Category: Sailing in the Andaman Islands

On our way to Belitung from Pulau Genting we stopped to anchor for the night at Karimata where coincidentally, the last vestiges of the Sail Wonderful West Kalimantan fleet – S/V Matilda and S/V Liberte – had also headed, on the same day, from Ketapang.  It was a delightful reunion and we particularly enjoyed the…

New friends We had enjoyed such a wonderful walking tour of Pulau Genting the previous day and wanted to show our gratitude to our new friends  – one of the local school teachers and a government administrator – who had shown us round, so we decided to invite them them for afternoon tea and to…

We were on Pulau Genting, a small and quite isolated island off the coast of Borneo – at the mercy of the weather again. We had hoped to get to Ketapang in time for the final events of the Wonderful West Kalimantan rally but a 20 knot plus wind straight on the nose and a…

After a good rest overnight in the great anchorage at Pulau Genting in the Pelapis group of islands we felt ready for the final leg of our trip to Ketapang to catch up with the Wonderful West Kalimantan Rally.  On our way to catching up with fleet in Ketapang We were a week behind the…

Captain Birdseye and I were crossing the Equator for the second time in Bali Hai but for our daughter it was her first crossing in a boat so in accordance with longstanding marine tradition she had to undergo an initiation ceremony, conducted by King Neptune.   So we went from the Northern Hemisphere across the…

Things can change so quickly even when things seem quite dire. One moment our yacht Bali Hai was crippled with a busted gearbox and six days later a replacement had been sourced, collected and installed.   We had booked flights over the Internet to Brisbane, Australia, our daughter had driven four hours to Pontianak, taken…

While our spare gearbox which was stored under our son’s house in Brisbane, Australia, was in the process of being collected and hand delivered to our boat (thanks to our daughter), we took the time to do a few boat jobs.  We had been very occupied with the Wonderful Sail Kalimantan Rally in the previous…

Bali Hai’s gearbox had busted and we were stuck at anchor in Tangung Bajau, a little bay near Singkawan on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. We had two choices – try and repair the gearbox or install a new one. We called our diesel mechanic and Yanmar engine agent in Brisbane who advised against…

We were stuck in Tangung Bajau near Singkawan, in Borneo, with our yacht crippled due to a broken gearbox and unable to continue with the Wonderful West Kalimantan Rally until a replacement gearbox was found. Having broken down on the way to Lemukutan Island, a popular place for snorkeling, we were feeling a bit sorry…

It was the last day of the Bengkayang/Singkawang leg of the Wonderful West Kalimantan yacht rally and the morning got off to a great start with the grand opening of the biggest mango we have ever seen. The biggest mango we’ve ever seen! It was not only the biggest but the juiciest most delicious mango…

Due to the weather we had anchored in the wrong bay for the next stage of the Wonderful West Kalimantan Rally but organiser Raymond Lesmana was as always, totally accommodating and arranged for a bus to take us to the cove where the welcome celebrations were to be held, as well as organised security for…

Our next stop on the Wonderful West Kalimantan Rally was Bengkayang where we were scheduled to anchor at Kura Kura Beach.  Wow what size yachts were they expecting?! Along with Yantara, Shakti and Liberte, we pulled our anchor up in at around 7.30am and were relieved to find none of the mass of fishing net,…

The Sambas section of the Wonderful West Kalimantan rally had come to an end but we decided to delay our departure for one day as we needed to restock with fruit and vegetables before taking off.  The markets had lots of things in sale besides food We booked our car to leave early and made…

After an extremely long day of sightseeing and visits the previous day we were relieved to hear that our final day in Sambas was going to be a little less busy.  All the boat crews needed to do bits of maintenance and prepare for the trip to the next stop so it was good to…

We were on the third day of the Wonderful West Kalimantan Yacht rally and once again on our small tour bus.  Sadly only five yachts managed to make it to the rally out of eleven starters. We felt bad that some of the yachts hadn’t even had the courtesy to let the organiser Raymond Lesmana…

We were up early and ready to go by 9 am on this, the second day of the Wonderful West Kalimantan Rally.  We had been invited to another wedding (the one on the previous day we sort of gate crashed).  Fortunately no funeral though.  These guys were like ushers – guiding the guests and any…

We woke early on 1 July to the sound of small boats passing very close to us – everyone who went past us seemed to want to get as near to the boat as possible to have a good look at us! We needed to get ready quickly as this was the first day of…

The day had finally arrived when our daughter would fly in from Delhi, India to join us on Bali Hai in West Kalimantan, Borneo.  On the way to Pontianak – a Chinese temple The plan was for her to stay for the whole of July and get a taste of sailing in a rally with…

Our first morning in Sambas, in West Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of the island of Borneo, we woke up to grey skies and a little rain but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the local people or the welcome we received.  But of a grey old morning From early morning onwards we had people…

It was our last night in the deserted and magnificent Tambelan Islands and we cooked a delicious meal of barbecued fresh fish purchased from a lone fisherman who had visited us in our isolated anchorage at Pulau Benoa.  This was “the change” we received from the small sum we gave for a bigger fish The…

Stormy weather delayed our departure from Nongsa Point Marina on the first leg towards Sambas, in West Kalimantan, Borneo, but by early afternoon we were on our way at last.  Yantara leaving the marina As the weather had been quite unsettled we decided to just do a small hop 16 nautical miles south and then…

It was a wonderful feeling being in Indonesia again after 18 months of cruising round Malaysian, Thai and Indian territorial waters.  Having done sterling service our Malaysian flag has been given an honourable discharge We were helped into Nongsa Point Marina on Batam Island by the charming staff and our fellow yachties from S/V Yantara…

Sailing under a road bridge is always a nail biting experience – even when you have been under the same bridge successfully on a previous occasion! We followed Yantara out of Puteri Harbour in Malaysia and under the bridge that leads from Johor Bahru to Singapore and despite knowing full well that both our boats…

The main reason for stopping at Puteri Marina was to visit the Indonesian Embassy to apply for our social/cultural visas. This type of visa allows you to stay in Indonesia for an initial 60 days and then can be renewed for further thirty day periods for up to six months.  Puteri Marina Applying for a…

In company with Yantara, we set off on the last leg of our trip down the Malaysian Coast before crossing the Singapore Strait to get to Indonesia.  Motoring past Malacca with Yantara It was rough going out of Admiral Marina, Port Dickson – with 20 knots of wind “on the nose” and a big swell.…

We were one stop away from leaving Malaysia and crossing the infamous Singapore Strait to Indonesia so we decided to hire a car while we were in Port Dickson to enable us to complete our provisioning for the next few months.  Driving along the coast heading for Tescos! We needed to buy many items we…

Moving down the coast of Malaysia we began to feel we were making good progress towards our destination of Sambas, in Indonesian Borneo, where we would soon be joining the West Kalimantan Rally.  Our anchorage at Sungai Burnam From Pangkor we sailed to Sungai Burnam a river that marks the border between the Malaysian states…

As we hadn’t spent any time at Pangkor when we had travelled north after the Sail2Indonesia Rally in 2015, we decided to have a few days there on our way South to joining the West Kalimantan Rally in July.   We were delighted to meet up with fellow Indonesian rally participants Psycho Puss and Slip…

This is the last my out-of -“real time” posts detailing Bali Hai’s four week trip to India’s remote outpost – the beautiful Andaman Islands. Thank you for sticking with it! Before we left Port Blair, the long arm of Indian bureaucracy had us noting down the names of each anchorage we stayed in so that…

Continuing our journey south to join the West Kalimantan rally starting on 2 July, we left Pulau Rimau just after the sun rose heading for Pulau Talang where we would spend the night.  Another beautiful sunrise It was a long but uneventful day although we had quite an uncomfortable swell for the whole trip so…

We were glad of an extra day in Port Blair which allowed us the time to visit the notorious cellular jail and then take a short ferry ride over to tiny Ross Island which served as the capital of the Andaman Islands during the British occupation from 1858 to 1941 after which the Japanese occupied…

Back to another “real time” blog update – from fascinating Pulau Bidan we made our way to Penang – just a few hours motoring. The last time we had visited Penang was November 2016 when we had taken a ferry from Langkawi to meet friends from Brisbane.  This time there was no opportunity for sightseeing,…

We left the Cinque Islands in India feeling a little sad as it was our last stop after a month of exploring islands in the Andaman group – first in the north and then down south. Untouched white sand Farewell to the Cinque Islands The Cinque Islands are definitely the jewel in the crown of…

After a five-day visit to Langkawi in which we caught up with friends, stocked up on food for the freezer from Sailors, bought alcohol supplies for the months ahead, purchased fresh fruit and vegetables and dealt with our outboard which wouldn’t start, we headed south – our final destination being Sambas in West Kalimantan, Borneo…

Our final island visit during a month in the Andamans was to the glorious Cinque group, possibly the most beautiful of all the places we had visited in this glorious part of India.  The clear waters of the Cinque Islands These islands have been designated a National Park area and there is an entry fee…

Another “real time” update before I publish the last few blog entries about our stay in the fascinating and beautiful Andaman Islands.  A big swell on the way to Koh Lanta Our trip from Phuket to Langkawi started off reasonably enough with a good sail to Koh Lipe. The following day was a different story.…

We were expecting the current we had experienced on the way south to Little Andaman Island to work against us but we made good progress towards Sister Island and arrived in plenty of time to have a relaxing afternoon and a pleasant dinner on Bali Hai that evening. Beautiful sunset at Sister island Dinner on…

We were only the second group of yachts to arrive at Hutt Bay in Little Andaman Island in the past two years – the first group being Quintessa and Beach House, our erstwhile travelling companions, who had visited just two weeks earlier before we met up with them in Port Blair.  On a tour of…

This blog is in “real time” as I’m taking a break from uploading the last few updates on our trip to India’s captivating and far flung Andaman Islands.  So – we are on the move again, sailing south from Thailand to Indonesia via Malaysia with the intention of joining the month-long West Kalimantan Rally starting…

After an exhausting day with a 3.15am start, and a tiring drive north on the main highway of South Andaman Island, we felt ready to flop into bed as soon as we arrived back on Bali Hai but of course, there were, as always, jobs to be done first. An early morning start to join…

After driving through Jarawa tribal land on the Andaman Trunk Road which runs the length of three of the main Andaman Islands, we boarded boats to the famous Limestone Caves in the Homfrey Strait.  Some of the tourist boats that ply the route to the Limestone Caves After a ride of about 25 minutes we…

One of the highlights of our visit to the Andaman Islands was hiring a car and driver and exploring the interior, travelling north on the only road to traverse between South, Middle and North Andaman Islands, with ferries to connect between the islands.  Because the “highway” goes through land reserved for one of the five…

We returned to Port Blair to drop off our daughter at the airport. Her flying visit was over too quickly but as always, it was such a pleasure to have her company and to see how much better she looked after a few days of swimming, snorkelling, sailing and sleeping. Boat life is so relaxing!…

It says in the SE Asia Cruising guide that Inglis Island “makes the effort of getting to the Andamans worthwhile” and from our perspective we would absolutely agree.  We had so enjoyed our visit to this Indian island  paradise the previous week that we decided to take our daughter, who was on a lightening visit…

We parted company with Quintessa, Yantara and Beach House at Havelock Island where we had enjoyed all the facilities – the shops, the restaurants etc – a real contrast to our previous stop, Inglis Island with its magnificent gin-clear waters, beautiful beach and a backdrop of pristine rainforest. Sunrise at Havelock Island It is always…

Inglis Island was a paradise but on the second day a nasty roll had set in around sunset. Quite apart from the uncomfortable rocking, we also had the waves banging loudly against the bow of the boat. This potentially could have kept us awake during the night but we all slept so well after the…

Most people’s image of India is a crowded, hectic, colourful and noisy place. In contrast, waking up in India’s Andaman Islands we were surrounded by the clearest, cleanest water you have ever seen, white beaches and total tranquility,  Total tranquility North Button Island was such an idyllic location we decided to stay another day there.…

Waking up in Elphinstone Harbour was a magical experience. We were greeted by glorious birdsong, the water was like glass, the sky a clear blue and it was perfectly peaceful and still.   Our small fleet enjoying the beauty of Elphinstone Harbour So it was with reluctance that we departed for Long Island, the next…