Saturday, 23 October
I got up at 0540 and left the marina at 0730 motoring off and clear of the berth and the boats on the buoys. As there was no wind at this time, I stopped and raised the main and mizzen sails and stowed the ropes and fenders. I then motored slowly out in the Lombok Strait the same way I had came in exactly 3 weeks earlier.
Once out in the strait the wind picked up and I raised the head sails and stopped the engine, setting off on the port tack. The tidal stream was now favourable, setting Shahna Bacal southwards, and with the wind now from the south, force 4, I was making good a speed of nearly 4 knots along my charted course. Around 1000 when the tidal stream turned however, I had to start the engine again in order to make progress southwards; and it took me another 5 hours to clear the southern end of the strait. At its peak the north going tidal stream reached 4 knots, and I seemed to spend a lot of time looking at the same bit of Lombok real estate!
Once clear of the strait I was able to bear away and resume sailing, and when the wind started to ease at 2000 I resumed motor sailing making 5 knots with the engine at 1700 rpm. I noticed now, that the masthead light was no longer working, although the sidelights and stern light were all still working; and I switched on the anchor light in its place. Not a perfect solution but at least I had a white light at the masthead.
Everything was going well until 2340 when the autopilot alarmed, and stopped working. I had been topping up the hydraulic system during the day, but it was now losing oil quickly, the leak having clearly worsened. I was obliged therefore, to resort again to tiller steering; and I had left the tiller connected for just such an eventuality. This did mean however, that I would have to heave-to again when I needed to rest; and that under motor I would not be able to leave the tiller for more than a minute or two at a time.
Sunday, 24 October
The wind died completely at 0030 and I lowered the main and head sails; and at 0300 I stopped the engine and hove-to in position 09˚11S; 116˚40E. There was no wind at this time but the swell was about 2.0 metres high from the SW, and although of long period it made sleeping difficult ,and I resumed motoring an hour later, at 0412.
My good friend, Bill McCarthy, was monitoring the weather and recommended to Sue that I pass north of Sumba Island, and not south as I had planned. In this way I would encounter stronger winds; and accordingly, I set a new course of due east. I suspected now, that I would have to call at Kupang for fuel, and I adjusted my charted courses to pass north of Sumba and onto to Kupang.
The sight glass on the header tank had now become so cloudy that it was impossible to see the oil level. I know however, that the engine consumes about 3 litres per hour and the throughput of the transfer pump is about one litre per minute. I got in the routine therefore, of running the transfer pump for 15 minutes after every 5 hours of motoring; and in this way I knew the header tank would always contain sufficient fuel.
At 1300 the wind filled in, becoming SW force 4 and I was able to resume sailing. I found it very difficult to balance the boat however, with the wind on the starboard quarter and the SW’ly swell now increased in height to about 3 metres. I was obliged therefore, to continue hand steering. I was getting tired, but I wanted to make the most of this wind and especially as I was making good a speed of nearly 5 knots.
It was 1900 before the wind started to die. I lowered the main and head sails and hove-to to make dinner and get some much needed sleep.
Monday, 25 October
I slept well despite the swell, which reduced in height during the night, getting up at 0500. After breakfast and transferring 50 litres of diesel from the containers on deck into the sump tank, I got underway again at 0730. It was a beautiful day, clear with calm sea and long, low (0.5 metre) SW’ly swell and in these conditions Shahna Bacal was making good speed again.
The wind remained light throughout the day, never getting above 8 knots, and died away again after the sunset. The night was very clear and calm and my wake was phosphorescent – a magical sight. I could now also see the shore lights on Pulau Sumba.
I kept motoring until midnight when I hove-to again in order to get some rest.
Tuesday, 26 October
As usual, I got up every 2 hours to briefly check around, finally getting up at 0530. I transferred a further 50 litres of diesel from the containers on deck into the sump tank and cleaned the impeller on the speed log which had stopped working. I then got underway again at 0730. It was another beautiful day with calm sea and no swell at all.
The wind started to fill in around 1030 and I raised the main and head sails, and stopped the engine. The wind was initially from the NE but veered round to the east and I spent the afternoon tacking along the northern coast of Pulau Sumba, to get around Tanjung Sasar. Once clear of this point I was looking forward to a long run on starboard tack down the eastern coast of Pulau Sumba. As the sunset however, and with Tanjung Sasar light close on the starboard beam, the wind died and I had to take down the sails and resume motoring.
I decided now to head directly towards Kupang and set my course accordingly. After an hour I noticed a squall approaching and battened everything down. Fortunately, the wind did not get above 20 knots but the rain was heavy and there was much lightening.
After the squall had passed I kept motoring until midnight, heaving-to in position 09˚21S;120˚22E.
Wednesday, 27 October
I chose a bad time and place to heave-to! After I had stopped the boat and was ready to turn in, I noticed Shahna Bacal was being set towards the shore at 1.5 knots. Whilst I was some distance from the shore, in 6 hours – the time I hoped to sleep – the boat would drift some 9 miles. I thought the mizzen might be adding to the rate of drift, but after lowering it, the rate increased to nearly 2 knots. I reconciled myself to sleeping for only 2 hours, but shortly after turning in, I saw bright lightening flashes and heard thunderclaps as the weather turned squally again. With strong winds to worry about now, as well as the strong current, I decided the safest option was to resume passage, which I did, starting the engine again at 0118.
I spent the next 6 hours motoring through the rain squalls. Although the winds did not get above 25 knots, the rain was heavy and there was much thunder and lightening. Once the squalls had passed however, the wind died away and it turned into a lovely sunny day.
The wind did freshen later from the east, and enough for me to raise the sails and try sailing again. Unfortunately, the wind was only enough to enable me to make 2 knots! I tried motor sailing for a while, but eventually lowered the sails and resumed motoring.
With the sun still shining, in the afternoon I set about cleaning up the cockpit and drying out the cockpit cushions. My intention was to keep motoring until midnight, but I was too tired and hove-to under bare poles at 1930. By this time the wind had died completely, and the sea was flat, almost like glass, with no swell and hardly a cloud in the sky. Magical!
Thursday, 28 September
I got up at 0600 and readied the boat for sailing, getting underway again at 0800. The wind started to freshen at 0900 and I raised the sails again and stopped the engine. It was great to be sailing again, and as the wind remained steady, SE’ly force 3 to 4 all day and into the night, I managed to keep sailing until the wind finally died around 2200.
I decided now, that I would keep motoring through the night so as to arrive in Kupang during the next morning, as I had now only a little over 60 miles to go.
Friday, 29 September
As the sun rose I could see the islands of Timor, and at 1000 I managed to speak to Rompi, the guy Albert had told me to call and who would arrange to deliver fuel to me on the boat. The cruising guide said boats could anchor close inshore near the town but I could not see any other boats at anchor, and after examining the chart, I could not see any obvious places to safely anchor close to the town. Accordingly, and mindful that my echo sounder was not working, I told Rompi I would be anchoring in the northern end of the bay, some 5 miles north of the town.
The northern end of the bay was wide and shallow, and I picked a position to anchor where the water depth was between 5 and 10 metres and which was some 5 miles due east of an island in the bay. I then lined up so as to approach this position with the island right astern, keeping my latitude constant and monitoring my longitude so I would know when I was in position.
All was going according to plan until 1230 when, with about 2.5 miles still to run, I felt a heavy vibration in the tiller and the engine cut out. My immediate thought was that I hit an underwater obstruction. I glanced overboard at the rudder which appeared fine, and as it was free to move, and the boat was still moving, I tried re-starting the engine. It fired, but immediately cut out; and on further investigation, I found there was a large mass of white cloth-like material wrapped around the propeller. I tried to free it using a boat hook whilst leaning over the stern, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the boat was still moving, but now drifting off course and towards the shallows.
The wind was W’ly force 3, so I now raised the jib and sailed the boat down wind towards the anchorage position. Very soon however, Shahna Bacal was making over 3 knots and I was concerned I might damage the bowsprit if I dropped the anchor at this speed. I contemplated sailing past the anchorage position and then luffing up into the wind, but was concerned that without a working echo sounder I might run aground before luffing up, or end up over-shooting the anchorage position and dropping the anchor in deep water. I decided therefore, to drop the jib as I got closer in and to let the boat drift up to the anchorage position whilst lowering the anchor to 15 metres so that it would start to ‘bite’ as we entered shallow water.
After what seemed a very long time, the anchor ‘bit’ and Shahna Bacal finally brought up at 1412 in position 10˚05.4S; 123˚40.1E. As the wind was now gusting 20 knots I put 30 metres of chain in the water, then waited for the wind to die down whilst getting ready to go into the water to try and clear the propeller.
I called Rob and Sue and told them what had happened. My fear was that the engine had been damaged and I was going to be in Kupang for much longer than I planned….