Older posts are listed on the links at the bottom of the blog and on the right hand side column. There are also links on the right hand side that will take you to separate pages that cover some of the issues we have experienced. We also note a few people and companies (very few, most we have used have been great) that have let us down. If you have queries, would like waypoints or details on a destination, feel free to send a message, (link at the bottom of the page) .

Monday, September 6, 2010

Sumba

Sumba is a very large island in the Indonesian archipelago and has a moderately large harbor and fishing fleet. We arrive mid morning after an overnight ….. – I was going to say sail, but we had to motor all night due to very light winds – so after an overnight cruise and are met by two young men who advise us, in very good English, where to anchor, or more to the point, where NOT to anchor. Slowly the rest of our small fleet arrive and we seem to be the afternoon entertainment for the locals. Sumba is a very friendly place, they are totally organized and so very happy to see us. Eight representatives from Police, Army, Navy and Government are posted full-time on the wharf to guard our boats (hmm, makes one wonder why) but they bend over backwards to organize water, fuel, guides anything we might need and we feel once again, like royalty. Skipper loses no time in organizing one of the young men who greeted us when we anchored, to scrub our water-line and hull as we are slowly accumulating growth again and ‘Amar’ works hard for two days to make Bluestone’s bottom clean. He takes great pleasure in helping us raise our ‘dress ship’ flags and tie off the halyards and shows us photos (on his mobile phone) of his house, family and friends. He is very polite and offers to guard the dinghies while we are all away on official tours etc. The crew impresses him with her knowledge of counting to 10 (in Indonesian) and the few other words she has learned and he asks if she went to school to learn Indonesian. Sweet. As we will be here for Indonesia’s National Day (17th) those of us who have them hoist our coloured flags and any other flag we may have to make the day memorable – this is met with much enthusiasm from the locals. Some of the local fishing fleet also ‘dress ship’ in honour of the day. 
 Our new best friend 'Amar'
 At 0600 hours next day we are collected by bus to be taken the 500 mtrs to the official Indonesia National Day celebrations. Every school child is present and also every government official. We are expecting much dancing, marching celebrating etc. however, the morning is taken up with the official flag raising ceremony and speeches which takes around 2 hours before we can shake hands with the Regent and then the fun begins. We have front row seats to witness the official Tug-of-War finals – Army vs Prison Guards, Army vs Navy, Girls vs Girls. It is all taken very seriously but everyone is smiles at the finish. (Remind us to not ever upset an Indonesian – they are more scary than the Maori doing the Haka when in competition). The ever-present PM or MP – Military Police try to keep the creeping crowd back. They have also erected two poles. At the top of these poles are the Indonesian flag and below the flag, tied on, are all sorts of pots, pans and kitchen bits apparently with money in them. The person who manages to retrieve the flag apparently gets 1000,000 rupiah (around $130 Aus) but there is a catch. The pole is greased and watching the boys attempting to climb these poles is hilarious. Eventually, both flags are retrieved and many of the kitchen utensils also. The rest of the day is ours until we are official guests at the Gala dinner that evening at the Regent’s house. 

Flag Raising ceremony, all very offficial
The greased poles the boys had to climb
 Tug-of-war Ready boys?
 Army vs Prison Guards
 Then it's the girls turn

Skipper has been asked to give a speech at the dinner and is a little bewildered at the prospect. It seems, as we were the first one anchored that makes us ‘special’ and it is up to him to speak on behalf of everyone. OK, out comes the computer and it takes a little while to put something together as we have only been here for a around 8 hours but with a little assistance from the crew we have a nice speech compiled by tea-time and a shell necklace donated by another cruiser to present to the Regent. One thing we are aware of in this trip is that we have been treated and welcomed so very well and it seems that all we do it ‘take’ – it is really very nice to be able to ‘give’ something in return and the Regent is very, very pleased with his gift. During the evening all the top government officials and their wives are called up one by one and fed a little of the celebratory cake by the Regent and his wife and all of a sudden Neil and his ‘couple’ (wife) are called to participate in this ritual and we are absolutely chuffed by the gesture. I’m sure not many other western couples have been asked to participate in this ritual, we are so honoured. Following this, Neil is asked to introduce the fleet after which we all receive a locally woven cloth and much to his horror, our solo sailor David is asked to sing a song. They like to spring these little things on you but fortunately he knows the words to Waltzing Matilda so the crowd are pleased with his rendition and we give him big applause, relieved that we didn’t have to help him sing. 

 The Regent and his wife
 Officials get a piece
 And so do we
 The microphone stand is a bit short

Next day we are taken to the museum which consists of one room with a few interesting artifacts but some particular bowls caught the eye of the skipper and crew. On a bench are bowls one on top of the other with little paper labels, we spy one that says MING DYNASTY ! In fact, they have some local bowls and then more Dynasty labels – truly amazing. Our next stop is a local village where the late King’s wife invites us to her house where we can sit on comfortable chairs and rest a bit with her. The villagers have all their wares out on display to sell and follow us relentlessly showing us these wonderful carvings, beads, earrings, weavings hoping we will buy something. A few purchases are made just before we head back to the bus and we are now on our way to a beach for lunch. On our return to town we stop at a few shops and the bank so everyone can do what they need to do before returning to the boats. We are told the staff, bus and a car are at our disposal while we are here so we can all stock up on water, fuel, phone cards etc. and hopefully get into an internet café to check emails. 

 Admiring some weaving in the museum
 And this is how they make the pattern for the weaving

Day 3 – Another tour of some traditional villages is organized for today, however, crew and skipper have other things to do (deliver more water to the overheating generator for one) and a few other jobs about the boat. But the others leave around 9am and obviously have a good day or at least travel a long way as they don’t return to the harbor until 6:30pm. Our new friend ‘Amar’ knocks on our hull after dark very worried that we didn’t come ashore today and bearing a gift of a lovely bunch of bananas. Yum. He stays long enough to give the skipper a massage and have a chat then he is off home again.

Day 4 – Skipper’s birthday ! Today we visit the markets which are open every day and wander around the other shops and finally to the internet café so we can upload some more photos on the blog. The others then continue on to the local swimming pool for the afternoon. We return to the boats, open some red wine and toast the health of our skipper – Happy Birthday Neil.

The last two days are spent readying Bluestone for another voyage this time to the island of Rinca where we are told we can see the famous Komodo Dragons. After a farewell dinner with our new best friend Amar, we exchange phone numbers and leave in the early morning. The fleet splits up here with a handful of boats going onto West Sumba and the remainder heading to Rinca or Komodo to join up with the boats that took the northern leg of the Rally.