Bali in sight

Digiboat's "Product Testing"
Simon Blundell
Wed 9 Mar 2011 19:12
08:53.52S 114:09.57E
 
This is our last night at sea.  As I write, we are 63nm from Bali with an ETA of 6:30pm at the anchorage at Gili Tawangan local time tomorrow.  It feels very satisfying to have completed a passage of this length - nearly 2000nm in eleven and a half days plus two days bureaucratising in Padang.  It has been great fun in spite of the lack of wind and fish.  The company has been delightful, with many entertaining stories shared both true and false, magnificent meals, great books, intense Scrabble, and the odd evening movie thrown in.  We have a stack of photos of shipboard life and some unbelievable sunsets.  Living on the east coast of Australia, we are deprived of the beauty of the sun setting into the ocean, enhanced by the incredible red of the Asian pollution.
 
Our anchorage is off the largest of the Gili Islands which are a group of small islands just off the NW coast of Lombok.  Simon's brother owns a resort on the island, so we are looking forward to a swim and a meal or two without our plates, cutlery and wine sliding off the table.  At this stage we plan to see a bit of Bali Thursday and Friday and will book flights home for the weekend.
 
The Scrabble decider was played this afternoon.  Tim and Al had a convincing win with the highest score of the tournament so are the current El Oro Champions winning 4 games out of 7.  They are to be congratulated for their persistance, their refusal to accept a second-best alternative, and their resistance to our attempts to distract them with our gamesmanship.  Bar and I are looking foward to a rematch.
 
MC
9/1830z
 
Wind has deserted us today, motoring at 8.5kn through a clear, warm day on the ocean. Surrounded by storms tonight with dramatic lightning displays in every direction. Continuous rain but not torrential, no wind in the storms and still warm.
 
SJB
9/1900z