Leaving Chalong Bay, Phuket, Thailand 2/11/07 
The voyage from Thailand to India (We ended up in The Maldives instead of India) started out pretty uneventful. About 1 hour into the sail the winds died to nothing and we sadly turned on the engine. The sea was quiet, but we motored away from Thailand hoping to see nice winds and fair seas in the near future.
My first night-watch we had a dolphin visit. I could hear him spouting and splashing, and then saw the unmistakable shape through the bio-luminescence. He was cruising alongside the boat and was jumping out of the water. He kept me entertained for most of my watch.
During watch, our job is to scan the horizon for boats and to carefully watch the gauges, especially the engine gauge to watch for overheating. My first night I saw a boat approaching. We couldn't tell what it was doing, so The Captain got on the radio and made a "phantom call" using navy-speak. Then CJ got on the other radio and replied with a mock position. This is a way to make suspicious vessels think we are not alone out here. The boat flashed his bright light at us to let us know he was there, then changed course.
On the second evening during my 8pm-10pm watch, the motor suddenly stopped. The Captain was in the cockpit in seconds, with the whole crew wondering what could have caused the engine to quit. We asked The Captain about fuel, and he said he had filled up last August before he went back to the states. We were a bit surprised to hear that they hadn't been topped off or even checked before we left. The starboard tank must have been only about 1/2 full, and was therefore already empty. We were only 8 hours past The Nicobar islands (Indian) and we had wanted to stop to visit, but they are off-limits to visitors. We put up the sails and slowly made way towards India and Sri Lanka.
Our plan was to sail to Sri Lanka because it was the closest land from Thailand.
The next day, we inspected the tanks to find the port tank leaking considerably, but the starboard tank not leaking at all. CJ and The Captain spent the next 2-3 days draining the full port tank into the almost empty starboard tank, using all available liquid recepticles. Good thing Diny and The Captain drink a lot of soda, for we already had a plethora of 2 liter bottles on board.
On our first day at sea we noticed another sailboat making way towards Thailand. We used the VHF radio to contact them, and made fast friends with the English boat Break Away. Every morning and evening we checked in with Break Away to see how they were and to exchange sea and wind conditions. On notice of our diesel fuel problems, they contacted a man in Thailand who operates a cruiser net on the SSB radio network. (short wave). Our SSB radio isn't working properly, we get interference from something on board so it is pretty useless. This is a concern to me, not having proper communications in case of trouble.
The guy in Thailand, Richard, recommended that we go to Male', Maldives for our diesel tank needs. The crew was ecstatic, for we were pushing to get to The Maldives but having some resistance from The Captain. Richard said Sri Lanka is having great political difficulty right now and shouldn't be approached. Apparently a sailboat was attacked by fisherman recently near the port city of Galle, where we had hoped to land. Here in the Maldives, there is a catamaran (Moonshadow) that is sans propeller after visiting Galle. Apparently it was stolen during the night. Moonshadow came to Male', Maldives to await delivery of a new one from the states, I think.
We continued to use sails in very light winds, making slow progress for several days, but wanting to conserve diesel fuel. If we had to use much more diesel this early in the voyage, we could have big trouble if we hit rough seas or other unforseen problems and needed the engine to get us out of a predicament. The Captain was crawling out of his skin. He always motors in light winds, and likes to make faster progress. Most of the crew was pretty ok with it all. We had lots and lots of food, enjoyed each other and the routine of the watch schedule was pretty pleasant.
Diny 6-8AM
Holly 8-10AM
Sarah 10-12PM
The Captain 12-2PM
Susie 2-4PM
CJ 4-6PM
Diny 6-8PM
Holly 8-10PM
Sarah 10-12AM
The Captain 12-2AM
Susie 2-4AM
CJ 4-6AM
Everyone was very happy with their watch hours. Diny enjoyed early mornings and got both sunrise and sunset while on duty. I was pretty happy with my times...not too early, not too late.
Now that we wouldn't be running the engine regularly to conserve fuel, we started having power issues. The batteries needed to be charged from the engine or the portable Honda generator The Captain had on board. The autopilot lost power for the first time on Sarah's night watch, so she had to steer for the whole time. As we continued to lose instruments, The Captain realized he needed to do something, so in the middle of the night dug out the small red generator and tried to get it going. I listened for hours it seemed, to the droning and stopping of the generator. I heard frustration cussing and late-night in-the-dark shuffling and huffing, but it never stayed on for more than a few minutes. In the morning when I saw the set-up, I said it needed to hang from the railing. The Captain laughed at my suggestion, saying it would fly all over the place. I spent the next three hours quietly giving examples -- "like your hammock! We could use something like the vegetable hammock. The Captain, we really need to hang it so it gimbles. Like the stove". Finally around 11:30am CJ and The Captain hung it up with rope to the railing, and it has run ever since. The Captain says he also cleaned the spark plugs and did a few other things to the engine to make it run.
So now we had about 6 gallons of gasoline for the generator, hopefully it would be enough to charge the batteries for the duration of the journey.
By this time, we were a bit frustrated, but still enjoying the routine and most of the food. Diny and Susie cooked especially great meals. Diny made an Indonesian meal and Susie created a Mexican Fiesta. It was pretty tricky trying to find the ingredients for it, but it was well worth the effort.
Diny cooked a several-course Indonesian meal. Unfortunately, it was Holly's turn to wash the dishes and Diny used every pot on board. (Susie actually took over and kicked the dishes out in record time. We called her Superwoman and she lived up to the name time and time again).
Below: Holly handling the difficult task of thawing meat. Right: Susie, Superwoman.
Sarah, CJ and Holly are very satisfied after Susie's Mexican meal.
That night on my watch, I heard a "bump" and the plastic cover to the autopilot crashed down scaring the crap out of me. I sat there wondering how it could have fallen when I got a whiff. I smelled fish. Icky fish. I started checking the deck with my flashlight, and Sarah comes up behind me and says BOO. Ahhh! I jumped. She laughed. Hard. Then Susie came up, and we started looking for the smell. A flying fish was under the pillow I was sitting on. Susie threw it overboard and the next day I saw fish scales on the inside of the cabin about 6 inches from where my head had been. It was the first of about 12 times the boat was hit by flying fish. Later in the journey one poor fish flew into The Captain's berth. He smelled it but didn't find it for days. Uggg.
On day eight, the winds picked up. We were thrilled to fly and surf. This was what it was supposed to be all about!
The voyage from Thailand to India (We ended up in The Maldives instead of India) started out pretty uneventful. About 1 hour into the sail the winds died to nothing and we sadly turned on the engine. The sea was quiet, but we motored away from Thailand hoping to see nice winds and fair seas in the near future.
My first night-watch we had a dolphin visit. I could hear him spouting and splashing, and then saw the unmistakable shape through the bio-luminescence. He was cruising alongside the boat and was jumping out of the water. He kept me entertained for most of my watch.
During watch, our job is to scan the horizon for boats and to carefully watch the gauges, especially the engine gauge to watch for overheating. My first night I saw a boat approaching. We couldn't tell what it was doing, so The Captain got on the radio and made a "phantom call" using navy-speak. Then CJ got on the other radio and replied with a mock position. This is a way to make suspicious vessels think we are not alone out here. The boat flashed his bright light at us to let us know he was there, then changed course.
On the second evening during my 8pm-10pm watch, the motor suddenly stopped. The Captain was in the cockpit in seconds, with the whole crew wondering what could have caused the engine to quit. We asked The Captain about fuel, and he said he had filled up last August before he went back to the states. We were a bit surprised to hear that they hadn't been topped off or even checked before we left. The starboard tank must have been only about 1/2 full, and was therefore already empty. We were only 8 hours past The Nicobar islands (Indian) and we had wanted to stop to visit, but they are off-limits to visitors. We put up the sails and slowly made way towards India and Sri Lanka.
Our plan was to sail to Sri Lanka because it was the closest land from Thailand.
The next day, we inspected the tanks to find the port tank leaking considerably, but the starboard tank not leaking at all. CJ and The Captain spent the next 2-3 days draining the full port tank into the almost empty starboard tank, using all available liquid recepticles. Good thing Diny and The Captain drink a lot of soda, for we already had a plethora of 2 liter bottles on board.
On our first day at sea we noticed another sailboat making way towards Thailand. We used the VHF radio to contact them, and made fast friends with the English boat Break Away. Every morning and evening we checked in with Break Away to see how they were and to exchange sea and wind conditions. On notice of our diesel fuel problems, they contacted a man in Thailand who operates a cruiser net on the SSB radio network. (short wave). Our SSB radio isn't working properly, we get interference from something on board so it is pretty useless. This is a concern to me, not having proper communications in case of trouble.
The guy in Thailand, Richard, recommended that we go to Male', Maldives for our diesel tank needs. The crew was ecstatic, for we were pushing to get to The Maldives but having some resistance from The Captain. Richard said Sri Lanka is having great political difficulty right now and shouldn't be approached. Apparently a sailboat was attacked by fisherman recently near the port city of Galle, where we had hoped to land. Here in the Maldives, there is a catamaran (Moonshadow) that is sans propeller after visiting Galle. Apparently it was stolen during the night. Moonshadow came to Male', Maldives to await delivery of a new one from the states, I think.
We continued to use sails in very light winds, making slow progress for several days, but wanting to conserve diesel fuel. If we had to use much more diesel this early in the voyage, we could have big trouble if we hit rough seas or other unforseen problems and needed the engine to get us out of a predicament. The Captain was crawling out of his skin. He always motors in light winds, and likes to make faster progress. Most of the crew was pretty ok with it all. We had lots and lots of food, enjoyed each other and the routine of the watch schedule was pretty pleasant.
Diny 6-8AM
Holly 8-10AM
Sarah 10-12PM
The Captain 12-2PM
Susie 2-4PM
CJ 4-6PM
Diny 6-8PM
Holly 8-10PM
Sarah 10-12AM
The Captain 12-2AM
Susie 2-4AM
CJ 4-6AM
Everyone was very happy with their watch hours. Diny enjoyed early mornings and got both sunrise and sunset while on duty. I was pretty happy with my times...not too early, not too late.
Now that we wouldn't be running the engine regularly to conserve fuel, we started having power issues. The batteries needed to be charged from the engine or the portable Honda generator The Captain had on board. The autopilot lost power for the first time on Sarah's night watch, so she had to steer for the whole time. As we continued to lose instruments, The Captain realized he needed to do something, so in the middle of the night dug out the small red generator and tried to get it going. I listened for hours it seemed, to the droning and stopping of the generator. I heard frustration cussing and late-night in-the-dark shuffling and huffing, but it never stayed on for more than a few minutes. In the morning when I saw the set-up, I said it needed to hang from the railing. The Captain laughed at my suggestion, saying it would fly all over the place. I spent the next three hours quietly giving examples -- "like your hammock! We could use something like the vegetable hammock. The Captain, we really need to hang it so it gimbles. Like the stove". Finally around 11:30am CJ and The Captain hung it up with rope to the railing, and it has run ever since. The Captain says he also cleaned the spark plugs and did a few other things to the engine to make it run.
So now we had about 6 gallons of gasoline for the generator, hopefully it would be enough to charge the batteries for the duration of the journey.
By this time, we were a bit frustrated, but still enjoying the routine and most of the food. Diny and Susie cooked especially great meals. Diny made an Indonesian meal and Susie created a Mexican Fiesta. It was pretty tricky trying to find the ingredients for it, but it was well worth the effort.
Diny cooked a several-course Indonesian meal. Unfortunately, it was Holly's turn to wash the dishes and Diny used every pot on board. (Susie actually took over and kicked the dishes out in record time. We called her Superwoman and she lived up to the name time and time again).
Below: Holly handling the difficult task of thawing meat. Right: Susie, Superwoman.
Sarah, CJ and Holly are very satisfied after Susie's Mexican meal.
On Day 6 we had an amazing dolphin experience with probably 15 dolphins swimming with the boat at our bow. It was incredible. Most of the crew layed on the deck trying to touch then, while I filmed the experience. They finally went away when CJ threw a line in the water to see if they'd play with it. I think he mixed dolphins up with cats.
That night on my watch, I heard a "bump" and the plastic cover to the autopilot crashed down scaring the crap out of me. I sat there wondering how it could have fallen when I got a whiff. I smelled fish. Icky fish. I started checking the deck with my flashlight, and Sarah comes up behind me and says BOO. Ahhh! I jumped. She laughed. Hard. Then Susie came up, and we started looking for the smell. A flying fish was under the pillow I was sitting on. Susie threw it overboard and the next day I saw fish scales on the inside of the cabin about 6 inches from where my head had been. It was the first of about 12 times the boat was hit by flying fish. Later in the journey one poor fish flew into The Captain's berth. He smelled it but didn't find it for days. Uggg.
On day eight, the winds picked up. We were thrilled to fly and surf. This was what it was supposed to be all about!
1 comment:
hey holly!
your blog is a great read and sounds like you are having a blast. Be safe and how bout posting some more pictures?
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