Amendments

Ok so here we are officially withdrawing our last degrading comments about the mentawais. We have finally seen what the fuss is about! Man the swell is here and it is everywhere! Yesterday we had A frames break totally for ourselves. Russ dropping on double head high waves and I in the water filming and taking photos with my new waterproof camera. I was a bit scared of getting in the water but I totally needed to register the moment. Hopefully we will be able to post some photos and videos soon. Russ had 4Bobs real good head and a half clean waves with only other 4 guys. Rifles is pumping and I had never seen anything like it. Big, long (300 meters plus) waves with unreal barrels. It was water poetry, to make the toughest cry from having survived. A time to remember. Thank goodness Russell didnt have any kamikazi aspirations and stayed put on the dingy with me. It can be a high price to pay for glory and we simply cant afford right now. So we stared, drooled and cheered those demented surfers. We thought of Mike B-S heaps! Man you would have killed those waves we are sure! So needless to say we have postponed our departure by another 2 weeks to make the most of it and to wait for the SE trades to come little bit further north. Keep tuned.

Mentawais

We finally made it to the famous Mentawais group. And to our surprise we pretty much sailed all the way down here from Telo! Unfortunately the nice winds that brought us down kept us holed up in this mangrove anchorage for 3 days under lots of wind and rain. We were growing mold on our skins! But Russell got a nice session at bangbang and we are hoping to stay at playgrounds for a few days weather permitting. We cant really see us heading to Chagos soon. The trades are still far south so we need to be patient. Officials and the local "kepala desas" are very onto boats here and rarely miss a chance to hassle us for some money. Plus we had some very curious teenagers coming to our boat at 2 am, both times i woke up and got Russ on the case. But what can we do? Apart from touching the boat they have not come onboard although i believe they would given the chance. They are not violent and they are small time thieves looking to get something of the life lines like board shorts etc. Needless to say this isnt our favourite place. If you came this way unless you are very keen on the surfit, have an easy nature and a big wallet, it aint worth it. Stay from Telo north. But we are here and trying to make the most of it. The place is pretty and have a huge amount of waves with a huge amount of people too. Weather is better so things should be on the up.

Heading south

After 10 great days with Terry and Glenn onboard, we are back in gunung sitoli for a quick stock up before heading south for the telo group. The plan is to reach the Mentawai group within the next 2 weeks. We are looking forward to that as we missed this group of islands on our last visit. Russell is still waiting on the big swell and good quality waves. Although he has been surfing most days since we arrived in the Banyaks, he says the waves are still pretty average. I finally got the hang on how to reload the big gun and must say I am impressed with its power and accuracy. Gone are the days of my blue friend! I have speared 5 fishes with the new gun so far. Nothing massive but good to feed everyone. Glenn and Terry had a go with the gun too and didnt disappoint. All in all things are going well and we hope to be leaving Sumatra for Chagos fairly soon. Got butterflies on my stomach just to think of it!

Back in Sibolga!

Hey you all, this update should be a more laid back one... I promisse I won't winge so much!!! So here we go:

We spent over 2 weeks in our favourite spot, Bay of Plenty in the Banyaks grounp. Russ had plenty of surf although a bit messy this early in the season. I have had quite a few spear fishing days, nothing big but enough for a feed. Russ caught a nice sweet lip the other day, officially his first speared fish! We had the anchorage for ourselves for about 5 days then Capricorn (Mike & Kym from Australia) joined us, and then Nick from Sea Turtle (USA). It was great to catch up with some friends and have a great anchorage to do so. Nick left and after a week or so, Dancyn (John and LJ, from USA) finally made it! We only had 2 days with then and we did an overnight to Sibolga.

Our clearing in Sibolga was very hassle free, just slow and burocratic as expected. Our first night in Sibolga saw us battling a 50 knot winds, strong rain and (lots of) liughtening for about an hour. We dragged a bit and were too close to Capricorn so Russ had the engine on which could just hold our position. Once the rain abbated a bit and the lightening seemed a bit further away (we were using the old trick of counting between seeing the light and hearing it), we pulled anchor and tried to re-anchor about 4 times (blodly plastic bags...) until we managed to get a good hold. Since then, our nights have been very still which is a relief to the nerves but bad for the nose as the place stinks of rotting fish sometimes!

Russ managed to fix the old propellers at this Chinese mechanic shop (he was trully impressed with the services, and all so incredibly cheap!) so once in clear waters we will change the new ones (bought just 6 months ago!) for the old ones (15 years old) and send the new ones back for a refund. It just simply doesn't work properlly, we bought feathering props and guess what? They don't feather! The rudder arms as well as the back of the boat seem to be dancing to a different tune of the rest of the boat. Russ reckons we are loosing at least a knot in drag. So the new kiwi props propellers are history mates! Bring back the old briskies!

I have restocked the boat and we are not ready to have a fantastic time with our two friends, Terry and Glenn, which are flying from New Zealand to join us for two weeks. After that we will drop them off and start heading south through the Telo and Mentawai group until the SE trades start making their way further north. We hope to be leaving Indonesia late May and arriving in Chagos on time for Russ'  birthday on the 7th of June.

I know everyone is concerned about the situation in East Africa, but we don't plan to go to Tanzinia, Kenia or even Seychelles. Our route should see us further South than that, in Madagascar and Mayottes before heading to Sth Africa. By the time we get there, which should be sometime early august, we believe and hope things are a bit more settled. We sure are relieved to not be travelling under an American flag though... our American friends are hiding their flags and only travelling in convoys now... such a shame that things need to get to this level.

So much to look forward too! I guess this year will be full of interesting stories. The only sad part of it all is that I won't have my SAILMAIL to pass information as it happens! I am quite upset about it, but the modem is broken and there is very little we can do here. So while in Indo I can get my GMAIL email without problems but after, from here to Chagos and Madagascar we will be out of the air for about 3 months. Very sorry but if you all had a HF radio we could be in touch!

I did say I wasn't going to winge...sorry...

Anyhow, here are some photos of our latest... Love to you all!

Cruising? What cruising?

After a string of challenges involving water pumps, post office in nz (whom thought langkawi was somewhere in india!) and outboards, we left for sumatra with rolly seas and average winds. We didnt muck around and used the engine shamelessly. But we manage so sail for a while especially during a 40 knot squall that caught us unaware with our main totally up. Needless to say it was mayhem. To complete the picture we were on the shipping lane with a massive tanker coming for us plus rain so thick that visibility was 20 meters being generous. Russ put me on the radio as captains seem to be partial to female voices... Well got to admit he is right, the ship saw us even before we called it and it was already turning when i called and a funny russian imitating an aussie said "no worries mate". We had no time to laugh as the sail was still up and wind on the up too. Got the damn thing down going down wind as it was far too windy and we were shit scared of pointing up. I actually went on deck fully harnessed up to do that as russ had to be spot on the driving. With much effort, a river of water going inside my wet weather gear through the sleeves of my raised arms and a massive rip from a lazy jack it was all accomplished. What a wake up call from the oceans! We arrived at pulau rubiah in weh at 2 in the morning having done the trip in 48 hours so not so bad. We've been here for roughly 20 days now and have done the banda aceh and northern west coast quickly with lots of motoring and SE winds ( on the nose ). No boats around and no swell to be found. Caught a break and had good winds to sail overnight to simelue. In lassia, an island paradise between simelue and the banyaks group our luck abandoned us and during one of the many squals that pass around this area we got an indirect hit by lightening. Our switch panel went blank straight away. Blood drained from our faces as that could potentially mean the end of our trip for the year. We started counting casualities and in 2 days figured that we had lost our wind instrument, smart regulator and sea talk system of the autopilot which means we have to choose to use the autopilot or check depth cant do both. So of all the bad things that could have happened our luck hadn't deserted us after all it just took a different shape! Oh well, the dramas dont really end there: along the way we lost our sailmail meaning i am writing and sending this from my mobile! Indonesia has this amazing ability of being so backwards and so modern at the same time! And the last but not least of our list of loses is our not so beloved brand new propellers. Russ has given up on them as now on top of not feathering properly they dont reverse. So we will revert to the old props and send this ones packing back to the factory in nz. Ok enough winging. The bottom line is that we will persevere and are keeping to the plan. In the meanwhile most dramas have been put on the back of our minds while we enjoy the pleasures of the banyak islands. Surf is up and so is the fishing. The rain is still around but not much lightening so at least our hearts can stay calm and moonwalker clean.

Hi you guys,finally we have a weather forcast which looks like we will have a bit of wind to cross to Banda Aceh at the top of Sumatera,only a 200 mile sail but better than a 200 mile motor. We are really looking forward to going back for more surf but also to see all the people we met last year.It really makes it a bit less stressful when you have covered the area before so... bring it on!We have really loved Asia But looking forward to this year and some real sailing in southeast trades all the way to Africa.The boat is in great condition at the moment and with our new solar panels we have basically given the petrochemical giants a big fuck off finger as we no longer run the engine to charge batteries. With some big sailng distances ahead this year I am sure there will be a few bumpuckering moments but the rest of it will be fantastic! Cheers

Well, still in Langkawi...

A bit of a change of plans will see us here in Langkawi for another week! And I can't blame the Good bye party... actually a bit embarrasing to have a Good-Bye Party and don't leave, but I guess it will be a great oportunity to just do another one before we leave for real!

The plan now is to leave straight from Langkawi to Sumatra as we've been told that boats can get 2 months visa on arrival in Indonesia, instead of getting the social visa (which is valid for 3 months). As we only going to stay (well, officially at least...) for 2 months, then we don't need to go all the way to Penang to get the visa at the Embassy etc. So we decided to stay here and blow more money... YES! More money! Just bought a beautiful 9.8 hp Tohatsu outboard and we are just styling! The outboard weighs only 26kg (instead of the almost 40 kg from our previous 15hp) and is so quiet and so poweful. We are loving it! Should have taken a photo really, forgot, sorry! I blew a bit of money too and went to the hair dresser - again! - and cut my hair even shorter! No photos yet, sorry again...

So the plan now is to get our final touches done and hope to be leaving by next Wednesday with the full Moon. Check the webalbum for some cool photos of the party! I will leave you with a little taster:

Ah, I have added the link to the Brazilian Magazine we've been writing to, we appear on the Editions: 36 to 39 (we have two more articles to be published by them). I am still waiting to hear on the article to be published on Australian Multihull, if anyone sees it, let me know!