S/V FêNIX'S 2007 Adventures

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FêNIX
Adventures 2007

Start Early 2007
Whangarei, New Zealand to Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand
In March 2007 FêNIX was hauled at Dockland 5 in Whangarei.
Then it was off to the deep blue again, sailing north and west from the small town of Whangarei, N.Z. to southeast Asia.

For general information about Cape Dorys

For more of my commentary about this part of the cruise go to this thread on the Cape Dory Website.

Approximate passage distances:

Opua, N.Z. to Bundaberg Port, Austrailia 1400 miles
Bundaberg Port, Austrailia to Seisia, Austrailia 800 miles
Seisia, Austrailia to Darwin, Austrailia 800 miles
Darwin, Austrailia to Dili, East Timor 450 miles
Dili, East Timor to Kupang, Timor 130 miles
Kupang, Timor to Longgo Island, Flores, Indonesia 360 miles
Longgo Island, Flores, Indonesia to Singapore 1100 miles
Singapore to Port Dickson, Malaysia 135 miles
Port Dickson, Malaysia to Panang, Malaysia 200 miles
Panang, Malaysia to Telaga Harbor, Langkawi Island, Maylasia 70 miles
Telaga Harbor, Langkawi Island, Maylasia to Ao Chalong, Phuket, Thailand 130 miles

Late 2006 was a long stop in Whangarei, N.Z. to wait out the southwest Pacific cyclone season. I took advantage of the time to do maintainence and some small modifications.

The Town Basin Marina office.

I spent many hours in this building, making use of the internet connection and shoreside power for my laptop.

A fine example of the boat building art in New Zealand.

The 40' daysailer KatherineIII.

If you want to cross oceans or...

go over Niagra Falls, Seabird is the boat for it

If you are not quite that intrepid then maybe this is more your style

New Zealand is well known for many things. .Dairy products, especially ice cream are often favorites of cruisers.

Frosty Boy is sure to top everyone's list.

In the boatyard

I spent a couple of weeks taking care of a few items in the boat yard, DockLand 5 in Whangarei. While there I meet many other single handers.

Quest: Captain Bill

Eagle Dancer: Captain Patrick

Hygelig: Captain Russ

And covered the cabin sole with cork

Earlier while in the marina I made this table

Held in place with two simple brackets

It disassembles easily for storage by removing this cross brace

Then off to Opua, NZ

Indicated by the red line is the new Opua Cruising Club clubhouse.

This is a very nice facility. The local people admit that it was paid for by all the boaties cruising through. Since we used the building and what it provided that was resonable. After all, hot showers and a good meal are some of the most desired things for cruisers.

FêNIX goes high tech!

I had this new bobstay made in Opua. When I started out I used a piece of 3/8" high test chain. The chain showed an alarming amount of corrosion by the time I reached the Marquisis, so I made a new bobstay from a piece of doubled 1/4" 7X19 SS wire. I thought this would work fine and it did but I knew it was a temporary fix. The new bobstay is 3/8" 316 SS. Should be strong enough to pick up the whole boat.

FêNIX goes high tech! Part II

FêNIX's new dingy. The dingy I made by the stich and tape method was a great dingy, but a terrible tender! It was too tippy for me and I had a hard time controlling it and the loads I often had to carry. Solution...easy...just a few bucks and bingo a new Rib dingy appears. It is made by a local company here in NZ, Force 4. The rib part is aluminum and quite light weight. I like the new dingy very much. Its very stable and can carry a lot. Its light enough to handle on and off the boat. The tube is removable, though I don't take it off. When collapsed the dingy fits very neatly on the cabin top aft the mast and forward the traveller.

After shopping for a few last minute items and topping up fuel and water it was time to head to...

Beautiful sailing weather from EN ZED to OZ. I encountered mostly light to moderate winds and four days of calms.

FêNIX glides along under 2/r main, genoa and poled staysail

A new addition I made in American Samoa. I have since added two one inch diameter by 12 inch dowels to each side and use them as pinrails.

My "Ass Planks" make life a little more secure

Except for the days of calm the passage was near idylic.

Sunrise at sea

Do I loose my chance at the "Slocum Society"?

My "crew" for one night

I arrived at Bunderberg Port on April 30th. After an overnight stay I headed up the Burnett River to the town of Budaberg. While there I bought some more provisions and awaited my new CG Documentation paper. It never came and I left without it.

The round trip up and down the river was mostly easy, although I ran aground three times. Twice I had to wait for the rising tide to float FêNIX off the mud/sand bottom. The joys of river cruising!

Anxious to get underway again FêNIX and I headed a bit east of north to the entrance of the Capricorn channel. At its southern end the channel is quite wide so navigation is easy. I stayed to the east of the main shipping channel to avoid close encounters. Heading generally northwest we sailed along towards Bowen. Once far enough inside the channel the ocean swells were gone but the breeze held nicely and we had some very pleasant sailing.

I arrived in Bowen on Saturday morning and picked up a mooring in a small basin in the port area.

Light air sailing on the way to Bowen.

A rare sight indeed. FêNIX with both the asym spin and drifter.

Bowen was becoming famous. The town was being used as a backdrop for a movie starring Nicole Kidman. The movie was set in the 1930's so some of the street surfaces were removed to authenticate the earlier time period. No! I did not see any movie people.

From Bowen north the channel narrows so I started doing day sails of about 40 miles. Fortunately along this part of the coast there are numerous places to anchor for the night. We stopped at Upstart Bay then Cape Bowling Green rounded Cape Cleveland and entered Townsville. I stayed there a couple of days relaxing and buying a couple of food items.

I then left Townsville going to Cairns. First stop was in the Great Palm Islands at Orpheous. I did make one 120 mile trip from Orpheous Island to Cairns. Just before arriving in Cairns, on the last afternoon and night, there was heavy cloud cover and occasionally torrential rains. Just south of Cairns the channel gets very narrow and there is commercial shipping. Not exactly an easy time for me. But the next morning with the rising sun FêNIX and I slipped into Trinity Inlet and after a bit of exploring dropped the hook just off Marlin Marina.

After a couple of days exploring Cairns and buying some food we headed NW again towards Cape York. I continued to daysail when possible stopping every 40 miles or so. I went to Low Island, a little spec of land and reef. Then it was off to Hope Island where we spent another night before reaching Cooktown. I went to Cooktown, a short jaunt of about 20 miles, and spent a few days looking around and treating myself because Cooktown is the last of civilization for many miles.

Cooktown Harbor

From Cooktown I went to Cape Flattery for a night and then continued on to the Howick Group. From there I though I could make Cape Melville easily in a day. Many go on to Princess Charlotte Bay but I didn't want to head south again so pushed on to the Flinder Group.

In the Flinders Group

From the Flinders Group I wanted another short trip for an easy night time anchorage. But on the day I left the wind decided to go on vacation so I had to use the motor all day. As sunset neared I didn't make the distance I wanted and couldn't stay at the reef I reached because of course now the wind decided to return. Therefore I pushed on through the night to Portland Roads. I stayed for one full day. It took over 24 hours to reach here and I had to replace a broken alternator mounting bolt as well.

Next it was Cape Greneville. Here I decided to stay overnight and into the next afternnon. The next planned stop was Escape River. I departed at 2 PM hoping to make the trip by sunrise. However the wind was strong and the tide with me because I made Escape by 2 AM so continued up around Cape York and then to Seisia.

Cape York

The red line points to the end Cape York and my official dividing line between the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Seisia

The public dock

I spent a very pleasant week in Seisia and was well rested for the eight day trip to Darwin.

Fanny Bay, Darwin

I spent almost a month in Darwin. Fanny Bay and the marinas servicing Darwin become pretty full during the month of July. Of course the cost to stay in a marina skyrockets for that month. Since there is a very large tidal range in Darwin the marinas can only be accessed by locks. The monthly lock charge also goes up. From about AUS$50/month to AUS $200/month...the locals really take advantage of the month to make a big haul of money.

I reprovisioned, filled everything that could hold water and got some more diesel then it was...

off to Indonesia

The trip to Indo started with a whimper. I powered for much of the first day until the later afternoon, then finally under sail. The wind dropped again and a little while later came back from the west? Generally the passage was in light to no wind. It took 7 days to travel the 450 miles to Dili, East Timor.

The east end of Timor Island(East Timor).

Enough wind for steerage but not much more.

The government house in Dili.

Next stop was Kupang, Timor. That's on the west end of the island and part of Indonesia. Kupang is a large city, 500,000 population and some of the locals are geared up for the annual arrival of the cruising rally that starts in Darwin. I only stayed a day to fill all my fuel tanks. The preceeding trips were often in light winds for about 12 hours a day. After departing I decided to run through Indonesia pretty quickly. I only stopped a couple of places to anchor for a bit and rest up. I needed to do this because I rarely slept more than one hour at a time in the cockpit. There are a lot of ships and fishing boats in the area.

A lot of shipping in the area.

A close look at this picture and you will see the equator.

You must stare at it for awhile!

Fishing boats galore.

A colorful example of one of the local types.

Not something you want to see coming at you in the dark.

An unloaded bulk carrier.

Going away is good.

A view toward the Mallaca Straights.

And to the east the Singapore Straights.

and on to Singapore

I crossed the Singapore Straights in the early afternoon. There certainly were ships about, large and small. But the crossing was easy and no one got near. Late in the afternoon, after fighting a light head wind and the tide, I reached Raffles Marina. Just inside the entrance there was a large ketch in the first slip. Two couples were on the afterdeck having a sundowner. They invited me to tie up in the empty slip next to them. After a week plus at sea I was ready. In a couple of minutes I met Mark and Gordon and had an ice cold beer in my hand.

The Raffles Marina and Country Club building.

Hiding behind a forest of masts.

A large dry storage facility.

Right next door is a Singapore customs and immigration facility. It lies at the end of one of the bridges connecting Singapore to the Malaysian mainland. I did not go there to check in, the immigration officer came to the marina office. The check in formalties took all of five minutes and no charge. Quite a difference from Indonesia.

FêNIX at rest in the marina.

A Watermelon in Singapore.

Although under new owners FêNIX meets an old friend from my 92-93 stop in American Samoa. Watermelon was previously owned by Peter and Jean Pockel. Jean still has a very active website about thier travels. It can be found here: http://www.cruiser.co.za/hostmelon.asp

then Malaysia

l departed Singapore heading NW through the Straights of Mallaca. There is debate as to the busiest shipping channel in the world. Some say it is the Straights of Singapore, others the Straights of Mallaca. Since the straights are generally a continuation of one another it is I think a moot point. Rest assured there is a LOT of shipping in the area. One time when I bothered to count I saw 24 ships in visual range, say about + or - 5 miles.

One of many

FêNIX is passed by an ULCC in the Malacca Straights

Even though there is a lot of activity in the straight it is easy to traverse. There are anchorages well spaced along the coast making it possible to travel mostly in daylight.

Anchored on the north side of Besar Island

After an easy 40 miles up the straight I arrived at the Admiral Marina in Port Dickson. Its actually about 10 miles south of PD, as the locals call it.

The Admiral Marina Club House

This is a fairly new and very large facility with restaurant, bar, tennis courts and pool. It sees very little use.

Right next door are condos.

One can be had for only RM170,000 about $60,000 US. During my stay I never saw the lights on in more than 3-4 units and there are a couple of hundred. There is another building to the right of those pictured.

Across the marina on the breakwater there is room for villas.

The building model shows room for about 20 of these, so far only two have been built. All along this area of the coast there are numerous large complexes. Most have only a few tenants. Seems to be a lot of money available in Malaysia.

FêNIX among giants.

FêNIX sits between a 42' cat and a 48' ketch in the marina. The Mallaca Straight is in the background.

Cruising in style.

A very large cat.

After three weeks in the marina I headed NW again, this time to Panang Island. I spent three more weeks there and it was great. The marina is quite bumpy from the fishing boat wakes but it is in the heart of the downtown area. This is very handy for there are many good places to eat within easy walking distance. Then I headed NW again to Langkawi Island and Telaga Harbor.

The entrance to Telaga Harbor

The marina office is the blue building on the left

Another surprise! During my stop in Telaga Harbor, Malaysia I spotted a Bristol Channel Cutter. I have seen a few of these boats during my travels so one more was not a surprise in itself. However as I walked past I noticed the name on the transom "Xiphias of Bristol" and I wondered could this be the Xiphias that Roger Olsen owned and sailed for many years. If you have ever seen a copy of Ference Mate's "The Perfect Boat to Buy or Build", you've seen Roger's Xiphias gracing the cover. The next day I met the current owner, Mark, a pleasant younger Brit. I asked him if his boat was originally owned by Roger Olsen and he said it was. WOW! Here was another boat that I had a major hand in building 25+ years ago. Mark is working hard and spending big to restore Xiphias to its original condition. I wish him the best in his endevore.

"Xiphias of Bristol" the name

Xiphias of Bristol from port

Every once in a while a good deal drops into my lap. In this case an Aries wind vane. It was removed from a Mason 43 by its owner here in Telaga Harbor. His options were to sell the windvane cheap or cut it up and sell the scrap aluminum!!! By Paul's own admission he doesn't see to maintainence very well.

My home made windvane worked fine. But looking to the future I knew that a prospective new owner of FêNIX would appreciate the added value of a piece of hardware like an original Nick Franklin, Aries.

Since the price was very right, I bought the old Aries. From some reasearch on-line it looked like the windvane was about the same age as FêNIX. Probably built between 1977~79. Paul on Noah was not the original owner. He told me that the original installation was on a 108' schooner, steering her through one circumnavigation. Paul has owned the unit since 1990.

After a couple of trips to a local machine shop and a number of hours of labor I was able to disassemble the entire windvane. The main problem for me was removing some of the SS set screws used to hold various parts together. The main problem for the machine shop was removing the couplings used to attach the water blade to the shaft. I checked for wear, almost none, and reassembled the bits. Now after many years of sailing and 1,000's of miles I have my first "Store Bought" windvane.

I also made a couple of trips to a fabrication shop. There I had new SS mounts made for the Aries.

FêNIX's new(old) Aries windvane

I had new SS mounting brackets fabricated here in Langkawi.

The water blade

Evidence of numerous repairs by PO's on the water blade. I will add some epoxy to seal it and new anti-fouling.

and finally Thailand

Easy sailing to the NW

FêNIX glides along on an easy breeze heading to Thailand

My first stop in Thailand was at the island of Phi Phi Don. I anchored in a bay on the west side and spent a number of days in this delightful place.

Long Tail Boats are used in many places as water taxis and other things geared for tourists

Phi Phi on the west side.

Then I left Phi Phi and headed to Phuket Island. This is a short trip of about 25 miles. The main area, located on the SE side, is Ao Chalong where check in formalities take only a few minutes.

A 150 meter tall statue of Budda gazes out over Ao Chalong and the rest of eastern Phuket

After check in and a couple of days spent sampling the eateries I set off around the south end and up the west side of the island. I settled in Ao Sane beach in the village of Naiharn. It is the SW most area of Phuket Island.

Ao Sane, a tourist mecca

FêNIX'S 2007 Adventure: Videos

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