May 16, Day 17, Its a long way from Bali to Langkawi!

You know, its a long way from Bali to Langkawi. 2300 NM if you go the long way by wind.

As I contemplate covering the last 80 miles tonight into the port of Kuah on the island of Langkwai, I realize these are the closing hours in more than a single passage. Sometime early tomorrow morning, maybe even in the waning moonlit hours of pre-dawn, I will see the first land I have seen since Bali dipped below the horizon 18 days ago. What does it mean to come all this way from Bali alone, and to come all this way with Conversations our new boat from San Francisco?

Well, for sure, arriving in Langkwai is a 'coming home'. Seems strange to say it, but this part of SE Asia, now does feel like home. For the last 3 years I have sailed up and down this coast between Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand half a dozen times in other peoples boats, for fun and for pay, but now, its satisfying to arrive in my own creature.

It is also a coming home, as in the completion of a project. Its a project that started in San Francisco a year ago. It was last May when we did our pre purchase inspection of the boat, and since then I have slaved away on our project and boat preparing her and maintaining her over these many sea miles. Since that time, I have sailed Conversations over 12,000 NM to get her home and I have spent 87 days at sea doing it. I have loved the sailing, and on this last leg in particular as my first single handed passage, I have learned a lot about what it takes out here. But what I value the most are my memories of the people that have been a part of this project. Along the way, I have had some deeply fulfilling time with family and friends and met some great new people as crew, and I have had on this last passage, some time to get to know me a little better too! I even had my 54th birthday at sea on this last passage. As for Irena and I, even though she has only sailed a part of this journey in person, she has sailed every inch of it in spirit with me. Its is a long way from Bali to Langkawi, even further from San Francisco, but of course, its about the journey.

If I did not have to stay awake half the night looking after ship, I would have a little celebration. I will save that for tomorrow!

This is likely to be my last post for this trip. But come back soon, I have some other things planned.
Cresswell

(no subject)

Safely around the corner (NW tip of Sumatra) and headed more or less straight for Langkawi which is 240 miles away on the GPS. Its raining off and on and off and on, but the winds have backed off, so the squalls aren't lashing me the way they were. And it is nice and cool, in fact, pleasant. I hope there is enough wind, but I have lots of fuel to burn if I have to motor.

Lots of traffic last night as I went around the corner, but the AIS worked most of the time. When it was working, it was like parting the waters. All the traffic, because they knew what I was (sail boat with right of way), where I was, in what direction I was steering and how fast, I could see on the map view of all the ships (up to 12 at one point) simply plotted their course to go around me. When you look at the traffic on the screen and how they move, its like a dance floor in slow motion. Or motor cycle traffic in Viet Nam - as long as no one does anything too hastily, everything flows. It made it easy. With that much traffic, these guys (and gals - spoke to one on the radio) were on their toes and they are good.

Later that afternoon....
Around noon, we darted out of the way of the last of the squalls, and the wind filled in from the West and out came the sunshine. Turned into lovely downwind sailing day! With any luck, I'll see land for the first time in 18 days, day after tomorrow!
TTFN

Now this is more like sailing!

Breaking gear, ripping sails, and starting to believe I am not alone onboard - I must be single handed sailing!

I have lost track of time since I last posted. Its now Wednesday May 14, because my watch says so. I am just turning over the north tip of Sumatra in the company of -- count them - nine tankers, according to my AIS, which, incidentally started working again when the storm clouds cleared.

Last night I fell asleep in the cockpit to be rudely awakened again by the fury of my boat charging off into the dark under the lash of a another squall. In fact, for the last two days, every time I fall asleep, I am so sleep deprived, it is the sound of wind howling in the rigging and my boat out of control that wakes me. This is rude. I am now afraid to go to sleep, but of course I must, and when I do, I have this waking up experience. You can see my problem!

It caught up with me last night when I woke inside another squall and failed to get the mainsail down quickly enough. With a POW, it blew open from the front to the back, and left me to drag down the flailing tatters. I have a rather foreshortened version back up flying today, but that is okay because it is all I should have had up in the first place. In fact, I have given up on full sail, and am content to barely move, while I wait for the next blow.

So, I have found the weather to be seriously challenging. I guess, if one goes sailing in the monsoons, one should expect a fair bit of rain, but this is more than I bargained for. And wind! Yikes. For the last two or three days (I have lost track), it has been solidly overcast with storm cells embedded in the cloud layers. About every two hours or so there is another rip snort- en brother along to lay down upon me and smite me and my little boat. Winds go from less than 10 knots to 30 and 40 knots and sometimes stay there for 10 minutes but once it blew like that for over an hour - just long enough for me to get my storm jib out of the garage and get it flying. And rain. It rains so hard, it hurts to look. So trying to get sail up to keep the boat moving one minute, and trying to get sails down to keep ourselves afloat the next leaves not much time for beauty sleep.

And that is all I have gas for today!
C

Tuesday May 12....drifting along, singing a song, all by myself.....

Light winds, like teenage love, are fickle. They go, they stop, they blow this way, they blow that way, and then they don't blow at all. The sails go fwack fwack fwack. And Cress goes F...F...F.... And every few hours a squall drifts by, the winds go crazy for an hour, die completely, and then gradually come back. Here, the winds suck, not blow. Just like teenage love. Its very trying man. But fickle or otherwise, I am never-the-less making sure, but slow progress.

I have six days before I am meeting my party in Langkawi on May 19. I have 628 miles to go as of now (Tuesday morning), of which at least half of that will be against a .5 knot current. I need to cover at least 100 miles a day, if I am going to be there the day they arrive. I have about 2/3 of my fuel left. And, the winds are projected to remain light (and fickle). I can make it, but I have had to resign myself to the fact I will need to just slow down and accept it will take all six days to arrive unless there is a lot more wind than forecast.

So I will just kind of nurse her along, trying to be patient. If I can keep her up to 4.10 sog under sail, I just sail, if I can't, I motor sail. Like teenage love, it doesn't seem to get you anywhere, but eventually something becomes of it.

(no subject)

Last night a front moved in and she started to blow about 20 knots. One by one, the stars all went out and it got pretty dark. Every hour or two an embedded storm system came through with driving torrential rains and gusts to 30 knots. I spent the whole night with a double reefed main and the genoa unfurled between squalls, trying to get her furled before the winds started to huff and puff. Twice I got caught napping, being waken by the boat taking off like a wild horse with the radar alarm going bleep, bleep, bleep. The last time, I got an override on the retrieve line winch and had to sweat it in by hand, with that thunderous sound of a #1 genoa flogging in 30 knots. Not too swift Poindexter. After that I decided the genoa would stay furled till dawn, and I finally got some sleep.

I spend more time fiddling with the electronics on board than I do sailing the boat. This morning the Automatic Identification System is acting up. Yesterday it was the computer/modem/email system. But I must say, the new TMQ autopilot is doing yeoman's service. Touch wood. I punch in a course, she takes a couple of minutes to learn how to steer it with the least movement of the helm, and then she quietly does her work. Impressive. Without her, it would be tough. The Hydrovane steering is not working - I am certain the shaft is bent again. I emailed the manufacturer last week, and have not heard back.

Day 13 and we are sailing again

Position N00 37 E 091 53 Course 000 SOG 4.0

At the risk of jinxing the venture, after 40 hours of motoring, I can again hear the happy gurgle of water along the hull passing the nav station where I sit to write this. Yes folks, we are sailing and the iron genoa has been stowed.

Today,the 11th of May, we crossed the equator, northbound. And, even better news,
the wind has come in, albeit gently at less than 8 knots from the WSW. This is the edge of the Indian Ocean monsoon I had been looking for as a signal I am through the ITCZ and 'out the other side' ya hoo! I don't expect the monsoon to be as reliable or as strong as the SE trade winds, but they do offer the hope of wind and a downwind sail the last 700 miles or so to Langkawai.

Today is laundry and cleaning day. I washed all 13 days worth of laundry - two pairs of shorts and a hat. The hat was by far the worst because I wear it. The shorts I don't bother with much. I also cleaned out the fridge bottom. This is especially important as it contains all my open food, and when not normally refrigerated it gets, well, nasty.

Its hot out here folks, damn hot!

And as I write this, the wind is dying.... whimper... whimper.....

Droning along....

We are now just 4 hours short of motoring for a full 24 hours and no wind in sight. With no wind, the fluffy white clouds rise straight up from the glassy surface of the aquamarine water. Its rather fun, watching them grow and morph. Like a kid, I find myself laughing at the caricatures of people I know showing up in their profiles. It's so quiet, it would be perfect water skiing weather if I could get going fast enough under power! It would be fun too, skiing in and around the great big oily swells coming up from the SE. In the quiet, even the birds are resting - too much work to fly without the wind to give them lift on the waves.

And I am resting too. There is nothing much for me to do. With no wind, there isn't much to look at other than the clouds. The weather is completely settled, not even much squall activity about, certainly nothing I have to dodge. And, as for the boat, she is looking after herself. She steers herself. The boat's diesel is happy to run hour after hour after hour. The boat doesn't wake me up for any sail changes. The boat even pretty much navigates herself with GPS. Yup, its just about perfect. I even have the fridge running with all this excess electricity lying about, so I have cold, very, very cold beer. Now all I need is to find a way to have the boat cook and clean up after me, then I would be in heaven.

Really, the only thing I have to do is worry about having enough fuel. Which I don't, of course. I have enough fuel to motor about another 400 miles, and its still almost 800 miles to port. But I can't imagine not having any wind between here and Langkawi. The wind will pick up. Patience has never been a strong suite of mine. In the mean time I guess I'll just have to lie down some more. Saving my energy you see.