>From Belitung we had hoped not to need to do anymore overnight passages. Overnight can be quite stressful with the fishing fleets going out in the night, some of them lit (though rarely with ‘proper’ navigation lights) and some unlit until you hear the putter of their engine and they shine a torch at you from under your bow.  There is also the risk of unlit FADs (Fish Attracting Devices) which can be anything from a plastic buoy to a small house on stilts and floating debris or nets that can foul the propeller!  Our  hope was dashed firstly by reports that anchorages up the coast of Bangka Island, which would have broken up the 120 mile leg from Belitung, were not good in the current conditions and then by a squall that blew up from the north west making the small island we planned to use to break up the 85 miles from the north end of Bangka to Lingga an upwind battle.  In the end both passages were easy.  Coasting up Bangka the wind was light and from behind so we motored the whole 120 miles with just a couple of squalls heavy enough to make us put on our rain coats.  The fishing boats were mostly squid boats which are so brightly lit you can see them from 12 miles away, and which fish while anchored so you don’t have to judge which direction they are moving. We anchored in a quiet bay at the north end of Bangka Island at 1000 the next morning. The next day, when the squall north of Bangka eased a wind picked up that was perfect for sailing to Lingga, so we sailed slowly through a pleasant night with good moonlight and anchored at the southern end of Lingga at 0740.

Our route from Belitung, in the south,  to Nongsa Point via : 1 North Bangka Island, 2 South Lingga, 3 P Konga Besar, 4 Benan, 5 Sembulan
A 20 mile sail the next day (short, but time enough for a squall) took us to Pulau Konga Besar: a well sheltered anchorage between 3 islands, one of which was home to a stilt village. 

The fishing fleet at Konga Besar all seemed to have the same supplier as about 20 identical boats went out at 4pm, and more the next morning

This group of young people came out from the village and offered us coconuts and local snacks.  The young man at the back spoke some English and was hoping to go to the mainland to study Public Administration.  We saw lots of boats rowed like this around this area (and also in Vietnam).  They often went out a long way fishing

Between Pulau Konga Besar and Pulau Benan we crossed the equator in glassy calm conditions fitting to the doldrums.  We had stopped at Benan last year where we had a nice meal at a Warang on the jetty, but that was lunchtime and we arrived too late so after a walk across to the far side of the island and through the village we retired to Serenity for supper and to watch the night’s lightening show.

Flat calm to cross the Equator

The signs on the beach were new since last year

We inturrupted the evening game of volleyball at Benan when the teams stopped to pose for photos!

Colourful village at Benan

>From Benan we had two pleasant day’s sailing with a quiet night in an unremarkable anchorage in between to arrive at Nongsa Point marina on Saturday afternoon. We had been told that we could clear out for Malaysia within 24 hours of arrival and the Marina staff came down to the boat to start the process as soon as we were tied up. It was reasonably busy with a number of front running boats from the Wonderful Indonesia rally (which we took part in last year) and more British boats than we have seen in a long time.  We got to know some of them and exchange stories over drinks in the resort bar.  On Sunday afternoon we paid our bill and received our clearance papers in return, ready to cross the Singapore Strait back to Malaysia once more.