Bali to Nongsa Point, Indonesia (opposite Singapore)
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Fri 16 Nov 2012 05:20
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01:11.820N 104:05.823E
This has to have been one of the more unpleasant
passages that we have endured and for the sake of historical record and those
following in our footsteps it is worth recording.
Day1: We left Bali marina at low water as
recommended. The marina ranked with Balboa, Panama as one of the dirtiest
places we have been to with the boat covered in dust and grime and the
bottom sprouting all sorts of growth! All this not helped by aeroplanes
taking off overhead and an enormous new road and bridge being
built in time for a World conference next year. Helen's knee was
bandaged following the cartilage operation and Mark's finger bandaged with
the stitches just removed---he also had jet lag and emotional fatigue! All in
all not the best state for boat and crew to be in at the start of a 10 day
passage (980 miles).
We fought a 6 knot foul tide up the Selat between
Bali and Lombok and although we hugged the Bali coast we found little of the
reverse current that the pilot book promised. Unfortunately the currents in the
Selats do not change with the tides but follow the monsoons and in the
transition period between south east and north west monsoon the current runs
continually south ie against us at anything between 2 and 6 knots and even more
at springs. It was dark when we reached the top of Bali, and we were greeted
with a big following sea and wind up to 30 knots. We then turned west and with
the wind behind us had a good night's sail.
Day 2: Dawn brought no wind but a very confused sea
coming from all directions and a a 2 knot counter current. A bit of wind later
gave us a boat speed of about 4 knots but the speed over ground (SOG) was
only 2 knots. Engine on.
The wind increased after midday and we were
approaching a group of low lying atoll islands where we would pass between two
of the atolls and turn north into the Java Sea and the wind would come onto our
beam. We had seen no ships all day but it was no surprise when 4 large
ships appeared on the AIS, coming from all directions but converging on the same
narrow pass! We all squeezed through and as we turned north the wind died and
the sea went flat. In the space of a few hundred metres the conditions had
changed completely. Engine on.
Day 3: Engine had been on all night. We tried the
cruising chute but SOG was under 3 knots which for passage making is not
acceptable as far as we are concerned----4+ knots is the minimum and 5 knots
preferred. Motored all day in extreme heat--the sea temperature was 34 degrees
and the cabin temperature augmented by the engine heat was even greater.
Humidity was off the scale!!
Helen removed her stitches!!
Day 4: Having motored into the early evening the
wind returned (about 10-12 knots) so up went the sails and we started sailking
again downwind on the starboard gybe (main to port and genny poled out to
starboard). At 0200 the MV Kintamani appeared on AIS with a closest point of
approach of under half a mile in 45 minutes. She was approaching our
starboard beam and technically as a sailing boat we were stand on boat ie had
right of way. We tracked her carefully and when she was about 6 miles
off and the CPA was still under half a mile Mark called her up on the
VHF. The response was not encouraging! Mark reported to her that we
were a sailing yacht and also gave our course and speed (he would have known
this anyway from his radar or AIS) and asked what his intentions were. A
rather nervous voice suggested that Marita should maintain her course and speed
and that we would pass red to red (ie port side to port side)-----an
impossibility unless he crossed in front of us and then turned towards us! Mark
pointed this out to him, so he then said he would turn to port and drop behind
us (the sensible and expected course of action). The AIS and visual inspection
showed him turning to starboard. Did he know his left from right?? The CPA was
now down to under 500 feet in 11 minutes! More discussion on the radio and his
voice became even more nervous with an element of panic setting in. Mark did not
want to turn to starboard in case the ship suddenly turned to port
especially as the ship had asked us to maintain our course and speed. By
this time the time to impact was reducing rapidly and Mark was still asking him
to take decisive action. We could hear over the VHF other voices presumably
telling the officer of the watch what to do. Finally he took action and turned
hard to starboard and came across our bows about 400 yards in front. All this
happened despite us having AIS, the Seame (radar signal enhancer) and at one
time flashlights shining on our sails to make us even more visible.
Camelot who were about 2 miles behind us heard all
this going on over the VHF but they were close to disaster when nearly
rammed by a fishing boat ----in taking evasive action they ripped their
gennaker (cruising chute) from top to toe. The fishing boats in the these
Indonesian waters have booms fore and aft which hold a string of very powerful
lights that run from forward to aft. These lights shine over the
side
so that they can see their nets/lines. The problem
is that he lights are so bright, just like stadium lights, it must make it
nearly impossible to see and thus effectively blind to any anything that is
beyond the light. We counted nearly 60 fishing boats one evening stretching for
miles and miles all spaced evenly out around us.
Day 5: Motoring all day in flat calm. We
transferred 100 litres of diesel from jerry cans to the main tank. The diesel
helped Mark remenber to change the bandage on his finger!!
Day 6: The fuel situation was getting desperate as
whatever calculations we did they showed it as being very close as to whether or
not we had enough to motor the rest of the way and the forecast was no wind. At
about 0900 a fishing boat appeared from nowhere and motored over to us. They
waved a fish at us and Mark waved back with a jerry can. The international
language for communication at sea was fully understood and within minutes we
received a line from them to which we attached jerry cans and our own
line. They pulled their line back, filled the cans and we pulled them back
together with the Spanish mackerel. We then sent over a bottle of whisky, a
bottle of cane rum (42%) and 1.1 million rupiah. Back came the rupiah---not
accepted with a signal from the skipper suggesting the diesel came as a gift
from his heart. The crew were all so happy and keen football supporters,
Manchester City this year as they like to support winners! We departed and
Camelot went over and exchanged gifts for diesel. A humbling and amazing
experience ----''fish and diesel'' rather than ''fish and bread''!
Continued to motor sail but faster now as we had
more fuel and could run the engine faster into the contiuning 2 knot adverse
current.
A major thunderstorm that evening----lightning,
torrential rain and 25 knot wind coming from different directions so useless for
trying to sail---very little sleep that night.
We had wind but an awful motion as the sea was very
confused and the wind was now on the nose! Camelot were ahead of us and the MV Morning Star
mistook them for us. More discussions on the VHF between Mark and the skipper as
Mark tried to persuade him that
there were two yachts, not made easier by the fact
that Camelot does not have AIS. Eventually he twigged what was happening
and he turned and went astern of us.
Helen's leg had now swollen up so she had to spend
as much time as possible with her leg in the air to try and reduce the swelling.
Little sleep for Mark
Day 7: Motoring in flat sea, no wind and 2 knot
counter current despite having decided to take the more westerly course to avoid
the main shipping lane and deeper water where the current is normally strongest.
That still did not prevent 700 foot cargo boats following and coming down the
same route and neither did the current reduce.
In the afternoon we had heavy rain squalls with nil
visibility and squally wind---useless for sailing.
Leg in the air although watches maintained. Mark's
finger improving---recommended treatment is now immersion in a mix a salt water
and diesel.
Day 8: Motoring---equator in sight when we were not
in a rain squall! We crossed into the Northern hemisphere at about 1415 in a
flat sea with no wind.
Leg still in the air but swelling
reducing.
Day 9: The fuel situation was getting desperate
again----was the gauge faulty because the calculations based on anticpated usage
rates suggested that we had at least another 120 litres whereas the gauge said
about 30 litres. We were still motoring but as we approachjed the Selat Riau the
counter current turned to a positive current. Our other problem was that we had
no tide tables and were unsure whether we would have a favourable tide north
through the Selat. The tide can flow South at up to 6 knots but North at only up
to 2 knots. This was over a distance of about 40 miles so it was going to make a
huge difference to our SOG and thus our fuel consumption. We started
planning what we would do if the fuel ran out-----however by an amazing stroke
of luck we had a positive tide for about 8 hours all the way through the last
part of the Selat and round to the Marina. We arrived still motoring in a flat
calm with no wind. A sleepless night.
Within an hour of arrival there was a
thunderstorm, strong wind and lightning!
Later that afternoon the tide had gone out----what
the pilot book or indeed the Marina irself had failed to tell us was that there
is no entry into the Marina at very low water. Luckily we did not have to wait
for several hours to enter!
The leg now came down to the vertical position and
Mark's bandage came off!!
Summary:
1,097.9 miles (it should have been 980 miles but
the current took us back over 100 miles)
217 hours (9 days and 1 hour)
5 knots average boat speed.
158 engine hours (73% of passage time). Well done
the Yanmar!
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