The day of the dragon

Well hello, all!

It has taken us over a week to get to the Komodo archipelago, home to 'some of the most tempestuous waters in Indonesia' according to the Lonely Planet. It has been pleasant all along. Most days tacking along the Northern Sumbawa coast in a F5 headwind, sometimes motoring through the lenghthy calms. We stopped for a restocking session in Bima, the capital of Sumbawa. Hustlers on motorcycles greeted us at the dock jostling for our business. Peter and Kate went off in a 'Ben Hur'- a horse chariot- to get food, and after some negotiations in which I only got badly ripped off I left with a little fleet of motorcycles each with an empty jerrycan on the pillion seat. Loaded with money I rode through the seedy parts of town with a motorcycle gang. After the fuel & food was sorted both Peter and I made another raid into town for a box of beer, the purchase of which is probably similar to scoring drugs in the Western world. My 'fixer' spoke to some people, who directed us into the slums, where other people were questioned until we got to a small shop where a tray of Bintang was dug out from the stores.

Which brings me to the subject of alcohol- Tribute is a sort of Big Brother setup, with three people marooned on a small boat in a foreign country. On our involuntary teetotal days we play chess. When there's beer aboard, everyone becomes more amicable and we even had a Latin Party in the cockpit, illuminated with headtorches. I have long thought that it is an evolutionary oversight that we all aren't permanently at the one or 2 glass level socially speaking, but there you are. Quite another thing is that the hassles in the Middle East may just be better approached through the opening of bars rather than starting another war.

Be that as it may, we've pottered gently (headwind & adverse current wherever we go) through the archipelago of hundreds of rocks and islands which rightly is a World Heritage area. Shallow reefs and raging currents in the sea and the sawtoothed spines of mountain ranges on the islands mark the horizon. Very varied- yesterday, in the area between Komodo and Rinca the landscape was more like I'd expect of Cape Horn, with towering black granite cliffs and jagged spikes of rock poking through the surface of the clear blue water. It is only fitting that Komodo dragons live in a prehistoric area like this.

This morning we are moored in Teluk Ginggo on Rinca which 'ranks up there with the best anchorages worldwide', according to our cruising guide. Just after sunrise a 2m dragon sauntered onto the nearby beach so Peter and I launched the dinghy and armed ourselves with two big sticks hoping to get a better picture of it. Yesterday, in Komodo, we saw about 6 dragons on a guided tour and they seemed pretty docile. But this one was alone on a deserted beach in a rugged, uninhabited area. We approached with caution, the dragon licked the air with his forked tongue and slowly disappeared into the bush again.

It is a magical area and it is surprising that we have seen only two other cruisers since we left Bali, and very few tourists at all. The guide said there were only 10 people on the island most days and I remember knowing about Komodo since Primary School, it is that famous. Meanwhile the wind's picked up and it is time to move. We are dropping Kate off in Labuanbajo on Flores in a few days time, Peter and I hope to have a look at Sumba after that. Mix & Louie- I suggest you get a flight to Labuanbajo as well, because this area is not to be missed. I'll be in contact later.

Slogging Eastward

Sumbawa:
As I write this in the port hull of Tribute I hear Peter and Kate teaching each other to sail and having lively arguments about the readouts on the instruments in the cockpit. They are both wrong, but on the calm waters, and without any fixed plans for any day- who cares? Since the last blog we've picked up Peter from Gili Trewangang. The Lonely Planet warned that it was a bit of a party island, so Peter and I retired to the boat. Kate however went hunting in the pubs for the elususive Two French Doctor Chicks that are so vital for my future plans. She later thought she managed to find one, but got very drunk in the process and fell out of the dinghy and wrecked her phone and whatnot.

The whole crew decided to aim for a life of moderation and contemplation for the rest of the trip. And remarkably, that is what seems to be happening. After a bit of snorkelling and wandering on Gili Air we bit the bullet and sailed to the other side of Lombok. Near a nameless village we dropped the anchor and went for a sightsee to find we had left the tourosphere. Between Peter and myself there's a 20 word vocabulary in Indonesian, but, to parapharase Chairman Mao: with a smile and a background in charades you get further than with a smile alone. A boy cut down some coconuts from a tree for us and someone else showed us how to skin them with a machete. Everyone is smiling and helpful. The daily chores now include swotting Indo from a phraseboook.

The next day we travelled to some uninhabited islands between Sumbawa and Lombok that looked really good on Google Earth but are otherwise not mentioned in any of the guides aboard. It was magnificent, we snorkelled in water with 30 m visibility over imposing reefs and I wend wild with the camera. We crossed the strait, spent hours finding an anchorage on Sumbawa and were the main event of the week for the many kids in the village we visited this morning.

...Two days later, and we lie moored on a coral reef. Directly below Tribute there is a near-vertical, coral encrusted precipice going down to unmeasurable on the depthsounder. The water is incredibly clear- often I saw the crew's bright fins underwater in the distance before I could see their heads above it. Snorkelling over the wall felt like taking off on a hangglider. The moon is full and there is a warm breeze coming off the island, carrying wafts of woodsmoke with it.

We seem to make slow progress Eastward. There has been little wind and so many distractions! We anchored in Tor Potopaddu yesterday, an almost fjordlike indentation in the Northwest Sumbawa coastline. The fishermen pointed out a good anchorage and hung around the boat for an hour or so, later replaced by all the kids from the nearby village who paddled out in their little outrigger canoes. They were mainly curious, but also hoped to get a pen or a magazine or sweets. I dished out some of each but soon realised that the demand was endless.
Today we made it in a nice breeze to Moyo Island by lunch. Despite lots of healthy snorkelling, and being up before dawn, and playing chess, and meditating a bit at sunrise- the absence of vegetables and beer will drive us toward some sort of town. But of course, there's a volcanic island with a saltwater lake on our way and probably more reefs and sights. It may just take a while.

And the boat goes on..ladidadidi,ladidadida

One of the 3 surfbreaks off Lebongong

An installment on the wanderings of Tribute: BUH, Hutch and I meandered from Gili to Senggigi, the main tourist resort on Lombok. We played to our strenghts in this foreign country by eating more nasi goreng and drinking Bintang. The water, already filthy with plastic and other debris got even more so after a short deluge which washed the sewers into the sea. Next day to Bangko-Bangko near Desert Point where on the arvo there was no swell, in the morning it looked frighteningly big with a four knot current sweeping past the point. Gave that a miss again.

We headed West for Bali. The fast current swept us Southward where we saw an endless line of big breakers- overfalls in 200 m of water. I don't know how high they were because it was hard to judge distance but it looked very nasty out there. I was quite tense for the next couple of hours, there was not enough wind to sail out of trouble if the engine were to conk out. BUH and Hutch shrugged their shoulders, draped themselves over the couch and closed their eyes, only to awake near Nusa Penida. The Southern coast consists of 50 or 100 m high vertical limestone cliffs. Deep, dark blue water, upwellings and whirlpools around the cape and no sign of the usual little fishing trimarans all morning, it was a bit eery.
Made it into Benoa without major dramas where Kate was waiting for us. We waved to a fellow cruiser in a dinghy who shouted back 'Zat was ze WORST anchoring ever! I vill tell ze Harbourmaster'!
Granted, it wasn't slick or elegant but what is it to a grey and grumpy German?

A good reason to drink Bintang and eat nasi goreng in the excellent marina restaurant. A day of provisioning in Kuta was next (Mate! You Aussie? I can get you Billabong shirt cheap!) and I write this on the calm seas off Bali. The plan is to sail to Gili Air again to await Peter's arrival. But Tribute can't do much in 6 knots of wind, and 2-4 knot of headcurrent. Aiming for Nusa Lembongang instead, we may have to sail to lombok to get a favourable current because there doesn't seem to be one off Bali.

Update on the update: Lembongang is GOOD! There are some permanently moored docking stations for the day-cruise boats- complete with waterslides and live music- and one of the charterboats offered us his mooring. I gratefully swam over with a sixpack of 'real Aussie beer!' and got a batch of hot loempias in return. The water was clean and clear, there was coral onder the boat and by midday a grommet surfbreak suddenly appeared a 100 m away. Great fun! With a couple of local kids and some laid back old tourists on the waves, the kids shouted someting that sounded like'Yagibolobolobohoo!' when a wave came through, six people took off at a time with most or all falling off again. Lots of little restaurants ashore- this comes recommended, it is only an hour by ferry out of Benoa.



The Trades haven't started yet. It is hot, and there's hardly any wind at all. By night the sea is glassy. I've been sleeping on the trampolines and sticking my head through the hatch into the cabin to watch the nights' movie- we stocked up with 30 of them in Kuta. When there's a bit of swell, there's a vertical airflow trough the tramps as the boat goes up and down which is better than none at all.



I've been grilling the 2 passing cruisers that we've met for info on the Northern route to Komodo and what I've understood is that good anchorages are few, the scenery is stunning, and nightsailing is hairy but sometimes necessary. Looks like it is going to be a suck it and see affair. Peter and Kate will need a crash course in boathandling soon.

Anyway, all is well on Tribute. My fondest to everyone!

Bait is attached to a small kite which is then flown over the reef.

The T shirts are soggy

After 4 uneventful days and nights at sea we had Land Ahoy! Rinjani- the 3700 m volcano on Lombok- peeped out of its clouds just before sunset . But we also saw a Fish Attracting Device, a sturdy unlit construction of oildrums either floating on the current or moored in 2 km of water. We took it VERY slowly from there on in the moonless night. At dawn we entered the clifflined Lombok Strait under spinnaker. There were lots of little trimaran fishing boats around, with colourful lateen sails. By lunch we were in Lembar.

The friendly harbourmaster who was supposed to be aware of our arrival was not. And he was also adamant that there were no customs, immigration or quiarantine officials in Lembar. Something was very wrong. It was tropically hot and sticky in his office and between that & the worries I got soaked. But a couple of phonecalls later Abu, a representative of Ace's ( our lucky Lombok contact!) office apologised for not being there yesterday and arrived within an hour along with the relevant officials in his car. In Tribute's little duckie the dignitaries were ferried to the boat. Sheaves of paperwork, and I was short of at least two vital items. Thanks to Abu this was all smoothed over, rectified and mended on the spot. We almost got through it all by 9 at night but we were weary after our journey and I suggested we continue the next day.

Ashore in the harbour a group of men sat round a burning log. They offered me Arak and their guitar. So I sang the Carnarvon Blues and mixed a bottle of G&T for them in return.

By the next morning boat and crew were cleared for cruising in Indo waters and we set off to the Gili isles, about 20 nM North of Lembar. At Gili Air we anchored ( and dived, and tied ropes to unused moorings) and then went ashore. No motorised transport on the islands, just bicycles and horse buggies and there are 20 or more little restaurants dotted around the beaches.Palm trees, people building wooden boats, fishermen on the reefs. Nasi goreng for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The next morning I spied a breaking wave and a bit later Hutch, BUH and I were happily snorkelling, making pictures, or trying to surf. Especially the surf made us stay another day- the water is 28 degrees and the slow wave has a smooth 2 m face. We had the break to ourselves for hours. BUH got up properly a couple of times, I managed to escape the foamies to get on clean wave for a few happy seconds. And Hutch was happy as Larry with his underwater camera in the surfline or over the corals. Strange- the viz must be over 20 metres even with all sorts of rubbish floating in it.

Anyway- it is all very beautiful and exotic and whatnot. The weather has been kind, the water is warm and clear. We are making our way to Bali for a crew changeover.

Farewell!

BUH has arrived, and thrown a Hullett-sized spanner in the finely tuned organisation of S/V Tribute. He tried the old trick of 'forgotten my sleeping bag', but was fobbed off with a spare and still had to sleep alone in the starboard forward coffin. The victuals are getting hammered.
Brad Beaumont, and ex-Carnarvonite now deeply into the marine matters of Dampier, lent us his ute & threw a barbie for us so we are developing a soft spot for the harbour.

The Customs MAY be able to clear us out today so it is all hands on deck to fuel & provision everything to the gunwhales. The forecasts are for nice Easterlies initially and then a patch of at least 2 days of NO WIND AT ALL. There's a low lurking off Java, too.

But anyway. We're off soon, aiming for landfall after a week or so in Lombok. I wish everyone well!

Cabin Fever

We did an overnighter to the Montebellos, had a look around the lagoons and anchored in Champagne Bay for the night. That was fine. The next day it was 30+ knots all day until it eased in the late arvo, and I got a kitesurf in. That was all well and relaxing too. The next day- 25-30 knots again. The books were losing their charm, all the odd jobs had been done (Hutch even cleaned the cutlery tray) and we sat beady-eyed in the cabin eating a third breakfast and realised we'd contracted Cabin Fever. There is only one cure: we secured everything and set out in the late arvo into a 20 knot headwind. The waves, whipped up by two days of strong Easterlies were three metres high or so and we got drenched, slammed and centrifuged. Again a night sail. Tiring this time- Dirk the autopilot does the steering, but needed constant adjustments- in the gusts the boat would accellerate to 8 or 9 knots, then slam into waves and drop off the back of them. Wet and uncomfortable .The solution was to head up 5 degrees, to keep things at 6 knots or so, and following the waves up & down. But in the lulls this higher angle would stop Tribute in its tracks on the next high wave, cured by 5 degrees down again.
Anyway-after 16 hours of this we arrived in Dampier. Bruce 'Useless' Hullett is on his way and it looks like customs is closed until Monday.

Life at sea

While near the huge submarine radio base at Northwest Cape, it is prudent to shield your brain from radiation. Visit Exmouth to find out why.

We made it to Surerrier island just before sunrise this morning. A bit of snorkelling and recuperating, by late arvo we were on our way again. The Monties are the next stop and we need to get there with the sun high in the sky to navigate the bommies and reefs. Anyway, not much news, we are settling in nicely on the boat. Hoisting all sorts of sails to cope with the flukey winds and taking them down again. Making meals at strange times. Motoring over glassy sea in the Mary-ann passage at the moment, Hutch sound asleep. The lights of oilrigs and beacons litter the horizon. Moon low in the East, it is very pretty.

I've noticed that running the watches - asleep or awake at any odd time in the day or night interferes with memory. Mine at least. Everything becomes sort of blurry. Whatever!

We've changed the hooks on the lures to singles and crushed the barbs. And made some sort of a foamrubber slipway for the fish on the back, so we can release them (this is a 114 cm mackie) more or less unharmed.

On our way at last...

There was a pleasant farewell party on Tribute last night, where fresh VMG and tortillas were served. Checking my email later- Bruce and Hutch suddenly need a visa! Frantic phone calls, netsurfing etc, etc. Hutch and I left this morning just after sunrise and I'm writing this off Coral Bay, I had to check email to see how the visa saga was developing and I'm on watch anyway with nothing to do but stare at the swells, the moon, the single double-reefed sail and the dimmed instrument lights. It feels WRONG to be internetting on the high seas, but by wishing for everyone's dreams to come true at the next falling star, good may come of it after all.

A ray of hope!

It may be luck or chance but the past few days appear to have been guided by fate and karma more than anything else. It involves someone 4 degrees removed from a me, and resulted in stretching a conceptual loophole in the bond-system until it was large enough to allow the possibility of Tribute sailing through. If it succeeds, I am in karma-debt. You all are. Let's be nice to everyone.

The boat is asymptotically approaching readiness, and only another 100-odd pieces need to fall into place and arrive at three different addresses at the right time. My house and shed and finances and insurances, permits and taxes and other obligations are a different matter altogether, and if I didn't have likeable neighbours attached to my unit I'd be burning the lot behind me. I'd also like to sign my own death certificate to get registered as deceased by the bureaucrats for a while.


Anyway, it is all systems go and I hope to opdate this blog once Hutch & I are on our way to Dampier!

DISASTER STRIKES!!!!!!

I won't bore you with the good news- the boat is cleaned, antifouled & ready to sail & I'm on holiday. As of last week, Bali Customs is enforcing a 45% boatvalue bond system to release the boat for cruising in Indo. The procedures for paying it are hazy, there is no known system for getting it back and to my knowledge nobody's ever been game to try it. I discovered this three hours ago.

As things stand: The Bali Marina tells me that in Kupang things are more flexible. This is pure hearsay, last year Kupang was the only known port to actually enforce the bond and it caused the Darwin-Kupang Rally lots of grief. If this is confirmed or not denied, then Bruce, Hutch and I may have to sail to Kupang which is upwind. Bitch, bitch.

Bali is still an option, but for a max of 2 weeks with passports impounded.

I called the CAIT people, who announced that shipping agents and marina operators etc will have a meeting tomorrow regarding this. It is unlikely that any boat would ever visit Indo at all under the bond system, and they'd all be without a job. Something may come out of this. I'll find out tomorrow.

Keep ya all posted.....