[Dar Es Salaam - Phuket] Day 33 -- Nicobars and the Strait of Malacca

By the thirtythird day we could feel how we were closing in on our destination. A last waypoint, the passing of the Nicobar Islands, lay ahead and after that it would be course straight on to Phuket, then about two more days away. The night had ended with a steady wind from the north, almost too much on the nose, pushing us hard into the wind and making us loose some ground towards the south. Still, more gas on the engine and a good sail setup gave us enough speed to be quite satisfied. The closer we came to the passage, the more ships passed. According to my brother, it was the best spot to sink the vessel if that should ever happen. The chances of being picked up and rescued were excellent. Fortunately, the chances of not sinking were at least as excellent. But also, the closer we came the less we would move. To the wind on our nose now an unfavourable current added itself slowing us down continually. There was nothing we could do, none of the sail setups our course corrections could improve our progess.

In the afternoon, the number of ships seemed to explode. If anything had seemed like heavy traffic before, it was not even starting to compare. There were cargo ships everywhere, overtaking us, crossing our path, or simply off far in the distance. The place, a day ago the most solemn one on earth, seemed overcrowded now. The watches became ever more meaningful as the traffic had to be observed constantly, even though as a sailing vessel we had the right of way. I actually started to like it. Even though the day had streched like an old chewing gum and wouldn't seem to end I gladly took the after dinner watch as the others went below to watch some horror movie. I spent my watch between a book and watching the traffic and the three hours passed as quickly as I had wished the whole day would have.

captains log:
0200 rain
Typhoon N14.5E82
ship ship ship
0600 changes course, we too
plenty of ships around
North-East-Monsoon finally arrived, on the nose
1200 N6°01 E93°19
ships ships and ships
1430 furl Genoa
ships ships and ships
8 ships at the same time
wind NE 8kn on the nose