Jan 2011
We set sail from Langkawi Malaysia on 4 Jan 2011 to travel 1500nm to Cochin in India to join the Vasco Da Gama Rally which was to sail across the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea and on to Turkey. As you can imagine we were very excited about the trip after all months of preparations but we were also a tad apprehensive about the pirate situation in the Indian Ocean. However, our philosophy was that if we joined a Rally and a Convoy there would be safety in numbers. We were looking forward to moving on from Malaysia after having spent almost 2 years around it's shores and we were excited to have the opportunity to experience many other countries and cultures. In fact, we each had a brand new 64 page Passport ready for the stamps and visas. We also had the charts, Cruising Guides and C Map cards, as well as 12 new courtesy flags ready to fly!
We set sail from Langkawi Malaysia on 4 Jan 2011 to travel 1500nm to Cochin in India to join the Vasco Da Gama Rally which was to sail across the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea and on to Turkey. As you can imagine we were very excited about the trip after all months of preparations but we were also a tad apprehensive about the pirate situation in the Indian Ocean. However, our philosophy was that if we joined a Rally and a Convoy there would be safety in numbers. We were looking forward to moving on from Malaysia after having spent almost 2 years around it's shores and we were excited to have the opportunity to experience many other countries and cultures. In fact, we each had a brand new 64 page Passport ready for the stamps and visas. We also had the charts, Cruising Guides and C Map cards, as well as 12 new courtesy flags ready to fly!
So with a good weather forecast for the next 7 days we cast off the dock lines and headed to Telaga Marina to fuel up. We took on 1000 litres of diesel, some of it in the 11 jerry cans tied to the rails. While in Telaga we farewelled our wonderful friends from Keturah as they were to sail around South Africa.
We had some great sailing and motor sailing for the first couple of days and were able to enjoy the company of many pods of dolphins. Then the wind became lighter and variable so it was hard to keep the sails full. At this stage we were still in the Malacca Straits but just as we entered the Great Channel, the main shipping channel between Singapore and the Indian Ocean, south of the Nicobar Islands, the wind changed to the SW. That was ok for a while as we were able to sail. However, the wind and the seas kept on building and our ride became more and more uncomfortable. By this stage we were in contact with the "Flying Fish Net" that had been established by some friends to enable the cruisers underway to have contact with each other.
As the weather worsened we discovered that a dirty great big Low had developed right on or track! We were experiencing continuous winds of 25 knots as well as squall after squall of 35 to 40 knots and torrential rainfall. It was like being on a bucking bronco under a waterfall in a huge dark cavenous cave, as there was no moon and no stars just pitch dark gloom! Our AIS was invaluable as it allowed us to stay well away from the hundreds huge ships plowing through the rough seas. Sometimes the ships would disappear into the troughs then they seemed to re-appear way above us when we were in the trough.
The wind then shifted once again so that it was "right on our nose" and blocking our way forward towards Cochin. As we were not prepared to bash into such strong head winds we decided to move out of the area. It was then we found that another Low was developing behind us and "cyclonic winds" were forecast to develop within the next 48 hours for the area at 6 N and west of 90 E! By this stage we were at 6 N and 87 E! This was not a nice situation to be in!
We decided we wanted more information about what was happening. So with the assistance of our daughter, Keira Lee, via the Sat phone we were able to get up to the minute forecasts from the Internet. We looked at our options of going north closer to Sri Lanka or up into the Bay of Bengal or going south down to 5 N or east back past 90 E, we had already eliminated going west (forward). We decided our best option was to turn back and go east of 90 E as we had a 48 hour window to do this. We were very disappointed as it meant we would miss our Rally which was due to start in about mid January. So after travelling 750 nm we turned back and what a roller coaster ride we had as the huge seas were right on our tail! Hamamas handled the conditions beautifully.
Once we passed 90 E, we came out of the "cave of gloom" into bright sunshine but the seas were still huge and our roller coaster ride continued. To our disappointment, we then discovered that the stitching on our previously mended headsail had given away and that the sail was de-laminating (this would mean a new sail). Next, we found that the oil seal on our hydraulic back stay adjuster had failed and poured oil all over our back deck making it as slippery as a skating rink. Both these failures meant we were unable to use the headsail as we could not stabilise it or risk it tearing completely. So we furled the headsail and jury rigged a stabiliser on the headsail furler and the back stay to prevent them both from swinging around in the rough seas and high winds.
As if this wasn't enough we then found, after Fran had used the HF, that the auto pilot's electronics were scrambled! We had had this problem before, so all during the trip Tom had hand steered whenever we used the HF but on this occasion the transmit button had been pressed before Tom had disengaged the auto pilot. We were still in huge roller coaster ride seas and found ourselves having to hand steer for the next 2 days and nights until we found some calmer water and could re-calibrate the auto pilot. Hand steering in those huge seas was no easy task and it never ceases to amaze me how one can find an inner strength and stamina when put in difficult situations.
Our fuel situation had to be monitored continuously as we inched our way back towards Malaysia. Tom calculated that if we could sail sometimes using the Staysail then we would be ok for fuel. I forgot to mention we were also unable to use the Mainsail as it would have put too much strain on the rig because of the disabled head sail and back stay. Just as we started to relax somewhat as we moved closer to Malaysia the wind turned once again this time to the NE "right on our nose"! So that meant we had huge rolling seas on our tail and a 25 knot wind on our nose preventing us from motoring unless we wanted to bash into the seas.
At this stage we hove to and looked at our options.We considered sailing to Penang in the south using the Staysail or motoring to Lipi Island 50 nm to the NE or staying hove to until the wind and seas calmed. We decided against the Lipi Is option and tried the Penang option but the Staysail would not set. As we only 60 nm from Rebak in Langkawi we decided to motor on at low revs when we could. Then we had a stroke of luck! The wind and seas calmed a tad so we motored on, all the while Tom was monitoring and calculating the fuel. At about this time the salt water pump to the main motor began to drip slowly and then gradually the drip become stronger so that eventually salt water was spraying all over the motor and the bilge pump and bilge alarm were running every 5 minutes. I just wanted the noise to stop! But while they worked we were able to motor on.
During the last night we dodged about a 100 fishing vessels off the coast of Langkawi. We were finally anchored outside the Rebak Marina at 7 am on 17 Jan 2011 having used 900 of our 1000 litres of fuel and doing a round trip of 1500 nm in 13 days. Exhausted we docked in the marina later in the morning and were welcomed by our friends some of whom already knew of our struggle having listened in on the Flying Fish Net.
It was later that day we learned of the plight of Baccus, one of the other yachts heading to Cochin for the Rally. Baccus was 60nm in front of us when we turned back. They had decided to continue on and eventually the 3 crew had to be rescued from the yacht when it became disabled. We do not know the facts but have heard that they had lost steering and were taking on water and the pumps and electronics were failing. So the yacht was abandoned. After hearing of this it really hit home to us what a difficult situation we had been in and how we had made the right decision to turn back and how well we had nursed Hamamas back to port.
I must say that this little1500nm sojourn into the Indian Ocean and our encounter with an extreme weather system was "no walk in the park"!
Fran Welsh Jan 2011
Footnote
The weather system that we encountered remained stationary for many days and then galloped off and caused havoc to the villages on the east coast of Sri Lanka. There was widespread flooding and landslides and a number of deaths.
Many other yachts that were on their way to Sri Lanka and Cochin were caught up this extreme weather and some had sail damage. Most limped into Galle in Sri Lanka for repairs. Only 11 of the 21 yachts that were to be in the Vasco Da Gama Rally were able to join the Rally.
