Thursday 22 September 2011

Lovina Beach, Bali

Bull racing at a nearby sports field. Fortunately, the bulls do not race round madly in the hot sun. They parade at walk and trot showing off their paces and elaborately decorated yokes. Dressage for bulls, I suppose!



This is an example of the beautiful costumes worn by the dancers. I think you'll recognise the two westerners in the middle, but who is that random person on the end?

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Wednesday 21 September 2011

Bali Marina

Gili Air was lovely. All the moorings were taken and we were lucky to squeeze into a small space and anchor on the edge of a reef. Once again, think white sand, azure sea, palm trees, swimming, diving, snorkelling. It's not a dream although sometimes we still have to pinch ourselves to make sure. It was 44 miles to Bali Marina, which is on the south of Bali at the end of Selat Lombok, a strait where the current runs south for 24 hours. We met hundreds of local fishing boats racing back to their ports after a night's fishing, their colourful sails bobbing up and down in the swell. Having escaped them, we then had a shipping lane to cross and had to take avoiding action to miss the fourth big ship we encountered. When we arrived at the marina with yacht Elaine from Finland, there were no berths available. We moored fore and aft opposite the marina off an island that covered at high water.You can just see Sal Darago behind the huge crane carrying barge. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the motor yacht, Jeremy, which was tied up near the marina entrance. We had hoped to buy a dinghy but none were available unless we ordered one and waited for 5 weeks or flew to Jakata and brought one back on the plane. We did get our British gas bottles filled for the first time since Tonga (Nov 2010) and Jeremy replaced the seals on the heat exchanger to stop it leaking. He had taken the heat exchanger off to clean it in Lombok as the engine was overheating and part of it had broken. He has made a temporary repair and, like the dinghy, we hope it will last to Malaysia. We took a taxi to the local Carrefour supermarket and bought previously almost unobtainable goods like UHT milk, cooked meat, bacon and Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.
The trip north against the curent was a challenge. We took local advice and hugged the coast eventually finding a counter current. A 45ft yacht, Bihou, overtook us and went further offshore. They slowed down with the current against them and we caught them up and overtook them. Bihou arrived in the anchorage at Amblat ahead of us but we were pleased with our passage. The next day 8 yachts motor sailed 45 miles to Lovina Bay, North Bali. We anchored behind Ellida and went ashore for the Sail Indonesia Welcome with speeches, snack boxes, Balinese dancing and traditional gamelan orchestra.
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Medana Bay, Lombok

We day sailed from Bima, Sumbawa, anchoring for the night at Kilo, where we were mobbed by chidren demanding "books, T-shirts, Cocoa Cola." They had to settle for sweets from us. Three yachts spent the night here: Sal Darago, Ellida and Double Time. Our next stop was just a sandy ledge in the middle of nowhere. It was very quiet - no hassle, no 4.00am call to prayer, just one or two small fishing boats. Pulau Medang was our next stop, a beautiful coral island with white sand, reefs and palm trees. The yacht, Cheetah II, was already anchored but left just before dark. We bought fish from a local boat, gave a T-shirt to another man and a magazine to another. Liz and Graham from Ellida joined us for a fresh fish supper. One more day's sail took us to a small island off Lombok called Pulau Lawang. The current was usually against us on these passages and the wind either died or reversed by 9.30am. Our Shipmate, the second GPS died. We anchored between two reefs and spent a comfortable night. Nearby were the yachts Sea Topaz and Double Time. The next day we motored all the way to Medana Bay Marina, Lombok. As you can see it was a lovely place. There were no pontoons but there was a dinghy dock, water, a shop, bar, restaurant, showers and toilets. We spent four days here and took part in the activities provided for the Sail Indonesia fleet.
These included a full day's tour of West Lombok where we saw traditional villages which still practise many crafts and I had a go at adding a few palm leaves to a piece of roofing. Lunch was provided and a visit to a western style supermarket at Mataram concluded the day. Here it rained and we dodged showers for the first time in 99 days. Sal Darago remained dry in Medana Bay. About 50 boats were represented at the Gala Dinner. One person from each country received a locally woven scarf. I was lucky to be given one of the "extras".
The next day we left for the nearby coral island of Gili Air.
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Friday 9 September 2011

Bima, Sumbawa

We arrived at Bima at 1730 on Sunday 4th. September. A local boat came out offering services so we bought 100 litres of drinking water for R100,000 (delivered the following morning). At six o'clock Monday the harbour was alive with boats and people. It was like a scene out of Emile Zola where men go for work - hands to be hired. As you can see the boats were full. We went ashore with Graham and Liz. Unfortunately we were picked up by the harbour master. This one did not want money, but he did wish to give us clearance papers. As Graham did not have Ellida's papers, we were told to return at 1600hrs.
Strolling into town in 90 degrees Fahrenheit, we came to a huge "covered" market. Nearly all the stalls sold clothes, but, of course, we were the star attraction. Very few tourists stop here despite it being a travellers' interchange. Eventually we found an equally huge fruit and veg market (the tarpaulins here were only five feet high and even Kathy had to stoop. All of us were soaked by now, so it was with some relief we found a restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet and had a delicious lunch. We all jumped aboard this pony and trap for a quick trot back to the harbour. The waves were high and we got a soaking going to the boats and returning for the harbour master. It did not matter anyway as he wasn't there so we left the following morning at 0600. "Different field, different grasshopper," as they say. PS we have had no rain for 97 days.
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Sumbawa

Our first anchorage on Sumbawa was at Teluk Wera, a fishing village where they build the large traditional fishing/cargo boats. There was a bogus harbour maaster here who paddled out to the boats at anchor in his outrigger canoe. He was wearing a uniform and asking for an anchorage fee. Other boats warned us so we refused to pay and did not let him climb on board. He went away with a packet of cigarettes, which we gave him for his "friend". The next morning, as we waited for Liz and Graham from "Ellida" to pick us up in their dinghy, we saw a local man jump into the sea from his fishing boat and swim towards his canoe which had drifted away. He got into difficuties and shouted to us. We waved to Liz and Graham and they went to the rescue. Both man and canoe were returned safely to the fishing boat. Then the real harbourmaster paddled out to us wearing a uniform and ID. There was no escape this time and we had to pay 75,000 Rupiah (7.50 dollars). Jeremy persuaded him to lower the price from 100,000 Rupiah. Ashore we were allowed to go up a ramp to see the inside of the boat under construction on the beach. Clearly there were amazing woodworking skills but there was also access to mains electricity, power tools and a chain saw.
Our next stop as we sailed west along the north coast of Sumbawa, was at the bustling town of Bima.
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Monday 5 September 2011

Komodo

We left Labuan Bajo twice. The first time Ellida's engine stopped and we towed them to a nearby island where we had a snorkel. Their engine working again, we returned to LB until the following morning when we set off for Komodo. We had about four nights on the north of Komodo where the snorkelling was excellent. We drifted and swam with the dinghies sometimes covering over a mile (no wetsuits required now!) and the sights were as good as any we have seen so far in the world. There were no big fish such as reef sharks or Emperor Fish so Fakarava Pass still has the edge. It was lovely to be in clear waters away from the rubbish which is so often present near habitation in Indonesia. The photo here is of the poisonous LION FISH.

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