Thursday, 9 September
I woke up at 0500, showered ashore and dealt with emails, then made final preparations for sailing. I decided not to rush and to have a proper breakfast ashore at the resort hotel before leaving, during which I had long chats with Sue and Alexandra who were both quite emotional, being very worried about me sailing Shahna Bacal on my own.
I saw David, the owner of Rona, after breakfast and learned that he would only obtain port clearance in the late morning and was looking to sail now, in the afternoon. His plan was to sail during the days and anchor over the nights, stopping tonight to anchor behind the island of Mududarat, about three quarters of the way down the Riao Strait. This, he said, is where yachts taking part in the Neptune Regatta always anchor at the end of the first day; and I told David I would also anchor there. I was keen however, to sail immediately in order to catch the south going tidal stream for the passage down the Riao Strait.
I left the marina accordingly, at 1000; cleared the entrance channel buoys at 1010; and engaged the autopilot at 1025 with the engine running at 2000 rpm. This is the most economical engine rpm and gives me a boat speed of 5 knots on a fuel consumption of just under 3 litres per hour. The weather was partly cloudy with light airs and a rippled sea – ideal conditions for motoring!
The echo sounder was working when I left the marina but I lost the depth reading at 1040 as air bubbles accumulated again in the recess for the transducer. Very annoying; and as it would be another 3 weeks before I went into the water to clear these air bubbles, I was effectively without an echo sounder now for the remainder of the passage to Lombok.
At 1130 the Karang Galang beacon was abeam to starboard and I turned south into the Riao Strait. I made good progress down the Riao Strait in the favourable, south setting tidal stream averaging nearly 8 knots over the ground at times; and by 1400 I was nearing the southern end of the strait and Mududarat Island.
Mududarat Island is one of a group of small islands on the west side of the strait. I anchored on the west side of this island at 1506 in position 00˚48.6N; 104˚16.5E, letting out 20 metres of chain in a charted depth of 6 metres. Being close to land I was able to use my mobile phone to call Sue and Alexandra, and to report in to my friend, Rob (Captain Robert Walker).
Shortly after anchoring I received a visit from a local fisherman in a small boat. He did not speak any English and I do not speak any Bahasa, but through a series of gestures I understood him to be asking me to move as he was concerned the larger fishing boats in the vicinity and from which he had come, might collide with me as they hauled in their purse seine-type nets. I considered the risk of a collision to be negligible as there was plenty of room for the fishing boats to manoeuvre around me and I decided to stay where I was. I was glad I did as an hour or so later, around 1700, all the fishing boats had gone.
After dinner I cleaned up and at 2100 I started a new sleep routine which involved getting up every 30 minutes to check on the weather and sea conditions and that the anchor was holding. As I turned in I was pleased with my first day’s progress, having covered 30 miles in 5.1 hours at an average speed of 5.88 knots.
