Anambas to Miri via Natuna 04:23.1N 113:58.3E
Serenity of Swanwick
Phil and Sarah Tadd
Fri 28 Jun 2024 06:48
After Anambas the rally split in two to return from these Indonesian islands to Malaysia. There is a South Easterly route via Kuching, 260 miles close to the wind
followed by three day sails to Miri or the direct line, stopping at Natuna on the way, sailing just North of East. The normal problem with going via Natuna is that there is no port of entry/exit there so yachts can visit but then you have to return 130 miles
to Anambas to clear out. An extension to the rally has arrangements for clearing out of Natuna if you subscribe to it. We had and it was this extension which gave us the use of Iski to help us do clearance in Anambas, to attend the dinner at the folklore festival
and go to the turtle release. In Natuna we would have a day tour, and a gala dinner plus the clear out and of course goody bags with tee shirts at both island groups. We would also be more likely to be sailing downwind or with the wind on the beam, which is
potentially faster and more comfortable. Three boats were planning to stop in Natuna, ourselves, Kaihanu and Sabbatical II, both Sabbatical and us wanted to visit Moon Rock Bay a pool between two islands with the Moon Rock, a rock outcrop said to glow in the moonlight. It was with this in mind that
we set out early on Saturday taking a winding course between reefs. We had waypoints from another yacht and were able to follow these to avoid most of the reefs but also keeping a good lookout. There was one point where, taking ours eyes of the ball for a
short spell we did actually touch a shallow patch, a good reminder and lucky that it was only a glancing touch with our keel. Further on a local boat signalled to us and guided us around one reef. Eventually clear of the dangers we were able to sail and had
a good passage to Moon Rock Bay, dropping anchor between the reefs. Not having stretched our legs for some time it was great to get ashore and climb up to the top of the rock for a birdseye view of the lagoon.  Looking down from Moon Rock to the anchored boats. We had a further 140 miles to go to Natuna so just over 24 hours given good winds and we certainly started out well flying our cruising chute, a rare outing for this lightweight sail. A couple of hours later and with an increasing wind it had to come down and
we continued with main and Genoa. The wind increased during the day but eased down overnight, we managed to sail to within a couple of miles of our destination at Selahang Bay where there were rainy squalls coming off the land as we headed in to anchor and
it seemed best to use the engine. We anchored in the bay in 4.5 m of water on a good Sandy bottom. We had jobs to do on board so didn’t go ashore until the next day which started with another squall which proved that our anchor was secure. Going ashore in the afternoon we had a walk along the road and beach and were soon invited into a family home, communication was difficult but a lot of photos were taken. We were even offered a share of their evening meal, politely declined as they didn’t appear
to have much and we had already arranged to eat at the local cafe.  A lovely family who invited us is in to their home. In the cafe with the crews of Sabbatical, David and Janet and Kaihanu, Warwick and Kazi we met with Alz our tourism office rep. and his wife Daisy and son. Although it seemed an odd request to them we had asked if the tour arranged for us could be brought forward
a day so that we had the option of departing early for Miri. We wanted the best weather window for the next 340 miles. Alz was able to arrange this and also arranged to collect our paperwork for clearance the next morning. While we waited for our meal the
cafe owners eleven year old daughter asked if we minded answering some questions, her English was amazing and we happily discussed traditional dress and food in our countries. Wednesday morning we were ready for our tour with Yuanita our guide, first off was a small village to see 'Gassing'. Many countries have spinning tops as children's toys but here it is a serious competitive sport, we were given the opportunity to try but neither
Warwick or Phil were able to set up a sustained spin 9the women were not invited to try!). Part one of the competition is to spin the Gassing, pick it up on a board and transfer it to a mirror where it is allowed to spin until it stops, can be up to 18 minutes.
The winner is the one that spins longest. In part two the winner tries to smash the losers Gassing as it spins on the ground by spinning his Gassing straight at it (more like throwing it using the spinning string). they can make a replacement in just 15 minutes
using a basic lathe. This sport is very competitive with inter village competitions. At the end we were all given a Gassing to take away.  Gassing Next a visit to the Alif stone park, an area with giant boulders some balanced on each other. One set of boulders is said to resemble the Arabic letter A or Alif.  Alif boulders Then on to the Mosque. Natuna has the largest mosque in the regency which can hold 5000 worshippers, it is used for major occasions and it is designed based on the Taj Mahal with a canal running up the approach from the road. A most impressive building.  Grand Mosque We could not turn down the opportunity of having transport and not go shopping for stores. Firstly the market for veg, then various street side stalls for fruit and finally a reasonable supermarket.The final visit was Air Terjun Gunung Air Hiu a waterfall developed as a swimming pool and recreation area, a great place for a cooling dip in water straight from the mountain.  Waterfall pool Wednesday evening was the Gala Dinner, at Natuna Dive Resort. With only six of us it was never going to be the grand affair proposed but none the less a chance for the Tourist Board to lay on food and entertainment. A really great evening with a barbecue buffet
and displays of Hadrah (traditional drumming), Alu (music created using a large mortar and a number of different length pestles) and Silat (the mock fight) We have seen this at all welcoming events and demonstrates that the host has the strength to protect
the guests. There was a welcoming speech from the head of tourism and Warwick and Kazi gave the reply from the rally. The head of tourism and other officials were very interested in how they could make Natuna more attractive to passing yachts an we hope they
can take on the advice given, to establish a point of entry/exit to enable clearance to take place.  Alu  Hadrah  Group photo time  Fish on the barbecue Thursday we were ready to leave, only because of the weather, we loved the islands and would have liked to stay longer. Eventually just before 5.00 pm our paperwork was ready and after more photos we were free to go, little did we know the conditions that were
waiting for us. We had gas fields to navigate around on this passage but the route was fairly direct, we had been warned of a lot of floating logs between the gas fields and Miri but hopefully we could avoid anything large as we had a full moon for the trip.
The forecast was for a reasonable sailing breeze with occasional squalls up to 25 knotsAfter motoring clear of the bay we were soon sailing with full sail but this was not to last and we ended up motoring until first light when we were able to sail again. We had a reef in the main and when a squall appeared with a wind from the North West Sarah
started rolling away the genoa, we had an exhilarating sail southward, not the direction we wanted to go with gusts up to 38 knots and torrential rain. We furled the genoa right away and put a second reef in the main and managed to get back on course. Soon
the engine was back on and we were motoring again but in the right direction, sailing when we could with lesser squalls coming through. We had been lucky that our autohelm had been set to steer to the wind direction so that as the wind changed direction so
did we. We learnt later by email that both of the other boats had sustained damage with crash gybes. Similar weather continued into the night and the wind topped out at 39 knots. At this point the third reef went into the mainsail. Lesser squalls continued
and then we were back into the routine of sailing when we could and motoring as the wind died to maintain speed for our tidal deadline at Miri. Into the third night the wind was not enough to maintain speed and the mainsail was very noisy as the boat was tossed around by confused sea. We dropped the main totally and Sarah put as many ties around it as possible just in case. Between 9.00 and midnight
Sarah was stood in the cockpit watching out for floating logs and was absolutely drenched by the rain. Phil took over at midnight and Sarah went below to dry off and get some sleep. It became obvious the the wind and seas were increasing and were not going
to ease down for a while, the forecast said 06.00. Phil considered it prudent that Sarah slept in waterproofs and lifejacket which she did, on the floor. On deck with no sails up Phil stopped the engine and Serenity sailed perfectly downwind with water foaming
along either side doing up to 8 knots. Checking later we saw that the maximum gust was 55 knots but the only worries were would it increase anymore and would it ease down before we reached the coast. Luckily the wind did ease a lot and the seas calmed slightly.
We still had swell and wave between 2-3 metres. The approach to Miri is across a gently shallowing bottom from 13 meters at 4 miles off down to 2 meters at the entrance, perfect for breaking waves. The entrance involves making a right angle turn across the direction of the swell this needed to be perfectly
timed and the entrance is narrow. We decided to make our final decision after Kaihanu and Sabbatical had entered, the alternative being another night at sea and sailing Northward to a sheltered anchorage 70 miles away. Kaihanu made it in and we figured that
as a professional fisherman in the past and having sailed a lot on the east coast of Australia Warwick knew what he was doing. Sabbatical also made it in so we were committed. Talking to Warwick, he had been picked up by a wave and was surfing. He dropped
off the back of the wave saw that we was in clear water, gunned his engine and made the entrance. We were moving more slowly and instead of surfing we tended to get picked up by the waves and then quickly ride over the top and get into the next trough we gunned
our engine and made the turn into perfectly flat calm water. An exciting ride.  Miri entrance We later heard that Kealoha had been the first boat in this morning but she came in from further south with the waves on her beam. At the entrance she had been knocked sideways toward the rocks and had to turn west away from the entrance then approach from
the same direction as us. We were all safely in and tied up with tales to tell. Serenity had performed perfectly through all of this passage and apart from Sarah's lifejacket accidentally inflating and setting off the attached AIS personal locator beacon (luckily
no-one else picked up the signal) no damage. |