Belitung
28 October 2015 | Indonesia
Kim
We have left Bali and what a sad day that is because Bali has been the most fun stop in all of Indonesia. Lots to do and we could spend 3 months here and not do it all. Most of our rally did not come to South Bali. It wasn't an official rally stop and rumor has it that sailing north from here is a nightmare. Let me just confirm that rumor for anyone following us. It was bad for the first couple of hours with current against us. At one point we were moving backwards at almost 1 knot. We went a lot closer to shore than we were comfortable with and managed to get out of the current and make some progress forward. It was only bad for a couple of hours and the current lightened and it was fine. So, would we do it again? ABSOLUTELY!! Totally worth it to see this side of Bali.
We had been hoping to head to Lembongan on our way out of Bali. We wanted to sail over with the Beckman family for one last day of fun, but the delays in Bali made us late for our visa renewals and we felt we needed to get caught up to the rally. Our friend Angie has joined the crew and it will be her first offshore passage, so that was another reason to break up the trip. Sorry, not going to happen, we need to go. So we are off to the next rally stop which is Belitung, about 700 nautical miles. The winds were light and it was a pleasant enough sail. We had a large pod of dolphins playing on our bow for an hour or so. That is always a treat. Otherwise it was pretty uneventful. We did decide to break the trip up with a very short stop in Bawean. We spent one day here and hitchhiked a ride to shore with a boat in the anchorage that just happened to come over to say hi and introduce themselves. We needed to stretch our legs but the wind was too strong to launch our dinghy. Bawean was a small island and we walked to town and back, not much to say about Bawean, except that it was friendly and a nice stop.
We pulled the anchor early the next morning to do the last 400 miles to Belitung. About a day into it we woke up to a haze of smoke from the fires burning all over Indonesia. We had read about the fires and it was also a reason to stay in Bali a bit longer. The rally stop in Kumai was cancelled due to the smoke. It was a shame because the stop in Kumai was where we were meant to see the orangutans and it was going to be a highlight for us. The haze is pretty awful and we are on the edge of it, It is really an environmental disaster that happens every year and nobody seems to care. So, please do not use anything with palm oil, it is deystroying our world. Belitung was an official rally stop and also a visa renewal for the boats. The renewal was painless this time around. We had sent our passports ahead with another boat, who passed them on to another boat, who turned them in to the rally coordinator for us. Easy peasy, squeeze the lemon. Will and Karen even dropped them off at our boat. Lesson learned. Belitung is a beautiful anchorage. Looks a lot like Virgin Gorda with dramatic rock formations and little islands with beaches everywhere. They are trying to develop the islands as a quiet alternative to Bali. They are beautiful but not a lot of infrastructure. The beach is lined with little warungs, (tiny restaurants) and bars. There is a large town about 20 kilometers from the beach where you can get just about anything. Zack was thrilled to find a store that sold fireworks. All the kids have been totally into the fireworks. Dean on Dream Maker actually got the kids to clean the bottom of his boat to earn money for fireworks. The store itself was awful. The front of it was full of birds, fish, turtles and animals in small cages for sale. It was sickening and Angie and I sat in the taxi. The store did have all manner of fireworks and Zack was not going to be dissuaded. He bought some big Roman Candles and some small fireworks. It is dumbfounding what you can buy, and very cheaply, in Indonesia. Jason bought a couple of large fireworks here. They are canisters about a foot high and maybe 7 inches in diameter, it will be interesting to see those go off. There is a large veggie market in town and we were able to get some stuff there. Also a big grocery store which had a nice selection of vegetables as well. We were even able to get broccoli and snap peas!
The wind and waves kick up at about 9am in the harbor so we made a plan to get up and hike the lighthouse and do a snorkel at 6am. It is across the bay and needs to be done in calm water. The lighthouse is in great shape and we climbed the 14 flights of stairs to the top for a great view of the islands. Then off for a snorkel. It was early and the haze was blocking the sun but the water is still warm. The coral was in great shape but we did count 14 Crown of Thorns Starfish. They are super destructive and eat the coral, so not looking good for this reef. There were a lot of tiny reef fish but no fish of any size. It seems that any fish over 3 inches in length is fair game for the dinner table. Not much of a long term plan here as far as food sustainability. We went back to the boat and did some school. Then finished off with a beach barbecue.
The regency put on some dance performances for the rally which were interesting and fun to watch. One was a Balinese dance with masks and a dragon and there was also a dance about tin mining that was pretty wild. The gala dinner was lots of fun. Our kids all got together to write a speech to present at the dinner. Zack went first and he did a great job. I was so proud of him I almost cried. He got up with his paper and said about 5 lines to open the speech, he spoke up and did a great job. The other kids all followed and.each one told about something they enjoyed in Belitung. Shayla ended the speech by apologizing for any trouble the children may have caused. Not a bad idea as they have been setting off fireworks every night.
The last day in Belitung was a big day of tours. It started out at the school. The rally tours always go to a school. All the boat kids hate the school tours. They get mugged and dragged around for photo ops. Zack was on a different bus than us with the other kids so he was on his own When we got into the school all the school kids were lined up on one side and the cruisers on the other. I was shocked when Zack walked across the center area and started shaking hands with the school kids. As he walked across with George all the local kids started screaming like Justin Beiber was coming over or some other famous star. It was wild. Zack had a big grin on his face and I knew something was up. I was thinking his buddies had dared him or perhaps he had lost a bet. The truth came out later, Jason and David had paid them each !00,000 Rupiah. That's about $7.50US and can buy a lot of fireworks. FIne by me, we were there for about 2 hours and Zack was smiling and cooperative for the entire time. Money well spent. We were leaving and I hadn't seen Zack and David for a while so I went to look for them. Zack was being photo opted like a movie star. He could not get out of the throng of kids. His blond hair and blue eyes make him a target. The busses needed to go so one of our guides picked Zack up and held him above the crowd to get him out. Not to be out done one of the cruisers picked up a local boy and held him up and started walking out of the school with him. It was met with uproarious laughter and cheers. We were then off to a tin museum. It was ok, not much going on. There was a pseudo zoo in the back. I did not go to look at the poor animals in tiny cages in the hot sun. Animal welfare in Indonesia is awful. We then went to a traditional house for lunch. It was well presented and very much enjoyed. Overall Belitung was a great stop and we had lots of fun. The snorkeling was really good and the people were super welcoming. Definitely a highlight.