Bau Bau to Selayar, Sulawesi

Typical Indonesian fishing boat

Full Moon over Benteng Harbour, Selayer, Indonesia

Another garbage strewn beach

Chaos in the school yard!

Bau Bau to Selayar, Sulawesi

Oct 28 2015

We had a great sail Mon to Tues to another island group that is to the south of the larger island of Sulawesi. It was super to have the autopilot back working. With good wind, even though we still arrived last, we are not far behind. Two boats have joined our group having sailed from the Philippines with a rally Luc  organised in Aug. They are from Australia and Switzerland.

We are getting a sense of the huge size of Indonesia, beyond just a number of miles. The whole country is islands, about 13,000 of them. The distance from southeast to northwest is equivalent to the border between the US and Canada. The anchorage here is not listed in either of the guide books we have, as there are too many places to cover. We have electronic charts that are invaluable, but they have not been too accurate. At night, especially, we need to use the radar to confirm where land is and wait for light to approach. The time zone is +8 UTC which puts us about halfway around the world from the Caribbean. We know that we are approaching the equator as the temperature continues to rise. It is particularly stifling on the boat when the wind isn't blowing.

On Tues, besides the boat chores we all had naps and then spent a few hours walking around town and the seafront. Today, Wed, we had a short bus tour around the town of Benteng. Compared to tours we have taken in other places it has been inexpensive,  usually about 20 to 25 dollars which includes the lunch. We are anchored in the commercial harbour with lots of boat traffic. It is a smaller place than the last two towns, with less services, but a bit cleaner. We stopped at the library, and at the main admin buildings and prison, that are joined by a tunnel. These old buildings are Dutch in architecture from the Dutch East Indies days. We also stopped at an elementary school for a brief, chaotic visit. I hope their teachers can salvage some lessons from the visit. Mostly they wanted us to autograph their notebooks. It was a chance to feel like a celebrity again.

After a traditional lunch we visited someone's home for a selection of desserts and coconut drinks. Most homes are built on stilts which I thought was because of flooding. But the main reason is to keep out animals as the homes are all open for the breeze. We also had a brief market and souvenir stop. Many things are common from the previous places. The calls to prayer over the loud speakers, motorbikes and garbage crowding the roads, several power failures a day, smoking but no alcohol, lots of junk food, lots of cell phones but also many smiling faces.

We have had to make a small change in itinerary-a disappointing one. There are raging fires in Kalimantan (Borneo) that have been going on for weeks. It is getting so severe that they are doing evacuations and turning away visitors. This is the place we were to see the Orang-utans, and they are in danger. They are trying to rescue the ones they can. But for the fires they are just praying for the rains that usually come by now. We will be adding a day to the Lombok visit, and to Belitung instead. We will leave here for Komodo on Sat.

Bau Bau

Bau Bau anchorage in front of Hotel Mira

Hotel Mira welcoming banner for the BPO

Seamstresses making traditional clothing

Tim and Carol at the old Fort

Weavers making cloth

Harvesting seaweed for food

Cute girls!

Harvesting rice

Meeting with the Mayor of Bau Bau - seated second from right

Traditional dance entertainment at the Mayor's dinner for the BPO

Bau Bau Visit

Oct 25 2015

Things are looking more cheerful on Maggie since the last blog. Having access to cash is a real mood lifter. We couldn't even send the last blog when it was written as the computer was acting up. Luc has had us so busy the last few days we haven't been on the boat except to sleep. Today we are skipping the snorkelling and lunch to get chores done. Rob is in town with a translator on his motorbike to try to find a new printer. Cartridges are area specific, so in the short term we are getting one that will take Asian cartridges.

This has been a very interesting stop for us all. Many of the activities would not have been available if we were not part of a rally. Last night, for example, the mayor invited us to his residence for an evening affair with dinner. We all made an effort to be well dressed (for sailors). Many of our men have bought sarongs to wrap over pants.  Many senior political people were also invited. We each gave an introduction to ourselves and there were many speeches. There was a chance to ask questions on both sides, in particular, about being ambassadors for climate change. In Bau Bau they want to know how to improve their tourism industry. All the staff there have been very helpful and friendly. After dinner there was entertainment from singers and students doing traditional dances. We were even all given gifts, a handwoven sarong and a town tee shirt.

Thurs evening we were also guests of honour at a special ceremony in a town about 1 hour's drive away. It is held in each community once a year to thank God for their blessings. The purpose would be like our Thanksgiving. When we drove into town the streets were lined with motorbikes. This is the main means of transport here. The large outdoor covered hall was packed with people sitting cross legged on the floor. They were dressed in their best finery, muslim style.  In front of each of them was a huge covered basket, about 2 feet across, containing food for the feast. The covers had all been elaborately decorated by individual families. Each family has one representative inside, with others crowded outside watching. It was a real honour then for our fleet to have a row inside. We were lent sarongs to cover up before entering. After speeches and prayers everyone uncovers  their meal at the same time. There was a huge number of dishes, a different selection in each  one. There was no way you could eat it all, but we gathered that the leftovers go to the family outside who prepared it.

We had  arrived Wed morning after many nights of hand steering. The last night Rob and I both were up from 3 am because there was so much garbage and fishing boats to avoid when getting closer to land. We skipped the first day's activities to rest. Or I should say that I did. Rob worked on the autopilot all day. Norm came over and offered useful electrical advice. We think it will be working once we start travelling again Mon. There was a school visit that morning. Those that went were impressed by the students and their questions. I think a review of the visit will be on the BPO site. In the afternoon there was a cave visit which was fun.

Both Fri and Sat we spent the whole day on a bus touring various spots in town or on the island of Buton. There are the remains of an old fortress on a hill overlooking the harbour. The various tribes from neighbouring islands often attacked, as well as outsiders like the Arab, Chinese, and the Dutch. Several of the old sultans are buried there. A guide led us and shared some of the history. We learned more of the country's history at the museum. It is housed in a former sultan's home. It has been 70 years since independence and any role for the sultanate. But 3 years ago they have started using them again but in a more symbolic role. The lineage was printed on a family tree and went right back to Genghis Khan. We made visits to several home businesses that sewed formal dress and accessories and hand woven fabric for sarongs. The average salary on this island is about 8 dollars a day! I bought some fabrics that would have taken weeks to make.

We visited a seaweed harvesting operation, a pearl farm and processing, and a rice farm and factory. The rice is harvested twice a year and it was underway when we were there. We had a chance to try cutting the tops off  with a very sharp knife. No one wanted to continue that all day for the $10. Tim accidently cut his leg. We took a detour to get it looked after by a Dr, other than himself.

The pearling method was much different than in French Polynesia-simpler but with a  cheaper product. More shopping for us women.

We have been eating all our meals out at different restaurants. The food is good and inexpensive, although we may be ready for a break from rice and fish. Sat's lunch was in a beautiful country spot by the rice fields. They had irrigation ponds where they stocked their own fish for meals. The rice fields are also kept in water during the dry season. Our guide had been there a few years ago in a heavy downpour. The ponds overflowed and the fish were lost. The tourists needed to wait 6 hours for the water to recede enough to make the road accessible. It is so dry now that we visited a waterfall that had no water flowing, a unique site.

Tomorrow, Mon we head to Selayer, a 160nm trip hopefully with a working autopilot. The ATM worked on this island and  Rob bought another phone and printer. So we are back in business.

Boat and Travel Challenges

Seaweed harvesting area into which No Regrets dragged

BPO fleet at anchor in Tual

Carol drawing a crowd of  kids

Customs officials aboard MAGGIE in Tual

Boat and Travel Challenges

Oct 21,  2015

Currently we are on our fourth day of passage to Bau Bau in Sulawesi. At 11:45pm the first night the autopilot stopped working. Those of you who do passages can appreciate the nuisance that is. Someone has to be hand steering all the time. One person at the wheel, one napping in the cockpit as go-for and sailor, and one trying to sleep. We started with one hour shifts when there was more wind, but 2 hours now. We have been lucky that the wind and seas have been pretty benign. Today they have dropped to almost nothing. The parasailor has been up for 3 days straight. But tonight it will have to come down and we will motor to arrive in the morning. Everyone else will have made it by sunset tonight. The next programming doesn't start until Thurs afternoon.

We have had a run of logistic problems since getting to Indonesia. The biggest has been not being able to get any cash with our debit cards, neither mine nor Rob's. We have talked to CIBC and it is not a problem there or with our cards. Likely it is with the PLUS network. The other boaters have had no problems so we have borrowed some. Also Rob went to a money changer and exchanged our US cash for rupiah. The smart phone from Fiji wouldn't work with the network here even with a local sim card. Rob eventually bought another phone to call the bank, although not until he could get some cash. The salesgirl put $ on it but it would still not work but gave an Indonesian message. Fortunately Tuti was with us to translate and we had bought data and not voice. She helped us get that organized plus numerous trips to banks. Back at the boat the new phone does not give us an internet hotspot like the previous one did.

We regularly need to copy forms, etc, and had a printer onboard. It stopped working in Bora Bora and we managed to find another there. But the store didn't carry cartridges. In Australia we tried to get some but they don't carry the right ones. We bought supposedly equivalent ones but they won't work. Apparently with HP each country has their own cartridges that are not compatible!

While we were working on getting the dinghy and motor on deck for this trip the line came off the dinghy and it started to drift away from the boat. Fortunately Rob dived in and managed to catch it and pull it back. The "bad news" is that he had the new phone, camera, and wallet in his pockets. They are still drying out-haven't had the courage to check if they still work.

If that was not enough to feel frustrated, the loss of the most up to date glasses was. Rob took them off for a shower on deck but caught a lurch that caused him to step on them. The prescription sunglasses went overboard in Mackay when a line hit him. Fortunately he carries the old ones. This will be a Dec chore back home, for sure. We feel lucky that we had no problems with the anchor holding in Tual. We started to drag right away. When we raised anchor, it was poking into a plastic bottle full of mud. No Regrets did drag into the area behind us with all the buoys and bottles. They settled with the fishermen for $750 to do repairs to their lines.

Rob has been spending the days working on the autopilot. He had purchased many spare parts. There is a new circuit board in but it won't work until set up which can't be done while sailing. Both Rui and Norm have some experience with these parts and are willing to help in port. Being a larger city we may be able to get more money also.

Just heard that the Liberals won the Canadian election yesterday. That was a surprise. We'll have to read more about it when we get some internet.

First Impressions of Indonesia

We really feel like we have entered a different world here. Rob and I have never travelled in Asia so it is all new to us. Travelling the last few miles into Tual harbour, the Asian styled architecture was the first thing we noticed. Being the end of a particularly severe dry season the plants are quite brown so it looks somewhat barren. Indonesians have a habit of just throwing their garbage in the streets and in the sea. The harbour water and shore are strewn with garbage. As we were anchoring the Muslim call to prayer could be heard over a loud speaker system. That happened regularly during the day, including at 3 am. 82% of the population is Muslim.

The trip from Thursday island was 5 days for us, Fri afternoon until 3pm Wed. That is good time for Maggie although the rest of the fleet had arrived by Wed morning. They had more time to get organized before activities started. The exciting part of the trip for us was catching our first Spanish mackeral. It was delicious for lunch that day and still lots went into the freezer. That fish bit the hook right when we called Ottawa on Thanksgiving, unfortunately.

We were lucky that customs could make it to the boat that day for a thorough inspection and lots of paperwork. Then we had an official welcome at the king's residence with dancing , music and dinner. We had several Indonesians, including 2 young women from the tourist dept, with us during our time in Tual. It was a big help to have someone translating for us. They said they appreciated the chance to practise their English. We were the first English speaking group they had helped since starting to work at tourism. Only about 10 boats a year visit and not any resorts that we noticed.

Thursday was spent touring by bus. I thought the clearing in procedures were finished Wed but the first 2 stops in the morning were at customs and then immigration. The bus pickup had been at 9 but it was 11:45 before all was completed. And this was with Luc as our agent from the BPO to expedite things. An Australian boat in the harbour said that it took them 3 days. We had been forewarned that Indonesia is very bureaucratic.

After the paperwork we visited a high school, seeing several classes and a tour of their facilities. We all felt like celebrities with the students cheering, waving, and asking for photos of us with them. It looked like everyone had a cell phone. They also wanted to practise their English. The first words they must learn must be "Hello, Mister. How are you? What is your name?"

From the town of Tual we travelled to a smaller community where we watched the preparation of traditional food and then had the dishes for lunch. The staple item is mbal (sp?) which means a root from Bali. We would call it cassava. It is ground and dried and then cooked into a variety of forms. It looks like flour but needs no other ingredients before baking or frying. In addition to that, we had a seaweed salad and fried fish. The whole western side of the harbour is covered with floating plastic bottles that are used to harvest the seaweed. At another town we watched knives and machetes being forged. Rob purchased one at the market for $7 for working on fish.

The group went for dinner at a local restaurant with a buffet of local delicious dishes. The bill was about $4 each. Now that is about 40,000 rupiah, the local currency. It doesn't take much to be a millionaire here. After dinner one of the tourist girls took us to her family's cafe where there was a band, karaoke and beer. That was a treat in mostly dry Indonesia. The music was super, also.

On Friday we had another full day's outing scheduled to include swimming and snorkelling. Now that the weather is warmer we were all looking forward to getting in the water again. Once again, the logistics gave us too much waiting around. The boat that was picking us up was late getting started, then needed fuel and then got stuck at low tide. the 10 am start became 11:30. We decided to stop at the island where we were having lunch first, but the men were at prayers, so another waiting time. The Muslim village was interesting to see, however, and the lunch good. There have been so many children everywhere we have been. I felt like the Peid Piper wandering the sand streets. By the time I arrived back at the Big Man's house for lunch there were dozens watching us eat. The average age in the country is 26.

After lunch we went for a swim at a beautiful, uninhabited island, a spot we could never get to with our own boats. It was inland surrounded by high rocks. By the time we got to another spot to snorkel, it was starting to get dark and cold. That was a brief dive. We'll have to try again at another island.

Sat morning was market day to stock up on fresh supplies for the next passage. We all left that afternoon. It is another 650 nm to Bau Bau, in Sulawesi. Right now we have finished 150nm in the first 24 hours which is good. During the week the winds are forecast to be coming down gradually. We are going to try leaving the spinnaker up all night tonight. Hope we don't regret that.

Thursday Island, Aus, to Tual, Indonesia

We arrived at Thurs Is Thurs noon, in record time for Maggie. As well as good winds there was no ocean swell behind the reef. Bill flew in on a flight that afternoon, visa and passport in hand. He happened to be on the same flight as Daphne who is crewing for Tahawus. She had flown home during the Australia visit. The Thurs Is airport is actually on Horn Is which is also where the best anchorage is. Fortunately there is a good ferry service between the islands. The current can be as high as 7 knots so it is not a trip to do by dinghy. On Fri we took the ferry to check out at customs and buy more food. The tide would be in our favour around 6 pm but we all left near 5 to get out of the channels and shipping lanes before dark. At the beginning we were going 3.5 kn with engine and sails.

There are a number of islands close together off the top of Cape York. They seem very different in culture to the rest of Australia. It felt like we were back in the South Pacific Islands. For one thing it is warmer being at 10 degrees south. The principal inhabitants are Melanesians, but with many other nationalities represented. It is much closer to New Guinea (90 miles) than to the rest of Australia. There is only one very long road going up the Cape and it is mostly Aboriginal land. This was a strategic location during WW2 and there was a fair amount of damage to the town. We didn't have time to visit the museum up by the fort but there were a number of historic signs in town. There were also many signs warning you about the crocodiles. As we were leaving we saw one sunning on shore along where we were anchored. At customs they told us that dogs, in particular, on boats have been targeted.

The winds so far on the passage have been 20 to 30 kn. As usual, they are straight behind so we have to gybe along the track. We are traveling NW first and are now close to the Papua New Guinea coast. The depth of the water has surprised me. It is around 30 feet now, but not more than 50. That is a huge change from the Pacific. The body of water we are currently crossing is called the Arafura Sea. We have been traveling around 7 knots with the genoa and a bit of main. Sometime Mon the wind is forecast to be lighter. Time will tell if we can make our Oct 14 deadline.

Day3 Travelling from Cairns to Torres Strait

All five BPO boats are underway to cover the 450 nm from Cairns to Thurs Island at the very north end of Australia. Ideally we should be leaving there Fri so most boats are not stopping along the way. Rob and I left early Mon morning and it is Wed now. The forecast has been for winds 20 to 25 knots all week. Tues and Wed have been fine with that, but on Mon we had one squall after another that increased those winds. We have had to work harder than usual at the sailing. The reefs in the sails are put in and then out often. We need to gybe the boat more often to stay in a narrower channel between islands and reefs. This involves centering the main, taking in the genoa, and putting it out the other side. There has been a lot of freighter dodging as well. We are trying to take naps in the day to make up for those nights.

We are missing Bill's help on this passage! His passport and Indonesian visa had not yet arrived in Cairns when we got there Fri. Tim's had arrived that day even though they had both been sent to Darwin on the same day. Unfortunately, it is a 3 day long weekend here with the post office closed. He has the package tracked to the post office in Darwin but it won't leave there until Tues. He has taken a hotel room in Cairns and will fly up to meet us on Thursday Island. This is more expensive and less fun than he had hoped! Hopefully all this can happen this week before we get caught with another weekend making it difficult to check out of the country.

The weather was even windier on Sat and Sun so everyone stayed in Cairns for the weekend. It was around 35 knots as we arrived Fri. It was great to have another place to see some of Australia. Cairns is a huge tourist destination for the whole of the northeast coast. It is a beautiful city center on the water with lots of services. It is a shorter boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef than further south and the rainforest is closer to the coast.

We were anchored across the river right off town-a bit wet in the dinghy but worth it. On Sat we took the public bus an hour drive out of town to visit the zoo. That way we could see some of Australia's well known animals in a short time. Saw the dingo, platypus, wombat, cassowary, monkeys, and many huge bird species. It was a small place, but intimate and unique. You could pat the koalas, feed the kangaroos, hold the pythons, or a baby crocodile. There were specific shows for the crocs, koalas, and birds. Dan, you would enjoy the large collection of highly venomous snakes.

On Sun the Australian rugby finals were taking place in Brisbane. The Brisbane Bronchos were playing the Townsville Cowboys. Of course, Cairns supports the Queensland team. They must be huge sports fans looking at all the hype and venues for watching the game. We had it on the radio on the boat. The Cowboys tied it up with seconds left to play, and then scored first in overtime.

We are enjoying the great sail today. By tomorrow we will be in an area known for its high winds and currents. We'll see how that goes!

Enjoying cruising the Queensland Coast

The sailing up the coast from Mackay has been delightful. There are lots of places to stop and anchor and the seas are blocked by the Barrier Reef. It has been a change to travel with breaks, and have something to look at. We left the marina midday Sat. John, who has worked in boating his whole life in this area, came to chat with us all in the morning about possibilities for anchoring. He is the father-in-law of Rabbit, our BPO contact in Australia. We stopped at Goldsmith Island that night, making the first 26 nm of the 860 to do. It was good to at least get started. This is one of the first Whitsunday Islands going north. Sunday night we did another 46nm to Hayman Is, the last in the chain. We got a chance to see the scenery from the water, if not from land. Being a weekend and a school break, there were a lot of boats and ferries around.

From there we did an overnight, with the days before and after, to arrive at Magnetic Island off Townsville. You can cover a lot more miles doing that, although the winds were very light. The wind wasn't going to get back up to a usable speed until Thurs, so took the opportunity to go ashore on Magnetic, and take a trip into Townsville. Today we are doing another 2 days and one night which should get us to Cairns (pronounced without the r).

I'm glad we had a chance to do some touring as we have seen so little of Australia. And we really enjoyed the location. It is much more interesting than Mackay. The anchorage was large and shallow with a small town and resorts on shore. Tides are getting lower (10 ft as opposed to 16) but that still gives a lot of beach to pull your dinghy up at low tide. The patch on the leaking seam is not working as well as we hoped, but we need to wait to find a place to redo it professionally. Since the island is only a 20 min ferry ride from Townsville on the mainland, it is quite developed as a tourist center. If we had more time we would have done some of the hiking trails which looked interesting. Instead we took a bus to the ferry terminal on the opposite shore. That and the ferry ride gave us a tour. Interestingly, the island is nicknamed "Maggie". That was also the password for the ferry's wifi.

Townsville with its architecture reminded us of a cowboy town from the last century. It is the largest city in tropical Queensland. There are many mining operations, active as well as defunct. The other industry is sugar cane, with its black smoke pouring across the landscape from many locations. There has been a water shortage this year so the hills look quite barren. There is a new Museum of Tropical Queensland where we spent several hours. I particularly enjoyed the information and displays on corals and sea life in the reef areas.

There was quite the exhibit on Captain Bligh and the ship he returned with after the mutiny. It had been damaged on a reef near here. We had watched one of the 5 versions of Mutiny on the Bounty a few months ago. It was interesting to hear about the "rest of the story". He managed to get to the Dutch East Indies, which is now Indonesia, in his small boat and crew. Quite the navigational challenge! From there he took a freighter back to England. He returned to the South Pacific to avenge the mutiny, with mixed success. The whole story could make another movie.

Rob and I did some provisioning and chandlery shopping as well as the sightseeing. We bought some more fishing lures. We have had several bites on the line today but nothing has made it to the boat. We have seen several turtles and perhaps a whale. There are been many birds that we don't recognize. The lorakeets on Magnetic Island were colorful and numerous.

It has been good to have Bill aboard to share the workload. He has a lot of experience on sailboats. He needs the Indonesian visa before we leave Australia. It is being mailed to Cairns so we need to stop there, hopefully not for too long waiting. However, we would like to spend some time seeing the city. We got our visas done in NZ where the consulate was near Dan and Becky's. The 400nm trip from Cairns is supposedly windier and wetter. We are thankful we have gotten this far without a north wind. We will add overnights as needed to get to Thurs Is by Oct. 8. The wind is forecast to go up to 25 to 30 tomorrow. The men on board will be happier about that than me. Right now we are going 6 kn with 12 kn of wind using the spinnaker.