On the evening of our equator crossing, just after sunset we reached Borneo. Enough reason to feel proud: we crossed the South China Sea and made it to Borneo, a name we had first heard as kids, exotic and symbolic of magical places far away. Our imagination was filled with jungles, rivers with crocodiles, wild monkeys, and of course Orang Utans. And we made it here on our own boat, traveling “the hard way”.

We anchored in about 5m of water, in the expansive flats of the Kapuas delta. The Greater Kapuas river is one of the largest rivers in Southeast Asia, flowing 1100 km from the heart of Borneo. We had dinner and were just breaking out what was left of our equator crossing champagne when a new sound and indicator light caught our attention: the starboard engine room bilge pump was running and put our celebratory mood to an abrupt end.

We grabbed flashlights and rushed outside to see what was going on. We were not flooded, but there was water in the bilge sump, and we could trace it back to a small trickle coming from the lower rudder bearing. This bearing holds the rudder shaft, and is part of a sealed opening through the boat’s hull. It is also apparently a weak point in the Leopard 45 construction process: we knew that other owners had issues with this bearing. The best explanation we heard is that the factory missed cleaning a grease film off the bearings before bonding them into the fiberglass, causing bad adherence of the bearing to the hull. In a second step either through seizure in the bearing or because of misalignment of the rudder shaft the rotational force on the bearing eventually causes the seal to break. We had checked our bearings during our haul-out in Batam, but had not seen anything out of order. Now apparently it was our turn.

Of course we mildly panicked. Water coming into the boat?? The bilge pump can pump out over 4000 liters/hour, but what if it broke down? If the bearing seal failed completely, how much water would come in? Flooding one engine room would not be fatal, but certainly catastrophic. It was clear that fixing the leak would need to go to the top position on our priority list. Once again our plans had to change.

Fortunately we were close enough to the shore to have Internet. We frantically messaged other Leopard 45 owners around the world, and read up on their reports on Facebook. We googled and found that there is a shipyard in Pontianak – but would they be able to work on fiberglass yachts? We decided to continue to Pontianak early the next morning and see what we could do.

At 5:30 we raised the anchor and started the trek up the Kapuas river. It is a big river, and once we found the shipping lane we were passing big barges and tankers. Increasingly there were houses near, on and above the water on the river banks. Small and large boats were going around. We passed the Steadfast Shipyard and marked the location on the GPS. I also tried to phone them, but my Bahasa was not good enough to get anywhere. More houses appeared, and we were entering the city. We docked just off the harbour master’s office, and what seemed like the entire office came out onto balconies to see what was going on. Not many yachts visit Pontianak. The dock is usually taken by a couple of tug boats, but the friendly harbour master allowed us to stay. He also called the shipyard and arranged for an engineer to come down and assess the damage. Customs officers came to inspect the boat, and an immigration officer to check our passports. All the officials warned us of theft and advised to keep everything locked up.

While all this was going on, Ute finished the shopping list and in the afternoon Ute, Celine and Nyala went grocery shopping at “Hypermart”, a large and good supermarket. This was our one shot to re-stock provisions. It was five weeks since we left Singapore, and about three to Bali… our crew of seven eats a lot of food in that time! In fact on the way back they had to cancel the first Grab car and order a second larger one that would fit them and the shopping. By 17:30 everything was on the boat and in the last light we left the dock and rushed down the river to anchor just outside the shipyard.

At 8 a.m. the next day we motored to the yard and docked alongside a large tug boat there. The next hour and a half was spent discussing the repair and how to go about it. To reseal the bearing they had to get it out of the water, Bd their suggestion was to put just one sling under the stern of Rainbow Safari and crane us up approx. 30 centimeters, enough to raise the top of the rudder out of the water. This asymmetric lifting is highly unconventional and Ute and I were not very comfortable. The ship is designed to be lifted at forward and aft lift points, and we could not predict the weight distribution and the forces on the hull. Also, the ship would be at an angle, and if for any reason the sling shifted or we slipped off it would rip off our propellers and rudders. But it was either this, or continuing on 600 miles to Bali in the (unlikely) hope of finding a better yard, or returning 300 miles to Batam, crossing the South China Sea with a leak. Eventually we accepted that this would be our best bet, and calmed ourselves that the lifting process would be slow, and we could abort at any time.

Well, it worked. Two of the yard workers went diving in the dirty brown river water to ensure the sling was properly placed and did not touch the propellers under water. And the crane lifted us just enough for the rudders to be above the water. Immediately the fiberglass crew came on board and started to reseal the bearing. Then the sky turned dark grey, and by the time they were putting on the last layers of fiberglass we had almost as much water coming from above as we had below: an afternoon tropical thunderstorm passed by. While we were waiting for the sealant and the fiberglass to cure so we could be lowered into the water again, Ute and I started to hear some creaking. The tide was going out and the water level dropping, increasing the angle on our boat. The creaking was from the sling that was suspending Rainbow Safari! Again we rushed outside, and I started to tie big ropes around the sling to help secure it into place, while we called the shipyard crew to come and help. Just at that time there was a big crack and flash and lightning struck somewhere very near by. We ran back inside and in the shelter waited for the yard crew. Eventually they lowered us back into the water, work done, and offered that we could stay the night, under the watchful eyes of their security guards. It was not a pretty spot, but sounded like the best option.

In the evening I switched on our navigation systems to check the low tide water depth. And there was… nothing. The instruments switched on, but I had no depth, wind or speed data. From our Singapore experience I knew that these three instruments are all routed through one box, an analogue/digital converter. I checked, and it’s LEDs were off, it had stopped functioning. Typical boat life: one issue fixed or not even fixed and the next one comes along. Raymarine parts for sure would not be available in Pontianak! How would we travel through Indonesia without in particular a depth transducer? Manual soundings with a weighted line? I sent messages to the shipyard people and the harbour master to see if there was any chance to get at least a handheld depth sounder.

The next day started like the old one ended. We checked the fiberglass fix, and found that while the bearing was secured into place, there was still salt water leaking in. To properly reseal it the whole rudder and bearing would need to be removed, and this would need the entire ship to be hauled out. Not something we could or wanted to do in Pontianak, also we would need new parts first. So instead the fiberglass crew came back and added more fiberglass, pulling it all the way up to bond with the rudder tube. And then the next thunderstorm started, fortunately not quite as close, but just as wet! By 3 p.m. we left to go sail back to the harbour master. Before departing from Pontianak we had to get a port clearance, and I wanted to top off our Diesel tanks. Also, it would be Hero’s fourth birthday on the next day and we decided to go for a special lunch celebration (aka unlimited french fries).

In the evening I received a text message from an entrepreneurial Indonesian: he might be able to offer a handheld depth gauge, a friend would be able to bring it from Jakarta the next day. It quickly turned out this option would not be financially viable, but he promised to look around Pontianak and try and find some solution.

Saturday morning was Hero’s birthday: balloons, banners, presents and a birthday cakw. We all sang Happy Birthday and she blew out the candles, just as it should be. We checked our engine compartment and the extra fiberglass was doing the job: no more water leaking in! While Hero was busy playing with her new toys my new Indonesian friend texted me: he had found a Garmin fish finder echo sounder at a reasonable price, available in Pontianak! Ute and I briefly looked at each other and went for it! I then started the process to bring 300 liters of Diesel from the gas station and filling them into the boat from jerry cans, a messy and smelly affair. We took a break to go to the mall for the birthday lunch and a few more groceries that were missing from last time, then back to the boat in the by now customary afternoon rain, filling more Diesel, under an umbrella.

Sunday morning we finally left Pontianak. We were running low on water and desperately ready to get out of the dirty river, away from the crowds of curious “tourists” (our word for the locals who stand on the dock to point fingers and take photos and ask where you are from and where you are going and hoping they can come onto the ship to have a look), away from having to watch the boat at night to make sure nothing is stolen, and back to island life. But we accomplished what we wanted in Pontianak: stocked up on groceries and Diesel to last us to Bali, repaired our leak, found a new depth gauge. We were ready to go on.

The next evening, anchored between islands and on our way South, down the Borneo coast, we discovered that someone had managed to steal our dinghy outboard engine in Pontianak. Argh. Probably while we were out for Hero’s birthday lunch, and we didn’t even notice because of the rain and being busy with the Diesel. It’s really true. We came to Borneo the hard way.