We have purchased a
Lagoon 380 and our plan is to take off from
Thailand in April and sail all the way to West Timor and back. The trip will be a mixture of island hopping and enjoying the tropical islands. Some
parts we just want to get some miles done and some
parts we want to surf indo waves which we are pretty familiar with already. Our crew is a mixture of experienced sailors from
Europe with no local knowledge and some non-experienced sailors from
Thailand with rather good knowledge of the islands, surf spots and tropical
weather patterns.
Our plan goes approximately like this:
April first weeks: Phuket ->
Singapore
April last weeks:
Singapore -> Java North coast
End of April / beginning of May: Arrival to Bali
Sometime May: Bali - Timor along the North coasts trying to get all the way to Timor (or possibly along the south coasts)
June: West Timor anchorage (some friends of ours have a resort there)
July: West Timor - Sabu - Sumba - Sumbawa - Lombok - Bali
August: Bali - Singapore - Phuket
Would really appreciate any comments, suggestions, tips or whatever regarding our trip.
In all the
cruising guides we've been reading the main
route seems to be East to West with the trades. However, we need to go first East and then back West in about 4 months.
Things we are wondering the most are:
*Malacca strait in April, cruising
books talk about bad daily thunderstorms, how bad are they, serious stuff or mild quick ones as in Thailand?
*We are departing on the monsoon transition month and try to get out of Thailand before the SW monsoon and try to be in Bali before the strong SE trades start, is that a good plan? We could make the start little earlier if needed weatherwise?
*How is it to sail East from Bali to Timor in May-June since the trades start to be pretty strong against us?
*Anyone have any expertise/tips to share on sailing with the strong July SE trades from Timor to Bali,
Indian Ocean swell is often pumping 2,5-3,5 meters and trades are to my knowledge in Timor often 15-25kts.
*Anyone any tips on
anchorages on the south coasts of Sumba, Sumbawa, Lombok since that's were all the surfing is happening and most cruisers seem to go along the North coasts.
*How is the Malacca Strait to Thailand in August when the Thailand monsoon is going off pretty hard from West? Some guide
books say we should wait until October before heading up from Singapore, is it really so?
*We are very familiar with all the Thai-Malaysia islands and also the islands east of Bali but the Singapore - Bali we do not know anything of, tips are welcome!
During the the next 2 months we are putting genset in (or possible just more batteries+solar),
radar,
AIS,
epirb,
watermaker etc etc... Plotters,
vhf etc basic stuff was on the
boat already when we bought it. All info/tips VERY welcome.
Thanks,
S/Y KUUTTI crew