Maritime Mysteries Explorers-Miri, Day 2

Just after breakfast, we had our Skype call from Frank Joseph Hoff, which we filmed although we were able to get a picture from Frank's end.  Still we have the audio and the reactions from the wheel house of the Southern Sun.  To add to the importance of this call, Frank was able to add Dr. Robin Harger to our conference call, who would agree to help Hans secure some needed contacts in the Indonesian government.  Dr. Harger is a noted marine biologist and author, who spent 14 years with UNESCO in its Jakarta office before he retired as a director of the International Oceanographic Commission.  He gave Hans a contact within the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, who will help him navigate through the usual bureaucracy.  After finishing what had to get done before departing, we sailed out of the Miri marina just after 3 in the afternoon.  As luck would have it, we ran right into a squall and pandemonium  ensued with sail flapping, rain pounding down on the crew as they struggled to everything back under control with Eric and I filming all the action as it happened.  This was an opportunity that was too good to pass up but I must confess, being a sailor that I did feel a bit guilty not helping out.  We got through the storm but it was far from smooth sailing and it got later in the day it look like there was another one developing on the horizon.  Captain Hans decided we would be better off returning to the marina and leaving tomorrow when things had settle down.  The blackened skies continued to follow us back to Miri and when we were in sight of the shore night had fallen with no moon or stars to light the way into the channel.  With the storm coming up fast behind us it was much to dangerous to try and make it into the marina channel so we headed up into the wind to ride out the storm in open water and wait until morning to enter the marina.  Needless to say, we had a bit of a rough night.