Captain’s Log: Kelayang to Ketawai to Nongsa

Oct 16-19

Hi All,

Ketawai: We made it to the anchorage around 4pm….86nm, 10.5 hrs, 8.2kt avg….not too bad!!! The conditions were fairly good….we had 5-15kts S-SW winds most of the time….pretty beamy……seas in the 1-2′ wind chop so not bad at all. From about 2pm on there were numerous squalls with thunder, lightning and winds 15-20kts……so much fun to anchor in wind/rain…..NOT!!!! Kathy took some great pictures of one of the squalls. About 10nm south of Ketawai there were numerous, as in too many to count, stationary fish traps built out of bamboo in about 20-50′ of water, but they did show up on radar!!

The squalls took a break for the evening but then started up about 2am……. winds 15-25kts S-W so coming across from the mainland 5-6nm away. Seas built to 1-2′ chop in the unprotected anchorage. The winds gradually calmed by mid-moning but the rain continued for most of the day…..ugh……so instead of exploring the island we had another snow day!!!!

Ketawai is a beautiful small tropical island surrounded by a reef and what looks to be a nice white sandy beach. They have built a bamboo pier and some tents in preparation for the Rally. There looks to be a caretaker on shore. I’m really not sure why the Rally stops here in a few days……yes, a beautiful small island but no village……we understand they take people by boat over to the mainland as well as put on various shows on the island.

Nongsa: We left Ketawai at 5:30am on Tuesday 10/18…..yep, another early morning. Conditions continued to be in our favor…..10-15kts SE-SW winds so mainly behind us……seas in the 2-3′ wind chop but again behind us!!! But, with the wind behind us the apparent wind was almost nothing so it got pretty HOT!!!!!

EQUATOR: Yippee…..at 12:50am on 10/19 we crossed the equator and back into the northern hemisphere……my brain basically said about time……tired of having to always to think the opposite:)))))) We rearranged our watches so we both could be awake so Kathy had 9-1 and I had 1-5…….I just got up and made it in time……we gave a toast to Neptune with some red and white wine off the bow……then I had to divert to avoid a cargo ship and Kathy went to sleep off watch…..a very different, low key celebration than the first time we crossed on our passage from Panama to the Galapagos!!!!!

We have now traveled over 20,000nm and 2800 engine hours since we crossed into the southern hemisphere on Feb 7, 2013….over 3.5 years ago…..that’s about half of our total miles and engine hours…..wow…..yes, the Pacific is one large ocean!!!!!

Kathy wrote: Last night, we crossed the Equator and passed back into the Northern Hemisphere! Getting closer to home….Ok…Well, we’re still half a world away, but at least we’re in the proper hemisphere……hello Polaris! :)))

Nongsa: We arrived around 12:15pm on 10/19 at the Nongsa marina on the NE corner of Batam……across from Singapore about 15 miles away. We plugged into power after having to change shorepower plugs the marina lent us….yep, like our 10th different one……last time we were plugged in was in Darwin Australia about 3 months ago……you could just hear the batteries sucking in the juice:)))) We were plugged in, air conditioning on and passage beers open by 1:15pm……we were in AC heaven….we may never leave Mystic:)))))

The passage was 253nm, took 31 hours, 8.2 kt avg, winds 10-15kt behind us and seas 2-3′ behind….very comfortable……we had speed swings from 7.2 -9.2 kts as the current went both ways. Most of the way it was sunny except around 8am we had this huge squall that lasted ~2 hours….headwinds up to 30kts, then got beamy with waves/spray coating our port side….yikes!!!!!

We made it time to see Cameron……a college roommate my senior year with Craig in the infamous General Pershing apartment…..OMG…..we had not seen each other in 40 years……it was soooooo good to see him and we had such a good time it was hard to say good bye again……but he will be in the area for a year or so more so we hope to hook up when we get back in Feb. He has his 1600 ton Masters license and works for Tidewater operating delivery and supply ships (in the 200-300′ range)in SE Asia and is currently based out of Batam/Singapore…..oh wow, we talked boating all night….who knew!!!!!!!

We will be hear for a few days……will take the shuttle to Batam City, meet up with some of the other Rally boats, do some boat chores, check out of Indonesia on the 23rd and then on Monday the 24th make our way across the Singapore straights to Puteri Harbor Malaysia, just outside of Singapore……of course, we will need to dodge about 100 ships…….yikes, we think this is busier than even the Panama canal……Mystic will need some extra power Scotty for this crossing:)))) We will park the boat and go into Singapore for a mini-vacation……4N/5D……massages, running water showers, and seeing SG……we have now been on the boat cruising for 6 months and are very much looking forward to a mini break!!!!

Hope all is well!!!

John
Mystic Moon
REST MYSTIC REST!!!!

Ketawai Bangka

Ketawai

One of the many stationary bamboo contructed fish traps

Fish Trap…..they use the lights at night to attract the fish…this one has the nets down in the water

The Squall as we approched Ketawai Bangka

Crossing the Equator back in the northern hemisiphere…..ah, all is normal now:))))

Cameron and John reunited after 40 years

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