Category Archives: Port posts
We’ve crossed the equator
Our position is 00º03.2 NORTH 104º45.6 east, we are anchored at the island of Kentar having an equator party having crossed the equator back into the northern hemisphere. We were alongside Norsa and will post photos once we get to Nongsa Point marina in a few days. We hope to check out of Indonesia in a few days time and head to Pangkor marina in Malaysia to put Camomile to bed for a few months while we fly back to the UK. Can’t wait!!
Our mini break in Ubud
Casa Ganesha
18th September we left Camomile in the safe hands of Medana bay marina and headed to the ferry port in Lombok for the fastcat to Padang Bai on Bali. It was a lumpy crossing which took almost 2 hours. The price included transfer to the hotel so we were loaded into buses and whisked off to Ubud, a further hour and a half down the road. We arrived at the Casa Ganesha a friendly little hotel on the edge of town, mid afternoon. It only had 48 rooms but each one had air-conditioning, hot showers and a really big bed – heaven!
The hotel pool
There was a nice little pool but I don’t think we’ll have time to use it. We walked up into the centre of the town for a nice Italian meal that evening. It felt like we were on holiday, although I know most of you think we are on one long holiday!!
Inside the Ubud Palace
The next day we used the hotel’s free shuttle bus to get back into the town. Cappucino cafes, craft shops and the central crowded marketplace make up the centre of town but once you start exploring you start to come across the many temples. The first one we entered was the Ubud palace. Rebuilt after the 1917 earthquake it has many ornate corners and you can wander around the traditional buildings built around the compound.
Beautiful carved roofs
Ubud Palace
The carvings, especially the roofs, were exquisite. Note the buildings don’t have any walls because it’s so hot and therefore unnecessary.
What an entrance gate
Just north is the Pura Marajan Agung which has one of the finest gates and is the private temple for the royal family.
More temples
The stone carvings on this entrance was all done by hand, amazing.
The stone work was all hand carved
This is Pura Desa Ubud the main temple for the Ubud community and a backdrop for one of the many performances that Ubud is famous for.
Offerings
Unlike the Indonesian islands we’ve visited so far, Bali is Hindu and we noticed lots of little offerings around the place. We were told that once a year the whole of Bali ‘stops’, planes don’t fly, shops shut and everyone stays in their houses. Why? because the spirits move around to different places on that day and then stay there for the next year. If anyone makes a noise it attracts bad spirits. Indeed if you’re found on the streets on that particular day you will be arrested for your own good! For the following year offerings are placed by the spirits new home. Most of the offering is biodegradable being made of flowers, rice and biscuits and some even have a few sweets in them.
The water palace
We made our way to the very picturesque Pura Taman Sarawati or the Water Palace. Waters from the temple at the rear of the site feed the pond in the front, which overflows with pretty lotus blossoms.
Lotus blossom
Pura Taman Saraswati
The temple behind was equally beautiful.
Lunch with Carol in the Cafe Lotus
We heard that morning that one of our friends from the Blue Water rally was in town. We arranged to meet her in the Cafe Lotus overlooking the Water Palace. We reserved a nice table with a lovely view of the garden and had a great time catching up.
The monkey started climbing up me.
After lunch we walked around the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary which is inhabited by a band of grey-haired, long tailed, Balinese macaques. They are very greedy and always on the lookout for food. One of them decided to climb up me onto my back. After all the warnings that they are dangerous I was quite worried but it soon jumped off when someone held out a peanut for it.
The babies were sweet
Pura Dalem Agung (Temple of the Dead)
Further in the forest were more temples covered in foliage and more monkeys giving it a real Indiana Jones feel to it.
Goa Gajah
The beautiful gardens
About a mile outside Ubud is Goa Gajah (Elephant cave) which Carol took us to. The origins of the cave are uncertain but it probably dates back to the 11th century. It was rediscovered by Dutch archaeologists in 1923 but the fountains and pools were not found until 1954. The cave is carved into a rock face and you enter through the cavernous mouth of a demon. Inside the t-shaped cave are various statues but it felt very oppressive inside and we hurried out. The surrounding gardens were very attractive.
Bill and Sue in sarongs.
As it was a temple Bill and I had to wear sarongs around our shorts.
The Kecak dance
That evening we saw our first dance performance. It was a kecak or Monkey chant dance which we were told was a classic Balinese dance. The performance was in one of the temples adding to the atmosphere. The costumes were beautiful.
Colourful costumes
Afterwards we had a wonderful dinner with Carol at her friends restaurant, Waroeng Bernadette. We enjoyed a delicious Rendang, slow cooked beef in a spicy sauce.
To be continued
2nd Week in Indonesia
Mum in July 2011
After hearing the sad news about Mum we sat for a day wondering what to do. I had already told my sisters if Mum passed away while I was in Indonesia I wouldn’t be able to get home but now it had actually happened I wasn’t sure it was the right decision. Our only options were motor to Bali and I could fly home from there, but I wouldn’t be able to get back into the country for a month and it would probably take quite a few days to get there, or continue with our cruise and go home end of October as planned. After a long struggle I decided on the latter. I had flown home for a short visit while we were in Darwin when Mum first became ill and we all feared the worse but she had seemed to be recovering so I returned to Aus but the infection in her heart was too much for her body to cope with. I console myself with knowing I had seen her one last time. I think she would have liked me to continue; she always enjoyed getting our postcards to see where we were. This photo was taken when I went home briefly in 2011 before her heart troubles started.
Bill on the back of the motorbike
Tuesday 6th August we left Kupang with our friends Norman and Sara to head south to the island of Roti. We had a couple of lovely overnight stops before arriving in the town of Ba’a. We landed in the dinghy and were met on shore by a bunch of lads from Sail Indonesia on motorbikes offering us a lift into town. Our first thought was no but life is very slow here and the roads are so bad you can’t go fast if you wanted to so we jumped on. I’m sure our boys would be horrified after I’ve told them so many times not to do the same thing.
Shopping in the market
They took us to the local market where we were able to buy some fresh veggies. The fascination continued with us and everyone wanted their photos taken with us.
Sara with our interpreter
It was useful having an interpreter although I’m sure the prices went up but when you’re only paying a dollar or two we certainly didn’t question them.
The turtle was gone so fast
While walking through the market we noticed a turtle laying on the ground in the sun, at first we thought it was dead but then we realised it was alive. Norman asked what they were going to do with it to which they replied ‘Eat it’. They keep animals alive so they remain fresh but this poor turtle was clearly suffering so Norman asked them how much did they want for it. After some bartering rp200,000 about £14 was agreed. It was carried to the beach and put down onto the sand, as soon as it realised it was free it was scrabbling to get into the sea. A wave picked it up and it was gone so quickly I could only get this photo with it’s little shell just showing in the middle of the picture. Hopefully it will remain free.
Back on the bikes
We jumped back on the bikes and were taken back to the dinghy further down the beach.
Delicious bananas
These are the bananas I bought in the market for rp20,000 about £1.40, they taste so sweet here having only been picked a few days ago. I also managed to get some beans, carrots, spring onions and tomatoes, but no other salad and no apples. I don’t think we’ll see apples for a while.
Norsa being ‘rescued’
Saturday 10th we decided to leave Ba’a and sail around the corner of the island to Nemberala. Unfortunately Norman’s anchor got hooked around a bommie (coral head) and was jammed. We asked our motorbike friends if there were any divers that could come and help. They sent out the local dive rescue, which consisted of a couple of guys in a canoe with a snorkel mask between them! With a lot of shouting forwards and backing after several hours Norsa was free although Bill thinks Norman probably freed her himself but the boys were trying to be very helpful. We arrived at Nemberala just as it was getting dark, which was a bit tricky as we had to pass through a reef but all were safely in by 6.30.
Lots of boats in anchorage
Pretty church
There were quite a few rally boats in the anchorage and the next day we all headed into the village to look around. I found this pretty little church tucked away and this…..
Local petrol station
…is the local petrol station. All of these bottles hold a litre of petrol, just enough for a motorbike tank. It’s decanted from a large drum of petrol usually with the use of funnels and tubes and sometimes while the guy is puffing on a cigarette! I kid you not. These ones have proper lids but we’ve seen them with little bits of rags stuffed into the top. Words like cocktail and Molotov come to mind!
Hut on the beach
We walked along the beach and saw several huts like this that have people living in them. Can’t imagine what it’s like in the rainy season, maybe they live somewhere else then.
Sue having a pedicure
We walked right to the end of the beach and found a lovely resort with a spa, Sara and I treated ourselves to Pedicures.
Happy Hour
We found it was serving cold beers, something of a rarity in these parts as many people don’t have fridges let alone the electricity to power them. As you might expect the other cruisers had also found the place and it became our favourite spot for Happy Hour.
Cheers!
Arriving safely in Kupang
Our position at 9.00 Tuesday 30th July
10º 09.6 south
123º 34.2 east
Kupang harbour
A rickety Indonesian fishing boat
Our 4th day at sea had seen some wind and we sailed with the twizzle rig up all day. Now we had a dilemma because as the passage had been slow our predicted time of arrival was going to be after dark. We could motor, but probably still wouldn’t get there in time, or we could slow the boat down. We opted for the latter. I hate doing that, it seemed crazy to slow ourselves down but the approach to Kupang is through a fairly narrow channel and travelling through after dark would be difficult. We were 20 miles from the entrance at 22.00 with 5 other boats around us. After communicating on the vhf radio we all decided to hove-to for the night. We didn’t have the main up so we just winced the gennies in and let the boat drift. We were still travelling at 1½ kts towards the entrance. Bill had 4 hours sleep then let a bit more sail out. At 6am we proceeded into the channel. There were lots of fishing boats on their way back in with their catch plus lobster pot buoys everywhere so I think we had made a wise decision.
Our first sight of Indonesians was in a fishing boat coming towards us on its way out of the channel to go fishing. It looked very rickety with a tatty sail; I don’t think I would have liked to sail in it.
The Kupang fishing fleet
This is the local fishing fleet a little way away from Kupang.
Bill hoisting the Indonesian courtesy flag plus the ‘Q’ flag
When we arrived Bill hoisted our Indonesian courtesy flag along with our yellow ‘Q’ flag to await the customs. During the day the last of the fleet arrived, mostly under their own steam.
Tiare Tiporo III being brought in by the dinghies
This boat’s engine had broken down on the third day and they had sailed with whatever wind they could find. When they arrived at the anchorage I put a call out on the net to ask for dinghies to help tow them in the last bit. The camaraderie of the rally is starting to show.
Another 48 hours at Sea
Our position at 10.00 Tuesday 30th July
10 degrees 42.1 south
124 degrees 40.3 East
Day 2 122 miles in 24 hours
Day 3 129 miles in 24 hours
Early morning sunrise under the twizzle – one of the true joys of sailing the oceans
So far we are having a wonderfully boring but SAFE passage out here, long may it last. Sunday we had a light south easterly wind blowing so we managed to get the twizzle up and either sail or motor sail most of the day. At about 18.30 the wind veered to the south so we put the twizzle away and hoisted the main and a single genny and sailed most of Monday. Last night was a bit concerning because the boats ahead of us (this is when it pays not to be in the lead) were reporting groups of fishing nets with strobes on them. We have been warned about Indonesian fishing nets but we weren’t expecting them yet. I think it was because we passed the Dillon shoals last night where the sea bed goes from 500 meters to 13 meters, at it’s shallowest point, and it’s probably good fishing ground. The wind died over night and we’re motoring again.
I’ve got about 50 yachts reporting into my SSB radio net in the morning and all is well although this morning one boat reported loss of power in their engine and will have to sail the rest of the way, which will be difficult without any wind. When they get nearer one of us can take them in tow.
So we’ll motor on today unless the wind picks up and should be in Kupang first thing in the morning. Soooooooooooooo excited at the thought of arriving in Indonesia. Take care
Sue x
PS STILL no fish! Now have 2 lines out 24 hours.
Australia to Indonesia – Day 1
Our position at 10.00 28th July (look it up on Google earth)
11 degrees 48.8 south
128 degrees 43.5 east
127 miles in 24 hours
Sunset on our first night
Our first day at sea has been mostly motoring without any wind. Last night the wind came up for about 4 hours then died but this morning it’s back again and we are sailing with the twizzle out. The wind is still very light so I don’t know how long it will last.
We weren’t sad to leave Australia, it was very expensive with a high cost of living and a bad exchange rate for our , but we were sad to leave our Aussie friends. We were made to feel welcome by our past cruising friends and cousin John and Helen. Also we said goodbye to Kennedy on Far Star, a single hander from Alabama, USA. Kennedy is always very friendly and would help any one but he wants to get back home to see his grand children so he leaves for South Africa in a few days. So long Buddy.
It’s strange traveling with so many boats around us. 50 yachts crossed the start line yesterday with another dozen or so following on in the next week or so after they’ve sorted out various problems. There’s another 20 or so who have gone north to Saumlaki and we join together half way through the rally. We are roughly in the middle of the field according to my net that I’m running in the mornings. It’s quite difficult taking the positions of that many boats but we don’t do weather and I’m very strict with everyone!! The weather is the same right across the Timor sea. Our first stop is Kupang in West Timor (and in case you thing there’s fighting going on there, the fighting stopped 10 years or so ago). It should take us 3 1/2 to 4 days to cross; a bit like a Biscay crossing so it’s not too far. Sleep is always difficult the first couple of days with the watch system but eventually I’m so tired I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow at the end of my watch.
We saw a pod of Pilot whales yesterday but nothing else since. The fishing line is out optimistically but we aren’t good at catching fish. Love to everyone, Bill and Sue
Camomile leaves Australia
The start boat
We leave Australia in an hour for Kupang in Indonesia, really really excited! Should take 3 or 4 days although at the moment there isn’t any wind. We have a start time of 11.00 but with over 70 boats starting together we may hang back.
Goodbye Tom
Inspiration Lady just in front of us with all the rally boats up ahead.
Not sure what the internet facilities will be like when we get there but you can always reach us on the mdqf6 sailmail address. To all the friends we made in Australia goodbye and if you make it to the UK come and see us. Lots of love to all. Sue and Bill
Camomile shows a leg
Camomile on the beach
Darwin doesn’t have the same environmental issues that Queensland had and many of the rally boats have been landing on the beach to have their hull scrubbed. We decided to get Camomile’s ‘legs’ out and join them. We landed on the beach at 9am this morning and by 10.30 most of the hull was exposed so Bill and Norman could start scrubbing.
She looks as though she’ll fall over but it’s quite safe
I made a quick exit to the town to pick up my passport with it’s Indonesian visa stamped in it. Luckily when I returned it was all finished!
We’re back on line
Sara, Norman, Bill and Sue on Bill’s birthday
Bill has finally managed to get the website back on line. Sorry it’s been down so long. Lots been happening. We made it safely to Darwin for Bill’s birthday but the next day we had bad news from home that my Mum was very ill. I decided to fly back to the UK to see her even though she might not have been there. Fortunately she started getting better when I got there. Sadly I couldn’t stay long because we are due to leave on Sail Indonesia on 27th July. We will be in Indonesia for 3 months before we move onto Malaysia when we plan to come home for a couple of months for Christmas.
The base of this ‘London bus’ is made of beer cans
Before I went away we went to watch the Darwin Beer can rally. All the rafts were made of beer cans and most of them floated. It was a fun day out with lots of activities going on all day.
Another beer can raft
Any one for tennis?
Bill next to a termite mound
While I was away Bill went a trip with Norman and Sara and our BWR friend Tom to the Litchfield national park where they saw huge termite mounds, saw beautiful waterfalls and sat in lovely crystal clear water.
Beautiful waterfall
Norman and Sara enjoying the cool water
Tom with his 4 x 4
Brampton Island
We stayed in Mackay marina for 4 nights. It was great to be able to catch up with washing and shopping as well as chatting to Norman and Sara about our adventures and theirs. It was strange meeting up in Mackay as it’s almost 3 years since our friends in the Blue Water rally checked into Australia here on their fateful journey home.
Approaching Brampton Island
On Sunday the 5th we were ready to leave after Norman, Bill and I had had one last jog (bet you didn’t think you’d ever hear me say that!) Bill fired up the engine and I released the lines as we reversed out of our berth. Suddenly, without warning, we lost propulsion. It was a strange feeling, like sliding on ice out of control. I called to some passing yachties to take a line, which they were happy to do and bring us back onto the berth. Norman and Sara saw we were having problems and came running. Bill made a quick assessment and found the throttle cable had snapped, fortunately he had a spare. Bill and Norman set about stripping the old one out and replacing it with the spare so that within a couple of hours we were on our way. Norman and Sara were a bit apprehensive as they haven’t sailed for 7 months. They didn’t need to worry because it was a beautiful day, although there wasn’t any wind, and we motored to Brampton island some 20 miles north.
Norsa, Camomile and Inspiration Lady at anchor
We dropped our anchor off Swordfish point alongside Norsa and Inspiration Lady.
Norman and Sara on Oyster beach
On Monday the 6th the 6 of us went ashore for a walk around the island. It was a beautiful day and the walk led us up over the top of the island with wonderful views from the top. We came out on the beach in Oyster Bay where we sat and eat out picnic.
I spotted this beautiful kangaroo
There was a lot of wildlife on the island; I spotted this kangaroo sitting below the path eating the foliage.
A lizard in the undergrowth
These kangaroos were running wild around the resort
I think this is a Goanna, a type of lizard, we saw lots of them in the undergrowth. We continued on our circuit of the island until we came to overgrown resort. We had been hoping for a cold beer at the end of our 8km hike but the resort had closed down 2 years ago and now the only thing that inhabited it were more kangaroos. It was eerie walking among the empty resort buildings and past the deserted restaurants. The beachfront bar still had a price list up.
Beautiful beach in front of deserted resort
Sadly there were half a dozen sailing catamarans that could have been donated to a local sailing school for children to learn to sail in but they lay abandoned on the beach.
That evening we all boarded Norsa for a ‘pot luck’ supper followed by a game of cards; Jackie and Gary are teaching us.
Tuesday the 7th was wet and windy and we all stayed on our boats.
We left Brampton Island on the 8th to sail to the Whitsunday’s.
Camomile 