Zhu Yi Wai Ji
27 July 2019 | South China Sea
Ginni
Pos 1745, 27/7/19. 7 41' N, 11 18'E. At approximately 0730 this morning comes the commanding best regime voice over the VHF radio 'ZHu Yi Wai Ji' 'Attention foreign vessels' I caught the beginning, not the middle and then the end which said 'Leave Immediately' again in Mandarin. At first we thought it was the Chinese Navy telling us had entered their space illegally and to get out of here. It turned out to be Vietnamese and they had that message later in English as well, and then on 'loop' so it played over and over. What transpired next was pretty interesting. There were at least ten vessels behind us a bout 6 nm. According to the AIS identification scheme/gadgets two of those were a 600 foot long 'Law Enforcement' vessel. - Chinese, and a 300 foot long Coast Guard vessel also Chinese. Then bunched up were 'fishing vessels' about six and two 'Cargo' vessels - Vietnamese. The two Viet 'cargo vessels seemed to be patrols of some sort. They moved along at about 7.0 knots all close together in an armarda, the two Chinese vessels on the northern flank. We changed course to get away from them all in case we copped a stray shot across the bow. Fortunately they all headed south while we headed south east as best we could sail that angle. We could see them all sailing along until they and we disappeared in the distant morning haze. Their AIS signatures, all showing course over ground, speed over ground, and identification name and numbers blazed up on our screen. suddenly about six of them disappeared at once, including the two Chinese ships. Very strange indeed. We could still eyeball them in the distant horizon and see their 'shadows' on the radar, so they were not invisible. No one did visit us at all thank goodness as we were a bit worried that a big Chinese law enforcement ship would want to come alongside and question us. This happened to friends from Hong Kong recently when they were returning along the Philippine coast. According to this mornings Vietnamese broadcasts, the Viets claim this patch , The Spratleys, as their sovereign territory and continental shelf (which is isn't) . These tiny islands, atolls and reefs are the tops of very steep mountains with deep trenches in between them. China has built runways and military bases on some of these reefs ignoring the outcry of international condemnation. This morning on the VHF the Chinese said nothing except that they just went along for the ride intimidating the rest by the size of their vessels. This was all a little disconcerting for us, but I suspect it happens every morning around this islands where fishing is no doubt quite good and the temptation to fish here is irresistible.
We are making good progress, but this afternoon hit suddenly by strong winds and some rain. After putting in a 2nd reef in the main and furling the genoa the storms passed and took most of the breeze with them. Still, we don't trust what lies ahead as there are storm clouds everywhere and Shonandra and the storm cells have yet to clash. We could be in for a busy night.
On that note, we are safely past the special Vietnamese economic zone, which both China and Philippines say is theirs. We are now about 250nm from the island of Labuan where we are headed but may arrive on Monday evening, in which case we will hang around at sea until daylight before venturing forward on Tuesday morning in good light. John and Ginni