Update

I am sorry for worrying you all with our post last night. Zac asked us to wait and let him write the blog about the day's happenings yet Laurence wanted to ask for prayer, thus my cryptic post. The delayed update is due to the massive time difference between us. We have only just heard from Zac who was catching up on some lost sleep and slept in this morning.

From Zac:
(Yesterday)
The wind stayed steady all through the night and I was making good progress. The swell picked up to about 8 feet and I was back to the climbing up and surfing down motion. Around 11:30am I was sitting in the cockpit when I saw a boat about 4 miles away. I took a look at my radar screen and didn't see anything. I took another look at the boat. We were heading parallel to each other and would pass well clear of each other. I went down below and switched on the VHF radio and tried to hail them on Channel 16 with no luck. I went below and got my camera and got some footage of them but it was still hard to make out who or what they were because they were still about 3 miles off. I was sitting in the cockpit watching them and suddenly they changed course. At this new angle we would hit. I moved the autopilot over a few degrees to get out of their path. As I did they changed course dead for me again. So I'm thinking, "I've got a ship that doesn't show up on radar with no flags and no radio response, deliberately heading straight for me 150 miles off the coast of Indonesia, a place notorious for piracy." I went down below and called them on the radio again and again, finally hailing them using the words "Securite'" which is the word used to alert another boat that there is possible danger. Maritime law says boats are required to respond to this call. Still no answer. I went up to the cockpit and saw the boat was closing in fast. I turned on the engine and slammed it into gear and altered course again so as to avoid a collision and get on a faster tack. I watched the boat which I could now see was a 60-70' long wooden fishing boat that looked about ready to break up it was so old. They altered course straight for me. I jumped down into the cabin and switched on the SSB High frequency radio which has a distress button on it that will transmit my position on all emergency channels if I push it. I grabbed my Iridium phone and turned it on. It flashed 'low battery'. I switched on the inverter and plugged it in to the charger and called home. I told them what was going on and gave them position as fast as I could. I hung up the phone and watched the boat get closer through the bullet-proof windows of my boat. A half a mile and closing, I grabbed the VHF and tried to hail them again with no luck. I put out a call on the VHF saying "Pan Pan" and that I was being approached by an unidentified and unnamed vessel. I gave my position and asked for help. I got no response. By now they were way too close and looked like we would just pass clear of each other. I move the autopilot over more and moved the engine up a few RPMs. We passed a couple of hundred yards apart and they stopped dead in my wake. I was moving along just under 8 knots and getting the hell out of there as fast as I could. The fishing boat stayed stopped in my wake for about 10 minutes and then shot off in the other direction. I called home and let them know what was up and they told me that they were in contact with the branch of Search & Rescue that dealt with piracy and that I would be getting a call from them soon. I got off the phone and sat in the cockpit wondering what it was all about and whether they would come back in the night. Since I couldn't see them on any radar I would have to wake up every 25 minutes to check the horizon. I talked with he pirate control person from Australia and they sent up a plane to check in with me a couple of hours later. I called up my friend Will who had heard about it from my sister's text message. I guess the 'Zac is getting attacked by pirates.' message traveled fast. Will's dad was on the phone with California Representative Elton Gallegly to see if he could help in anyway. But in the end all that happened was that I got really tired from getting up all through the night and I'll probably never know what the fishing boat was doing. Now I'm going to go hit the bunk and catch up on some sleep. Oh yeah, thanks for praying!

From Mom:
About 7:00pm PDT we got a call from Zac. He was concerned because a large old powerboat (not the typical commercial vessels traveling that route to Australia) had been heading straight for him at high speed. He had hailed the vessel many times with no answer. On top of that the boat did not even show up on either of his radars. When he called us the boat was still a few miles off. He quickly gave us his position, speed and course being traveled. Laurence suggested that he put a Securite' call out on the VHF alerting other boaters in the area that this strange unmarked vessel was approaching him in an alarming manner. We hopped off the phone and put a call in to Australian Search & Rescue. We passed along all of the important information and they passed it up to those in the position to do whatever could be done. Zac was nearly 700 miles from Darwin and had not had a CoastWatch Customs plane fly over for several days. Zac called back to let us know that the ship had stopped about 300 yards from his boat. There were no markings at all on the vessel; not even a flag. He didn't see anyone on board. He fired up his engine and began to motor away from the boat. After about 10 minutes, the boat turned and motored away from him. We talked for awhile gathering info and trying to think of encouraging words for each other. We received a call from the folks at Search & Rescue. They were confirming the details and then called Zac to check in on him and give them their direct line. Thank God for satellite phones and Clearpoint Weather, without whom Zac would not have had this piece of equipment!
CoastWatch was sending up their planes and would send one over the area where Zac was sailing even though it was out of their official range. They would peruse the area for the unusual vessel and also fly over Zac and check in on him. Zac felt better knowing that people knew where he was. S & R knew that there were Indonesian fishing vessels in that area and that they were very low tech, possibly not even having a radar. It very well could have explained the boats appearance, location and lack of technology but not their strange approach.

Zac was in good spirits tonight and was back to fretting about his lost alcohol stove pump and bemoaning the fact that he would have to eat his chili cold. He was also considering getting a cat on board in Africa as it seems that every other solo sailor had one. It would seem that our boy has quite a heavy keel, eh?

Thanks for the prayers and emails and calls. It is great to be able to call on you all.

Many Thanks,
Marianne for all of the Sunderlands