Equator crossing

November 13th: Woke up to a stunning sunrise for our departure from the Southern end of Lingga Island. Today we will cross the Equator as we travel up the Western Coast of Lingga, to our anchorage on the Northern end of the Island. Robbie has been up since 4:00am on the phone to the USA, trying to source the part for the freezer. Easier said than done! After many phone calls to Sub-Zero with no luck, including getting put through to the Corporate Chef for Sub-Zero, and two fax machines, and speaking to a number of people, we were finally told that they can’t ship parts internationally. Explained that we are on an American powered boat, we cannot buy the part in Asia as it is the incorrect power voltage and Hz. Finally got told there maybe one lady who can help us but she is out of the office. Very frustrating but I have to hand it to Robbie, he kept his cool and was still smiling at me.

We departed at 7:30am and it was really hot and steamy already. The waters in this area are very shallow, 5 to 14 metres and we have just had a rain squall with 30knots wind and rain which was very welcome to wash the salt and dust off the boat. We didn’t make water in the last anchorage as the water was very murky and we were down to under ¼ tank. We are merrily making water though as we speak heading on our passage along the island.

Our plans to celebrate the Equator crossing with Storm Vogel are not going to materialise, it’s too rough for a raft up. There has been all sorts of suggestions as to how we will celebrate the crossing, and perhaps make a Guinness book of records including a naked swim, the ladies from all the boats (there are 5 boats with us today) all baring their bottoms and having the Latitude written on them (00.00.00) Any way none of the suggestions were that thrilling but we still have to make an offering to “King Neptune” for safety and this involves a shot of the most expensive alcohol on the boat.
Well as the weather deteriorated it got a bit tricky, Robbie caught one GPS as it read 00.00.00 and I missed the other GPS – it rolled over very quickly. I had the bottle of Glenfiddich ready to give Neptune a shot but the lid was a cork and it broke in half, leaving one half in the neck of the bottle. So poor old Neptune had to make do with Robbies normal whiskey! We didnt have any, it was very roly and the anchorage is only a short distance away. We have just anchored outside the village on Besar, and will take a local boat over to the Equator monument, that will be strange walking on the Equator!

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3 thoughts on “Equator crossing”

  1. Hi, love the blog! I too have a N47 and am in the Med at the moment, near Barcelona. I still work part time (UK based) so not quite living the dream yet. Soon…….

    Not sure if this is any use to you but I am going to New York at the end of the month and coming to Singapore arriving on the 1st January. If there is no other way, you can get your freezer part sent to me in NY and I can bring it to Singapore. Not sure of your plans around then? Of course, you would imagine that the part could be walked over to you quicker but I have heard of things taking for ever! As a fall back option if all else fails, let me know if I can help. Best wishes, Colin

  2. Hi Colin
    thank you very much for the kind offer, still waiting to hear about the part but if doesnt work out for some reason will get back to you. Love to catch up with you at some stage. We will be in Langkawi for Christmas and a few weeks after that.
    Did you ship your boat to the Med?
    regards
    Jo and Robbie

  3. Hi Jo and Robbie,

    My boat is a European boat so commissioned in UK by original owner. I bought a new N40 in 09 and crossed the Bay of Biscay in early 2010 to the Med then back in 2013 to trade for an 07 N47! Brought that back down on her own bottom in March this year.

    Re your part; I think a call/email to PAE parts on their web site may get the part FedEx out to you quicker than dealing with SubZero. They are very good at helping Nordhavn owners “out there”.

    On retirement, we want to come out to the Far East but it’s a long way west about, so am thinking of shipping from Eastern Med to Maldives then own bottom from there. Most intrigued to hear about your upcoming shipping costs.

    Best wishes,

    Colin

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