Blog 70. 16 October 2019. Kumai to Belitung. 02.33.07S 107.39.72E
Alcedo
David Batten
Mon 21 Oct 2019 23:03
In the sultans’ palace, with family photographs on the wall and showing the very simple furnishings for a wealthy family, but plenty of space.
We spent a bit more time in the sultan’s house because of a downpour, which would have put a real dampener on the river trip to come. We are clearly getting into proper monsoon territory, having been welcomed by a downpour on arriving at the mouth of the Kumai River, another one at the last feeding station and now another, all lasting nearly an hour.
Rally members setting off on the river trip after the rain in traditional open boats
The village on the river where we saw men and women washing themselves and their clothes in the river with all the rubbish and you know what else flowing past
Apparently the river has been cleaned up but there is no way any of us would have washed or swum in it as were several children. We had cheerful waves from most of them as they are signed up to tourism being the new income generator, so they were happy to see us.
The gala dinner was another triumph of eating, dancing and speeches, plus attendance to the night market going on in the streets behind the “Istana Kuning”, the one and only historic palace in Central Borneo where we had dinner. A great occasion, more for the sultan, who attended along with the prince and the Mayor of Kotawaringin Barat Regency, the lady we saw in the video who gave a very long speech, preceded by the usual mumbled prayer.
Maria from Cattiva, seen in the photograph with dancers in the previous blog, gave the thank you speech on behalf of the rally and was given a certificate for her contribution, while Morris, her husband, was given a ‘t’ shirt decorated by an orangutang that looked as if it was wrapping its arms around him. Very tasteful!
The following day was the usual visit to the market and preparation for the 300nm sail to Belitung. We decided to leave immediately after breakfast, so we had 48 hours for the trip and an average of 150nm per day. We started with a great sail with full main and Genoa once out of the river, with the wind 60 degrees off the bow, but the wind slowly dropped we were dead down wind as we changed course to go north west to Belitung. By 21.00hrs we were motoring and surrounded by very brightly lit fishing boats, a somewhat unrestful watch for the Skipper’s wife requiring avoiding action to find a suitable gap to pass through the fleet. Luckily no nets, although we did hear of 2 boats that got caught up in nets when taking a more inshore route off the southern end of Kalimantan. Both managed to cut themselves out without damage to either yacht, but as we know from our own experience, it is all very unpleasant and stressful for all concerned.
We did have to motor for a couple of hours during the night before being able to pole out the Genoa at dawn and continue with slow sailing or judicious motor sailing. It seems counter intuitive, but we can increase our speed up by one or two knots with the motor just bringing the wind round from dead aft and it makes Alcedo easier to steer, rather like keeping the head up when going to windward in light airs. Our second night was better in that no fishing boats, worse in that we were motoring with just a reef in the main to stop her rolling in rough seas with a light and variable wind. Very tedious. We motored into the Belitung anchorage at about 10.30, dropping the hook in anchorage E as described in the Cruising Guide to Indonesia as we were advised this was the least rough in the afternoon winds.
Anchorage E, taken from the shore, yachts just visible behind the local boats in the foreground. This on the day we arrived, which turned out to be the calmest.
Dinghy landing for anchorage E, where usually we had help from Ringo, seen here with the skipper, or some other locals.
Anchorage A, with the yachts behind the local boats again. This was closer to the TIC tent, but only a short walk away from the dinghy landing for anchorage E and less sheltered
Tanjung Kayalang is undoubtably one of the most beautiful anchorage we have been to. Described as in the cruising guide as calm and protected in the SE Monsoon season, it turned out to be less pleasant in the change between SE and NW monsoons. Every afternoon and sometimes earlier, a persistent north easterly wind would kick up a big sea, making it an unpleasant to be on the boat, difficult to get to shore and discourage any thoughts of snorkelling in the lovely clear waters. Sadly, the snorkelling was also disappointing because the reefs have clearly been damaged and the area over fished, so neither the coral nor the fish population is much to write home about. We did have 2 pleasant snorkelling outings, but without spending time to go to the offshore reefs, there is not much to see except the odd patch of recovering coral and, if you are lucky, a turtle or 2. We did pay to release 4 turtles between us from the turtle sanctuary off Kapayang, the island to the west of the anchorage, but were concerned about how they were being kept. The tanks looked dirty, with not much water and there was a rumour going round that the keeper would recapture them and offer them for sale again to the many local tourists the visit the island. Hopefully just a rumour.
Ship’s Boy’s turtle deciding which way to go before running for the sea and freedom. We hope we watched them swim out for long enough to prevent re-capture!
More in Belitung to come.
Alcedo
Sent from my iPad