Pulau Masalembo

05° 32.287'S

114° 25.690'E

The following two hops were again to be overnighters so we rested for another day before moving on and, miracles of miracles, we had perfect winds again!  This is definitely a bit of a novelty around these parts as we'd had to motor the majority of the time last year and pretty well most of our time around Borneo.  However, these winds were so good that we had to reef right down to make sure we got there after sunrise.

The gap to the pier

While in the second island, Masalembo, we took the opportunity to visit ashore.  Hmmm, not quite that simple.  

To begin with, we discovered that it was impossible to take the dinghy in anywhere close to the beach due to all the reefs and it was low tide at the time.  There were a myriad of old rusted pylons that must have been a large pier and structure in the past, probably from WWII.  Several chaps busy cutting them for scrap indicated that we should tie up to the old barge they were on then walk onto the island along the remains of the pier.

The rickety raft

This sounded fine until we saw that the barge was a good distance from the pier which, in turn, was a wreck of broken concrete and sharp rusty reinforcement.  

No problem; they had a bamboo raft to pull across then clamber up the lethal rusty remains on the other side.  

Yeah right!  Well, it worked but we were a tad nervous and more than a little soaked in the process.  So much for putting on clean clothes.

Collecting our drinks

One of the chaps, John, who spoke a little English appointed himself our guide and proceeded to show us around on the way to his house "just another five minutes" down the road.  

A good hour later we arrived and he promptly climbed a coconut palm for our drinks.  He had carried five fish back with him to offer us lunch but we declined after all the coconut water and coconut meat (quite filling).  He also plied us with bunches of bananas.

A fishing boat in production

The island was planted with teak trees which are used for boat building.  We visited one yard where a couple of boats were being built and repaired and were most impressed with their skills in this regard.   

Then there were all the children who were fascinated by us.  John mentioned that they'd never seen foreigners before.   The kids on these islands are always such a delight.

When it came time to return to our boats, he ferried us back on his scooter and we reversed the process of getting back to our dinghy.  

A wonderful stop, great island and, as we've come to expect,  delightful people.

PHOTO ALBUM:

Looking out at the anchorage

Making a small dugout canoe

The village children

Paul going back again