In November, our minds still full of the impressions and experiences in Tanjung Puting, we refilled our Diesel tanks, bought fresh vegetables and fruits, and prepared for the crossing from Borneo to Java and on to Bali. The Northeast monsoon had not yet started, so winds, while weak, were predominantly from the East. We had to decide between two possible routes: East along the southern coast of Borneo, then run South to Bali, or head South across the Java sea, and then eastwards to Bali. We eventually decided for the second option, hoping for more shelter on the Javanese coast from the wind, at the cost of potentially more motoring.
We set off, motor-sailing South for approximately 24 hours to Pulau Bawean. The passage was uneventful, we hardly saw any traffic and were preparing for an easy night. But once the sun set all of a sudden the horizon was full of lights: fishing platforms at sea. Mostly these seem to be boats or even anchored stationary platforms (bageans) that lower a net, attract fish with many bright lights, and then pull the net and fish up. But we never know whether some of them may have also put out longer nets – so we run a zigzag course through them, trying to stay as far away as possible. At least there is no risk of falling asleep on watch while you’re focused on avoiding them! (With Celine’s help we ran three shifts at night, each of us at the helm for approx. three hours. This made for halfway decent sleep.) We arrived in Bawean in the late morning and anchored in a sheltered bay. A small turtle lifted its head out of the clear blue water to check us out – but we were too tired to even snorkel and just rested.
The next day saw us up bright and early again, for another long passage to the Eastern end of Madura island. Winds were slightly better and we made good progress, arriving at out anchorage by 2 a.m. the next morning, again allowing for some sleep. The next day we had a slow start and woke up late, leaving around 11 to head South towards the Eastern most end of Java. As we left the anchorage some 30 or so beautifully decorated fishing boats crossed our path, with the crews waving and cheering and posing for photos. We did not have much wind and motored all the way, but were rewarded with a beautiful sunset and the silhouetted volcanoes of Java in the distance. Again we arrived in the dark, and with the help of the radar had to carefully pick our way through a series of fish aggregation devices (FAD): small platforms or in this case styrofoam buoys that are anchored to the sea floor. Small fish like to hide in the shade under these FADs, big fish like to come and eat the small fish, and the fishermen like to come and haul out the big fish. Easy principle that based on the number of FADs across all of Indonesia obviously works.
The fifth day after leaving Kumai finally had Bali as the day’s destination. As we crept out from behind the Javanese volcanoes into the straits between Java and Bali the wind started to blow. The volcanoes on one side and Balinese mountains on the other side made the passage like a wind funnel. The sea got bouncy and we quickly reefed the sails. Even with the reduced sail size we easily reached 8 knots cruising speed, which isn’t bad for our comfort-focused boat. We sailed along the North coast of Bali through clear blue deep waters, when suddenly we were surrounded by dolphins. Lovina is famous for its dolphins and many tourists go on early morning dolphin safaris, but still many miles out we had this group all to ourselves. We enjoyed their company for a good half hour as they raced along and in front of Rainbow Safari. A fantastic welcome to Bali. By 4 we were anchored just off the beach, and by 5:30 we were on the beach in the Seabreeze cafe, enjoying a cold refreshment and the sunset view.
Lovina was a rest and recreation, and also provisioning stop. Robin had a bad tooth and we all went to the dentist for a checkup: $30 for the six of us. We also extended our Indonesia visas for one month, now a regular requirement until we need to leave Indonesia after 6 months. With the help of a super-friendly local fisherman/tourist guide, Joe, we purchased a new outboard engine for our dinghy, and did a day-trip to Ubud. We loved the drive through the countryside and over the volcano ridge, but were disappointed by Ubud: in the 20 years since our first visit it has turned from a somewhat eccentric hippie artist enclave into a tourist trap of cheap Chinese-made T-shirt and Sarong peddlers and over-priced (if nice) eateries. Not for the first time on our journey we were confronted with mass-tourism just completely destroying local culture and nature. No doubt tourist dollars are great for community development, and foreign experiences should help to foster more global connection and understanding. But un- (or mis-) regulated capitalism does not make for sustainability. (Thinking about it, democracy also does not always seem to bring out the best in a country, if you consider that voters have elected Trump in the US and Brexit-Boris in the UK. Some aspects of the Chinese model may be better, and the not-so-liberal but community-development focused Singaporean democracy may be a pretty good balance.)
But back to our journey: We really enjoyed Lovina. The water was clear and we were back to a daily swimming routine, with lessons for Hero. The restaurants were nice. We visited a local waterfall, with various levels of rock-jumping into ice-cold pools (ok, by our standards… probably in the mid-20ies Celsius), and natural waterslides. Celine gathered all her courage, overcame her fears and braved a 10 meter jump! Niki turned ten years old on November 22nd, and we celebrated with a dinghy ride out to the dolphins, followed by fresh Sushi home-made from a tuna that Joe gave us as a gift.
On November 23rd we left for Gili Air. The Lombok strait is infamous for its strong currents, being on the main route of the Indonesian Throughflow from the Pacific to the Indian ocean. (I learned that the Pacific is on average 20cm higher than the Indian ocean, root cause of the flow!) We had a good sail over to Gili, not too much current and good wind.The minimum age to start Padi scuba diving certifications is 10 years old, so Niki was ready to start his classes on the 24th, together with Celine. We had another special treat: as we approached the Gilis another large group of dolphins came to swim with us, quite spectacular as they jumped the 2m waves. You can watch here: https://youtu.be/-M4WKx4FoiU
We had four nice days in Gili, although the anchorage was poor. There is a constant run of large speed ferries carrying backpackers between Bali and Gili. Every time Rainbow Safari shook from the wake. Despite the reef there was also a late afternoon build-up of chop, making it a very bumpy place indeed. To top it off, one morning we almost got hit by a glass bottom boat with a stalled engine. Just in time I was able to race our dinghy around to the front of the boat and push them off.
We wrapped up the month with a sail back to Bali, this time to the Southern area around Denpasar, primarily to pick up boat parts. Bali is a supply base for all the dive centers in the area so a good place for us to add equipment for our now four divers on board.
Rainbow Safari 