Happenings 2007 Number 10

Thailand Glimpses &
India’s Andaman Islands

We’d been told that India’s Andaman Islands, isolated in the Bay of Bengal some 400+ nautical miles N/W from Phuket, enjoyed a reputation for world-class beaches, coral and fishing, so with our ‘Rally’ cruising companions ‘Court Jester’ and ‘Jaraman’, we decided to see for ourselves.

Getting entry Visas in our Passports via post from the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur was a week-long exercise that took a very, very frustrating 34 days as we waited their return in Langkawi, and which messed up our plan to spend New Year’s Eve in Thailand where, at Phuket’s Patong Beach, an awesome spectacle unfolds as thousands of balloon candles are released to slowly float skywards commemorating those lost in the 2004 Tsunami. Incidentally, the Passports/Visas finally returned on 8th January and, chomping at the bit, we cleared Customs ‘Out’ of Malaysia that same day.

Meanwhile, for those of you who wonder about the effects to this hard hit region, allow me a few words about that terrible event, partially quoting here from a Tsunami article I read. “It arrived unstoppable and unannounced just after 10:00 a.m. on Boxing Day when a series of ocean surges thrashed the west coasts of Malaysia and Thailand. About an hour earlier, one of the largest ocean-floor earthquakes ever recorded, off Sumatra’s N/W coast, shunted up over a thousand kilometres of fault line, dislodging billions of cubic tons of seawater at the surface”.

“This displaced energy sent a swift silent pulse through the deeper water that, at sea, went completely unnoticed, moving faster than a commercial aircraft. Approaching the coastline the swell crests slowed, drawing in unprecedented water volumes from the tidal shores; the ocean waters receded hundreds of metres out, then a few minutes later the boiling sea returned and just kept on coming and, within an hour miles and miles of ocean advanced ashore, getting deeper and more powerful as it spilled over the land.”

There were varying amounts of Tsunami destruction along the west coasts of Malaysia, Thailand and in the Andamans, but most of the structural damage has now been repaired, the remaining evidence being some scarred beaches where severe sand and soil erosion has left huge trees with their artistic skeletal root systems lying dead at the water’s edge. At least one entire Marina complex was washed off the top of its piles with all the boats still tied to their mooring fingers - a huge swirling, crushing ‘washing machine’ effect, with many boats lost as the three successive tidal waves raged their powerful havoc surging in and out through the narrow marina Foreshore Tsunami damage – Andaman Island entrance.

The following two seasons, 2005/6 saw mostly empty resorts and deserted beaches throughout Thailand and Malaysia’s affected areas, but the magnetism of Phuket’s superb beaches and Phang Nga (pronounced Fang Nar) Bay’s fame and appeal as a world-class holiday destination - with its more than 100 islands and spectacular karst outcrops - has seen tourist numbers booming back again this year, most of whom come from Europe.

Thailand’s southern Islands lie only a short distance north of Langkawi, Malaysia, so our first stop was a visit to Koh Lipe, the only inhabited island in the Butang group, a casual 25 nm sail away. Lipe Island is inexpensive and very scenic with clear water and white sand beaches, in perpetual holiday mode, since it is a popular haven for Backpackers and has a reasonably rare, large Sea Gypsy village, where these fishermen and their families live their entire lives on the water. The anchorage was deep at 70ft (23 mtrs) with little swinging room between the boats, so we stayed only overnight, keen to make up lost time.

Timing our month’s visit to the Andaman Islands during January/February, while the N/E monsoon season still prevailed was paramount, so we spent just two weeks cruising southern Thailand, with short overnight stops at Rok Nok (island), and Maya Bay at Phi Phi Le (island) enroute to Phuket. Maya Bay was the location for the 1999 blockbuster cult film “The Beach” and is a spectacularly scenic lagoon, surrounded by soaring limestone cliffs, and harbours three sandy beaches. Scores of passenger ferries and fast noisy speed-boats start arriving around 10am ever day and disgorge tourists in their thousands until around 4pm when it finally quietens down for the night. Peace - perfect peace at last!

The next day we sailed up to Ao Chalong (bay) at the bottom of Phuket Island, where we cleared ‘In’ to Thailand, and enjoyed the culinary tastes of Thai food at the inexpensive shoreline restaurants of this very touristy village. Here we caught up with our Pacific cruising friends off ‘Crystal Blues’ at the Lighthouse Restaurant, who shared their local cruising experience with us.

Much to Chalong’s credit however is its open-air Sunday market – by far the biggest and best we’ve yet seen, with a simply superb array of the fresh vegetables, fruit, meats, seafood and poultry at very reasonable prices; it’s so popular and jam-packed full, with barely standing room around some stalls and crowded laneways, seemed like a pick-pocket’s paradise to us – though we’re not aware of any cases.

‘Envy’ then enjoyed visiting a few of Phang Nga Bay’s more popular islands with their sheer cliffs towering above caves, caverns and open ‘hongs’ (enclosed roofless hollows) with their walls of interstitial limestone, that are a feature of this geologically karst area. It was a great experience to dinghy into these large ‘open rooms’ through a cave-like entrance and marvel at nature’s handicraft within.

Each morning local fishermen would come by the boat to sell us freshly caught prawns and fish, so we ate several meals of beautiful big prawns, but gone are the days of bargain price seafood in this touristy area.

But we were keen to depart for distant shores so after quick one day visits to Koh (island) Yao Yai, Koh Hong, Koh Roi, Koh Chong Lat and Koh Wa Yai, we returned to Chalong Bay to top up diesel and water, clear Customs ‘Out’, and in company with fellow Australians ‘Court Jester’ and ‘Jaraman’ we departed Phuket’s Nai Harn Bay on 24 January bound for Koh Miang in the Similan Islands group some 60 nm distant, where we overnighted, being the first leg of our 420nm Andaman Sea crossing.

We departed the Similans next morning for the non-stop 3 day passage to the Andamans, running wing-to-wing before a light N/E breeze which freshened to 20kts throughout the night, giving us good sailing. Next morning we had dolphins at the bow and lots of startled Flying Fish doing their 100 mtr dashes, but no seabirds whatsoever. There were also many areas of tidal races and overfalls where strong surface currents converge in a whirlpool effect making the sea mildly rough and very confused.

Then just after daybreak on our fourth morning out from Koh Miang, having sighted only one ship enroute, the hazy hills of South Andaman Island climbed up over the horizon to reveal the solitary beam of the Port Blair Lighthouse, beckoning us onwards to our next cultural adventure – a step back in time - welcome to Port Blair, principal town and entry port of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Andamans are very bureaucratic and even the simplest thing requires reams of paperwork with multiple carbon-paper copies. We were lucky to have taken only two days to ‘clear in’, some yachts take up to a week, and India allows only a 30 day visit. Security is a big issue here. All visiting yachts are inspected by the Navy when clearing in, have to submit their planned cruising itinerary for approval, and are required to report their location twice daily. We were occasionally overflown by naval coastguard helicopters verifying our locations.

This is not a general tourist destination, with few tourists and fewer yachts, and the Nicobar Islands to their south are closed to all but a few Indian nationals, supposedly to protect the culture and lifestyle of some primitive hunter–gatherer tribes said to still exist there in relative isolation.

The Andamans comprise literally hundreds of uninhabited islands, most of which are quite hilly and heavily wooded, with some magnificently pristine beaches, a live volcano and supposedly some of the best diving and fishing in the world, though on this latter score we were sadly disappointed. The Andamans were badly hit by the Tsunami, with many deaths in some parts. The maritime landscape was mostly hazy during our month-long visit which somewhat took the shine off it all (if you’ll forgive the pun), but being ashore opened up a whole new world full of fascinating experiences.

Port Blair is a quaint, dirty, crowded and friendly Indian town that looks as though it has been ripped out of the colonial 1930’s and dropped into the 21st century. Both vehicular and pedestrian traffic is chaotic, mangy dogs and goats scrounge food amongst filthy rubbish that litters the narrow streets and (holy Hindu) cattle rule supreme as they stroll along and across the busy roads oblivious to traffic and people alike.

There’s no way you’ll buy a beef steak anywhere in the Andamans! However, food was cheap, especially eggs and green vegetables at the market, but finding unsweetened ‘normal’ bread was a challenge; clothing was also very inexpensive and 1000 Rupees (A$ 32) seemed to stretch forever.

The market centre of Port Blair is known as Aberdeen Bazaar, a bustling kaleidoscope of movement, colour, smells, sights and sounds, where women in bright saris contrast paupers in rags and blend in with the colourful small shophouses whose wares spill out upon the narrow broken footpaths, upon which tradesmen sit cross-legged bent over their work. New Indian-made 1950’s Austin taxis and three-wheel Tuk Tuk’s, all painted in their ‘hornet livery’ of black and gold, race busily around adding further ambience to the cluttered street-scene. Whilst the fishing and coral were below expectations, we thoroughly enjoyed the people and their culture.

Back in his heyday we think ‘Slim’ Dusty must have visited the Andamans. In his immortal classic he complains having ‘trudged 50 flaming miles to a pub with no beer’ – well, we sailed 400 miles to a pub with no beer! We were astounded when lunching at Port Blair’s flashy up-market Bay Island Hotel to learn they had run out of beer, and subsequently discovered that the entire country was ‘dry’ since the supply ship from Mumbai (Bombay) was long overdue. Thankfully we three yachts all carried sufficient ‘ship’s stores’ to be unaffected by this otherwise most serious dilemma.

So we set off to discover the islands. Our 3 boat flotilla loitered slowly southwards to explore the spectacular beaches of the Cinque Islands, 35 nm from Port Blair, stopping over along the way at Chiriyatapu with its heavily eroded timber foreshores (which we named Tsunami Bay), then on to Rutland Island’s Wood-Mason Bay with its turquoise anchorage and wide sandy beach where we all took our deck chairs ashore to luxuriate in its splendour, enjoying another beach BBQ of prawns, freshly caught fish and hot home-baked bread, while playing Petanque on the beach with our steel boules.

A couple of days were spent at very picturesque anchorages at South Cinque and Middle Cinque Islands where you could watch the anchor hitting the sand in this ‘Gin clear’ water, then go ashore and see spotted deer and monitor lizards. Meanwhile John off ‘Jaraman’ speared a nice big Parrot Fish which necessitated another beach BBQ ashore.

With much to see in our short month, we kept moving and headed back northwards to Havelock Island which some travel mags claim has the 7th best beach in the world, with tropical shade down to the beach, along which a mahout walks his elephant each afternoon.

Next day we visited the main village on Havelock Island, about 7km inland from our anchorage. It was only a few hundred metres long with small modest shops, crudely built, lining the narrow bitumen strip, but plenty of commercial activity by the locals and the 20 or so back-packers, mostly young Israeli girls who have somehow discovered this remote location. While here we were all visited on our yachts by the Police looking for Martin, a German backpacker missing for some weeks; he was the ‘talk of the island’, with locals suggesting foul play and a drugs connection? (Weeks later we heard he was still missing).

Overnight stops were made at John Lawrence Island where different Police approached us still looking for mysterious Martin, then on to Henry Lawrence Island (have no idea who the Lawrence’s were) where Bruce celebrated his 63rd birthday catching a large Spotted Trevally trolling the nearby reef at our creek-mouth anchorage. No fish beats freshly caught and cooked fish – it was superb eating!

The weather continues very hot and humid as it has for months - which is the dry season ‘norm’ here in the tropics- with a daily swimming ritual giving only temporary relief. Our cabin fans run all night long, the only aid to a good night’s sleep.

On St Valentine’s Day ‘Envy’ motored northward in windless conditions to tiny Middle Button Island, noted for its idyllic deserted beaches and stunning underwater life, and we thought it the best coral seen so far. But the anchorage was unprotected so we continued on to Guitar Island, which was not on our approved travel itinerary, but looked a better spot, and where we were deluged with a heavy tropical downpour that evening. Sure enough the following afternoon a boat approached us from which an army officer told us it was an out-of-bounds area, so next morning our flotilla moved on up to Rangat Bay.

We took two Tuk Tuk’s the 8km into Rangat town, another impoverished typical Indian village where we needed to replenish our Rupees and have lunch. We saw no other westerners here, and by the attention we attracted, seems tourists could be a rare commodity. The six of us walked up and down the main street checking it out but the rough dirt-floored cafes looked decidedly uninviting and since we then discovered there are no ATM’s outside Port Blair and the two tiny local Banks would not cash US dollars, our appetites quickly vanished.

Upon returning to the anchorage we were dismayed to see the low tide had left our dinghies stranded on the filthiest, soft mudflats imaginable littered with wood, metal and plastic trash; but a score of young locals came to our aid and, amid beaming smiles and peals of laughter, helped carry the dinghies, while sinking in slimy mud up to our knees, the slow 150 metres out to the waters edge. No cut feet – amazing!

It was time to start returning southwards so we sailed down the 15 nm to explore Homfray Strait, a 10 nm narrow passage separating Middle Andaman and Barantang Islands, and whose depths were not marked on any of our charts. The entrance started at a scary, shallow 4 metres deep - our draft is 2 mtrs, but we ever-so-slowly nosed onwards to happily discover it got deeper all the way, with the narrow waterway dwarfed by the towering jungle trees on either bank. However, we were baulked by overhead power lines 5nm in, so retraced our steps, only to later discover there is mast height clearance below them and we missed out on discovering the scenic north western Andamans, an area very rarely visited by other than the locals. Maybe next year.

We all continued to dawdle southwards with return stops at Henry Lawrence (more fish) and Havelock Islands, and the following day got enough breeze for a change to sail into Port Blair. Three days were spent here soaking up the culture, and a taste at last of Indian ‘Kingfisher’ beer; we took the 500 mtr ferry ride across to visit tiny Ross Island, the original British administrational settlement in the Andamans, and marvelled at the size and complexity of the original brick buildings, though now in ruins and partially overgrown.

Our last night in town found us at the old Cellular Prison in Port Blair where a Light and Sound Show traced the prisons history, again a huge complex (circa-1910) catering for long term prisoners from the mainland. We then walked the short distance back to and around Aberdeen Bazaar, the 8pm night-scape buzzing with light, colour and sound with all shops open and people everywhere blocking both footpaths and roadway, as busy as daytime, as the crowd went about their business, whatever that may be.

So our all too short visit was over, and the next morning saw the three yachts depart India’s Andaman Islands on February 24, sailing in 15kts of breeze at the start our the 346 nm return passage to Thailand’s North Similan Island. As usual the breeze faded away and we motored in fine and sunny skies for most of the 3 day passage back, sighting five ships during the 72 hour trip, averaging 4.9 knots.

Anchored in ‘Donald Duck’ Bay – there’s a large natural rock ashore whose profile is so like Donald D, complete with duck bill, hence the nickname – we dined ashore that evening in a beach restaurant, enjoying a good meal of prawns, fried rice and beer for A$5 p/head. We departed North Similan Island in total darkness just before 3am next morning for our final 68 nm run back to Phuket, where we cleared Customs back ‘in’ to Thailand the following morning, happy to be back, but full of great memories to recall of our Andaman’s cultural experience.

Happenings 2007 Number 9

Malaysia

Malaysia took us by surprise!

Following on from a languid Indonesia and clockwork Singapore, Malaysia bustles with energy, fueled by government ambition for the country to be a fully developed nation by 2020.

With its significantly proportioned mix of Malays, Chinese and Indians whose 23 millions approximate Australia’s population, Malaysia seems well on the way to achieving that goal. As was equally evident with Singapore, (which was part of Malaysia until 1965), an undercurrent of core values and orderly business acumen, to my mind, reflects its time of British colonialism. In places, it’s as modern as tomorrow - in others, bathed in antiquity, while retaining its own strong cultural identity.

Recalcitrant maybe – though undeniably controversial and staunchly Muslim, retired Prime Minister Mahathir (a qualified medical doctor though lifelong politician) did much for Malaysia during his 22 years as leader, taking it from a rubber, tin and timber economy to its present manufacturing sector dominance.

2007 sees Malaysia celebrate 50 years of nationhood, the country is awash with tourism promotion, and many grand events are scheduled right throughout the country during the year. The people are openly friendly, unlike many Singaporeans, and far more affluent than Indonesians.

However, let’s not get carried away here so soon, but rather, as all good stories should - let me start at the beginning.

We left you last on 3rd November with ‘Envy’ drifting around in windless conditions in Johore Strait, the Singapore – Malaysian boundary, just off Raffles Marina at the start on the ‘Sail Asia’ segment of the 2006 Rally.

Almost daily thunderstorms had cleared the ubiquitous smoke haze, so the hot sunshine cooked the humidity into another typical tropical day as we motored on a flat glassy sea heading north up the Malacca Strait. For centuries past and up to and including modern times these waters have been infamous for piracy. Fortunately for us, statistics show small yachts are seldom involved in this area, (none these past 4 years), with large ships being the favoured prey, though attacks there are also on the decline.

100 nautical miles northwards from Singapore lies tiny Besar Island, where there is a large, magnificent Tuscany style tourist resort that would have cost many $ millions to build; though completed, it never opened for business, the first of many such commercial abnormalities we came across throughout Malaysia. Failed, unfinished and/or deserted mega projects are a sad flipside legacy of the sudden economic boom that swept Malaysia in the 1990’s and, we’re told, an associated commercial psyche that often dispenses with market research.

The following day, three days out of Singapore, we arrived at Port Dickson’s Admiral Marina, where we cleared Customs into the country, and which, like most marinas in SE Asia, are part of a holiday resort complex, with swimming pools, restaurants and accommodation, etc. But with very few tourists about, we had the pools to ourselves most places we went. ‘5 Stars’ all the way!

Port Dickson hosted the first of the Malaysian Rally functions. It was a hectic few days with more free dinners and bus tours. Day 1; we visited an Army Museum, Ostrich Farm, the King’s Palace, and a Village ‘open house’ hosting a traditional Malay dinner.. Next, day 2 we toured the intriguing port city of Malacca, with its distinctive Portuguese and especially Dutch architecture, including St Paul’s Church built in 1600, during its heady days as a major Straits trading port, and walking through some of its streets gives one a fascinating feeling of a bygone era.

Then on day 3 it was off to Kuala Lumpur, a westernised Asian capital whose modern skyline is crowned by the twin Petronas Towers, the world’s tallest building. With mostly new motor cars everywhere and its new US$8 billion federal government administration centre - similar to Canberra or Washington DC, KL’s affluence is obvious. Old colonial buildings contrast modern Islamic masterpieces, with a vibrant Chinatown and bustling Little India adding a rich heritage of colour and character to this modern metropolis.

Following one busy but interesting week, ‘Envy’ departed Port Dickson for a day’s run up a quite unattractive and shallow coastline, dodging many fishing boats and nets all the way to Port Klang, (the main seaport for KL), where we anchored in the vast but shallow river mouth, only to be rocked all night long by the wash of the busy river traffic and many fishing boats. We high-tailed it out of there in the pre-dawn darkness next morning with no wind, but plenty of storm clouds, thunder and lightning – though no rain, for the 67 nm trip to the Berman River, a very ordinary and inauspicious November 13 birthday day for ‘young’Audrey!

However that was all to change 24 hours later when our flotilla of six yachts anchored in a beautiful little hidden sandy cove on Pangkor Laut Island, where we treated Audrey to an absolutely splendid ‘Beach BBQ Bash’ of swimming, food, drink and chatter she’ll long remember in this idyllic picturesque place we dubbed “Birthday Bay”.

Three day hops later we arrived at Georgetown, the capital of Penang (and often generally referred to as ‘Penang’), an Island 3 km offshore connected to Butterworth on the mainland by SE Asia’s longest bridge. Penang was the first of the British Straits settlements even prior to Singapore, is now Malaysia’s second largest city after KL, and remarkably still retains much of its charm and old-fashioned character, seemingly having missed the development boom that swept the rest of Malaysia. Whilst KL has ‘gone modern’, central Georgetown is a largely Chinese city whose appearance has changed little retaining most of its original architecture, albeit many of the colourful old Chinese shophouses are starting to crumble through neglect.

We berthed “Envy” at Tanjung City Marina conveniently located right on the waterfront doorstep of Georgetown (Penang), from where a free shuttle bus service took us winding through narrow streets to the town centre, returning via the other half of its circle route providing a wonderful tour of the inner city. The marina was another Rally destination, with yet another official BBQ dinner.

Apart from inevitable boat maintenance, our all too few 6 days in Penang were spent sightseeing Chinese and Buddhist Shrines, Temples, Pagodas and Gardens, old Fort Cornwallis, the centre of many impressive old buildings of colonial architecture, and the maze of Bazaar style street shops full of bargains for those who choose to barter. We walked, looked and shopped til we dropped, and most evenings we dined at local cafes where good meals including drinks cost about A-$7 total for us both. An excellent variety of good inexpensive cuisine is a highlight of Penang.
Although there are a couple of modern new shopping malls, central Penang’s charm effuses from its multitude of colourful old Chinese shops, colonial buildings, merchants and Trishaws as one strolls down Penang Road, and its side alleys. The sights, sounds, colours, smells and aura surrounding this fascinating place easily made it our favourite destination in Malaysia.

Having missed the experience of savouring a visit to the famous upmarket Raffles Hotel in Singapore, we determined not to miss the venerable Eastern & Oriental (E&O) Hotel here in Penang, a charming old waterfront colonial hotel built in 1884 by the same Sarkies brothers who later founded Raffles. With its grand lobby, colonial opulence, and expansive sea-front aspect, having Tiffin there was quite a buzz.

With ‘Envy’s’ fuel and water tanks topped up, we paid the exorbitantly cheap Marina berthing charge of RM 21.60 p/day (A$7.70 - less than 25% of Brisbane marina costs), and headed north all day to anchor that evening between two high sided islands whose narrow calm passage was steeply walled resembling a Fiord. Just on sunset there were about 20 eagles soaring on the thermals above us, and next morning we awoke to the chatter of monkeys on the nearby rocks.

After a leisurely breakfast there at Dayang Bunting Island, studying the antics of our ancient forbears on the rocks, we motored in windless conditions the 2 hours’ run to Langkawi Island, the principal of 104 islands scattered 30km off the coast at the northern end of peninsular Malaysia, bordering Thailand. With a jungle clad interior and some stunning beaches around the coast, and a Duty Free Port as well, it is a cruising haven.

Langkawi Island’s Telaga Harbour was our final Malaysian and ‘Sail Asia Rally’ destination, and also the venue for the Langkawi International Boat Exhibition (LIBEX), the 2006 event being staged simultaneously, with our arrival, at the adjacent Telaga Marina.

We arrived late morning in good time to patronise, with other yachties, a little dockside Indian café for an excellent lunch (A$4 for 2 meals + 2 Cokes), then cleared in with the Harbour Master, a time wasting requirement at every Malaysian port. The following day we visited LIBEX, bought ‘Croc’ beach shoes (the latest footwear fad out of the USA), and attended the official dockside Rally Dinner hosted by Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister that night.

Over the next few days we enjoyed the last of the official rally functions – free day-long Bus Tours to Kuah, the main town, then a cable car ride up the mountain for spectacular panoramic views, a very interesting Rice Museum, the ‘Atma Alam’ Batik Art Village with its superb silk paintings, lunch at an upmarket Thai Restaurant, and then to Galeria Perdana, an outstanding collection of gifts received by past President Dr. Mahathir over 22 years – from countries all around the world, an amazing variety of hundreds of some significantly breathtaking items.

Then a memorable night of song and dance aboard the traditional Indonesian Penisi sailing ship “Silolona” as the ‘Rally’ came to an end. I can’t recall any earlier mention of our ‘resident’ entertainer, a fellow rally sailor of our vintage, one Johnny “Boney” Mahoney, a (previously) part- time professional musician with full accompanying electronic equipment. You’d never pick him as such, a tall, skinny ex plumber, but with a voice equal to any. A simply wonderful finale.

The combined ‘Sail Indonesia’ and ‘Sail Asia’ segments covered 4 months and 5 days since our departure from Darwin on Saturday, 22nd July 2006, ‘Envy’ having sailed 3177 “Rally” nautical miles through Indonesia, Borneo, Singapore and Malaysia and 5420 nm (or 10,038 kilometres) in total under the keel since leaving Brisbane. At no stage whatsoever did we, or anyone we’ve spoken with, every feel threatened or unsafe at sea or in any of those countries. There were always land touts ready to relieve the careless of their money, but that’s the lot of any tourist in this area.
So it was over, the ‘keep moving’ pressure gone – time to relax, but we still never stopped. Then a week later we moved ‘Envy’ the 16 nm from Telaga Harbour around to Bass Harbour, outside Kuah, Langkawi’s principal town. We walked all around its busy little streets discovering the duty free shops, bought a Honda 2Kva portable generator, box fans and a bread maker, duty free liquor at less than one third normal cost, and toured the island’s 478 sq km in inexpensive rental cars.

Nine days later, on 8th December 2006 we dragged ourselves away from the soft comforts and easy pleasures of ‘town living’ to join our friends at a island anchorage 12 nm distant, in a snug and pretty little sandy cove which we named ‘Lover’s Bay’, having just witnessed from our yachts at anchor close by, the very amorous behaviour of a lone young Muslim couple on the beach. It’s a lovely private beach, barely 100 mtrs long, framed by rocky headlands, with a clear sandy bottom; we stayed a few days and later returned, for it became our favourite beach BBQ venue.

We needed fresh water and diesel fuel, so on 11th December ‘Envy’ took a berth in nearby Rebak Island Marina Resort, one of Langkawi’s three marinas, which entirely occupies a tiny satellite island a stone’s throw off Langkawi; the Marina was totally destroyed by the Tsunami and newly rebuilt, as were others in Malaysia. Along with several other Rally boats we stayed at Rebak for more than two weeks, doing boat maintenance and other jobs in the mornings and then enjoying a swim in the Resort Pool late afternoons, with an occasional water-taxi trip across to Langkawi for duty free shopping in Kuah town, or rental car touring around.

Rebak Marina incorporates a large hard-stand work area running back to a densely wooded hillside, from where, we’re told, monkeys come and raid boats stealing food, etc. Most evenings we all dined ashore at the Marina café where the meals were so inexpensive that it was arguably cheaper than cooking aboard! The Koran forbids Muslims to drink alcohol and the café was accordingly ‘dry’ which suited us to a tee since we bought our own cheap duty-free drinks to dinner.

By this time, we had farewelled several of our fellow Rally friends, including Trevor and Joan Long off ‘Been-A-Long’, our special sailing companions all the way from Brisbane, who were returning back to OZ for Christmas, by air of course, ‘cause nothing goes to windward like a 747!

By mid December “Envy’ looked resplendent in her Christmas decorations; and in no time at all it was Christmas Eve with 45 Rally yachties having our own private bash in the Marina café. Then on Christmas Day we had a superb smorgasbord lunch at the main Resort restaurant, after which we took over the beautiful tropically un-walled open entertainment lounge for three hours of non-stop entertainment by our ‘own’ Johnny ‘Boney’ Mahoney. A great Christmas never to be forgotten, followed by a quiet New Year’s Eve in company with others having another BBQ back at ‘Lovers Bay’.

A few days later anchored in the harbour outside Kuah town, whilst getting into my dinghy beside ‘Envy’, I dropped my mobile phone overboard and, in a knee-jerk reaction trying to catch it, overbalanced the dinghy and into the water goes I, and lost my spectacles to boot! You would have cried with laughter – but too deep and murky to try and dive for them, so I was up for a new mobile phone and spectacles, thankfully much cheaper than in Oz, and I was due for new specs.

After a couple of (rare) rainy days resulting from a low depression in the South China Sea east of the peninsular, Monday 8th January saw us depart Malaysia after nine wonderful weeks for the short step across the unseen maritime border into Thailand, where we spent our first night anchored at the tiny resort island of Koh Lipe. We’ll tell you about that soon.

Happenings 2006 Number 8

Singapore

It’s a hot and sultry Sunday morning on 22nd October as ‘Envy’ motors out of Nongsa Point Marina, on Indonesia’s far northern Batam Island, into a haze shrouded Singapore Strait; this busy waterway is infamous among cruising yachties who have to weave their way through the huge amount of traffic that plies these narrow shipping lanes, reputedly half the world’s shipping.

We started our crossing in smoke haze and finished in a thunderstorm downpour, but had to dodge only three large ships, (well that’s all we saw in the rain and haze) before reaching the sanctuary of Singapore’s highly rated ‘Raffles’ Marina, with its restaurants, bars, hotel, swimming pool, gym, chandlery etc, situated at the western end of the island.

After the first two days catching up on never ending boat jobs, it was time to rediscover Singapore. The Marina offers a free bus service to the railway station, from where quick clean electric trains can deliver one to most places of interest around Singapore. Often referred to as a garden city, this modern, bustling island is like a big lushly verdant, manicured parkland. Greenery and shops are everywhere, and the city-state is famous for its smooth efficiency.

Most afternoons bought thunder and heavy rain, and a cooling respite from the tropical heat. But the weather didn’t dampen our exploration of Singapore, mostly using the modern MRT rail system, as we shopped ‘til we dropped in all the marvellous malls and stores, visited their world famous Zoo, got seduced by a variety of Asian food, indulged in the sights, colours and smells of Little India and Chinatown, or simply relaxed in the pool and spa at the Marina.

Raffles is a name synonymous with Singapore since founded by Sir Thomas Raffles in 1819, and the top-class Raffles Hotel is not only a local icon but a timeless symbol of colonial luxury. Regrettably, we never did make it in for one of their well known ‘Singapore Slings’, but that’s something to look forward to next time around.

Then Audrey’s mother, Lavinia, flew in from Brisbane for a hectic week’s visit, as we tried to make the most of every day. She and Audrey had a good time electronics shopping in Sim Lim Tower and Sim Lim Square, and window-shopped much of the town, while Lavinia visited some Art Galleries as well and generally soaked up the sights, shapes and colours of Singapore as future subject material for her painting and other works of art.

We were impressed to see the extent of government backed modern high-rise housing development and were told that by the mid-1990’s Singapore had the world’s highest rate of home ownership. Other local observations were the extent of mobile phone usage – it seemed every second person had one, and every third person had a cold, of which malady we also became participants.

Following three months in Indonesia it was a real treat to find supermarkets with a larger range of product, systems that ran like clockwork, order and cleanliness that, by comparison, bordered on sterility, drinkable water straight from the tap, clean crisp paper banknotes, and the widest range of state-of-the-art electronics anywhere, several items of which found a new home aboard ‘Envy’.

Singapore was the starting point of the associated “Sail Asia” rally, a continuation of “Sail Indonesia”, with the fleet sailing and sightseeing its way up through Malaysia to Langkawi Island, just below the Thailand border. Following the usual Rally dinner and briefings, the 3rd November marked the start of this section of the Rally as participating yachts headed out of the Johore Strait, in windless conditions, for the cruise northward up Malaysia’s west coast.

Happenings 2006 Number 7

Indonesia - Farewell

For reasons not understood even by ourselves, but certainly unrelated to the bombings or personal safety, we’d been indifferent about visiting Bali, but having now spent 12 exciting days there, our feelings perfectly epitomized the old adage ‘we came to jeer – but remained to cheer’! With a hire car at our disposal we travelled extensively all over this small but beautiful island, enjoying the scenery, the people, the ambience, the food, the shopping – ‘the everything’ – simply wonderful!

The early post-dawn twilight of 26 September finds “Envy’ departing Bali’s Serangan Island anchorage and hugging the shoreline with its favourable counter current up through Lombok Strait, enroute to the Kumai River in southern Kalimantan on Borneo. Two ‘day-sails’ and three ‘overnighters’ in good winds, with stops at Raas and Bawean Islands, comprise our eight day 494 nm return crossing of the Java Sea.

On coming ashore during our two day stopover on Bawean Island, a tiny isolated spec in the Java Sea, we met a 32 yo local, Supaji, who teaches English at the local High School. Supaji was eager to practise his limited English so took me island touring on his small motorcycle, then to his house to meet his wife Yayun and baby twin sons. They were poor, generous and lovely, so after my crab soup lunch (they didn’t eat since it was during Ramadan fasting) we invited Supaji aboard ‘Envy’ – he’d never seen a yacht before – and sent him off home with gifts of clothes, books and other treasures, including baby clothes, for which they Supaji and the twins were so grateful.

With pork taboo for Muslims, and beef’s availability and affordability beyond most, fish is the staple protein throughout Indonesia. Accordingly, coastal waters everywhere host an abundance of small fishing boats, fishing nets a km long, floating long-lines of similar length, floating fish traps, bamboo fishing platforms, mostly all unlit at night, and a sailor’s nightmare. We were forever dodging this plethora of floating fishing paraphernalia, (except during one moonless nightwatch when I saw a 5 m² bamboo platform rub down the side of the boat - Oops!). One of the main subjects of radio chatter amongst the fleet was the regular warnings of this paraphernalia and general flotsam.

Having survived for weeks’ previous, and within striking distance of the Kumai River, yours truly relaxed his vigilance and was amply rewarded with his biggest fishing strike yet – a kilometre long floating fish net caught in the small gap between keel and rudder. It’s 0800hrs, sails full with both wind and current from astern, a shallow 15 feet deep choppy sea, and I don’t know whether I’ve caught it or it’s caught me, but we’re jerked to a sudden halt like a jet on an aircraft carrier, and we’re not going anywhere ---- Bugger!!

After a tense hour or more of futile free diving attempts, I finally donned my scuba gear and, in water with visibility of less than an arm’s length fuelling my fear of getting snagged in the nearly invisible nylon net, I finally cut and freed it from where floats had jammed tight on either side of the gap! I shudder at the thought of the scenario had it happened at night.

With nerve and pride shaken we motored 17 miles up the Kumai River in Indonesia’s Kalimantan Province, southern Borneo. I recall tales as a small child about the deep jungles of Borneo, and here we were, in the little impoverished village of Kumai, 2½° (160 km) south of the Equator, to where we’ve come especially to see Orangutans (Malay word meaning “forest people”) in Tanjung Putting National Park, 60 km from Kumai. Orangutans are found only in Borneo and Sumatra and are suffering from habitat loss like so many other wild animals. The jungle here looks very similar to any tropical Qld rainforest, but with a few more thick vines.

Slash and burn land clearing practices for Oil Palm plantations are the primary cause of habitat loss, and every dry season, as it is now, a smoke haze extends hundreds of kilometres from Borneo to Singapore and Malaysia, both of which governments complain bitterly to Indonesia without apparent success to curb or control this annual practice. Most mornings until 9 or 10 am we couldn’t see yachts 100 metres away, and even as the smoke partly dispersed during the day, we sailed continuously in hazy conditions for the next month all the way to Singapore, seeing virtually nothing of the coastlines that we passed close by, (or whatever else was out there that we couldn’t/didn’t see!)

Arrangements were made for our trip to visit ‘Camp Leakey Orangutan Reserve’ situated within the Nat Park, and the next morning we are collected from ‘Envy’ in the 8am haze by a speedboat with a driver and guide that will take us on the 2½ hour fast ride up the Kumai, Sekonyer and Camp Leakey Rivers to the Reserve. The ride itself was a thrill worth the money alone, as we sped through the narrow upper reaches of the river, hardly wide enough for two speed boats to pass in places, seemingly daring fate around every tight blind bend, as we brushed aside tall reeds only a metre from the banks.

We arrived at the Reserve around midday. Structurally, Camp Leakey’s dozen or so modest buildings reflect their age, dating back to 1971 when a 24 year old Canadian girl anthropologist commenced her primate studies there alone in totally primitive conditions. The basic though very well illustrated and informative Museum excellently chronicles its history, by way of background and development over the years, to its current status as the premier Orangutan authority of the world.

Momentarily, I can’t recall the lady’s name, but she subsequently married and the front cover of a 1980 National Geographic shows her baby son sharing a wash basin bath with a 2 year old baby female Orangutan, named ‘Princess’. Now 26 years later we’d heard that the beloved “Princess” was a mum again and often came in to the feeding platform, so we hoped to make her acquaintance.

As we approached the 2pm feeding station following a 1½ km walk ‘deep in the Borneo jungle’, there was ‘Princess’ and her baby ambling along in front of us. Perhaps 12 or 15 Orangutans came in swinging through the jungle canopy to the elevated feeding platform for a treat of bananas and sweetened powdered milk; During our hour or so there, they moved around and about us, sometimes as close as at arm’s length, until big’ Tom’ the alpha male arrived – no one got too close to him. It was a really wonderful ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ experience, and for us well worth the A$125 cost. And on the river ride home to ‘Envy’, we capped it all off with a couple of “G & T’s”. Cheers!

The next day we’re off again with a nice breeze on a 3 day 250 nm non-stop passage to Serutu Island, with much smoke haze all the way, arriving in the 2am darkness. After a day’s rest we depart Serutu in company with three other boats on another 145 nm overnight sail; the next morning, at 0915 hours October 11th, we watch our GPS count down to 0°.00.000 as ‘Envy’ crosses the Equator into the Northern Hemisphere. Seven miles north lay Pejantan Island, where we all stopped to celebrate the occasion with the customary ‘equator crossing party’, which raged on all afternoon, and continued ashore the next day with a beach BBQ. King Neptune was totally appeased!

We left there at 3am next morning motor-sailing in the dark on another 170 nm overnight passage, through the ever present smoke haze, with barely a mile’s visibility, up to Batam Island, enjoying the thrilling entertainment of 15 dolphins performing their aquatic opera around the bow of the boat.

Batam Island is at the top of the Indonesian archipelago, only a stone’s throw across the Straits from Singapore, and would mark the end of the Indonesian component of the rally. We stayed here in the Nongsa Point Marina, our one and only marina experience during the 2653 nautical mile (or 4913 km) voyage through this extensive chain of islands. (Indonesia has only 2 marinas, here & at Bali.) What a pleasure to have water and 240v power at the boat, plus its wonderful swimming pool, easy access to town and shopping, and the camaraderie associated with meeting old friends or making new ones.

In summary, Indonesia proved bigger and better than we’d imagined. People everywhere were so very friendly – never did we feel unsafe; the lack of wind meant more motoring but gave us smoother seas and calm restful anchorages; distances were vast, though diesel fuel and the cost of living quite cheap. Our time in Indonesia was during the ‘dry season’ up here, and dry it was. There were only 6 partly wet days during the 93 days between Darwin and Singapore.

On the flipside, we noted pelagic fish were few and far between, safe drinking water comes only in plastic bottles, and the myriad of plastic bags, flotsam, jetsam and rubbish everywhere, both on land and in the seas, is a sad reflection on the culture. Nevertheless, the organized Rally functions gave us quick and easy exposure to the people, their traditions, culture, and some excellent cuisine and, though the pace was ‘full on’ for much of the time, it was certainly the way to go.

After many weeks of hanging on the anchor, we enjoyed marina living too much as most yachties do, but did catch up on many boat maintenance jobs, before ‘clearing out’ with Customs and motor sailing 40 nm across the shipping lanes of the Singapore Straits to a new and vastly different experience.

Happenings 2006 Number 6

Central Indonesia

Rally destination #5 was the old trading port of Makassar in southern Sulawesi (formerly the Celebes) 290nm north of Riung. We island hoped there over five days, making landfall at Tana Beru, centre of the largest wooden shipbuilding community in eastern Indonesia, where we saw more than 20 boats from 8 to 40 metres being made right on the sandy beach, supported by flimsy bamboo scaffolding.

Makassar’s a large city of 2 million, and the venue for the annual Sandeq Race Rally of large outrigger sailing canoes, which come from all over Sulawesi, and which coincided with our rally itinerary. The city also has a history dating back over 600 years to when it was the hub of the far eastern Spice Trade, and one of the most important trading ports of the world in those times. Substitute the word Spice for Oil in current times and you’ll get an understanding of its then trade value and importance, and why the Portuguese, Dutch and English fought bitterly over the centuries for its control.

The Indonesian Navy invited rally boats to berth at their Makassar Naval Base and, for a small daily fee, we had access to electricity and water, plus the privacy and security offered within the compound. When doing routine maintenance on the anchor winch here I discovered some nylon bushes were broken. Getting them sent from Oz would be time consuming and costly, so I took the broken pieces to the naval workshop and had new replacements that afternoon for less cost than Oz postage. The Navy also provided several free courtesy cars with drivers and guides every day to take us shopping, sightseeing, etc anywhere around the city for our week there. Absolutely great!

Following a chance meeting in a supermarket, Noel, an ex-pat Victorian businessman married to a local lady, invited 20 of us Aussies to his home for Sunday cocktails round the pool. What an eye opener! The recently built place more resembled a palace with its marble construction and grand sweeping staircase, exquisite floors and luxury appointments. It all went so well that cocktails progressed to a BBQ that evening, followed by return visits by Noel to our yachts during the week.

Dating from 1545, Fort Rotterdam is a well preserved, harbour-side historical site of numerous buildings within its high stone walls, providing fortification for Makassa during the spice trade skirmishes through the centuries. We sailors attended a Seafood Festival there, as guests of the Mayor, culminating in a feast of magnificent lobster, fish, prawns, shellfish etc; what a treat!

On the outskirts of the city is a failed tourist attraction known as ‘Old Makassar’. Built about 15 years ago but now closed, the complex comprises a variety of architecturally old, traditionally styled and built houses, a few of which are privately occupied with the remainder lying idle. A German expat associated with ‘Sail Indonesia’ and the Sandec Race, Horst Liebner, rents the large “King’s House”, and he gave a few of us a private tour through his house and the complex, including its old clothing and artefacts museum. So many superb buildings sadly going to waste.

It was now time to start off towards the next rally destination at Bali so in the company of two other yachts we headed south westerly for Lombok, day hopping 312 nm in the Flores Sea between tiny islands that are too small to be shown on most charts, anchoring nightly behind a pinprick island, a coral reef, a sand cay and in a lagoon before reaching the comfort of Gili Aer Island, one of three satellite islands just off the NW coast of Lombok.

Everyone loves Gili Air (as it’s commonly spelt). This tiny island with its scenic waters and white sand beaches is only about 2km around, and totally tourist oriented with inexpensive cabin accommodation and restaurants, pretty much aimed at the backpacker market, all very low key. There are no motor vehicles, only ‘Tuk-tuk’ pony carts for transportation. Like all of Indonesia, Gili Air people are very friendly, but severely feeling the effects of low tourist numbers. The so called restaurants are a collection of beachfront shaded platforms with bamboo slatted floors covered in cushions, where one can relax and enjoy the sea breeze and view over a meal and cool drink, and view the wares of the numerous hawkers selling jewellery and clothing.

We spent seven lovely restful days at Gili Air before sailing down to Bali’s Serangan Island anchorage, doing the 56nm in record time with assistance from the strong current that runs down Lombok Strait.

Bali is a totally different cultural experience. It’s quite ‘westernised’, wealthy and modern by comparison to the rest of Indonesia that we’ve visited, and being predominantly Hindu as opposed to the sombre Moslem majority elsewhere, has a totally different architectural style and holiday atmosphere. Tourism ranks a close second after agriculture in the local economy but it has suffered significantly since the bombings. In addition to it being the next Rally destination, we needed to extend our Tourist Visas for a further 30 days, and Bali is the place to do that.

So here we are in Bali where Bruce revisited Kuta Beach again after a 33 year interval, and didn’t recognize any of it. Even the long sweeping surf beach seemed different, and most of the buildings new since then. By comparison with other places Kuta Beach seemed full of tourists, but aggressively competitive deals in accommodation, souvenirs, clothing etc were everywhere to be had. The locals tell us that tourist numbers are again on the upturn.

We hired a 4 door Toyota Kijang (small Landcruiser) very cheaply at A$15 p/day and shared a 3 day trip with another sailing couple up through central Bali seeing silver jewellery being made, wood carving, weaving, art galleries, and more, in Celuk, Gianyar, Mas, Ubud and the wonderful lake and mountain scenery around Kintamani and Bangli in the North.

We decided to take advantage of the heavily discounted accommodation market and treat ourselves to some unusual luxury (for us) for a change, so stayed the first night at Ubud’s upmarket Sahadewa Hotel with its grand appointments and four poster beds at only US$50 per room. The following night we moved up into the foothills to the even more exclusive La Subak Villa Resort where the 4 of us took an enclosed twin villa with own pool etc for US$145 p/day, reduced from US$400! Simply grand, as was the one hour guided exercise trek around the surrounding picturesque rice paddies before breakfast the next morning.

During the last seven days we’ve seen a lot of this island, but you could spend months here seeing something new every day. Last night we went to Jimbaren Beach just south of Kuta to eat Bar-b-que seafood at one of the several open air, candle lit restaurants that spread for a km along the sandy beach. Superb fish, prawns, etc for A$12 each.

Today we return the hire car, then go on the last free Rally sightseeing trip culminating with its farewell dinner tonight, before departing tomorrow (Tuesday) morning for the 5 day Java Sea passage North again to Kalimantan (Borneo) to see Orang-utans in the wild up the Kumai River. We’ll keep you posted. Until ‘H-7’ ex Singapore.

Happenings 2006 Number 5

Eastern Indonesia

As Audrey and me continue our Indonesian odyssey I’ve become aware that 3616 nautical miles (that’s about 6700 km) have slipped under ‘Envy’s’ keel since departing Brisbane mid May, with 1000 nm already in Indonesian waters. At six weeks we’re now halfway through our 90 day visitor’s permit, but not yet halfway distance-wise through this sprawling country, with plenty of sailing before us.

Being of volcanic origin, and some islands with still actively smoking volcanoes, the land is mostly steep to, dropping away sharply to unanchorable depths only metres from the shore, raising stress levels when seeking an overnight anchorage late in the afternoon. But the seas generally are much calmer than Oz and, with the wind and swell generally fading away at night, we often anchored in very exposed areas and found ‘sleepable’ conditions.

Following our entry at Timor, ‘Envy’ sailed northwards (or more often motor-sailed in the ever prevailing light wind conditions that are synonymous with near equatorial latitudes) to reach the islands of the main archipelago.

Two days and nights later we arrived at Pantar Island, anchoring in the small Moslem village of Balangmerang where a local fisherman, Abdul, paddled his little canoe to ‘Envy’ and sold us 3 mud crabs for 8 Aussie dollars. We went ashore to the overwhelmingly friendly welcome of both adults and masses of noisy children, all of whom begged to be photographed and shrieked enjoyment at viewing their digital images, a practice that proving consistent everywhere we went. The village comprises predominantly small, single level slab base dwellings of bricks and mortar, set in swept, bare dirt grounds. Grass lawns simply don’t exist in any of the villages we’ve visited, so being a lawnmower salesman anywhere in the eastern archipelago would be a fast-track road to ruin.

However, an interesting insight of Balangmerang ingenuity was our observation of the locals making Popcorn. Sitting in the dirt of a front yard, a group of young boys were hand turning a crudely made airtight cylinder inside of which corn was popping whilst being heated with a blowtorch, and which let out a thunderous explosive roar when opened, bringing peals of laughter from the children as it spewed its contents into a sack, but the popcorn was good!

Next day we moved on 32nm to Kawula Island where we stealthily negotiated its fringing reefs before anchoring in 70ft water in front of Balurin village. From our anchorage we enjoyed the imposing view of nearby Mt. Wariran, a sky scraping 4754ft active volcano smoking its head off, as it has done for the past thirty years. Out came the usual horde of inquisitive children in their leaky dugout canoes, one to paddle, one to bail water out, and the customary one or two ‘observers’.

There are eight formal Rally venues associated with ‘Sail Indonesia 2006’, with each destination endeavouring to out perform the others, not only for the prestige and associated tourism and financial rewards, but also to ‘sure up’ their hosting status again next year, for these eight venue appointments are most coveted and hotly sought by several other destinations. So it’s a mixed pleasure situation for we participants; we enjoy the various performances, but at the expense of endless speeches by every local official, spoken in native Bahasan none of which we understand, and an overloaded schedule which allows insufficient time to smell the roses along the way.

There’s no rest for the weary since we have timing obligations to meet for the next scheduled ‘Rally’ function at Lembata, 30nm away in Lebaleba Bay on Kawula Island, where we arrive the following afternoon. The next morning we attended the Governor’s Welcome at his downtown Regency Office.

We had thought we were going to see a procession but as it turned out, we yachties were the procession as a cavalcade of 10 Becaks (bicycle pedicabs) and 80 motorcycles took us from the anchorage on a 5 km tour of the small town to the welcoming venue. The streets were lined with friendly waving locals - made one feel like royalty, returning their waves and greetings as we slowly becaked there and motorcycled home, all at slow bicycle pace. It was a very memorable introduction to Lewoleba City, and one of the highlights to date.

A bunch of us (16) walked around the small town that night and ate traditional food at a roadside café; our dinner incl beer was only A$ 4 each.

The next day we topped up Envy’s fuel tanks with diesel purchased from the local fuel depot. No pumps here; both diesel and petrol poured out from pipes thru the wall into separate drums on the floor where men ladled it into our jerrycans with 1 or 2 litre used jam tins! At 4650 Rupiah/ltr (A.80¢), the cheapest fuel we’ve found in Indonesia. That evening there was another be-costumed traditional dancing concert at the waterfront stage, followed by another free Gala Dinner after the usual obligatory speeches.

Our fourth day at Lembata finds us on a bus tour to Kolontobo Village with its attractive beachfront location. Traditionally dressed dancers meet us in the street and, after a ceremonial welcome of slashing the palm frond “gate”, we are led by the dancing troupe down to the shaded beach where a huge buffet banquet from several cooking stations has been laid out for us. After more traditional dancing by individual groups of men, women and children, we enjoy a marvellous lunch of local meats, fish, vegetables, fruit and cakes; then we went swimming and cooled off with a few local beers. A wonderful mixture of food, culture and friendship - it doesn’t come much better.

In Indonesia clean drinking water doesn’t come out of taps as it does back home, and in the current dry season there’s no rainfall to catch so many yachties, including us, have to buy treated water in 19 ltr plastic bottles, costing about A$1 per bottle.

Five busy days and a few hundred photographs later sees ‘Envy’ depart Lembata for Sagu Bay on Adonara, the next island westward, where we drop the anchor after a short 20 nm hop and take advantage of a few free afternoon hours to passage plan our route ahead.

Onwards ever onwards - we’re up next morning at 0545 hours for a 42 nm eight hour crossing to Hading Bay on adjacent Flores Island. We anchor in a pretty, unnamed cove over a shallow sandy bottom with a few of our friends, and all gather on the small sandy beach late afternoon for drinks, then a Barbeque, followed by a sing-along around a large bonfire near the water’s edge. Again, it doesn’t get much better!

As I’ve previously mentioned motor-sailing is common in these light wind Latitudes but for a while the next morning we have better than 30 knots gusting across the deck with ‘Envy’ smoking along at 7 and 8 knots, but then it died as quickly as it came and the ‘iron sail’ is again doing its unwelcome job.

Mid afternoon we are anchored with more than 30 other rally yachts outside Sea World, a Dive Resort midway along the top of Flores Island, where we plan to rest for a few days. The resort comprises a number of thatched roof bures of traditional design, and like most holiday places we’ve visited, very low on tourist numbers. We’re told it’s presently the ‘off season’ but general opinion points to the aftermath of Bali 2002.

Nevertheless we enjoy Sea World’s friendly laidback ambience, its attractive sandy beach location and its convenience as our stepping stone to the large commercial town of Maumere 15 km away, with its ATM machine, from which we drew a few million Rupiah. A million Rp is about Aust $155 and most of our money is spent buying Diesel fuel… (and Bintang beer) oops!

Further westward along Flores north coast is the small, non-wealthy village of Riung, the next (unlikely) official Rally destination, but whose praises were sung by all of last year’s fleet and where, after an uncomfortable roly night between two reefs in Nangarujong Bay, we arrived in its well protected anchorage two days later. One immediate benefit was a floating pontoon which made dinghying ashore a pleasure, and so Riung was again off to a good start.

Thursday 17 August, the day after our arrival at Riung, is Indonesian Independence Day (1945), so the village was colourfully dressed with flags, banners and bunting (as were Maumere and all other places recently visited) which added some aura to these otherwise austere Muslim areas.

The next surprise attraction was not simply the presence of a large local ‘Phinisi’ sailing ship laying at anchor amongst us, resplendently dressed in the national colours of red and white, her flags and pennants flying, but that an open invitation was extended to all rally yachties to go aboard that evening for an Independence Day celebration party, food, drinks, music and outdoor movie all ‘on the house’ (eh-boat). “Silolona” is a newly constructed 50 mtr replica of a traditional Phinisi, beautifully made and luxuriously appointed, with opulence everywhere, five king size cabins, and works the top end of the charter market out of Bali with a crew of 15 locals. It is owned by Ms. Patti Seery, a Bali resident of 20+ years, and formerly of the USA.

In like fashion to the other venues, Riung offered an organised tour at A$24 each which combined both sea and land transportation to include visits by boat to an huge flying fox colony, a Komodo Dragon enclosure, and pre lunch swim at a picture postcard turquoise sandy island, and then to two villages, one for lunch and the other for – you guessed it, more traditional dancing. Believe me, by now we’re just about danced out!!

That night Riung hosted its gala dinner, which was excellent both in content and variety. Whole grilled fish, beef dishes, shellfish and other seafood, chicken dishes, excellent vegetables, rice, soups, sweets and other local delicacies and, being self serve buffet, one could choose precisely what suited one’s palate. Then each of us was presented with a traditional hand woven Ikat scarf by, and with compliments of the Governor. It was a wonderful night with excellent musical entertainment, both local and western. Riung’s good reputation lives on.

Happenings 2006 Number 4

Timor - Indonesia

Greetings from the ‘Envy’ crew here at the doorstep to the Orient, and the start of our real S/E Asian adventure, where every day brings a whole new cultural world of sights, smiles, sounds and smells.

As one of the participants in the 2006 "Sail Indonesia Rally”, ‘Envy’ crossed the start line in Darwin’s Fannie Bay at 11am Saturday 22 July, one of 98 yachts, a blaze of colour and action - some with spinnakers flying, finally departing Australia and heading out to sea, destination Timor, Indonesia, some 472 nautical miles away, where we arrived at Kupang, West Timor after a slowish but trouble free four day passage.

The highlight of this otherwise uneventful crossing was the sighting of a very large cattle transport ship overtaking us all on the same course, and the antics on the VHF radio as several yachts took evasive measures to avoid being passed downwind of this very, very smelly ship. Apart from the ship and two huge, well lit offshore oil platforms, passed in the distance at night, the Timor Sea was ours alone.

Initially Indonesian entry formalities and now organized rally activities keep us going non-stop both day and night, so we've played truant from all of that this ‘arvo to stay aboard and make a start on this ‘H-4’ report. Both boat and crew are well, but a 'day off' would be most welcome.

Sorry about the silence over recent weeks, but indeed "Happenings" 2 and 3, complete with photos had both been written for some time, but my 9 year old laptop sadly died enroute to Darwin, and having finally retrieved its hard drive, we hope we've been successful in sending 'H-2' and 'H-3' from an Internet Cafe in Kupang. These articles are much too large for our onboard Sailmail (email) capability, and furthermore, Sailmail connections have been quite difficult since leaving T.I., often going several days between contacts.

Kupang, in the southwest corner of West Timor is the capital of East Nusa Tenggara Province which comprises much of Indonesia’s far eastern archipelago, and is home to about K300 people; it is very friendly, very old, very dirty, very interesting and generally very poor, and our Aussie dollars go a long way here. A good basic meal can be got for A$4, so not much cooking on 'Envy' at the moment, and we were guests at 2 ‘Gala Dinners’ hosted by the Governor and the Major. Excellent food, and plenty of it.

A huge temporary stage on the beachfront beside Teddy’s Bar entertains us nightly with unbelievably loud music performed by talented artists from Jakarta, even as we lay in bed late at night, willing sleep!

Teddy's Bar occupies the prime beachfront position where all the rally yachts are anchored, and where local boys look after our dinghies day and night for $2, while a couple of hundred yachties from about 15 different countries chat boat talk over quite inexpensive local ‘Bintang’ beer. Teddy is a very friendly part Chinese local who spent 15 years in the Sydney Taxi business, then returned to Kupang where he owns the waterfront Bar, a Hotel behind it, plus Buses and Taxis, so he’s quite a big shot around here.

Kupang's streets are tight and narrow in the old downtown area; traffic is totally chaotic day and night, there are no traffic lights or pedestrian crossings whatsoever, just millions of small motorbikes and colourful mini buses, the ubiquitous ‘Bemo’, somewhat of a discotheque ‘on wheels’ blasting out deafening pop music as it runs its set route around town, but not many cars.

Both bikes and Bemos speed excessively with horns blasting continually as they ‘dare al’ in modern traffic jams, and merely crossing the road is akin to playing Russian roulette! But they are skilful drivers with good traffic manners, and drive on the left here, same as in Oz. Far more women ride these low powered motorcycles here than in more advanced countries since motor cars are far beyond their economic lifestyles.

Timor is one of the few Christian enclaves (over 80 percent) within Indonesia, a Portuguese legacy, and the people are both friendly and welcoming, though only a few speak English, so our language phrase books get much use. The countryside around Kupang comprises mainly undulating rocky volcanic soils with odd pockets of fertile farmland, growing vegetables and rice, and becomes steeply hilly away from the coast. It is currently the 'dry season' throughout all these sub-equatorial regions so daily humidity and temperatures are pleasant, and nights quite 'sleepable'.

The coast around Kupang is predominantly steeply rising rock face of volcanic origin, interspersed with sandy areas, and quickly falling to deep water very close to shore.

Both housing and commercial buildings are of concrete construction, mostly unpainted and drab, quite modest by western standards and simply built, and the old buildings along the town's rocky waterfront rise sharply up 3 or 4 storeys from the water's edge in Mediterranean style. Electricity serves almost all, but town water is sparse or non existent. Local food is typical Asian style rice or noodle based with vegetables, fish and most meats, very tasty and inexpensive to us.

Kupang is not generally considered a 'tourist destination' and few western tourists visit here, so the arrival of over 300 visiting sailors is quite a inquisitive novelty and a boost to the economy. In this land of ‘Haves and Have Nots’, the locals see all tourists as wealthy ‘haves’, so there are often two prices for goods and services, one for ‘haves’ and a lessor one for the locals. Nevertheless they are very approachable, friendly, happy and full of smiles, living life to the fullest. The children delight in greeting you with “Hello Mister”, their total English vocabulary, and love to be photographed.

English speaking university students were arranged as our guides & interpreters, so it was a win/win situation as they relished the opportunity to practise their English and we got to understand more about Timor customs and culture. The rally fleet collected 10 million rupiah to start a university scholarship foundation for exceptionally bright but financially underprivileged students in appreciation of their friendly services.

We enjoyed visiting the (late) last King’s Castle, a grand old Dutch style residence still occupied by his widow, which supports an ‘Ikat’ textile weaving group who make the colourful fabric synonymous with this region, and much of Indonesia. They hand spin locally grown cotton, hand dye it with natural dyes, then weave it by hand on small, complicated looms. Audrey purchased a nice piece.

Then on to a traditional musical instrument maker, where we enjoyed hearing a recital by these instruments, an artefacts & carvings museum, and town tours in the little ‘Bemos’.
In keeping with the Rally schedule we departed Kupang after 6 hectic days and motor sailed in little breeze to an anchorage up the Timor coast, where sandy coconut lined beaches rose very steeply up a few thousand metres to jagged tops, and only 100 metres off the beach the bottom plummetered straight down over 200 metres.

Envy is now at 8° South and being close to the Equator there is little breeze so we have to motor-sail everywhere, which is a slow, expensive pain in the butt, but it’s all part of the experience.

It’s been a hectic but most interesting introduction to Indonesia, and every day brings something new. We are still eating our way of discovery through the local culinary delights of the many locations along our route, enjoying the friendliness of the people, and trying to learn a little of their language. It’s all part of ‘the big adventure’.