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On Passage to Sabang
Writer : Louise Oliver
Hi there STARSHIP travelers,
Another day on the rocking ocean, unfortunately late last night we had a small case of De ja vous when STARSHIP’s stabilisers began to leak oil and at the same time the oil from the main engine began dropping pressure. Unfortunately it seems to be the same as the problem we encountered in Indonesia with the stabilisers. Streams of oil flow from the reservoir of the stabilisers like a cascade.
The hydraulic pump that is driven by the main engine has a leak, oil from the main engine is somehow finding its way to the fluid conditioner reservoir of the stabilisers where it is erupting into the bilge. Our next course of action was to make a 180
°degree turn and slowly make our way back towards the Indonesian coastline north of Sumatra to find calm waters in which we can make repairs.
The leaking stabiliser.
This morning Charles has been busy trying to contact the representatives from MAN in Singapore to see if they can provide us with assistance in any way. We are still unsure if the port in Sumatra will have the required supplies to repair the problem so it is unfortunately not the best of days onboard. On the bright side of things we didn’t venture too far from the coast that turning around would have been a problem. At the moment we have our fingers crossed that we safely make it to the coast, while we keep a close eye on the dropping oil pressure as well as the growing seas. This afternoon the wave height was at least 3m / 11ft , this wasn’t including the big ones. We watched on as a tanker passed us on our port side taking waves over it’s bow which must have been at least 10m / 30ft up.
Slowly we approach the closest of the islands just off the northern tip of Sumatra called Sabang, we have been fortunate to have a following sea which has kept the engine slightly tilted and prevented the oil leak from reaching full velocity. Charles has had a date with the engine on each hour topping up the oil to ensure we have sufficient levels to reach Sabang problem free.
James is endeavouring an enormous task of putting the footage into chronological order so that the when he desires to access one of the particular items it will simply be a matter of running the barcoder over the spine. Neat huh! In his words he has opened a can of worms due to the fact that each previous videographer had their own unique manner in which to file the videos.
The cruising guides describe Sabang as the ‘first’ port of call if coming across the Indian Ocean, or as a ‘bolt hole’ if you had just departed from the Malaysian peninsula and need to stop for any reason, for some reason I think we kind of fall under the latter category. One of the interesting aspects to our path is an uncleared field of mines from the Second World War! It isn’t noted as the tourist Mecca of Indonesia but does offer pristine vegetation in its Forestry Reserve and the Rubiah Sea Gardens on the northwest tip of the island, so I am told.
All of us are tired and sleepy from the constant rocking, it will be nice to reach a point where for just a moment we can catch ourselves and prepare for what comes next.
See you tomorrow,
Lou