Wednesday 15 October Super mechanic

Poor David has been working tirelessly for the last week to get our motor running properly. Not an easy thing in a hot humid climate and working in an airless engine room. By the time we arrived here in Keyalang on Sunday night after chasing a few red herrings it was proved conclusively it was dirty fuel blocking the filters, building pressure and sucking air into the system. Drawing fuel from the very bottom of the tank showed dirt the size of tea leaves. Most likely a build up over time and not entirely the Indonesian fuel. The solution is to feed the engine with clean fuel from our supply of jerry jugs and to polish the diesel in the tank by first sieving through a cotton lined fuel / water separator funnel and then running through a filter. When we are settled somewhere, like a marina in Malaysia, we'll empty the tank completely and give it a thorough clean. Meantime we'll run the motor from jerry jugs seated next to the engine.

It's feels like it's time to get out of Dodge, ie time to be leaving Indonesia and heading to Malaysia. We cleared out this morning which was painless and fast. Joni who's been hired for the week by the tourist board to assist the yachts visiting Belitung did all the leg work for us. Early this morining he took our paperwork and passports into the main town of Tanjung Pandan 18 miles south, visited each of the offices and returned with our clearance papers and stamped passports at midday. The cost was $5 for the harbour master. Our only requirement now is to be out of Indonesian waters by the last date on our cruising permit which is nine days from now and we can stop for 48 hours en route if we are tired, bad weather, to refuel or for mechanical problems. We feel this is a win win situation; flexible and convenient.