One Life

One last Indonesian stopover

After a stay in Indonesia, Leena and Stéphane are heading back to Thailand. Here, they share their crossing to Phuket aboard their Lagoon 440.

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Published on 08/12/2023

By Gilles Ruffet

Issue: 193

Published: Jan. / Feb. 2024

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Who: Stéphane & Leena
Where: Indonesia
Multihull: Lagoon 440
Facebook: @onelifecatamaran

We’re enjoying our last stopover in Indonesia, at the northern tip of the island of Simeleu. We found a good anchorage opposite Pulau Tepi and stayed there for two days to finalize our preparations for the crossing to Thailand. We took in the magnificent scenery, and Mother Nature treated us to one last majestic sunset. The latest weather forecasts predict a south-easterly wind of between 5 and 10 knots, which is light, but should push us along. It’s with a touch of nostalgia that we departed Indonesia, for a day’s sailing towards Banda Aceh, Sumatra. A few fishermen came out to meet us. During the first few hours of sailing, there was no breeze, but fortunately there was a favorable current. We should get some wind in the afternoon in the middle of the channel. But the skies were heavy, with squalls over the big island moving in our direction. And at the end of the day, the wind and current were against us, it was raining, and we were surrounded by storms. That’s life at sea: everything can change in a matter of hours! At the end of the day, we finally arrived in Banda Aceh. The rain had eased off, so we had a quiet night in Pulau Nasi and got some rest. We began crossing the Straits of Malacca at dawn, so as to have better visibility during the day, when we would be passing cargo ships: in fact, the screen on our AIS had darkened. Fortunately, the collision alarm was still working. We used binoculars to anticipate their direction from a distance. The sea was dead calm, and we made good headway under engine. We finally reached Phuket, where the weather was magnificent. The formalities were completed in no time. It took just 45 minutes to clear the boat, going through the port authority, immigration and customs. It was time for One Life and her crew to relax.