Sunday, 3 October – Tuesday, 12 October
There was no requirement to quarantine on arrival and after clearing inwards I decided to book one of the rooms at the marina, where I stayed for the next two weeks. With the adrenalin rush over, I started to feel all the knocks, aches and pains I had accumulated during the voyage. I needed time to relax and recover, and also to fix the various problems with the boat; and these were my priorities during my first 10 days ashore in Lombok.
The marina kindly lent me a charging cable for my iPhone and it was great to be able to FaceTime Sue and Alexandra again, and to speak to friends. It was great too, to be able to get some uninterrupted sleep, a hot shower, and to eat fresh food again. And I needed to eat, as I had lost a couple of kilos during the voyage and was already a racing snake when I left Singapore in July.
There was a lot to do on the boat, starting with the first of several fresh water wash downs as the deck, sails and fittings were all salt encrusted. My main concerns however, were the hydraulic steering, and the GPS and instruments.
I removed the compass and engine panel from the steering pedestal but there was very little hydraulic oil inside the pedestal, and the 3 hose fittings at the back of wheel pump were all tight. The leak had to be at the rams therefore, and I refilled the hydraulic system, tightened up the hose fittings on both rams and operated the rudder several times. I could not see signs of any leaks and thought I had fixed this problem.
Amazingly, when I went to switch off the chart plotter after arriving at the marina I saw that it was now displaying my GPS position again, and from the recorded track of the boat, I saw that the GPS had come back on line around 1030 on 2 October as I started my approach to the marina. I checked the instruments and got readings again on all the gauges except a depth reading. After removing the air bubbles in the echo sounder transducer recess however, I was able to get depth readings again as well. I was also able now to see again, the AIS targets of the boats in the near vicinity. Everything was back to normal; but loose connections do not mysteriously tighten themselves and I suspected there might still be a problem. I decided to wait and see what happened on the voyage to Darwin.
I fixed a new catch to replace the one that broke on the hatch above my bunk in the fore cabin, resealed the two through deck cable glands at the bow, cleaned the chain locker, and tightened the securing bolts on the port side grating on the bow sprit. I replaced the staysail halyard and changed over the main and jib halyards (I have two of each permanently rigged). I rearranged the main sail outhaul arrangements putting a dyeema strop through the clew and around the boom; and I end for ended the two reefing lines for the main. I gave the engine a full service replacing the oil, filters, and V-belt; cleaned the seawater filter and checked the seawater pump impeller; and changed the oil in the gear box. I cleaned the fridges, and cleaned and greased all of the seacocks. I also planned my passage to Darwin, and filled up my diesel tanks and containers for this next part of the voyage.
I intended to go south of Lombok and the other Indonesian islands taking the shortest and most direct route to Darwin. When clearing in however, I got speaking to Grant and Mel who have been cruising around Australia and Indonesia for several years, and who were also making their way to Darwin. Grant told me he would be going north of Lombok and the other Indonesian islands, passing through the Alas Strait to Kupang in Timor and then on to Darwin. He said the weather and sea conditions on the direct route could be quite rough and the swell 2 to 3 metres high whilst there was nowhere to stop really before Kupang; and that he and most other long-term cruisers therefore, preferred this northern route. I decided to think about this and in the meantime, to order the charts I would need for this northern route. My ex-colleague, James Ng in Singapore, kindly arranged for these charts, and replacement spare engine parts and a hand-held GPS unit to be airfreighted to me at the marina.
As well as Grant and Mel, I also met a wonderful Argentinian couple who with their 6 children, two child helpers and one crew, are circumnavigating the Globe on their large catamaran, Ohaha; Jorg (German) who, with his crew Jakob (Polish), is circumnavigating the Globe on his boat, Aurelia; and an amazing lady, Shirley (South African), who is 73 years old and who, for the last 20 years, has been sailing around the World and living alone on her small (24 feet) boat, Speedwell of Hong Kong. And of course, the wonderfully friendly and helpful marina staff and their manager, Albert.