PULAU BELITUNG TO PULAU HARAPAN (THOUSAND ISLANDS)
17 June 2013
GARY
PHOTO: A FRIENDLY VISITOR ALONG THE WAY
Leaving Belitung was a bit of a wrench after enjoying the island and the friends we had made - albeit in only 10 days or so. We quietly motored out of the Kelayang anchorage at 0630 on Saturday morning and made our way south down the west coast of the island. The day was very calm, no wind to speak of and therefore motoring was the go. We had decided to follow in the footsteps of David and Kris on Taipan and day sail down the length of Belitung in two steps. First we anchored at the mouth of the Perlak River - approx 24 nms from Kelayang. The anchorage was easy to find and gave us good shelter from all directions except the east - not much weather comes from that way and in any case the prevailing winds at this time of the year are SE through to SW. The night was very calm and we found we had a number of mossie friends from the nearby island who came to join us. The screens went in and a quick squirt of bug spray gave us a quiet relaxing night. Sunday morning we managed to catch the tide down the strait between Belitung and Pulau Mendanau and caught a nice little NW breeze that gave us a couple of hours of sailing. Then, as before, the wind dropped out and we were back to motoring and using up precious diesel fuel. Our next stop was at the bottom of Belitung off the North coast of a little island called Seliu. Here we arrived about 1300 and settled in for a relaxing afternoon. Within a few minutes the first of the curious locals approached in a small canoe calling the time honoured "Hello Mister". We set about having lunch and the local lad paddled off and soon returned with 4 friends in two more canoes. They were likeable lads and asked us to go ashore with them but we didn't feel like it and passed on the offer. The island looked very pretty with lots of coconut palms lining a nice white beach along which were moored numerous local fishing boats. The afternoon and evening were calm and we discussed staying the next day as the weather forecast seemed to show more suitable winds the day after. We decided to see what the morning brought and decide then. At 0430 we woke to the sounds of a squall blowing in on the anchorage from the NW - we were exposed and on a lee shore with reef. The winds howled into the island at 35+ knots and the wind quickly pushed the waves up to 1 metre. We were securely anchored and so that didnt present a problem but required us to remain on watch in case we dragged or, worse, we were hit by someone else. A few local boats had been in the process of putting to sea went the squall arrived and they opted to anchor around us and wait it out. The squall lasted about 2 hours at which time the anchorage was very lumpy and uncomfortable. We decided that we would put a reef in the main, raise the anchor and get underway. We departed about 0930 in 20kts from the NW. We had a lovely sail for a few hours and then, once again, the wind dropped out and we were back to motor sailing. The leg from Seliu to Harapan in the Thousand island group is about 190nms and so involves some nights at sea. Because we left at 0930 from Seliu and we have had no wind since the squall ran out of puff, it makes for a longer passage time-wise. We have throttled back to conserve fuel and are plodding along at a little over 4 knots. I need to sit down one day and calculate whether reducing revs to conserve fuel is actually more efficient than using more fuel with higher rvs but getting there in less time. This leg has certainly been the busiest in terms of shipping and fishing boats. last night, at one point, we had 8 ships either overtaking or passing us and we counted at least 30 fishing boats within 5 miles of us. At present we are just to the east of several large oifields and we should see their lights and flame towers burning tonight. We expecct to be in Harapan tomorrow morning early. Anyway, more when we get to Harapan.