by Loretta
March 27 – near Hulo Hinako
LATITUDE: 00-51.94NLONGITUDE: 097-21.09E
When we arrived at this anchorage
near Hulo Hinako (our charts had no name for this particular island), and while
we were trying to find a good depth to anchor in, a "polisi" boat
(sign hand-painted) pulled up and tried to board us. We hovered, anchor still
in its home, while we dealt with the "officials". They were a scruffy
looking trio, one with a big gun strung across his chest (looked like a toy,
actually) and one with an attitude. He yelled at us, thinking that we would let
them aboard because he was bossy, but we didn't feel comfortable with letting
them on CanKata and so fended them off. In the sign language that we have
become familiar with, he asked for money, beer and gas. We smiled, said
"yes, yes", then gave them copies of our boat papers and three
bottles of water. The bossy guy grabbed our papers, scratched his head, and
laughed at our stupidity (or cleverness). Darrel asked for our papers back, and
got them. They kept the water, and sputtered off.
We had asked if we could take
their photo, but they said no.
Tonight, for the first time in a
very long time, we are bringing in our garden lights, horseshoe and life sling
- the only unsecured items on the deck - just in case the three water bottles
weren't sufficient.
We had hoped to anchor at Asu
(00-54.304N, 097-16.825E) where there is a famous eatery called Mama Silvi's,
but we couldn't find a good depth for anchoring, and decided to move to this
anchorage that Kevin had recommended.
March 28 - Lagudri
LATITUDE: 00-33.74NLONGITUDE: 097-44.36E
We motored our 32 nautical miles on
this day. The only cloth flapping was my laundry drying. There was a gentle
swell, so the trip was pleasurable. Making lunch in the galley is easy when
it's so calm.
There is a surf camp nearby, but
we're not very close to the surfers (about ten of them), so we can't tell if
they are getting any good waves. It's calm where we are.
March 29 - Telo
LATITUDE: 00-02.53SLONGITUDE: 098-16.97E
We are now in the southern
hemisphere - where it is autumn and the days are getting shorter - although we
won't notice the difference for a while, being so close to the equator.
We had a good trip today -
motoring once again - with the appropriate celebration when we crossed the
equator. We hear that some people stop their boats and swim across ... we may
try that sometime. Today we drank bubbly (tonic water) and shared some with
Neptune.
Telo is a lovely spot with a very
charming beach-side town where we met many friendly locals. First of all, they
showed us where the best place was to tie the dinghy, and then helped us up
onto the pier. Our first stop was a small grocery store where a friendly young
man held our items as we picked them out (no grocery carts). Then we stopped at
a fruit and vegetable (and misc.) store where we were encouraged to buy all
sorts of things, including a tin of mushrooms and a box of
"beng-beng" - "wafer-karamel-krispi-cokelat" - a nice
Easter treat. And avocados! What they didn't have (fresh eggs and cucumbers)
they ordered for us by phone. Children followed us everywhere. Motorcycles with
side cars were busy taxiing locals up and down the strip. We could have stayed
for hours enjoying the village activity but storm clouds were threatening so we
scooted back to CanKata once we finished our shopping.
From CanKata, we could hear the
choirs singing in the two churches, and the sound of the chanting from the mosque.
Little local boats zipped by regularly, with the occupants always yelling out a
friendly "hello" to us. And there must have been a pig sty on shore,
for we often heard grunting and squealing that was a little scary sometimes.
Telo was a lively place, with no banks and poor internet access, but many
friendly people who made us feel very welcome.
March 31 - Sipika
LATITUDE: 00-08.13SLONGITUDE: 098-20.67E
Today, Easter Sunday, we slowly
motored just 10 nautical miles to a quiet little bay at Sipika. We are
surrounded by reef but it was easy to pick our path to the spot where we
anchored - in 38 feet with a sand bottom. We passed lots of fabulous surf - no
wonder there are surf camps scattered about. The spiffy-looking camp in this
spot is not yet open, but I'm sure the season is just around the corner. It is
very calm here with no current (there was LOTS of current at Telo), so we went
for a snorkel. But the surf has churned up the sand and the reef is covered
with it, and the water visibility isn't great. But it was warm and clean and
it's always nice to go for a swim.
We spent a few relaxing days at
Sipika and tackled our big April chores, getting ahead of the game.
One day, a boat load of seven
people stopped by and asked if they could come aboard and take photos. We love
having people aboard, but we always approach these requests with caution - just
like for all the reasons you don't want a group of strangers wandering through
your home, and for a couple of other considerations as well: you invite one group
in, and then maybe everyone will come knocking; and sometimes the invitation is
understood to be "and come again at any time". This can be disruptive
to the carefully planned maintenance schedule of CanKata, to say the least.
This boat of seven had just
stopped at the beach to have some fun and a swim - they seemed to be "from
away". And there was no one else around. So we invited them aboard. What a
great bunch - three policemen, two wives (one a nurse, one a money-changer), one high-school student and the
captain of the boat. One couple was from Jakarta, one from Medan, and the
others from Telo (the last two being Sumatra places). Lots of photos were
taken, we served up snacks, and we had a great conversation. Most of them spoke
excellent English, and quick translations were done for those who spoke only
Indonesian. We were given a crash course in the language (if only we could
remember!). And we all got a big laugh when someone threw the peanut bag into
the water, saw my reaction, and then quickly retrieved it.
The next day another boat stopped
by - a man and his son - with shells for trade. So I traded a "treat
bag" and now have a pretty little shell in my collection.
April 3 – Tanahbala
LATITUDE: 00-19.99SLONGITUDE: 098-31.50E
This anchorage near Tanahbala is
in a strait and is well-protected. We
anchored in 30 feet, sand and mud bottom. There's no beach, just mangroves and
palms and other trees. There were plenty of gnats at sunset.
Here, we barbequed our last batch
of sausages and had our last treat of M&Ms. But we still have our
“beng-bengs” and lots of other chocolates – important items on our provision
list.
If it seems that we are not in a
hurry to get down the coast of Sumatra, it's because we're not. We don't know
of many good anchorages in the southern portion, and we know of numerous great
anchorages right here. We had planned to go right down to an island called
Enggano, but are now thinking of heading west from the Sumatra city of
Bengkulu. It all depends on the weather.
April 4 – South Tanahbala (in 18
feet, good holding, with a swell)
LATITUDE: 00-33.54SLONGITUDE: 098-29.23E
The weather for the last couple
of days has been overcast, often wet and sometimes very breezy. On our journey
yesterday, we had a few miles - maybe six - with a big swell (up to ten feet)
but it was wide-spaced and not too uncomfortable.
Today was better, but it was a
toss-up as to whether or not we should enter this bay. The surf was crashing on
both sides of the entrance, which didn't seem that wide from far out. But as we
got closer, we could see that there was a wide entry, and we managed it without
problem. We are now in the protected bay but there is still a swell - a bit
uncomfortable even on a catamaran.
It's like Halloween today, with
lots of little goblins looking for treats. We have run out. In fact, I am now
in the middle of making goody bags with an assortment of trinkets I have on
CanKata.
It's funny how this treat giving started. Two young lads paddled out in their canoe. We scanned the shore, and it looked like there were no children about. So we felt safe in giving the two lads some treats. But you can guess what happened: they must have paddled quickly to shore, found all the rest of the children who were hiding behind trees, and announced, "Yes, they are friendly, and they have treats!!". And out they all paddled. Those that couldn't paddles got their daddies or big brothers to bring them. So if this were Halloween, we would turn out the lights and pretend we're not home, but no-can-do on CanKata, so we're giving away goodies that we really wanted for ourselves. Sigh.
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| See any children? |
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| Not a child in sight. |
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| Just the beginning. |
More on LAST OF: We had the last
of our fresh butter. Now we are into the canned ghee, which is actually very
good. To make our precious provisions last, we have started eating popcorn
without butter (but still with lots of salt, I confess), and are still enjoying
it at movie time.
Tomorrow we have a big day -
travelling 47 nautical miles. The wind should be in our favor.
April 5 - at Tabekat, Siberut
Island (in 33 feet good holding)
LATITUDE: 01-04.92SLONGITUDE: 098-57.44E
Our night in South Tanahbala was
rainy and rocky so we had an early night.
And we had an early morning - we
left through the passage and between the surf at 0630, under grey skies and a
steady rain. The swell started off at about 6 feet and lasted 6 hours, but the
last part of the trip was flat (including flat winds). At one point, as we came
close to Siberut Island, the water quickly and dramatically changed from sea
blue to harbor green. An hour or so later, it gradually turned blue again. Now
that we are in the harbor, it is once again green - dark green.
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| A clearly visible line. |
But it is well protected and very calm here. There is a large wharf with some big fishing boats, and there's a fish farm nearby. With the rain, we're not expecting any visitors. There is no beach and lots of mangroves and other vegetation, so if there are visitors it will be the flying, biting kind. I think it will be another early night, tucked in with our Kindles, trying to decide if we enjoy reading Anne Rice books.
April 6 - at Taileleu, South
Siberut (in 31 feet good holding)
LATITUDE: 01-44.58SLONGITUDE: 099-15.78E
Today, we left Tabekat at 0615
under very grey skies and steady rain, which continues. The runoff has totally
changed the sea water, which is now a dark, swampy green.
Our current anchorage is
well-protected in an area with no habitation that we can see. No beach, either.
We've just had two long days of travelling, so we'll probably rest here a few
days. Darrel has to change the oil and I might make some bread. I just broke
him the news and now he wants to go to bed early so he can be that much closer
to the time to eat fresh bread. What a guy.
We enjoyed three great sleeps in
this Taileleu bay, and got more "calm water" chores done.
While Taileleu was a quiet,
protected anchorage, the water was so brown that it has given CanKata a bit of
a moustache and our anchor bridle (which just a short while ago was a beautiful
new white rope) is all brown and grimy.
AND the fish flies, or whatever
name is given to those pesky non-biting bugs that love to fly in your face and
get tangled in your hair, visited us in the thousands - no exaggeration - just
after sunset on our second night. We had to cut our movie short, turn out all
the lights and go to bed (and read by the nifty self-contained lights of our
Kindles). In the morning, Darrel used buckets and buckets of that lovely brown
water to wash all the flies off CanKata's deck.
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| Relaxing after a hard-day's work, before the bugs arrive. |
While we were nicely tucked in
with our Kindles the night before, a boat came knocking, wanting to sell us
some handicrafts. Darrel called me out because the gentleman was selling wooden
boxes - my passion - but they were poorly made and he was charging too much. I
offered him $5 for what I would have paid maybe $3 in Thailand. He wouldn't
take it. He wanted $15. So we said our good-byes and wished him luck. Too bad, I could have used a little coffin
for all the dead flies.
Our third rainy night was spent
indoors. We weren't keen on a repeat of night two.
April 9–18 - at Snake Island (in
66 feet, good holding)
(Anchorage 92 in the 101 guide)LATITUDE: 01-54.22S
LONGITUDE: 099-18.77E
This is the type of place you see
in tour magazines. White sand, turquoise water, palm trees, thatch huts.
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| A clean, sunny, breezy spot - perfect for doing laundry. |
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| We often saw rainbows here. |
There are are a number of fishing boats and six big tour boats with
surfers here - no wonder: we are surrounded by surf. But we are anchored in
calm (albeit deep) waters. We need our binoculars to get a good view of the
surfers, and it looks like they are having lots of fun.
This is turning out to be a great
spot. The captain (late 60s - Darrel's other brother Daryl) of one of the surf
boats in the anchorage stopped by yesterday and popped in today, with lots of
good information about anchorages in the vicinity. He is quite the character
and kept us entertained for hours with stories of his adventures. About the
waves here, he has this to say: "Best in the world". The surfing
business here is quite lucrative.
Finally we got to spend an
evening again on the front deck. The stars were amazing, with the milky way
being very milky. And no bugs.
Snake Island was definitely a
CanKata-type of spot: clean, remote, beautiful, safe. A bonus feature: it is a
surfing hotspot, which meant that we had something to watch if we wanted, and
also we were never far from help if we needed it (we didn't).
I'll attempt a description:
Imagine a clock with a diameter of about 1/2 mile. We were anchored at 6
o'clock. At 3, 9 and 12 o'clock there was surf. The surf boats anchored near
the center of the clock, after entering at either 5 or 10 o'clock. The 9 o'clock
surf spot seemed the best, and the most difficult, and that's the one we had
the best view of.
The surfers never bothered us.
When they passed us on the boats, they would wave and shout greetings. They
were never on the little islands (one with lots of palm trees, the other naked)
when we explored them.
For a number of days, the wind
and surf died (which helped with water clarity, so the snorkelling was superb),
which kept the surfers away. But the waves soon came back, and this morning
when we left, two beautiful new surf boats, "Huey I" and
"Pelagic", were anchored in the center of the clock. Before 7:30
a.m., there were surfers enjoying the waves at the 9 o'clock position.
LAST OF: We have finished our
black licorice, a favorite treat of Darrel's. We didn't have much because it is
hard-to-find and expensive. We are out of UHT milk but that's not a problem
because we have LOTS of powdered milk. I used powdered milk to make yoghurt. We
are nearly done our frozen meat, which makes Darrel very happy because it takes
a lot of battery power to keep the freezer running. We will start eating a lot
of canned tuna, vegetarian meals, and (we hope) fresh fish.
April 19 - Pototogat
LATITUDE: 02-01.05SLONGITUDE: 099-34.51E
(in 32 feet, good holding, clear
water with a number of coral heads around - we had to pick our spot carefully)
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| Earthquakes have changed the lie of the land. |
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| Church steeples were often seen in the islands off the west coast of Sumatra. |
We spent a very peaceful night in
this anchorage. Storm clouds threatened, but nothing came of them and we were
able to spend the evening on the foredeck. It was as calm as could be.
Today we visited the nearby
village of Tuapeijat. It was necessary to raft the dinghy onto a string of
three other boats, and then walk across them to get to a narrow, rickety dock
that made me nervous. (When people ask me "Aren't you afraid?" when
they know we are circumnavigating, I usually say no, but now I might say
"Well, once there was this narrow, rickety dock ...") The villagers
were friendly and helpful, as usual, and we were able to fill our bags with
fruits and vegetables and eggs to last us until we get to Padang near the end
of the month.
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| CanKitty was tied up past the boats at the end of the rickety dock. |
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| Well-balanced on the rickety dock. |
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| Always nice to find CanKata safe and sound when returning from shore. |
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| The captain inspecting the produce. |
April 22 - Teluk Payur, near Padang
LATITUDE: 01-00.12SLONGITUDE: 100-23.06E
WHERE: on a mooring ball in Teluk Bayur near Padang
We arrived at Padang (or about
nine miles from the city) earlier than planned. We had a great overnighter from
Pototogat. There was no wind except for a couple of gentle squalls, so we
motored (and made water) the entire way. I was on the 8PM to 2AM shift, and
Darrel was 2AM to 8AM, other times being shared (meaning mostly Darrel while I
do laundry or cook or read). That works well for us. There wasn't much traffic
out there, so it wasn't stressful in any way.
We arrived earlier than planned
because we were having trouble with our anchor windlass and our SSB radio
(which turned out to be a problem with the station we were using, not us). We immediately
met "Rio", who came out in his little boat and greeted us as we
entered the harbor and got us onto a mooring ball. It's like he somehow knew
that we had a toasted anchor windlass. He is going to cost us about $25 per
day, and he will drive us around, get us to a bank, arrange for repairs, help
us get provisions, and be generally helpful in any way he can. Since we are
anchored nine miles from the city, it is necessary to have a driver/agent. Rio
seems perfect for the job. (His number is 085 375 008 281).
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| "Fill 'er up" - filling CanKata with diesel. |
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| Teluk Bayur - an industrial bay. |
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| A splendid fishing boat in the bay. |
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| While we were here, there was a blockade/protest against fluctuating fuel costs. |
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| Even an industrial bay can have a beautiful sunset. |
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| Everywhere we go, there are kids looking for treats. |
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| How can we resist? |
It was a productive time in Teluk
Bayur.
Items checked off the list: (With
much help from "our team" - locals Rio and Saly)
- SSB radio. It wasn't our radio!
The HAM station was out of service, but he didn't respond to our email promptly
so we weren't sure.
- Anchor windlass. This was a
tough one, and required two extreme efforts by Saly, the second one being successful - hurray.
- Ratchet-end fabrication. Saly
made a piece, based on a drawing by Darrel, that makes it easier to raise the
anchor manually. Before, Darrel had to insert the winch handle, give a
half-turn (because the standing-rigging prevented a full turn), then remove and
reinsert the winch handle again for another half-turn. With the new device,
Darrel can keep winching without removing the ratchet.
- Refrigeration. The refrigerant
has been topped up and our team got Darrel a kit so he can do it like a pro in
the future.
- Darrel's windlass invention.
Our team fabricated a piece that Darrel designed to enable him to use a ratchet
instead of winch handle if we ever have to raise the anchor manually.
- Dinghy wheel bolt. Saly found
us a stainless steel bolt. We'd been searching a long time.
- Money. Our pockets were filled,
then emptied.
- Diesel. Rio got our jugs filled
after dark, for some reason. Hmmmmm. It wasn't a bargain, but the price was
reasonable.
- Provisions. We asked Rio to
pick us up a few things, and then on the last day Rio organized a taxi to take
us to the "Chinese grocer" in town. They had everything we wanted.
- Check out. Went smoothly except
for the near collision that Rio's bike had with a tuk-tuk (open-air taxi).
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| Waiting for the taxi to Padang |
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| We love cheese, but this was just a bit too much. We split it with SY Green Ghost. |
PERFECT TIMING: On April 26, we
had the last of our frozen meat. It gave Darrel great pleasure to turn off the
freezer, and he regularly comments on how much electricity we now have to
spare, even knowing we face a future of tinned fish, canned ham and chick peas.
On April 27, a fisherman came to CanKata. We had only just commented on how
fishermen never come to our boat with nice fish for sale. This fellow asked us
if we wanted a mahi-mahi. He said it would be $20. We said we would like one
for $15 (150,000 Rp). He said okay, and a few hours later, slapped a beautiful
big fish on our starboard scoop. It has been soooooo long since we had fresh
mahi-mahi (dorado), and it tasted superb. We will get four meals - eight servings
- from our "catch". (And the next time the kids come looking for
treats, I might be able to spare some canned sardines.)
OTHER BOATS: This is a busy
anchorage with lots of ships, fishing vessels, surf charter boats, and a few
cruisers. For the past few days, there have been three cruisers here, and they
are all flying CANADIAN flags. It was good to meet these two other boats -
Green Ghost and Tarahumara. We have arranged to stay in radio contact with them
while out at sea. We have also heard from ANOTHER Canadian vessel - Safina, who
is on a bit different route but will also be in radio contact with us. How
about that, eh? None of us have seen snow for a very long while but I'm sure
we'd recognize it. And just now, Australian yacht Elevation pulled in, and will
be heading our way soon. It will be a nice little fleet.
So now off we head, out to sea.
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| Green Ghost and Tarahumara. |
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| Darrel & Saly: windlass motor reinstall number two. |
Can You Hear Me Now?
By Darrel
Hello
Hello - Can You Hear Me Now?
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| The radio's main unit - did it need repairs again? |
In
preparation for our trip we had a lot of work done on CanKata and a number of
our systems repaired and checked. One of our most crucial pieces of equipment
is our Single-Sideband radio (SSB) so we had it serviced in Thailand and
repairs made so that it operated properly. This SSB, in combination with our
computer allows us to send and receive messages, and more importantly, get
weather forecasts for anywhere in the world. It is a fairly complex system with
a number of components including the radio main unit, remote control head,
microphone, modem, antenna tuner, counterpoise (grounding plane), whip antenna
all interconnected with numerous cables and ferrites. Because of the number of
components, when the radio quits working it is quite difficult to diagnose the
problem.
After
having the SSB repaired in Thailand it has been performing very well and has
been used daily for sending reports to a select group of family, friends and
fellow cruisers traveling in our wake. We keep this group small because it is
very important that we do not get spam, viruses, large messages or attachments,
or inadvertently put on distribution lists. If we do get a virus or even a
large message with an attachment that someone forgot to detach or a large
number of messages on any one day, it could tie up our system and prevent us
from getting weather reports which are very important when we are out at sea.
Knowing the weather, especially when there is a storm brewing nearby, lets us
know ahead of time what we can expect as far as wind speed, wave heights and
high and low pressure systems coming our way. With this knowledge we determine
what and how much sail to have up and whether we need to alter our course to
avoid unsafe conditions.
If the
weather gods obey the rules, the cyclone season in this part of the world
should be over (ends in April), but with climate change and El Nino influences
sometimes the season goes into overtime so it is essential for us to keep a
close eye on the weather.
Our
original plans were to cruise along the West coast of Sumatra until the end of
April, when our visa expires, and then head off on a long leg of our journey
(approximately 2500 Nautical Miles) across the Southern Indian Ocean to
Mauritius. But during our last ten days we started to experience a problem with
our SSB. We were unable to get a connection to a nearby HAM station through
which we send and receive our messages. Over the last 8 weeks or so there have
been times when we have had some difficulty getting connections due to poor
propagation or too many users but with persistence we were always able to get
through. However, on April 16th, 17th and 18th
we were unable to connect at all.
By the
third day we were both getting quite anxious and we started looking at various
components and trying to find a problem somewhere. We also sent an email to the
HAM station that we usually used to inquire if they were having any problems at
their end, which we thought would be highly unlikely for a station to be out of
commission for 3 days.
At the
time we were about 80 miles from the nearest port in Sumatra where we had
intended to go on the 26th of April to clear out of the country of
Indonesia. We did not know a lot about this port as far as services were
concerned but we were quite doubtful that they would have someone who could
repair our SSB radio. But we knew we had to try. We both agreed that if we were
unable to get the system repaired we would have to clear out of Indonesia
before the 30th and head back to Malaysia and Thailand. In other
words abort our plans to continue on with our circumnavigation.
After
sailing overnight we arrived in Teluk Bayur, which is a very small community
about 9 miles south of Padang. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a young
Indonesian lad who led us to a mooring ball and then I told him that we had
some repairs that need tending to. Five minutes later he brought out Rio who could
speak quite good English and asked if he could see what work needed to be done.
I mentioned to him that our windlass motor was kaput and our SSB radio was not
working. He said “no problem”, he would get in touch with someone to look at
these two items.
About
two hours later, he came back to the boat and asked me if I could remove the
windlass motor so he could take it to a repair shop. I quickly remove the motor
and gave it to him but told him I needed to get to an ATM so that I would have
some cash to pay for the services that he was lining up. He said “no problem,
come with me and I will take you to an ATM”.
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| Rio and his guys taking me ashore. |
Later
that day, he called me and asked if I could come to shore, he needed to show me
something. I zipped to shore in our dinghy and on the way thought this must be
bad news about the windlass motor. Rio met me at the dock and led me to a small
motorcycle shop just a hundred meters away from the dock. This motorcycle shop
is the same as other motorcycle shops throughout SE Asia. It is a small shack
about 200 square feet with a dirt floor and all kinds of old parts scattered
around the shop. It was here that I was introduced to Saly who runs the shop.
He had my windlass motor all apart and showed me how it was very badly damaged.
It was completely black inside and melted wires everywhere due to a nasty short
circuit. He said he could rebuild the motor but it would cost about a million
and a half rupiahs (about $150 CAD) so I told him to proceed with the repairs.
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| Andre, me and Rio |
Now
comes the interesting part of this entry. Saly, through my translator Rio, then
asked if he could come out to CanKata to take a look at our SSB radio. My first
thought was “Thanks but no thanks”. How could this same guy who runs a
motorcycle shop and who can repair large 12volt motors possible have the
necessary skills to diagnose and repair a delicate and complex radio unit. But
I thought, well maybe once he sees how complex this radio is he will then say
“sorry, no can fix” but may know of someone who could fix it.
So off
to the boat we go, once Saly wiped the grease of his hands, and once there he
quickly started asking questions that indicated he knew something about SSB
systems. He asked if I could remove the paneling in order to show him the main
radio unit. He then proceeded to remove the unit and set it out on the floor of
our cockpit and started to remove the outer casing. He then proceeded to
dismantle some of the internal pieces to expose the inner guts of the radio.
With his multimeter he tested a few of the electrical components, e.g. capacitors
and transistors but found them all to be functioning properly. He then asked if
he could take the unit back to his shop for further testing. I tried not to
visualize Saly squatting over his dirt floor with our radio in pieces lying
amongst the old motorcycle parts but if we wanted to continue on our
circumnavigation Loretta and I both agreed we had to take a chance.
Considering
we had only been in Padang for less than 8 hours, we were very impressed what
was accomplished thus far. Windlass motor removed and out for repair. ATM visit
and cash in the wallet. Salon dismantled to access the SSB main unit which was
supposedly out for repair. Plus I gave instructions for the fabrication of a
stainless steel fitting for our windlass to allow the improvisation of a
ratchet to ease the anchor to be raised manually (Saly will fabricate). And
lastly I arranged for someone (guess who – Saly of course) to come out and charge
our refrigeration system, i.e., add refrigerant.
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| Saly fabricated the piece on the left, based on my drawing. |
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| Perfect fit. |
 |
| And it works. |
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| Saly with our repaired parts |
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| A close inspection of the windlass motor. |
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| The three-way valve and hoses for the refrigerant. |
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| New bolt for our dinghy wheel (top), now intalled and working. |
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| Installing the windlass motor - round one. |
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| Saly in the anchor locker, not having much success. |
And now for the real reason I have written this entry.
The next morning when Loretta
checked our email she said “there is a message from our SSB Station administrator,
and it says “The station will be
off air for the next 3-4 weeks as something has gone wrong and I am out of the
country.” Wholly %#@$!
Does
this mean that we have gone through all of this anxiety and diagnostic work for
nothing?
Before
answering that I have to mention that all the HAM station operators are
volunteers who have set up these stations for HAMs and it would be very
inappropriate for us users to dis them in any way. We have to be thankful to
all of these operators around the globe for providing this service since it
really is a crucial lifeline for all of us cruisers who rely on this service.
So to
answer the question, No it was not for nothing. Without having this incident,
we would not have met Rio and Saly who we will remember for a very long time.
Epilogue.
Before
leaving Padang we also asked Saly to do two more jobs for us which he kindly did
even though he was very busy – a modification to our watermaker motor so it can
be used for refrigeration if needed, and to source a new SS bolt, nut and
washer for our dinghy wheels.
After
having checked our SSB radio unit before we were able to relay the message of
the problem with the SSB Station, Saly found everything in the unit okay. He
was quite relieved that the problem lied elsewhere.
We
accomplished all of our work projects and our SSB is operational again
(although we have had to change our service provider to SailMail until such
time that our Ham Winlink station is up and running again. So we are again
heading west soon to leave for Mauritius.
