Dragon Tails

Blog Location: Rinca Island, Indonesia
Blog position: 8 39.11 S 119 42.82 E



Current Location: Lovina - Bali, Indonesia
Current Location: 8 09.69 S 115 01.18 E
Next Destination: Kumai - Borneo, Indonesia

KT and I had both read a little about the Komodo Dragons and we were very much looking forward to the experience. We left Labuan Bajo for the quick motor-sail to Rinca (only Rinca and Komodo have easily accessible dragons). We anchored in the narrow bay off the park headquarters and decided to stumble ashore to arrange our dragon trip the next morning. As we got out of the dinghy I noticed a large dragon sitting under the entrance sign trying to get some shade. At first KT couldn't believe it was real because it was so perfectly situated, almost like a carving. After we cautiously passed the dragon we had a bit of a walk to get to the headquarters. We passed hundreds of monkeys on the way. They were a little skittish and had a well defined buffer zone (of how near they would let us get to them before running off), but they were fun to watch.

We talked to a guide and got some information about the available morning trips, and then he pointed us towards the ranger cabins and the dragons just hanging around the place. We got a chance to follow a HUGE 3+ meter (10 feet) dragon down a trail. Their walk is very macho; they swagger with leg muscles flexed and sway their entire body, easily taking up the walking trail designed for two people walking side by side. They are awesome.. this is not just a little gecko steroids. They have massive claws and large teeth but the scary thing is their saliva. A Komodo can easily kill a small deer or pig in one fight, but a huge water buffalo is a different story. They bite the water buffalo, usually in low hanging places like the bits, and then come back later. The bacteria is so septic it causes blood poisoning and kills the buffalo in a couple of days. The rangers told us a story of another guide who fell asleep and let his arm droop down. A dragon took a bite and it took two trips to the hospital including a one month stay to get him right again... YIKES. Needless to say we were excited for our trip.

We started early at 7:00 to stay out of the heat of the day. From the start the inland of Rinca has a very Jurassic feel to it; High volcanic mountains, fossil cliffs, dry plains and watering holes. We spotted our first dragon in the "Dragons Nest", where we came upon a female tending to the various holes/caves they the lay their eggs in. They only have one which they actually use and the others are used as decoys to keep the cannibalistic elders from eating the young. The female lays 15-30 eggs and they hatch in 8-9 months. Once born the young dragons spend their first years living in the trees (eating bugs and geckos for food) because the larger adults can't climb them. This female was doing a lot of digging as were a number of nearby, strange looking flightless birds ... both were kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

We walked through a thick blanket of trees, filled with monkeys and smaller lizards. The lighting and sounds of various animals created a very eerie uneasy feeling. As we were walking across the savanna we came across numerous water buffalo skulls, propped up on stones by the guides. It literally looked like we were walking into the Jurassic wild. Dragons hunt by waiting next to game trails and pouncing on the unsuspecting prey. A single 50kg Dragon can eat a 40kg deer. As we walked through the knee high dry grass, guarded only by a guide with a stick, I wondered if we were next. As we neared the watering hole our guide suggested that this was a VERY dangerous place and we must be on constant lookout. Just moments after his warning we noticed a 2+ meter dragon bulldozing through the grass up a hill five meters away (a smaller dragon can run faster than a human)! The dragons we found we pretty relaxed, in fact our guide even suggested we touch their tail ... "Dragging the dragon". He also gave us a few suggestions; "If their head is down, OK. If their head comes up and they start licking (smelling), be on the look out. If they get the smell of meat (blood), nothing will slow them down!" Having properly prepared us he said, "Okay, now you touch". As I was the last (of four) to touch the dragon's tail, I felt a little like the movie "Wild Hogs" where they are smacking the bull on the butt ... all is good for the first guy, but as the second gets ready a local mentions "nobody has ever done it twice in a row" ... and then all hell breaks loose!!! Luckily our dragon wasn't as sensitive as the bull in the movie. His tail was REALLY heavy, and I just couldn't let it go ... I had to give it a shake!!

We continued up the hills, through taller grass, until we reached a huge plain where we came across a couple of wild horses (last year there was three but the dragons got one). I can't imagine one of these huge dragons chasing down a horse. No wonder the horse were so skittish. Our guide also was kind enough to show us the various types of dragon poo. There is the pile of white, which is the bones, teeth, and hooves of whatever they have eaten. He even picked up a small deer hoof off the top of a dried turd and handed it to KT, who handled it quite inquisitively until she realized it had just come from Dragon poo. Then there was the fur ball poo. If you think Bill the cat coughed up a lot of fur balls, imagine the dragons ACKKKKK after a 40kg deer. He even showed us "the rest" poo, which is just what you'd expect.. only a little bigger. Since a dragon eats the whole lot, its digestive system compartmentalizes the various portions to get the most efficient use of each bit.

We continued our beautiful walk, with panoramic views into the valleys below, stopping for water breaks and long stories from our guide. He started out rather slowly but seemed to pick up the pace as the morning wore on. During one long quiet break I heard a rustle in the bush and watched as a dragon came out of its hiding place a short distance away. We had no idea it was even there. Our four hour hike ended with a nice cold beer surrounded by more dragons in the cabin area. I guess you can even rent one of the rooms, although make sure you get a good nights sleep BEFORE you see the dragons. I don't think you'd sleep very well AFTER the tour ... not with all those dragons hanging around while you slept (talk about a new type of anchor watch).

After a hot hike we couldn't think of anything better than a nice cold ocean dip.. but Dragons CAN swim. We moved outside the lagoon and rafted up with Island Sonata on a mooring ball. We watched the monkeys and deer raid the beach as the sun set.

Continue reading "Dragon Tails"...

Billabong in Bali

September 23 - 28, 2007



We were one of the last boats to arrive in Lovina on the north coast of Bali. We knew the anchorage would be almost full of boats because Bali is one of the traditional favorite stops in the rally, for no other reason than it is a beautiful touristy spot. Bali attracts over one million visitors a year and the local culture is dominated by tourist related activities. Once again a great local stage was created on the beach, complete with seating in the shade and water to wash the black volcanic beach sand off your feet. We spent the day enjoying the more upscale side of life including our first Internet in over two months (even had wireless to the boat), and a nice lunch with friends we hadn't caught up with in a while. We got the skinny on some good places to eat, fun things to do; ah the joys of having someone to do the "hard part" of scoping out the place out for us.

As we walked around we immediately noticed the aggressive nature of the people selling things here (ah the joys of tourism). They would literally run out and practically beg you to visit their shop or stand. "Hey mister needed transport, need t-shirt". They have an amazing memory and the rest of our stay we were greeted by "hey Chris come have a look", "special happy price for you Chris". Kt was forever known as "Mrs Chris" but we found that the only way we could avoid the onslaught of attention was to be on the cell phone. They would quickly interrupt a regular conversation but for some reason they had infinite respect for someone talking on the phone. We regularly walked by "fake chatting" and talking to each other because it worked so well.

The Balinese religion is called Agama Hindu Dharma, and is a unique blend of Hindu, Buddhist, Javanese and indigenous beliefs. The first thing you notice is all the offerings. Fire, water and flowers are all the basic components of an offering and once you know what to look for you will see them everywhere. The most common are small offerings placed in front of shops, driveways, and even on the motor scooters. They are made with small woven baskets of palm leaf, and are usually filled with flowers and a small piece of food (rice or Ritz cracker). Other small offerings are presented after cooking or before eating. It is hard to walk more than a couple of minutes without noticing some sort of offering or small temple. The most noticeable offering is called a penjor and is a large decorated bamboo pole. They are intricately decorated along the entire length of the pole, which gentle curves down at the top end and is finished with a beautiful palm leaf creation that hangs off the top. On the side streets of Lovina they covered ever inch of the edges of the street. I felt rather strange when I first noticed the Swastika in a couple of very religious places. Little did I know it was the original Hindu swastika, which has been their symbol for safety, peace, happiness, and blessings for thousands of years. It was NOT the Nazi swastika, which is a rotated version of the same symbol.

The first event was the welcome gala dinner, which started with some fantastic dancing. I can't even begin to describe the beauty and intricacy of the dances. The costumes are so colorful and bright and every piece of the costume was used in the dance. Extra scarves or shawls quickly become the highlight of one dance while some of the male dancers used masks, weapons and finger extensions as their extras. The women even used their eyes to accentuate a dance move. They would open their eyes so big and then shift their eyeballs quickly to complete the expression. It was truly amazing and sometimes rather freaky. The music is very upbeat and perfectly in sync with the dancers every move, which might just be a quick flick of the finger and an eye movement. I don't know how they choreographed the dance and the music so well. It was explained to us that they spend years learning the dances, as everything from their facial expressions (smiles, frowns, wide-eyes, eyebrow movement, etc) to the slightest finger moments are considered part of the dance. The dancing was followed by a fantastic dinner, where separate tables highlighted traditional dishes of various main ingredients. There were tables for everything; seafood, vegetarian, pork, chicken and even a dessert table. It was funny trying to watch the other tourists sneak in for the free food.. "Which boat are you on?" someone would ask.. "Um,ah, we are friends with THAT boat," they would point. There was plenty of food to go around and everyone had a great evening.

The next day KT REALLY got into the decadent offerings of Bali and had a four-hour "spa day" complete with massage, body scrub, facial and pedicure; all for $25. John and I went to the neighboring town to hunt down some Gado-gado sauce (a great local peanut sauce mix) and some light bulbs. It was a very busy town and market, complete with a full-blown grocery store. After a couple hours of searching John finally found the light bulbs and I bought some highly sought after streaky bacon (last seen in Australia). We headed back to check on the girls, they couldn't have been more relaxed and loose if they were Jell-O.. "We are never going to get them back on the boat again" I said to John. We had another amazing display of dancing on the beach before we joined some friends for dinner and drinks at a back alley restaurant. The food was ok but half the staff was missing so Warren (from Mico Verde) became the bar tender after the waitress unlocked the booze and I had to restock the tonic water after we drank them out of it with Warren's heavy handed Gin and Tonics.

The following day KT took a Balinese cooking class with Steph on Mico Verde and learned how to make nine tasty Indonesian dishes. I bumped into the rest of the gang at a fantastic hotel called Chonos. Irena from Moose raved about the Dutch French fries and said they we almost better than at home. The best part was the wet cool scented towels they gave you when you first sat down. Nothing felt better then a cold towel on your neck and a good wipe down. I liked it so much I took KT back for dinner, where they added a welcome drink to the towels as we indulged in a romantic dinner all by ourselves at the pool. I had smoked salmon and cream cheese linguini that was as good if not better than any meal in the states. Yummm!!

We planned a road trip to the tourist center on the southern side of the island with stops at some of the more famous Balinese spots on the way. We hired an air-conditioned van complete with a driver for $75 for two days, and discovered it is not a bad way to travel. We stopped at some places like the Gitgit waterfall, Ulun Danu (temple by the lake), and the botanical gardens. We rose up into the volcanic mountains and into the fertile growing plains which had every crop available. It was amazing to see ever surface covered in crop, they even terraced the land that I thought was unreachably steep. The main produce is coffee, copra (dried coconut), spices, vegetables, and of course rice. We arrived at one temple and bought fresh strawberries, a very unexpected treat. The mountain air was cool and refreshing, a treat compared the humid hot air of the northern side's beaches. We traveled on to the Tanah Lot temple (pictured left), which is beautifully built temple built into the rocks over the ocean. KT and I had seen it on a video and promised ourselves we would visit it if we ever got the chance. It was a very beautiful spot and the southern ocean surf was pounding. I was glad we didn't try and anchor here!! But like all famous spots in Bali the path leading up to the temple was completely covered in souvenir and craft shops. It was amazing. Some people even got harassed inside of temples that they went to. It was a little much. One vendor had a flying fox (fruit bat) on display that you could feed for a small donation. It was amazing to see one of these creatures up close after we have seen so many flying in the wild. Their face definitely looks like a small furry fox, complete with big teeth.

We continued onto the Tourist center Kuta. When you arrive, you realize that you might as well be in a large beach city in the states, with some slight subtle differences. Sure they have all the nice shops, Versace, D&G, and on and on. The prices are even straight from the states as well, no special "happy price" here. We "splurged" by staying the night at the Hard Rock hotel, making it more affordable by getting a three-bed loft room and splitting it three ways (with Mico Verde and Island Sonata). The pool was huge and overlooked the main surf beach in Kuta that was filled with tourists. Warren and I really wanted to take some surf lessons so we strolled down the beach trying to find a way to squeeze in a surf lesson before sunset or in the early morning. The surf was huge (at least 6 feet) and quickly breaking, just getting ready to dump us in the shallow sand; and that was the inner break. The outer break, which was about 1/2 mile out, was even bigger. Warren got this crazy look in his eye as he ran down the beach, out to try and body surf the inner wave. I got ready by searching for the nearest lifeguard tower, and had my cell phone ready for the inevitable emergency phone call to his wife. He emerged about five minutes later looking like a drowned rat and said "holy crap that's big!!"

I don't know what it is about cruisers but we start to obsess about food we haven't had in a while. We all had the typical Pavlovian drooling response when we saw the McDonalds, KFC and Dunkin Donut shops. We had the evening and morning planned out, and it mostly revolved around junk food. We started out with a double cheeseburger and fries appetizer at McDonalds. Then we stopped at Dunkin Donuts only to find out they didn't have any Munchkins, which was highly disappointing for KT. We completed the night by having dinner at KFC and dessert at New Zealand Naturals, a great ice cream shop we discovered in Australia of all places. We bought some pirated $1 movies and then returned to the room for a night of air-conditioned TV watching.. Ah heaven!! The others returned with strange stories of a Krispy Kreme donuts bag they had seen in another tourist hands before they attacked them for specifics of the shop's location (Krispy Kreme was now on our morning agenda). Ok a full belly of junk food and three couples crammed into one room didn't make for the best nights sleep but we survived.

Now it was breakfast time. I headed off in search of the Krispy Kreme Donuts store only to bump in to Stephanie who was returning from her failed attempt to find said paradise! I went a different direction and must have walked five miles before I found it!! But it didn't open until 9:00. Same as the Starbucks. How on earth these people can survive until 9 am without coffee is beyond me. I decided to check out McDonalds and was drooling over the thought of a Bacon, egg and cheese biscuit breakfast sandwich. Ok, in reality I know that there is no concept of biscuits, as we know them in the southern hemisphere ... their biscuits are crackers or cookies (they have no idea what they are missing). So I was really ready for a Bacon & Egg McMuffin. I almost cried when I asked for the breakfast menu and the guy pointed to something that looked like fried chicken. They didn't even have a breakfast menu!! On top of that the Dunkin donuts still hadn't made the munchkins.. I felt obliged to tell them that you don't really have to make them they are just a by-product of the donut making process but I held back. uggh!! Warren was on such a McDonalds kick that he gorged himself on a Big Mac and fries for breakfast.. Hey get it while you can. The others checked out of the hotel as I ran to Starbucks to pay an obscene $6.00 for two cups of coffee. Hey that's 1/5 our daily cruising budget. I must say it didn't meet expectations. Our driver was amazed when we told him our first stop of the day would be a donut shop. We ordered two dozen and did the completely dorky thing and had the counter guy take our photo; complete with the Krispy Kreme hats on our heads. Now I must say if you have gone YEARS without a Krispy Kreme Donut the first bite is heaven. Even Warren wolfed down a couple to complete his junk food breakfast. We offered one to the driver who thought we must be crazy to spend $9 on two-dozen donuts. His only comment... "Sweet"!!

We continued onto Mas, a touristy area known for its woodcarvings. They do have some amazing carvings, some of them are so huge I have no idea where you would even put them. I guess a lot of their market must be for export because they had a lot of western looking carvings of bears and salmon. But the top seller seemed to be a Southern California beach girl in her bikini. The guy who sold those wasn't even into bargaining for other items because he exported so many of his girls. The labor must be so cheap here. I had one local offer me the most intricate bone carvings, which must have taken weeks to make. Four dollars for two.. But they weren't my style so I said no. He kept trying and trying before he finally gave up as we drove off. The next stop was Ubud, a very crazy tourist shopping market. It was insane, everyone trying to get you to buy something. By now we were on to the seller's tricks; starting out about 10 times what the item was worth so that you felt good when you only paid twice as much. We were also getting a little sick of being taken advantage of when we asked the price of something (in other spots) only to be told twice the price because we were white. It was actually kind of fun to walk through the market and not care. If someone started out to high we just walked away. KT came up with concept of the "walk away price". KT would name her price that she wanted to pay. They would try to get her negotiate up but she stood firm. Then as she walked away they would call out "okay, okay", and she usually got exactly what she wanted for her price. It was really funny we talked about a "Bali-bong" T-shirt. She asked me twice what my walk away price was before I realized that SHE really wanted it and was willing to pay a little more.

Sometimes when you purchase something, they feel that you have made them lucky and many times they rubbed our money on the rest of the items in the shop. We bought huge sachets of saffron for $1, and even managed to buy a couple of cool pieces of artwork. By now we were shopped out.. Done.. finito!! We headed back over the mountain and stopped at the volcano view only to be accosted by the most aggressive peddlers yet. These women chased us around trying to sell us sarongs and wouldn't take no for an answer. One woman grabbed me and actually wrapped it around me.. Yikes. She kept asking, "What you want". Finally Warren tried to explain in his broken Indonesian that we just wanted her to go away. "But I live here" she replied!!

Turns out we picked one of the best times to spend the night off the boat. It was very rolly when we returned but people said the previous night was even worse. We spent the morning on the boat trying to get some blogs and web updates completed before we decided we could be doing it on land in an air-conditioned building. hmm duhh. We had lunch at Chanos again ... this time a smoke salmon baguette sandwich. Then, we even returned for dinner to show Island Sonata and Mico Verde our little paradise, once again filling myself to the brim with smoked salmon. Hey you never know when you'll come across it again.

We had a great time in Bali, and I think we got the complete experience. Our trip to the "other [touristy] side" was a fun break but I really enjoyed just exploring the neighboring villages and beaches around Lovina. One day I took a camera and headed down the beach. The local boats are colorful and some have the face of a marlin carved into the front. One of the smaller local boats was named "Window to the World" which got me thinking about our trip. I also bumped into a local boat named Billabong. Away from the hustle and the bustle of the tourists these were people trying to make it - anyway they could. It was nice to lose myself in the rice paddies and the fishing boats. Every once in a while you'd walk around the corner and get a strong whiff of cloves. You'd look over the wall past the brightly decorated temple and find a huge patch of cloves drying in the mid-day sun. Bali, A complete sensory experience.
Continue reading "Billabong in Bali"...

Bombs, Bottles, and Bats

Current Location: Batu Boga East, Indonesia
Current Position: 08 28.24' S 121 57.34' E
Next Destination: Maurole, Flores Island, Indonesia

Bombs, Bottles and Bats. That pretty much describes our last two anchorages.

First there was Teluk Hading; a lovely spot, where we anchored just a bit too shallow (at low tide we were in 7.8 feet, with a shallow bommie right behind us -we had to pull in some chain to avoid hitting it until high tide). The water clarity was great, but there wasn't much to snorkel on, except the three lion fish hanging out under a piece of coral. Later in the evening two local fishing boats came in and anchored pretty close to Billabong. One of the boats came over to say hello (and ask for cigarettes of course). We were just getting ready to go over to Island Sonata for dinner, so after saying our hellos we were wondering how to then politely say goodbye, when, KABOOM ... and with the loud bang the entire hull of Billabong shuddered (I thought we had just hit the bommie). KABOOM, it went again. The three fishermen hanging on to Billabong excitedly looked up, pointed, and said goodbye as they tore off, just as a third KABOOM sounded and both Chris and I saw a huge flood of water explode from the sea. And now we understand why we aren't catching any fish in Indonesia - the locals are stunning the fish (yes, with live, exploding bombs), and then diving in and scooping them up! Now don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of one getting an easy, full meal, but isn't that just a tad-bit overkill??? What we have heard is that they are getting the bombs from old war dumps (usually underwater). After they salvage the bomb, defuse it and remove the "good" bits, they create a waterproof wick by wrapping it in aluminum foil. Then they take the entire thing and wrap it in a papaya, before tossing it overboard, from their dinky little dugout canoes. Afterwards they scoop up the fish with nets, or divers using Hooka hoses! I have to imagine that the mortality rate for fishing is higher in Indonesia than other countries! It's so bad that even the sea birds and bigger fish come running the minute the bombs sound and scoop up whatever they can.

We left Teluk Hading, with plans on attempting to enter a fantastic looking lagoon Chris had spotted on a satellite photo. We were ready to do some serious navigation; maneuvering around and through the reefs. What we didn't expect was to come around the corner and spot thousands upon thousands of floating bottles! Not only did we have to navigate the reef but we also had to weave our way through the numerous seaweed farms! Imagine driving through Nebraska when the corn is sprouting, and seeing row upon row of husks - it was like that, but with bottles on water instead of stalks on dirt!!! We managed through okay, but finding a spot to anchor wasn't easy, as the seaweed farms occupied all the shallow spots. Then, just as we were dropping our hook, the mangrove's stirred to life and thousands of fruit bats (also known as flying foxes) swarmed to the air, and streamed out, crossing over Billabong's bow. It was a site to see, and for the remainder of the day and throughout the next day, we would continue to be entertained and awed by the quantity of flying foxes. We even ventured into the mangroves on the dinghy, stirring the bats to life (and praying we wouldn't wind up covered in bat dung!)

All in all they were two great anchorages, each with something just a bit unique!!!

Additional Anchorage note for following cruisers:

You can enter the lagoon, which is on other side of the hill as Tanjung Gedong, through one of three main channels. There is a northern entrance to the east of the very small island (it starts slightly north west from there). The outer edge shoals depending on the previous years monsoon activity so be careful and enter only in good light, we only saw a cat do it. The southern edge has a very deep main channel (90') due south from the gap between the two main islands. The channel is navigated based on location of the seaweed farm bottles and is kept clear for ships collecting all the seaweed. There is another southern channel to the East (40') but you need to navigate more bottles and weave in front of a village to find the main lagoon. We were surprised to have a slight swell from the southern side (as there is really no fetch).

The anchorage is on the northern edge of the lagoon, tucked in off the reef near the sandy beach with mud flats in front and the mangroves to the north. It may fill up with seaweed farms in the future but there is always room in the middle (70'). We anchored in 50' Coral and mud but other found less depth. It was VERY calm despite people getting rolled out of the other anchorage the night before we arrived. If you squint just right the main peak reminds us of Bora Bora. We did a bush hike to the top of the hill by the anchorage but had to fight very tall grass and stickers. There is no trail!!

Continue reading "Bombs, Bottles, and Bats"...

Welcome to Indonesia

Current Location: Inside the Lagoon, Parmahan Island, Indonesia
Current Position: 08 27.3' S 122 25.3' E
Next Destination: Maumere, Flores Island, Indonesia

Our time in Kupang was great, but as suspected upon arrival, the upbeat pace was tiring. The tours put on by the Rally were outstanding (more about those and more details about Kupang will be posted on our website at a later date). The anchorage however lacked appeal, but thanks to the full days touring and exploring Kupang we were hardly ever on the boat!

While most boats departing Kupang were headed for the next rally stop, Alor, we decided to head towards Lembata (the third rally stop), opting for a bit of time "alone" before rejoining the rally. Of course with 100+ boats around, one is never really alone! We ended up about eight nautical miles from the town of Lembata, near Adunara Island.

The area is beautiful. Some of the dramatic cliffs and landscapes remind us a bit of the Marquesas Islands, only here, huge Mt Fuji style mountains emerge, some still blasting smoke, others lying dormant. From the anchorage we could spot at least five volcanoes at various points around us.

When we first arrived we were pleased to find only one other boat in the anchorage. The next few days were paradise. The anchorage was extremely flat, the water clear, and the snorkeling terrific. We were both recovering from various illnesses, so it was terrific to enjoy some true R & R and we loved getting back into the slow days of the cruising lifestyle. We also enjoyed a few sundowners with Sundance (the other boat).

There are two sand pits that appear and disappear with the tides, both of which were terrific to walk along at low tide. The water clarity was amazing; one could easily see the bottom of the channel, 80 feet below! The corals were fantastic, both soft and hard, some of brilliant colors. Surprisingly, for the amount of coral we didn't see as many fish as we thought there should be. Even so, we did spot a juvenile black lion fish, swimming about in the open - very majestic looking. Plus a school of gigantic Longfin Spadefish, I've never seen them so big, and they weren't scared of us at all (I swam within touching distance of them and they barely flinched). We also spotted a fantastic anemone, encased in a blue soft covering (almost like a plastic bag). On our first pass the anemone was fully open, the blue "bag" barely noticeable, but when we returned the "bag" was closed and only a tiny bit of the anemone stuck out. It was really quite cool. Unfortunately there were also a large number of huge Crowns of Thorns, and bleached coral.

It didn't take long before the anchorage began to fill up, boats arriving both from Kupang and Alor. The anchorage was still quite pleasant, but fifteen boats are never as serene as two! With the additional boats we enjoyed a few happy hour drinks on the sand-spit, noting that it was perfect to get off the boat for the few hours when the north swell came rolling in.

In total we spent about one week there before finally motivating to move on. Instead of going into Lembata for the rally events we decided to move westward slowly, with a plan of rejoining the rally in Maumere. And so it came to be that we found ourselves in Tanjung Gedong, Flores, around three in the afternoon. It is a small anchorage and already four boats (plus two local boats) were anchored there. There was just enough room for us, but we'd have to tie a stern line ashore and squeeze between two other boats. As it was late in the afternoon we didn't want to move on, hunting for another anchorage. This was a first for us; a stern line to shore, over a coral shelf (deep waters quickly shelving up to shallow waters), in a tight spot. And all, of course, in the audience of the curious locals!

We dropped our bow hook in about 50 feet (choosing the deeper water as to avoid destroying the coral of the shallow shelf). Before the hook even touched the bottom at least three local canoe boats approached to greet us. Luckily I had learned how to say "Just a minute" in Indonesia, so we were able to hold them off while we figured out how to get a stern line ashore. Of course, who know "a moment" would end up being two (very comic) hours!!!

First off, Chris quickly hopped in the dinghy with our hand-held depth sounder to make sure there was enough room over the shelf (for when we swung around with our stern line), and also to scope out a potentially spot for our friends on Island Sonata. He couldn't figure out why his knees were getting wet until he realized he'd forgotten to put the plug back in the dinghy - he was sinking!!! He came back to Billabong with one of those 'oops' grins and asked me to hand down the plug!

Chris dug to the bottom of our cockpit storage, pulling out a huge wad of line (which got a few "oohs" and "aahs" from our local audience). He attached it Billabong's stern, jumped back in the dinghy, and headed ashore. Only there wasn't enough line. I couldn't back in (to get us closer) because with Billabong's port walk I couldn't get her straightened out before hitting the boat next to us. Unable to communicate, with Chris onshore and me aboard, he came back to Billabong and we decided to try going in nose (bow) first; our theory being that this would get us close enough for Chris to reach shore, where he would attach the line, and then pull it, thereby spinning us around, stern to shore. All seemed to be according to plan; Chris made it ashore with enough line, and we were more or less centered between the two boats. However, there were no rocks large enough to tie the line to, and the trees were another few yards up the beach (too far with the current line). We went back and forth trying a few things, before Chris finally gathered up the line and came back to Billabong - getting a few chuckles from the locals when he slipped on the rocks getting back into the dinghy.

Now, you have to keep in mind that while all this back and forth is going on at least five canoe- style boats are hovering around Billabong with the locals smiling, laughing, and staring, literally watching every move (and every blunder). Probably wondering how these two white fools ever made it anywhere! After all, when they anchor their fishing boats, they just drive them right up on shore! Within the first five minutes I had exhausted all of my Indonesia and they had pretty much used up all the English, so we were left to smiles and waving!

Anyway, out came some more line, and away Chris went again. This time we ran the line from the stern, through the bow (to keep us straight), and Chris didn't try to actually pull Billabong. Once ashore he tied the two lines together and then disappeared into the trees to attach the line. When he reappeared he was urgently slapping at his legs, back, stomach and head. I knew then that something had gone amuck. Again, the locals thought it was grand entertainment, and there was much laughter! When he finally made it back to Billabong he informed me he was 'attacked' by green ants and that they "had gotten in my underpants!" Well, luckily his efforts were successful, as now that we were attached to shore we could easily pull in the stern line (having released it from the bow), and swing Billabong around to lie neatly between the boats, bow out. Perhaps it doesn't sound so bad, but this process took a good two hours, long enough for the locals to get bored; by the time we were finally anchored everyone had returned to shore! As evening fell we noticed that one of the fires on the rocky shore was bigger than it had appeared earlier; wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake - if the fire traveled closer to our stern line and burned through it!

Of course that didn't happen. And we enjoyed an extremely pleasant and peaceful night. One wouldn't think there would be a lot of 'firsts' left after 3-1/2 years of cruising, but apparently there is always something left to learn!

We know that next year, and the years following, another crowd of cruisers will be traveling through Indonesia, and so, when relevant, we will throw in some additional information to hopefully assist those coming in the next years (such as what follows).

Additional anchorage notes for following cruisers:

Adunara Anchorage: In the "101 Anchorages" book it states there is room for 4-5 boats in 10-12m. We think about 3 boats in 12-15 meters is more accurate along the tongue of shallower water that runs off the SW edge of the sand spit. However, there is plenty of room for additional boats (we saw up to about 15) if willing to anchor in deeper waters (about 16m - 20m) either south of the pearl farm or along the NE channel. Be aware that a strong current can flow through the anchorage, and around the NE sand-spit (especially during the spring tides), this results in some interesting boat swing, and caused a few boats to have to re-anchor and/or come mighty close to other boats. Also try not to anchor too close the pearl farm buoys or shacks, as the locals will come out and ask you to move. We would typically get stronger S/SE winds during the night that switched to NE sea breezes in the early afternoon, so don't anchor on the shallow shelf off the northern side of the channel or you'll end up parked on the sand spit at midnight.

Tanjung Gedong, Flores Anchorage: The center of the anchorage is deep (100-200 feet), and it shelves up quickly. As noted above, when we arrived the boats had used stern lines ashore, this allowed them to be bow out to any swell that might enter, and allowed for more boats to fit. If you want to avoid throwing your hook directly onto the coral (always a good thing to avoid), plan to drop in 40-50 feet. Once the stern line is ashore you will fall back (towards shore of course) and be in about 20-30 feet. We imagine a pretty good swell could enter the bay, however on our night there it was extremely peaceful and flat calm. Local fishing boats (the larger ones) anchor in the deeper parts as well, so it can get crowded. None of the boats in front of us (nor us) could find the shallow waters described in "101 Anchorages" but we figure you could easily fit nine boats if all committed to tying stern to.

Continue reading "Welcome to Indonesia"...

Passage Journal: Darwin to Kupang

Current Location: Kupang, Indonesia
Current Position: 10 09.49' S 123 34.46' E
Next Destination: Alor, Indonesia

Kupang, Indonesia Anchorage

Darwin to Kupang

Departing Darwin with a group of 100 boats was just a wee-bit crazy! We've never traveled with such a large group before - on average IF we are traveling in a 'group' it tends to be under five! There was an official starting 'line', which, being anchored in the back of the Darwin fleet, we were nearly anchored at! As I (KT) don't much like sailing nearby other boats we hadn't intended to actually start at the 11am go-time, rather we were going to start either a bit early or a bit late (while I didn't want to be in the masses, I did want to see what 100 boats sailing in the same general area looked liked!). I guess we got caught up in the moment and energy of the boats around us, because we ended up crossing over the start line at 11:03am, right smack dab in the middle of all the craziness! I told Chris that the word must've gotten out about me, because I swear a number of boats came right at us! But I managed to keep my cool and didn't even pee my pants (or as Chris likes to say "Shit a twinkie")! Actually it was terribly exciting, and quite an experience to be surrounded by boats, sailing with a fleet of varying shapes and sizes!

That first day felt like a party, boats everywhere on the horizon, and the VHF continuously going off with all the chatter. I'm glad that coming up the coast of Australia we had a chance to use our spinnaker; getting used to hoisting it, bringing it down, and jibing it - as it takes some getting used to and learning while sailing in a large fleet would not have been good! Just before nightfall, Chris and did a horizon count, and we could see at least 86 boats! I had thought we'd be more spread out after the hours of sailing, but duhh a hundred boats aren't going to disperse in just eight hours! As the sunset set and navigation lights came on, it was like a city coming alive over the ocean. Red, green, and white lights twinkling all around us! We were surprised to find how few people run proper navigation lights. Some had their anchor lights on, some ran both mast and deck lights, and nearly NOBODY ran a steaming light (when motoring)! It made it a bit more difficult when boats came near, but everyone seemed to be on good watches, so there were no close calls (for us at least).

With light winds over the night, the fleet spread out quickly (some boats motoring right away, others not at all), so that by the following afternoon we only counted about twenty boats on the horizons.
The first and third days of the trip were the best. Both days we ran our spinnaker and the seas were somewhat flat. On the other days we couldn't sail the spinnaker either because there was too much wind, too little wind with too much swell, or we were trying to slow down in order to time our arrival into Kupang. We had actually started the third day without another boat in site, but after flying with our spinnaker up (we do between 6 to 9 kts with it) we quickly came across (and passed) around five other boats.
 
We sailed most of our fourth (and last) day without another boat in site - which, after the previous days, felt lonely! As tends to be the case with us, when we try to slow down, the wind picks up! We didn't want to anchor in Kupang at night, so were trying desperately to slow down, sailing with a very reefed jib and no main. Every other night the wind had nearly died, so we didn't think we'd have a problem going slower, but of course the last night, when we wanted to go slow, the wind piped up to 20kts! Oh well!

And of course what's a passage without fishing? This trip, our freezer still full from traveling up the coast of Australia, Chris didn't put a lot of effort into fishing. He did throw a line in on occasion and we snagged three small fish - all of which we threw back; Chris says if he's going to clean a fish it has to be a least two meals worth of meat!

While we would've preferred to enter the channel into Kupang during the day, however a number of boats a head of us reported it wasn't too difficult at night, so we went ahead with a night entrance. We stayed near the center of the channel, thinking that would be the safest bet to avoid buoys and fishing nets. We couldn't believe the number of fishing boats (thankfully all well lit), or the city lights. While we knew over 200, 000 people live in Kupang, we still thought it was going to be a small town, not a lit up city! We managed to avoid all the fishing boats, but some were hard to spot against the lights on shore. We arrived just outside the anchorage an hour before sunrise, so we idled around, keeping watch for fishing vessels, waiting for some light. We were less than a quarter of a mile from the anchorage, but couldn't tell anchor lights from the lights in town!

About half the fleet had arrived the previous day, so finding a spot to anchor wasn't easy, and we aren't very impressed with the anchorage - which is open to the wind and swell. But we ended up in a pretty decent location, and the wind/swell seems to be dying. Our day was spent putting the boat 'away' and waiting for customs. By 4pm we were ready to head ashore.

I love arriving in a new location, especially a new country. The way your senses are immediately overloaded with new sights, sounds, and smells when you step ashore for the first time. It's a lot like being a small child, looking around with eyes wide open, trying to process everything around you, thrilled at the discovery of something new, but yet perhaps a bit timid about how you fit in, or what your role is, in this new environment.

Kupang is a bustle of energy, and the addition of 107 visiting yachts seems to push it over the top! At first glance it reminds us a bit of Mexico, with its street vendors selling everything from cigarettes to jewelry. Like Mexico it also appears to be a bit run down, old, and dirty. Walking the streets are a hazard, between the huge holes (more like cavernous pits) in the sidewalks and endless number of speeding motorbikes, one has to keep a careful eye out when touring the city! But what it lacks in styles it makes up for with its friendly energy. The vendors aren't pushy, easily accepting a no thank you when they approach, and everywhere people smile and say 'halo'. The exchange rate is crazily out of whack, one US dollar equating to over 9,000 rupiah! A large Bintang (local beer) is only 25,000 (about $2.50) and I bought a black pearl bracelet (from the Komodo islands) from a vender for $60,000 Rph  all of $6 US! And while they are the imperfect pearls, they are real! We enjoyed a fantastic dinner out, with drinks and all, at about $13 US per couple! It is so inexpensive we will probably end up getting carried away and over spend!!!

We have barely touched upon Kupang, being ashore for only a few hours. I look forward to our future explorations and discovering what lies beneath first impressions.
Continue reading "Passage Journal: Darwin to Kupang"...