Captain’s Log: Kumai to Kelayang Belitung

Oct 5-8

Hi All,

We left the Kumai anchorage a day later than planned……on Thursday, Oct 6 @ 6:15am……and arrived at P. Bukulimau….about 6 nm NE from Manggar on Friday around 3pm……anchor down and passage beers open by 3:30pm……a run of 240nm, avg of 7.3kts….not too bad for the conditions. What happened to our trawler weather:(((((( We were expecting 5-12kts S-E winds with 0-1’s seas……what we got for 18 hours, over half the time, was 2-4′ headseas……from the SW-W……and headwinds 10-15+ kts for 6-8 hours……arghhhhhh. We assume all that was squall related as we had rain everywhere around us but actually got very little on Mystic. With the salt spray from the headseas Mystic sure could use a good rinse to wash all the salt away!!! (Sidebar: it is raining now almost everyday so not too worry Mystic:))))

We forgot to ask Mystic: So you ask…..why did you leave a day later than planned……well, here’s the story. We both were a bit depressed about missing the Rally functions in Kumai as they were supposed to be a lot of fun. And, after our afternoon with Wati we could see why. But, we both just did not feel up to it…..I mentally wanted to go but had no energy…..we did have 4 very busy days in the heat so maybe we needed a day off…..hmmmm. As the day progressed we both got worse and by that night I was down…..yep, headache, low grade fever (got as high as 101*F), aches and pains, nauseous……ugh!!! I got up at 3am, took some advil, drank some tea and cooled off in the salon and actually felt better by 5am….say 60-70%…..enough to convince the medical officer I was good to go…..like one of those Kirk to McCoy conversations where Kirk rarely wins:)))))……but we forgot to ask Mystic:((((

When we started the Cummins to raise the anchor we had a lot of smoke coming out the exhaust…..like dirty steam…..ugh….not good…..let’s get the anchor up and warm up the engine and see if it goes away…..wishful thinking…..I blame the fever!!! After about a mile or so it was not better, maybe worse…..I jump into the engine room. Sea strainer looks good…..but, there is considerable oil on the bottom of the saltwater pump…..definitely not good. So we pull over to the side of the river, anchor and I go back into the ER……check the thru hull…..plenty of water, check the strainer, clean but there are some thumb size holes….not good, change to a new one…..try the engine again and same dirty smoke…..ok, this is going to be serious….we start up the engine-that-can, our trusty Yanmar and go back to the anchorage to figure this out.

We think maybe the seal in the pump is leaking oil into the seawater, but, we really didn’t see any oil on the water coming out the exhaust. Well, it’s the only thing that I found that is not right….ok, let’s change it out…..and so I did……105*F ER and I’m sick……yep, I get nauseated a few times…..take many breaks, drink water and ginger ale and I’m getting weaker so we call Brett and ask for help!! He comes over as I’m putting the last few hoses back on the new pump and finishes the job. As he does that I change the oil…..we were low…maybe a quart lower than expected….and the oil felt thicker than normal……so maybe water was leaking back into the oil….ugh.

We get it back together and we cross our fingers as we start it up…..AND IT’S NORMAL…..Oh what a relief…..I just about fall on my knees and cry with joy. It’s now about 12:30….been at it for about 5-6 hours……and I’m really flushed…..Doc K gets some cool towels and ice and tries to cool me off…..finally the Doc says screw it…..turn on the GEN and run the AC, you have got to cool down and get some rest……and that is what we did the rest of the day. Ran the AC for 8 hours…..it was heaven….sleep, drink ginger ale, sleep, ate a little broth, sleep, ate some chicken noodle soup, sleep, ate some more soup and a small grilled cheese, go to bed. I slept like 14/17 hours……wake up at 5am the next day feeling better…..I actually have energy…..the fever broke about 1-2am and I slept hard after that!!!!

In the meantime, Kathy is not feeling as bad as me when I got sick, but she is not right and throughout that same day she gets worse….no energy, headache, queasy and by the evening she is down….fever, headache, something intestinal……she spends a lot of time in the bathroom…….McCoy prescribes Cipro and we start it that night. By the next morning when I am feeling so much better, she is not feeling good at all, but she feels the weather is better today than tomorrow and if I’m ok, she wants to go. So I spend the next half hour cleaning up the mess from yesterday and by 6:15am we are off. It took Kathy another 24 hours or so to start to feel better. Me, I was ok, I was tired but not sleepy and had energy, but, my intestinal issues started that evening….ugh!!!

So…..we think we had two things going on…..a virus we probably picked up from Ami, our guide who got sick at the end of our tour. And, some bug we got from something in the market the other morning…..maybe from the some of the fruit we tasted….yikes!!!

So given all that we decided to use Manggar, now Bukulimau as just a rest stop for the night and go the next day to TG Kelayang and stay put for a week or so and see if we can’t get 100% well!!!

The anchorage at Bukulimau was actually quite lovely…….clean water, no bugs…..yes, as in no river:)))) There was a village off the island……all the houses built on stilts and maybe 20+ fishing vessels like the ones we have been passing at night with a gazillion lights on…….a very unique and clever vessel with bamboo platforms built off the side for nets and lights!! At about 4pm it was like a parade of boats passing by……all came close to Mystic and waved and danced, especially if I was taking their picture!!!

We were up early again and left Bukulimau by 6am on Saturday, Oct 8 for the 55nm run…….we arrived around 2:00pm, avg 7kts and had anchor down and passage beers open by 2:15pm….sweet as!!!! But once again no trawler weather…..we expected 5-12kts SW-SE winds which we thought being on the north side of Belitung we would be protected…..WRONG……what we got was all headwinds…..WNW-WSW……10-15kts, 2-4′ headseas……arghhhhhh!!!! And it was very cloudy when we arrived and this anchorage is full of reefs and coral bommies and these big granite boulders…..the light was crap but fortunately one of the Rally boats was here and answered our hail and along with their instructions and waypoints from the guide book all went well!!!!

That’s if for now….. we are in for some R&R and hopefully some fun in Kelayang!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon
Rest Mystic Rest!!!!

Remember the palm island when we came into Kumai; this is it washed up on the beach!!

A large barge carry bark and/or sawdust

Villiage at Buklimau

The fishing fleet

One of many fishing vessels on parade by Mystic!!

Here they all come!!!

Very well maintained and a unique design; all for night fishing!!