All systems go

When various systems on the boat haven't been used in a year, one has to wonder which are going to work and which aren't. 

A prime example would be our water maker as the filthy waters within the harbour at Kartini, made it impossible to give it an occasional workout.  Paul had back-washed throughout the year but we were still very nervous about it and the quality of water it would produce.  We needn't have worried.  It worked perfectly even producing a little more than we'd anticipated and the water tasted just fine.   Phew!  Next was the fridge/freezer system.  Again, Paul had switched it on from time to time but there was no guarantee that it would keep our thousands of Rupees worth of meat frozen.  It did hiccough after a couple of days out but Mr Fixit got stuck in, cleaned up the wiring, blew out the filters and Lo and behold, it's behaving very nicely again.

The dinghy outboard was another concern but it started first pull, the navigation lights all worked with the exception of the bow light which was ripped off when a fishing boat hit us in the harbour (we have spare battery operated ones), the dan buoy got smashed and the horseshoe is disintegrating so these will have to get replaced but they were fairly long in the tooth anyway and we have alternatives.  Hopefully we can find new ones in Malaysia where we're also planning on replacing several of our halyards and genny sheets.  

Some serious attention to port lights and valves was needed to get them all opening freely but again, Mr Fixit was employed and all is well.  Sometimes he despairs as there's always something that needs to be fixed but, all in all, we are thrilled that everything essential is working.  At least we're afloat in a primarily operational vessel.

Our SSB radio could well be the exception as the copper ground plate has corroded right through and we'll need to replace that when we're on the hard.  This blog entry will then have to wait to be posted when we're back within 3G or wifi range again.

Our stop in Belitung was fairly brief but wonderful.  Beautiful silky white sandy beaches and clear waters. Can't say the same for the air though as it was extremely hazy the entire time which is why we never saw the 35 rally boats hidden around the corner from where we dropped anchor.  Here we were, having been convinced that we were the only ones there despite initially thinking that we'd be meeting up with some of the rally and they were there all along, just around a small headland but far enough away in the haze that we hadn't seen them at all.  

We had thought about staying for their gala dinner on Monday but discovered that customs and immigration in Batam close early on a Friday and don't open again 'til Monday which would make us too late and incur heavy penalties so Sunday morning, we picked up anchor and set off again.  The usual lack of winds as we cross the equator can make this 320nm a slow trip indeed so it was prudent to move on.

We seem to have got back into the routine of night watches without too much difficulty and with a few pre-prepared dinners, Leonie's Romany Creams (thank you Leonie) and Paul's home made ginger beer, we're well set.

We've booked to be hauled out in Pangkor on the west coast of the Malaysian Peninsula so that we can give our dear girl an extremely long overdue scrape and anti-fouling job.  We haven't hauled out since our first trip to New Zealand which was five years ago.  We'd hoped to do so whilst in Jepara but there are no facilities for yachts whatsoever.  Most cruisers would do this every other year but with Paul continually diving and scraping, we push our luck a bit.  However, with the forthcoming Indian Ocean to cross, a clean smooth bottom can make a world of difference.

We couldn't have asked for better

By Tuesday, October 20th and we were on the move!

We had hoped to leave on Monday afternoon but........well, there was still far too much to do so we worked until we dropped, got up before the sun,  finished the pins for the main, the sheets for the genny and spent almost an hour extracting the chain from the mud and the mud from the chain but by seven we were on our way.

With no wind to speak of, we motored for a couple of hours then voilá, 15 knots just ahead of the starboard beam and we were away in absolutely perfect conditions!  My but this felt great and how we'd missed it.

Reflecting on the last few months, we have to ask ourselves, "what were we doing all this time?"  It's hard to say what exactly but we were busy from dawn to dusk putting dear Calypso back together again: carpentry, plumbing, electrics, installing the new AIS, repairing damage sustained by the fishing boats, rehanging cupboard doors, hinges, locks and knobs, reinstating a myriad of deck fittings, masking off, sanding, painting, waterproofing, cleaning, gluing, moving things back on board and trying to find the space for all of it, the list goes on and on and still we're not finished.  

There's no such thing as a five-minute job on a boat.  Everything takes longer, much much longer, and everything is awkward unless you happen to be the size of a leprechaun which we, most definitely, are not.  

Paul spent a good portion of the last three days that we were at anchor scraping a year's worth of barnacles and slime off the hull.  Without that, we would have been lucky to achieve more than three knots and here we are, doing a regular seven; not too shabby.

We were given a wonderful surprise just before leaving when the staff of Yam Yam, the Thai restaurant next door, came out en masse to bid us farewell leaving us with a bag of green curry paste and a Yam Yam nautical t-shirt.  We felt so honoured.

We're currently heading for the west side of Belitung, an island which is about halfway up on our route to the Singapore Straits.  We'd visited here briefly on our previous passage this way and it works out as an ideal stopover after a double overnighter to assess if our sailing skills are still intact.  So far so good on that score.

Looking back on our time in Jepara comes with a modicum of a bitter/sweet sentiments.  Certain promises that enticed us to stay weren't met but, on the other hand, we did meet some incredibly wonderful and generous people; those memories will stay with us forever.  We are, however, happy to be back on the 'road' again and look forward to what is fast becoming the beginning of the end of a remarkable journey.

Update:  We dropped anchor in Belitung fifty-five hours after setting off and, apart from coming around the top of the island, we had brilliant winds throughout and ideal sailing conditions.   The last time we were here, this was a crowded anchorage.  Today, we are like 'the lonely little petunia in the onion patch' - all alone. The air has been so hazy since yesterday afternoon, even the sun battled to get through and we couldn't see land until we were less than half a mile out, no doubt as a result of all the slash and burn from Kalimantan.  This photo was taken at 2:00 p.m. so it should have been a nice sunny day.  Too horrific to think about.

Salamat tinggal Jepara

Farewell to Jepara, Calypso is on her way.

We both wish to express our sincere and heartfelt thanks to those wonderful friends who we've met here and especially to those who did so much to help us get through our multitude of boat projects and make life a little simpler for these dumb gringos.

To Harry and Patti, how do we say sufficient thanks for opening your home to us?  I know we were purportedly here to house and cat sit but this could hardly be considered a hardship when one takes into consideration your fabulous home and most amazing feline.  We're going to miss both.  We look forward to the day when we meet up again in South Africa.  You've been so kind, thank you so much.

To Cobus & Leonie, your hospitality was phenomenal and Leonie, who was forever cooking up a storm, did her utmost to ensure that I was never going to lose any excess weight!  We're just so grateful and thrilled to have had you as neighbours here.

Rob, so sorry we didn't get to say a proper goodbye and we hope all went well for you in Singapore and the results are as good, if not better, than expected.  You may just see a boat anchored outside your house again come April or May next year and it just could be us as we head back southwards prior to crossing the Indian.  Thanks for everything and the very best of luck with your ventures.  Give our love to Alya and thanks for being our sponsors.

And now a humongous thanks goes to Otto and Manis.  Without you, refitting Calypso wouldn't have stood a chance.  Your incredible hospitality knew no bounds and we just cannot thank you enough.  Suffice it to say, you guys are very special and we hope we'll meet again somewhere, sometime in the future.  Otto, good luck with your mammoth task building that boat and we hope you'll send us launching photos before too long.  Manis, continue living up to your name by being as sweet as you are.  We were privileged to have met you both.

It's about time!

This morning we actually managed to remove our dear lady Calypso from the mud and grime of Kartini Harbour and anchor her back outside the house where we've been staying.  What a thrill to see her back out there; it's been a long time coming!  And even though it was only a couple of nautical miles to get here this morning, it felt ever so good to be behind the helm again.

She's filthy.  The teak dust and other grime floating in the air of Jepara has laid a thick carpet of muck   over every square inch of her making her look as though she's been incredibly neglected.   We removed all the tyres protecting the hulls but they have left huge black grungy marks all along the formerly white paintwork despite having wrapped them well.  We need a good heavy rain to wash down the halyards and deck but there's not much we can do about the hull just yet.

This all means that we're almost on our way out of here.  There are still quite a few unfinished jobs but we'll work on those as we go along.  The important things like the engine, the navigation lights, the sails, the dinghy & outboard, the davits, the solar panels, the freezer, etc. are all back up and running.

We plan to leave here on Monday morning and cover the 320 nautical miles to West Belitung where we'll take a break for a couple of days before heading on up to Batam on the south side of the Singapore Straits, another 300-plus miles.  We have to be out of the country by the 29th so are hoping for some decent winds to help us out.

From there we must get to Pangkor in Malaysia where we plan to haul out to do the much overdue bottom paint.  Maybe, just maybe, after that we can sit back to relax a while.  It's been a very long hard slog.

Before leaving, I just have to mention that one of the saddest situations we've come across here is the rubbish.  It's everywhere, especially in the rivers and in the sea.  This is a photo of the next harbour where we had to go for check out procedures yesterday.  The plastic pollution is beyond description and sadly, I don't think any control is on the cards from the Indonesian authorities; it's in their upbringing that the water will just take it all away.  When the rainy season starts again, this and the tons upon tons of garbage up the rivers of the country, will all wash down into the sea where we'll experience rivers of plastic miles out.  I believe Indonesia is one of the worst internationally and you can see why when you look at this picture.  Sitting in Kartini Harbour, we've witnessed all the fishermen simply toss their polystyrene boxes and plastic drinking containers into the water behind their boats.  As the boats come in, they offload all the effluent, oil and rubbish into the harbour.  No wonder we both got serious staph infections when we had to put our feet into that - and they quite happily swim in it for pleasure!

Driving in Indonesia !?🙈

As I sit here nursing a sore knee, I though I'd just write a bit on a subject that constantly comes to mind every time we take to the roads as each occasion is an adventure here.  One that sometimes means taking major risks with one's life.

The number one rule of the road?  There are no rules!  

Well, not unless you consider it a rule that you must drive in any direction on any side of the road, at any given time, markedly when it comes to turning corners.  Corners are there to be cut across aren't they?  Or how about driving on the far left of the road then suddenly turning right across the oncoming traffic and cutting off those from behind too with a 2-metre teak log strapped across the seat of the motorbike?!  But hey, I was signalling (or was I?  Oops).

One of the best is, when coming out of a side lane and turning into the main stream of traffic, don't look to see if it's clear!  That would mean that you just might have to give way so, if you don't look, the other guy has to take the evasive action, but that's alright too, they expect that.  And the funny thing is, if you just happen to want to turn left into the road on the left (they drive on the left here) and come face to face with someone coming at you completely on your side of the road, expect an incredulous look which translates to "oh, what are you doing here, I'm turning?!"

I have been in a car a dozen or more times going to Kudus and Semarang and have yet to see a sign to indicate speed, a yield sign or any single traffic sign that one would normally expect along such roads anywhere else in the world.  For that matter, I've never seen any form of police, traffic controllers or speed checks either (I've no idea what the speed limit even is!). The only signs I've noticed are those to indicate that a mosque is coming up imminently and there are a lot of those, or an exclamation mark to mark.......... heaven only knows what!  I've asked a host of people and no one can give a definitive answer to that one or the speed limit.  Who cares!

Occasionally you'll see a zebra crossing.  Don't, and I mean don't dare to think that this means you can safely walk across the road at that point.  You will not live to see the sun go down that evening.  Why they waste the effort or the paint is another of those unanswerable questions.

A real doozie is the traffic circle!  Paul seems to have got the hang of those.  Me, I wouldn't dare.  I think I'd go several miles out of my way to avoid having to get through one but there are too many so that's probably not an option.  If you think you have the right of way because you're in the circle, think again.  I'm sure they all just close their eyes and carry on through!  It appears to be a case of 'he who hesitates.......'  isn't given a second chance.

Surprisingly though, we have witnessed very few accidents, and none too serious, which is really quite amazing.  If you were to spend just one hour watching how they drive here you'd understand that that's not much short of a miracle.  Take a two or three hour trip to the nearest towns of Kudus or Semarang and you'll be flabbergasted that anyone gets out of this alive or that any cars have wing mirrors still intact!  The sea of motorbikes everywhere is an absolute eye opener but they all manage quite proficiently.  Maybe it's Indonesia's method of natural attrition as we NEVER see any old people riding around on motorbikes (Paul's an exception).   It certainly makes us a bit of a novelty around these parts.

And one last all-time classic feature one must very often traverse; the party tent.  These are enormous structures that are erected for weddings, funerals or any of a myriad of other occasions and the lack of a yard for such purposes is no problem, just use the road!  Any road.  Just because it's actually meant to facilitate the flow of traffic is not a consideration, the party must go on.  Sometimes huge stages for bands are set up and, if the road is relatively narrow as most are, then simply use the entire width; the traffic will just have to find another route.  It's even possible to have two or three of these functions happen along one stretch.  I kid you not.  

To put it mildly, driving in Indonesia can be a challenge but never boring.

Below: trying to get past the parties.