From Australia to Indonesia
6 days of sailing....
..... And dodging unidentified things in the water - so called FAD's ( fishing activation devices) which are unlit buoys in the water with fishing nets/ lines attached.
It might not be too obvious for non sailors, but if we hit something like a big net, or even a big rope/line in the water, it can wrap around our keel or centre board and cause big bad problems. Without being too dramatic, as a worst case scenario potentially tear off the keel causing quite a big hole in the boat.
So this passage was quite fraught - looking on AIS, and out at sea all the time.
Later in the passage, we started to see all these big wooden planks, like doors, that had been thrown in the water. Again, not something you want to hit with your boat.
On our second or third night at sea, I had a massive bang/twang, like someones big knicker elastic had just pinged.
I was sleeping and shot out of my bunk - Crawford was on deck, as usual, cool as a cucumber - he said we had probably caught a net on our rudder and it had pinged off.
Luckily for us, the Ovni rudder is angled back and so the net wasnt caught - we just kept on sailing without a problem. Thankyou Ovni !!
One of our friends hit something on the way over and their rudder was damaged, rendering their autopilot out of action. This meant they had to hand steer all the way - really not the best plan for double handed sailors!
Sail2Indonesia 2025
Eventually, here we are, at this anchorage in the SE Molucca region of Indonesia.
A beach called Ngiar Varat on the Kei islands - really not too shabby.
When we arrive in a new country it's all about checking in and becoming 'legal'
Customs, immigration and health officials all come out to the boat to make sure we have the necessary documentation to enter the country, the boat was searched and we were scrutinised.
There are around 30 boats in the rally and as the number of boats was building up in the anchorage it was taking a while to get us all processed.
Eventually after around 2-3 days we found ourselves legal and ready to mingle....
There were things happening on the beach and apparently a big area was being built for us to have our welcome ceremony.
The sail to Indonesia rally is an annual event bringing together yachts from all around the world to cruise throughout the islands of Indonesia.
Cruising yachts join the rally for different reasons. We joined, simply because Indonesia has a reputation for being difficult to organise visas, documentation, immigrations, customs etc and by joining the rally, it is taken out of our hands.
The rally is designed to promote tourism and introduce participants to the unique aspects of Indonesia.
Im not sure anyone on the rally was quite ready for the welcome we received on Kei Island.
Starting around 09.00 we were treated to some amazing dancing, singing and musical displays. We were fed and watered all day, taken on a boat trip, taken to the local government office where we received dinner and the technical details of the rally.
Then back to the beach for more Bintang (the local beer) live music and karaoke in the beach bar.
Ngiar Varat - SE Maluku, Indonesia
This was the start of a week long celebration of welcome parties, tours, meeting locals, going into schools, doing Karaoke at the beach bar, going to an Indonesian cooking class, getting a moped and riding around the island - basically, just enjoying this amazingly beautiful place - Kei Island
Add comment
Comments