Year 2- 22nd October 2025 – Belitung Island -South China Sea

I woke early – about 5.30am and it was very quiet and a better day weather wise. I made some tea and wrote the blog. The sun came up and I put all the wet things out which needed drying. Over time people got up and we had a fruit and yoghurt breakfast. I also checked the weather and there should be some wind if we left tomorrow so I think we will leave about 5.00am tomorrow.  

 We went ashore about 8.40am (Mark decided not to come as he had a bad ear) and I spoke to Ervan to remind about picking up Andy Marshall at 2.00pm and to discuss the cost of the trip we had yesterday and he agreed to reduce it which I think was fair in the circumstances.

 We went along to the opening ceremony which was not far away and they had set out a load of tables for us to sit at. There was a welcome and introduction and then a welcome dance by some schoolgirls. There was then a speech from the head of tourism for Belitung who welcomed us to the Island and hoped we would enjoy it. Then Tom from Dilemma replied and thanked them on our behalf.  There was then some more dancing and yes they then asked some of us to dance with the girls. During all of this they provided food and snacks for us with water or fruit juice.

There were a number of stalls selling clothes, cakes and creams made from products on the island. Then the children were released to talk to us. They asked us all sorts of questions and wanted to practise their English on us. It was a good low-key ceremony and not too long and as usual they were very friendly and welcoming.

After a number of hours we decided to move on to Ervan’s bar for a beer and then we had lunch at the Rock & Wreck again whilst we waited for Andy Marshall to arrive which he did. This is Andy’s third time on Stormbird. He did the Biscay trip in 2023 and French Polynesia in 2024 and is now returning to go up to Thailand.

Once we collected Andy we returned to Stormbird and Andy was shown his cabin -the bunk room.  I got on and changed the oil on the generator and Mark led the others to get the dinghy on to the davits.

Ruth kindly volunteered to do supper so we had a fish in breadcrumb bake with peas and mashed potato which everyone enjoyed. We will be up early tomorrow as we are on route to Batam where we will check out of Indonesia. It is about 340nm away and we aim to be there on the 25th morning.       

The picture of the day is from the ceremony this morning.

 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