Going North 15 October – 28 October
The last part of Sail Indonesia is a long trip. First we had to go from Kumai to Belitung, close to 300 miles. Two nights in a row on the water, last time we did that when we sailed from Darwin to Kupang. Not much sailing, the changeover between monsoons is a bit frustrating.
At some stage we crossed a main shipping lane. We spotted 9 ships at the same time and one was heading for us. We noticed on the AIS that he was changing his course several times so we called him on ch 16 and asked if he had intention of staying on this course. He said politely that he was not sure and his course depends on what the other ships are doing. Nice! We said we hang around until they had past. When we got closer to Belitung, we heard on the VHF that a bus was going from the anchorage into town for Customs, Immigration and Port Clearance. It was Friday and we wanted to check out of Indonesia at Belitung, so that we would not be under time pressure to reach Nongsa Point before our Cruising Permit (CAIT) and Visa expired. When we had cleared out, we could anchor anywhere for 24 hours, but were not allowed on shore.
So we rushed the last miles, dropped the anchor, put the motor on to the dinghy, grabbed our paperwork, and raced ashore. Ten minutes later, we were in the bus into town. It took all afternoon to get the stamps and papers we needed, but at 6pm we had everything. We had time for some rest after all this., and spent our last rupiahs on diesel and restaurants.
On our way back to the boat, there were some Javanese dancers who got themselves into some form of trance, and then wanted to be hit with a whip. I do not know the background of all that, but it seemed not right.
We were again in company with quite a few boats, we had made up some ground. The facilities were still there, so I could get some diesel, and we bought another slab of Bin tang beer. We distinctly remembered that Tiger beer in Singapore was expensive. We had drinks on a little island near the anchorage, and felt more and more relaxed.
The following day, we still did not feel like moving, so Rosi baked some bread, we did a few boat jobs, and decided to go snorkelling on the reefs we had seen in front of that little island the day before. We met some other boat people there, and when the rain came, we were playing in the water like little children. That was something special.
Back on the boat, we washed hair and got ready to go ashore. We visited the Turkish single hander, who was ill with Typhoid and resting in a bungalow on the beach. He thinks he got it when eating fresh oysters from the rocks at some island. We were glad that it was diagnosed and could be treated properly. Poor guy!
We had a lovely dinner with all remaining boats (about 7), and the organisers of Sail Indonesia. They did a marvellous job in getting such a big rally (120 boats, close to 2,500 miles) organised. We can imagine the issues with authorities they had to deal with! Many thanks to Raymond and Dewi.
The next morning we raised anchor towards Singapore. We thought a few day sails would get us there. We arrived at 5 in the morning at Bankka and rested. But the anchorage was so roly that we decided to continue at 5pm. Three other boats went with us, it would not have been a restful night. That trip from Bankka to Lingga was not nice. We had green water over the bow, with thunderstorms and 25 knot winds. Mostly motoring at first, but then the wind turned more easterly, and we got some nice speed out of our headsail. We arrived at Lingga at 3pm, with a few things wet in our V-birth. The big hatch is not as waterproof as I thought. But only 18 miles to go to the equator!
At 9am, it was time for another short trip. At 15:05 local time, we crossed the equator and went from spring into autumn within seconds! We went parallel for a while to get the photo right. We considered swimming across, but gave it a miss. We did not want to be late for the crossing party, otherwise King Neptune may get annoyed. So we continued to Kentar Island, and had a wonderful gathering on Gitano with Tiaki and Devon Gypsy.
Due to some alcohol consumption the previous night, we had a late start to get to Mesanak. It was plain motoring, the best thing was that Tiaki caught a Golden Trevally. So we gathered on Jemimah to grill the fish, with some salads and sweets. Another great night with wonderful company.
We left early next day towards the Singapore Straight, with the others still asleep. The sky was dark and it looked like the clouds would move so we would have any squall behind us. We went nicely, sailed for some time and had not much rain until the clouds disappeared and the wind died. We turn the motor on and automatically looked at the stern. Oh no! There was no water coming from the exhaust! After the initial panic, we sailed towards a small island and anchored. We used the MPS and did about 1.3 knots. . I was a bit at a loss, until I saw the intake hose for the salt water showing signs of a vacuum. I took of the intake hole, and close to the strainer was a plastic bag, deformed to a sausage, blocking the water intake. That was a relief!
In the meantime, the others had caught up, and we met in the anchorage at Sembulang. No party that night, but we decided to cross the Singapore Strait together. It was not a great distance, but the current was against us, and we did not make good progress. The decision was made to anchor on the Indonesian side of the Strait, for a morning crossing the following day. We had a most colourful display of triangles on our chart plotter, thanks to the AIS. There were over 50 ships within 20 miles of us moving not to count the many at anchor. After all, this is one of the busiest waterways in the world.
Early morning start, and we moved along the southern side of the Strait towards a crossing area opposite the Western Quarantine anchorage in Singapore. But when we got close, there was suddenly a huge gap in the traffic, and we decided to go for it. Rosi did not feel ready, it was a bit like crossing 20m before the traffic light, only because there is a gap. But all went well, we reached the other side without even being close to be run over.
At the anchorage, Customs/Immigration showed up within 10 minutes, and we were cleared in 15 minutes later. How easy was that! We moved on towards Raffles Marina, dodging a few big ships and going close to anchored vessels. It was a bit nerve wrecking.
When we went around the corner towards Johor Strait, we thought we had made it. But we got a call from Tiaki, who had spotted a fellow rally boat drifting aimlessly in the middle of the Singapore Strait , with no motor and no wind. So we turned around (giving up 10 hard earned miles) to tow him into the marina, as our motor is a lot more powerful than Tiaki’s.
Well, we got there, unhooked our tow, and slipped into birth D13 in Raffles Marina. Finally in Singapore, and Sail Indonesia is just a memory. But a great memory it is, we had never expected it to be such a beautiful place to be. Above all, the friendliness of the people is just unimaginable. And it seemed that the less material possessions people had, the friendlier they were.
Bye bye Indonesia
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