After Bawean Island my next planned stop was at the island of Kangean. This island is in the Bali Sea, some 100 nautical miles or so to the NW of Lombok. That being so, and as I did not get the opportunity to work on the hydraulic steering in Karimunjawa, I decided I would do so now when I got to the marina in Lombok. This meant I would have to stop and heave-to or lie a-hull in order to sleep, unless I could sail and balance the boat.
Wednesday, 22 September
As day broke I saw a nasty looking rain squall which threatened to pass over me. Fortunately, by motor sailing I was able to manoeuvre around it. When past, the wind freshened becoming SE force 5 by 0800 and remaining so for the remainder of the day and night. With the sunshine these were perfect sailing conditions apart from the swell, or rather swells as there were two swell patterns: a short SE’ly swell with a short E’ly swell, both with waves of about 1.5 metres or so in height. These swells made for a bouncy ride particularly on the starboard tack; and meant progress when motoring would be slow and under 3 knots made good. I resolved therefore, to sail as much as possible when the wind permitted, even though progress was likewise slow because of all the tacking required to make ground to the SE into the wind; and to motor sail when the wind eased.
Thursday, 23 September
I continued sailing through the night sleeping in 20 minutes naps in the cockpit.
As day broke I noticed the metal track slide for the outhaul on the main sail, and the end sail guide had been pulled out of the track on the boom. My immediate short term solution was to put a reef in the main sail so as to be able to continue sailing. Unfortunately, the jammer on the first reefing line kept slipping so I had to put two reefs in the main. I lost some boat speed as a result, but with winds now of about 20 knots, the boat heeled less and pointed a little better so I did not lose much, if any distance. With two reefs, there was also less stress on the main sail, fittings and rigging.
The wind backed round during the day, becoming ESE’ly, then E’ly, then ENE’ly, and I made good progress sailing on the port tack.
All was going well until 2210 when there was a “lost satellite fix” alarm on the chart plotter which was no longer showing my GPS position or any AIS targets, although it still displayed the electronic chart data. My instruments had also now stopped showing any readings. They are all the same network as the GPS and chart plotter, but I could not understand why the loss of the GPS would affect them. I tried re-booting the GPS to no avail. I checked all the cable connections ; they were all tight and there was clearly power to the chart plotter and instruments. I noticed however, that the GPS aerial which normally displays a green light, was now displaying a red light which flashed twice every 5 seconds. This had to be an error code but I could not find anything about it in the manual, whilst the “night sky” display on the chart plotter indicated the GPS was completely down and not tracking any satellites. What to do?
I do not keep a handheld GPS unit on the boat (I will in future!) but I do keep a sextant and had recently reminded myself how to work out sun and star “sights” again. I also keep a hand bearing compass on the boat; and I do not need the windex to work out the approximate wind direction and force. I also trained and qualified as a navigator, and at a time when ships did not have GPS and AIS. Furthermore, Shahna Bacal is a small boat with a draught of 2.0 metres and whilst there are lots of reefs and shallows in Indonesian waters, I was confident I could sail her to Lombok without the GPS, AIS, and instruments. The loss of the speed log would make this more difficult, as I would have to estimate boat speed and distance run. Sailing on would be a challenge but it was one I was up for, and one I would enjoy. It would also be good practice for the Golden Globe Race, should I ever decide to enter!
If I was not so technically challenged, I might have realised (as was later pointed out to me) that my iPhone is fitted with a GPS (although as we shall see, that would not have helped me for long) as too, is my satellite phone. I only thought of using these phones however, to make calls and this never occurred to me – and frankly, I am glad it didn’t as the remainder of the voyage would have been less challenging and less rewarding.
Friday, 24 September
I had decided to remain on the port tack during the night so that come day break I would be able to see Bawean Island. This I could and at 0530 I was able to fix my position by taking visual bearings of prominent features on the island. I then tacked back, now heading southwards again; and fixed my position in the same way at 0700 as 05˚59S; 112˚29E. I got a final position line by taking a visual bearing of the island peak at 0930 as it faded from view. Meanwhile, I had reported my position to Rob and asked him to check with the suppliers of my GPS and chart plotter, to find out how to fix the fault.
I continued southwards towards the coast of Java and the Poleng oilfield. There are several rigs and an oil terminal in this oil field, all marked on the chart, and the area around them is restricted. I planned to continue sailing until I had rounded this oil field, passing to the north of it, and south of the smaller Canmar oil field located further off-shore.
I was looking forward too, to being able to call Sue and Alexandra on my mobile phone as I closed the coast of Java. With this in mind I was charging the phone but noticed the battery power was not increasing. I thought there was a problem at first with the plug, but after testing this and trying to charge my iPad, I realised there was a problem with the Apple charging cable – and no, I did not have any spare cables on board.
This hit me hard emotionally as I would not be able now, to FaceTace Sue and Alexandra until I reached the marina in Lombok and re-charged my iPhone. It also meant I would have to stop now to sleep, as I could no longer use the iPhone as my alarm, and it was difficult to set short time periods on the alarm clock I had purchased in Batam.
I continued southwards and was able to get a good fix at 1600 by taking visual bearings of the nearest visible rig and a large red and white buoy. This put me at 06˚35S; 112˚40E, meaning I had sailed 45 miles since 0530 at average speed of 4.3 knots.
I now tacked and headed northwards again with the intention of carrying on until I had rounded the Poleng oil field, when I would then heave-to and get some sleep.
Saturday, 25 September
I motor sailed throughout the night as the wind eased, becoming SE force 3, before dying away completely at 0200 when I lowered the sails. I was using estimated positions and at 0400 I stopped and lay a-hull believing I was now sufficiently clear of the oil field. I stayed awake until the sun rose, and being unable to see any rigs and as it was all clear otherwise, I turned in.
I slept fitfully until 1015 when I got up . I still could not see any rigs, just a few fishing boats, so I set about transferring fuel from the containers on deck into the sump tank. I then removed the metal slide for the main outhaul from the boom and filed down the damaged edges of the outhaul track to prevent further chafing of the outhaul and reefing lines. Then I carried out the suppliers’ suggestions for fixing the fault with the GPS, all to no avail. The flashing red light on the GPS aerial indicated the “GPS bus” was not connected; that is, a loose cable connection. There were none.
I reported this to Rob who was going to see if the suppliers had any other suggestions. He also gave me an update on my actual position as my friend, Phil Denham in Vietnam (bless him!), was tracking my progress using my AIS transmissions. The latest positions Phil had for me were generally from about 4 to 6 hours earlier, but as I had been lying a-hull now for more than 6 hours, this position was as good as an actual fix. I learned therefore, that I was now in position 06˚23S; 112˚36E – that I was still to the west of the Poleng oil field!
I got underway again at 1400. My intention now, was to motor due east until I sighted the rigs in the oil field, and then to adjust course so as to keep all of the rigs on my starboard bow until I had finally rounded the oil field. The weather and sea were still calm but it was hazy and the visibility was not so good. I didn’t anticipate having any difficulty observing the rigs however.
I sighted the first rigs at 1700 and adjusted course accordingly. Most of the rigs were large structures and brightly lit and I had no difficulty keeping them all to starboard. As I got further north however, I saw several, single flashing lights ahead. In the dark, I thought they were far off and probably fishing boats but as I got closer to the nearest one I saw it was a rig; a small platform on a single tower-like structure and obviously unmanned. By this time, I was committed to passing it to port and I ended up passing briefly through the restricted area.
It had remained calm and I was motoring all the time which meant I could only leave the tiller at best, for one or two minutes at a time. This was particularly challenging, and I developed the habit of slowing down the engine to idling speed and taking it out of gear when I need to be away from the tiller for longer, such as when trying to work out my position!
Sunday, 26 September
The wind and swell started to pick up again during the night and by 0200 the wind was ESE force 4 and the E’ly and SE’ly swells were back up to 1.5 metres. Motoring due east in these conditions was hard work and as I was confident I had now rounded the Poleng oil field I decided to stop. I raised the jib and main and hove-to in the conventional way but the boat continued to sail! I decided to continue sailing therefore, on starboard tack whilst I read one of my sailing books to find out how to heave-to on a ketch rigged boat. In doing so I learned that with a suitably sized mizzen sail ketch rigged boats heave-to best under mizzen alone. Accordingly, I raised the mizzen and at 0500, I lowered the jib and main sails, and tried heaving-to again.
In the prevailing conditions the mizzen drove the bow up into the wind but the swell then caused the bow to fall off until Shahna Bacal was beam on, when the mizzen would again drive the bow back up into the wind.
Day was now breaking and I went about tidying up the deck before turning in. As I did so, I noticed that the starboard grating on the bow sprit had broken loose as a result of all the pounding the boat had experienced during the voyage. I could not re-fix it as the securing bolts and fittings had all been broken; and I could not leave it as it was because it could move and might cause damage to the boat. I considered lifting it inboard but it was heavy and I was concerned again, that in the process it might cause damage to the boat, or worst still, that it could fall overboard and take me with it. I decided therefore, to slide it off the bow sprit and let it fall and sink into the sea.
I took another bearing of the rig afterwards, and realised that, as I expected, Shahna Bacal was being set to the NW; that is, towards the Canmar oil field. Although now very tired I decided to motor sail with just the mizzen until further away from the oil field before heaving-to again. After a couple of hours however, the wind freshened and I hoisted the main and head sails and resumed sailing at 1020. This was better than heaving-to in these conditions, but I needed to sleep so I got out the alarm clock and managed to get a few hours sleep in 30 to 40 minute naps.
I tacked at 1400 to head southwards again and so as to be able to pass to the east of another oil field off the coast of Java, to the east of the Poleng oil field. I was pleased to sight the rigs of this other oil field at 2115, on my starboard side and bearing 260˚. I estimated they were about 3 miles away and my position at this time to be 06˚35S; 113˚22E.
The wind was now dropping again, so at 2200 I lowered the main and head sails and started motoring due east, keeping the rigs astern.
Monday, 27 September
I continued motoring until 0130 when I stopped and hove-to under the mizzen. As when lying a-hull at sea I switched on the anchor light, and the spreader light to illuminate the fore part of the boat, and the cockpit light to illuminate the after part of the boat. I then turned in.
I woke up around 0400, checked all was clear and went back to sleep, to be awakened again at 0645 by the shouts of Indonesian fishermen as they approached on their boat. I went on deck to acknowledge their shouts and we waved to each other as they passed close by. I then called Rob and slept again until 1000.
I spent the rest of the morning transferring the remaining fuel in the containers on deck into the sump tank, and generally cleaning up. I now had 318 litres of diesel on board and some 217 miles to go to Lombok; so enough fuel to motor all the way provided I could be sure of averaging about 3 knots over the ground along my charted courses. To do that, I needed the wind and swell in particular, to die down.
I decided to have a big lunch before getting underway again, and it was 1330 when I resumed my passage. I could tell from bearings of the rigs that I drifted some distance to the NW whilst hove-to, and as it was a bright sunny day and the wind was now E’ly force 4, I hoisted all of the sails and put the boat on the starboard tack, heading southwards towards Madura Island. My intention now was to sail close to the shore and then tack along the coast in the hope of being able to see the two charted lights marked on the chart. The closest of these was a coastal beacon displaying red and green lights, and the other was the lighthouse at Batuputih which displayed a white flashing light.
It was dark when I closed the coast and there were many brightly lit fishing vessels around, all displaying different coloured lights. As a result it was difficult to make out the lighted beacon; and I was not keen to pass through these fishing vessels to get closer inshore. I settled therefore, for tacking along the coast keeping to seaward of these many fishing vessels, hopeful of seeing up the Batuputih light.
Tuesday, 28 September
The wind died at 0100 so I dropped the head sails and motor sailed on a SE’ly course until closer in, when I turned onto a E;ly course to run parallel to the coast.
I finally saw Batuputih light as day was breaking and fixed my position at 0500 as 06˚50S; 114˚01E. I then continued motoring eastwards to get further away from the coast, before heaving-to at 0648. By now the wind had veered and freshened, but I was too in need of sleep to sail.
I slept all morning and resumed passage at 1430. The sun was shining and the wind was now ESE force 5. These were perfect conditions for sailing and I hoisted all sails and set off on the starboard tack in a NE’ly direction. My intention was to follow my charted track and head east to Kangean Island, and to enter the Bali Sea by passing between Kangean Island and Pulau Kamudi. This is the route chosen by most commercial vessels heading to the Lombok Strait. I would have done better however, to have entered the Bali Sea by passing southwards along the eastern coast of Madura Island as this route would have enabled me to fix my position at regular intervals. Hindsight however, is a wonderful thing…
At 1800 I tacked and head southwards towards the islands of Pulau Pulau Sapudi. Several of these islands have lights but confusingly, the lights all have the same colour and characteristics, flashing white every 5 seconds. I was hoping to pick up one of these lights, which I did at 2050; and based upon my estimated position I thought this was Pulau Sapudi light (It was in fact Pulau Payangan light).
The wind was now SSE force 5 so I tacked and headed eastwards. The wind remained steady all night and I estimated my speed to be 6 knots and my position at midnight to be 06˚46S; 114˚35E.