We departed Narat around 07:00 today under full canvas as
there was a bit of wind around, heading for Bali 57 miles away.
Our Neighbour at our Narat anchorage
It was great to be sailing for a change after all the
motoring we have been doing in Indonesia. I was unsure of what currents to
expect as I have read a lot of conflicting information about which way the
currents flow and at what time of year.
So my plan was to head for the closest part of Bali, which
was around the north eastern corner and if we have a very strong opposing
current, I can turn to Amed for the night, but if progress is good I will hug
the coast where we can pull up at Padang Bay or continue on to Benoa Harbour.
Conditions we perfect, sailing on a nice 15 knot close
reach. The ocean was glassed out with a 1.5m swell rolling through and all I
had to do was watch for and avoid all the big tankers, ferries and fishing
boats suddenly appearing from all directions.
There appeared to be very little current affecting us as we
cruised along doing around six to seven knots, so I changed course and while
sitting a few miles off the coast of Bali, we headed towards Benoa harbour at
the far south end of the Island.
There was quite a bit of rubbish and organic flotsam in the
water and I had to be wary of colliding with a large solid log. It was nice to
be sailing this coast of Bali that I have driven a million times as it gave me
a totally different perspective of the Island.
Gunung Agung - Bali
Note the water spout forming
I also discovered several potentially really good dive
locations along the way such as Pulau Gilibiaha, Pulau Gilitipekong and the immediate
surroundings.
The wind lasted most of the day and only died out during the
last hour or so of the passage when I had to start the engine. Looking on my
new battery monitor I noticed there was no charge coming from the starboard
alternator.
I started the port engine and there was charge coming from
the port alternator. I was sure I tested this back at Gili Gede, but now I wasn’t
sure if I did or not? Had the starboard alternator just suddenly stopped
working, did I have a wiring fault or has this alternator not been working for
years and I just didn’t know?
It would have to wait till we get to shore where I can take
some measurements to confirm if the alternator is faulty or not.
The Bounty on its way back to Benoa harbour from Nusa Lembongan
We were heading to Benoa harbour which is the commercial harbour
of Bali and the plan was to tie up somewhere close to Fonster for a few days
and get a cheap hotel room as Putu had been feeling sick for the last couple of
days.
The problem was I had no idea where to go as my Navionics
charts were very basic within the harbour, as were my CM93 charts. I had seen a
brand-new unfinished marina on the internet that I assumed we were heading for,
but this was not shown on Google Earth imagery.
Luckily as I got closer, I could see Fonster on my AIS so it
was just a simple matter of carefully approaching his location.
As I approached the harbour entrance I was surprised when
the VTS harbour master called up asking for our intentions, previous port and
next port of call.
All was sweet and we managed to find Fonster and our crappy
berth behind them. The wind was blowing into the jiggered, decerped, rat
infested, polluted, concrete floating pontoon and I was so glad Dave and his
crew were waiting for us with his large fenders to prevent us from damaging the
boat.
It didn’t take long to get secured and then it was time for
a beer or two.
Track Sirocco’s
progress
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