Sumatran Cruise

[surfmachine]

Ahoy Mick, thanks for the good advice about Thailand! I will let you know how I go. I found a port captain close to my anchorage and will see him later today, after immigration and try and get a port clearance for Phuket. I know Malaysain officials are not worried if you come in without a port clearance from Indo, well.. in Langkawi they dont get excited about it!

Weather still looks good for a crossing to Phuket, later today?


All the best with your plans Mick.

Cheers from Keith.

[Capn Morgan]

Just to add a little, in other ports in Malaysia they don't worry that much about port clearances. They know that some of their ports don't even issue these clearances to yachts. One of them is Belungkor, in Johor State. Even Singapore don't worry about this if you tell them that is where you come from. Only problem is, I don't know how the Phuket authorities view this.

I am also sure that there must be some other CFrs in these parts that might be able to add to this.

Anyway, hope you have lots of fun in the passage. Should be ok this time of the year.

Cheers!

Mick

[surfmachine]

Ahoy shipmates, left Banda Aceh on Monday afternoon at 1500 hrs and made it to the cape at Phuket at 1500 hours on Wednesday, 48 hours!! A great passage, was sailing for 10 hours on Tuesday at 7 knots, had the cutter rig up!

Lots of big cargo boats in the night, strongly recommend the AIS system from standard horizon VHf radio connected to chartplotter, great value for 240 usd from westmarine!!

Checked out with immigration and port captain in Banada Aceh, very helpful, efficient and super pleasant, a good experience!! No hassles or demands for money, great guys, NO AGENTS!!!

Watched the weather for a few weeks, from nias to aceh, via this site, very accurate..

Windfinder - Wind & weather forecast Pulau Nias/Mentawai
Windfinder - Wind & weather forecast Banda Aceh/Blang Bintang

Much better than passageweather.com!!

Checked in with Thai guys at Ao Chalong pier, no problems, very helpful, as always!!! The thai immigration guy, "my old friend", gave me a special entry stamp, as I am the skipper, and crew, that enables me to fly out of Phuket for Perth whenever I want, 30 days, instead of having to lodge a thai bond of 20,000 baht!!, I gave him a smallish fee!!!

Hired a bike for 150 baht a day, now the high season, from my mate Michelle, no need to leave passport and got local sim cards for phone and broadband internet and had a few massages... MMmmmm!!!

Now getting the cockpit covers replaced and repaired at rolly taskers sails, wonderful service!! Weather is nice, some cool winds and huge thunderstorms at night, very spectacular lightning!!!

Will get out to the Simalin islands for some scuba diving next week and a cruise of the Phang Gna bay, then head back to Margaret River for the summer surf season.

Back to Sumatra next May, 2013, looking for a good crew, wanna come?

Fair winds from Keith.

[dirkdig]

Hi Keith,

Thinking about oing Nias this year and staying at a losmen there.
What are the crowds like in the water July /August.
Also can we do a boat trip o the other waves around there from Nias?
Thanks Harvey

[surfmachine]

Ahoy Harvey.
Yes, Lagundri Bay is the perfect right hander, superb!!!!
When it is head high or less, maybe 16 to 25 people in the water, but only about 9 serious contenders Harvey! You can get lots of waves if the locals let you? So best to buy some stuff of the local heavy hitters in the line up so they will be your friends?

Very easy to get to Asu, the speedboat from Asu will come and get you or one of the local speedboats will take you there, about 3 hours. There is a ferry to Telos and the camps at latitude zero. Go by road to Afulu, a nice racy left.

But the crowds are mostly Brazillians, with all the inside set waves taken by locals, but they are not too bad, they respect the idea that it is a tourist break and their livelihoods depend upon you. When it double to triple overhead then all bets are off and you can sit wide and catch the super bombs and watch Jamie O'Brien pull into 5 second barrels!!!

I am back in Margaret River for the Southern summer, and lots of great surf. Lots of work as well, maintaining the empire! Have a good crew lined up the trip this year, 2013 and my wife is coming cruising for 1 month!!! Wonderful.

Cheers Harvey, from Keith.

[dirkdig]

Thanks Keith, good to get the honest situation over that area before spending the $$$$.

Sounds like a top season coming up for you.
The boat should be almost ready to go after all of last years work i hope.

[surfmachine]

Avast mateys, soon be back in the banyaks!!

[ExpatInKL]

Hiya Keith,

It's probably a long shot, but being a surfer in this part of the world, perhaps you know my old high school chum, who is "The Surfing Magician" out of Bali - Terry Sheard?

Cheers,
Greg

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by surfmachine

Avast mateys, soon be back in the banyaks!!

This is most likely the best pic of Nias I have ever seen.

[surfmachine]

Ahoy Richard, you are spot on!! I was stretching the point to put a pic of Nias when talking about the Banyaks!

When I go to the banyaks I normally spend 6 to 8 weeks anchored in Lagundri Bay, Nias. The banyaks are 2 days sail above the bottom of Nias Island.

First two shots are of me at Lolock point in the Bay of Plenty, September 2012.

Last one is me at Lagundri in October 2012. Went to the Banyaks after that swell, surfed Bawa, Afulu and Machine gun rights at Treasure island.

Cheers from Keith.

[surfmachine]

Ahoy Greg.
I do not remember the name, but I know nearly all of the chargers at Bali by sight! Do you have a picture of him please? I have surfed Ulu watu and Lombok for nearly 6 years running.
Cheers from Keith.

[ExpatInKL]

He's American, red hair, left-handed, tattoos on his wrists and lower legs...

[surfmachine]

Ahoy shipmates.
Latest news is that my lovely wife of 37 byears is coming sailing with me aboard Surfmachine in the Andaman Sea in Thailand on April 18th, for 3 to 4 weeks!!!!

We are flying over to Krabi boat lahoon marina on the 13th April, will do the anti fouling and splash Surfmachine back into the waters of Phang Nga Bay and go cruising around Phi Phi island and all the areas near by. Maybe head over the West coast to the Similans and anchor at Patong and Ao Charong for a while!!!

I am really excited about finally having her aboard our yacht, will be another honeymoon?

Fair winds from Keith.

[felixqld66]

That's Great news Keith it is awesome to share places with someone special! Wildflower broke her mooring in Kuah and has been swamped am in the process of rebuilding her diesel and transmission at the moment as the first stage of getting her ship shape again. My new partner came and helped me with the salvage/cleaning and wasn't daunted so that is good if you can enjoy that bit. Still much more to do the refrigeration and some electronics were destroyed when she was flooded. Remember to get into Maya bay at Phi PHi after 4pm and most tourists will be gone and the best time to experience it same goes in the morning best to be out by 9am as you can get as many as 100 longtails in there....very noisy. Blue skys and good breezes

[surfmachine]

Where we are sailing!!!