MONDANGO III
20 October 2014 | 04 03'S:111 14'E, 240 NM TO BELITUNG
KEN (PICTURE BY BRUCE)
We have been sailing for the last thirty six hours....no engine on. YEAH! The wind has been on our starboard hind quarter, and we have been doing between 7 - 8 Kts SOG at times.
We had a pleasant surprise yesterday when we got hailed on the radio by a ketch passing us 4 miles away.
"Moonbeam. Moonbeam. This is the sailing vessel Mondango III"
"This is Moonbeam, please switch to a working channel"
"Is there a Captain Ken on board?"
"Yes, this is him"
"This is Jeremy Smith, former captain of Splendido"
Well, it turns out that Splendido is owned by friends of ours, Michael and Daniel, and we met Jeremy in 2008 when he was working as a captain for them. Jeremy has been working on Mondango III for the last six months as first mate. Mondango is a new 56 meter ketch (that's 182 feet ---YIKES). The boat was built in Aukland, and has already been through the South Pacific, Australia, Indonesia and is on the way to Singapore now. We may be able to catch up in Thailand next January.