Archive for October, 2009
Newsletter Number 35
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
So here we are in Bali after a most entertaining month’s education about life in Indonesia, another 1200 nm of sailing and visits to another six island groups. We departed Betung in north Sulawesi on August 26th bound for the Wakatobi group. The trip south was all we had anticipated, 200nm of strong head winds, adverse current and steep confused seas. Not nice, so we were more than content when we arrived at Teluk Vesuvius, another ‘hole in the wall’ passage short cut on the rhumb line south with 7 knot currents and plenty of over falls. It reminded us of some of the narrow passages between the Scottish islands except out here we enter such guts with only the most basic charted information, no tide tables and no local knowledge – just another judgement call which characterises cruising outside the box. The anchorage on the far side was calm and sheltered and we feasted on locally caught fresh calamari and king prawns. After another 300nm hard on the wind we anchored in paradise off the white sand beach at Hoga island in the Wakatobi group. Here the snorkelling and diving along the steep drop off was pristine and visits to the unique Baja stilt village across the bay were entertaining and a good source of fresh sea food. We were always welcomed by flocks of excited children and smiling adults keen to chat and have photos taken together. Just another example of a unique self sufficient community marred only by a lack of government support in the key areas of health and education which characterise Indonesia – a rich country with ample resources crippled by greed, corruption and external exploitation. Their salvation lies in generating more local income through tourism and the world class diving around their reefs, as yet a largely undiscovered gem – anyone interested contact us for more details on a suggested itinerary.
From Wakatobi we eased sheets for the first time in a while and set off for the Bone Rate group. With light winds on the port quarter the 24 hour spinnaker run was a delight and once again we eye balled our way at dawn into a large lagoon
and, after threading our way through countless coral bommies, we anchored off a beach crowded with local boats. This place is famous for wooden boat building and a population of craftsmen whose indescribable skills go back centuries – the only way to appreciate is to visit. Most of the boats were either powered trimirans used for night fishing – fragile craft held together by a complex network of rigging, or high prowed, heavy sterned cargo / passenger boats used for inter island transport.
Anyway, we were now back on the main cruising highway to Singapore and our next stop was Labuan Bajo on the west coast of Flores and entry point to the Komodo group. LBJ is a bustling tourist town where most things can be fixed one way or another. It’s also the focal point for divers visiting the Rincha and Komodo National Park which had long been
earmarked as a place we must not miss – we just had to meet the dragons. Komodo dragons grow up to 3m in length and can weigh up to 15 stone, they live on deer, pigs and anything else they can scrounge. Uniquely they have put their appalling oral hygiene to good use – a bite from a Komodo turns septic almost instantly rendering the animal
incapacitated and easy prey. The essentially lazy Komodos then wander up and tear the animal to bits at their leisure. Most visitors view these creatures at the ranger station on Rincha a short boat ride from LBJ, however we favoured visiting an anchorage in the remote south of the island where we would hopefully view the animals in a more natural environment – we were not disappointed. We caught the tide down through a narrow passage between Rincha and Flores with speeds over the ground at up to 12 knots and after some bouncy windward work anchored behind a high island off yet another white sand beach There were 4 resident komodos on the beach and over the next few days we got to know them well. Generally they seemed content to allow us quietly within a few metres and never appeared threatening – however their interest became much more active one evening when we took a pot luck supper ashore. They can smell food kilometres away and it took a lively fire to keep them at bay that evening. Their stalking skills were
demonstrated when one’s presence was only evidenced by the foul smell of its breath over my shoulder – much too close for comfort, but fire has always been an effective defence in such circumstances – thankfully. Over the next few days we day sailed working our way back up the west coast of Rincha visiting yet more delightful, deserted anchorages until we eventually we left the north cape of Komodo island to port and headed west over night towards Lombok island.
Although the sailing in this part of the world is generally characterised by light winds the inter island passages are a different kettle of fish. The gradient SE winds are funnelled between the islands and reinforced by katabatic night breezes coming down from volcanoes up to 12000 feet high. With two reefs in the main and a 50% head sail we reached over the first 40 miles at 7 – 8 knots under a bright half moon – very nice. However once under the shelter of Lombok the wind fell light and we found ourselves motor sailing once again, never a dull moment. We even caught a fish, – a needlefish over a metre in length with needle sharp teeth and green bones – after a bit of crude dentistry we returned it to the ocean.
On Lombok we hired motor scooters and visited fascinating villages dedicated to avariety of traditional skills – weaving, wood carving, furniture making, pottery and basket making. All amazingly self sufficient little communities where traditional skills are still unashamedly passed down the generations. Its true that mobile phones are everywhere in evidence but TV and trashy computer games still appear to afforded an appropriate status in everyday life – long may it last for them.
Here on Bali we have both crossed the Russell Wallace line and entered the mainstream of Indonesian tourism. No more marsupials, cockatoos, bush turkeys and possums here, instead we enter a world of monkeys, civets, barbets and trogons – also hire cars are cheaper and the bargaining for souvenirs sharper, but traffic is faster and more unpredictable as are the local police – always on hand ready hand out a traffic violation or accept a small token of appreciation for tearing it up. We have to wait here for a few days to renew our tourist visas for the third time – another $28US, plus two passport photos, plus 9 pages of forms to fill out, plus an appointment to be photographed and finger printed plus a customs clearance application … etc etc – Indonesia at its worst. Happily its best far out weighs the
paperwork issues. This is another land of skilled weavers and wood carvers plus paddy fields, spices drying in the sun, Hindu and Buddist temples, and a wealth of cultural events such as bull racing and the Barong and Kris Dance. These indescribably colourful events are not to be missed and a couple of photos hardly do them justice.
The next island in the chain is Java with its 45 volcanoes over 10000 feet high – no wonder they’ve had 4 major earthquakes since we entered Indonesia in July – but we’ll give that one a miss and instead sail 400nm north to the south coast of Kalimatan (formerly Borneo) to visit the orang outang re habilitation centre on the Kumai river. Happily earthquakes and volcanic activity are virtually unknown on this island which is larger than the UK and Ireland combined, is completely forested and has a high point of over 4100 meters – Mt Kinabalu in Saba in the north – and some of the most extensive cave systems in the world – an adventure location to be savoured. This year we’ll only touch the south of Borneo but next season hope to spend several months exploring Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah in the north.
We have flights booked back home from Kuala Lumpur on November 12th and so are now on a mission to get to Johur, just over the strait from Singapore, ready to lay up the boat for 4 months and return to that other world for a while. Hopefully this time we’ll get to visit some friends further north than Manchester In the meantime, very best wishes to you all.
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