Sailing 8 hours upwind to this. Worth it? (Ep 305)
6 November 2025 · 11 min · 3K views · Misool
What this video covers
A 120-mile passage from Mosul to Fak Fak, Indonesia, with a stopover at Pisang Island forms the backbone of this leg on the route to Darwin, Australia.0:31 Vernon sails the 12-meter catamaran Learning By Doing upwind the entire first stretch — mostly 15 knots, building to over 25 knots in the final two hours before Pisang.2:04 He debates reefing versus pushing through and compromises: one reef in the main and a few rolls on the jib, maintaining speed without increasing it.2:31 At Pisang, the crew anchors in a circular bay and ties a stern line to a beach tree.3:09 A local fishing family camped ashore shares fish and turtle eggs — roughly 400 eggs from two nests — and Vernon and Eli spend time with their children on the beach.4:40 The second leg to Fak Fak, 30–40 miles with 10–15 knots on the beam, is easy by comparison.7:58 In Fak Fak, Vernon briefly meets a solo sailor named Dave who left Brisbane on a Seawind 21 catamaran with only a phone for navigation, 20 coconuts, and a gas cooker, bound for the Philippines.9:15 The episode closes with observations on Indonesian local markets and the government ferry operator Pelny, whose ship Laboba departs Fak Fak carrying up to 3,000 passengers.10:51
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