Pulau Baleh to Sibolga

Date: 15 February 2011 | Time Start: 1330 Finish: 0630 (16/02/2011) | From: Pulau Baleh To: Sibolga | Eng Hrs Start: 1983.6. Finish: 2000.0 | Avg RPMs: 2700; 2500 after 3 hrs | Weather/Seas: Little wind until offshore breeze in the morning

Midday start. Easy motor out and set way points to avoid 5m spots on the chart along whole mainland coastline. At some point at night, Adam shut down engine to refuel. Previously, we had reduced RPM to 2500 after realizing that @ 2700 we were burning 3L/hr. When Adam shut down, temperature went up to 180 deg F. Let it cool down to around 140 deg F and changed shifts. Exhaust water was coming out when we restarted, but after a couple minutes, temperature alarm went off and temp had hit 240 deg F. Shut it down and decided to sail for a while to let it cool and be okay for entering Sibolga. This is around 3 am. Sailed at 43 deg to wind toward Sibolga, between 2.0 and 4.5 knots of speed. Several fishing boats. Close to 6am, ferry from Nias passed closely behind us (still we don’t have starboard nav light). Looked up from Kindle and saw the autohelm had taken us strongly to the south as wind shifted. Woke Adam up to check coolant. Overflow tank had overflowed and header tank was low. Refilled, started engine, and headed into Sibolga – no further temp problems Anchored near ferry terminal and coast guard. Had breakfast in terminal where CG was hanging out, then walked across street to harbor master. He didn’t speak much English and took a couple hours on documents. Explained we need to see immigration. Went to VoA office (15 minutes outside of town), sent back to main branch of BRI to pay $25 and get receipt (other branches had no idea). Back to immigration, then return @ 230 pm to pick up and pay 100k Rupiah bribe, but got stamp in passport so could leave the ship.

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Pulau Bangkaru to Pulau Baleh, Banyaks

Date: 14 February 2011 | Time Start: 1024 Finish: 1600 | From: Teluk Brassi, Pulau Bangkaru, Banyaks To: Pulau Baleh | Eng Hrs Start: 1978.1 Finish:1983.6 | Avg RPMs: 2700 | Weather/Seas: Early clouds cleared. 11 kts wind from N. Calm seas.

Pulled up anchor to head to P. Baleh (P. Balai in Lonely Planet and Wavefinder), which we assumed was the biggest town. Decent winds between P. Bangkaru and P. Tuangku. Saw some surf at the south tip of P. Tuangku and going into a bay just north of the tip on the west side. Upon closer inspection, seemed small and breaking shallow. Local guy Eddie in Baleh later told us it was one of the good spots. Shot the curl between P. Palambak Besar and Kecil. Looked like some losmen on Besar and a single one on Kecil. Supposed to be one spot tourists go via ferry from Baleh. Anchored just south of Baleh, east of last starboard lateral. Dropped anchor in 12m, but quickly drifted into 4m patch on south side of channel; jumped in water and there was bombie I could stand on 5m behind the stern. Oops. Movied it further north and west and okay. Dinghy around to east side of village. Tied dinghy up at lobster farm/ Palambak ferry terminal. Crazy little town with houses surrounded by coral reinforcements. Small market with decent mie goring and person that sells dirty diesel. Got 3 jerry cans full, scooped out of bucket a liter at a time. Practiced Bahasa with locals, all very nice. Ran into Eddie, who said he arranged Bear Gryll’s “Ring of Fire” show in the Banyaks. Also a fisherman, said swell too big to fish today but good for surf. Morning snorkel the next day – nothing really good at all. Lunch and then off for Sibolga.

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Pulau Tuangku to Pulau Bangkaru, Banyaks

Date: 13 February 2011 | Time Start: 1100 Finish: 1700 | From: Teluk Dalam, Pulau Tuangku, Banyaks To: Teluk Brassi, Pulau Bangkaru | Eng Hrs Start: 1974.0 Finish:1978.1 | Avg RPMs: 2700 | Weather/Seas: Hot, sunny. No wind, calm seas.

Got up at 6 AM after our sleep was disrupted at 3 AM by rail-to-rail rolling from the small swell that crept into the bay. Went to work on forward winches, port one had seized yesterday. Watched Harken how-to video on iPhone with full EDGE. Cut hole in sheet to protect gel coat. Had to WD$) port winch and really pull to get drum off. Washed everything in acetone. Used chasis grease and motor oil to lube. Noticeably different performance after. Motored around P. Tuangku. Stopped at NW tip to explore some surf and a wreck. Anchored in 10m with large rolling swell. Boards out, fins on, paddle to the point. Kept moving east as each successive break smashed into dry reef shelf. Eventually went ashore and walked around to wreck. Cargo ship “Marisa” (IMO: 8823616). Ran onto reef at tip, 15m from dry land. Waves crashing onto either side. Seas too nasty to swim to. Many ropes hanging down the side, presumably used to escape. Long paddle back to boat. Motor to P. Bangkaru to explore surf waypoints. Anchored in 9m, just off drying reef to port. Dingy to point. All surf was breaking on rocks or in 1m of water. Jumped out and tried mellow break but kept breaking too far in. Dinghy back, tied board leash on and tried water-surfing. Mild success. Exhausted, but good anchorage with no roll. Brinner then bed.

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West Coast Sumatra to Pulau Tuangku, Banyaks

Date: 12 February 2011 | Time Start: — Finish: 1800 | From: Off W. Coast Sumatra To: Teluk Dalam, Pulau Tuangku, Banyaks | Eng Hrs Start: 1958.3 Finish:1974.0 | Avg RPMs: 2700 | Weather/Seas: Calms with lightning, single short rain storm

Fluxgate compass went funky around 3 AM and turned us 90 degrees. Desengage Pilot Track and switched to normal directional autohelm. Compass later corrected itself to match analog compass. Lightning all around. 430 AM winds steadily picked up, rising to 20 kts apparent. Then rainstorm, and winds died. All over in 20 minutes. Didn’t bother to take heady out. 9 AM shut off engine to add diesel. Put in two 27L jerry cans. Started her and within a few minutes temp went to 180 degrees F, 25 degrees above normal. Shut her off. Let her cool down to 150 deg F. Started again. Within a few minutes shoots to 240 deg F and alarm goes off. Shut down. Raw water was coming out exhaust, so fesh water likely problem. Let cool down while reading over engine books. Cools to 130 deg F. Check oil. 1/3 full. Add oil. Check coolant and see that overflow tank had spewed out coolant, which was in the bilge and overflow was full. Took off radiator cap and checked head and couldn’t see coolant. Added 1L coolant (premixed) and 0.3 L filter water until we could see coolant level. Siphone out overflow until slightly over “low” level. Started engine and watched closely for next few hours. Never over 160 deg F. Motored rest of the way. Jumped in and snorkeled to tiny outcrop off anchorage; poor visibility but good coral and fish. Fishermen cambe by and we bought 3 fish (1 kilo) for 40k Rupiah. De-scaled, gutted, and filleted two of them and cooked in ghee, salt, pepper and lime. Pretty good. Need to work on filet cutting skills. Big cell phone tower on next island = 5 bars of EDGE.

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Iboih to West Coast Sumatra

Date: 10 February 2011 | Time Start: 1800 Finish: — | From: Iboih, Pulau Weh To: Off W. Coast Sumatra | Eng Hrs Start: 1932.7 Finish: 1958.3 | Avg RPMs: 2700 | Weather/Seas: Calms seas, mostly no wind w/ brief sailable conditions. Changing wind directions.

Package from Jakarta Yanmar dealer (PT Pioneer) arrived. Picked up at harbourmaster. All parts correct except R12P primary filter by Racor. Changed oil, replaced and bled secondary. Got clearance from harbourmaster (150k Rupiah bribe), passports from immigration (300k Rupiah bribe), and avoided coast guard chief, as they already had 1 million Rupiah profit from diesel and bottle of Johnny Walker. Provision at Sabang market and only grocer open at 130 PM (1-6 PM daily closures common). Motor to Iboih, dingy to N point of island N. of Rupiah, dive w/ brief shark sighting. Back Iboih to refill tank but they’re finished for the day at 5 PM. Avocado shake then shifts start. 2 dolphin escort in phosphorescence as approaching Banda Aceh. Take path through narrow Aroih Cut – scary at night. Depths fine but crazy 4 knot current, flowing from W to E. Around 3 am wind is up. Sails. Quickly grew to 20 kt apparent which was too much for near full, racing heady. Could not furl in heady (later discovered winch stuck) on same tack so brought her into wind and no problem. Wind died then later picked up and got nearly 3 hour sail in from 6 AM to 9 AM. Wind always swining around, suggested prevailing NE monsoon wind minimal and wind more driven by on-shore, off-shore winds and storms. Cell phone reception up to 13 NM from coast.

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Little Nicobar to Sabang

28 January 2011 | Eng hrs: 1889.0 – 1926.0 | 2,400 RPM

Painful slog against consistent 1.3kts of current. Engine is groaning every time we smash into 3 waves in a row, bringing our speed through the water down to 1 kt. Some close calls with big tankers, and some very large waves washing over the cockpit and even down the companionway, but otherwise uneventful, difficult sailing. At 9:30 in the morning on 29 January engine RPM began to fluctuate and then the engine died. This has happened several times before, mostly when bashing into waves. We think the problem is either clogged fuel filters (we have no spares) or turbulence + ½ tank of fuel + heeling to starboard leading to air in the fuel lines.
Tried to sail with just the mainsail for a while but we were not making any headway, even in 25 kt winds. The sail simply does not translate wind into boat speed at any point of sail that we can figure out. Do not know why. Let the boat flounder unattended while we go below.

We put in 1.5 jerry cans, cleaned the primary bowl, replaced the secondary filter with another used filter, and then bled the system. Engine started really rough, and we had to give some revs so it wouldn’t die. In the process, we burned off the alternator belt.
Motor straight for Sabang, eventually coming into the lee of Pulau Weh from several miles off. After we changed course to be more easterly, the current against us eased, indicating that the current we have been fighting for two days is more southerly than easterly.

Engine holds up all the way to Sabang with speed increasing near the end of the journey. Drop anchor at 1am on 30 January 2011.

Indonesian numbers from US coast guard: +62 21 352 1111, +62 21 3483 2901, +62 21 550 1512
Sabang local rescue – +62 65 133 876
Indian coast guard: +91 3192 245530, +91 3192 242948 (fax), mrcc-ptb@indiancoastguard.nic.in

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Tillanchang Island to Little Nicobar

27 January 2011 | Eng hrs: 1873.7-1889 | Avg RPM 2,400 | Conditions: Rough seas 3-4m when not in the lee, winds consistently 20-30 kts.

Another tough passage day. Some relief when in the lee of Nicobar islands, but getting thrashed when exposed to the open. We are now totally dependent on the engine, as our mainsail contributes very little to power the boat and we have no headsail fitted. Huge waves shifting due E, sometimes SE, so we are bashing into them, which slows us to ~3 kts under full engine power. Seems like we are getting pummeled by one squall after another. Haven’t seen the sun since we left Port Blair.

Saw a few fishing boats and one passenger ferry, but otherwise fairly surreal, deserted Nicobar landscape. Lots of smashed trees. Presumably this western coast was hard hit by the tsunami.

Anchored in the lee of Little Nicobar, around midnight, in 15m. Needed some sleep, and original timing to cross the Great Channel was already blown. Plan is to motor tomorrow along Grand Nicobar, then start the last ~90nm open ocean section in the light, and arrive into the Sabang rip tides in the light as well. We are both worried about what the Indian Ocean has in store for us tonight.

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Port Blair to Tillanchang Island

25 January 2011 | Engine hrs 1869.1 – 1873.7 | 2,300 RPM | Storm – 48 kt winds

After sailing for more than 24 hours from Port Blair, gusty conditions with 20 kts wind consistently, we encountered a squall. 36 kts wind coming up suddenly from the east. Course now means we are close-hauled and bashing through 2m swell. First squall passed within 10 minutes. About 1:30am on 27 Jan 2011, wind picked up to 36 again, then immediately to 44kts. Sustained winds reached 48 kts for nearly an hour.

  1. Starboard nav light housing was ripped off, followed by LED lightbulb inside
  2. Attempting to go bare poles, as winds increased over 40 kts, furling line gave way, releasing the entire headsail and causing the rig to shudder violently
  3. Successfully furled the main
  4. Steering out of control, even with the engine at 2,200 RPM. Heasail luffing. Made decision to drop jib halyard, find it inextricably tangled with coiled ratline. Forced to cut halyward, to no avail as furling car remained at the top of the mast.
  5. Released jib sheets – cut one, figure 8 tore off the other going through the block. Sail tore free of webbing at the tack after an initial cut. Worked up and was flapping like a flag, bending the furlex extrusions badly
  6. 2 hours later we made it into the lee of an island, anchored in 20m
  7. At first light, we went up the mast and detached the head of the jib. Flaked and stowed the 140% genoa. With bent forestay, decided not to fit a new jib, but rather to motor with the mainsail in the hope of reaching Sabang, 200nm away
  8. Added a jerrican of fuel, bled additional dirty fuel from primary bowl, noted a water leak in the engine cooling system. Oil was full. Decided to take route in western lee of the other Nicobars
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Barren Island to Laccam Harbour

15 Jan 2011 | Start: 1220, Finish: 2323 | Eng hrs: 1859.0 – 1861.3 | Avg RPM: 2,400 | Conditions: About 1m seas, 10-15 kts wind consistent from NE, sunny

Woke up at 6:30, waiting for 9:30 so the light will be good for our dive. Will be first dive from the dinghy so expect mayhem. Not sure how we get the boat clean from so much volcanic ash, but we’ll deal with that later. Boat had been swung around a good bit. Chain had been caught short on a bombie right where it met the sea floor, so snubber was getting a workout. Chain kept mysteriously slipping and had to lower more chain slack onto snubber. Could tell when weight was on windlass and not cleats as boat would shake. Amazing dive down by the lava flow. Beached dinghy on small sandy cove and entered water from beach. Dove down to 30m. Saw 2 spotted rays, turtle. Surveillance planes overhead. Very survivor-esque camp setup under boulder, out of sight of surveillance. Adam freed the chain and had no issues getting anchor up. Tough to anchor by the beach and not upset some coral – if not with anchor then with chain. But swell is much calmer there. Around the island for a bit, but stopped as swell was big and killing our speed. Made our RPMs drop to 2k from 2.5k and speed down to 2 kts. Weird. Turned around and RPMs picked up and speed normal. Good 10-15 kts winds the whole way back – no motoring. Hitting us at about 90 degree apparent. Autohelm would fluctuate 30 degree at times, especially if she rounded up to far. Speed varied from 4-6.5 kts. Overall, good sail. Into Laccam before midnight. Port Control was actually on the radio – first time they were awake past 5 PM! Came in slightly west of our normal track and ran into 3.5m spot – yikes. Anchored same spot as when we left. Sleep!

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Laccam Harbour to Barren Island

14 Jan 2011 | Start: 0330, finish: 1315 | Eng hrs: 1851.3 – 1859.0 | Avg RPM: 2,400 | Conditions: Overcast in the morning, then sunny for the day. 1-2m swell with consistent 15-18kts wind on the nose

Woke up, put a jerry can in, and motored off directly into the wind for most of the passage to Barren. Moderate swell only sailable (without inefficient tacks) for the last couple hours of a 10 hour voyage. Could see Barren erupting from ~18 miles off – very cool. Anchored in front of a black sand beach in 7m on black sand and bombies. Fairly well protected from the rolling northeasterlies – pretty good given Barren isn’t all that big. Navionics chart was way off for Barren – showed us anchoring in the middle of the landmass.

Plumes of small jellyfish were everywhere – crystal clear water with black volcanic rocks covered in live and growing coral, lots of large fish. Found a wall near the newest lava field that drops off to 30m, and then to oblivion. This is the place for our dive tomorrow. Low flying (observation?) planes fly overhead multiple times per day – don’t think we were caught ashore, but not sure – it is technically forbidden to step foot on Barren Island. This is an incredibly special place. Slept in the shadow of the caldera with fine ash grains softly raining down on us all night (creating a surreal scene, and an awful mess).

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