Night watch in the pirate zone

We sailed 50 miles towards the pirate zone and straight back to night watches. This meant that after several days of freedom in the jungle, Esper had the ‘graveyard shift’ from 01:00 till dawn. It was our job to be on full alert and to wake up the other boats and inform the patrol boats should we see any strange activity on the water.

We motored and sailed all day…

Where’s the wind?

This time on night watch, instead of staying up together, we divided the shift in half: Jamie from 01:00 till 03:00, then Liz taking over till dawn. These times work for us as Jamie is a night owl and Liz an early bird. Watch the video to find out what it’s really like to take a night watch at anchor and be on the lookout for pirates.

Liz after the graveyard shift

Rounding the worst part of the passage on Sabah’s eastern coast, we headed towards the relative safety of Lahad Datu accompanied by a storm, which threatened to catch us the whole way.

Then three days R&R anchored next to the town where we provisioned and shopped.

Thank you for your support and for encouraging our travel story-telling.

Peace and fair winds,
Liz and Jamie xx

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4 thoughts on “Night watch in the pirate zone”

  1. Hi Captain (Liz), Hello CEO (Jamie) !
    I’m close to acquire a 1987 Oyster HP53 here in Southern France. She wasn’t sailing for some time (don’t know how long) and was told that she need some cosmetics (may be more?) but that she is, as being told, a very sound vessel. A survey will be undertaken as soon as possible, after this quarantine period.
    Is there any weak point (a part the balsa core deck which I dunno like too much)?
    Very best regards
    Sasha

    1. That sounds exciting! I don’t have any knowledge of the model, but it sounds interesting… The general problem with Oyster 435s in that period was leaking chain plates. Good luck!

  2. Hi Jamie and Liz,

    Firstly, I love the videos, Ive been following you both since the refit videos, found those very interesting as my partner and i have just bought our first boat, I noticed on the last video you checked the weather as there was a front coming in, my question is:- what do you use for weather reports and updates? all we have is navtex for reports and phones for updates, but we are trying to decide what equipment to buy. Would you do a video on what electronic equipment you use and what you would recommend for a couple getting ready to live aboard. We are currently looking for ideas regarding systems like AIS and Radar, chartplotters and sonar but dont know what to go for, any help, advice or general info would be appreciated. Thanks and keep up the great work
    Regards
    Dave and Linda

    1. We have lots of episodes which address the questions you ask, take a look at our YouTube channel. When we’re coastal cruising we use our phones, but out at sea we use satellite communication, an Iridium Go with PredictWind.
      Best of luck with your exciting plans!
      Liz

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