No wind, little fuel......
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Sun 11 Nov 2012 06:15
We are now 5 days into this 990 mile passage. We set off with wind but very strong counter currents (up to 5 knots) in Selat Lombok between Bali and Lombok. This was followed by 24 hours of good sailing wind but when we passed into the Java Sea the wind disappeared - nothing but oily calm for 3 days. We have therefore been motoring continuously and our fuel reserves crept ominously low. Every calculation we did showed that reaching Nongsa Point would be touch and go with the fuel we had on board. We reduced engine speed to try and conserve fuel and wait for some wind - none was forecast. Then we hit strong counter currents, up to 2 knots for the last 24 hours, so our chances of making it to Nongsa became practically nil. Today is another day of oily calm with rain, thunder and lightening on the horizon! Desperate measures were needed so this morning Mark flagged down an Indonesian fishing Boat. To cut a long story short the fishing boat crew transferred 100 litres of diesel to us in our jerry cans, passed to him on a long line. Back came the full cans plus a Spanish Mackerel. Back went a bottle of whisky and a bottle of cane rum (44 per cent!) plus 1 million rupaih. The money was returned, they would not accept it. Camelot then arrived, they received a fish and fuel and returned rum, coffee and CDs. Again money was refused. This all took about an hour then we all went our separate ways with much shouting about Manchester City and Manchester United - the Indonesians are very keen football fans!
All in all a rather humbling experience given how poor they are. We are now motoring at our normal speed towards the South China Sea.
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