Year 2- 1 August 2025 –Banda Islands- Ambon

The night was quite challenging in that the wind would die to about 8-9kts which was a bit slow (4-4kts) and then it would speed up enough to keep us going. We then had thunderstorms and lightning which made the wind go up to about 25kts and then we were doing about 9 kts and it was pelting with rain. I had the thunderstorms up on the radar and we were surrounded by them.

We sailed on through the night and making enough pace to keep going forward and to ensure we got to our waypoint off the Ambon promontory about 8.30am. We both got soaked but Stormbird battled on. At about 8.30am we put on the engine and motored round the promontory and into the Ambon inlet. We had seen a number of wooden platforms anchored around the entrance which we had to avoid and would be difficult to see at night. We motored on down the inlet for about 5nm until we came to the anchorage which was off a hotel called Benpit. We went round a few times to find a suitable anchorage spot which was not easy but eventually we anchored in about 18-20m of water and dug the anchor in. How the rest of the fleet are going to get in here I do not know. I had been worried about the engine bit it seemed ok and I am going to try to get someone to look at it in Ambon and the outboard.

Once we were settled I made a good, cooked breakfast which is what we needed after a 20-hour passage of so. We then took the dinghy down and went ashore. I should say that we could not start the old outboard so that is tow outboards which are not working which will need to be looked at. There were some people to greet us but no real restaurant. We did manage to get a beer but then came back to Stormbird. Apparently they were arranging for an engineer to come and look at the engine at 3.00pm. I went back taking a gas cylinder to fill. The engineer was not there so they gave me his number. He was not in Ambon and will hopefully come tomorrow. Typical chaos!!

I returned to Stormbird and we are now having to row each time. I tidied up and prepared to leave tomorrow morning. I am flying home for a week to see a close relative who is terminally ill and to say goodbye as it were and I hope I make it on time. I will therefore not be blogging until I return on the 9th of August. I will be leaving Adam in charge and he will be joined by two more crew on the 7th.

Once we had sorted things out we had a drink and a boat load of young lads came back to say hello. They came on board and wanted to look around. I gave them a coke which they enjoyed. The picture of the day is the local lads enjoying being on board.  I leave at 6.00am in the morning from the hotel so Adam will have to row me.

The mechanic came at 6.00pm to look at the engine and outboards. He had a brief look at the engine and will take the outboards away tomorrow. I therefore cooked supper of pasta pesto as the hotel is not worth eating at. I am feeling quite tired after last night and I have an early start tomorrow at 5.15am.

Ambon (formerly Dutch: Amboina) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Maluku. This city is also known as Ambon Manise, which means "beautiful" or "pretty" Ambon in the Ambonese language. It covers a land area of 359.45 square kilometres (138.78 sq mi), and had a population of 331,254 at the 2010 Census[2] and 347,288 at the 2020 Census;[3] the official estimate as at mid-2023 was 354,052.

Ambon was colonized by Portugal in 1526 and originally named Nossa Senhora de Anunciada, founded by Portuguese-Moluccan Governor Sancho de Vasconcelos. The Portuguese were driven out by the Dutch in 1605. Except for brief periods of British rule, the island remained under Dutch control until Indonesia's independence in 1945.

Ambon experiences a tropical rainforest climate as there is no real dry season. The driest month is November with total precipitation of 114 mm (4.5 in), while the wettest month is June with total precipitation of 638 mm (25.1 in). As it is located near the equator, the temperature throughout the year is constant. The hottest month is December, with an average temperature of 27.2 °C (81.0 °F), while the coolest month is July, with an average temperature 25.0 °C (77.0 °F).

Hopefully we will explore some of it when I return.

Need/Opportunity Year Three

In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.  I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com