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​This week on Sailing Nandji, putting our exhaust troubles behind us and collecting our new crew, we head to sea on a day sail along the South coast of Lombok, continuing our journey west as we sail Indonesia towards Malaysia. A quick overnight stop off and nice weather we decide to tackle the notorious Lombok Strait. The currents that run between the Southern Islands of Indonesia are strong and unpredictable. We had been nervous about traversing this area for a long time, but with nice weather today was the day we would take it on! Everything was going fine as we found a strong current floating us north until on the horizon we could see white water and waves... White water rafting in a sailboat!

Thanks for watching legends, we hope you enjoy episode 110! YEW!
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This week on Sailing Nandji, with over 1600nm to sail west to reach Malaysia and our new motor, we can not waste time hanging around. It is a massive challenge we have set ourselves to sail this far in the changing of the seasons. We are very determined and stubborn, kind of the traits needed to take in this mission!  Breaking the trip into smaller passages, we leave our overnight anchorage at Savu island and sail 150nm back in time the islands of Komodo, famous for the largest lizards in the world, the Komodo Dragons. These beasts are quite the sight as they let us know who is boss!

We head out diving the pristine waters around the anchorage and are amazed at the vibrant sea life under the water. We had not been diving for months and were excited to have some fun underwater. We had a great stop off at this amazing anchorage, but with many more miles to sail, it is back to sea we go with the remaining trade wind and make some ground towards Malaysia.

We wish we had more time to explore the other islands of this area. The Komodo islands are a national park and marine park, therefore have some amazing wildlife! The area however is plagued with strong currents rushing between the islands, meaning it is not safe for us to try and manoeuvre Nandji around and against these currents with our current injured motor. 

​We hope you enjoy the episode and we are excited to share more of our trip with you legends! Yew!

​In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we clear back into Indonesia after a long time anchored in Timor Leste. It was a good feeling to be off exploring once again. On our previous (very rough) schedule, we had wanted to get to the island of Rote months ago! However as all things sailing, life got in the way! After such a difficult previous month, just sailing this way felt good.
The island of Rote is one of the most Southern Islands of Indonesia and actually the closest Nandji has been to Australia since we left 18 months ago! The island is developing rapidly as it is a popular surf destination during the Easterly trade season. Unlucky for us though, the weather appeared to be already changing and an opposing wind left us sailing upwind to reach our destination. Throw an opposing current and busy shipping lane in the mix, just for some added flavour!
Exploring the island of Rote, we hired the favourite Indonesian mode of transport, the Scooter! Neither Bonita or I are motorbike enthusiasts and Bonita had never ridden a scooter! This made for some interesting bike rides through the free range farm of the island. Pigs, Cows, Chickens and goats frequently decide to cross the skinny roads right when you are scootering on by!
We could have stayed at this beautiful island forever, but with the weather already changing, we head back to sea as it was just before this episode we had made the decision that we would install a new engine and we would do it in Malaysia. With over 1600nm to sail to our destination, we better make tracks!

For any sailor the thought of being in the ocean with the wind blowing at 50 knots plus is a frightening thought. It was at the top of my list anyway, that’s for sure. I had never experienced wind strengths that ferocious and didn't think it would happen to me. We always said that with weather forecasting these days and being diligent, you will never need to experience these circumstances as you can plan ahead. Our tactic was always, if there is a storm there, don't be there. Simple right... Well, that is all good in theory. I used to think along those lines and boy did I have a lot to learn.

Before heading offshore for the first time, we felt that we were competent sailors, still had a lot to learn but competent. We had dealt with 30 knots on multiple occasions, sailed in big swell and stormy conditions and thought we were ready to try our first open ocean passage crossing the Coral Sea. We had our predetermined technique in the rare case we would have crazy strong winds where we would, reduce sail to nearly nothing and run off down wind. As Nandji is a full keel vessel and has a heavy displacement, I was confident this technique was our "go to" way of dealing with weather.
 
Confidence and stubbornness goes a long way for my attitude. When I have my goals and thoughts set out on achieving something, I knuckle down and push to achieve that goal. I’m not sure if that is confidence  backing myself to succeed, or stubbornness as the thought consumes me and I won't let it go until I have completed what I wanted to achieve. It’s probably a bit of both.

Before our grand departure leaving the Gold Coast seaway, we had spent months in preparing the vessel to be blue water ready. We did all the work ourselves from installing AIS, wind monitors and even changing the rigging ourselves. We did this mainly because we were on a very strict budget, but also as I wanted to learn more about the boat and be competent in handling and fixing her ourselves. All this work however took much longer than expected of course and continually delayed our departure. On our shake down sail to the Gold Coast, we had gearbox dramas. Towed into port  we replaced the gearbox, cutlass bearing, slapped on the anti-foul and finally thought Nandji was ready for her big departure. All this work meant we had spent very little time sailing over the 6 months prior to leaving and had not given all the new equipment and toys on Nandji a good test run. I was confident though that I had done everything correct and was stubborn enough to believe it.

Sailing from Australia to New Caledonia is a difficult sail as you are attempting 800nm against the trade wind. Because of this you need to pick your times and weather window to make the crossing. You rely on a low to bring Westerly winds and then sail either in front or on the back of that low and utilise the Westerly wind for as many days as you can before the inevitable South East trade wind slaps you in the face. After completing all the work to Nandji, a low was predicted in only a few days’ time. We tried hard to be ready for the expected Westerlies but unfortunately were not ready to leave. Not wanting to rush ourselves and make sure we had all our ducks in a row before attempting our first ocean crossing. A week later another low was forecasted and we decided this was our time to shine.

After experiencing the storm from the previous low at anchor, we noticed the winds didn't get very strong. This predicted low looked to be similar strengths and we thought it was perfect for our departure. We would leave on the back end of the low with the winds and set out to sea on our way to New Caledonia. We watched the system intensely on the lead up and the day we had planned to depart, things looked a little too rowdy. After conversing with a few other yachties in the anchorage, we decided to wait another day and let the winds ease. As the sun rose on the following day, the winds were still strong and we thought we would wait one more day, as hard as it was as we were eager to get sailing and begin our passage. On the third morning we decided that today was the day and set off down to the marina to clear out of the country.

The wind was blowing 25 knots in the marina but as the excitement was high, we would be fine. It would be a bit of a rough ride to start, but we would fly out to sea with ease and then things will calm down after. Chatting with the customs officers, they explained if we wanted to return because the weather was too bad, it is not a problem. Just turn around and call us once you’re at anchor again. Checking the weather once more before departure, it appeared we were in the middle of the low and thought things could not get any worse than their current conditions and thought, she will be right. Oh, those famous last words of an Australian right there...

All the formalities were completed by 9am and we were out of the seaway not long after. Under a full headsail and 20 to 25 knots up the rear, we flew out to sea with our PDF's, harness and smiles all firmly positioned. At Around 5pm in the afternoon we were 40nm offshore and were enjoying the ride. The sea had grew gradually to 1-2m, but that was to be expected since we were so far away from land with an offshore breeze. We had not noticed a change in the sky or the wind strengths, but reefed down the headsail as our first night was creeping upon us. We were organising ourselves for our night watches when the news came over the radio of a predicted strong weather warning.

I quickly dug out the computer and loaded a weather forecast for the next 12 hours. The ugly sight of red filled my computer screen as far as the eye and screen stretched. For those that do not understand the colour coding of weather in most programs and forecasting apps, You don't ever see red as a good happy gentle friendly colour. That is reserved for the likes of Blue, Green and sometimes Purple. Red, you are in for a ride.

As soon as the forecast told us something was coming, we felt the increase in wind strength. We battened down the hatches so to say, reduced sail to only 30% of the head sail and let the autopilot do its thing running with the wind. We do not have a storm jib and use the furling headsail to reduce the amount of sail we carry. After an hour the wind had increased to gale strengths of 35 knots and the autopilot had decided it was too much. It did not only get overpowered but burnt out altogether and back then we did not have a self-steering wind-vane like we do now. The sun had set and it was now pitch black as the wind showed no remorse and continued to increase. The newly installed rigging started the high pitch whistle of air rushing through it at furious speeds. We could not see the state of the ocean but you could feel that the waves had increased as they started to pick Nandji up and we surfed down the face. Reaching speeds up to 10 knots, we needed to reduce sail even further. 

Furling in the headsail so that the smallest slither, a 1m square triangle, roughly 5% of the sail remained. It was around this time we realised that we were in for a ride. With every gust, the whistle in the rigging became louder and the wind odometer read a slightly higher reading then the last. By 8pm, we had gusts over 43 knots but it continued to feel that she was not done yet. We continued running off downwind as Bonita huddled in the companion way trying to hide from the onslaught, whilst I stood behind the wheel swinging it side to side as we ran off with the wind and waves. My eyes fixated on the compass to keep us on course and hoping my skills as a rigger would keep the mast upright.

As if the stress levels were not on edge enough, the AIS gave us a warning we were on a collision course with a tanker heading south. Over the radio the ship made contact with us. We think since Nandji is a Hindu word meaning "joy", the Indian voice on the other end was very eager to speak to us. Bonita advised we were experiencing strong winds and do not wish to deviate off course and requested to pass in front of his bow. Much obliged the tanker said no worries, slowed their speed and changed course to pass behind Nandji. The new AIS Just paid for itself we thought.

By 9pm it sounded and felt like the Bimini was going to be ripped off as the material vibrated in the relentless increasing wind. The gusts continued to gain in strength and we were now in a force 10 blow, reading a sustained wind of 50 knots. "What have I got us into" I thought to myself. But by this time, any fear and worry I had was out the window as there was nothing else that could be done but deal with it myself. There is no one else to rely on when you are at sea, it all rests on the captains shoulders. This is what I wanted and this is what I had dealt to me. It was time to deal with the situation and steer us through it. I had made the decision to leave land when we did and I was going to get us through this. I felt confident in controlling the vessel and Nandji felt good in the conditions. It was the noise that really threw my attention and kept me on high alert. Everything was screaming at us. With each gust a new noise would yell something obscene at you. With nothing more Bonita could do but try to hide from the wind, hold on and block her ears. I sent her down stairs to try hide and relax, as once this was all done she would have to take watch whilst I rested.

By 10pm the wind still showed no signs of letting up and after reading a sustained wind speed of 54.7 knots on the odometer, I turned it off in disgust. What’s another couple of knots when it is already storm strength. It did feel however that the gusts had stopped increasing in strength. They had definitely not subsided as every couple of minutes another gust would scream into your back to remind you what your situation is. For the next 5 hours I stood wrestling the wheel battling to keep Nandji in a straight line. I could feel the swell growing in size as Nandji's bow rose for seconds at a time as the swell raced underneath us. At around 3am in the morning after 8 solid hours of hand steering and staring at the compass, the weird shapes and imaginary objects begun appearing. Fatigue was beginning to overwhelm me. Battling the conditions and now sleep, it all got the better of me as I did not correct Nandji in time and were spun around 180 degrees. Now with the bow pointing into the waves and the small amount of headsail holding us in a hove to like angle, I sat for a couple of minutes nervously evaluating if we stay like this or continue on. Anxious, as it was pitch black and I had no sight of the sea conditions, I opted to spin Nandji around once again and continue running with the wind and waves. The sun would be up in only a couple of hours and for some reason that made me feel better, like the sun would tell old mate 50 knots that enough is enough. 

At around 4am the wind begun easing and by 5am as the sun started to rise, the wind had dropped back below 40 knots. As light shone onto the surrounding ocean it revealed a tremendous swell running with 8 metre seas. Nandji would be sitting on top of the giant waves and then disappear into the lull. I would watch as these mountains of water taller than our mast, bare down on Nandji from behind and ever so gently lift us towards the sky as the swell rolled through. I was kind of glad that I could not see the size of the ocean all night as my now weary senses became heightened once more looking at the sheer size of the waves. 

By 6am the boat had slowed to 4 knots with the amount of sail we were carrying. In the 35 knot winds I unfurled a little more sail as the high boat speed we had been doing all night felt much more comfortable then the rolly 4 knots. With 20% of headsail out, it felt like we were flying once again and I settled into the couch, hand steering happily watching the sun rise. After the strength of wind, the vibration of everything and the constant noise yelling at you saying, what are you doing here? sailing in the easing 35 knots felt like a walk in the park. The swell was massive but it was only the appearance that made you worry. Still not having slept all night, I decided the best option was just to look forward and monitor the compass as the boat felt good and comfortable. When I would look back is when things got exciting again!

At around 7 am the wind had levelled off at a now comfortable 30 knots. It is funny that I say comfortable 30 knots. It seriously felt like nothing as the boat was no longer screaming. Nandji just cruised on unfazed by what she had just endured. Bonita's weary head appeared in the companion way ready to release me from my duties. After first adjusting to the instant wholly sh*t look at the size of the sea, she contently vomited yesterdays dinner up on the deck. With a quick swish of water in the mouth, said well done Yosh and then stood behind the wheel to begin her shift hand steering. Just as I thought I was about to go pass out on the newly made bed on the floor, the fishing line started fizzing and I reeled in a Mahi Mahi. A nice end to a gruelling night and an experience I do not wish to repeat any time soon, but hey, that is sailing. Full of surprises and more experience gained. Yew!

Check out the vid from our first crossing when it all went down! We did not film much of the above story as you can imagine, we were a little occupied. 

On Nandji, we recently decided that we wanted to share our experiences with others and take on crew. We have been away from Australia and our friends and family for a long time. Come Christmas, I would have been away for over 18 months. Because of this, we wanted to try and make new friends and invite people on board Nandji to travel with and to generally just enjoy life on the ocean.
We first reached out to our audience and surprisingly we were inundated in a positive way with people that wished to come sailing! We thought, how exciting! From the hundreds that wrote in, we picked a young lad reasonably early on. He was open for an adventure, had time and was more than willing to make the effort to travel 30 hours in transit to reach our vessel. We thought, how amazing is this. We had a great time with Juzzy on board and after 3 weeks he decided it was time for him to return back to Australia. This experience left us smiling and we felt good about doing this more often.
Lets try this again, we thought. After reaching out to our audience and many people sharing their expressions of interest we spoke to 5 different people. All of which in one way or another, fell through. It turns out we must have just lucked out with Juzzy! We understood though that we were maybe looking for someone in too short a time line as we were expecting someone to basically just drop everything and come sailing. We know this is a big question and commitment to put on someones shoulders, therefore decided we needed a different approach. As much as we wanted to have someone from our following on board, we decided to seek other ways of finding crew.
We joined an an outline crew finding website where people sign up as either boat owners looking for crew, or as crew members looking for a boat. I thought for sure, this is a great idea and I wish I knew of these sites before I bought Nandji. After conversing with over 10 people, finally we had 

For all of you that are not up to speed with the adventures on board Nandji, I recommend a little viewing of this episode a few months back where in the Santa Cruz islands of the Solomons we ran into a little mischief. To cut a long story short and give you a quick run down on these events, we had to hustle with the police.

We were enroute from Vanuatu to Honiara on a tight schedule as Marley was arriving in 3 weeks time. Usually you would think this being ample amounts of time to sail the 1000nm to greet the little guy at the airport, but of course things do not always go to plan...

We left Santo island of Vanuatu with a good breeze and we had our ups and downs along the way, but arrived to the Santa Cruz islands, the most eastern group of islands in the Solomons, in expected time and happy to check into a new country. These islands are very remote and how I have previously explained about the cities of the Solomons taking a step back in time compared to the western world, well the Santa Cruz islands were just getting up to speed with 2G phone service and money as a commodity. After anchoring Nandji and going through all the formalities of entering a new country, we went to leave with a forecast of zero wind for days, only to discover that along the journey from Vanuatu we had a diesel leak from the freshly installed fuel injection pump that was fixed in Port Vila. The mechanic had threaded a connection and we had a leak that was not gushing, but enough to lose our precious diesel into the bilge. Of course I fixed the bilge pumps in Port Vila so the float switch was operating exactly how it should and pumping all this diesel out of the bilge without us even knowing until we wanted to leave the Santa Cruz islands... Down to our last 50 litres of diesel with a forecast of 0 knots of wind for days and 500nm left to sail in under two weeks, the odds were stacked against us. That was until we thought about our situation and what have we got that someone here might want. Of course we instantly thought of booze.

This light bulb went off as when we had the customs and police and friends and another person who had never been on a yacht before, come inspect Nandji for our clearance into the Solomons, we could see the eyes light up and glisten upon spying our duty free booze from Vanuatu. So when we were stuck with no diesel, we quickly came to the conclusion of booze for diesel.

Heading back to the cop shop where I went and spoke to the helpful and nice head of police on the island that we had no diesel and some booze to sell to get diesel. He got on the phone and within ten minutes we had a crowd of prison wardens and police officers gathered around whilst I auctioned off two bottles of spirits. Quickly learning that it was not me that needed diesel as much as these guys wanted some Captain Morgans, we ended up with a good solid trade of two bottles of booze for another 55 odd litres of diesel. Combine that together with the 50 litres still in Nandji, we should have enough diesel to motor 200nm if needed. So in the back of the paddy wagon we went as the two police officers happily sang "we are police officers" as they escorted us down to our tender with the diesel and waited upon their delivery of Captain Morgan.

So that was in  the Santa Cruz islands, now we are in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, a good 600 or 700nm west of the Santa Cruz islands in the town of Gizo. This place used to be a port of entry and the city is the main tourist hub for the Solomons, if you could say a tourist hub as we are basically the only white people walking around town. But we went waltzing around town looking for the customs office and the immigration office. We had heard months ago that the immigration officer in Gizo had passed away and to check in or out of the country in Gizo you had to pay $600 Solomon Dollars (approx. 100 AUD) for the immigration officer to travel from Noro, 30nm away. However it had been months and we understand how island time works but we were hoping that maybe after three months it was possible a new immigration officer had been posted in Noro.

Walking around town we discovered the customs building up stairs of a dodgy building where you would never expect to find a government official building, but that is the Solomon way. Not getting any hints or guidance to where the immigration office is located, we walked into the friendly police station to ask where abouts and if there was a new immigration officer in town. After some talks in Pidgeon English, which I am understanding quite well but unfortunately not talking, they officers debated weather there was or not a immigration guy in town. Deciding it best that they take us to the old building as there was talk there could be a new guy around. So in the back of the paddy wagon we go once again, we drive the mammoth 70 metres down the road and around the corner to the old run down building that resembles a kids cubby house more than an official government building. But once again, we are in the Solomons. Expect the unexpected or do not expect anything at all is the best way to go about things. Smile and enjoy the ride!

Climbing out of the paddy wagon, we are shown the office and sure enough we discover a young man who renewed our visa a couple of months back in Noro taking up residence. He explained that he had just arrived and was organising the office and he would be here for the next few days whilst he "set up the office" 

Happy days for us as we have finally been given approval from the PNG authorities that our visa is almost approved, kind of. But that is another story in itself. Thanks Mister Police man, you guys have been a real help for our time in the Solomons