Bali to Kalimantan (Borneo)

We are ten miles up the Kumai river on the southern edge of Borneo.  What a different world it is here, but luckily, the internet is working albeit slowly.  I'm having a little technical problem with my computer so will have to post photos later...maybe tomorrow I can work it out.

Lovina, Bali was really nice...well worth including in a Balinese itinerary.  We then sailed a few hours over to the north west end of Bali and had a fairly rolly anchorage for the night before leaving Bali and sailing to the main island of Java for another overnight stop.  Strong winds there and it took a few attempts before our anchor set properly.  A third day of sailing brought us to Gilivang, a tiny island just off the eastern coast of Madura (still part of Java).   Decided to stay here a day and try and get a few fresh items at the market in the village and this proved to be more challenging than expected.

Bright and early (6 am) Phil and I took the dinghy around to Tigress Too and picked Jean up.  Headed to shore and asked a few locals for some directions to the markets.  Very little English was spoken here and after traipsing around the village for a while we eventually were taken back to the beach where some women were sorting through the fish.  I should mention that this is a real fishing community...so many fishing boats were coming and going all the time!  So we got them to clean the fish and got one each, plus a bag of tomatoes.  We understood that the market was at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Phil and I returned to the island at 3 to find the market...we really wanted some onions, garlic, potatos, eggs and bananas.  A local led us from the beach to his friend's house, and this fellow spoke a little English.  We explained that we wished to go to the market and eventually 2 motorbikes appeared.  We each climbed on the back of our respective motorbikes and the fellows drove us over to the markets...a few kilometres.  Not so much there, one of the smaller village markets we've come across, but managed to get the eggs, bananas, cucumbers and garlic.  There were a lot of fish there, but we already had some for dinner from the morning's effort.  After our market visit they took us out to see the wind generators and then to see a school where the English speaking fellow is a teacher.  Back at his home we were invited to stay overnight.  We explained that we like to be on our boat to make sure the anchor holds when the tide changes.  We were just amazed at the friendliness and graciousness of these people.

 

Next morning we commenced our 45 hr sail to Kalimantan.  We had more wind than really expected and rolling seas...a far cry from the gentle breezes and flat water we expect up here.  We also had loads of local fishing vessels to dodge as well as ships. The fishermen are remarkably friendly, often coming close to have a look and everyone waves and shouts greetings.  At one time Chris counted 39 fishing boats in sight (during the night).  The adrenalin flows, but you do get used to it.  Phil made some soup for the trip, and Chris made a peach pie for our morning teas...the crew on Basanti always eat well.

 

Yesterday at 4:00 am we anchored just off the beach around a headland and got some sleep.  Later in the day we motored nearer to the mouth of the Kumai River and this afternoon we, and Tigress Too, motored up the river to our anchorage here.  We've booked an overnight river trip up into the jungle to see Orang-utans and other wildlife...looking forward to that.  This is a really unique and interesting place...hoping I can sort out my latest difficulty with the technology and get some photos loaded tomorrow.

Quick note from Lovina, Bali

We sailed up to Lovina, taking three days to daysail our way here.  Tigress Too arrived earlier and met their friends on Harmony and it was good to arrive and see everyone.  We all hired a car the other day to see the local sights, it is a beautiful area.  First we visited a hot springs, then drove through the mountains where coffee and spices are grown, as well as many fruits and veggies.  It is harvest time for cloves and at times the delicious scent of all the cloves drying along the road filled the car.  We visited a couple of waterfalls and then headed into the city for an hour of shopping in the department store.

This is just a short note...Buster is having some technical difficulties with his computer and the internet connection (two separate issues) so Chris is at an internet cafe and wanted to see if we at least knew how to log in to the blog!  Normally Buster's computer goes straight to this site without any need for logging on and none of us knew what the user id might be.  Luckily Jean suggested something that worked.

We hope to find ourselves in a better internet area from where we can post some photos and more stories.  Tomorrow we're starting our journey up to Kalimantan.

Ubud, Bali

Phil and Chris were able to make a short side trip inland to Ubud.  Ubud is about a two hour drive from where Basanti is moored and I stayed on the boat to keep watch and protect the rum.  From all accounts, they seemed to spend most of their time eating.

An early start saw us in Ubud before lunch.  We hadn’t booked any accommodation ahead of time, so we explored a few bed and breakfast/homestay places and got a great deal.  The town is full of these sorts of places.  Check out our glamour bathroom… Chris was determined to find a place with a nice shower as we are constantly very mindful of the amount of water we use on the boat, yes, even with a water maker.  We even had a kitchenette and tiny Balinese garden…all for $30.00 per night.

Once we had our accommodation sorted it was time for lunch.  We found a place with roast suckling pig (babi guling…there are some Indonesian phrases worth knowing).  Yum.  Note the little piglet sculptures at the hand basin.

 

We visited the markets and wandered the streets for a while in the afternoon.

Ubud is full of artists and creative types, which is part of why it is such a popular tourist destination. 

We went back to our room to fully enjoy the long hot showers and prepare for dinner.  We’d stopped at a cafe to use the internet earlier in the day, and we decided to go there for dinner, it was a great choice.  Both of us had beef rendang, the best we’ve had.

We were up before dawn the next day to walk out to the rice fields in the cooler part of the day.  Nice.  Saw a few farmers out tending the crops and enjoyed the serenity of the morning.  We were back at our guesthouse in time for breakfast, which is included in the room.

There were several schools further up the road from our accommodation and we were surprised that so many kids had motorbikes.  Apparently they can drive motorbikes at the age of ten.

Also saw the whole family out taking the little dog to be clipped.  The little dog is down at the front of the scooter.

Happy hour found us on the main street through Ubud having a beer and delish tapas.

Then we went to another place for dinner.  There are so many places to eat, it is difficult to narrow it down, so we did our best in trying a few out.  The dinner place was really busy and there weren’t many staff…below is a photo of the cook in her kitchen.  Great meal!

It was a quick trip and before we knew it, it was time to head back to Basanti.  One thing we hadn’t tried yet was “Civit Coffee”, which is a really rare coffee from this area.  The bean is eaten by a civit and then collected from the feces and processed into this rare coffee.  Not being big coffee drinkers, the finer aspects were fairly lost on Chris and Phil.

Finally it was time to say good bye to Ubud and our pleasant little guest house with the great shower.

Photos from passage and Bali arrival

The trip north didn’t involve too much fancy navigating.  Mainly we tried to sail a course just west of due north, but of course we had to work with whatever wind we had.  Would have liked to be slightly further west by the time we were just south of Bali, to avoid the strong currents, but it worked out.

  

Along the way we had nice meals and snacks.  Chris and Phil enjoyed a delicious rum fruit cake that Phil prepared for the journey and even I ventured out on deck for pancakes.

Finally we were within sight of Bali..time to keep a lookout for these small, local fishing boats that do not show up on radar or AIS.

 

Here are four people…very happy to be in Serangan.  We found a great little warung (local cafe/store) for beers and meals with a view.

Arrival in Bali, Indonesia

Hello from Bali!  We arrived Tuesday, 1:00 pm after 6 days of sailing from Dampier.  Great to be here.  Phil went to shore to deal with the clearing in procedures, where he was taken by motorbike around to all the officials...harbourmaster, navy, customs, immigration and quarantine.  It took 4 hours!  He also managed to get a local phone card so we can use the internet.

Chris and I stayed on Basanti and did some post passage cleaning and organizing and launched the dinghy.

Six days at sea...what is it like?  Well, as a bear on my first ocean passage, I was a little apprehensive with these two.  We were extremely fortunate to have idyllic conditions...maybe a couple of knots more wind would have been nice at times, but we aren't going to complain.  When the engine runs we make water out of the beautiful clean ocean so we were all able to enjoy our showers at the end of the day.

Through the nights Phil and Chris did two hour watches.  When we had to jibe or when anyone had to leave the cockpit and go forward on the boat, both of them were awake.  Mostly it was pretty peaceful and moonlit...the person on watch kept an eye out for ships with the AIS (what a Godsend) and made any necessary adjustments to sails or our course.  Bears have no understanding whatsoever about sailing so it seemed best if I stayed in my bunk.  During the day we prepared meals and did a few jobs.  Phil was busy making a pen/pencil holder for the chart table and when he was drilling away on the block of wood it was so incongruous with our location in the middle of the ocean.  Floors got scrubbed, little items were repaired and we read about our destination as well as a number of novels.

Food was great on board.  There were no sea sickness issues to deal with, so cooking was fun.  We had beautiful fresh Coral Trout one day, and some steaks with Spanish rice and refried beans another day.  A couple of curries were made and a chicken stir fry rounded out the evening meals.  Phil made pancakes a few times and for snacks we enjoyed his rum fruit cake...yum. 

We saw so many whales in the first day!!  Sometimes they were just swimming along or resting on the surface, other times they were slapping the surface with fins or doing other odd whale things.  About 2 days out of Bali a huge pod of dolphins raced over to us (leaping through the air) and swam at our bow for about 20 minutes...great fun to watch.

Finally, on the 6th morning, when the sun came up we could see land ahead.  We were pretty close then...about 25 miles out, but it seemed to take forever to do those last miles because of the very strong currents that run south through the Lombok Strait. 

Chris and Phil have raced over to shore in search of Bintang.  I'm supposed to write the blog and I'll post a few photos when they return with the camera.

PS.  Goodness me...when I logged into the computer to do the blog, everything was in Indonesian!!

Still floating around Dampier

For a remote location, Dampier Harbour is very well lit at night.  The intense lights are huge flames from the LNG plant over on Burrup peninsula.  All the other lights are either work boats or from the docks where the iron ore is loaded.

 

One day we all took the dinghy over to Sam's island.  Sam was an Eastern European immigrant working up here who floated over to Tidepole island on a home made raft.  Beginning in 1966, he slowly built himself and his cat a place to live on the little island. Since his death in 2005 it is deserted except for the occasional tour and a restoration project.  We liked the decorative work he did with the shells.  Here is Phil by the main entrance.

 

Phil by the oven.

 

The cruisers enjoying morning tea on the island.

 

Sam's grave next to that of his cat.

 

Back aboard Basanti there are always more jobs.  Here Chris prepares to do a couple of small fiberglassing projects.

 

Today we stopped at the Australian customs office to begin the official part of preparing for our departure.  Yesterday our new Lonely Planet guide to Indonesia arrived and we are all getting pretty interested in our next destination.

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks in Dampier

We’ve been anchored off Dampier for about three weeks and we are ready to go, but need to wait just a little longer.  Our cruising permit for Indonesia isn’t valid until Aug 19 and of course we will time things so that we sail in favourable weather.

So what does one do in Dampier??  Dampier is a tiny town with a small and expensive grocer, no post office, no banks, one pub, a bowling club and the sailing club.  Wednesday and Friday nights we can go to the sailing club for happy hour and we generally have dinner there on Fridays.  Sundays we go to the ‘all you can eat’ BBQ at the pub and then, having exhausted the entertainment options in Dampier we look forward to our weekly shopping excursions to Karratha.  Having no car, one of the weekly highlights is the Tuesday bus to Karratha.

Karratha is pretty remote, about 1000 miles from Perth and it is a town of about 16,000.  The prices are pretty outrageous.  Fuel (gas or petrol) is about $1.66 per liter or about $6.30 per gallon.  Stopped at McDonalds in Karratha one day to use the free wifi for some computer downloads and saw an Angus burger for just over $12.00 and a cheeseburger for over $5.00.  Beer wasn't too bad...here in Dampier we could get a 30 can block for $55.00 but over in Karratha the same thing was $37.00, and they had 24 can packs of coke at 2 for $33.00.  Nice cheeses are a few dollars more than in Perth too (and yes…we thought the prices in Perth were high after 14 months in the USA).  We saw ears of corn and zucchini for $1.98 each (yes, each ear, each little zucchini) and we are so grateful to the plantation owner in Carnarvon who loaded us up with so many beautiful (and free!) fruits and veggies which have lasted well and we are still eating.  I don't think anything is grown up here...it all comes from Perth.  Oddly, even though most things are grown up near Carnarvon, it is all trucked to Perth and then back on trucks to the grocery stores around the state…including Carnarvon.  How weird is that?!

Karratha is all about the mining...no other reason for it's existence.  There is a big north west shelf oil and gas project (one of the world's largest LNG producers), and salt mining in addition to the HUGE iron ore mining.  They can load 10,000 tons an hour per ship and fill a ship in 24 to 36 hrs with iron ore, and they load about 4 ships at a time on one jetty.  There is also the largest privately owned rail system in Australia up here, and it is exclusively for hauling the iron ore to the ports. 

One recent day we entertained ourselves by removing one of the major plumbing pipes (lg hoses) which connects the aft toilet with the thru hull fitting at the rear of the boat.  It is about 9 ft of hose and it was completely blocked with calcified material.  Now it is clear and the toilet flushes.  We were expecting a visitor on the weekend and thought maybe we should figure out what the problem was with the plumbing in that bathroom.

We’ve (primarily Phil) recently been engaged in the installation of some new batteries.  Long story, but we ordered 3 new 165 amp deep cycle batteries for our house bank...two 220's are coming out and we have another two 80's in there.  Chris and I have to help...those things are really heavy!!  The 165's weigh 46 kg each, and we are barely able to lift the 220's.  We managed to get them out without messing up our backs.  Bears really don’t do manual labor.

When not engaged in boat maintenance, eating seems to preoccupy Phil and Chris.  Phil's been testing a variety of bread recipes.  Yum.

 

As I mentioned, we had a visitor on the weekend.  Every Friday night, since we left Fremantle, Jean, Jerry, Phil and Chris get together in some pub or sailing club and take our photo and send it to John saying, "here we are...where are you?"  I guess it finally got to him.  John flew up on Friday and turned up at the sailing club with his rental car.  He lives on a boat so staying with us wasn’t a new or unusual drama for him (aside from having to share a cabin with a bear).  We visited the nearby sights and enjoyed his stay.
Here we are in checking out some of the old buildings and the old harbour in Cossack.

We ran across this sailing club out here too.  Looked pretty desolate but it must get busy on other weekends.  There were three vessels out the back on the hard.


One final note...WHO has been drinking my RUM??!!!