Friday 23rd September
Enrico has worked so hard this week.  Olivia is ready to set sail and Julia’s foot has healed well so we will be leaving tonight.  Our first stop will be Pulau Aur again before heading on to Tioman.  
We have had a wonderful week with Bill and Vanessa and are so lucky to still have a ‘home’ on land.

Friday 16th September

Cara was left to navigate the shipping lanes and teach a couple of lessons – it was not a very fun day at school!

We came into Singapore at 3.30pm and descended once more on our wonderful friends Bill and Vanessa.  We are hoping that the repairs can be carried out as soon as possible on Monday morning so we can set sail by the middle of next week.  

Venerdi’ 16 settembre

Al mattino Cara ha preso il commando; quando mi sono svegliato verso mezzogiorno stava zigzagando (e imprecando) tra i porta-container davanti al porto e facendo fare lezione di inglese alle bambine (la scuola non si ferma mai!).

Siamo tornati di nuovo a casa dei nostri amici Bill e Vanessa che non si stancano mai di ospitarci.

Domenica sera trasferisco la barca davanti al cantiere e non mi smuovono fino a che non abbiamo riparato gli alternatori.

Speriamo di ripartire verso la meta’ della settimana prossima.

Thursday 15^th September

We started up the engine in preparation for a short sail around the island and Enrico heard a ‘clunking’ sound in the engine room.  At the bottom of the engine room were 2 big bolts completely shorn in half.  Enrico figured out that they had come from the second alternator which was only hanging on by the third bolt.  We decided that Enrico would try to repair the second alternator and we could carry on our journey, waiting until we came back to Singapore at the end of October to carry out any further repairs.

Soon afterwards Enrico saw that smoke was coming from the first alternator.  Our hearts sank as this was confirmation that we needed to head back to Singapore.  With no alternators (we don’t have a genset) we would not have any battery power and therefore no instruments, lights, fridge, watermaker, fans etc…

We prepared the boat for departure and left for Singapore at midnight with a beautiful sky to help lead the way.  Enrico did the complete night shift (hero!) and only grabbed a couple of hours sleep in the morning.  

Giovedi’ nero…..(15 settembre)

Abbiamo avviato il motore per una breve navigazione e abbiamo sentito un rumore insolito; dopo avere aperto il vano motore abbiamo trovato che due dei tre bulloni che sostengono il secondo alternatore (supplementare) si erano spezzati.

Ho subito allentato le cinghie di trasmissione e scollegato il secondo alternatore; ho riavviato il motore contando di usare solo l’alternatore principale; ma dopo alcuni minuti abbiamo sentito puzza di cavi bruciati e la spia sul quadro si e’ accesa: anche l’alternatore principale era fuori uso.  Col morale in cantina ci siamo arresi all’idea di dover rientrare a Singapore per una riparazione.

Armato di buona pazienza durante la serata ho estratto un pezzo di bullone spezzato del secondo alternatore e l'ho rimpiazzato con un bullone simie; quindi adesso avevamo due bulloni su tre . Ho anche rimpiazzato la puleggia con una piu’ piccola cosi’ lo sforzo sui bulloni era ridotto.

Verso le 23 siamo partiti per Singapore.

Ho fatto la notte da solo (con giubbotto e cintura bene attaccati): c’era la luna piena, 10 nodi di vento al traverso, un piacere che mi ha rimesso in pace col mondo. 

Anna’s Blog

Hello Ms. Robinson, Gracie, Holly, Madison and everyone. A few days ago I went to a little Asian village with my Dad and we went looking for fruits.  In the Asian village, people lived in funny wooden huts and ate on the floor.  There was no fruit so instead my Dad bought me a milo for a treat and got himself a coffee.  When we went back to the boat, disaster! The engine broke down so now we are back in Singapore and I hope I see you all.  From Anna   

The floating school / La scuola galleggiante

Vast choice of entertainment for guests on board: washing dishes / I divertimenti di bordo: lavare i piatti

Wednesday 14^th September

As I lay down next to Julia tonight, I looked up through the hatch and thought ‘this is real, they are not glow stars bought from a shop and stuck on the ceiling!’

Sunday 11^th September

It is only day 3 and we have already weathered a storm (at anchor), caught a floating mooring in the rudder and the automatic bilge pump in the engine room has failed. All of this is part of the game and we have learned something from it.

What we wish did not happen is that Julia cut her foot while exploring the rocks.  Cara who was cooking pasta transformed instantly into a surgeon with gloves and everything else. The cut was deep, it would probably have been stitched.  Cara cleaned it, closed it with steri-strips and dressed it. What’s more amazing is that after all this she still put on the table spaghetti perfectly “al dente”.

Crossing fingers for Julia’s speedy recovery as she won’t be able to get her foot wet for at least a week.

On a positive note, the storm proved that our new anchor holds well even in 20m depth; more importantly we wake up to a spectacular view, the water-maker is running smoothly so we can shower until our hearts are content and the girls are happy.  We started school today but it took all morning to cover one subject!

Friday 9^th September

We crossed the Lima Channel (the most South-Eastern tip of peninsular Malaysia) at the…wrong time with the current against us. The water was murky, the sky overcast.  There were 10-12 knots of wind from the SE that pushed along nicely but this also created a tedious swell on the quarter that made the boat roll unpleasantly.  At 6am Nadia woke up seasick and threw up. Despite this, she still found the energy to talk to Enrico at the helm about the shape of container-ships, oil-tankers and wedding dresses (that’s what I call a wide range of interests).

La prima giornata di navigazione.

Venerdi 9 e’ stato un giorno piuttosto stancante. Il cielo era coperto, l’onda al giardinetto faceva rollare la barca in modo fastidioso e la corrente era sfavorevole. Poi alle 6 di mattina Nadia ha vomitato seguita da Julia.

Cio’ non ha impedito a Nadia di avere lunghe cinversazioni con Enrico al timone sugli argomenti piu’ svariati (petroliere, la forma dei container, principessese abiti da sposa…).

Malgrado le condizioni no proprio piacevoli, le bambine non si sono mai lamentate.  

Nadia sleeping with her bucket on stand-by!
Nadia mentre dorme in pozetto con il secchio anti vomito vicino

It was then Julia’s turn to throw up and unfortunately she felt seasick all day long. To be perfectly honest, it was not a fun crossing but we are very proud of the girls, they were so good and patient, just getting on with the day in their own way.

 The Crew! 
Malgrado il mal di mare l'equipaggio non ha perso il buon umore!

We ‘caught’ our first fish!  Unfortunately for the fish, it must have jumped out of the sea in the night and landed on the boat.  It was not going to feed us but caused a good measure of excitement!

Abbiamo trovato questo pesciolino in coperta.

We finally dropped anchor in Pulau Aur at 5.30pm and Enrico took the girls to the beach in the kayak. As I tried to put everything in order in the galley, I could hear the squeals of delight coming from the beach.  It was a wonderful feeling to soak in their happiness after a tough few months losing Mum and packing up after 10 years in Singapore. 

Alla fine i nostri sforzi sono stati premiati: alle 17.30 abbiamo gettato l’ancora a Pulau Aur; ho subito portato le bambine in spiaggia di sabbia Bianca di coralli. L’acqua e’ cosi limpida che vediamo il fondo a piu’ di 15 m.
Piu' importante ancora, dove le grida de gioia.

We have left! La Partenza!

We set sail on Thursday 8^th September at 10pm.  Our good friend Mus (the captain of the boat next door) cast us off and as we sailed into the night, we could not quite believe that our adventure had finally begun.  We were headed for Pulau Aur in Malaysia which is a distance of approximately 90 nautical miles.

Giovedi’ sera 8 settembre verso le 22 siamo finalmente salpati da Keppel Marina a Singapore. Ci sembrava incredibile che dopo tanti mesi di preparativi il nostro sogno stava diventando realta’.  La prima tappa e’ Pulau Aur, un isola sulla costa est della Malesia a 90 miglia da Singapore.

We cleared Singapore immigration in the dark; the Singapore Immigration boat approached us at a designated point and we dropped our passports into a fishing net that the officer held out – not exactly thumb print technology!  The officer then requested to identify all passengers one by one.  The girls lined up on deck in their pj’s under a search-light and put their hands up when the Immigration boat called their names. I am sure the officer will remember this unusual crew! 

La prima cosa pero’ e’ stato il controllo passaporti in uscita da Singapore.

Per le barche da diporto questo vuol dire farsi trovare in un punto prestabilito al largo di Singapore; la barca dell Servizio Immigrazione si avvicina e allunga un retino tipo da pesca (giuro!) e noi dobbiamo metterci dentro i passaporti.

Dopo averli esaminati, l’ufficiale di servizio ci ha detto  via radio di voler identificare tutti i membri dell’equipaggio. Cosi’ Anna, Julia e Nadia sono salite in coperta in camicia da notte (erano le 23) e sotto un riflettore della barca dell’Immigrazione hanno risposto all’appello.