In this episode of Sailing Nandji, it is all about life as a liveaboard in remote Indonesia. Living on a sailboat means we need to be 100% self sufficient as we are travelling extremely remote areas of the far west islands of Indonesia where help is a very long way away. We go through the struggles of keeping Nandji in top shape, what we do to find fresh food to eat and then continue on our way sailing through the islands. We have been in the southern islands of the Mentawai archipelago for the last couple of months and it is time to make our way back north en route to Thailand. We enter into the stunning Telos Islands after being away from any kind of developed civilisation for weeks, hopefully here we can replenish our cupboards as they are very empty. We take Flubber the tender on our longest mission yet to visit the local village in search of food! We head back to sea only to be confronted at night by a bigger vessel charging straight at us. We are on edge as this is the closest and scariest call we have had on the sea...
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In this episode of Sailing Nandji, after both Yosh and Bonita go separate ways to complete some solo challenges, they are reunited and back together again on Nandji. With Yosh's birthday around the corner he is determined to head south and surf a new wave he has dreamt about for years. With a massive ground swell forecast for the day, they bash their way south into the relentless strong trade winds and choppy seas... Don't fight the Weather... Just another day of boat life!
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, Yosh is left alone on Nandji to fend for himself for a couple of days whilst Bonita goes deep in the jungle to live with a Mentawai tribe. She is 100nm away from Nandji so Yosh heads offshore on his first ever solo sail! With strong relentless trade winds and big choppy seas, it is a challenging and rough sail across the passage from Padang, West Sumatra to Siberut Island in the Mentawai archipelago. I have always wanted to attempt a solo sail and finally the time had come where I had the opportunity. I have always really enjoyed challenging myself and the awesome feeling you have once you achieve your goal. I knew I was in for a bit of ride in this first ever solo sail as the weather was not ideal. But smooth seas do not make a better sailor! It poses the question of is a solo sailor crazy before he leaves or goes crazy at sea? Guess it is time to find out!!
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we spend the last few days with our friends from home onboard. Whilst the lads are out surfing, the girls are tired of standing behind the cameras and make their own fun, living the hammock life! Bonita and Tash are taken to the playful wave of Bengs Bengs to try and get a few amongst the masses. We then have a minor problem where the captain did not prepare the boat properly before leaving... What a good excuse to have a beach bomb fire and cook in the coals with our last night with friends on board before over night sail back to Padang to drop Tash and Teebs off to the airport.
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we pick up our new crew, Tash and Teebs, who are from back home in Australia. These couple of legends looked after Marley years ago when we first departed Australia bound for New Caledonia. Making them more Marley's friends than ours! Arriving to Nandji in the dark, we head out to sea on an overnight passage to the Mentawai Islands. A surfers dream land. These green horns were in for a ride as we motored out of the safety of Padang harbour under a full moon. An hour into the sail we are smoked by a heavy squall and for the rest of the night we upwind sail into the building choppy sea, strong winds and torrential rain. Welcome to the sailing life!! Arriving to the islands after a gruelling 20 hours at sea, we head straight to where the first surf charter boats we are see are anchored and get ourselves the first little warm up surf for the trip. For the following few days we hang in the area and surf Telescopes as the strong South East trade wind is relentless. We go diving and cook ourselves a massive feast in a beach fire. This is living!
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, there are problems in paradise on board Nandji. We begin with an accident in the kitchen leaving Yosh severely injured. With new crew arriving to Nandji in a weeks time, we head into the city of Padang, West Sumatra to heal and organizing everything for the coming couple of weeks with people on board. We rush around the city getting food, fuel and water. All the essentials. On top of extending our visas which ends up taking a week, we are trying to import a life raft ready for our future crossing and then we have our hard drive. This important little piece of technology has stored on it all our content from the last 2 months!!! It is very important this thing works again! This is for sure a creators worst nightmare! With so much drama going on and all the stress involved with these activities, we make it to the airport in time to pick up our guests, take them to the shops and then head out to sea under the full moon. These green horn sailors are put to the test early as what begun as a nice smooth sail, soon turned into an upwind, stormy, rough and wet sail. At least the fish are biting right?
After a sailing through the night on our 8th day of passage on Christmas eve, we make a spontaneous decision to stop off on Christmas day to speak to family. With the polluted water of the city in Tanjung Pinang, a squall blows through in the wee hours of the morning and we drag anchor because of the plastic on the bottom. Finally in the safety of Nongsa Point Marina, we rest up and let the unusual weather blow through up north. We celebrate New Years eve and enjoy the week spent in the luxurious resort/marina. Having a swimming pool to play in, air conditioning, cold drinks and a washing machine! Oh the luxuries!! The weather clears and it is time to sail in the busiest shipping lane in the world! We had been nervous about this passage ever since deciding to sail this far to the boat yard. The Singapore strait was an eye opener as the sheer size and speed of the vessels passing so close to you kept us on the edge of our seats! With a good breeze and feeling as comfortable as we were going to get, we turn Nandji into the Shipping lanes and cross the busiest shipping lane in the world! Dodging ships and manoeuvring around vessels over 250m long! What a ride and what a last passage to our new engine! We hope you enjoy this episode legends! Yew!
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