In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we have cleared out of Thailand and hoisted Unicorn fart and set off sailing down to Langkawi, Malaysia. We planned to head here for a quick visit to provision for the coming months and the Indian Ocean crossing as Langkawi is a tax free island and much cheaper than Thailand. Between Krabi where we left from and Langkawi our destination, we need to travel past the islands where we nearly lost Nandji. That horrific bight where a mooring we were on broke and Nandji ended up on the reef. We are only fresh out of the boatyard after completing extensive repairs and why not face our fears straight away and return to where it all went wrong. We have got unfinished business with a reef and it is time to settle the score and move onto the next chapter! We now have a new challenge, the Covid crisis to deal with!!
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In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we clear out of Thailand and begin our journey of the Indian Ocean crossing. Before we depart the area and head west, we first go south to the island of Langkawi, Malaysia where we planned to provision for the coming months of sailing. The world was on edge at this stage as the pandemic really started and countries were confused. Borders were still open so we headed to Langkawi and prepare for what would lie ahead. After clearing out of Thailand you have 48 hours to depart, as it was late in the afternoon, we thought we would rest for the night and have our last meal cooked by someone else. We spend our last Thailand Baht and then the next morning we are sailing! With the perfect weather for sailing, we head out to sea under motor. We hoist full sail and with a gentle breeze on our back, set up to fly Unicorn Fart, our A-symetrical spinnaker. This is only the second time flying the sail but it is such a great sail to play with and it is so much fun to use! We are en-route back to the scene of where our mischief occurred, as we have unfinished business with a reef!
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we launch Nandji back into the drink. After being on the hard stand for a month working our butts off, it is hard to believe this day finally came. When we first rolled into the yard with holes and basically no rudder, we knew we had a mammoth task in front of us! After a slow start due to a little bureaucracy, we had only 3 weeks left on our visa to complete the repairs on time and we managed to launch Nandji a day earlier! Completing majority of the repairs our selves, it is a rewarding feeling to get our home back in the ocean and ready to sail once again.
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, things go horribly wrong. We have been working hard for weeks on end to prepare Nandji for the massive year of sailing across the Indian Ocean. We finally have her ready and take her for a test sail 120nm from Thailand to Langkawi. Stopping off half way at a group of islands we pick up a mooring for the night to rest... Little did we know how much our life was about to change. A heavy squall blew through the anchorage in the wee hours of the morning and we were woken by the anchor alarm screaming. Before we could start the engine we were being tossed around on the reef. The mooring we had picked up had failed and snapped and we were now being pushed by the wind and waves onto the reef... Is this the end of Nandji?
This video was filmed early Febuary before the global pandemic really took off. Thailand was one of the first countries affected and we took the adequate precautions early to protect ourselves. In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we have nearly completed the list of jobs we hoped to complete to have Nandji ready for the Indian Ocean. We take our storm sail into the sail maker to get cut smaller as the last thing we want if caught in a gale is to have too much sail up! With Nandji feeling good, we depart Thailand and sail to Langkawi. This is the first sail we complete after weeks of boat work on Nandji. If everything goes smoothly, we would be departing for Sri Lanka with in the week and beginning our voyage across the Indian Ocean. What happens next was not what we had planned at all. This is the day before the disaster. After a great sail for the day we arrive into Koh Rok islands where we pick up a mooring to rest for the night. The glassy smooth water, the sun setting and surrounded by beautiful lush tropical jungle on these small island paradise, it felt like a dream. We had worked so hard to get to this point and the year looked very exciting at this time. If only we knew what was about to happen...
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, our boat yard days are behind us and Nandji is launched back into the drink. At this time of the year, we still had massive sailing plans for 2020. With majority of the boat work completed, we took a few days to relax at the nearest islands before we made our way from Krabi province, Thailand across Phang Na bay to Phuket. We had been waiting for this day for a while as the forecast was light breezes and dead down wind. Perfect weather to raise our first sail for the year, what better way to do it than with our NEW spinnaker! We asked Aaron from Kore sails to make it colourful and with Bonita in charge of colour schemes, He did not disappoint! To quote Bonita "It looks like a Unicorn Farted!" What better name for our new sail than Unicorn Fart! The future was looking bright and the Froth levels were high in this one! This day was over a year in the making! When we installed Fang in the boatyard at the beginning of 2019, we rebuilt the bow and upgraded the bow roller to my elaborate design, including a sliding bow sprit. I then made the pulpit railing shorter and compact so we can fly light wind sails from Nandji. Aaron then made the sail throughout the year and finally we returned to Australia for Christmas and were able to collect the sail from his loft. We vacuumed sealed the sail and flew it back to Nandji with us! We completed our days in the boatyard and then finally this day was upon us! YEW!
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we illustrate how Yacht life is way more than just sailing! We hauled out for some general maintenance and a few little upgrades in order for oour planned massive year of sailing in 2020. Little did we know that the world would be rocked by the current crisis. We were fresh off the plane and back to Nandji and ready to get Nandji back in the water to set sail. The final days in the boatyard see me do a touch up paint job on the top sides and Bonita anti fouls the butt and we are back into the drink, returning to our natural habitat! The boat maintenance is done, lets go have some fun!
In this episode of Sailing Nandji, we are fresh back to Nandji after a trip home to Australia for Christmas. It is a great feeling too be back on our sailboat after being away, Nandji truly is our home. Wasting no time, the very next day we haul out Nandji at Port Takola marina in Krabi province, Thailand. We plan to complete a bunch of small jobs including some electric repairs and installs, bottom paint, prop love and paint the bilge in the saloon. 2020 was shaping to be a massive year for us as we planned to sail across the Indian Ocean. Having no where to complete maintenance along the way, this visit to the boat yard was to prepare Nandji for the years travel ahead. So we haul out our home in Thailand. Let the boat work begin!
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