In this episode of Sailing Nandji we are held up from the engine install and start on another repair project of attending to the soft spots on the bow. We remove the old windlass to install the new but discover a little more rot than expected! Yosh takes to the soft spots with a chisel and hammer and uncovered wet wood under the fibreglass. Like most boat jobs, things must get worse before they can get better and before you know it, a huge portion of the bow is ripped up and wood taken out. We take you through the steps we used to repair, replace and restore the area. 

We had been carrying around our NEW windlass ready to install for months now, but the thought of removing the old and knowing there was a problem that lies beneath had been daunting to do not in a boat yard. I had grit my teeth and pulled the anchor by hand for another few months to reach this point. Finally the day is here to discover how far the rot has spread! 

We hope you enjoy the video! Please understand we are in a hot environment and outside, we take good care of ourselves and try our best to be as safe as possible. Sometimes we do forget to put on safety gloves or wear glasses as we are trying our best to complete the job as fast and efficient as possible. We are exposed to substances for a very short time and are not doing this everyday. We understand the consequences completely. 
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For the past year we have been limping Nandji with a broken Engine, trying to get somewhere we can replace it. In this episode we depart Belitung, Indonesia and attempt to sail to Nongsa Point Marina where we can check out of Indonesia and head to Malaysia. As we are sailing closer to the equator we deal with heavy 40 knot squalls, strong opposing currents and little wind. A freak accident occurs which causes a fire and then we start taking on water which leaves us convinced that our boat is trying to kill us.  

​We hope you enjoy this difficult episode for us! It was one of our most challenging sails to date and all over the holiday time when we are meant to be having fun! (We still enjoyed it secretly)

The wind disappears and drifting in the current we are heading towards the busy shipping lane... This engine will be the death of us!

This week on Sailing Nandji, we return to the islands of Karimunjawa to fix our headsail halyard and get some diesel so we are able to continue our journey towardsMalaysia. The further north we sail, the closer to the equator we go meaning light calm winds, smooth seas and massive squalls! We battle through relentless strong winds and rain to get the island of Belitung in sight. Needing to now traverse a busy skinny shipping lane through the dark night, we challenge ourselves with one hour shifts to concentrate on the compass as we upwind sail near reefs and islands. As the sun rises on our 6th day at sea, the wind disappears and we try to motor but nothing happens... Slowly in the 1 knot current we drift back towards the shipping lane... Who needs a Gearbox anyway... Ah, We Do!!

What an adventure we have been on to get this far towards our destination of Langkawi. Since deciding it was time we got a new engine, we were in Dili, Timor Leste at the time. Since then we have sailed over 1500nm to this point, spending over 20 days of the month of November at sea. December was something very similar! You could say we are determined or stubborn... Probably a bit of both to get this far! The adventure really begins when things go wrong. Living but that saying, we have been on one hell of an adventure! Hope you enjoy the vid! Yew!