Jeff's Log ~ Monday, March 31, 2008

0700

We already have the anchor up and are resuming the journey down the straights. I did not get any pictures because of the weather when we arrived, and the lack of light when we left. On our way out of the channel, the quaint little fishing village we were anchored in front of, became the suburbs as there was a much larger commercial fishing city around the bend to the south.

As we left the island, the wind freshened and we set sail. Mark took the first watch, so I can relax until 1000. As I came on watch, the wind was dying. Mark and I furled the jib because it was just flogging. We began motor sailing as I could still trim the main and use the apparent wind to help drive the boat faster. By 1100, even that didn’t help, so I dropped the main and rigged the awning. We motored the rest of the way to our anchorage for the night which is a group of small islands that are part of Indonesia.

We were boarded and checked out by three Indonesian navy men who arrived in a rowboat being towed by a fishing boat. They were very friendly and just asked for our names and the home port of Pipe Dream. After having a couple of beers and some chit chat , They jumped back in their rowboat and paddled backwards, with the three of them sitting in the bow, towards the island they stay on. One fellow spoke English very well, and translated for the other two. Their tour of duty here at this remote place is six months. The fellow that spoke English said that it was a very long time away from his wife. It made him feel better when I told him that I have been away for over eight months. It was fun being a diplomat for our great country. The coordinates for our location are 2 52.319N 100 33.340E

The sunset was very pretty, and in a tree on the beach off to port we watched a pair of sea eagles roost for the night.