Nongsa Point Marina: civilzation with a capital C.
Fleck
Tue 14 Sep 2010 16:11
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Tuesday, 14th September.
Recent Anchorage 0:49.2N
104:21.1E Off P Pangkil, Riau Group of islands
Current location 01:11.015N
104:05.845E Nongsa Point Marina and Resort, Batam island, Riau
Group
Delighted to be resting up after a difficult
passage up from Bali, and amazed to discover how far you can travel on a tank of
diesel and some spare jerrycans. This has been by far the longest stretch
of 'motoring' I have ever done, and for the most part in fairly calm and very
hot conditions. Whilst it may just be that a decent amount of wind would have
blown in next week the odds at this time of the year were heavily against this
possibility, and my Indonesian Visa runs out in ten days time. So, no plan
B.
Each morning I would dip the tank to
estimate the daily fuel consumption, and try to work out how much diesel
would be left at the end. And then as Donald Rumsfelt observed we came to the
unknowns. The fuel tank is a square box with a flat bottom. Usually the take off
point is at a higher level, so that the 'dregs' don't contaminate and block the
fuel injectors. So how far above the bottom? An inch? Thats quite a lot of miles
of fuel. And then again what if it's rough towards the end: as the boat heels
won't the take off pipe fill with air as the fuel slops around? Diesel
engines run on diesel, not air.
Anyway, after rounding Belitung we picked up some
very useful current, and in no time were approaching the rather charmingly named
Wild Pigeon Reef: a point of no return to go looking for fuel on
Belitung at least, and so we pressed on, and after another good 24 hour run, it
seemed that no more pit stops would be required. Brief panic during the
night when the autopilot switched itself off. Left to its own devices the boat
slowly turned to starboard, and then turned in tight circles with the rudder
pushed over by the prop wash effect. Because there was a strong current directly
behind us we continued 'on course'. The seas were calm, and the
disturbance was soundless. I came up on deck for a routine check to find us
pirouetting over the seas. I turned the autopilot back on and it has continued
to work fine, so I have no explanation. When I zoomed into my trail on the
chart plotter I could see that this had been going on for nearly an hour: the
line was like a corkscrew. So odd, that I took a photo of the
screen. Imagine being spotted by a passing fishing vessel: 'Couldn't help
noticing your navigation lights, mate. Would you like to have the next dance
with me?' All in Bahasa Indonesia, the Official language, of course!
In my last missive I mentioned the phenomenon of
the dissapearing fishing fleet: the sea around you looks vast, but the visible
horizon is not so far away. Ships lights can be seen at a much greater distance.
Anyway I can confirm that what these fishing boats do during the day is anchor,
and the crew then go to sleep. This is possible because this part of the
South China Sea is the biggest shallow stretch of sea anywhere on the planet,
North Sea included. So the anchor chain reaches the bottom practically anywhere.
Well, I'm dozing in the cockpit about midday, looking backwards as you
invariably do, when this great big fishing boat appears alongside, going
backwards, about fifty yards away, and no sign of life. Then I figured
it out: he's anchored, I'm moving forwards, and that was quite close enough
thank you! One or two close encouters with much bigger craft as well: you just
can't keep watch all the time, but these seas are really busy. Eventually I was
more concerned about collision than those wretched squalls.
Until we got to the equator. Now that I am
experienced at 'crossing the line' I had planned nothing special to
mark the occasion of my return to Northern climes, however the weather had other
plans, and unleashed the biggest squall of the trip exactly as we slipped from S
to N. As usual it didn't last long, but the initial blasts of wind, at 40 kts,
were quite a shocking experience. Even with the initially calm seas, sheets of
spray were lifted off the wavelets and driven accross the boat with stinging
force. Within a few minutes the waves had built and progress under power was
impossible. visibility was nil, so I put the wheel down, lashed it, and went
below. It's called lying ahull, and is supposed to be quite restful. Which
is a lie in itself. Anyway it all got better after a while, and no harm
done.
The shortest passage to Nongsa Point is through the
Selat Riau between the Main islands of Batam and Bintan. About 40 miles. We
approached in the evening, just as the tide turned foul, and by 2am we were only
a third of the way up, and had several close encounters with big cargo
ships coming down the main channel, and problems with unlit or perhaps
non existant beacons and buoys. So I decided to anchor off one of the Islands.
No moon, so an approach using the depth sounder, and let go in 10 metres.
Let out 35 metres of chain, hard astern to set the anchor, and whats this
alongside? Yes, it's a mangrove tree! Depth guage now? one metre! Nothing like
anchor games at 2am on a moonless night. Eventually settled to my partial
satisfaction, but haunted through the night by the possibility of another 40 kts
of wind arriving with no notice at all, and blowing us and our little anchor to
kingdom come. Come dawn, not a cloud in the sky, and a very enjoyable passage
through the rest of the Strait, many traditional stilt villages, and further
North, evidence of Industrialisation. Comercial high speed ferries racing
alongside dugout canoes with solitary fishermen. You can still see it all out
here, but for how much longer?
Through into the Singapore Strait, and 5miles to
Nongsa Point Marina: a government approved development to attract
Singaporeans for recreation. Very plush indeed, very cheap mooring rates for me,
but food and drink is at Singapore prices, and is quoted in Singapore dollars.
Another big benefit is that I can do a complete clearance out of Indonesia
without leaving the Marina, and at very little cost. A huge boon. Finaly clean
bathrooms, hot showers and free swimming pool, and free internet access. I
do like my creature comforts!
Quite a lot of boat work to be done, including a
complete engine service, having just done one two weeks ago in Bali! I am
waiting around here for a month now, until the sumatras have died down a bit,
before proceeding up the Malacca Strait in a series of mostly day hops. Will
move over to Singapore when my visa runs out, anchoring in Singaporean Waters is
forbidden, and the Marinas are expensive.
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