We left Belitung island in Monday morning to head overnight to the equator and then anchor a few kms away at Kantar. We basically had to drive the whole night - no wind at all and very hot. In fact it was like a millpond at some points ! We approached the equator at around 8:30am. Due to the lack of wind we decided to just drift while each of us swam across the equator to mark the milestone for us and Wandoo. I went first ( grant tried to guesstimate how far I had to swim to get to it) it was pretty uneventful but also pretty cool swimming in the middle of not much! We had to start the engine and circle around again for grant and Jenny to go. Jenny went next and got a bit worried as the boat continued to drift away from her ! She was very relieved when grant jumped in cause surely I wouldn't abandon the captain AND the crew in the middle of nowhere- little did she know lol!! Just kidding, I brought the boat around to make their swim shorter. Ameliana also had a quick ceremonial dip Back on board , we got dried and headed the next few kms to yet anchorage at Kantar. There were a couple of old fishing shacks in the middle of the anchorage and only one other boat anchored. A while later a local boat with 2 women and a little girl pulled up. Once again it was a different style canoe and paddle set up. I am amazed at the variety of designs as all the small local islanders throughout Indonesia have a very rich fishing culture. So who knows which is better. I assume that each design reflects the waters and conditions in which they fish and what they fish for. The women offered us some papya and although the indinesuan dictionary wasn't helping , we knew they either wanted money or trade. I ended up giving the little girl a couple if t-shirts and a toy and book. And I found a hat and blouse for the women. They tend to keep asking for more, but we like to spread out the stuff we have. Later in the morning out friends on SV Miss Behaving pulled in. They had done the proper equator crossing ritual. In costume and With offerings to king Neptune in the form of their children tied to the mast! Great fun, I think we will have to do that when the girls are older ( even though its supposed to be for your 1st equator crossing - it makes for a good school lesson) We had celebratory drinks in Miss Behaving to mark the occasion. In the morning we lifted the anchor and headed further into the northern hemisphere. I am glad we got a swim in because this was the last time we did swim in Indonesia. The water was getting much dirtier as we got closer to Singapore and bigger islands.