Year 2- 23rd October 2025 – Belitung Island -South China Sea-Nongsa Marina Batam
The alarm went at 4.45am and Mark, Andy and I got up. It was still relatively dark and we upped the anchor by 5.05am and headed out of the bay. I used my track in to go out so I missed the shallow patches and coral areas. Once free of this we headed more west and out further into the South China Sea.
It was a grey day with full cloud cover and by about 7.45am it was looking menacing and I had been thinking of getting some sail up. The increase in wind was the rain clouds and about 8.00am we were hit by a tropical downpour and it poured so hard and the wind increased to 35 kts- a force 8! The rain and wind was so strong I had to get the ski googles out (this is the first time I have used them in my circumnavigation) to be able to see ahead as it was too strong for my eyes to remain open. We just motored on slowly and the swell increased but by 9.00am the rain had weakened and the wind was about 27 kts and so we got out the staysail and were able to sail more comfortably and faster than under engine. We had to sail at an angle to our course due to the wind direction but I knew the forecast was for it to come round more Southwest to South and so our course error would gradually be corrected.
By 11.00am the rain had pretty well stopped with a bit of a spit here and there and the wind had dropped to 18-20 kts so we changed the staysail for the genoa and we sailed quite well for a while. Then the wind began to reduce so I put out the staysail as well as the genoa (which I can do on this angle) which helped a little. Then the fishing rod went and began to run out. I had put it out earlier this morning and had forgotten about it. I wound the rod in and we had what I think was a nice Wahoo on the line. Andy who was on watch with me helped dispatched it and then we filleted the fish and threw the waste away. That felt good and was supper sorted.
By 1.35pm the wind had died again and we put the sails away and motored again. The issue is that we have 340nm to go and we need to maintain at least 6.2 kts to get there for the morning of the 25th. However, we were not making that speed on average so we either get there later that day or the morning of the 26th. I emailed the marina and they seemed relaxed about this. By 3.00pm the wind increased a bit and we sailed again making about 5 kts. It is good to sail when we can as long as we maintain a reasonable speed. By 5.40am I made the decision to motor again as we were making only about 4.4 kts and we needed to make up some distance. The swell was beginning to reduce as well so we could go more direct on our course. It soon got dark and we motored on at 6.5 kts roughly.
I made my spiced red cabbage dish in advance and Andy fried the lovely white fish in butter and lemon which we had with noodles. The fish was meaty and delicious. We then settled down for the night turning the instruments to night mode and getting into our shifts. We can see the cargo ships and tankers on AIS but the glow of fishing boats appeared and we will have to be on the lookout all night to avoid these boats. There are also some reefs which we need to avoid so we set a waypoint off them.
It had been a busy and wet day but we had coped well with the conditions. As I write this we have only covered 82nm in 15.5 hours (average of 5.3kts) and this is due to the swell and wind conditions. We should make up some miles overnight and we hope the wind will pick up tomorrow.
The picture of the day is the lighthouse we saw as we left Belitung which warns ships of the reefs and islands.
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