Sailing Log: Singapore to Jakarta

Feb. 16

No land in sight all day, but clear skies.  During the night shift we encountered unfavorable winds causing us to furl the genoa, turn the engine on, and tighten the fore sail to mid ship.  The entire sky was covered by clouds, but they were thin enough to emit a light glow from the moon, illuminating the entire ocean.  While at the helm, you had to try to keep the compass as steady as possible, which is difficult, especially with the constant rocking of the boat and the fluctuating waves.

Feb. 17

Again, no land in sight.  While at helm in the early afternoon, I saw 5 dolphins of the port bow.  I immediately stood up, pointing and shouting, but everyone on the bow darted their heads in my direction, missing the sole breach.  A few minutes later, while everyone was on deck scanning the sea for dolphins, we spotted land on the horizon.  At first there was one mountain, followed by two more, off of the starboard bow, then another off of the port bow.  We were nearing a passage between two islands off of the coast of Sumatra, which would provide us with a strong current, shooting us out in line with Jakarta.

Still no luck catching an fish, or having any bites.  In the early afternoon, we had a nibble, which Dhany reeled in until we saw a long, slender fish following our squid bait.  It put up no fight, just trailed our bait as it moved closer to the stern of Mir.  Dhany said he felt it bite the bait a couple of times while he was reeling, but all of a sudden the fish was gone.  It took two of our hooks with it; Dhany thinks it may have been a Barracuda judging by its shape and the missing hooks.

Today I had to wear long sleeves and a hat due to a mild sunburn on my arms and face.  The tops of my knees were very red, and I had to wrap a towel around them while I was at helm in the sun.  The day shifts seem to last longer, most likely a result of being out in the sun and being awake over a longer period of time.  The nights are very peaceful, when the engine is off, and beautiful to sit under the stars in the cool breeze.  The 4 hour shift goes quite quickly.

Evening was upon us and I was enjoying the sunset at the stern with some music, when suddenly we had a fish on!!  I began fighting the fish while we were travelling at 6.5 knots and “Come on Eileen” was gently playing in my headphones.  The lure was dragging very far behind the ship and the fish took quite a bit when it struck, so it took me a while to reel it in close enough to see the fish; also the boat was still moving at a good speed, amplifying the fish’s fight.  I saw it break the surface of the water a few times, but as it got closer, it felt like the fish had gotten off.  At 25 feet, I thought the fish had gotten off, and laser and dhany were confirmed.  We picked up our speed, and dhany decided to pull the bait in to check it was still there and remove the sea weed.  At 15 feet, Dhany screamed ‘I saw a tail’.  The fish decided to play dead and be dragged in with its mouth open.  Dhany filleted the fish (locally known as Tengery), refrigerating large fillets for later, and slicing two heaping plates of FRESH sashimi.  It was an amazing appetizer for Gaie’s spaghetti Bolognese, and our full moon celebration consisting of Vodka cocktails and howling.

Feb. 18

Slept on deck before my night shift.  Not much wind, making the shift very easy and quiet.  Beautiful evening!

I woke up early, there was a great breeze blowing onto my bunk; it was the first time I didn’t wake up covering in sweat.  Everyone was either in the navigation room or on deck, we were in a nice force 4 wind, large waves all around.  Suddenly, the wind picked up to a gale force 6, ‘All Hands on Deck!!”; forcing us to quickly turn the engine on, move to head to wind, and furl the genou as quickly as possible.  After we had all followed the safety line aft, we realized that the starboard top mast diamond shroud had broken.  The top of the mast was flexing back and forth, so to be on the safe side, we all shuffled back to the front of the ship to store the fore sail.  Because the rigging is so old, there was the fear that the mast might break.  During the motoring, we experienced a strong current, making it difficult to maintain a straight course.  The peaceful voyage was over, now we were dependent on our engine, Northern Lights.

With out sails up, napping on deck was more difficult, I ended up finding a place where just my face was in the shade…it had to do.  Our course brought us near an oil rig, Dhany said ‘look we are near Jakarta!’.  We had been making good time, and the current was assisting us, our ETA into Jakarta was 1 PM, but at our current speed we would be there by 10 AM.  There was a constant communication with Jakarta; many political problems.  We had been told we could not arrive until Sunday (Feb. 20) at 6 AM.  This was bad news as well as good news.  It meant we were able to turn our engine off for dinner and all FINALLY take a breath!  We rode the currents and enjoyed a peaceful evening with fresh fish, a nice sunset behind the oil rig, and fortune cookies.  Mine was “reward yourself for a job well done”.  We finished the evening with a tale about Nyi Roro Kidul, the local goddess of the Sea, presented her with a gift and enjoyed the peace of the evening at sea.  This was the night of the true full moon!! 

We were still moving 2 knots on the current, but we turned our engine back on in order to maintain our heading; now 80 miles from Jakarta.  As we neared there were more birds and tons of insects in the air; damsel flies, beetles, bees, and moths.