bawean to bilitung
11 November 2012 | bilitung
We managed to get through the 3.5 days of sailing very well. We had great wind for the first 2 days. The spinnaker stayed up the whole time and we were ticking along downwind very smoothly. It is always nice not to have the motor running and we have been sailing much more than we anticipated given the accounts from Previous rallies. Alas, all good things come to an end and on the third day the wind died completely. So we motor sailed for the last 1/3 of the trip. I thought Crew Jenny did very well on her watches. I think she is very observant and conscientious for a twenty year old, it also helps that she has crewed before , although from what she has told us, we are giving her more responsibility than the other boats do far. She was struggling a bit with broken sleep, but we all were of course! As we approached the anchorage around lunchtime on Wednesday 10th at belitung, SV Scholarship gave us some info about where to. It looked very pretty- white sand beaches, crystal water and interesting rock islands to our starboard side. Since the wind had died off, it was quite hot and we were all looking forward to a swim. There were about 5 other boats and on shore it looked like there was a resort ( it wasn't, it was actually a huge roof covered meeting area that was built in 2010 when this was an official rally stop- for some reason they moved the stopover this year to another anchorage , which is completely open to the wind! Needless to say , not many people are going there!) We finally got settled and were hanging out on deck. it actually looked like it was going to rain so grant didn't put the tarp up. I scrubbed the coach house roof in hopes that it would be rinsed with fresh water. Unfortunately that didn't really happen with the brief raindrops we got. We all had a ocean shower and fresh water rinse on deck. The water was very warm! We all got a pretty good night sleep that night ( except elora waking every 2 hrs- grrr!!) The next morning , we headed into shore to check it out. It was awesome fine sand and we motored over some coral beds on the way in. It looked like a nice place to spend a few days and explore. We discovered that the town was 27km away and there wasn't much else around us. It seems like this area is being developed for tourism and they have tourists almost everyday going out with the local tour boats around the islands. But, besides a string of "warung" restaurants right on the beach, there isn't much else. That being said, when we went to shore there was a " go to guy " named johnny who was the local contact for the rally in Belitung and he was very helpful. We found out that 3 boats had decided to check out from Belitung on Friday and after some discussion , we too decided to check out ( the official check out point is in a marina at noxa pooint and we always try to avoid those !) While grant gathered info , we hung out and chatted to the other yachties, swapping stories and enjoying the view. We did go into the water for a dip and a play with the girls. We decided that we would goto the markets as well on Friday.
We were ready to go at 8am The next day. It was very hot and still as we waited for our air conditioned cars! Grant had spent a good amount of time the previous night getting all our documents organised to check out and finally, we all piled into the car and headed to town. We were surprised that the roads were so good- literally the best we have seen in Indonesia so far ! It turns out they only built it a year ago. Belitung is divided into 2 regencies. The population of the island is about 250,000. There were also some very new and nice homes being built along that road ( only costs about 1,200 AUD) I have a feeling that Belitung will be a very different island in 7-10 yrs if tourism goes well. And so began the day - long-saga of checking out of Indonesia. Because grant was the only one who needed to meet with the officials, Jenny , the girls and I just hung out in the coolest section of the waiting area while the staff who were just hanging out came and fawned over the girls. We knew we were in for a long day when grant came out of the 1st office and told us that there were 3 other ones to go to! We piled into the car, only to drive around the block 1.5 times ( asked for directions twice - yes we had a driver AND a local guy who was translating for grants d was associated with the rally) and end up about 200m down the road at the quarantine office. After that stop we did drive further this time to immigration. Grant was in there a long time and the girls were crawling all over the waiting room floor trying not to go stir crazy. Finally he came out and asked Jenny where the piece of white paper was that should be in her passport. Uh oh ! When we were photocopying her passport the previous night ( this country LOVES photocopies and stamps) she took it out do she wouldn't lose it and forgot to put it back in. Grant went back in and finally came out , stating that we would have to go back to the boat to get the paper. Of course it was 10:30am on a Friday and all government offices shut down between 11-2pm for mosque. So we decided to goto the traditional market and the grocery store , go back to the boat and then grant would return by himself to goto the last 3 offices. It actually all worked out well cause he didn't get back till after 4pm. We figured out after talking to the 3 other yachties who were. Leading out , that because we were first in line , grant got a lot more grief and questions from the officials , possibly trying to fish for money, because they said they had no problems at all. But it's all done and we have "officially" left indonesia. On Saturday we decided to have a beach morning at the interesting rock island near us. I decided to swim there (only about 700m I think) for some much- needed exercise. I can also find where the good coral is while I swim! We had a very pleasant morning. I actually swam back to the boat with 2 other yachties who try to swim a bit for exercise, then I swam back to the island again. (grant thinks i got inspired cause I was excited about seeing my friend (on line )race at Hawaii ironman champs the following day- I think I was just making up for being a lazy bum!) it was nice to do a bit longer swim though! Jenny found some great shells and collected some more basic ones cause I was inspired by some shell creatures that were for sail at the cafe on shore. they made little people and creatures out of all different shells- an excellent craft idea! We also took the dinghy around the rock formations before we went back to the boat - looked very cool. We all went home for the usual lunch/ nap routine. We decided to goto "rusty's" cafe for dinner. It was a fluke that most of the other yachties were there too for cheap Bintang ( the cheapest yet !) , good food and karaoke on the beach ( ok not the karaoke!) Ameliana had a great time playing skipping on the beach with the kids from SV Miss Behaving and the local kids. She even tried jumping rope on the beach- prepared to be coated in sand ! On Sunday we went to the beach and had a bit more of an explore. It looked lie they had started building a resort and then suddenly stopped. It would be a beautiful spot for it and I am sure that it will be finished by someone in the next couple of years given how beautiful the island is. We decided to have a quiet night because we were leaving for the equator in the morning. Belitung island is definitely a place that we would go back to!