Happy Easter and Happy Birthday - Passage to Pulau Weh

Couples come here prior to marriage to receive gifts - we did'nt get any but enjoyed  the chance to sit down!

Seaside dinner first evening in Sabang

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday

Passage to Pulau Weh

March 27 2016

Just as last year, I spent my birthday on a passage. But we had had a celebratory dinner with Dave and Ben the week before. Rob did dinner and dishes on Sun. Monday No Regrets came over to Maggie with a cake they baked for me. Can't complain! Rob put our Indonesian sim card back in the phone and within a few miles of landfall emails started to arrive with birthday wishes. Thanks for those! Easter didn't get as well celebrated. We'll have to do better next year. This island is 98% Muslim so we aren't likely to find a church. The mosques do the call to prayer 5 times a day so we could use that as a personal reminder.

As forecast there was wind to sail the whole way. Overnight Saturday there was more than enough and we were both up reefing sails. Even reefed we had to slow down all day Sun to not get in Mon am before sunrise. Because Pulau Weh is at the northwest tip of Indonesia there is a lot of shipping traffic passing it to enter the Malacca Straits. Overnight Sunday was spent dodging the freighters as they came up on the AIS. Eventually we motored to have some control. But it was a good passage except for being tired afterwards. Because of the good weather window there are 6 sailboats in the harbour now. Sumatra is not often visited by yachts, so this is a big group. Luc has invited any of them to join us on the activities he has planned here. We feel good that some have come out as the locals have gone to a lot of trouble for us.

One boat, in particular, Gaia, with Jim and Helen aboard have joined us most of the time. Their boat is registered in Ottawa but they have lived aboard traveling for the last 21 years. It is rare to see another Canadian boat. It has been informative to talk to them about many of the places they have visited, as well as a pleasure to meet them. They already knew Luc as SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) commodores. Five of the six boats are planning to cross the Indian Ocean at some point. The other is doing a boat delivery to Bali, where the owner will continue on to the west and south coasts of Australia and on to New Zealand.

Monday, Luc helped with check in which involves a lot more in Indonesia than other countries. Two dinghies worth of officials visited and wanted photocopies of many things each. We had a boat stamp made at Christmas time that made a good impression. I was upset that Quarantine confiscated all our expired meds. Part of the problem is that I did not have a list of what they took to be able to replace it, or whether we could even get some of the supplies. We don't throw them out often, but keep for backup. They did the same on each boat. But Luc has arranged for us to be able to get them back after we check out, in sealed containers, not to be opened in Indonesia. I'm not sure what the issue is. On one boat they confiscated a case of beer that was supposedly past its expiration date. Not likely destined for the garbage. That is also going to be returned.

The rest of the day Luc helped with logistics like finding ATM's and phone cards and top ups and food. We have a van with driver provided by the tourism dept for 4 days.  We also had  a short city tour of Sabang including one of the beaches and museum. An early outdoor dinner looking out over the Andaman Sea and sunset finished off the day. We are looking forward to the next 3 days planned exploring the island. So far, it looks like a very beautiful place.