In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we depart the island of Simeulue and head 30nm out to sea to the remote tiny island group we refer to as Turtle island! On our sail down the coast from Thailand 5 months ago, we briefly stopped off at these islands and swam with  the most amount of turtles we had ever seen. We never expected to be back here, but since we had the opportunity too, we had to return to see all the turtles again!
The water is crystal clear and with a freezer needing to be replenished, Yosh does some spearing landing a couple of Coronation Trout. To go with the large Spanish Mackerel we caught the day before, we are back in business. Living from the Sea.
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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!