November / December 2008 |
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We
arrived safely in Bali after a 600 mile stint with no wind
at all and motoring nearly all the way. Bali is unique in
many ways and most popular with tourist. All too quickly
the agreed stopover was coming to an end and we prepared
to depart for other Indonesian Islands.
The route we chose was one not many yachties would choose,
off the beaten track so to speak.
First we chose Lomboc with its tall mountains and Volcanoes.
Most impressive to see such tall mountains by the sea. |
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were greeted with many cat rigged colourful sailing boats.
Fisherman going for their daily catch. |
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Sumbawa we had an unpleasant incident As we return by dinghy
from a shopping trip we noticed 3 men in a dugout canoe
trying to board Little Swan. We challenged them of course.
They said they are from the Police, but they did not look
like Police men. One of them pulled a revolver from his
pants and we were very scared. |
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Eventually things became under some sort
of control and we departed for the Police station. We
lodged our complain of the Policemen behaviours to the
chief commander. ( For what its worth) because soon after
they demanded protection money US$ 50 for our 24 hour
stay in this rotten town. It is sad to experience such
primitive corruption.
An Island we all wanted to visit was The Island of Komodos
and the people showed us a warm welcome.
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The
National park was very interesting and we did see the rare
Dragons in the wild as well as under the Rangers house. |
The
snorkelling on one of the locals favourite spots was absolutely
wonderful and fits into the 10 best Snorkelling experiences
in the world. The diving was supposed to tops too, but the
sailing schedule put us to shame.
Labuhan Bajo was a busy place and there was a local yacht
there, the only one we spotted in our long trip and also
the last anchorage in Flores.
We are finally heading North east towards east Sulawesi.
A stopover in the mighty Atoll of Takabonerate rewarded
us with fabulous snorkelling again, Baubau was next on the
list. It is the capital of southern Sulawesi. |
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Everywhere
we go to we would have liked to stay for a while longer,
but we have a long way to go and after some food shopping
we head of and take the inside Passage to Kendari the
central Sulawesi capital. Amazingly it has a hidden Harbour
and was not discovered by the Dutch for a long time. It
is totally hidden behind an S bend and opens up into a
huge deep Harbour. We anchored there.
Annemarie and Annett take a trip inland and had many
great adventures. In the meantime Aso and me were doing
maintenance on Little Swan, getting more fuel on board.
Topping up the water tanks with purified water. Laundry
our cloth and betting as well as doing the food shopping. |
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Hmm.. it felt a little like this. The local boys using the
ratline on the mainmast as jumping off platform. |
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Annemarie returned after 6 days full of adventure stories.
Her Visa has run out and we better get to a immigration
office. Bitung is a large harbour in northern Sulawesi and
has all the officials to get clearance out of Indonesia.
Annemarie had to cough up US$180 because of overstaying
the Visa time; she reckons it was worth it.
Aso, my hired crew also departed for Bali. |
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We are not allowed to stop anywhere in
Indonesia except in emergencies.
We had an emergency every day in Kinabohutan, , Biaro
Island, Ulu Island, Tahuna. We enjoyed those emergencies
stops immensely.
Finally departing Indonesian water the Police caught up
with us once more, but all was in order and they were
very friendly. They advised us not to one of the south-eastern
Islands of the Philippines.
The last 220 miles to Davao was tiering as one fears an
attack by AbuSajaf’s mob.
But all was OK and soon we were cleared in at Davao and
the Philippines. Immigration, Customs and Agriculture
all asked for a Php 3000 Php Christmas present.
Welcome to the Philippines.
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It has been a long haul and thankfully Little Swan has
large fuel tanks and water tanks as there was little wind
only and limited supply of potable water.
It really has been an off the beaten track trip and in
retrospect eventful in many ways.
Toni
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