Nongsa Point Marina, Batam Island, Indonesia

We have been comfortably berthed at Nongsa Point Marina for the past 5 nights.  When we arrived the smoke and haze was in full force and it was delightful to connect to shore power and run the air conditioning.  However, two nights later a big thunder storm came through and since then the wind has been from the northeast making the air a lot cleaner.  It is still hot and humid; what else would one expect being 60 nautical miles north of the equator?

This is a nice marine associated with a large resort.  The staff is very friendly and helpful.  Unfortunately, the are in the middle of renovating the swimming pool, so Susan has had to walk 15 minutes each day to use the pool at a sister resort.  It is the off season, so there are few guests.

We have had two delicious lunches in the resort restaurant; however, we still have a substantial amount of frozen meat from Australia, so Susan has been cooking delicious meals too.

On Monday we shall cross the strait and checkin at the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club.  Villa G will stay in Singapore two months and we shall fly back to Bali to look after the house construction there.

Nongsa Point Marina, Batam Island, ID

The Smoke in Indonesia is Serious Just Now

As the papers report, the forest fires etc are totally out of control in Indonesia and there are hundreds of miles of sea with a dense, thick, smoky haze.  Not only is the visibility poor, but the smell of smoke is intense.  We have resorted to using the radar when sailing during the day, as well as night.

We are anchored near the NW corner of Pulau (Island) Belitung, only 400 miles south of Singapore.  Belitung would normally be a highlight of any sailors travels with granite boulders, sugar white beaches, and friendly people, but the haze and smoke ruin it all.  We have done essential repairs and gotten rest and will depart in the morning for the Lingga Island group.  We do not expect the haze to be gone, but we hope that there will be rain.  We have not had rain on Villa G since March.  With all the fires and smoke, the whole boat is covered in a reddish brown dust, cinders and ash.  We wash the decks in salt water which helps the looks, but the feel of salt underfoot is not so nice.

Susan has baked a pecan pie and made chili con carne, yum!

The Morning Sun, no Clouds, Just Haze

Sail2Indonesia Rally is also here in Belitung Indonesia

An Indonesia Fishing Boat

And she came tumbling down

Susan woke me at 4am saying "we have a problem." "What is it," I asked. "The Genoa came down," says she.  I looked out the pilot house, saw no sail up and then gazed into the sea on the port side. There she was.

We turned on the deck lights, put on our life jackets and went out into the 20 knot wind. The halyard had parted about 50 cm from the head of the sail.  We pulled it slowly out of the water and onto the deck. The biggest problem was to keep it from blowing back in while we tied it down. No small feat with a rolling deck, wet sail and strong wind. Of course it got done as you can see from the photo where our trusty jib has already been hoisted in place of the genoa.

After a shower to wash off the salt water we reflected on the joys of sailing, then carried on.

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Pulau Bewean

We arrived Pulau Bewean at 06:40 am yesterday after sailing two nights from Bali.  The bay here is on the north side of the island; however, the SE winds are funneled around and over the island's hills and blast down on us.

We shall make the best of it. Susan is cooking duck breast and fried black fragrant Thai rice for lunch. Last night she made a delicious pot roast with egg noodles. 

From here we shall do a 3 night sail up to Pulau Belitung.

Extra Time in Lovina for House Building Project

As we cruise back toward Thailand we are spending extra time in Bali enjoying the progress made in building our house in Kayuputih, near Lovina.

We are also waiting for water maker parts to come from America.

Refueling in Lovina

We met Daman (red shirt) when we anchored in Lovina, Bali two years ago. He is quite industrious providing yacht services when not doing boat tours. In addition to getting diesel, we have also gotten grilled chicken and sambal - delicious! :)