Muslims worldwide have been celebrating Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, a time when they fast from sunrise to sunset and nowhere we've been has it been more prominent than here in Indonesia where we've just experienced this significant month. Many years ago, and I mean many, Paul & I were on our extended honeymoon which just happened to land us in Egypt during the month of Ramadan. I don't recall such intense mosque activities, festivities or general hype but perhaps things have changed there since then too.
Ramadan has now just come to an end and has passed into the stage of Eid al-Fitr or Hari Raya, the breaking of the fast. Along with a host of other names, these festivities are also known as the Sugar Feast or Sweet Festival. I'm not sure where and when these names arose but could have something to do with the amount of sweets, sugary biscuits, and even more sugar infused fruit drinks consumed during this time. This time, by the way, is supposed to last an entire day, perhaps even as much as two days, however the Indonesians turn it into about a ten-day holiday. Work? Not a chance!
Over the past month, we have been 'entertained' by a significant increase in the noise created by the muezzins calling their flock to prayer. We've also been amused at the blast of a siren each sunrise which translates to "forks down, stop eating, pray". This is then reversed at a few minutes past sunset: "okay, pray, gobble up and pray some more". We've heard that considerably more food gets consumed during the month of fasting than at any other time of the year and then during Eid al-Fitr, even more. These holidays are taken very seriously and one has to admire their fortitude throughout.
In all seriousness, I could use a bit of fasting myself but I wouldn't want to go an entire 12 hours here without even sipping water, it's just far too hot for that!
So, the long and the short of it is, all work aboard Calypso has come to a standstill other than what Paul is doing himself. Unfortunately with all shops closed, getting any supplies we may need is impossible. What we didn't get beforehand will just have to wait. I'm trying to convince him that he needs a bit of R & R for a change but he's just not buying it.
We haven't been happy with the quality of some of the work done aboard as we've discovered that the chaps have been taking shortcuts when it comes to the preparations. As soon as the festivities are over, we'll have to get them back again to rectify things. A pity as it puts us behind yet again and means purchasing more paint which has to be brought In from Jakarta. At times we despair that we'll ever see the end in sight.
Otto, a terrific Australian/Hungarian chap we have met here has taken an interest in our revamp and has promised to give us a team of his chaps to work through the internal side of things once the holidays are over. For this, we are just so appreciative. They could do in a few days what would take us months so, yes, we're really counting our blessings here. Once we're finished with the external chaps, we must get on to the masking for the non-skid paint and fixing the various damaged items that we haven't managed to address yet, primarily the radar arch. On the surface, the amount of work seems overwhelming at times.
As I mentioned previously, Paul managed to have the roller furler serviced with new bearings and a general overhaul, a task that he'd been trying to accomplish way back in New Zealand and then again during our time in Australia. He was never able to remove the majority of the seized components but fortunately, found a chap here who had the right equipment to do so. Four of our stanchion bases had been broken off during the monsoon season and these have now been re-manufactured and replaced, a task that meant ripping out a significant amount of the interior woodwork to get to the underside of the deck. Another case of one job leads to a host of others. Hey, this is a boat after all!
During the time I was away, Otto and his wife, Manis, took it upon themselves to send over a truckload of workers with 50 cardboard boxes to empty Calypso of all the junk left aboard with dear Manis supervising the operations. We're all hoping the majority of this 'stuff' never finds its way back on. How is it even possible to have as many as fifty boxes filled with that much stuff when we'd already taken the majority of things ashore after moving into the little house?!?! I don't consider myself a hoarder but that's ridiculous!
Although we've still got a long way to go, we seem to have gone through the destructive stage and are working our way into the constructive arena. We're just hoping that it all starts moving at a faster pace as time is definitely marching on,
