Approaching Java
Digiboat's "Product Testing"
Simon Blundell
Fri 4 Mar 2011 20:10
04:30.141S
102:22.55E
Wonderful to be at
sea again - as Tim says, "One longs for land, but not for long", The
officialdom in Padang as well as an inexperienced guide tended to be quite
off-putting. If you want read detailed account of the corruption and
obfuscation Simon faced, read his report at www.noonsite.com [not posted
yet].
The breeze picked up
this afternoon so we have now been sailing again and making much better
time. In fact the resulting additional speed of our fishing lure must have
appealed to a very large fish, just at the time we were beginning to despair
about ever catching one. We didn't hear it take the lure until
the line had ran all the way out. It must have been a very
big fish because the rod bent to its limit and then the line snapped!
Unfortunately there is no spare line on board, so our fishing is over till the
next port.
There was not a lot
of enthusiasm today for Scrabble. Our opposition claim that the rocking
and rolling of the big Indian Ocean swells would make it difficult to
play. But I'm not sure if they aren't still smarting from their narrow
defeat Anyway, Bar and I have develped a new strategy that will at
the least rattle them, and hopefully provide us with a win in the
decider.
MC
4/1900z
The last day has had
us clear of the outer island band off the SW coast of Sumatra, and thus exposed
to the Ocean swells. Fortunately some wind from the NW at 8-12 with earlier
peaks at 15kn has decided to join us, although not ideal it has at least taken
most of the roll off the yacht, buit still relatively uncomfortable
going...
Less than a day to
the southern end of Sumatra now. Plan to head up the Sunda Strait and sail
across north side of Java. Hoping this'll (1) have wind and (2) be out of Ocean
swell - which we will be, although might be trading that for equally
uncomfortable wind chop from the South China Sea!
SJB
4/1930z