Thunderbolts and Lightning, Very Very Frightening
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Sun 27 Oct 2019 05:54
Our final rally event before heading up to Singapore and Malaysia was at Belitung
Island. We celebrities were treated to a school visit, shopping trip in town (opportunities to re-provision have been built into the later tours), visit to the Unesco Geopark visitor centre, lunch in traditional style with the locals, a stop to see local boat building and of course the Gala Dinner. The dinner turned out to be one of the best with good food, a brilliant and talented mix of traditional and contemporary musical entertainment and the yachties joining in the dancing and flag waving to the accompaniment of Rod Stewart’s “Sailing”. In fact these gala dinners have, after the initial misgivings about the interminable and incomprehensible speeches from local dignitaries, turned out to be some of the more memorable events. On Bawean Island we had a brilliant time singing and dancing with the Regent, local people and traditional dancers. At the Belitung dinner the evening was rounded off with a local covers band who finished, much to our initial scepticism, with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Probably with thanks to the Bintang beer it was great fun and, as it turns out, surprisingly prescient with the line about thunderbolts and lightning.
As we have approached the Equator daily thunderstorms have become the norm. The pattern seems to be storms over the sea during the day and then over the land at night. This is born out by the CAPE values shown in the weather Grib files. With Sumatra to the east and Borneo to the west it is a bit like sailing along the Venezuelan coast where the night time lightning display was spectacular. Lightning is the most wonderful display when at a distance but when you can also hear the thunder you know it is close enough to be a potential worry. With the radar we can see the areas of heavy rainfall and plot the progress of the storms. Often the direction of movement of the storm and the wind direction at the boat can be different. It is also amazing how quickly a storm can develop and then equally quickly just fade away. Unlike ocean squalls the storms are almost impossible to sail around but you may be able to avoid the worst if you can keep ahead or to one side of their trajectory. On the positive side the storm may bring enough wind to sail by - there having been little opportunity sail without the engine for a couple of weeks although we have passed stalwarts determined not to use the engine - but on the one occasion we were caught in one we had to hunker down under reefed mainsail and engine in 35kts of wind. Leaving the engine running is about the only positive measure we can find for when encountering a thunderstorm on the basis that if you lose your mast and all your electrics at least the engine may still be running! So, distant storms are beautiful, close ones terrifying and we (well, me actually, Annie is more phlegmatic) have spent many moments gazing at the flashing blackness and hoping it skirts by.
You may recall that a couple of posts ago we had discovered that the seawater intake pump for cooling the engine has developed a leak. We have tracked down a new pump in Singapore (so that we can keep the existing one with new seals as a backup) but the supplier won’t deliver and so we have to work out a way of getting the pump to a location we can receive it. Or we need to go and pick it up from the supplier but we have decided we are not going to check into Singapore as the cost and formalities don’t justify it. We can however get to Singapore as foot passengers either from Nongsa Point marina in Indonesia or Puteri marina in Malaysia. We have now arrived at Nongsa Marina - and very comfortable it is too - from where we can get a fast ferry across to Singapore. So it looks like we can do our Singapore visit from here rather than from Puteri, pick up the pump while over there and then fit it here before cancelling our Puteri reservation and skipping Puteri on the next leg up the coast of Malaysia.
In the meantime my anxiety over the lightning has been compounded by the fear that the pump leak will turn into a major inflow, the engine overheats and/or water will get into the engine oil via the shaft that drives the pump. Now, some people take these things in their stride and relish the opportunity to problem solve and be self reliant. Sometimes I can come into this category but increasingly I ask myself why we are going through this self inflicted torment when we could be at home with family and friends and sailing be part of a more balance lifestyle instead of the major part of it. So much so that I have recently been convinced that the best thing would be to ship Vega up to the Mediterranean next March. Ironically Annie would be the most disappointed not to finish the circumnavigation now that we have got so far. However, as we float in the pool and look across to the lights of Singapore and the beautiful thunderstorms flashing in the background I think, well, maybe just another 18 months.............
Celebrating efforts to protect the Orang Utan. The Orang doesn’t seem that happy about it................
I have just read this with a wry smile after posting the piece on Kumai. The Orang are still here 30 years later................
Our usual police escort
Sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf within a bamboo pole is cooked over a fire for two hours. There may be coconut milk and chilli with something savour in the rice.
Riverside living in Kumai
Dancers in traditional Dress will be an enduring memory of Indonesia