Passage to Bali – 1st Leg – Nongsa Point to Pulau Kentar – 81.1nm
11 April 2010 | Pulau Kentar, Indonesia
For those of you that have never experienced an ocean passage I decided this trip to note down our feelings and what we saw during our trip to Bali to give you an idea of what it is like.
We left Nongsa Point at 6am this morning, the Danes that had been tied up next to us in their amazing boat that dated back to 1902 and who we had jokingly challenged to a race out of the marina had already long gone. Security came down to help us let go of the lines and we were off. Carefully navigating through the bits of unmarked reef at the entrance we can see all the ships anchored at Singapore through the haze that hangs constantly in the air. It still amazes me that these two countries can be so close together and yet worlds apart. Everything is quiet and still, the Singapore Strait is glassy, there are only a couple of ships moving. The local fishermen are out and about in their tiny boats with their small sails fluttering in the wind, they come close and wave madly when they see us bring out the cameras. The fishing boats always like to get as close as possible to us to have a look, they also have this habit of racing across the front of your bow, which can be quite scary sometimes as they misjudge how fast we are going. They do this to rid themselves of any evil spirits on board their boats, the theory is that running across the bow of another boat will transfer the evil spirits to them. Thanks a lot! We must have dozens of evil spirits hitching a ride now!
The trip to Pulau Kentar was uneventful, we motor sailed with a light North Easterly and made good time. We arrived at Pulau Kentar just as the sun was starting to disappear, the last rays of the day spread over the water and land turning everything to gold. The fishermen from the local village came out in their wooden canoes for a night of fishing and gave us a wide berth which we were grateful for. Sailing really does take it out of you and we were both looking forward to a good nights sleep before tackling an overnighter to Belitung the next day.