Off to Belitung

It was another 2 night sail north to Belitung. Had we had good winds all the way, we could have probably made it in 2 days, 1 night but as usual any winds we have throughout the day usually drop to nothing as soon as the sun starts to set. We headed off with 4 other boats early around 8.00am and had a good sail for most of that day. Being larger than the others, the winds pushed us ahead and we were soon on our own. It is amazing how through the day you only pass the odd fishing boat, but when it becomes dark, their lights appear everywhere. So it's that constant vigil again through the long night.

Our arrival into Belitung was pre-dawn so again we hung off a short while waiting for the light. It looked like a rather exposed anchorage, which usually means rolly seas, but the option of going across the bar into the harbour was out with the tide only giving 1.9m clearance and that's what we draw. Once ashore, we were guided to the Information Office where we were given vouchers for free diesel, water and beer. We were introduced to Franz and Arthur who were terrific in giving information about the area and nothing we asked was ever too much trouble. Once again we were treated by royalty - it can become addictive. This anchorage has always been a very popular one on the rally and reputed to be the friendliest. They were right about that. Everywhere you go, people say 'hello mister' and the children gather around you asking our names in their broken English.

The beach was littered with Katers - the traditional fishing craft of this area that are also used for racing. They are brightly painted and make quite a picture against a turquoise backdrop of ocean. Races had been planned as part of the celebrations so they were practicing all around us in the anchorage. Ashore we found a great choice of restaurants, not a bad meal to be had. The main town was a 5 mins drive away and each time we started to walk the distance, we were stopped and offered a lift. One trip was by the local ambulance so Pete and I rode in to town sitting on the bed in the back. It would never happen in Oz.

                              

                      The brightly coloured Katers - local fishing/racing boats that filled the beach


                              

               Pete and a few others went for a 'practice run' in a Kater - said they were great fun

Belitung is known as the town of 1001 coffee shops. With a population of 100,000 - you do the math! It was obvious that the area was more affluent than some of our previous stops. We visited open tin mines, batik factories, durian plantations and were invited to the Government Guest House for dinner where we sat cross legged on the floor and had a traditional dinner without cutlery. It is an acquired art !!!!We attended a 'Rainbow Festival' where the costumes were amazing - considering this is 3rd world Indonesia. The colour and enthusiasm that went into each and every float was amazing. Our last night was the gala dinner, held at a restaurant overlooking an inland waterway where the Regent was very hopeful it would in the near future be a marina suitable for rally stops. After quite a few rolly nights anchored off the beach, that news would be music to the ears of any yachties.


    

          Myself and Karen (Tropicali) amongst some of the local kids


              

        Belitung - 1001 coffee shops                Pete sitting back at one of our favourite restaurants


                 

                   Sitting on the floor at the Gov. Guest House for a traditional dinner



   Amazing colours, fabrics and imagination that has gone in to the costumes for the festival

                       
                                                           The spider and his web

On one of our day tours, we stopped at a beach where one of the local kids had a home made motor bike. Its basis was a 44 gallon drum fully motorized, painted rainbow colours with big monkey bars in the front. He headed off into the distance with a roar and 30mins later we came across him in peak hour traffic still going strong. Amazing that he could get away with riding it on the road.

                                      
                                     The home made bike that went like the clappers.

Jacqui, myself, Pete and Kevin with our friend Franz. One of the nicest people you could possibly meet and one that will always remain in our fond memories of Belitung.

Karimun Jawa - Central Java

We completed our 2 night passage arriving at Karimun Jawa just before daylight. We put the boat into neutral, dropped the sails and pottered around for about an hour until there was enough daylight to show us the way through the channel into the anchorage. With Catamini out in front and advising us of the depths, we crept slowly in and dropped the pick in a mill pond of water. There was hardly a ripple and great for getting a few hours of shut eye.

After a few hours sleep, we could see ourselves in a pretty little anchorage with the village and harbour not far away. The shiny gold domes of the mosque dominating above this Muslim town and the mid morning call to prayer may have been what woke us. Our 2 days here was going to be all our own time with nothing scheduled. One of the main issues we, and many other boats have had with the rally, is that there is not enough time allowed to get from one rally venue to the next - a point the Indonesian event co-ordinators don't seem to grasp. The activities for this spot had finished the previous day and out of 85 vessels that started the rally, only 5 were in town for the gala dinner. Very disappointing for the locals and their efforts but it has been this way year after year and still they don't 'get it'.

                              Our arrival into the sleepy township of Karimun Jawa at sunrise

The first day was a rather lazy one as always after a 2 night sail. It was a chance to clean the boat and get things back to normal after the crossing. As there wasn't much in the way of restaurants ashore, we were eating on board that evening. As the sun started to set, the winds dropped off again to nothing and the anchorage once again became like a mill pond. So as the evening call to prayer was heard drifting across the water, Pete fired up the bar-b-que and put on our pork fillet. Ooops....! Probably not the best choice of dinner but hopefully they couldn't smell it. We enjoyed a lovely meal with a bottle of champagne, watching the local fishing boats returning from their day of work. From a distance some of them looked like a crayfish approaching - very basic craft but they scoot along quite quickly.

The next day was to be an adventure. Pete had talked me into getting on the back of a motorcycle and heading off around the island. Actually the road doesn't go all the way around, only so far in each direction, then you head back to town. So with trepidation I climbed on the back of our 1200cc Harley Davidson ...................yeah right !!!! Anyone who knows me knows that I have a paranoia of motorcycles. Actually it was a 50cc automatic Honda 'Scoopy' - and off we went. The roads are so bad on the island that it is impossible to go more than 30kms, and that was on the better parts. Other areas I could have walked faster. And being so sparsely populated, very little in the way of traffic. We meandered along the road stopping off for cold drinks and photo opportunities. And of course when the fuel gauge indicated, a bottle of petrol from a road side stall in a Sprite bottle. Maybe they are starting to get the hang of recycling :-)

 

The view with our yachts anchored in the distance.

 

Filling up on Sprite .........eco friendly

A man made pond out the front of a new resort - filled with Black Tip Reef Sharks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gili Air and Bali

After the harrowing experience with the mooring, the rest of the time spent at Gili AIr was sheer bliss - the most difficult decisions were which restaurant to choose for lunch and then dinner. The island was a back packers delight with boat loads of them coming and going between there and Lombok, only a stone's throw away. A dirt track ran around the island which was shared by pedestrians, cyclists and pony and trap, the only forms of transport available. There was much construction going on with new buildings popping up everywhere (Indonesian style....). It is obviously becoming a tourist destination and they are rushing to cater to the growing numbers of tourists arriving there.



Paved roadway around the main part of town - after that it becomes dirt.

 

Pony and trap - the only form of transport other than bicycle

 

    
  Our view from 'Sundowners' on the beach

 

 Building made entirely from Bamboo

Pete looking relaxed after a hard day on the boat......yeah right!

 

The beachfront restaurants - so many to choose from !

 

 

After 4 days there, it was time to up anchor and head for Bali. We had good winds coning out of Gili Air across the strait but no sooner were we in the lee of Bali, it was back to motoring. A 3.00am start, our little convoy of 4 boats soon met up with others en route and mid afternoon 8 of us arrived at Lovina Beach to join 30 rally yachts already there. This was the main stop to renew our visas which we knew would take a few days to process, so we had expected the anchorage to be busy. Locals in their spider boats placed themselves on the edge of the reef at the entrance to the anchorage guiding us into safe water. This boat then became our contact for fuel, water, laundry etc. After dropping anchor, we went ashore and gave our passports to Sam to get the ball rolling for the visa extensions. The smell of incense everywhere was truly Balinese, along with the offerings of food and flowers at the front step of each house or shop.  "Looking, looking .... Come look my shop" "You want massaaage.......?" "Transport - you want taxi?" It is so quintessential Bali.

The next day Pete decided to surprise me with an overnight stay at the Puri Mangga Villas, about 10 mins drive from the anchorage. Along with our friends Robyn and Craig from Gemini, we packed our overnight bags and headed up into the mountains. The resort was set amongst rice paddies, though being the dry season they were not under plantings. The rooms were spacious, the queen size bed (hm ........luxury after my single bed) was covered with the most beautiful frangipanis, the colour of which I have never seen before. An outdoor pebble shower completed each villa. One night was not going to be enough. The view from the infinity pool was back over the anchorage and out to sea, breathtakingly beautiful. After checking in, it was straight down to the pool to swim in fresh water - what a novelty. The afternoon was spent lazying around, catching up on emails where we discovered our darling grand daughter Taylah had taken her first steps. Soon it was time for dinner - a lovely 3 course meal accompanied with 2 bottles of champagne (which we supplied - they did not mind, nor did they charge us corkage) for AUS $22 per head. A wonderful nights sleep in a big bed, a scrumptious breakfast the next morning and then back to the pool until a lunchtime checkout where the resort car offered to drive us back to the anchorage. The whole 24 hours was sheer bliss - I could have stayed a week easily.

 

I have never seen such lovely coloured Frangipani before

 

Relaxing in the spa at Puri Mangga with our friends Robyn and Craig (Gemini)

Lovina was a lot of fun with a great many of the rally boats anchored. Good to catch up with people that we haven't seen for a few weeks and swap stories over a COLD Bintan or two. The only negative comment about Lovina was the late evening entertainment along the beach. Local singing from the festival clashed with the disco music coming from the hotel and that continued on sometimes until 2.00am in the morning. Someone needed to tell them us sailors need our sleep!!!


 The next leg along the top of Java to the island of Karimunjawa was a long one - some 260nm. At Lovina we split from Tintin who were heading north to Borneo to see the Orangutans (we plan to see them next year on the way back). We headed off making our way west knowing it was about 60 hours of sailing ahead. Locating an anchorage from Totem's notes, we did stop for the first night at Gili Yang and had a reasonable sleep. Up early next morning we met up with Catamini who had left Lovina later on the day we departed and kept company with her for the rest of the sail. It is comforting to have another boat along the way, to chat with on the VHF and see their lights nearby in the dark of night. Night sailing in Indonesian waters needs constant vigilance - along with Radar and AIS, you need MK1 - EYEBALL! Many boats have no lights, some only turn them on when you get close - a big surprise and then there are the unlit FADs (Fish Attracting Devices) .......... It is exhausting and you are always glad to see the sunrise where you can see things more easily. The days are therefore spent catching up on the sleep that you didn't get at night. First night out from Gili Yang just on sunset we hit some solid bamboo poles sticking vertically out of the sea. There were  4 of them lashed together and obviously attached firmly underwater, though to what we have no idea - we were in 65ms of sea. They scrapped down the side of the boat making a horrible noise and catching us off guard. Heaven knows what damage they could do to a catamaran if they hit in the centre :-(

Kittani in drag !

We arrived into Gili Aer around lunchtime and it looked an idyllic place - despite being exposed to the rather strong winds which had developed. We picked up a mooring in the little bay and settled back to watch the hive of activity that was going on all around us. Indonesian speed boats were the local ferries taking people back and forward to Lombok - only a 15 min trip. Tenders were taking divers and snorkelers every which way. The beach was littered with little bars and restaurants so after a quick power nap to keep the energy going after our 2 night sail, we headed ashore. Gemini had been here for a few days already, so over a Bintang we caught up on their travels and got the lay of the land from someone.The only means of transportation on the island is pony and old trap, taking supplies to the local shops and visitors around the island. Dinner was good food, Pete having chicken satay and Mie Goreng whilst I opted for a burger and chips, a couple of Bintang and all for AUS$16 - which was probably a little on the expensive side. Back to the boat for a good nights sleep. I was awoken around 1.00am with a grating sound which I did not recognise. Poking my head upstairs to check around I had to do a double take as we were nearly on the beach (that was that sound !!) and close to hitting local boats. After finally shaking Pete from a deep slumber with the words "I think we have dragged", he flew up stairs to " !@# .... the mooring has dragged!!!!" The wind was still blowing 15-20ks and had dragged Kittani and her mooring past a large catamaran that was moored behind us (luck was on our side that we didn't hit her!) and left us wedged in the shallows on an out- going tide. We had to act fast. Because of all the Indonesian chatter that goes over the VHF all through the night, everyone had turned their radios off so couldn't raise anyone. Pete in the tender raced across to Tintin, Gemini and Tropical Soul wrapping on their hulls - a rather rude awakening. Within minutes we had 6 tenders along side attaching ropes to pull, then around to the other side to push and after 20mins of this finally we were afloat again. We got rid of that lousy mooring line and dropped anchor ourselves back were we had started. After a cup of tea and reading until about 3.30am, we finally fell asleep again, though we did ruin sleep for a few of the other boats - they were all doubting their moorings. This morning a dive under Kittani has showed no damage, just some of the anti-foul has been taken off. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse.

Farewell to Labuan Bajo

Farewell to Labuan Bajo.

The president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has arrived in town and all the podiums, bunting and preparations were still being put in place minutes before he arrived. We had gone ashore to do last minute provisioning and school children were lining the streets in the hot sun (and had been for hours) awaiting his car and entourage. All of a sudden they were spreading out along the roadside with little Indonesian flags in hand, loud speakers were heard everywhere and security were just as plentiful as the spectators. We joined the kids and next minute he was there in front of us, window down and waving to us - behind his dark glasses. Closest I will probably ever be to a president! In the afternoon, we were taken on a tour to a local village where we watched a performance of 'Whip Dance' - the aim is to try and draw blood from your opponent which is a form of initiation. Sounds rather brutal but very entertaining.

                                                      We flew the flag for September 11

                                             The participants of the 'Whip Dance' ceremony

 

That evening was another gala dinner a few minutes from our moorings. Great food set around the beautifully lit pool area of the LaPrima hotel, fantastic band doing all western music. Some of the other boats put forward volunteers for the Karaoke and we found some great voices amongst our own. It was Sam's birthday (the representative from Sail Indonesia who has been with us since Darwin) so it became one big party and one of the best evenings had so far. With about 25 yachts from the rally still in town for the sail past, it was well attended. The following evening was the big formal dinner with the President (SBY as he is affectionately known). We all dressed up for the occasion and were taken to a large government building for the affair. The dinner itself was a bit of a non-event as he ate in another room next to where we were all seated, eating our meals on our laps. Oh well - at least we got to see him.


 SBY arriving with wife Ani & entourage

Pete standing in front of SBY's car - with guards
closely watching

 

 

 

 










The next day the Sail Past was expected to start at 9.29am with SBY sounding a horn (or so the proceedings stated). As per Indonesia, things don't always go exactly according to plan so we sat and waited for the start. Soon after 10.00am, it got under way the naval vessels leading the way. It was quite an impressive sight as they made their way down the channel towards the podium with all the dignitaries waiting. The yachts then took up their position at the end of the line, all with our flags and bunting flying and sounding our horns on cue. It was good fun.

 

Tintin looking good with her flags up

                                      Some of the various naval vessels - all shapes and sizes

 

Looking behind us to our fleet of yachts following

 

That was the end of Labuan Bajo, 3 visits there for us in the spate of 8 days. We sailed out of the harbour heading West with Tintin close behind. We said farewell to our friends on Equilibrium II as they were heading back to Maumere, Kupang then Oz. Sad to be saying goodbyes already, strong friendships made and we will miss them. Maybe our paths will cross again some day. It is some night sailing ahead of us now - 200 miles to Lombok and we are opting to go in one hit.

There be Dragons!

It was a 3 hours motor sail to Rinca (Rin-cha) and anchoring in a cove right next to the Rangers Station. Arriving around lunchtime, we went ashore to organise a tour for early the following morning, as we were advised this is the best time to see the beasts. They are much more active at this time and often on the move, as when the heat of the day starts, they become very lethargic and just lie in the shade. Kittani and Tintin teamed up with Inspiration Lady and the 6 of us were back ashore at 6.30am the next morning for the earliest tour. We didn't have to go very far as the first sightings were just outside the rangers office. We had 2 guides who spoke very good English and learnt a great deal about the Dragons.  We opted for a 2 hour hike up through the hills where we saw more in the wild, the largest being nearly 3 meters from nose to tail.  They are an animal to be respected and cautious around. Last year a ranger was bitten by one and they have now marked that dragon with a big dot to identify it as being potentially dangerous.

   Park Entrance                 

                                                             How's that for a big lizard !!!

                                                 Smelling the air for potential food - us !!!

                 The view from the top of our 2 hour trek - Kittani moored in the distance

Next day we headed off for Pink Beach, again only a couple of hours away. We are slowly making our way through the book '101 Anchorages' and they are often 1/2 day hops between. Pink Beach gets it's name from the abundant amount of red coral in the reef which eventually breaks down and gives the sand a pink hue. Very strong currents were running between the island where we chose to anchor,  but with plenty of chain out and good holding, we weren't going anywhere. Back in the water for some snorkelling and then sundowners again on the beach - it has become a ritual.

                               

 

             Sundowners at Pink Beach - Kittani, Tintin, Inspiration Lady and Thylocines

Next day was back to Labuan Bajo for a couple of days including a gala dinner for the rally participants. It was a long evening with 13 different dances being performed. It was actually a competition between local regencies - hence a very long programme. We met up again with the local dancers from Belu (Guerita Bay) and they treated us like long lost family. It was lovely to see them perform again, such beautiful girls and lovely personalities. They took second prize for the evening and were over the moon with their result. We have taken quite a liking to LB, it's easy to get in to town, get provisions, good cheap food and lots of bars with cold Bintang (brewed by Heiniken).


Pete & self with the dancers from Belu 
 The view from 'The Sky Bar Lounge'









              Jacqui and self at "The Sky Bar'



The atmosphere in Labuan Bajo is building for the arrival of the president on the 14th and the naval craft assembled so far number about 10 and many more to arrive. In the harbour were we left the tenders, there were IRBs belonging to the Kopaska (frog men) one with a 50 calibre machine gun mounted on the bow. The surrounding metal shield was painted with the words "don't piss me off". Of course Pete had to get his photo taken with that, and they were more than happy to oblige us.


                                    

                                     Pete aboard with IRB behind the sign "Don't Piss Me Off"


There is a high police and military presence making the supply of fuel to us from the locals somewhat precarious as they are not permitted to transfer fuel in drums. It is all done under cover of dark and we had a knock on the hull at 4.30am to say our solar (diesel) had arrived. We have decided to head off to Komodo Island tomorrow for a few days but return to LB again, as we have been invited to join in the 'sail past' with the naval fleet for the president. It should be a once in a lifetime experience and not to be missed. A half day sail to North Komodo island where we anchored in a beautiful bay where the snorkelling was just as good as the day we had paid for the trip. Early next morning, Pete was feeling energetic and thought a mountain climb was in order. Rather steep but well worth the view from the top, though  by the time I had returned to the bottom, my legs were liken jelly. Another few hours of snorkelling that day - it is keeping us both fit !!!

                                     

                              
      The view from the top of the mountain - Kittani & Tintin anchored at the far end of the bay.

 Massive schools of fish

   Fan Corals

 Not sure what this big fella was ?

 Clam shells

 

Amazing colours and size.

 Little critters

White Nemo amongst the coral

 Soft coral

 

More photos taken on our snorkelling trips but the photos don't really do justice to what we see.