TANJUNG PINANG TO BANDAR BINTAN TELANI

On November 21, 2014, we heaved up anchor at the inner harbor of Tanjung Pinang (00-56.168’ N x 104-26.321’ E) and got underway for Bandar Bintan Telani (01-10.295’ N x 104-18.561’ E) which is about 32 nm to the North.  This will be our last stop on the Sail2Indonesia Rally 2014.  We are being taken under tow by “Honey Bee”, a Van de Stadt 12 m steel hull sailboat, because we had a low pressure oil alarm go off on our engine and I did not want to take any chances with an engine failure.  The tow went very smoothly and we dropped anchor about one half mile off the port of Bandar Bintan Telani in 18’ water depth with 100’ of chain out (01-10.295’ N x 104-18.561’ E). 

The northern part of Bintan Island is being developed for tourism from Singapore and other SE Asian countries.  We were given a tour by the local tourism office to a resort in the nearby town of Lagoi.  It is a gigantic resort complex with everything in place for the expected rush of tourism.  There is a luxury housing project being undertaken by some Russian magnate or mafia don.  All expectations are there and waiting but no one has occupied any of the facilities yet.  Being so close to Singapore, this part of Indonesia is far more expensive and has the luxury items that foreign tourists want to buy.

The local tourist office arranged for several tours around the island.  The most interesting one was a river tour into a mangrove swamp area.  The tour guides pointed out several yellow banded mangrove snakes sleeping on tree limbs above our heads and one small python doing the same.  We saw a small monitor lizard swimming across the river in front of us.  This is the same family as the giant Komodo Dragons we saw at the Komodo National Park.  There were a few Kingfishers flying around.  It was an interesting trip.

More fascinating to me are the nests of the edible Bird Nest  Swiftlet.  This bird makes its nest with its own saliva.  After the young have hatched and flown away, the nests are collected and hygienically processed for making bird’s nest soup – a Chinese specialty.  For the first time, I saw the nests being sold in packages in some of the upscale shops on Bintan.  They are very expensive and bought mostly by Chinese tourists.  More interesting is the manner in which they are harvested.  Large condominium type structures are built on higher ground in many of the seaside communities.  These things are hugh and may have a false painted fronting similar to a big business building.  When they are looked at in more detail, one sees hundreds of small holes all around the upper levels.  Each hole is to attract a Bird Nest Swiftlet.  Music is played continuously to attract them.  This has to be maddening for anyone living close to the bird hatchery.  Originally, the nests were taken from caves in Java and Sumatra but the demand exceeded the supply and threatened the extinction of this special bird, hence, the origination of these special birdhouses.  The color of the nests, after being processed, is an off white color.

On another tour, we visited a small village on the eastern side of Bintan Island where an expat Frenchman was trying to revive an ancient form of building small model “Jongs”.  These model boats have the outrigger weighted to windward and balanced with weights.  The size goes from 1-4’ ft and is considered a sport by the locals.  They walk the models out to the sea as far as they can go and then release them to sail towards the beach.  It’s a complicated process which requires balance and steering precision.  Competition is lively and betting makes it even more challenging.

The “Last Supper” of this sailing rally was provided by the tourism office at one of the seafood restaurants.  Right to the end, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Development, with its local tourist officials were hospitable, gracious and welcoming hosts. Four months of sailing up the Indonesian archipelago have been one of the most rewarding experiences of our lives.  Keeping on a schedule and dropping anchor, heaving anchor and motoring with little wind have left us tired and needing a break.  The fact that our engine might not make it to Phuket, Thailand,  means an even harder sail against swift currents and little wind as we go NW up the Straits of Malacca.  We will be towed across the Singapore Strait by our friends on “Southern Star” – a Nordhaven 47’ motor boat.  This is one of the busiest waterways in the world and I don’t want to risk engine failure in trying to cross it alone.  Once across, I’ll have a Volvo mechanic check things out in Singapore.  We have a berth at One Degree 15 Marina.

BENAN ISLAND TO TANJUNG PINANG

On November 17, 2014 we heaved up anchor and got U/W for Tanjung  Pinang (00-56.149 N x 104-26.324’ E) on Bintan Island.  It’s about 32 nm from Benan Island (00-28.007’ N x 104-26.930).  Benan has nothing special to recommend it.  It’s a waterfront village of houses built on stilts overhanging the water.  Since there are no sanitary facilities in the many villages we have visited, the easiest way to discharge human waste is into the water.  The tidal currents run swiftly in this area so all is carried away.  An interesting aspect of Benan is that each of the fishermen’s houses has an enclosed area going out to sea that is completely closed in with nets.  We were told that this is a form of fish farming and replenishment.  Everything is built on wooden stilts including all the walkways that access the houses.  This makes it easy to net everything in, for the fish farming, since the wooden framing is there.

The Eastern side of the island has some very nice beaches, palm trees and clear water where it is possible to snorkel and dive.  An attempt has been made to construct four cottages, with more modern facilities, overlooking the beautiful ocean scene.  These are called “Home Stays” but none were occupied during the time we were there.

The trip to Tanjung Pinang was uneventful with very light winds so motor sailing was the order of the day.  Upon entering the southern end of the buoyed channel, we were given an escort boat to show us to our anchorage.  We dropped anchor in the inner harbor at 1700 hrs in 20’ of water depth with 100’ of chain out.  TJ Pinang is a fairly good sized city with about 200,000 people living in and around it.  It has been a center of Islamic culture and influence for the last eight hundred years or more.  Also, it was the residence of Rajas and Sultans.  To the West of the city, about one mile away, there is an island called Pulau Penyengat.  It is this island that the Rajas chose to live on.  It has a 600 year old mosque and several beautiful palaces.  There is an active Chinese community and several Buddhist temples.  The island is quite beautiful.  It is the center of tourism for TJ Pinang.

The Mayor of TJ Pinang and all the officials chose Penyengat as the place to welcome the Wonderful Sail2Indonesia Rally participants.  Eleven yachts attended the welcoming ceremony and I was chosen as their leader and spokesman.  Speeches, food, dancing and a tour of the island completed that ceremony.  The local office of tourism in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Development provided an unforgettable experience in giving us both land tours and a River tour.  Every day they picked us up at 0800 hrs, in one of their boats, and escorted us to a bus for a tour.  There are several tour guides that speak English and cater to our every need.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

We are now in a Malay culture.  The Chinese influence is seen everywhere.  The other ethnic group is called Bugis.  The features of the locals are more SE Asian and Chinese than the other places we have visited.  Some of the communities are predominantly Chinese.  We were taken to an enormous Buddhist temple that was given to the people by the Chinese government.  This temple is awesomely impressive!  Inside there is a Buddha that is at least 40 ft high and encased in 24K gold.  To the right and left of the Buddha are, bigger than life sized, Chinese figures from an ancient past.  This is an active Buddhist monastery and there are a good number of monks in attendance.  Surrounding the temple is a dragon fruit plantation. 

Bauxite and tin mining were extensively pursued on Bintan Island and the bright colored orange earth reflects the ugly scars that have been left.  It was declared illegal to mine them just a few years ago.  Most of the mined Bauxite and Tin were shipped to Singapore and China.  Bauxite is used in the production of aluminum.  It will take many decades to erase the damage that has been done with this kind of strip mining.  Was it a form of compensation that the Chinese government gave such an elaborate Buddhist temple complex to the people of Bintan Island?

In all of our “Welcoming Ceremonies”, by the various Regencies and Local Governments, we see a great desire of the Indonesian people to bring tourism to their towns and villages.  They look at us as their ambassadors to spread the word and sing their praises about a beautiful land and people.  At any level, it would be hard to choose a better place!

We will depart TJ Pinang on November 21^st for Bandar Bintan Telani (01-10.274’ N x 104-18.571’ E).  That will be our final stop and exit point from Indonesia.

PENUBA TO MEPAR ISLAND, LINGGA ISLAND, TANJUNG KELIT AND BENAN ISLAND

On November 9, 2014 @0800 hrs, we heaved up anchor and got U/W for Mepar Island anchorage (00-15.630’ S x 104-35.780’ W).  It’s only 12 nm to Mepar from Penuba.  Mepar and Lingga Is anchorages are one and the same but two different islands.  Mepar Is is the small sister to Lingga Is which is the Regency for all the Lingga Islands.  The capital city of Lingga is Daik.  The island is an exporter of tin and other minerals.  Daik was once the center for one of the Sultanates and the remains of a glorious palace and past can be seen.  All of these islands comprise the “spice islands”: cloves, nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon and others can be seen drying outside homes.

Upon anchoring we noted that the waters were quite cloudy with no visibility whatsoever.  This must be because the bottom is mud and clay and the currents run strongly.  These islands are rather remote when it comes to the tourist scene.  They have little to offer and few amenities other than the beautiful sand beaches, snorkeling, fishing and diving.  They have never hosted a fleet of sailboats so this was a very exciting event for them. The fleet has dwindled down to eight boats participating in the events.  At least ten boats have sailed on to Singapore.  We are at the transitional weather stage between the dry (SE Monsoon) and rainy (NE Monsoon) seasons.  We are starting to experience thunder storms and rain squalls.

On November 10^th, the office of tourism in Daik arranged for a bus tour to the local market for shopping.  It was a rainy day so we did a little shopping for fresh vegetables and fruits.  Lunch was prepared by one of the local chefs at an open-air restaurant with thatched roof.  Daik has nothing special to recommend it.  It is a small town of wooden  buildings and a mixture of wooden and concrete  sidewalks.  There is a fresh water river that runs through the town and houses on wooden stilts are built out over it.  It’s really a ramshackle affair but one sees a certain amount of prosperity in the suburbs.  There are two banks, none of which took a Visa or Master Card Debit card:  “bring it with you when you come”.

On our second day at the Mepar anchorage, we were invited to visit the small village on Mepar Island.  There are about 400 fishermen and their families living there. We were officially met and greeted by the local chief and his councilors.  Maize is thrown on your head and there was an exhibition of a martial arts dance by two men.  He island has several forts that were built by the Dutch to protect and control the spice trade.  Nothing remains of the forts but a few rusted cannons.  The town is prosperous and has a local specialty of small smoked fish.  We were given a “Welcome Drink” of a green drinking coconut.  Afterwards, a walking tour of the island and forts and then a meal was prepared using the smoked fish. 

This is the first time we have seen shamanism in practice.  There was a small woven wicker basket, on a concrete volleyball court, turned upside down.  Underneath the basket was a metal receptacle with charcoal and incense burning in it.  There was a double ended kind of baseball bat:  same as if you joined two baseball bats together at the handle end.

So we have a container burning charcoal and incense with an upside down basket over it.  The double ended baseball bat is place on top of the inverted basket.  The shaman has a piece of cardboard that he is flapping on the concrete.  Occassionally, he picks up the basket and fans the charcoal.  Someone is selected to either grab the basket or the baseball bat.  This requires two people.  If the spirit is present, the basket will begin to move and be forcefully taken away from you.  If it’s the double ended baseball bat, the same thing happens with it being moved and pounded on the concrete.  I wasn’t overly impressed.  It seemed to be a very lighthearted affair and anyone could participate.

The following day, November 11^th, we were taken to a waterfall on Lingga Island.  This island is quite mountainous.  The roads are narrow but in good repair.  At one point, the grade was so steep that we had to get out of the bus and walk up it.  Lots of jungle and forest before we finally reached the waterfall.  It had a wonderfully deep and cool water pool where many went swimming.  The place is being developed for the local population and has toilets and gazebos where meals and a barbecue can be prepared.

The highlight of Lingga is the batik that is being done at a few of the boutiques.  One can see the women putting the patterns and wax on the cloth.  It’s a long tedious process.  The designs are unique to Lingga.  By the time we got out of there, many of the participants were wearing their new batik shirts.  We went from there directly to the formal reception given by the Regent of Lingga.  Once again, the group chose me as their leader and speaker.  What this means is that the “leader” will be seated with the Regent and officials and give a speech praising the hospitality, friendliness and generosity of the Indonesian people.  This is certainly true and easy to do. There will be a formal greeting by beautiful Indonesian girls in costume and they will bring a ceremonial box that contains beetle leaves and several spices.  The box is opened and a beetle leaf is taken along with some of the spices.  This is chewed, as everyone looks on, and is a sign of respect and acceptance of their hospitality.  Then the speeches are given followed by wonderful Indonesian food and ending in karaoke and dancing.  These joyous people know how to have a good time.  It’s that easy going, relaxed way that make these Muslims so pleasant to around.  It’s a land of beautiful women, handsome men, and children with smiles and enthusiasm capable of making strong men weep.

On November 13, 2014 we departed Mepar Is for Tanjung Kelit (00-00.0’ N/S x 104-29.944’ E).  The distance from Mepar anchorage is about 26nm. It’s significance is the fact that it lies on the Equator, and for those Northbound, it’s back in the Northern hemisphere!  It has an Equatorial monument.  The voyage up was one of rain squalls followed by light winds.  About five miles South of Kelit, we started to see bamboo and wooden structures (kelongs) built a few miles offshore.  These are built by fishing families that live and fish in them most of the time.  There were over 100 of these dwellings in our approach to Kelit anchorage.  We dropped anchor in 45’ of water depth with 165’ of chain out (00-01.020’ N x 104-29.953’ E).  The Wonderful Sail2Indonesia Rally 2014 had five boats there.  We hired an Indonesian boat to take us over to the Equatorial Monument for a celebration with “bubbly” and beer.

Afterwards, the village chief and his wife took us to one of the islands where a small group of sea gypsies were living.  They gave us a “welcome drink” of green coconuts that were delicious.  The sea gypsies were reserved and shy but friendly and welcoming.  We note that they are darker in color from the average Indonesian and some seem to have skin disorders that might be from vitamin deficiency.  The Indonesian government has provided housing for them on this small island.  All the houses are built on stilts over the water.

November 14, 2014  Kelit to Benan Island

We departed Kelit at 0600 hrs this morning enroute for Benan Island (00-27.996’ N x 104-26.937’ E) about 36 nm to the Northeast.   There is a strait that runs from West to East so we chose to cross over to the Eastern side since the wind was from the West.  The island narrows at this part so it’s only 3 nm to cross from one side to the other.  We had a Westerly wind blowing the whole way to Benan Island.  It was a motor sailing trip but, at least, we could us the jib.

We dropped anchor at 1218 hrs in position 00-27.996’ N x 104-26.957’ E in 40’ water depth with 165’ chain out on a sandy bottom.  The town of Benan is remote and consists of a ramshackle bunch of wooden houses built over the water.  Here we see that the people living in these houses have fishing nets extending out from the home.  It appears that they keep their captured fish in these nets.  Access to and from the homes is on wooden walkways extending out over the water.  Tomorrow there will be some kind of welcoming ceremony and then we have been invited to go out fishing in the wooden boats that are common throughout Indonesia.  These boats are long but have very little beam for their length.  They are fast but rolly and one has to sit in the center or you feel that it is going to roll over.

Our next stop, before exiting Indonesia, is Tanjung Pinang (00-55.2’ N x 104-24.4’ E) on November 25^th.  It’s about 32nm from Benan Island.  What a long glorious voyage it has been.
 

BELITUNG ISLAND TO SELAYAR ISLAND

We departed Belitung Is @ 0930 hrs on November 2, 2014 (02-33.264’ S x 107-40.704 E) for Selayar Island (00-19.324’ S x 104-27.713’ E).  The distance is about 240 nm.  With light ESE-SSE winds at 10 kts or less, it was going to be a long haul.  Also, there was an adverse current setting against us most of the time.  Coming out of Belitung heading NW, there are several straits coming from the South between the various islands.  We encountered more refuse and big logs than we have seen anywhere else in our passages.  After we got West of the straits, the refuse and logs tapered off.  It would not be a good idea to sail this stretch of water during the night.  There was nothing eventful during the passage.  It took us 76 hrs to sail 240 nm.  That’s an average of 3.2 kts per hour.  We have never sailed so slowly.   I was sailing under a poled out jib and should have set up the mainsail to sail “wing ‘n’ wing” ( mainsail on one side and a poled out jib on the other).  The only problem with this configuration is that, if there isn't enough wind to keep the mainsail pressed, it has a tendency to flog.  Also, if the wind varies too much in direction, it can creep around the leech of the mainsail and cause it to back.  This isn’t too worrying with light winds but stronger winds are a concern.  Most yachts always have a preventer on the boom to keep it from suddenly swinging from one side to the other with possible damage to the boom.

We had to motor the last thirty miles as there was no wind and a lot of current.  We arrived off the island of Selayar at 1345 hrs on November 5^th and dropped anchor in sixty feet of water depth with 210 ft of chain out (00-19.290’ S x 104-27.705’ E).  The small town of Penuba on Selayar Island has about 5000 people living on it.  There is another island to the East called Lipan Island and has a small population of sea gypsies living there.  The anchorage is between the two islands and the currents run strongly.  Since it was full moon, we were experiencing 4 kts of current at times.  The holding was good and none of the anchored yachts had a dragging issue.

Penuba is a town that has never hosted a fleet of yachts coming to them.  In fact, there is no tourism on this island: no banks, ATM’s, cars, hotels or other amenities.  The island is “dry” so no alcohol either.  This would be the place to come if you asked the question of what it would be like to experience a place that has no tourism.  The town has outside communications and good internet.  Satellite dishes are everywhere and they are very much in touch with the modern world around them.  They do not have electricity during the day.  For the most part, the population is Islamic with one Pentecostal church under construction.  In Indonesia, the Islamic religion has an easy going quality about it.  The women are beautiful and express their sexuality in a very pleasing manner.  They love to dance, sing and interact with foreigners.  The Islamic rigidity found in the Middle East does not exist in the places we have visited.

The town leaders gave us a warm welcome.  I was selected as the speaker for the Wonderful Sail2Indonesia Rally.  Indonesia thrives on leadership.  If you are the speaker for the group, your are “de facto” its leader and will sit with and be honored by their village leaders and chiefs.  The event took place at 0900 hrs on Friday which is their holy day.  At 1100 hrs we finished with the welcoming ceremony and were invited back to a “traditional dance” that evening.  Surprisingly, it was the town people that decided to host the event so everyone turned out.  There were ten beautiful women dancing.  They wear a long scarf around their neck and will “lasso” someone to dance with.  If you are at one of these events, you are going to dance:  there is no escape.  We have noticed that the music in this part of Indonesia has more of the Arabic influence in sound, beat, singing and dancing.  It is quite pleasant on the ear.  Additionally, there is the typical modern Indonesian music which is melodious and one hears many of the songs from the USA and Europe being sung by Indonesians.  The people love  karaoke and, in any entertainment event, they will have their smart phones and laptops on the internet with the words to the song displayed.  These are, truly, a  joyful people.  Every day, I look forward to interacting with them.

On November 8^th, we were invited to attend a farewell ceremony at the school for one of the educational masters on the island.  He had been promoted and was going to another island as administrator.  The event started at 0800 hrs in the morning and lasted until 1230.  Now this was an event to seen because all the children honored him with traditional dancing in beautiful costumes.  This was followed by modern dancing and singing.  The children and local leaders were very happy to have us there.  Everyone wanted to take a photo with us.  The children just wanted to shake hands:  So friendly, humble and welcoming. 

Lipan Island, which is the domain of the Sea Gypsies, would make for an interesting visit.  It is amazing to watch them row across a 4 kt current from Lipan to Penuba.  Most of the rowing seems to be done by the women.  All the boats are wooden and small.  They have two vertical sticks, as the thole pins, mounted for the oars and these are held by cordage wrapped around the oars.  They row forward and standing up.  It is fascinating to watch them negotiate the currents and countercurrents.  We have seen five year old children, in these small boats, making their way across from one side to the other.  These Sea Gypsies are more difficult to approach and have, only recently, started to interact with the locals on Selayar Island.

On Selayar Island and Lipan Island, the houses are built on wooden stilts and overhanging the water.  All sewage goes into the water.  The town is relatively clean and I have seen a local boat bringing plastic refuse somewhere.  All the boats here are wooden.  The art of wooden boat building is still very much alive on these islands.  We have seen some beautiful wooden boats being built using the most primitive methods.  They don’t seem to paint the topsides.  That must be because paint is too expensive.

We are starting to experience the tropical thunderstorms and squalls during the night.  Wind gusts exceed 40 kts but are of short duration.  We had an incident last night (Nov 9^th) where two of the vessels in our fleet collided with one another during one of the thunderstorms.  That’s unusual because there was a current running and one of the vessels was downstream of the other.

On November 9, 2014 we have been invited to Mepar Island (00-15.637’ S x 104-35.792’ E).  It’s only about 12 nm from Selayar.  This will be another small island that has never had a fleet of yachts visit them.  They are planning a Welcome Ceremony, tour, Gala Dinner.

Komodo Dragons.

We went to see the Komodo Dragons in Rinca. The dragons are hugh lizards and very dangerous. We had a guide to take us around. He made sure we did not stay from the path and would take pictures for us of the different animals in the park. So we got to see deer, a bee hive , water buffalo who had bee injured by the dragon. There where also  monkeys and snakes. It was quite interesting especially to see the dragons.

deer

These two dragon were getting ready to fight.

Lil and Ken from Moonbeam with Don and I.

Water buffalo.

Hugh beehive.

Baby dragon

Entrance the park.

Female dragon guarding her eggs that are in holes near by.

Watch out here he comes.

You don't want to mess around with these guys.

KARIMUN JAWA TO BELITUNG ISLAND

On Saturday 25 October, we set sail from Karimun Jawa to Belitung (02-33.305’ S x 107-40.712’ E):  300 nm to the NW on the Sail2Indonesia Rally circuit.  The wind was holding from ENE-SE at about 10-15 kts so it made for pleasant sailing.  The Java Sea has been kind to us.  We have had more consistent wind here that throughout the rest of Indonesia.  A huge part of the Indonesian experience is motor sailing or just outright motoring.  The main mechanical failures in the Rally fleet have been engines and gear boxes.

We arrived off the Belitung anchorage at 0800 hrs and dropped anchor in 30’ water depth on a sandy bottom with 130’ chain out.  With the exception of a few boats left in Bali, undergoing repairs of one sort or another, and a few more that have sailed on to Malaysia, there were 14 Rally boats in the anchorage.  The Regency of Belitung is going all out to sponsor a spectacular schedule of activities and events for the Sail2Indonesia Rally 2014:

1)    Monday Oct 27       Welcome Greeting

2)    Tuesday Oct 28  0900-1100 City Tour, Museum and Elementary School; 11300-1200  Welcome Dance; 1200-1300 Lunch at the “Traditional House” with the Regeant and all the military officials; 1900-2200  Traditional Dance

3)    Wednesday Oct 29  1400-1600 Dragon Dance Attraction; 1900-2200 Welcome Greeting by Regeant; Belitung Unique Costumes; Balines Dance and Music and traditional Belitung Dance and Music;  Gala Dinner; more dancing and speeches.  I was chosen as speaker for the Sail2 Indonesia Rally Fleet.

4)    Thursday Oct 30  0900-1400 City Tour to traditional open market; 1900-2200 Rattan Stick Fighting

5)    Friday Oct 31  1900-2200  Traditional Music

6)    Saturday Nov 1   1900-2200  Rattan Stick Fighting

7)    Sunday  Nov 2  1900  Traditional Dance

The Gala Dinner and Balinese/Belitung Dancing were the best we have seen.  The event was very formal and I was selected to give a speech representing the Sail2Indonesia Fleet 2014 Rally.  Afterwards, I was presented with a beautiful book featuring photos of Belitung Island and a special piece of rock mounted on a wooden pedestal with a painted rainbow that, somehow, comes from a cove where the Indonesian movie “Palangi” was filmed.  The translation of this into English would be “The Rainbow Troops”.  I think it is available with English subtitles.

I have mentioned before that Indonesians love publicity and photos.  The following day, I appeared with the 1^st Secretary of Belitung, presenting me with the gifts, on the front page of one of the Belitung daily newspapers.

Belitung was a tin mining island under Dutch Colonial Rule.  Consequently, even though the Dutch took the majority of the wealth out of the country, the workers retained some through employment and farming.  Today, the island appears to be more prosperous in both housing and schools than many other islands we have visited.  There is a large cadre of civil servants.  The land is fertile and water seems to be plentiful.  The rubbish problem is less here than elsewhere and we see signs and programs to “go green” – “be green”.

Our next stop will be Penuba (0-19.280’ S x 104-27.693’ E) in the Lingga Island group: 238 nm NW from Belitung. We are getting close to the equator and have experienced short periods of intense rain and some thunder.  We are right on the verge of a monsoonal change and hope to get to Singapore before it happens.

Our plan is to leave on Sunday November 3, 2014.  The GRIB files and wind maps show some wind coming out of the ESE at 10 kts.  We can work with that.

In retrospect, each Regency has provided us with Gala Dinners and entertainment; however, none has equaled the Regency of Belitung in the spectacular presentation of Balinese Dancing and Music with a follow up of Belitung Dancing and Music.  The schedule of events was the best we have experienced. In no way does that diminish all those traditional villages and dances we went to on the other islands.  I prefer the Indonesia of small villages and tribal customs but that pretty much ended after we left Flores Island.  Central Indonesia is one of dense population and modernity.  Nevertheless, the friendliness, generosity and warmth of these wonderful people have not diminished in the least.  The only thing that has gone away is the ubiquitous “Hello Mister”.

LOVINA BEACH, BALI TO KARIMUN JAWA ISLAND

On Monday, October 20, 2014 we weighed anchor for Karimun Jawa: 324 nm NW.  We had some old sailing friends with us:  Gary, his wife Paiwan and their seven year old daughter Jasmine.  The winds were light so we motored out.  Since it was early morning, all the tour boats were motoring out to see the dolphins.  We were not lucky in seeing them but I felt that somewhere enroute to Karimun Jawa we would come across some.

After motoring about 5 hrs, we picked up a SE’ly breeze and set the main and jib.  We held onto this wind for the entire trip to Karimun Jawa but had to try different sail configurations to make the most use out of it:  main & Jib; wing ‘n’ wing (main on lee side with a poled out jib); poled out jib alone.  The winds did not exceed 15 kts but continued to be steady.

There was nothing remarkable about the voyage.  The seas were running about 6’ and confused for a good part of it but came down during the latter half so that it was pleasant.  We did come across a school of dolphin and Jasmine was ecstatic.

On October 23, 2014 at 0830 hrs, we dropped anchor off Karimun Jawa in 62’ water depth with 200’ chain out:  Anchor Position: 05-52.566’ S x 110-25.657’ E.  Shortly after dropping anchor, a boat carrying officials from the Ministry of Tourism came out and invited us to join them in the central square of the town.  A Gala Dinner was planned for that evening alongwith free Reflexology (foot massage), hair cuts, see doctor and receive medicine.

The town is remarkably clean and the people very friendly.  Given the fact that there were only two sailing vessels that showed up for this event, I was surprised that they decided to carry out the reception and activities.  Karimun Jawa is one of 27 islands in the group of which only 5 are inhabited.  The water and coral are pristine.  Diving and snorkeling are the main activities.  The town is poised to take on a big tourist boom but it hasn’t happened yet.  There is a ferry to the mainland of Java that takes about 2 hrs.  Most of the tourists are Indonesian with a smattering of Europeans.  They have some exclusive resorts on the island and our friends stayed at one of them.  There is only electricity during the evening. 

Since we were only two boats –Escape and Solstice- with a total of seven people, we had more officials and tourist guides than guests.  We took a leisurely stroll around the fisherman’s district and were warmly received by the families living there.  Being American here is a plus since they love Obama.

The Gala Dinner was not quite as elaborate as others but everything leading up to it was about the same:  traditional dancing, singing, speeches, dinner, more dancing with guests participating.  All this goes on until 2200 hrs.  A few of the officials requested to see our boat the following day so we made arrangements to pick them up at 1000 hrs.  It’s always interesting to see their reactions when they come aboard and see that we have a refrigerator, gas stove and all the navigation equipment.  It’s almost incomprehensible to them that we could sail all the way from America to Indonesia with only two people.

We decided to set sail on Saturday October 25 for Belitung: 300 nm to the NW.  The wind was still holding out of the SE.