Andrew Grace is an Australian accountant working in the corporate sector and while he was based in Singapore, he took delivery of his new Seawind 1160 LITE “Pali Pali” from the factory in Vietnam. From Vietnam, Andrew explored down as far as Indonesia in a series of mini-seabbaticals over the course of several weeks at a time.
Andrew chose the Seawind as not only do they offer a well proven sea going boat that can sail well in light conditions, but they are the only sailing catamaran production boat builder that offer local delivery in Asia making this voyage much easier.
Andrew and his wife are keen scuba divers and photographers and have documented their journey to some of the best dive sites with spectacular underwater photos and a series of YouTube videos. Using rebreathing closed circuit dive systems, they were able to dive longer and deeper to find the best coral and sea life without frightening them away with loud bubbles.
Cruising from Vietnam, they ventured through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and then Batam in Indonesia.
“I think sailing from the China Sea from Vietnam down towards Indonesia is one of the most spectacular cruising trips in the world,” Andrew explains.
“You have following winds most of the way which are light to moderate, so you use spinnakers and screechers a lot and the water is mostly calm and the destinations can be quite spectacular.”
Despite common concerns of piracy in Asia, Andrew explains these are isolated, “We have not had any trouble like that because most of these incidences are on large commercial boats and in well known high risk areas like parts of the Philippines,”
“The biggest threat is the numbers of fishing boats that are not well lit at night time, so we try to avoid sailing at night where we can,”
“But on the whole, people are incredibly friendly and welcoming and there is actually a very diverse mix of races and religions in the region making it a fascinating cultural experience.”
To watch and follow the Adventure’s of Pali Pali, search “Sailing Catamaran Diving Adventures” on YouTube.
