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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.
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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