COGNAC SAILING

Monday, May 2, 2011

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Langkawi to Phuket in Thailand

Finally after what felt like many long weeks waiting and w a i t i n g
for minor repairs to be done at Telaga marina
We set off sailing again. What a great feeling.
The sunsets and sunrises the wind in the face.
We really enjoyed the first few days.

There was always something spectacular.
We hope that you can see the rainbow.

On our 10 day long voyage to Thailand we visited this "Hole in the wall"
a natural park in Malaysia. The opening was almost that-a hole in a wall.

It was a very very narrow entry.
Suddenly the water was almost still in here. So protected from the winds.

This was really very special...there were about 20 or so eagles just circling.

Lots of tourist arrive here few times per day to see the eagles.
They have trined them to come for a feed ass soon as they hear the boats.

Taking a great eagle picture was not the easiest task.
This is the best I was able to get.

Our first stop in Thailand. So so different to sleepy Malaysia.
There was a great big party going on till 3 am in the morning.
This is also the time when the toilet broke
we noticed problem with dinghy
and the very first sign of engine troulble.

The next day our plans were changed
and instead of taking the scenic route to Thailand we took the most direct one.
Robert was not happy to take any chances with the engine
that didn't want to start easily.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Arriving in Malaysia - delayed

Not a very interesting welcome.

Singapore to Port Dickson- that was the plan anyway.

Hmm…we got used to Singapore and enjoyed it tremendously and needed to continue on our journey now with our brand new Malaysian flag ready for hanging.

Our next stop Port Dickson was only a short distance away, past the shipping channels again. We made a booking at the very nice Port Dickson marina. That booking was made without electricity and water which they could not provide which was fine with us. We had plans to stay there for a few days and visit Melaca city which we all were really looking forward to since it is such an old city and apparently very interesting too.

Things don’t always work out as planned.

It was getting rather late in the afternoon with a storm building up rapidly. We were so glad to have a safe spot in the marina. This was not to be. Port Dickson could not find 2 bookings and simply turned us away. Apparently that happens a lot at that marina!!! We survived the storm in a small and only bay we found a few miles away.

The sceenery of the Malaysian coast.Bit gloomy and very industrial.

Hmm just looking around and making sure that we are safe- always.

Our instruments showing us the way to Port Klang.
We felt tired at the end of that day.

Entering Port klang. A very busy and industrial port.
This used to be Kuala Lumpur
until it burned out one day and
KL got moved to it's present location about an hour on a train

We had no other option but to keep on going to Port Klang with Apsara the next day. Our previous plan was to separate in Port Dickson where we were going to catch up with Sail Malaysia (which had already taken off) and Apsara was taking part in The Raja Muda International Regatta. We were going to meet again in Langkawi. The way it all worked out we continued on to Port Klang together and took part in Raja Muda together. This was “way” better and fun than the previous alternative.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Batam to Singapore crossing - delayed

Visibility around 200m on leaving Batam marina.
A bit nervous...

21^st of October 2010

Ready to live Batam and

Indonesia

. We had our Singaporean flag ready.

This was going to be only 40 + mile day and we knew that it would require of us all that we had to offer that day.

We had to cross to

Singapore

over the major shipping lines. I guess I would compare it to “running across a freeway” on a Vespa.

The weather was bad…this was the day that Singapore and Malaysia launched a protest against forest burning in Indonesia as it left both countries with 100 meters visibility for days. So I guess crossing over the major shipping lines would really be like running across the freeway on a Vespa with one eye and sunglasses on…laugh if you want!!!

In retrospect we thought that it was better not to have been able to see the traffic on water.

The worst parts of crossing The Singapore Straits – low visibility, 476 big vessels” Big mama ones” within 5 mile radius, the emergency channel 16 was so busy that we could not understand a thing and switched it off in the end, the Russian guy who decided to sing long songs on channel 16 and answered to no one, the MEGA ships were REALLY MEGA!!!!!BIG super BIG PAPAS!!!!!!!!

Hot of course it was hot, boats travelling at 20 nautical knots onwards just like your freeway traffic, little iny miny one person fishing boats in amongst all this traffic (they must have been on a suicide mission-not sure about fish there) we had to watch out for and one calculated close call and there was no other call to take.

The best parts of crossing the Singapore Straits: we did it!!! we laugh a lot because it was so incredibly chaotic and busy, we sounded OH …”S..T” is that a ship or just smoke or smog and the “bestest” part AND THE ENGINE KEPT ON GOING …considering our temporary electric fuel pump put together by our little Indonesian mechanic from Bali AND delicate state of the engine after our fuel was stolen fiasco. All was well.

The minute we arrived at Raffles Marina we felt totally and utterly exhausted and it didn’t matter. We MADE IT SAFELY. Apsara made it safely too the engine and the wire worked too.

The champagne we were going to drink once we arrived in Singapore had to stay on ice as we were too tired to drink it. The customs were awaiting us at the bay and were free to enjoy civilization again.
Two days later we drank our champagne.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Our long trip from Belitung to almost Singapore - Batam delayed

Post delayed We had to live Belitung quite early in the morning as the weather was not the best and the journey was very long. According to our Indonesian information 600NM away- well questionable and definitely an overnighter and couple of days. This was my SURPRISE OVERNIGHTER 33hrs to next short stop from Belitung. I don’t like overnighters (not many sailors do) and of course not surprise overnighters .What is one to do if there is nowhere to stop on the way? Keep on sailing and keep on smiling!

That we did we sailed with a smile for a looong looong time. There were really 4 parts to that journey. The first –the 33hours long overnighter took us to the smallest Lingga Island where we stopped for some rest and as soon as we arrived there was an enormous storm with lighting that was very very frightening welcomed us.We could see all the local fishing boats “running for their life” There is always a chance that a boat can get hit by lightening causing enormous damage. And there is the torrential rain and strong wind. I think we had 4-5 minutes to anchor.

Day 3 we stopped at tiny picturesque P-Periuk Island and had another storm.

From P-Periuk we continued on to Benan or Bakan which were part of Riau Islands a very old and traditional fishing village.

We stayed the night and in the morning just before we took of for another stop before Singapore Apsara our sailing companion developed a loose wire problem. Loose wire is normally a small problem and finding the right wire is priceless. We were on our way soon enough. Unfortunately this part of our journey was more challenging that we anticipated. The intense heat made us really exhausted. It was muggy with little visibility We had to really concentrate as this area was becoming really busy with huge ships. We sat in the cockpit with cold compresses on our necks and hand held electric fans to cool us off.

Our boats looked like little peanuts in comparison. There was this storm hovering around us and yes that hit us too.

Our chosen place for the well deserved rest did not look safe when we got there-we had to continue rather than stop.Apsara called with a technical problem(yes one of the wires) and we had to opt for Batam Marina which was the closest and safest. Our calls were not answered on any channel by the marina so we just arrived. Hmm a little problem.

The Harbour Master would not let us stay as we have already left the country according to our documentation. We were placed under house arrest and asked to live in the morning. We were all really exhausted and Apsara still in need of technical assistance. After further negotiations with MANY officials and proposed change of visas we were allowed to stay to attend to technical problems which we did we have enjoyed all the lovely marina had to offer together with pool and sort of 5 star restaurant…oh something we had not seen for such a long time. We even visited the city-quite large and such an incredible contrast to the last village. The difference between them a few nautical miles. Absolutely striking.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Langkawi March-April 2011

Back in Langkawi after spending time with family and freinds.
We have worked hard ( even if on a super relaxed island time ) for the past weeks and will be leaving Telaga marina tomorrow making our way slowly to Phuket.