14 June 2024
Goodbye Indonesia. Thank you for your hospitality, interesting times and your generous and friendly people. I have enjoyed my time in Indonesia and will no doubt look back with fond memories.
Truce and I sailed from Belitung in the morning after a good breakfast, the sea was calm and hardly a breath of wind. We quietly motored out of the anchorage and in anticipation of the SE trade winds, I set up the spinnaker pole to starboard, fully expecting winds aft of the beam. As it turned out once clear of the land mass of Belitung, a light easterly wind filled in and we were close hauled heading towards the Borneo coast around the zero latitude. Now I usually dislike going to windward but today it was an excellent experience, flat seas, a nice cool breeze over the boat and bright sunshine, I was enjoying myself. We were heading to the west of our intended track, but I wasn’t concerned, the sailing was good and I was sure the wind would swing around at some point.
We have now left the Java Sea behind and are in the South China Sea. I have travelled this sea many times in commercial ships. The last time in 2016 when I took a new build ship from a shipyard in China for delivery in the Arabian Gulf. Its not a place that I have any fond memories of, often squally weather and lots of traffic. Maybe it will be an easier place cruising on a yacht with time to pick the weather windows.
From midnight we had the squid boats and the wind increased for a few hours making for a bumpier ride but still within the comfort zone. The logbook entry for midnight reads “Too many fishing boats”. It is certainly challenging trying to figure which way they are heading, dodging through them under sail is a great mental exercise. We sailed well throughout the following day and in the evening crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere.
By the following morning we had closed the Borneo coast and before sunrise I anchored off the island of Pulau Temaju for a rest stop. On the run into the coast the wind died, I started the engine to take us the last few miles. I noticed that the engine was getting hot. I have no way of measuring the engine temperature but just know from experience, its hotter than usual. I started looking for possible causes, most likely on the cooling water side of things. Taking the simple things first I checked the cooling water reservoir, strainer, water pump and inlet valve and hoses. All was clear and working well, However I found that one of the clips holding the raw water inlet hose onto the seacock valve had split. I replaced the broken clip and length of hose. Lucky that I had found the broken clamp as it was not visible until the hose was removed from the valve.
The engine is still overheating at higher speed but if I keep the rpm below two thousand it’s not too bad. I am now almost certain the exhaust elbow is partially blocked with carbon build up and is restricting the cooling water flow at higher RPMs. I will investigate further when I get to a safe harbour.
The trip up the coast towards Sarawak was a slow affair in very light winds and an adverse current, sometimes sailing forty miles to make fourteen miles progress. I even anchored to stop us going backwards. Fortunately, the coast here is shallow and in calm weather you can drop anchor almost anywhere offshore.
Approaching the Cape which marks the border between Indonesia and Malaysia I was motoring in calm weather and eager to get around the cape to an anchorage before dark to rest. I had identified a bay that looked suitable and calculated I could just make it by sunset. I checked the chart carefully for any off lying danger off the cape (Tanjung Datu) and thought I could safely round it half a mile off in safety. As I approached the cape a favorable current was carrying us along nicely. I noticed what I thought was a tide rip ahead, but it looked out of place with the surrounding water. Through the binoculars I saw a low brown object in the water. For a moment I thought it was a whale, but there was no movement, the water was rushing past and over it. Woa! A rock awash!
I immediately hauled off away from the coast into deeper water. This was a really scary moment. The rick passed fairly close to starboard with the current pushing us down onto it. The tide was rising and soon when I looked back the rock was almost covered. I was shaken after such a close shave. If I hadn’t of looked forward at that moment or if it had been half an hour later with water covering the rock, we would have grounded in a nasty way.
We rounded the Cape three quarters of a mile off as i kept a close watch on the water ahead and the depth sounder. Eventually anchored safely in a small bay after dark. Safe, sound and very thankful to be in one piece.
The following morning we had an early start for the passage down towards Kuching. Thankfully nothing eventful happened apart from dodging a few fishing nets. By late afternoon Truce was anchored in the Santubong River under the impressive Mount Santubong. Now time to relax, clear inwards into Malaysia and enjoy the pleasures of Kuching.
Discover more from The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 
Leave a comment