Year 2- 18th October 2025 – Kumai -Borneo-Kalimantan – Belitung Island

 I woke about 6.30am and put the kettle on. It was a pleasant day and I looked out to where we were anchored. There were a few islands we could not see from the night before and I could see a few boats anchored near the shore. There were a number of fishing boats around and it seemed to be quite a busy part of the coastline. In wanted to head into anchor quite early.

 Keith stirred and Mark appeared and then everyone seemed to get up. We upped the anchor and motored forward toward a number of waypoints I had put in which guided us through the reefs and coral bommies. We crept forward and I had a couple of crew on the bow watching out for coral and reefs. I followed our waypoints and round an island and continued in toward the shore. I could see Sol Searcher anchored and decided we would go to her right and we found a good spot in 6m of water in sand. We were soon anchored and secure. It was already very hot and humid so it was time for a swim.

The water was warm yet quite refreshing and I swam and snorkelled on the anchor which was well bedded into the sand. As I swam back I noticed a bit of rope hanging out of the port bow thruster tunnel. It was wrapped around the port propeller. I unwound some but could not get it out. Steve offered to help and he began to try and unwind it. I went and got my knife so that he could help cut some of it. As he was using my knife unfortunately he dropped it. He did, however, manage to get the rope untangled and out of the tunnel. I did go and get out a scuba tank I had and Steve dived down and got the knife from the bottom. I was very glad about this as I have had that knife for years.

Ruth and Janet swam off toward a local island and we all chilled and enjoyed the water and the fact that we were here. We had a shower and got ready and decided to go ashore. We got the dinghy down and headed ashore and went on to the beach. A local called Eddie helped us pull it on to the beach.

Steve had decided to swim ashore and had set off before us. We had researched where we should go and we found a restaurant called Rock and Wreck which Steve headed to when he got ashore. We met him there and they sold Bintang which was good. We sat there enjoying the warmth and colour of the sea with its different blues and dark areas of coral and weed. We then had some food which we enjoyed and spent a good few hours just being after a few days at sea.

When we had enough we returned to Stormbird and rested. We then had a cheese and biscuit supper which is all we needed. We chatted about attitudes in society and how we seem to have lost respect for institutions in society and how we resolve this issue, It is very difficult but we need to get parents to take more responsibility but what if they cannot….. My idea is to slash the number of MPs in half and to pay them double (cost neutral) and you cannot become an MP unless you have at least 10-year experience in a meaningful role/profession. We need a reset as the country is going to the dogs!!.

 We have booked to go on a tour of the island tomorrow which will be interesting.

 The picture of the day is a picture of the view from the beach out toward where Stormbird is anchored. 

 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