Lovina Beach, Bali is our next anchorage and here we can pick up our extended visas and head on up to Kalimantan (Borneo)…. Or not? We have heard via the cruising grapevine that there has been a recent increase in the risk of Malarial outbreaks in Kumai and we are not convinced that sailing all that way to see some Orang Utans, with the increased Malaria risk hanging over our heads, is what we want to do. Maybe we can visit the famous Singapore Zoo and see them there.
Our overnight sail from Lombok began quite uneventful until it came to crossing the Lombok Strait. At one stage here we had 5 ships registered on our radar and we were in the middle! Lombok Strait is a busy shipping channel and they seem to appear out of nowhere to converge on us. They of course, are going a lot faster than a yacht. Skipper has cause to call at least one tanker on the radio who seems to be on a collision course (or near enough) with Bluestone and after a bit of negotiating with another tanker, all 3 of us change course to avoid a close encounter. Phew. A fellow cruiser likened crossing this strait to “a mouse crossing a room full of cats” - not quite that bad but busy enough. As the night wears on it is apparent the Skipper is coming down with some sort of flu virus most probably caught from the Resort owner who has been coughing and spluttering for a week previous – passed onto his visiting sister-in-law and subsequently to him. The crew is keeping her distance.
After dodging the many ‘fish trap’ contraptions that litter the seas in Indonesia, the anchor is firmly set in Lovina Beach and the skipper retires to try to catch some sleep while the crew visits a nearby cruiser for a haircut. We hear that we need to take many copies of ship’s paperwork ashore and ‘clear in and clear out’ – what the? We have already cleared in to Indonesia, why do we have to do this again? Well they will have to wait until we are ready and skipper is well enough to go ashore. Secretly we hope that if we slip under the “official radar” we can just leave without all the hoo haa of lots of paperwork. Not to be, apparently we need “port clearance” papers from here that state our preferred port for “clearing out” of Indonesia. Darn it, but we don’t want to be delayed in Indonesia do we, so a quick run to shore and amazingly all is finalized efficiently and without fuss. At least we got out of the “clearing in” process which apparently was woeful. We then took a stroll along the waterfront shops and restaurants before returning to Bluestone for the skipper to continue his recouperation.
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| One of the many UNLIT fish traps |
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| The statue that was our landmark to come into the anchorage |
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| One shopping alley |
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| And.. the elaborate entrance to another shopping alley |
A few days later poor skipper is still under the weather and we sit and watch a good many of the boats depart for their next destination. We will wait another day or two. While we wait we manage to take a walk along the main road and visit the local market (sights and smells you have never experienced), a small supermarket (amazing how the skipper manages to find these little supermarkets), an internet café and ATM. We are also able to take in some dinners on the foreshore restaurants with a few cruisers we haven’t seen in a while. All very nice but we need to start moving again and skipper is just well enough to take a day trip to the next overnight anchorage at Raas Island. Funny though, the crew has a scratchy throat!
We have a leisurely cruise (no wind again) to Raas and arrive only just before the sun completely disappears to anchor quite a way off shore but secure enough for a night’s sleep. The morning sees us depart for Bawean Island which will incorporate an overnight sail. (Crew now has really sore throat). Bawean is very pretty – from the boat at least – and we speak to a couple here from South Africa on the last leg of their circumnavigation. We don’t go ashore at Bawean but have heard some very nice reports about the people and the island. We do however, meet some local fishermen after some food and water again. They were also after some sunglasses, binoculars, fenders etc., but ‘no go’ guys, a couple of Red Bull drinks, some biscuits and an old cap we had in exchange for some fish and they went away very happy. So fish it was for tea. Not bad. A couple of good nights’ sleep and we can depart for Belitung which will be our last official stop and ‘clearing out’ place before heading to Malaysia.
Crossing the Java Sea was not a walk in the park. The weather has been slowly deteriorating since we left Bali and at Bawean it does not look like improving much. However, the South African cruisers depart and inform us via radio that it’s not that bad out there. So we depart next morning confident that “not bad” is in fact not bad. Huh! Twice we talk ourselves out of turning back, thinking it’s going to get better.....and eventually the squalls and seas do subside and we continue on. The first night the crew counted 5 thunderstorms 4 off in the distance and 1 close enough to just kick us with its tail on the way past – phew! Second day no wind, no storms, no rain just humidity plus (crew feeling poorly today and the humidity does not help) so a shower on the foredeck is required to cool off and clean off. At least now the seas have abated to just a gentle roll and meals can again be prepared without bruises. Third day looms overcast, rainy, thunder and squalls but nowhere near the first day’s strength thank goodness. The Java sea is the colour of charcoal and relatively calm even through the thunder and wind – strange. Fourth day, finally, after dodging shipping and brightly lit local fishing boats throughout the night we arrive safely at the anchorage. Just prior to entering the anchorage we spy our friends on ‘Amulet’ emerging from the rain fog, they have been stooging around (‘jilling’ around actually) waiting for the visibility to clear so they could make their way into the anchorage. So we both enter together during a short lull in the weather under the guidance of those already anchored. Ahh, our own bed again – not the cabin floor or couch. (Crew is not keen on 4 day crossings).
