September 2002 - Indonesia - Rinca to Bali

We headed to Rinca Island instead of Komodo Island to see the dragons.  We had heard from other boats that Rinca as less crowded, and dragons were often see on the beach there. The dragons are basically large monitor lizards, as are Goannas, and grow up to three metres long.  They are only found on the islands of Komodo, Rinca and a smaller version on the north western tip of Flores.

It was a short sail of 15 or so miles down to Rinca from Bajo.  The main issues, as it always is in these waters, was currents.  A good run in that regard as  well.  Sampaguita came up from behind us and passed us, with Flavia throwing sweets and then bananas at us as they passed.  We headed into the bay and, after anchoring, we realised the bay went in further.  We moved and took up an excellent position close to the beach.  Sampaguita caught a huge trevally on the way in and we shared a lovely feed of smoked fish and sashimi.  This had worked out perfect as we now a bait for the dragons.



Early in the morning I went ashore and buried the fish carcass and then moved back to the boat to watch and wait. Twenty minutes later we spotted a dragon heading down the beach towards the fish carcass.  We went ashore in the dinghies but as we approached the dragon dragged the carcass away.  Peter found the carcass just beyond the trees and we reburied it and waited at the end of the beach. Sure enough, back it came and we were able to sneak up a bit closer.



While on the beach a dingy from one of two very new and smart looking Indonesian boats came over to see us.  They were National Park officers and were in the bay to fight a bushfire on the nearby ridge.  They asked for our permits which we didn't have. We knew one was required, but decided not to bother as the area we were visiting was uninhabited.  They told us, quite politely, that they had radioed the office in the next bay that we would come over and pay our fees.  This turned out to be a bonus, as we went round, paid the fee, and went on a walking tour where we saw lots of dragons and other wildlife, including deer, monkeys and water buffalo.  The dragons were used to seeing people nearby and did not move as we approached.  Our guide carried a large stick in case the dragons did the wrong thing.

While we were anchored in the small bay near the National Park office we received an email from Rosemary, Liz's mother, that she had been booked in for an operation to have her stomach removed.  This was to be in ten days time.  With this news we left Rinca the next morning and headed for Bali.  We sailed out past Komodo and across the top of Sumbawa and during  the night encountered lots of fishing boats and with headwinds found ourselves exhausted by morning.  We headed on and anchored on the north western corner of Lombok,  at the end of Gili Lawang (Gili meaning island).  We made the decision to only sail during the daytime from now on.

We arrived in the afternoon and rested up. A swim and a snorkel looked probable until we heard a boom and a fountain of water shoot up a few hundred metres away.  Using explosives for fishing is still practiced here.  Stupid buggers.

The next day we coasted along the top of Lombok with light winds and a glorious view of the islands high mountains.  We headed down the west coast and with the wind really picking up we headed to Gili Air and, with doubts to whether the anchorage would be any good headed into the bay on southern side.  There were six yachts in there, so we thought it should be OK.  After one unsuccessful go at anchoring, we got ourselves hooked in in 22 metres of water and went ashore.

The island is a low key tourist place with lots of little guesthouses restaurants.  Horse drawn carriages were there but the cost was too high and we felt to tired to haggle.  Easier to walk.  We found a nice little place to eat and enjoyed a meal before heading back to the boat.  Gili Air would be a good place to chill out for a while.

The final leg into Bali promised to be a good run with the current with us.  The Lombok strait tends to run south for half the year and north the other half.  We took off with lots of wind behind us and a current of two knots helping us out - you beauty!  Alas, this was not to last, and against the odds, we ended up fighting a current for half the trip and then a run-out tide as we entered Benoa Harbour.  We tied up on the outside of the marina late in the afternoon and was shown where to dock the boat.  This was going to be tricky as we would have to squeeze past a boat and mooring buoy and deal with current at the same time.  We took the dinghy and rigged lines, then with a few extra people on board, made a successful berthing.

It was great to catch up with a few boats, especially the Chappies, who we last saw in Cairns and had hoped to do the whole trip with, but could never quite catch them. .

The next day caught a taxi down to Kuta to a travel agent to chase up flights to NZ.  The agent we went to found a flight to Auckland that left that night and with booking made we moved on to downtown Kuta to do some shopping.  The girls really needed some warmer clothes and suitcases.  They spent the day in the Matahari department store and emerged with two suitcase and two girls with new wardrobes.  Meanwhile I went back to the marina to ensure we could recover their passports from the port authorities.  This done, we met back in Kuta and went up to the travel agent to get the tickets, only to find that agent claimed the price quoted that morning was wrong and the fare was now US$200 more. We refused to pay the extra and left the office.  Walking a hundred metres down the road we found another agent who was able to sell us the tickets for slightly less than the original quote.  It was now 7pm and the plane left at 10:30pm.

A mad dash back to the boat, pack, and taxi out to the airport ensued.  We arrived at the airport and checked in OK and onto Immigration, where the troubles started.  First up the date on our visa was incorrect.  The official in Maumere had stamped we'd arrived on Sept 27 and it was now Sep12.  The second issue was the I had forgotten to grab the immigration cards when I collected the passports and finally the visas were stamped as crew and not tourists.

So to cut a long story short the officials finally stamped their passports and Elizabeth, Courtney & Anna boarded the plane with five minutes to spare.  We paid no bribe. So now I was on my own and headed back to a very quiet boat.

The next two weeks I spent getting some of the timberwork revarnished.  There are several guys who work around the marina doing cleaning, polishing and varnishing for A$22 a day.  While they worked up on deck I cleaned and tidied up down below and generally tried my best to make the boat ready to be left for an extended time.

I had the option to sail to the boat on to Singapore / Malaysia where there are more less costly options to leave the boat.  At the end of the day I was happy that the boat would be secure in the marina in Bali, and the idea of sailing on without the girls was just no good.   Staying in Bali and returning in February 2003, gives us the option to see more of Indonesia during the wet season before heading onto Malaysia in May/Jun 2003.

So on the 24th September I left the boat and boarded my plane. I had no problem with immigration and arrived in Sydney that morning and had two great days in Newcaslet catching up with people before heading on to New Zealand.  

And now we are back together as a family.  It is mid November and we are staying with Gil & Rosemary.  Rosemary has made an excellent recovery from her operation, apart from great difficulty in eating and keeping it down.  Elizabeth has effectively a full time job working at a language centre teaching English and I am doing some consulting one day a week for a small computer firm.  The girls are at the local school, doing swimming lessons, horse riding and generally enjoying life.

The bombing in Bali is a difficult issue for us.  We have mixed emotions about resuming the trip across SE Asia but at this stage we plan to go on with the plan.

Til the next update.


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 The voyages of Reflections IV - 2002

Indonesia - Rinca to Bali
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September 2002 - Indonesia - Flores

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We sailed out of  Dili and headed up the Alor Strait to get onto the northern side of Alor Island.  From there we would sail along the north coast of the islands between there and Bali.  The islands here form a barrier to the flow of currents of the northern and southern hemisphere seas.  So where there is a gap between the islands the flow of water can be fast.  The Alor Strait is 20 miles wide and over 2000 metres deep.  As we went up the strait we found the current running at four knots against us. Sampaguita left in front of us, and very quickly the speed of the their 40 foot catamaran put them out of sight.

The water around varied from short little waves bouncing up and down as if in a sieve, to whirlpools and huge smooth areas.  After a few hours of this the current suddenly stopped and then turned, and took us out of the strait at four knots.  We then turned and ran along the north coast of Alor.  We sailed along in very comfortable conditions until we reached a headland Tanjung Babi and tucked in next to the shore alongside Sampaguita.

A small village was just beyond the stony beach and soon we had our first Indonesian visitors.  Two brothers came out in their standard dugout canoe with outriggers on both sides.  These are difficult for them to come alongside in, and getting up onto our boat is quite a challenge. They came aboard and over a glass of cordial we chatted, using the phrase book.  They seemed happy to chat for a while and go and we weren't pressed for gifts or money.

That night I received an email from Elizabeth's mum, Rosemary.  I often check the email late at night after everyone else has gone to bed, as I like to sit up and write messages in the quiet.  In her message Rosemary told us that she had been told that she had stomach cancer and the doctor said the outlook was not good. She asked if we could come to see her as soon as possible.  In the morning I told Elizabeth and we decided the best plan would be to sail direct to Bali and fly from there.

After a swim over to Sampaguita to give them our news we moved on.  We had good wind that morning and afternoon and we thought that we may get a good run to Bali.  Most other boats had reported no wind, only afternoon sea breezes. As we went along we started to see a few more boats and villages and as we passed the end of Alor Island we saw a group of fishing rafts. These are occupied by fisherman at night, and lit then, but the risk of there being an unoccupied one at night is high.  As a safeguard we ran some ten miles off the coast, out with the inter-island shipping which was well lit.

 As darkness fell the wind dropped and we motored all night.  I checked the fuel levels and after some calculations, realised we may not have enough fuel to make to Bali if we had to motor most of the way. We decided to head into Maumere and anchored off the Sea World Resort 13km's out of town.  The resort is a small hotel on a black sand beach and we found another yacht anchored there as well.  This was owned by an Aussie man who had sailed here several times and was involved in helping out at a local school.

We went ashore and had a lovely dinner and with a few drinks each, the cost was A$20, very reasonable.  The next day was spent going back and forward into Maumere to get fuel.  The price for diesel was about  25 cents a  litre.  Indonesia was showing itself to be a country we could afford to be in.  That night we had dinner in the restaurant again and met two more boats, Sound of Music  and Solace.  We had a few drinks together and we wished we didn't have to leave the next day.

That night we got another email from Rosemary to say that further tests showed things may not be as bad as first thought. That morning Elizabeth rang her, and they decided that we wouldn't rush back and see what further tests come up with.  With that we booked a car tour up to Kelimutu, the volcano in the centre of the island, with three crater lakes that change colours.

The trip up there started at 3:30 am and, after a bit of sleep in the van, we watched the dawn lighten up the stunning countryside as we climbed up into a huge valley that surrounds the volcano.  The road was rough and narrow and it was either being improved or in a perpetual state of repair.  We parked and walked the last few kilometres to the summit. The lakes were stunning and big and deep looking with steep cliffs surrounding each crater.

We made our way down to the nearest town from the summit and stopped for breakfast.  It was very nice looking out over the rice paddies while we had our banana pancakes and mixed fruit juices - standard western tourist menu for breakfast. The ride back to Maumere was long but enjoyable. The changing countryside was as good as seeing the lakes.

On the way back to the boat I noticed that Solace seemed to be out further then it was originally anchored.  Once out at the boat I watched for a while and felt sure that it was drifting.  A call on the radio raised no-one, although the dinghy was attached.  I went back ashore to get Liz (who was lounging at the resort!) and we lifted our anchor and went out after it, now a long way out.  As we approached the boat the two sleepy heads of David & Sonya come up and looked around in confusion.

A steep bank on the shore did make anchoring difficult, as letting out lots of chain risked  putting you on the beach but if the strong afternoon land breeze broke you free then quickly the anchor is hanging in deep water and you're away.  But the real reason was the night before Sound of Music had anchoring hassles, and David had announced proudly that he had never dragged anchor!

We had a few more days in Maumere and then we day-hopped along the coast of Flores.  The first night we stopped in a small bay surrounded by high grassy hills that had unusual black scars.  We wondered if they were from fires or another low bush growing.  The contrast in colour was remarkable.

The next anchorage was a rough one, as we came into the bay with the light fading (always a big mistake) and  had to back up quick to avoid reefs that appeared all too late really.  The anchorage proper required us to round a large reef but the light was against us.  We anchored next to a fishing boat and, after a few tries, got a reasonable grip on the bottom.  We got a bit overwhelmed with visitors for a little while, but they cheerfully said good bye when I said it was time for us to eat and then rest.

From there we headed further along the coast and looked for an anchorage in the Riung Islands, also known as the Seventeen Islands National Park which is a marine reserve.  We spotted Solace anchored behind the first island and we came up to check it out.  The weather was very calm so we tucked in next to the coral shelf and went for a snorkel.  The lack of fish life, especially larger fish, was the big difference between here and the rest of our snorkelling experiences.  The coral, however was spectacular, with large fields of soft corals moving in the current.

We went to bed with the boat was starting to roll about, and the outlook for quiet sleep was not good.  Either it calmed down or the rum  & cokes shared with David & Sonya had done the job.  The next day we were aiming to reach Lubuan Bajo on the western end of Flores but we'd been motoring a lot, and we had some wind for once so we thought, just sail and see how far we get for once.  We found ourselves in the middle of a large bay on the north western corner of Flores.  Our cruising notes said there may be an anchorage near Bodo Island and we found a lovely patch of sand in a small bay on the western side.  We anchored, went for a swim, and relaxed in the quiet that uninhabited islands give.  Late in the day we saw lots of monkeys on the beach, probably getting shellfish on the low tide.  It was great watching them with binoculars.

From here we headed for Lubuan Bajo, some 15 miles away.  As we got closer we saw several fishing villages with lots of boats anchored off them.  Lubuan Bajo is a large  fishing village with a few backpackers and a great dusty Indonesian feel about the place. It overlooks the Komodo / Rinca islands and is the jumping off point for trips to see the islands of the Komodo dragons and for overland trips across Flores.



There are several little restaurants set high above the street with great views of the islands.  We enjoyed a few meals there and generally thought it was a nice stopover.  We organised a tour to see a whip fighting dance called Caci.  This was put on for us, and is normally done on festival days like Independence Day.  On these days large groups assemble for the dances and from what we saw on a smaller scale it would be quite a show, and probably a wild day.

Our little show was conducted in a the ground outside a house in a small village a few bumpy kilometres outside of Bajo.  First a toast of local whiskey called Arak was given and a welcome speech, then I was asked to start the proceedings by having a crack with the whip towards one of the two men that would do the whip fighting.  I gave him a good hard crack which he deflected with his shield and they seemed satisfied with my effort..

  The band of four played a rhythmic song and the choir of nine or so men danced around in a tight circle singing.  While this was happening the two men went through stages of singing or shuffling back and forwards looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes.  Occasionally there would be a crack as one of them would have a shot.

All this went on as the MC for the day made sure everyone was getting plenty of arak to drink.  It was easy to see how a large group doing whip fighting, and the arak flowing, that things could get pretty wild.  Even at our paid-to-be put-on show we found that whip cracks get meaner and harder, the crowd cheering each shot, and the guys in the choir were having a ball.  We finished the show by giving a short speech of appreciation, and told our story of sailing our boat from Australia,  They all seemed really interested and through our tour guide we had a good conversation.







From the Caci we went to see some limestone caves. It was neat and going into the cool of the cave in the midday heat was very pleasant.  The caves had a centre piece of a spot where a single shaft of light came down to form a moonlight like light in a small cavern.



We were very pleased to see Peter & Flavia on Sampaguita come in and join us on our last day in Bajo.  The day we left we noticed another yacht  had come in.  This turned out to be Jesse Martin on  Kijana, famous for his solo round the world effort.  We went over to say hello as we knew the previous owners of the boat, Kate & Bruce, when the boat was called Integrity.  Much of our gear aboard was purchased from Kate & Bruce when they sold Integrity. Jesse was heading to Sulawesi and the Kalimantan.  The crew of four were all 20 years old.

From there we headed for Rinca Island to see the Komodo Dragons.


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