Taking delivery of a new boat in a foreign country is an exciting privilege. Rapido’s manufacturing base is in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city. Having never visited Vietnam, it was a perfect opportunity for Merri and me to explore that country. The day after we arrived, we went to the factory to inspect the near-finished boat. We then spent two weeks touring the length of the country, taking the train all the way from Saigon to Hanoi in three legs. Vietnam is a fascinating country, with natural beauty, interesting culture, exquisite cuisine, and friendly people; we could easily have spent more time there.
There had been a slight chance that Lightning would be ready to launch before the end of that trip. That turned out not to be the case, so we both flew home, and nine days later I returned alone to Ho Chi Minh City. Exciting as it is, taking delivery of a boat in Vietnam is not without its difficulties. First, there is the task of provisioning the boat in an unfamiliar place. Disappointingly, I failed to find fishing gear, which I’m sure is available somewhere. Second, there is the Vietnamese bureaucracy. Rapido helped on both fronts and Lightning was launched into the Saigon River on March 23rd. We expected some initial hiccups, in particular, with the electrical propulsion system, the first of its kind to be installed in a Rapido vessel. Indeed, the first few days did bring several challenges. Fortunately, we managed to iron out the most serious issues and departed five days later on March 28th.
Vietnam could be a cruising sailor’s delight, as many of the country's attractions are on or near the coast. However, the country does not currently welcome cruising vessels and lacks maritime infrastructure for recreational vessels. We were therefore obliged to leave the country within 24 hours of receiving our Saigon port clearance.
The delivery voyage would be in three stages: Saigon to Batam, Indonesia, Batam to Lombok and Lombok to Darwin; approximately 600, 1000, and 1000 nautical miles respectively.
For the first stage, l was joined by Rapido CEO, Paul Koch, and delivery skipper, Jiri Levy. Once we got out the Saigon shipping channel, which was rather terrifying negotiating at nighttime, it was an uneventful run down to Batam Island, which took 3 days and 19 hours.
 |
| Celebrating the Saigon to Batam passage. |
We berthed at the idyllic Nongsa Point Marina at Batam Island, which would be my home for the next three days. The marina staff were extremely helpful and handled all of the first-port-of-entry (FPOE) formalities. I bade farewell to Paul and Jiri and in their place welcomed my friend, Liam, and delivery skipper, Nick. Nick, apart from being Rapido’s rigger, had sailed through Indonesia many times, and I valued having his expertise.
Batam Island is Indonesia’s answer to nearby Singapore. It is a Special Economic Zone that bustles with industry and commerce. I finally found the fishing gear that had eluded me in Saigon. I also found a shop in Batam City that sold me a Starlink Mini over the counter. Our original Mini had failed during the voyage from Saigon because the custom deck mount lacked proper ventilation, causing the unit to overheat under the intense South China Sea sun. The fix was simply a few ventilation holes drilled into the side of the mount. I had no intention of sailing 2,000 nautical miles without internet access and, if necessary, would have waited for a unit to be shipped from Australia.
 |
| Fishing shop, Batam City. |
On April 4th, at 13:25, we departed Nongsa Point. Thus far, we’d enjoyed plenty of wind, so I’d hardly given a thought to our electric motors. Now winds were light to non-existent, which necessitated motor-sailing. Fuel tank size is what typically limits the range of a diesel-powered boat, but for an electric boat it is the battery capacity. The mitigating factor is that an electric boat can top up its battery by solar charging or “hydrogeneration”. The latter is running motors in reverse to generate power when sailing.
I’m still learning effective electric boat strategies, but early on I had decided to minimize battery usage during daylight hours. In other words, I tend to treat the battery as a reserve, which means that during the day we try to only use as much power as we can generate. In practice, this means usually limiting propulsion power to 2kW, which is sufficient to maintain a boat speed of 5kn in flat seas. To put that in perspective, your electric kettle probably uses almost as much power. Lighting’s propulsion battery is 46kWh, which seems like a lot until you realize it is only 23 hours of usage at 2kW.
Lightning has 2kW of solar panels, and it would be convenient if all of that power were available. Unfortunately, output seldom exceeds 1.5kW, less if the panels are shaded. I’d anticipated the need for extra power by bringing a Honda EU32i in my suitcase to Vietnam. At 2.4kVA output, Honda-San (“Mr Honda”) as I refer to it, can supply 2kW for propulsion leaving 400W for navigation, house loads and/or battery charging. It is very fuel efficient and only uses 1.4 liters/hour. My old catamaran, Arriba, used twice as much diesel per hour to achieve a similar boat speed. Lightning's extremely hydrodynamic form is what makes it possible to achieve good speeds under minimal power.
Despite Honda-San’s legendary fuel efficiency, after three days of motoring non-stop through a windless Java Sea, we needed to refuel. The challenge was finding a service station that was within walking distance of the coast. A Nongsa Point staff member, Acok, kindly referred to a friendly local, named Amir (+62 819-7778-1455 on WhatsApp). He met us at Kelayang Beach on Belitung Island and organized fuel for us for a modest fee. We decided to upgrade our fuel storage capacity from 80l to 130l. While Liam and Nick went ashore and picked up the fuel, I got the better deal by enjoying a swim off the back of the boat, and doing laundry. It was just a two-hour pit-stop and by 10:30 (April 7th), we were on our way again.
 |
| Kelayang Beach, Belitung Island |
Three days later, our fuel reserves were again running low. I poured over Google Maps satellite imagery for suitable places and selected a small locality called Dungkek, on the northeast of Java. We anchored at 6°59.167'S 114°5.583'E in sand over 6m. There is a Pertamina service station only 500m inland from a good dinghy landing area. Liam and Nick went ashore again and a kind local gave them a ride back to the beach.
On April 11th, we encountered our first lighting storm, but otherwise conditions in the Java Sea were mostly calm. We typically motor-sailed with just the mainsail, with our SoG ranging from 5kn to 6.2kn, depending on how much of the fickle breeze we could harness.
An hour after sunrise the following day we reached the north coast of Bali. I was glad that it was daylight as the coast was littered with Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs), most lacking lights.
 |
| FAD off north coast of Bali. |
We pulled into Marina del Ray at 20:00 on April 12th, 998 miles and 8 days after leaving Nongsa Point. This charming little marina is located on a small island, Giri Gede, off the southwest coast of Lombok. We’d arrived too late for the full dinner menu, but the cheery staff whipped up a pizza for us, which was washed down with Bintang beers.
 |
| Lightning berthed at Marina del Ray, Lombok. |
Lombok, which is the island immediately east of Bali, is overshadowed by its popular neighbor. Yet there is much to see and do on this island, including Indonesia’s second highest mountain, Mount Rinjani, an active volcano that dominates the northern half of the island. Then there are authentic villages, coffee plantations, and plenty of beaches. We farewelled Nick, while Liam and I explored the island for a couple of days. The island is surprisingly large and the roads are slow, so we didn’t make it as far as Mount Rinjani, but we did enjoy hiking at Benang Kelambu waterfalls and visiting Sukarara, a village of cotton weavers.
 |
| Weaving on Lombok. |
Lombok had been a very worthwhile stop, but it was now time to resume our voyage.
OVER
Comments
Post a Comment