First Passage - Langkawi to Batam, Indonesia

We filled our water tank (take note of this, it becomes significant as I'll explain in a minute), topped up our diesel and left Telaga Harbor Marina for Kuah where we were going to check out of Malaysia. Checking out in Kuah meant that we would not be allowed to stop again in Malaysia and would need to travel to our next port of Batam, Indonesia (just across the Strait from Singapore). So, we planned to do a few overnight sails and anchor at a few places without going into a port, or, ashore. The nicest anchorage, by far, was this one at Pangkor Laut, where we were adjacent to a very beautiful, luxurious-looking little resort.

We spent a full day and night here, but, we weren't lazing around enjoying the scenery and gorgeous little sand beach. It proved to be just another one of those places where, as sailors say, "you get to fix your boat in a lot of beautiful, exotic places"

So, once more to back up to the beginning. We left Kuah and headed south. We had been expecting to have to motor all the way to Singapore, if not all the way to where we'd jump off for Australia, due to the constant headwinds at this time of year. It's not really the "right" season to be going this way, but, luckily with our new engine in this boat, we are able to make decent progress against some chop, tidal current and headwind, which, in our previous boats, would have stopped us dead. The wind is light, only around 5-10 knots, up to 20 or so, more in the short squalls we're experiencing. Even just 20 knots though seems to set up a nasty short swell which can be 2.5/3.5 metres.

First day out, things were going fine, even though a squall was coming our way and the visibility had decreased significantly. Around noon, we had dolphins around the bow, always welcome visitors. G said I'll just pop down to make a cup of tea. All was well until he quickly came back and said there's no water? Remember we'd just filled the tank before we left, where had it gone? We opened the engine room and there it was, all 350 litres sloshing around all the running equipment. The bilge pumps in this boat also need a redesign (it's on the list). There are four pumps and many pickups, but, only one is on a float switch and it's not the lowest one in the boat. All the others need to be turned on at the panel when needed. We turned the engine room pump on and the pump that we had tested a few weeks ago decided not to work. It probably just needed priming, but, we were more concerned with just getting the water out. Luckily, we'd bought a 6L manual vacuum pump the day before we left. We stopped the boat in the pouring rain and started manually bailing. Three hours later and around sixty repeats of fill up the pump, take it up the stairs and dump overboard we had most of the water out. What had caused the problem? Take a look at this. Not one, not two, but, three hose clamps in a row had given out! Two of the three clamps are clearly marked USA, so, we can't blame poor quality Chinese steel. We're not sure how this could have happened. Were the clamps overtightened? Why were there three on that join anyway, surely two should be enough? Too much water pressure? Anyway, all hose clamps are now suspect and we've got another item for 'the list'.

We continued on our way knowing that we'd missed our window to anchor that night and would just have to keep going, like it or not. A few hours later, the next mishap occurred. This was getting tiresome. The toilet totally blocked up 100%. We've never had an electric toilet before and we'd noticed that it didn't seem to be working too well, but, weren't sure how it was supposed to work, so, had just put it on "the list'" to be looked at, either a rebuild, or, replace. Now, however, it became an immediate priority. Having to "bucket it and chuck it" isn't fun. Almost a full day was spent in the anchorage dismantling, cleaning and reinstalling the toilet. Didn't work. It had to be the hose. Marine head hoses and outlets are notorious for filling up with calcium deposits and hoses should be replaced regularly. We took this one off and because we didn't have spare hose had to lay it on deck and beat it with a hammer to break up the deposits, then, ream it out with a broomstick. After reinstallation, the toilet flushed with incredible force, obviously the way it was supposed to work. Hose replacement has now been added to "the list".

It's true that at some points during these mini-dramas (which don't seem so mini when you're living them) we were feeling very disheartened  and wondering whether a return to cruising was the right decision. It's really been just maintenance issues so far though and we will get ahead of them at some point. On the bright side, a lot of things are still working: the electronics are talking to each other, the autopilot works, the windlass works, the fridge works (freezer not so much), we've tried the watermaker, the washing machine and the shower and they all work. It feels so incredibly luxurious to be able to shower on the boat. We have tried the hot water heater, but, it's not really needed, the water at air temperature is hot enough!