Month: August 2023

Selamat Pagi Boatbloggers® and welcome to the latest edition of the Boatblog® brought to you direct from Wonderful Indonesia.

It was a two day sail from the Lei anchorage to the island of Pulau Buru,

… where we dropped the hook in the delightful village of Tifu.

Once again we had the most fantastic welcome from the village. We were greeted by the village elders as we came ashore.

There was a marching band,

And a concert by the Tifu Ukulele Orchestra.

All the villagers went to such an effort to make it a really big day, and what they lack in ‘stuff,’ they make up for in ingenuity – if you look closely you can see that all the bunting is made out of plastic bags.

In the evening Ju & the Tiffuettes got to play the Tifu Festival.

Everyone here really loves music. The kids all play the ukulele and the next day followed us back to one of the boats for a jam. One piano, 42 ukuleles, 2 guitars and a pair of maracas.

Sadly we couldn’t stay in Tifu for ever, and all to soon it was time to head for our next stop – Waketobi. 

And once again we were given the warmest of welcomes. As luck would have it, our visit coincided with Independence Day. For once Independence Day wasn’t a release from British rule which was a relief – it’s the Dutch who are the villains of this particular story. We swapped our flag with one of our new friend’s Indonesian flag and went on a procession through the main town.

We ended up in the parade ground where we were guests of honour.

A word about this strange hand signal that we are all doing.

It’s actually a “W” for Waketobi. I’ve got lots of pictures of us doing it, but you have to be careful because if you get the angle wrong and can’t see your thumb it sends a very different message. And you have to be very careful how you do the sign for Indonesia.

Then there was a lot of Independence Day marching,

And plenty of pomp and ceremony.

And like everywhere else in the world, the Indonesian kids were bored stiff being made to sit around for so long in their fancy costumes while the grown ups messed around. But they made a brave face of it and managed to smile for the camera.

Until finally the flag was raised.

It’s quite weird being such celebrities. The paparazzi just won’t leave us alone.

All those years in showbiz trying to get a bit of attention when all we had to do was come to Indonesia. 

But it’s not all functions. There’s still time for scuba diving. Even if there are sea snakes down there.

Apparently ten times more poisonous than a cobra. Still quite cute. As deadly venomous creatures go.

We went round a Bajo village. In the past the Bajo were a nomadic seafaring people, but now they live in houses built on stilts so that they can remain connected to the sea. 

Their way of life is under threat worldwide, but they seem to be thriving here in Waketobi.

One of the Bajo delicacies is dried puffer fish skin.

Looks delicious, but these ones weren’t quite ready to eat so unfortunately we couldn’t try them. Never mind – next time.

Even for hardened sailors like ourselves used to the gangplank, it’s quite hairy getting from one house to the next.

They now have more modern housebuilding techniques.

Sadly when the tide goes out, you get some idea of the scale of the rubbish and plastic problem that seems to be endemic in Indonesia.

But it’s fascinating to see this traditional way of life.

Even the shops are on stilts.

The Venice of the East.

Another interesting place is called “The Thousand Steps,” which as it sounds is a thousand steps that you climb down. To be honest, it’s probably about two hundred, but it feels like a thousand by the time you get to the bottom.

A long way, but when you get there, there is a natural spa.

You put your feet in the water and all the little fish come out and start nibbling away at the dead skin on your feet like mini piranhas.

You’d pay a fortune for that in Chiswick.

It’s a thousand steps down, and unfortunately a thousand steps up.

So by the time you get to the top, your feet are all covered in dead skin again.

We had a night off the boat at a luxury local resort. It was nice having all the little things that landlubbers take for granted. Flush toilet, unlimited shower, walk around bed and of course air conditioning.

We bought some new goggles so we can fit in with the locals when we go swimming.

Not sure these are going to catch on.

There have been lots and lots of festivals. Each with their own characteristics. This was an Indonesian version of Love Island, where boys and girls meet and attempt to woo each other.

We’re not sure what the fish is all about. 

If love blossoms, the happy couple get to go on the swing together.

All overlooked by a man on a horse.

And to celebrate the romance, they fly the an impressively long kite.

A lot of fun, but what it all means is anyone’s guess.

One day, Ju managed to climb a palm tree.

What a hero!

Just time for the Arty Farty Competition.

The first entry is Ju’s Bajau ladder.

Also by Ju – Starfish

And Lyn’s Almost Sunset.

And the winner is Lyn, with Almost Sunset.

Ok – so we weren’t being exactly truthful with Ju climbing a palm tree. That’s the genius of AI. This is how the photo started – with a horizontal palm tree. 

And then Rory photoshopped it. It was still quite hard holding on though – so you should still be impressed.

It’s not as easy as it looks producing a world class blog like this.

Rory made a few other options we could have used, but they weren’t quite so convincing.

That’s all folks!

Sampai jumpa from all of us here in Indonesia.

Ju & Lyn

Selamat Pagi Boatbloggers®,

The more astute of you may have guessed from the title that we have at last arrived in Indonesia. It was a fairly uneventful five day crossing, and mostly downwind (that’s with the wind behind you for the landlubbers out there). So we were able to get out the two foresails in what we call The Butterfly.

It’s more being blown across the sea than actual sailing, but it gets you there just the same. 

Our fishing skills are definitely improving, and we managed to catch a squid.

Half way across it was Lyn’s Birthday – so we celebrated in style,

…just as she came up to start her 3 hour night watch. Happy Birthday Lyn! Not many people going get to celebrate their birthday in the middle of the night on the deck of a boat somewhere in the Torres Strait hundreds of miles from land.

The only problems came as we approached the Indonesian coast at night. There were literally hundreds of fishing boats, some completely unlit and with nets up to twenty five miles long. The other hazards are called FADs, which stand for Fish Attracting Devices, and basically they are small bungalows anchored to the seabed, often in depths of hundreds of metres so you can find them far out from the land. 

The fish like the shade, so they all swim about underneath, until the fishermen come along and try and catch them. They’re not too bad in daylight, but in the dark they are pretty much invisible, and it would certainly spoil your night  to run into one of these.

Our first stop in Indonesia was at a town called Debut in the Kei Islands.

Where we had the most fantastic welcome. The whole village turned out to say hello.

And walking along the street is like being a movie star. Everyone wants to shake your hand or take a selfie with you, and if you stop to ask directions the chances are you will be invited to back to that person’s house for dinner.

They arranged traditional music and dances for us, like this Boat Dance.

It was all a lot of fun.

And we attended official functions put on by the local dignitaries, who gave welcoming speeches in Indonesian.

Possibly not as much fun as the music and dancing, but it was nice of them all the same.

There was so much to do at Debut it’s hard to compress it all into a single blog. And there’s two more islands to go yet!

We drank fresh coconut on the beach,

We went to the fish market. Ju, not particularly a fish fan at the best of times, was still not tempted.

We could have given them our squid if we’d known.

The fruit and veg market was fresher than Waitrose.

There is a seaweed farm.

A few interesting facts about Indonesian seaweed. It is used in over 1,500 products including fertiliser, medicines, paint, toothpaste, textiles, make up and animal feed, and their biggest exports are to Belgium. It sells for about US $1.50 a kilo. There’s lot’s more interesting facts about seaweed that I could mention, but you’ll just have to do the tour.

And we can’t not mention the beach.

Now we have done a lot of beaches over the past few years, in some of the most paradisiacal (is that a real word? – Ed) parts of the world. From the Caribbean to the silver sands of the South Pacific so we consider ourselves to be leading beach experts with very high standards. And it is fair to say that this beach has the softest sand ever! It is like walking on flour. Put it on your bucket list.

These ladies insisted we tried the synchronised dancing,

…which was a lot less synchronised after Ju joined in.

The freshwater cave is stunning, and a great way to cool off in the tropical heat. Actually, this was the first swim we’ve had since New Caledonia. We were too frightened to get in the crocodile/shark/jellyfish infested waters in Oz! So it was particularly fab.

Our next stop was at Banda, a little island a day’s sail away. (Don’t worry Boatblog® Fans – only another two islands to go).

The snorkelling here is superb.

Once again, the people were unbelievably welcoming. They put on music and dancing in the nutmeg forest.

And showed us how they harvested and dried the cinnamon,

…and the fish.

You’ll be glad that Apple hasn’t yet developed the iSmell app yet.

This is the volcano that erupted in 1988. The volcanic dust destroyed lots of the nearby islands, and you can still see the lava flow down the side of the mountain.

And after another 24 hour sail, we arrived in Ambon. Again the welcome given to people arriving on small boats couldn’t be more different from the one that we offer back home.

Ju got invited to jam with the local musicians.

You may have noticed the radical haircut.

It seems they only do one style in Indonesia which they learnt from the US Marines, but they make up for it with a fabulous head and shoulder massage.

And then it was round the corner to another little anchorage called Lai. The kids were especially keen to see us,

…and even more keen to see the boat.

So this brings our first Indonesian Boatblog® to a close, but don’t worry Boatbloggers® there’s at least another 15 stops on the Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia Rally, so we’re not going to be short of material.

Just time for the Arty Farty Competition, and this edition has several entries. First up is Lyn’s Boat on a Beach.

Not bad. Next is Cave Diver – submitted by Ross on Acushnet.

That’s properly Arty Farty. Then Seaweed by Ju.

And Tree Root, by either Ju or Lyn – we lost track.

And the winner is…

Ross, for Cave Diver, which entitles him to take the Captain and crew of Domini out for an all expenses paid slap up dinner.

Terima Kasih for reading.

Sampai Jumpa!

Ju & Lyn