Hannah prepares to be initiated into the Secret Society of Mariners who have Crossed the Equator on a Sailing Vessel
                                                                     Â
We are in Singapore. We left Belitong late in the afternoon of October 11 for a 44 hour sail to Sebangka Island. We rested for the night at anchor at Sebangka and then day sailed to Batam Island, rested for the night, and then sailed the remaining 9 hours to the Raffles Marina in Singapore, arriving yesterday (October 15) in the afternoon.
At about 7 am on October 13, Sabbatical III crossed the equator just south of Kentar Island. The last time we were in the northern hemisphere was late March 2007 when we were a day away from the Galapagos Islands on the passage from Panama. It is a tradtion among mariners that those aboard must be initiated the first time they cross the equator by boat. At 7 am on October 13, the “tadpole” Hannah was initiated by King Poseidon (see photo below) and Queen Neptune (not shown as she was taking the photo).
Hannah is initiated by King Poseidon (who carries a monodent instead of the usual trident)
Also, noteworthy on that day is the passage of a waterspout (tornado over the water) that passed within a mile of Sabbatical III.
We will post photos from Belitong and blog about Singapore in the coming days.
M.