Change in Plans for Next Few Months

One piece of wisdom for all cruisers is that you need to remain flexible about your schedule. There are too many factors – like weather, boat problems, health issues, family problems, and many others – that can effect your plans. So, it’s best to be prepared for change.

Earlier this year, we had decided since we needed to stay longer in the Singapore area due to health reasons, we thought we would try leaving in September to cross the Indian Ocean. I had read the weather isn’t bad then, it’s just not the normal time of year to go. Last week I did some more analysis and found out the reason most people don’t go that time of year is that the winds are pretty adverse for sailing. Basically a lot of beating against the wind for weeks. Given this, and the fact our boat haulout is weeks later than expected, we decided to fall back to a more normal time to cross the Indian Ocean – end of the year. Then the winds are much more favorable.

This means after we finish with the boat yard, we can sail back around to the eastern part of this Malaysian peninsula – which during the southwest monsoon season, is the popular cruising ground. There we are told you can actually sail, the water is clear and blue, and the weather milder and nice. We can leave our boat in marinas there when we go off to do sightseeing in other Asia countries. Then in October, we can bring the boat back up the Malacca Straights and go to Thailand for a month.

After that, we are thinking we will fly to the US to visit family. We would have to return before Christmas because we need to start the crossing around mid-December. This lines us up for other plans the following year.

So, another change in plans, but we hope this will result in some fun cruising and our boat should be in fine shape for it in another few weeks. Today we’re supposed to finally get hauled-out. We’ll let you know how that goes soon.