Photo: Fish trap, Tengalat.
05:30 Sunday 7th October we lifted the anchor and headed out of a very smoky Kumai River, destination Belitung, a 2 night sail away. As we left the river we spoke to a rally yacht that had left the previous evening and then spent 7 hrs stuck in a fishing net, he was returning to Kumai for repairs. Later we spoke to another vessel who suggested Nangka Island as a stop for a night to break the trip to Belitung. We discussed the option and changed our course, dropping the anchor at Nangka the following afternoon. We decided the stress of night sailing dodging fishing boats, fishing nets, enormous barges (with one small light) towed by tugs, squid boats lit up with enough lights to light up Eden Park for a night game, and ships, where any lights on a boat seem to be legal including disco lights, was enough not to consider a second night. At least one fishing boat was doing ‘crazy Ivans’ in front of us, making it difficult to work out which way he was going, he eventually passed within 50 mtrs of us doing a great rate of knots, none of the local fishing boats or coastal cargo ships have AIS and few show up on radar other than at very close range. We prefer to sail during daylight hours whenever possible.
We woke up to wind the next morning and decided to use the breeze and sail to the next anchorage, Tanjung Kelayang, Belitung Island, arriving at 16:00. Kelayang was a good stop; going ashore we were met by Johnnie and Madi, 2 guys who were there for the boats. They arranged fuel and a car to take us into town to the local markets, coming with us as interpreters. They also took us for morning tea to a local school where Johnnie was an Administrator. We had lunch at a local café, again good food and cheap as chips. On Saturday 13th October, we went ashore on a small island in the morning and then set sail for a 137nm overnight passage to our next anchorage. There were not as many fishing boats or ships and no tugs like our passage out of Kumai, but still enough to ensure you kept a close vigil. During the afternoon a small bird flew onto the boat and decided to hitch a ride for a while, sitting quite happily on the winch handle for the mainsheet. We dropped anchor at 09:00 the following morning in Tengalat Bay, Banka Island.
After a quiet day and a good night’s sleep, we left at 11:00 for an overnight sail or motor to Kantar Island, 120nm. The night was quieter with fewer fishing boats and ships, although Brian did have a tug towing a barge at 2.5kts show up on radar and AIS; it was going to take 10 weeks to reach its destination! We did see some large, yellow sea snakes, which brought a comment about it being ‘snake alley’ along with lots of dolphins, the biggest in size we have seen in a while. We crossed the equator at 05:30 in Tuesday morning, 16th October, which now makes us Shellbacks and not Pollywogs, as we duly paid homage to King Neptune. The anchor was down in the bay on Kentar Island at 07:30. A quiet day was followed by a combined celebratory dinner with Steve and Anne “Recluse” and a visit from King Neptune, before retiring early.
Next day we motor sailed 31nm to Temiang; with 2 knots of current in our favour it was a quick trip. The scenery going up the coast through the various islands was picturesque and beautiful, very like the Marlborough Sounds we decided. This area looked like it could be a cruising ground in its own right, unfortunately with the 3 mth limit on cruising permits, you would have to do it from Singapore. The anchorage was very pretty and peaceful, we had a tropical shower late evening, one of several we have had over the last couple of days. The boat certainly looks cleaner after having no rain on the decks for 6mths.
Thursday 18th it was off again to Ngal Island, our last stop in Indonesia before heading across the Straits of Singapore to Malaysia. We dropped anchor at 14:00 and were promptly hit by a tropical shower with 20+knot winds, the most we have seen for a while. The anchorage was not the most pleasant and too shallow for the conditions; we therefore moved 2nm to Panjang Island. A much calmer and deeper anchorage, the skipper was certainly happier.
At first light on Friday 19th October, we lifted the anchor and sailed or rather motor sailed, out of Indonesia and across the Straits of Singapore to Malaysia. The Singapore Strait was state highway one for shipping, they were coming and going in all directions, luckily in pre designated lanes. Those that weren’t moving were in anchoring zones housing 50 or more ships, barges and rigs of all shapes and sizes. We certainly needed to be awake and concentrating going across. We finally cleared the straits and made our way up the river to Danga Bay Marina, Malaysia, with little time available before the scheduled marina bus left to go to customs and immigration to clear into the country.
We certainly enjoyed our time in Indonesia. We didn’t know what to expect but we were certainly surprised on the positive side. It is a vast country and we only saw a small portion of it, although arguably considerably more than most visitors. The people were very friendly, always with a smile, the different islands and regions were so diverse, each with their own unique customs and traditions. They are a nation of fisherman, certainly around the coastal areas we visited, with fishing boats of all shapes, sizes and colourful designs.
Sail Indonesia was probably not as good as we anticipated, many of the functions were cancelled or just not held. Communication from the organizers and people ‘looking after us’ was poor, both from Australia and within Indonesia, which made the grapevine work overtime sometimes with misinformation. Especially once it was realized the expiry date on all our CAIT’s (cruising permits) was incorrect and a new CAIT had to be issued or we needed to leave Indonesia 10 days before the scheduled end of the rally. Given the amount of information available to cruisers now, the rally is not the only option or the best option for cruising Indonesia. A group getting together and organizing an agent to sponsor them into Indonesia (to secure the CAIT) could enjoy the delights of Indonesia easily, especially with the wide range of information now available on the internet, blog sites and elsewhere.