13 Jan 2011 | Start: 0830, finish: 1730 | Eng hrs: 1844.0 – 1851.3 | Avg RPM: 2,400 | Conditions: Calm, sunny, 1m swell once we reached open water
Started at low tide to reach mouth of Homfray Strait with 0.5-1.0m of tide underneath us. Plan to circumnavigate Baratang Island via Homfray Strait, connecting to Andaman Strait. No concern re: shelf at the entrance, as we never saw less than 6m on the depth gauge. Rest of straits were very deep (~15m+) with the exception of the power lines area, which was 5-6m deep on the south side near the ferry jetty, which is exactly where the high tension power lines are at their highest (away from the sagging middle). The pilotage states that “power lines limiting mast height to 25m were removed in 2006.” Well, they’re back, and I don’t think 25m would clear. Difficult to see from our perspective, but we are 15m and it looked pretty damn close as we were going under. Tide was still rising and current was flowing eastward (against us) so we had no trouble slowing to a crawl as we approached the lines. Some men on a nearby ferry started shouting at us as we got near the lines, which prompted a momentary panic given their superior perspective, but they eventually calmed down and then beckoned us through.
Stopped at a village that exists where the highway cuts across [ ] via 2 car ferries, one of which interrogated us on channel 16 – it’s cool man, we aren’t going to anchor right in the ferry channel. Dinghy ashore to get some rice and thali – we jump at any chance not to burn our LPG, eat our cooking, and then do the dishes. Which is not to say that our cooking isn’t delicious… No chapatti, roti, paratha, or naan available – just rice. Police asked for our restricted area permit, which was on the boat – they were satisfied that we knew where we were, and were merely hungry, so they left us along. On the way out of the straits, we passed a “mangrove cave,” which we were supposed to obtain a ticket to back in the village. Nobody knew anything about it there, and it looked underwhelming as we passed it, so we skipped it. So I still don’t know what a mangrove cave is.
Trailed the dinghy all the way to Laccam Harbour, through moderate swell, with my camera sitting in the beer holder. Sailed most of the crossing to Laccam after motoring the entire circumnavigation of Baratang. Almost cleared the Laccam point lighthouse without tacking (lazy) but the wind finally gave out at the crucial moment, and before we knew it we were in uncharted shoals of ~3.5m (up from 30m a few seconds earlier). I knew I was cutting it close, got lucky. Anchored at usual spot, then ashore for hamburgers at B3 in #1, and a quick Internet check at #3 along with provisions (eggs, Nutella, and more namkeen). Short sleep before passage to Barren begins at 3am.