4/3/2017 Maju 72NM E, anchor in 24m sand and coral, no internet
As we left heading east once again my plan was to stop on one of the two Islands (Maju or Gureda) that are roughly halfway between Betung and Jailolo and avoid the overnighter. Any of charting information we had suggested that anchoring here would be deep, possibly too deep and so it was a gamble, that in this case paid off.
We had good sail across which was nice and a little unexpected. On the run line was quite a substantial little floating fishing hut. Anchored in a few hundred feet of water and of course probably not lit. A rather long way to go to get away from your wife for a couple of hours fishing.
We also managed to anchor after wandering around for a bit and finding an anchor spot in under 30m. Hiding up in the NE corner we avoided 99% of swell and it made for an all round good days sailing. As we watched the sun set had a nice dinner and movie, it made for a pleasant stop, much better than pushing on all the way.
5/3/2017 Jailolo 70NM ESE , Anchor in 6m mud, internet. We were off early in the morning for the second half. Watusi is still having trouble with his Main sail after the punishment inflicted from his trip down from Davao to Betung, but at least today he has a main sail and not just under Jib and motor. But still today Screensaver left him for dead. I suspected he was going easy to make it softer for Katrina, but he said not really, the sea was pushing him around. We have had some good competition in the past as boys will be boys. I had planned to anchor on the coast entering Jailolo, as it not only looked nice (which it was) but it saved heading the 3nm odd further into that harbour or deep in the bay.
But it was not to be as again that coast line went from 40m plus to 3m either in a vertical wall or at some 80 degree slope. My Navionics was out substantially here with an offset of well over 1000ft required to get it anywhere near. I did not know at the time but this would be the beginning of it being a long way out. Thankfully I had Google images overlayed and could see the many reefs, plus there were some markers. Clearly a predominately Muslim town with three different Call’s to Prayer bellowing out at the same time,although from the anchor spot it wasn’t to bad. As the sun set with my Scotch in hand I had this vision of an Old VW combi van, you know the one with all the flowers painted on it, from Woodstock or Nimbin (not that I’m old enough to have first hand experience you know), then a set of speakers on top playing Led Zeppelin flat out as I sat in its open back doors out side the Mosk… and that image bought a smile to my face …….yea I know ….. but its better than the wire cutter image or rocket launcher image… A large splash quickly changed the mental picture as I jumped for the camera to take a photo of another Pilot Whale playing in the bay. Of course once I had the camera that was never to be seen again.
6/3/2017 Ternate 17nm SSW, anchor in 24m, mud, good internet. We made a good effort to sail there but it wasn’t to be, with no wind we motored. The first spot I had picked out was more or less right near the centre of the City, and sure enough a Cat was there and few other local vessels. Not the best of anchorages as it still gets some of the NE winds, sea action and current, but in all it was tolerable. We weren’t stopping here long so didn’t go and check-in etc, but the local police boat was just meters a way and we all waved, so I told Dr Smith all was well.
Kim was keen to try some local foods which we really hadn’t done since arriving in Indonesia. We really hadn’t been to anywhere more than $2 street food for months, so I said pick out at least somewhere in the top 30%.
My outboard for the tender is on the back of Screensaver and to avoid me dropping it, I use the Davit line in a Jam cleat to hold the outboard over the tender just before I lower it. Well this day I guess I errrrrrrrrrrrred and didn’t put the rope properly in the Jam cleat. The outboard dropped into the water heading towards what ever other treasures lay beneath us. As I leapt to grab the rope and it was shear skill…. ( ok bloody good luck) that I did not follow the outboard, and managed to haul it out. Once under control I thought this will never go, but bugger me, it started second pull just like normal. So I got it nice and hot gave it a bath in a bit of fresh water and then WD40, so we will see what rusts and falls off in a couple of weeks.
There is a little jetty directly adjacent where we were anchored which had a couple of cruisers tied up in tandem. It seemed the go was to tie up our tender on the outside and walk across the cruisers. I’m guessing the guy that helped us when we arrived and left was security (because he and tender were still there when we got back) so the tender was safe enough. Kim and Dr Smith both had visions of the man quietly saying thankyou and making off with the tender.
Asians are not big on walking (like some of you lazy westerners) but more common in Asia, they will get a motor bike or ride somehow even for a few hundred meters rather than walk. Kim is much better these days and didn’t hesitate when I said lets walk the 1.5 – 2k there.
So we got a bit of look around as Google guided us around to the Restaurant Royal. it would seem the Peking Duck Kim chose left a fair bit to be desired, so I wouldn’t recommend that. However everything else was very good and we did managed to get a beer, all be it not cold until we added ice.
You wont get a wine or any other alcohol and of course Indonesia is not constrained by many regulations, so you anti smokers that find the nearest table to the smokers and then complain, might want to eat else where. …. ops guess I just lost 70% of my readers…… I would imagine you could bring a nice bottle of your wine without an issue, and the gay waiter has pretty good English. In all it cost around $40.00 au for both of us. God I think I will be lucky to get a main course in OZy for that.
7/3/2017 Mare 16NM, Sth, Wharf tie up, in 6m, No internet. We set off in the morning with only about 16nm to go. These days due to the probability of deep anchorages and the problems this can present anchoring, I usually try to have two stops picked out in case one does not work. Within a minute after Ken (Watusi) got his anchor up, the radio went ….Al I have hooked a mooring line…. I’m not sure if they do this on purpose here, but I know in Thailand around Similans they purposely have no floats to reduce other vessels picking them up and using them. In one spot they go even further and keep it at least 1m below the surface. This almost guarantees the charter boat will get the mooring, as they pull up right where it is and one of the crew dives over for it.
Anyway 15 or so minutes later Ken was free and that mooring will not catch another boat. I was now about 0.5 nm away making sure all was well, when I caught a large heshim type bag around the prop. So it was now my turn to go for an unplanned swim, as Screensaver wallowed in the mild swell.
We arrived at the anchorage early around 2:00pm and wandered around looking for anything less than 30m. There is a jetty there more than strong enough for us and the locals beckoned me down its side. It seemed like a good idea at the time, so I quietly headed towards it, but down the side right where I would tie up was a bombie with insufficient water over it for Screensaver. Communicating this to the non English speaking spectator fleet of around 30 and growing was challenging. Kim has installed an APP on the FAB (Fone Tablet) for translation while the process is slow, it does work and all are amused and appreciate the effort.
We ended up tying across the end of the wharf which I would not recommend. Watusi rafted up on the outside of us. Most nights are pretty quiet and this wharf was only exposed to the South. So Murphy decided to throw us a challenge in the way of a rather long squall packing some wind, rain and swell. Just what we needed….. not. Trying to fender up on a wharf without barge boards is a real challenge at the best of times and even harder if you are broadside on with swell. So we all huffed and puffed in the rain for some time working hard to avoid any damage.
Watusi and Screensaver have dramatically different freeboard ( he is not really sinking) so that too kept us all playing in the rain too long. Had there been more hours of daylight left we would have moved on, but moving to another unknown anchorage in the dark also had its risks. The night began to settle but the swell remained and only slowly diminished. Thankfully we came out un scathed apart from I think Watusi has a bent stanchion.
In the water there are little blue glowing things somewhere between the size of match head and a cigarette butt. I’m not exactly sure what they are and have not seen them before until here.
08/03/2017 ShellBack Equator Crossing. This will be my second equator crossing both times in Indonesian waters. We don’t need much excuse to have toast and drink, so the gods gave use this excuse which was very easy……. although in donating some rum to Neptune it seemed I could have found a better home for it.
For Kim she would officially join the Shellback fraternity for her first equator crossing. I tried to tell her there were all sorts of ritcheral expectations and things she must do to seal her Shellback status but I think she saw through my plan.
Never mind the gods got there Rum and a little went our way too.
08/03/2017 Rodi 36nm Sth, Anchor on 18m Stern tie to wharf, poor internet just. This anchorage is weaving in and out of the reef, so if you are not happy with the concept I don’t recommend it. I personally would not do it without a Google Image overlay. Potentially its a little squashy for two yachts with the correct anchor ratio, so I decided to try stern to a small jetty that was there.
Completing this manoeuvre certainly got the heart pumping and gave the outboard a good workout as by the time we backed up on our anchor and I got going in the tender Screensaver had swung her arse around a bit and now my line was a little short. Eventually we had a secure stern line although looking under the water at the piles I wondered if there was a blow whether Screensaver would pull it down. But hey that wouldn’t happen…. yea right.
No one lives on this little Island, but someone comes to tend the goats at least once a day, and the fisherman use the hut as a bit of a retreat from bad weather. Once again Kim managed with the help of the translator to have a conversation, and of course a beer is universal.
Later that night another squall came through broadside onto Screensaver, so now the small jetty would get it test.
Dr Smith…. and now what will you do. If the jetty pulls down Screensaver will likely swing to the reef. Its pitch black and you have no room to move…… how long do you think it would take before you were on the reef…… probably about the same length of time it takes to get the Nav gear going…..
Yes there was some truth in Dr Smiths assessment so I fired up the Nav gear and decided to sit up just in case, but thankfully all was well and jetty is stronger than what looks.
Screensaver 