Cruising through Indonesia...
If you are reading this, and you even know where Indonesia is I will be impressed. Its one of those places I had just somehow missed.
Of course, everyone has been to Bali (well, if you are under 25 you have been to Bali) but otherwise, Indonesia has all been a bit of a mystery to us.
Its been so much of a mystery that we decided to join a rally because we knew nothing about the country. Where even is it?
We realised we had to pass through it in order to keep heading west, and, very lazily, we could not be bothered to do the research. That really is the truth.
The Sail to Indonesia rally (www.sail2Indonesia.com) has been going a long time, and has been on our radar for a few years.
We have some friends who did it a few years ago and recommended it, telling us it was the easiest way to sail through the fourth largest country in Asia (After China, India and Saudi Arabia) One which has 17000 islands, 70 languages, and a million different rules for immigration, customs and biosecurity.
So we were quite happy to pay our money and join the rally hoping the organisers would do all our work for us - organise our visas, do the immigration, plan our route, give us weather routing, tell us when to leave, where to anchor, book the table for dinner, pour the wine....
Well, so far, we have had a few little hiccups, but given that there are 30 odd boats on the rally, with a varying number of crew, from many different countries, and we are all squashing into some fairly tight anchorages - its going really well.
We have seen a few terse words on the whatsapp group - "your boat is dragging and its very close to my boat" or
"get your anchor off my anchor " but fortunately no actual fighting.
Mind you, we left Australia in July, and will be with these boats until we get to the top of Indonesia, near Singapore around November time. So watch this space
Its been great to meet up with loads of other sailing people with the same common goal - basically sail safely through Indonesia, drink lots of beer and have fun. No doubt there will be some stories to tell before the time is up
Sailing through Indonesia is tricky - the language, the weather, all the fishing devices and general stuff in the water. Add to that, trying to pick up fuel? Where? How? What is it called? Some places call it Dex, or there is something else called Dexlite.
There aint no RAC gonna rescue you out here on the ocean, like I had on the M3 when i put diesel instead of unleaded in my car - so you really dont want to put the wrong fuel in your boat.
Some boats need to pick up water. Is it contaminated? Most boats filter their water, but even then, is it trial of montezumas revenge? Where can we buy spare parts? Another potential nightmare. We needed a part for the outboard (again) and it was a full day of driving around in a taxi with a driver who doesnt speak english to find it. Its a challenge! But its a fun challenge.
We are normally pretty much under the radar when we enter a new country - a darkish/dirtyish/looks a bit ropey aluminium boat doesnt draw too much attention. Then us - two shy/quiet individuals just going about our business....
Things are different on a big rally. 30 odd boats ( and there are some mahoosive big beautiful mofo"s on this rally) arriving on a small beach or a small town - I think we make quite an entrance.
All the rally flags are flying, all the couples are shouting at each other "Drop the anchor" or "I said reverse..."
Then the rapid realisation they have anchored too close to the reef, or too close to that other boat, and the ensuing noise of the anchor chain being lifted, it starts all over again....
The joint organisers of the rally are a sailing couple from NZ called John and Lyn Martin, who have sailed through Indonesia many times. They set it up with Raymond Lesmana - an absolutely lovely gentleman, well known in the tourist industry throughout Indonesia.
Lyn and John set us off with all the pre rally information, helped us with our visas, gave us all the weather information etc, then when we got to Indonesia, Raymond was on hand to make sure we have the best time while we are here working with local governments/schools/tourist organisations to give us an amazing welcome to the areas we go to.
I can't help but think it must be a total nightmare trying to organise this event for many many reasons.
The first thing is finding a suitable anchorage..... It might not be that obvious to non sailors, but finding an anchorage for 30 odd boats of varying sizes is not an easy task.
It really isnt like finding a parking space for 30 cars. It needs to be on the right side of the island to provide shelter from the prevailing wind, it needs to be big enough for 30 boats to lay their 40metres of anchor chain and to be able to swing 360' without hitting anyone, it needs, ideally to be on sand or mud, so the anchor will dig in and stay digged in. It needs to be a certain depth, ideally around 5-10m. Anything deeper and a) the holding is not so good, and b) if you get your anchor stuck on a rock , you are unable to dive down and recover it.
That is not the end of it either. All these boats now anchored at the beach, are all chomping at the bit to get ashore.
Where do 30 odd dinghies park?
In Ambon, the dinghy dock was against the little wall of a hotel, but it was really tidal - meaning, that, at high water, waves swept you in, pinning your dinghy fiercely into the wall and then, just as fiercely, swept you out again...
Jumping out of the dinghy in time to step ashore and tie off before the next wave took you out was really quite tricky! Thank goodness no alcohol was involved in that short stay - it could have been lethal (Looking back, that dinghy dock would have been quite a funny place to do a recording for candid camera - all the half pissed cruisers jumping in and out of their dinghy's )
So the yachts have anchored safely (for now) the dinghies have made it into shore and tied off safely (for now) the cruisers in all their glory are here. They arrive, looking slightly dishevelled after probably an overnight sail with no sleep, clutching empty fuel cans, empty gas cannisters, rubbish from 5 days offshore, shopping lists, incessant thirst and a desire to taste the local food and beer.... I dont think providing all the above for all these boats and people is that easy. Thankyou Raymond, we are grateful ❤️
Indonesians are so friendly and the kids are still traditional enough to actually want to talk to people. When they see us arriving, they want to get to know us, practice their best English, and give a high five.
It is absolutely gorgeous but also a little disconcerting how, suddenly kind of pseudo famous we are. Everywhere we go, people really staring at us and saying "My name is......"
We were in a karoake bar having a right laugh one night and Angela (beautiful Irish/NY lady) said to me "That girl has been recording us for the last 10 minutes" I looked over and the local girl did not blink an eye, just kept pointing her camera, actually, right in our direction, obviously recording everything we were doing/saying.
I hope she likes really really bad dancing and even worse singing..... (Angela that is me, not you btw, you were great, despite what your husband said 🤣 )
In these Northern Islands of Indonesia, nearer the Equator, it has been wet. We werent really prepared for the weather (rain) we were encountering in this beautiful place
After a few nice days on arrival in the Kei Islands, it just seemed to rain, rain, rain and then more rain
We left the Spice Islands in a grey sky and sailed overnight trying to dodge the rainstorms, getting soaked to the skin. (an umbrella doesnt really work on a boat)
If anyone remembers camping, or caravanning, when it always rains - well thats a bit like being on a boat - the air is damp, and before your wet weather stuff dries, it becomes damp, mouldy and stinky. Then before you know it, you actually have to put it back on. ohmyyyyyyygoddddddd!
One day in Ambon with pouring rain, grey sky and getting absolutely soaked to the skin several times was enough.
We had no wind, but we were happy to use our precious fuel and motor through the night to get outta that wet, grey place.
The next destination on the rally - Tifu - a small anchorage at the bottom of a beautiful island called Buru - luscious green rolling hills and waterfalls. All this comes at a price - A bit like the Lake District where it rains all the time.
In Tifu, it rained pretty much non stop for 2 of the 3 days we were there.
We had to get outa there, so we temporarily escaped the Rally, sailed South and found this pretty gorgeous place (Well actually one of our friends found this pretty gorgeous place - Thanks Tom/Anders ) - Hoga Island in Wakatobi - now this is a bit more like it ! If you like off the beaten track Indonesia, come here - it is amazing!
Add comment
Comments