Summer wasn't over after all. We had a few more weeks of glorious sunshine (and the odd rainy day, I admit). The Anambas Islands really rate as one of the top places we've been to in our four years of cruising. It's just the perfect combination of remote island life with deserted sandy beaches, numerous … Continue reading More Anambas, Please
Well, of course there is no summer or winter here; we are in the tropics, very close to the equator in fact. There are, however, two very distinctive weather patterns: the NE monsoon and the SW monsoon. The first one runs roughly from November to May and the latter from June to October. Or thereabouts, … Continue reading The End of Summer?
We've spent the last few weeks in Nongsapoint marina in Batam, Indonesia. A great place to do some boat maintenance. Seathan fixed our water maker and fitted our engines with new fuel injectors and we are good to go again. We also got stuck into the new school year and caught up as we had … Continue reading Marina Life
Maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone and keep it a secret. The Anambas are just too good to be true. One of the best cruising grounds we’ve come across; Indonesia has totally exceeded our expectations, yet again. It would be such a shame if these islands got inundated with tourists. Right now, they are difficult to … Continue reading A Well Kept Secret…
After six months the time has come to clear out of Indonesia... It wasn't nearly long enough to discover this vast archipelago of diverse islands. Maybe we will return one day... We're in Belitung, an island roughly halfway between Jakarta and Singapore, and we were able to complete exit clearance here. Indonesians love paperwork and … Continue reading Exit Indonesia
Hard to believe it, but, yes, we could have walked here faster. Current, wind and tides have not been working much in our favour. We've arrived in Belitung, a small island roughly halfway between Jakarta and Singapore. Only 300 miles to go until Singapore. It's been a hard slog, getting here from Karimunjawa. We waited … Continue reading And I could walk 500 miles…
I suppose after years of an ultramarine and turquoise lifestyle most of you will say we deserve a bit of personalised wintery weather.......well it's here in spades. Looking forward, the next four or five days will likely be the same as the last four or five days, coffee swilling, deck pacing, weather downloading, meal cooking, … Continue reading “Monsoon Madness”
I guess we've been lucky so far. We saw many huge logs (and entire trees) floating around in Indonesian waters. In daylight, you can see them and avoid them, at night, it's a different story. And so it happened. Sailing across the Java Sea at 4am, just before dawn, while I was on watch. I … Continue reading Caught in a trap.
Heading West during the start of the NW Monsoon is a hard slog. We're picking our moments few and far between! From Bali we sailed across the Java Sea and encountered a few heavy squalls (think roaring forties). Nothing the boat and the crew couldn't manage, but not very pleasant nonetheless... We're taking a few … Continue reading A hard slog
Quite different from the rest of Indonesia. After the barren landscape of Flores and Komodo we are back in lush and green surroundings. We sailed past erupting Mount Agung and then continued West quickly to hide for an approaching tropical cyclone. We found the perfect hurricane hole in West Bali's national park. The cyclone headed … Continue reading Bali
