the motor a Volvo 2002, 18HP is around 28 years old. Three years ago I made the mistake of having the engine overhauled, which did not include new rings and bearings. In hindsight I should have replaced the motor then. With this sort of experience I would be unlikely to consider Volvo when it comes time to replace the engine. Yanmar is looking like a far better option.

Phuket Thailand

Since leaving Fremantle on 31 May 2010 and arriving in Phuket Thailand Sadiqi has logged 2,572 nautical miles and 305 engine hours.

After inflating the dingy, attaching the outboard motor and putting up shade awnings I headed to Immigration, Customs and Harbour Master The formalities took less than an hour and about $20 shamelessly disappeared into a back pocket. Mind you for that donation I managed to get a harbour pass for 6 months instead of 3. Thailand, the land of smiles, after Indonesia felt like I had been catapulted back into the 21 century.

For those of you that don’t know Phuket is pronounced “Poo-ket”. Replenishing fuel, water, gas, beer and food. Sadiqi has a 60 litre fuel tank, plus two additional 20 litre jerry cans for diesel. Not having had rain for awhile I also had a couple of hundred litres of water to buy and load. I had to find beer as I had not had a beer for a week, due to bad planning and not being able to buy alcohol in Moslem Northern Sumatra. I needed to do a serious restock on food, as the last time I had loaded up with real food had been in Carnarvon Australia back in June. I had to replace tinned food that was going rusty after having been drowned in the knock down between Carnarvon and Cocos. I had my work cut out for me for a good few days. I was also going to end up with long arms after lumping all this heavy stuff around – one of the joys of cruising.

There are very good supermarkets like Tescos, seven-eleven stores and others a bit pricey but they had pretty much everything. After going shopping I certainly learnt to appreciate the simple pleasures in life again like bacon and eggs, steak and cheese etc.

While loading fuel on Sadiqi I met seppo Rex on “Pequod” who knows Bernard on “Papy Jovial” whom I’d met in Cocos Island – small world. He had sailed from New Zealand, stopping in the Solomon Islands, then non stop through the Torres Strait, up the west coast of Sumatra and onto Phuket taking 79 days. That was a very impressive trip. He had been sailing in the same waters as I had off Sumatra but had not stopped. Rex’s 47 foot motor sailor boasts an engine room with work bench etc. He even has the space to brew beer on board! Rex had been a fisherman and logger in America and Canada. I was pleased when he said that he had had more success fishing in the Pacific Ocean than he had in the Indian Ocean. There was obviously a lot more water between fish in the Indian Ocean than there was in the Pacific.

It was a full moon on Thursday September 24, therefore higher and lower tides. I went ashore to do some more shopping. On the way back to the boat, it was none too difficult to see that the tide was out and the dingy was high and dry. Nothing much for it other than to hangout at the Sand Bar with a beer or six and wait for the tide to come in. The Sand Bar is run by Aussie Brent who also runs the Phuket Cruising Yacht Club. I met several other Aussies there and managed to get some really good information on how things work and where to get supplies in the area. Going ashore when the tide was out and trying to walk through the muddy ooze seemed funny at the time, wore thin pretty quick when you sink up to the knees in ooze. Having struggled through the ooze once makes for better planning and consulting the tide tables when the tides are low.


The near by Wave Bar was not much more than 4 metres wide by 15 metres deep and boast its on mini pole dancing stage. One can end up with a very attractive person gyrating in ones lap of possibly dubious or confused gender. The alleged girls were there to sell beer or their services. This had the potential of being a slippery slope that could end in some sort of regret or far worse. There was a proliferation of such “good time” bars near the jetty of Ao Chalong where girls call out and entice people into the seedy bars, pretty much, 24 hours a day and this was the low season.

A week after arriving in Thialand Rex and I ventured to Patong Beach. The taxi dropped us off at a huge shopping centre called Jong Ceylon. The air-conditioning was nice, but other than that is was just a shopping centre. We headed to the beach for a beer and had to walk through the gauntlet of people selling; massages, rolex watches, tailored Armani suits tee shirts etc.,. I thought we could have saved ourselves the taxi fare and just stayed at Chalong Bay where there were not so many tourists. The one good thing, I confess, is there was a Burger King (Hungry Jacks), both Rex and I treated ourselves to a good burger and fries. I had not had a good burger since leaving Fremantle. Oh the decadence.

Much of the time was spent doing maintenance on the boat. I updated the failing sound system on Sadiqi with a new CD/MP3 player system. The new system sounds fantastic and consumes far less power than the previous system with CD changer and cassette deck. This has also freed up more space getting rid of the CD changer and cassettes etc.

Sumatra to Phuket

First light Wednesday I was getting ready to motor out of Sabang. I first had to deal with the anchor chain that had wrapped itself around rocks in 12 metres of water. I gently nudged the boat forward and fortunately managed to free the chain minus some galvanising. I motored out of Sabang harbour with a tail wind of 4 knots. The AIS, through the chart plotter, was showing 10 ships within a 20 mile range of Sabang in the Malacca Strait. This was going to be the interesting bit – a 50 mile wide ship highway, without separation lanes and ships travelling between 5 and 25 knots. The motor was running until a 30 knot squall came through, mid afternoon, and I was able to set the sails again. The engine seemed to be running a little hotter than normal. I checked and changed the water pump impeller and tightened hose clamps on the suction side of the water pump. The water pump impeller was not too bad other than the rubber seemed to have become unglued from the bronze bush and was able to rotate. By dinner time we were back motoring again and continued so until 7.00 the next morning. There was only one ship that gave me cause for concern as I crossed in front of it. It just seemed to take for ever to see the side of the hull to know that I would not be run over. I had a chuckle at an old joke I heard many years ago; “What’s the last thing that goes through a bugs mind when it hits the windscreen” – It’s backside :o) I avoided any visions of Sadiqi pasted to the front of some ship like a bug on a windscreen. The AIS is a fantastic tool as it provides information on ships speed, course, closest point of approach (CPA) and time of closest point of approach (TCPA).

An Indonesian fishing boat headed toward Sadiqi fairly early in the morning. There were about 8 people onboard trawling quite heavy lines astern. After asking for the usual beer and cigarettes they turned across Sadiqi’s bows. I had started to motor just in case. I turned in the same direction as the fishing boat, doing a large 360 turn to avoid getting tangled in their fishing lines. Fortunately they went on their way.

While crossing the Malacca Strait I noticed a strange phenomenon, which I can only describe as some sort of current convergence. The winds were light less than 10 knots, I started hearing what sounded like a water fall or wind blowing through tall trees from astern. There was a line of white caps, about 100 metres wide, stretching as far as the eye could see to the South East and North West, travelling in a North East direction. The same direction as Sadiqi was headed. There was no perceptible change in wind strength or direction. Sadiqi bounced around in the short chop as the white caps passed. This happened several times during the day and did not seem to relate tides. Sometimes there was a small change in the GPS speed of the ground (SOG). If anyone knows what this was please would you email me and let me know.

Not having topped up with diesel in Sabang I was well aware that I did not have enough fuel to motor to Phuket Thailand. I was short by about 50 miles of the 200 mile trip. With just 5 knots of wind on the port beam I raised the Asymmetrical Spinnaker aka. MPS, Kite or large coloured sail. Fortunately, the water was reasonably flat, except for when the current convergence phenomenon passed by. The wind ranged from 2 to 10 knots and Sadiqi moved through the water at between 2 to 5 knots. Ken the electric autopilot did an exemplary job in the light conditions. The gaffa tape bandaid holding Ken together seemed to do the trick. The wind was too light to use Smithy – the windvane. It was very pleasant sailing ghosting along without the motor running. We sailed like this for around 20 hours until 5.00 in the morning when a gust of wind came through at 12 knots and I dropped the kite. I had set the high wind speed alarm for 12 knots on the TackTick Wind Instruments. I slept far more easily without the engine running as I could hear and feel anything that changed on the boat. I could hear the dolphins blow when they arrived and played in the bow wave.

It was while I was sleeping on the cockpit cushions that I heard and felt a splash of what I thought was water, strange as there were no waves and not much wind. I did not think much else about it until morning, when I saw fairly large dark brown splash marks all over the deck, that looked like they had fallen from the sky. Another mystery. I can only think that Sadiqi may have bumped into a semi submerged soft container that had a liquid in it that spewed up and onto the deck. There was way to much and the wrong colour for it to be a large bird. Whale spew maybe – I have know idea.

It was a little disorienting sailing toward the southern end of Phuket island. I was used to the errors on the C-Map chart cartridges for Sumatra and was anticipating similar errors for Thailand. It was a pleasant surprise and relief to find the Thai charts were accurate. I entered Chalong Bay at low tide and dropped anchor in 3 metres of water, amongst the many other boats, at 12.30 having used the motor for 27 hours of the 52.5 hour trip. There was very little fuel in the tank, which I was pleased about as I could try and rid the fuel tank of the smelly muck the Indonesians call Solar or Diesel. I was not to unhappy about having left Indonesia - dealing with the people there was definitely very trying.

Pulau Weh (Sabang)

On Monday I left the mooring at Pulau Rubiah and headed for Sabang, an hours motor, across the bay. I had psyched myself up for the formalities of dealing with Immigration, Customs and Harbour master. Alas, they were closed – it had been a public holiday on Friday and it appeared that extended to Monday as well. I did a walking tour of Sabang. On returning to the Sadiqi I noticed another yacht had arrived. I met a young couple; Nelson and Claude from “Black Swan” who sailed from Oman taking 26 days with a brief stop over in the Maldives. They, Nelson originally from Australia and Claude from Belgium, had spent the last 12 years living onboard their boat mainly in Greece and Turkey.

The following day I offered to take Nelson and Claude ashore to get fuel and sort out immigration formalities. They did not have an outboard motor and only a small hard dingy, they also did not have a CAIT for Indonesia. In hindsight it would have been better not to have informed the authorities. Eventually an immigration official arrived and we started the process – around $6.00 slipped under the table somewhere. The Harbour Master arrived at Immigration as they had been informed that three yachts were in Sabang. Glayva was also clearing out. After filling in some extensive Harbour Master forms we were told to return to the Harbour Master at 17.00 to pick up the port clearance certificate. Next we had to find Customs. This is where things got a little complicated as the Customs officials wanted to go onboard and inspect “Black Swan”, Nelson’s boat. I gave Nelson the start lanyard to my dingy to take the official and get that sorted. While we were away from the dingy an enterprising local weasel had removed Nelson’s jerry cans and partial filled them in anticipation for payment – at a higher rate, plus tip, than you could get on the street. Had we not complied with this the police would probably have miraculously appeared, as foreigners are not supposed to buy the subsidised muck they call fuel. At 17.00 I reported to the Harbour Master to get my clearance certificate and another $8.00, supposed administration fee, disappeared under the table. This baksheesh may not sound like much but added up came to several hundred dollars. With everything that had gone on I had not had an opportunity to get any fuel for Sadiqi. It had been a very long day, by 6 o clock in the evening Nelson, Claude and myself adjourned to Sadiqi to enjoy a good takeout dinner and a bottle of red wine.

Pulau Rubiah

I picked up a mooring near “Glayva” at Pulau Rubiah near Pulau Weh – Northern Sumatra. Pulau Rubiah is a beautiful small island with crystal clear blue water and rain forest coming down to the rocky waters edge. By comparison to what I had seen so far in Indonesia this was very civilised and geared to tourists. There were restaurants, not food stalls, scuba dive charter boats and glass bottomed viewing boats. In the evening I went ashore with Mark, Rachel, Nomara and Aaron for a beer and a meal. It felt good not to have to cook a meal for a change. At the restaurant we met people from France, Germany and Korea and a couple of expat Aussies working in Jakarta The following day, after doing boat jobs, I ventured out to do some snorkelling, I was amazed at how good the snorkelling was. The best snorkelling I have done in many years – live coral and an abundance of tropical fish. There appears to be a concerted effort to conserve this tropical sea garden. The colours of the coral and proliferation of fish here far outstrip what I saw at Cocos (Keeling) and Babi islands. I spent several hours swimming around just looking at the at this amazing sea garden aquarium.

Sinabang to Banda Aceh

I am updating the blog while on a mooring at beautiful Pulau Rubiah near the island of Weh – Northern Sumatra. I’m down to my last Bintang beer in a Moslem area – not very sadiqi – bad planning on my part! Back to the blog.

I departed Sinabang on September 6, I had been watching the weather forecasts hoping for some wind. It was a long trip - 45 miles using the motor. My ears were ringing from the noise of the engine when I arrived in the sheltered bay of Sibigo, toward the northern end of Simeulue Island. Simeulue island is hard, rocky and anchorages are deep. It did not boast the white sandy beaches and coral of the islands further south. Sibigo was not much to write home about other than the bay being very sheltered. As seems usual, one of the locals paddled out toward me in his dugout outrigger canoe and asked to come aboard. We sat and tried to make a conversation with my very limited Bahasa Indonesian and his non existent English. I had bought a Kamus (Inggeris – Indonesian dictionary) in Sibolga. There seems to be some inherent expectation that I give the locals something. However, I quickly learnt that had I given anything, ie. fish hooks, rope etc., I would have had more locals turn up at all hours of the night with the same expectation. After awhile I asked the gentleman to leave so I could get on with cooking my evening meal. One of the problems with the anchorage being so sheltered was the mosquitoes – squadrons of them.

After not the best nights sleep I departed Sibigo early September 7 for the 130 mile trip to the Sumatra mainland and Pulau Raya. The wind was northerly, where I was headed, at 5 to 7 knots – more motoring. The wind is capricious in the doldrums. By midday the wind had picked up a little so I was able to motor sail. Sadiqi was also pushing against a half knot current – the difference between the speed through the water and GPS speed over the ground. In the evening we managed to get several hours of sailing, 4 knots, when the wind increased and swung to the North West. The night routine is to turn on the navigation lights if motoring or the masthead tricolour if sailing, dim all the instrument lights to help with night vision. I heard the blow and splash of dolphins playing in the bow wave. It was a dark and moonless night so to see the streaks of phosphorescence light up in the path of the dolphins was amazing. This surreal light show went on for half an hour before the dolphins tired and went elsewhere to play.

In the morning we were back to motoring as the sails were slatting in the lumpy conditions. I tried the asymmetrical spinnaker again, all for about 10 minutes, and then the wind dropped. Of the 33 hour trip the motor ran for 32 hours! With relief we arrived at Pulau Raya and dropped anchor near the prowlong fishing platforms. When I sleep while sailing or motoring I use an alarm clock set for half an hour. Initially it takes awhile to get to sleep and I usually wake before the alarm. As the night wears on my intermittent sleep pattern improves and I can get almost a full half hour sleep. My body clock has a definite preference for sleep around 5.00am. I sleep mainly during the day and may get half an hour sleep every two hours if sailing conditions permit. When Sadiqi is securely anchored I sleep very heavily, coma like, but still only for 2 hours at a time. This is usually only for the first night after a trip of 24 hours or more, then I revert to a more normal sleeping pattern.

I departed Pulau Raya at first light, 6.30 with winds 4 – 6 knots ESE. By 8.30 the wind had increased to 10 knots from the east and it was time to raise the asymmetrical spinnaker again. By 9.30 the winds had dropped and so had the asymmetrical. By 13.00 the wind had increased to 10 – 12 knots from the south and with some conviction – at last. We had crossed latitude 5 degrees north. I had a look at my log and noticed that the wind pretty much faded out when I was around latitude 5 degrees south prior to entering Indonesian waters - the Doldrums. This meant a band of 10 degrees at the equator with capricious winds if any. One minute = one nautical mile, sixty minutes to one degree gives a band of six hundred miles of potential doldrums conditions, a lot of potential fuel and motoring.

Sadiqi revelled in the 10 – 12 knot wind from the stern sailing at 4.5 knots with only the main up. The fishing line was out in hopeful expectation that some fish would have the temerity to go for the lure. I tried several different lures, the fish, if there were any, were indifferent through lack of any activity. With the improved wind conditions and Sadiqi, very happily sailing along at 5 to 5.5 knots with both full main and headsail, we arrived at Aroih Cut too early. The Aroih Cut is narrow gap at the Northern end of Sumatra very prone to tidal currents and big swell. If heading North East, as I was, go on a rising tide. If heading South West go on the falling tide. As the tide was not rising enough, plus we had good winds I chose the wider gap Arioh Raya just north of the narrow cut. The current movement was impressive not being familiar with such events with sailing off Fremantle. I had brief glimpses of the Arioh cut and it was a veritable bubbling cauldron or white water. As it was, Sadiqi was going against a 3 to 4 knot current and it was nearly slack tide. Another learning experience.

I dropped anchor to the west of Banda Aceh and had a great nights rest. I had been keeping a radio sched with “Glayva” on HF radio at 9.00 and 20.00. Mark and Rachel had arrived at Pulau Weh the same day I had arrived at Banda Aceh – a half days sail away.

I departed Banda Aceh at a civilised 8.30, thinking I would get some good sailing in. Oops. I motored toward the Eastern side of Pulau Weh. By Midday the wind had increased from the south and the asymmetrical spinnaker was up and Sadiqi was sailing along very nicely, well for an hour anyway. The wind dropped and swung to the west. I had started the motor and was setting the jib and main, Sadiqi started to heel, when the motor stopped. Hmm, out of diesel! This was no great surprise as I had not put any fuel in since Labuanbujau on Simeulue some 46 engine hours before. Fortunately the wind had settled and Sadiqi was sailing along very nicely with the reliable Smithy, the Windpilot, at the helm. I emptied a 20 litre jerry can into the tank, replaced the fuel filter and bled the fuel system before starting the engine again. This was a good exercise in good conditions. I’d hate to think of the consequences of running out of fuel in a situation like going through a narrow channel or crossing busy shipping lanes, something I was going to have to do to get to Thailand.

Sinabang (Simeulue)

It was good to have wind for a change, 17 knots NE, and give the old motor a rest. The approach to Sinabang which sits in a large sheltered bay on the east coast of Semeulue was interesting. I did not have paper charts for the island Simeulue. It did not instil a great deal of confidence seeing a small ship aground on an island near the entrance to the bay. I motored as close as I could to a Starboard Lateral navigation marker to mark and get an idea of the error between actual physical points and the C-Map charts. Actual marks were approximately 66 degrees magnetic (ENE) and 0.3 nautical miles from the mark shown on C-Map. I very gingerly navigating through the islands and rocks, without hitting anything, headed for the town of Sinabang. “Glayva” had, probably wisely, stayed in Labuhanbajau.

First, I had to find somewhere to anchor, without the benefit of having friendly yachties to advise me. I ended up anchoring in 8 metres of water near a large power vessel also at anchor. Next I had to find a place to park the dingy so I could walk to the town. After a lap of the water front I chose a, respectable looking, jetty where fuel was sold. With much gesticulating I managed to ask if I could leave my dingy on their jetty. For a charge of RP5,000 or around AU$0.50 per day I could come and go as I pleased knowing the dingy would be safe. Before I could do any shopping I needed to change some money. It was Saturday, there where two banks, at least at is all I found, and they were closed and the ATM did not take my VISA card. Well at least the town had an ATM. I unsuccessfully prowled the streets trying to find anyone who could speak English. I eventually approached a shop owner selling mobile phones, asked if he wanted to change American dollars – success eventually. Armed with Indonesian Rupiah I went shopping and had a hair cut.

Sinabang is part of Aceh province and is predominantly Moslem. The chanting/wailing coming from the mosques must be an acquired taste. To me it sounded like a good laxative was required to alleviate the apparent pain that these people seemed to be enduring. Not very PC, but hey, you should have heard some of the karaoke wailing! Oh and it is Ramadan, as well, where followers fast during the day. The normal food stalls were not open. Sinabang was an interesting town, more like it should have come out of a Hollywood wild west town without the bars - no alcohol.

Labuhanbajau (Simeulue)

The island of Simeulue near where the earthquake that triggered the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami happened. Judging by some of the coral high and dry I got the distinct impression the earth did move.
My itchy, sand fly bitten leg became very painful and swollen. It is very difficult not to scratch. Thanks to the suggestions from the ever helpful Rachel I decided to put myself onto a course of antibiotics to avoid any infections. This was not a place I wanted to spend anytime looking for doctors or finding a hospital if there was one.

Friday September 3, it rained – it bucketed down. I could have had a rain water bath in the dingy had I not already had a rainwater shower. Sadiqi’s water tanks were full again. I needed to change money and get some fresh supplies before the two day voyage to the northern end of Sumatra, I headed for Sinabang the largest town on the island of Simeulue.

Babi

Pulau Babi and the neighbouring island of Lasia are absolutely beautiful – the water was crystal clear – I could see every detail of Sadiqi’s anchor in 7 metres of water, great for snorkelling.
These two islands are not permanently inhabited and have mainly natural vegetation – no coconut plantations or cultivation. After several days at Babi I, literally, got itchy feet. I went ashore to burn rubbish and was bitten by sand flies, something I react quite badly to. To compound it I also had a prickly heat rash so the itch was all over!

I left Pulau Babi and passed the island of Lasia onTuesday August 31, headed for Labuhanbajau the southern end Pulau Simeulue. I tried trawling for fish as I motored north, even tried several different lures. Judging by the fish jumping out of the water, not too far away, and birds feeding on them I did not have the right lure or technique.

Banyaks

We arrived at a sheltered anchorage on Tuangku island at 2.00am after pretty much motoring for 18 hours. I can’t say I had the best nights sleep due partly to the sound of mosquitoes. The motor was overdue for its 100 hour service. It had been exactly a month since I had last changed the engine oil before entering Indonesian waters. After servicing the engine I followed “Glayva” to the Bay of Plenty (BOP) – a beautiful, safe anchorage with 3 surf breaks – two lefts and a right. BOP had more natural vegetation than other anchorages as there was less habitation and coconut palm plantation. There were several freshwater creeks entering the bay – great for doing the laundry. There was not much swell the first few days so lazy days were spent on the beach in the cool shade of the trees, exploring and watching the antics of the many hermit crabs. I was able to fill the water tanks on “Sadiqi” as it rained heavily on one day. The one day the old dog attempted the new trick, surfing, again he got a right drowning and bounced over the reef. A little too shallow for the old dog!
Fishing – One thing I have discovered is that in order to catch a fish you have to first get the hook wet. I actually bought a fish off some local fisherman for a change in diet. My one attempt at fishing at Sipika delivered me a horrible slimy sucker fish. I had tried trawling a lure several times with little success. Something that I am going to have to work on – the catching of fish that is. I started to get itchy feet again and it was time to move on. Friday August 27 I departed BOP and headed to Babi Island followed by “Glayva” This was a day motor – 40 miles passing the uninhabited island of Bangkaru on the way.

Sibolga

I had to clear into Indonesia – Immigration and Customs. Fortunately, the ever helpful Mark and Rachel had advised me about what to do and where to go. “Glayva” had arrived several hours before “Sadiqi”, being a larger faster yacht.
Sibolga being a large town the challenge can be find a place where to put the dingy when going ashore. Fortunately, enterprising Mama Devy had a small jetty and kept an eye on the dingy for a price, I took a peddle power becak to Immigration. I had forgotten that I would be risking my life in the Indonesian traffic – chaotic to say the least. The bureaucracy can be very tedious and a real run around, being tired does not help. The visa cost US$25. After a good nights sleep I would attempt to get to Customs and the Harbour Master to clear “Sadiqi” in. Oh yes, the customs official don’t speak English and of course I don’t speak much Indonesian – interesting. August 17 is Indonesian Independence Day. Sibolga’s main religion is Islam and many of the population were partaking in Ramadan – fasting during the day. With the chanting coming from the mosques, think some of the imams, should work on their singing :o) Fortunately some of the shops were open. I met Nick on yacht “Lavinia”, another solo yachtsman and surfer. He took me for a good tour of the markets and shops. It rained a fair bit while in Sibolga, this enabled me to fill up the water tanks. Not having had much rain out on the islands I was grateful for the opportunity. Sibolga receives around 4,500mm of rainfall a year. Customs proved a challenge as the wheels needed to be lubricated (US$40) due to me not having Sibolga on my CAIT documentation. I live and learn. Prior to leaving Sibolga I had to visit the Harbour Master to get a clearance certificate to the next port. This was an exercise in patience, something for which I’m not known for. Again, I had to get numerous copies of passports, ship registration, CAIT etc., All this information was laboriously transcribed by hand into several ledgers, a large, ancient typewriter, best suited to a museum, was used to painstakingly produce the clearance certificate. It was a step back in time to before the arrival of computers. Once I had reprovisioned and refuelled I was able to wander around the town and take in some of the sites. I’d have to say that Sibolga was not exactly a tourist Mecca. There were several hotels, Surf charter operators pick up their clients form Sibolga for the trip out to the islands. “Glayva” and “Sadiqi” departed Sibolga on Saturday August 21, the day of the Australian election, headed for the Banyak group of islands. I have to commend the autopilot “Ken” for working well when there was no wind, which, alas, was most of the time off Sumatra. “Smithy” the windpilot had a well earned rest from steering the boat.