Sunday 19th December 2010
We set sail from Belitung at 0830 and by 0930 we had 45kts to 50kts almost on the nose. After two hours of this "Black Pearl" called up on the VHF to say they were heading back to Belitung and would see us in Lingga. We trudged on and prayed we had made the right decision. By sunset the wind was down to 20kts and almost in a usable direction, this was most unusual. At 0145 on 20th the seas were calm and we made radio contact with "Black Pearl" they were about six hour behind us and had the throttle wide open.
At 1445 "Black Pearl" dropped their anchor 15 minutes before we did, however they were once again in need of fuel. That night knowing we must be getting close, we tried and made contact with "Cockatoo II". They were just around the corner off a little village near Penoh Island S00 04.3 E104 50.9 and we would see them for lunch the next day.
We knew Paul and Tracy from Fremantle Sailing Club, they had set sail on "Cockatoo II" over ten years earlier. They had sailed around the bottom of Australia to Adelaide, met Mark's friend Alan McEwen and then set sail for Tasmania. They have a wonderful Web Site and are always willing to help fellow Cruiser's.
Seeing "Cockatoo II" at anchor after all this time was quite something.They had left darwin two days before we arrived and were sailing in company with Peter and Lyn their power boat "Mandella II".
We ordered some fuel for "Black Pearl" and decided to take some as well, to make it worth while for the local delivery Guy's. This turned out to be a huge mistake, not even our trusty Baja Filter could cope with the amount of dirt and water in this fuel. We refused the last 25Ltrs and warned "Black Pearl".
The afternoon was spent on the island visiting a very small village. By the time we got ashore all the children and some adults were wearing Pink or Red T Shirts handed out by "Cockatoo II".
We were all invited for drinks on "Mandella II" and had a lovely evening. At sunrise we all pulled anchor and made for Singapore with one night short stoppover.
We set sail from Belitung at 0830 and by 0930 we had 45kts to 50kts almost on the nose. After two hours of this "Black Pearl" called up on the VHF to say they were heading back to Belitung and would see us in Lingga. We trudged on and prayed we had made the right decision. By sunset the wind was down to 20kts and almost in a usable direction, this was most unusual. At 0145 on 20th the seas were calm and we made radio contact with "Black Pearl" they were about six hour behind us and had the throttle wide open.
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| Missed him!!! |
We knew Paul and Tracy from Fremantle Sailing Club, they had set sail on "Cockatoo II" over ten years earlier. They had sailed around the bottom of Australia to Adelaide, met Mark's friend Alan McEwen and then set sail for Tasmania. They have a wonderful Web Site and are always willing to help fellow Cruiser's.
Seeing "Cockatoo II" at anchor after all this time was quite something.They had left darwin two days before we arrived and were sailing in company with Peter and Lyn their power boat "Mandella II".
We ordered some fuel for "Black Pearl" and decided to take some as well, to make it worth while for the local delivery Guy's. This turned out to be a huge mistake, not even our trusty Baja Filter could cope with the amount of dirt and water in this fuel. We refused the last 25Ltrs and warned "Black Pearl".
The afternoon was spent on the island visiting a very small village. By the time we got ashore all the children and some adults were wearing Pink or Red T Shirts handed out by "Cockatoo II".
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| BIG Kid |
