Indonesian paperwork has turned out to be tedious and complicated. I ended up staying on Banda Neira for nine days to correct my mistakes from Debut and become 'legal' (long story). It was no real hardship as I really enjoyed my time there (see previous post). The final part of the paperwork puzzle would be solved in Ambon, a relatively big city where I could also provision.
To be honest, there was no other reason to go to Ambon. The anchorage was filthy with raw sewage floating past the boat and rubbish everywhere. So, having arrived after lunch on the 26th, I spent the afternoon snoozing, drinking beer in a nearby hotel and sorting out the final part of the 'clearing in' process. The following morning, I took a scooter taxi to an excellent supermarket, and returned with four shopping bags full of goodies. Then, after a nice lunch of fresh fish, I left for Tifu, a wonderful anchorage with a small village on the next island to the west. It was around 90nm, requiring an overnight sail.
The entrance to the anchorage was small, hidden and on a lee shore. As I approached, I checked the charts several times, as I could not see the entrance until within 100m. But, once round the corner, the narrow channel opened up into a large, well sheltered bay with a small island in the middle.
The first impression was of children everywhere. Children that wanted their photo taken, wanted to say hello and who wanted to come on board. From a tender age, they become proficient at handling their traditional boats and they came racing across the bay at the first sight of Skyfall.
Once ashore, the time-honoured phrase, 'Take me to your leader', resulted in a walk through the village to find Danny. He is a 'local lad made good'. After University, he returned to Tifu where he teaches the kids English, Ukulele and guitar. He has acted as 'tour guide' for countless visiting cruisers and, in return, has received donations which has allowed him to accumulate around 10 ukuleles and two guitars. Skyfall donated a book of arrangements for Beatles songs on Classical guitar.
Watching him with the children was inspiring. If ever there was a 'Pied Piper' then this is your man! As he took me on a guided tour of the village, the gaggle of children following us seemed to grow endlessly.
The following day, I decided to hike to a river with a large pool under a bridge which was known as a place to swim. It took about an hour to get there in the sweltering heat. Two teenagers from the village were already there. When they saw me, they wanted to offer a drink. In a second, one was scampering up a 40m high palm tree with a machette to harvest coconuts. With two each, we returned to the bridge where they were expertly prepared. Of course, the first drink was offered to me.
Danny offered to take me snorkelling. Without thinking, I immediately accepted the offer. Actually, the snorkelling was average at best. But I got a shock two days later. The island in the middle of the bay, about 500m from where I had snorkelled, had a visitor.
I questioned Danny about crocodiles. He shrugged his shoulders and said the risk was small. Last year, on the whole island only two people had been eaten! I have since learned that you should only go in the water if you are certain there is no freshwater source nearby (crocodiles need one) and the water is crystal clear.
After a few relaxing days in Tifu, it was time to move on. The next stop was Wakatobi. Although 200nm away, thanks to the currents, this was going to be a quick passage.
In fact, the strong 1-2 knot current flowing from north east to south west, would help me not only to Wakatobi, but onwards all the way to Flores.
Wakatobi National Park consists of several islands and is known as a diving hotspot. I stopped at Wangi Wangi, the main island with the largest town and regional administration centre. It turned out that I had not done my homework very well. The best dive spots are on the islands of Hoga and Tomei. I found a dive centre but they took me to 'local' reefs and, after Banda Neira, it was a bit of a disappointment.
One reason I had chosen the main island, was that there is a dive centre with an instructor who specialises in teaching cave diving. There are three limestone caves/pools actually in town and these are linked by an underground river. I had anticipated adding this experience to my diving resume. Unfortunately, he was away for three weeks so I had to content myself with just exploring the caves from the surface.
It was easy to rent a scooter but I had to hunt around for a place to rent a bicycle to tour the island using 'pedal power'. The island is reasonably flat and about the right size to be able to get round in a day. There are a number of tourist attractions including a seaweed farm, a fort built in the thirteenth century and a historic mosque from the sixteenth century. The imman was very friendly, showing us around inside. At the back was a curtained off corner which is where the women pray, screened off from the men and the main area. The Muslim faith certainly does not treat the sexes equally.
On the east side of the island there are multiple quite nice resorts with sandy beaches sheltered from the SE trade wind seas by a fringing reef. To my surprise, not one of them had a guest! I managed to find lunch but it was strange being the only guest with 5-6 staff running around. Supposedly the national airline is short of planes and has cancelled many flights to the smaller islands, making it much harder for tourists to choose Wakatobi as a holiday destination.
My next stop was intended to be in an idyllic marine park called Takebonerate. However, I sailed to the town of Bonerate, not in the national park but about 20nm past it. There was a reason for this. Sailing solo, my insurance only covers me for 24 hours in any 36 hours. Overnight sails are fine. Even for the 200nm to Wakatobi, I was covered for all but the last hour (it was a fast passage). Takabonerate, or rather Bonerate, took me around 27 hours. Knowing this, I did not want to approach a reef strewn area in the final, uninsured hours, and Bonerate had an easy approach.
Having arrived around lunchtime, after sorting out the boat, I decided to go ashore to explore. There were several boats being built (in the traditional way) on the beach. Yet the amount of rubbish was frightening. Even by Indonesian standards this place was bad!
The town was devoid of cars but had scooters buzzing up and down the narrow streets. The ramshackle houses on stilts were attractive in a perverse way, although I would not personally like to live in one!
I had initially planned to sail back to Takabonerate the following day and explore the atolls and reefs. However, I was a little nervous as, in a reef-strewn area, it is always best to have a look out on the bow (not possible when sailing solo). In addition, checking my schedule and available time, I decided I could not fit this in and still be in Bali for end of August (I have a flight back to Belgium booked on September 2nd). At least, that was my excuse! Instead, I spent the next morning doing some boat jobs and left after lunch to sail towards Flores.
There is much to do and see on Flores and the tourist 'epicentre' is Labuan Bajo. However, Gilibodo island is almost on the way with a 'five star' anchorage, so that is where I was heading. There are so many FAD's littering the coast of Indonesia that it is best to stay at least 10nm away from land until daylight. So that is what I did, finally motoring into the anchorage around 07.30.
The beach was beautiful and the first 'rubbish free' place I have found in Indonesia (it is uninhabited). The soft coral on the reef was in good condition and the water crystal clear, making for interesting snorkelling.
Supposedly, the monkeys come down to the beach at dusk but, unfortunately, I did not see any. I enjoyed the day swimming, sunbathing and contemplating life in general. Having sailed from Banda to Flores, I was now within 300nm of Lombok where I planned to haul out to fix a couple of boat issues and to check the boat over before leaving Indonesia across the Indian Ocean.
But before that, I had Komodo Dragons and Whale Sharks to enjoy. So the next day, I motoredd the short distance to Labuan Bajo, the tourist centre of Flores. More of that in the next post!
Waaaw great adventures! Keep safe!