Saturday 16th April 2022 - Departing Gili Gede - Returning to Australia

 

We were both up early today eager to finally get going. We had a nice relaxing breakfast in the restaurant, then we donated a flag to be hung in the bar as a memento of our forced imprisonment in paradise. 

After the flag raising ceremony, I went to the office to pay our remaining bills and of course the EFTpos machine wouldn’t work, so after many attempts, we had to get Putu's brother in Jakarta to pay for us.

 When we went back to the boat, I started both engines to warm them up, and then I went down below to get my SIM card packet for Michael (from Cosmic Drift) so he knows what phone card to buy, and when I came up the marina boys had already untied all my mooring lines before I was ready to leave. So now it was a rushed chaotic departure trying to remove the steering lock and switch all my instruments on before we drifted into the pontoon, while dodging mooring lines etc. Not exactly the relaxed graceful departure I was intending. 

We did a slow pass of the marina waving good bye before slowing making our way through the deep channel separating the Island from the mainland and then set a course towards the Gili Islands 30 miles to the North. 

 I was going to spend the night at Gili Air, but Luke wanted to see Medana Bay marina, so that was to be our destination for the evening. After an hour or so motoring in zero wind the port engine temperature alarm went off, so I shut the engine down and went down below to see what the problem was. 

It turned out to be the raw water engine cooling pump V-belt slipping and so in the extreme heat and humidity, I attempted to tighten it up, and after struggling for a while, put things back together and I restarted the engine and all seemed to be fine again. 

The 30-mile passage to Medana Bay was uneventful and it was a hot but pleasant trip until we were making the final approach into the bay through the dangerous coral reefs at the entrance. 

As I reduced the engine revs, the port engine temperature alarm cam on once again, so I had to immediately shut the engine down. Several minutes later the starboard engine temperature alarm came on, and I quickly looked for a suitable location to anchor and then shut down the other engine.

 

Luckily, I found a place that was only 7m deep, as most of the passage that day was well over 600m deep, so we dropped the anchor and I put up our Indonesian flashing beacons as the sun was about to set. We were only about half a mile from the marina moorings.

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Friday 15th April 2022 - Gili Gede - Lombok

 Today we started out cleaning the bilges and cleaning out all the food boxes under the saloon seats. I store all my beer and wine under the floor in both bilges to keep it cool and to keep the weight down low, but since being back onboard I can smell beer, which not a good sign. 

For some reason lots of the cans of beer had ruptured, spilling their contents into the bilges and it was a rather putrid mess in both bilges. We got all the cans and bottles of wine out and I salvaged what I could and spent hours individually cleaning each can and bottle. Then on hands and knees, we mopped all the beer out of each bilge, flushing with fresh water until they were both spotless

. 

Once all the cans and bottles were clean, I stored them in the plastic food bins just in case some of the cans decided to explode or leak. All this booze would have to be consumed before entering Australia as we could only bring back 2.25 liters of duty-free alcohol each, so there might be some parties along the way.

 

Once we had the bilges sorted, we then turned our attention to all the canned food stored under the saloon seats. When I removed the seats, a disgusting putrid sight was revealed. Most of the tin cans of food had disintegrated and a lot of the contents were in a putrefied state in the bottom of the storage boxes. 

There were some good quality zinc coated steel cans still in perfect condition, but most of the cans were only zinc electroplated and had almost completely dissolved. I found this bizarre, as the air inside the boat is hot and dry and I didn’t expect to find any rusty food cans at all and I was certainly not expecting to see food cans disintegrated. 

So instead of just sorting out what food was out of date, I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the mess and scrubbing out the storage boxes and cleaning individual cans of food that could be retrieved from the mess. 

When we left Australia back in 2019, we had over $5,000 of food onboard and maybe $1,000 of alcohol and virtually all this food has been spoiled and thrown away and it’s looking like maybe 90% of the alcohol will also have to be thrown away. Thank you Scummo for not approving all my travel exemptions, how about we now talk about compensation? 

Once again it was another day of hot hard work which ended well after dark. At least the boat was now looking pretty good, both inside and out and I had confidence in her seaworthiness and all systems were working well enough to make a safe voyage back to Australia. As I was planning on leaving tomorrow, we could relax a bit tonight up in the restaurant and have a few beers while socializing with some of the other cruisers.

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Thursday 14th April 2022 - Bali to Gili Gede

 We got up at 02:30 and left around 3am to take the car ferry from Padong bay to Lombok with Pak and Arik. This time it was a shitty ferry and I didn’t sleep at all. At one time on the crossing, I was talking to one of the crew members who was trolling a fishing line out the back of the ferry, high up above the water. Shortly after, a small outrigger boat ran over his fishing line snagging it before it pulled tight and ricocheting the sinker back at us at high speed, narrowly missing us all.

 

After the four and a half hour ferry ride, we finally docked at Lembar Harbour on Lombok, and then had to drive for another hour to Tembowong Harbour where we hired a small boat to take us out to Gili Gede where Sirocco was waiting for us at Marina Delray. Every time I come back it blows me away how beautiful this place is, I'm sure going to miss it. 

Finally, we got to the boat with all our bags and stores and then we all went up to the restaurant to have some lunch. Before Pak and Arik departed for the long trip home, they got us 10 coconuts and a few jerry cans of dexlite for the trip.

We couldn’t put anything away until we cleaned the boat to make space for it, so I got Luke busy cleaning his room first, then cleaning the saloon cupboards and throwing out all the old and damaged food while I got stuck into the front food room once again until I nearly passed out from the heat, then I got Luke to take over and do the last bit. After Luke finished cleaning the front room, I went back in and detailed the bow storage area before staggering out dripping with sweat and half dead. 

By now it was getting dark so after showering, we walked up to the restaurant for dinner and later collapsed exhausted into bed.

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Wednesday 13th April 2022 - Returning to Lombok to bring Sirocco home

 

I flew back to Bali for the second time in two weeks, lucky this time I managed to get through customs with all my boat parts and bacon without being searched and was out of the airport in no time. I got picked up at the airport by Luke & Pak, we had lunch at Pak's son’s restaurant and then we went to the shopping center for a very big food shop, then after we went to Klungkung to hang out for the night. I took Luke for a walk around Klungkung and we had dinner at the night market. I was very tired and we went to bed early as we had a very early start tomorrow.

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Thursday 31st March 2022 - Post COVID19 - Returning to Sirocco after two years of lock down

Immediately after Australia’s hard border opened, I flew Putu to Bali so she could see her family for the first time in over two years. I dropped her off at Klungkung and the next day I headed off on my own for the long trip across to Gili Gede to see Sirocco also for the first time in two year. (The last time I saw her was when we locked the door to head back home for a short three week trip prior to COVID19)

The 4 1/2 hour ferry ride from Padong Bay on Bali to Lembar Harbour on Lombok

At first sight after two years she didn't look too bad?

It was heart breaking to see her in such a mess, she looked abandoned but at least she was still floating. The topsides were a mess, mooring lines were chaffed (almost through) and there were orchids growing out of the dinghy’s bung hole. I even had a new crow’s nest, well not really a crow’s nest, but a swallow’s nest. Inside there was a lot of mold growing over all the timber surfaces, but luckily not on the nice white vinyl walls. 

But, one up close - OMG !!!

It was heart breaking to see her in this condition

The new crows nest

Orchids growing out of the dinghy’s bung hole

Even though over two years ago, we asked the marina staff to remove all food from both fridge / freezers and from the front food store room, both fridge / freezers were in a disgusting state, the bilges were full of beer and thankfully both engine compartments were dry. The spare bathroom was a putrid mess and the starboard forward food storage room was a rancid infestation of pantry moths completely covered in web and cocoons and dead insects. My god, where to start? 

 There was mold growing over all the timber surfaces

These photo's don't convey the putrid sticking mess in the food store room

Well first thing to do was to clean my bedroom and bedding so I had a clean place to sleep, next was to install the battery charger (that I took home to repair two years ago) and see if I can get the batteries to charge up. Next job was to finish the wiring for the battery monitoring system that I was in the middle of installing all those years ago. It was so hot and humid; I was swimming in sweat even with my big fan operating on high. After I completed the battery monitoring system, next task was to install the new starboard alternator I purchased in Australia to replace the faulty one I was trying to get repaired before I left. Once installed, after checking all the oil & water I tried starting the engines and they both started immediately. What a relief, the fuel looked clear and in good condition too. I let them both run for a while, pumping well over 70 Amps into my batteries as seen on my new battery monitoring system. By now I was completely buggered having gotten up at 2am to travel across to Lombok from Bali, so I cleaned up and staggered up to the bar for a beer and a feed before crashing out for the night.

What a mess & where to start ?

Next day, after sorting out the electrical system I then turned my attention to the plumbing, sterilizing the water, cleaning filters and flushing the entire system. Everything appeared to be working fine. Next was the starboard electric toilet which I was sure would be corroded and seized. After cleaning it I was astounded that it was working perfectly, what a relief that was. While I was there, I cleaned the starboard bathroom spotlessly. Next, I decided to clean the cockpit as I was walking all the dirt and grime into the saloon every time I walked into the boat. I got my submersible pump out to use as the fresh water on tap here is quite expensive to use, but my pump was corroded and not working properly. I tried for a couple of hours to repair it but in the end, I had to dig out my hose and use the fresh water. At least this job was a bit cooler, even though it was hard work and required a lot of scrubbing. Next job was to service and test the windlass. I would be in deep shit if there was a problem with this, but after a big drink of oil, I tested it and apart from a very rusty chain, the windless was working fine. 

I now turned my attention to all the electronics and hoped like hell that we hadn’t been struck by lightning while I was away, but one by one every item tested out OK. I tried to install a new SIM card in my IRIDIUM satellite phone, but it needed a firmware update which took quite a while messing about with my laptop on the internet, but eventually we got there and I managed to get it going again. I had to learn to use a lot of this complex equipment again after being away for so long. That was pretty much it for day two, and after a shower I again staggered up to the bar for a beer and a feed before crashing out for the night. 

Day three was spent entirely in the starboard forward food storage room. The first thing I did was remove all the linen and clothing to be washed, then I had to remove every item from this room and discard all the food and wash and clean anything I thought I might be able to recover. It was a hot hell of a job. I started to clean with bleach and wet wipes and I was a sweaty mess from sun rise to sun set and my arms, fingers and hands were aching with pain and I was a mess and I had hardly made an impact. I would spend the next two days in this room scrubbing and wiping and sweating and choking on bleach fumes. These were some of the hardest days of work I have done in the steaming hot and humid Indonesian weather. 

Before I left, I tested out the gas system and unfortunately it was faulty. The gas alarm was continually alarming and there was no gas reaching the stove. The gas alarm turned out to be faulty, so I removed it to take back to Australia for repairs, and the safety shutdown solenoid was also faulty and so I had to bypass it to get gas to flow to the stove and oven. The oven worked fine, but there was a weird issue with the hot plates where the gas valves were working in reverse. One was off and off was on, but the safety thermal cut-out was still working on each burner and you could get a flame, so hopefully we would be able to use it to cook our meals on the trip back to Australia. 

I finally managed to get a flame

I then had the first attempt of cleaning the topsides and what a hell of a job that was. Back breaking scrubbing in the hot Indonesian sun in 32c degrees, but slowly she was starting to look beautiful once again. By now I was exhausted and sun burnt, so I decided to give scrubbing the deck away for a while and pump up the dinghy to see if it would remain inflated and I also got some fuel to test the outboard. There didn’t appears to be any leaks in the dinghy and the outboard started first pull, but unfortunately the impeller stayed in the same place, so I had to dig around in the spares box to find a new one. It took a little while to remove the leg from the outboard to replace the impeller, but it wasn’t that hard and eventually I got it all back together and it was pumping water once again. 

Outboard impeller - before & after

Time was up, and I had to fly back to Bali with a bag full of broken equipment to take back home to repair, then catch the flight back to Singapore, then a connecting flight back to Perth.

It was such a shame to have to leave this place as I love it here so much, but because of COVID my three year cruising permit was now getting close to expiring and I needed to get Sirocco cleaned up and back into my control after years of ridiculous Australian travel bans and cruel lock-downs.

I'm going to miss this view at Marina del Ray - Lombok

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