Currently Santiam and I are in Thailand. The trip is a short one as I have to be back for fishing season in Alaska this year by mid April. The trip from Malaysia to Thailand, involved sailing a few hundred miles up the Malacca straight. Lots of fishing boats, lots of freighters. A couple of very close calls with nearly running into freighters at night. So I'm glad to be out of the straight. Now I'm in Phuket, taking advantage of some unseasonable wind for some kite boarding. I'll upload some more pixs soon. Hope everyone is well!
Andy

Time sometimes seems to swell and recede. To flow. To breath like a river. At times I feel cast upon it like a scrap of something traveled from up-stream, caught in an eddie. Water logged, barely buoyant, held by river hydraulics to the same area of space in tireless circulation. Waiting for a pulse, a moment of randomness, a push across the eddyline back into the river body. Back into the exhaled breath.

I sit on the forward tip of the bowsprit and look back at Santiam's bow cutting through the water. Like being one second ahead of the present. The bowspirt rising and falling holding me a moment into the future. I look back at where we're going and think of where we've been. As I'm sailing towards Malaysia I think of my time in Indonesia. My reality, my perception can't help but be bent a bit. Twisted slightly. Like a wheel that can never be trued. People we meet, paths we walk, seem to tighten or loosen our spokes a bit, and leave us rolling down the road with a new vibration in our wheel.

I wish I'd had more time to spend in Bali. Much more time. In search of an LPG fill, and to take Audrey and Nicky to their new digs in Bali, we hired a car and made our way from the laid back north side of the Island, to the busier south side. We drove up through narrow winding switch-backs, past terraced flooded rice fields, past families of monkeys chewing fruit watching the scooters and cars hurtle down the road . We stopped at Hindu temples that look as much a part of the land as the mist and the green. We continued south down the mountain into the city of Denpasar. Swarms of scooters. Cheap clove cigarette clutched between brown index and middle fingers. Knobby thumbs cocked and hovering over the horn buttons. Dogs, with drooping udders and bellies full of pups, limp down the street. Children smiling, laughing, singing. Girls delicately riding sideways on mopeds in ceremonial attire. Food stalls, or little food carts filled with curries, vegetables, fish, chicken, fresh juices are everywhere. Fresh fish in coconut curry and rice can be had for around 10,000 rupia or about one dollar. Outside homes and businesses, little flower baskets filled with, coffee, fruit, cigarettes, burning incense. Offerings to the gods. To the creator, the preserver, the dissolver.

I said good-bye to Nicky and Audrey in Denpasar and arrived back in Lovina on the north side of the island late that night. The next morning I rowed ashore, ate breakfast, bought some fresh fruit and vegetables, rowed back to Santiam and pulled the anchor. After motoring a couple hours out of the lee of Bali the SE monsoon winds picked up. Wind waves crumble at their crest and the sea surface looked dull and textured from the wind like lumpy, burnished glass. Steady winds that I haven't seen since Australia.

Sailing north up the Java sea towards the straights of Singapore. Borneo to the East and Sumatra to the West. Fishing boats and freighters crowd the waters in between. I sleep most of the day and stay awake most of the night staring at the lights of freighters, trying to figure out their course and their relation to mine. Two lights, one low one high, separated by the length of the ship . In the dark, the outline of the ship is lost. It's size, it's speed and it's distance are all obscured by the dark. Just two lights. And these lights floating like specters can appear from beneath the horizon and be upon you within 15 minutes. Coming out of the cabin after making tea and seeing a freighter close enough that its enormity bleeds out of the darkness. You can feel the low rumble of the engines, see the rust marks streaking through the ships name, see the silhouette of people in the cabins. And as they pass you're left wondering if they ever saw you. If your little fiberglass boat made it on to their radar screen at all. I stare at these lights all night like an enemy. During the day, Indonesian fishing boats motor straight towards me, often coming within three meters of my boat to wave hello and check out my craft . They come close enough that I can smell the fish on their decks and see the glisten of sweat on their foreheads. And in these few moments of passing, we look at each other like lost brothers. Joined in some way by the surface we float on. Family for an instant as we smile and wave. Then pass without looking back.

Arrived last night to the north side of Bali. Lack of Blog updates is due to lack of computer. Fact: Computers don't like sea water. Hope to have things up and running again shortly. Added a few pix to the gallery and will add more along with updates of the trip soon. Love to family and friends.
Andy

> We pulled the anchor and sailed from Kupang a couple hours after the sun had risen. Behind us now were crimson stained betel lips, clove cigarettes, mopeds, and at noon, floating above everything, the Muslim call to prayer. Behind us were friends we had met.
> We sailed north arriving at the Solar Islands the following morning. We rested a day then moved to a little sand cay surrounded by larger coral islands just east of Flores. We threw the anchor at the little sand cay just as the sun was setting. Just as thousands of bats woke and flew from the mangroves surrounding the coral islands. Just as the light faded from the Volcano with an ash stained collar. Just as a young Indonesian fisherman came along side Santiam to say hello and offer us fish and bananas.
>
> Yesterday we left and sailed 35 miles to the north east tip of Flores. Santiam sits in a perfect cove surrounded by steep green hills. Water in the cove is very deep so you have to get very close to shore to find a shallow enough spot to throw the hook. Not a safe place if the winds were strong. Other wise the bay is painfully beautiful, with dugout canoes full of young kids paddling up to look at the strange white people. Monkeys in the trees on shore and girls winding down the paths with bundles of fruit balanced effortlessly on their head.

KUPANG
After six days and nights of sailing from Darwin we finally saw land early in the morning on the 22nd of July. We were heading to Kupang and we anchored around noon. Andy tried to contact our host Napa who takes care of all formalities to do with boats, but no response. So we decided to head in anyway. As soon as we set foot on the beach, there were three men there to greet us, one of which was Napa, who immediately invited us to his home. The way there was our first encounter with Indonesian city life. As the three of us followed Napa, greetings were echoing throughout the street, children were laughing, pointing and calling "Hello Mister, Hello!". Napa was a brilliant host and took great care of us throughout our whole stay. Each time we'd go into town it was the same, smiles and greetings coming from all directions. We all learnt a few Indonesian words to get by and reciprocate the kindness! We also met a few interesting characters that day, one was called Edward, a Dutch guy who knew Kupang well but lives in Bali. He was there to find a new sponsor for an orphanage. He was heading there that evening and invited us to meet the children. we thought it would be more than enriching. And indeed it was. We were greeted with open arms and treated very well. It was very overwhelming, they gave us smiles, laughter and beautiful songs! This orphanage has recently lost its sponsor, this means no money to survive on, they are currently living day by day through the generosity of neighbors. Edward is setting up a website to attract a potential sponsor, so he took many photos of the children and the orphanage. The place in itself was very simple, some rooms had no light as there is no money for new bulbs. The food they were served was basic, rice and a little green. We also met Ina, an English teacher from Kupang and friend of Edward's who helped with photos and generally there for support. Then there was Yerry, our driver called upon by Edward to help us get from A to B ,as the orphanage was half an hour out of town, he also had a cousin working there. He was very nice to us and taught us a song about Timor to sing to the children. The couple looking after the children were also very friendly and real. The experience was unforgettable and our plan is to help them find a sponsor. All in all, Kupang was an eye opening experience to the new world of Indonesia we have yet to discover...
Nicky

11 08.0S 126 13.0E
> Yesterday brought steady SE winds of about 12 knots. Santiam was able to eat up some miles with the cruising chute. This afternoon the winds died completely and so we are now motoring west. The afternoon was humid and hot, listening to the motor grew tiring fast. So in the afternoon we stopped the engine and swam around the boat to cool off. As of this morning we are officially in Indonesian waters.