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SAIL TO KENTAR -INDONESIA |
Jury
Rigging the Steering
Oct 22
After discovering that the autopilot
would not come to life, Bob and Gord spent a number of hours
jury rigging a spare auto pilot that was on board Stardust.
They drilled holes in the deck and made mounts with an array of
wood blocks scavenged from the bilges. The whole contraption
looked quite foreboding and we wondered our fate as we finally
set sail for Kentar, a 3 day sail away. |
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We were in the transition season
between the south and north monsoons at these latitudes at this
time of year. That means calms and squalls mostly, with some
nor'westers (the direction we are headed) thrown in for good
measure.
October 25
98.6 deg F in the cabin
We had the company of a large Egret
bird that roosted on the end of our boom for the night. It must
have been hard for him to hang on because the faulty self
steering caused the boat to do a number of near accidental
jibes, but each time I shone my flashlight in his direction,
there he was!
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We struggled steering with the wind
vane which would not steer the boat to any course we could use.
It would keep steering the boat into the wind until the main
tried to crash across on a jibe. With extreme frustration we
hand steered through the rough seas, fortunately the winds were
only 15 to 18 knots. Gord spent 90% of the day and night hanging
over the transom trying to modify and adjust the windvane, but
with not much luck.
We spent the night herding the boat
into the moonless night, the smoke concealing any stars that may
have been in the sky. Instead our shining star was the masthead
light from "Gone with the Wind" who led us along
our rum line and notified us of the boat traffic we needed to
avoid.
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By the end of the following day, we
were sailing wing on wing and Gord finally got the wind vane to
steer a rough course line with only the occasional need for
readjustment. It meant we still had to sit behind the helm but
only needed to "help" the self steering every once in a while
when it lost its mind. |
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But it was not long after that the
wind died completely and the Iron Horses had to be brought into
action. So now it was time to test the jury rigged auto-pilot
that Bob and Gord had attached to the helm.
At first the belt would only slip
and then the unit would beep its off-course alarm. We were
wandering all over the ocean while Gord tried to remedy the
situation. With advice from Bob, Gord did a make shift
conversion to the auto-pilot, with vice grips holding the belt
to the wheel, a block tied to the rail providing tension to the
belt, and a whole spider web of lines and pullies holding the
entire thing in place. But it worked reasonably well and we
motored into the night, again following our leading star "Gone
with the Wind", each of us getting a good night's rest
on our off watches. |
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| A little tweety bird
joined me for the night, precariously trying to balance on the
lifeline very close to me. He appeared so exhausted and scrawny. I
reached for a banana tied to the stern and offered to share it with
him but his only interest was to get some rest. |
Indonesian Squid Boats
Surrounding us in every direction
were banks of bright million candle power lights that light up
the cockpit enough to read by, a mile away in the blackness of
the night. At one point I counted 35 of these boats that glowed
along the horizon. It was a game of dodge-um, made easy while
the fishing boats were lit, but often the boats would turn off
all the lights and were only visible on radar. |
October 26
94.6 deg F, 100% humidity, in
cabin with all the fans blowing.
Mobile
Aviary
Perhaps because we were so far from shore and the heat was so
intense, we started to see more and more swallow type birds circling
the boat, trying to find any available spot to land. One thought
Gord's hair made a suitable nesting site and was perfectly content
to remain there. Soon we had an ever increasing flock of tweedie
birds on every available perch on the boat. |
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"Port & Starboard" came
aboard to help out with the steering! |
Gone to the Birds
But then our cabin
suddenly turned into a birdhouse! Birds were flying through the
companionway and settling themselves inside too. They were all
so fatigued, thirsty and hungry that we could put our finger out
and they would hop on for transport back out to the cockpit. We
offered cherrios and water but I think the birds just wanted a
place to rest from heat exhaustion. |
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Becky does Taps
But as time went on, some of the
birds' vigor declined rapidly. One of our little friends was
failing fast so we tried to administer water, attempted CPR, but
alas, the tiny frail creature expired. We then discussed using
the 5 birds aboard GWTW for poll bearers.
We wondered about performing a
proper Viking Funeral, or perhaps if the birdie would like a
last flight from our flare gun, or maybe.... fried chicken?, but
we settled on Taps over the radio by Becky and
burial at sea. We set him afloat in a Tupperware container. |
In a short while we got a call from
GWTW who had another visitor roust on their boat. It was
a small hawk-like bird but what was astonishing was that he had
our little deceased bird in his mouth! A coffin robber.
Throughout the day we were
constantly bombarded by birds flying into the cabin. Perhaps to
get away from the Hawk that also took a short reprise on our
spreaders. But the hawk found easier pickings at GWTW,
where he brazenly swooped into their cockpit and snatched a
little birdie from a row resting on the top of their doorway. He
did this twice, until Liam and Annie moved the birdies under the
table for the night.
Unfortunately, over the course of
the evening the bird fatality grew. We lost another, while
several died on both Stardust and GWTW.
Was this Asian Bird Flu coming to our doorstep?? Oh. the
perils of the sea!
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Bird of a Different Feather
We also got a visit
from a pencil thin white heron-looking bird who looked
bedraggled, his feathers stuck together by dried salt, although
his lack of webbed feet indicated that he was not a waterbird.
He clung to the antenna for a while before moving over to
GWTW, a much steadier platform to rest upon. |
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We motored through the night on flat
seas with absolutely no wind. It made using the jury rigged
auto-pilot possible but seriously diminished our fuel supply. We
still had 100 miles to go to our destination island of Kentar,
in the northern area of the Lingga Islands. |
Back
to the Northern Hemisphere
October 27
By 8 am it was smoking hot an
indication, I suppose, that we were getting closer to the
equator. Today we would cross the equator for the second time,
bringing us back into the Northern Hemisphere. Since we
were already Shellbacks, I felt I didn't need to bake another
chocolate cake - cookies and wine would pacify King Neptune
this time. |
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Crossing the Equator, again
We decided that we would all cross
over the 00.00.00N line at the same time so coordinated our boat
speed and course lines. It was GWTW's first
crossing so excitement was in the air. |
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We lined our boats abreast,
Stardust, Ascension and the pollywogs
GWTW . The countdown to Zero..... At the line, we blew
horns, set fireworks, mooned each other (at least Gord and Liam
did!) and toasted King Neptune, sending him offerings for good
luck. A crossing party was planned when we reached the
anchorage. |
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Pic right: Gord, wearing
his "North-South" hat, dedicates a glass of wine; Stardust
isn't taking any chances, he sacrifices the bottle!!
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Kentar
Island
As we approached Kentar,
there were "fish trap houses" on stilts throughout the water.
These were bamboo houses with peaked thatched roofs atop a
platform, from which a net hung below like a huge hammock.
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The
anchorage at Kentar was basically just a huge bay and I was
disappointed that one of the unique fishing villages built over the
mangroves on stilts that I had read so much about was about a mile
away from our location.
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We were soon visited by a boatful of
young boys and I was able to offload some items including school
supplies and balloons. But they were ecstatic when I produced
the big ball, although I wasn't sure how they could play with it
knowing that they came from the "stilt" village on the distant
shore. |
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Shellback Party
Liam taxied us to GWTW,
where Annie had made a sign and strung it across the boat. We
all brought food and drinks and prepared for the festivities.
Soon we heard the bellow of a conch shell as Becky announced the
arrival of King Neptune, complete with crown, carrying his
trident and adorned with squid fish lures.
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Time
for Initiations!
Annie and Liam were prodded to the
swim platform in preparation for their initiation. |
King Neptune performed the
ceremonious inauguration by first dumping water from the
Southern Ocean over the Pollywogs. |
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Then a bucket of water from the Northern Ocean was emptied
over the couple |
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But the initiation wasn't quite
finished. Liam was made to wear a snorkel and mask and then Gord
proceeded to fill the snorkel with beer until the can was
emptied. Liam did a remarkable job of not drowning, in fact, I
think he liked it! |
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now, Congratulations Liam and Annie....you have earned your Shells!
After dinner, Becky presented a
delicious chocolate cake to celebrate a successful Equator
Crossing for all of us!
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Mubut Durat
October 28
We had another windless day dodging
more fish traps. These ones were clusters of bamboo poles
sticking out of the water and there were hundreds of these
clusters. We anchored at Mubut Durat for the night. The
sandy shoreline of the little island looked inviting but we did
not go ashore.
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Nonsa Point Marina
October 29 We arrived at
Nonsa Point Marina, our last port in Indonesia excited about
spending a few days in the luxury of another high class resort
enjoying the pool and restaurant. However, as soon as we tried
to check in we could see there would be a problem.
Since our Indo visas were about to
expire, we checked out of Indonesia in Kumai, so the officials
would not let us land at Nonsa Point, even long enough to
provision. They allowed us to buy fuel and then instructed us to
leave immediately suggesting that we anchor by a nearby island
so as not have to traverse the dangerous fish trap ridden waters
at night. |
Suddenly....a Reef!
We sailed toward the island, setting
course as instructed and using Max Sea. We were carefully
watching the depth contours looking for a suitable spot to drop
the hook. Suddenly, although the chart showed we were in 20
meters of water, we heard a horrid crunching and scraping and
Ascension came to an abrupt stop. We had hit the reef!
After several attempts to back off
and pick our way out of the dangers, we left the island
anchorage and found our own spot in the bay off the mainland.
There was no way to asses the damage at that point in time, we
could only hope it wasn't too severe.
The following morning we set sail
early for Singapore.
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| A strong sense of
sadness was felt as we sailed out of Indonesia and crossed over to
Singapore. We had never felt threatened or endangered at any time,
only warmly welcomed by genuine loving people. Three months was not
nearly enough time to explore all the vastness of the country's
treasures that Indonesia has to offer. Each place has been unique,
both in topography and culture, and we feel that the Indonesian
cruising experience has been a highlight that we will cherish for
years to come. |
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