|
|
     
|
(click on a place to go there) Indonesia is a big, big place. It's hard to decide just where to go since the time allowed on a CAIT (your permit to be there on a boat) is limited and the territory so vast. A constant challenge is the officialdom, who can be very nice&easy or can be very difficult, depending on their attitude and whether they are trying to extort money from you. The main advice here is to list anyplace you expect to go that has a harbormaster, and be sure you arrive at an appropriate port for when your visa expires, which is usually earlier than the CAIT itself. Another major piece of advice is to take lots of Indo cash, we mean millions of Rupiah - you'll need 'em and ATMs are all to scarce, especially in the Eastern areas. Well, anyway, let's get cruising... As usual, our first picture is the place we're leaving. In this case it's Fannie Bay, Darwin. What is unusual is that we decided to join a rally, the huge Sail Indonesia Rally. We were, however, put off by the sheer number of boats, the 2008 fleet being 120. The shot above contains only 36 boats, the rest having yet to arrive or hiding in a marina somewhere. Anyway, when we heard they were also hosting a smaller "Eastern Rally", we decided to switch. Amazingly, by the time the dust (waves?) settled our rally was only 4 boats. Our own departure was delayed a week while we waited on parts from the US, so we missed the first arrival point, Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands. Instead we set sail for Debut on Kai Kecil in the Kai Islands. Our passage was pretty uneventful, just the way we like it. We were a little disturbed after being followed by Indonesian Navy boats on a few nights but were otherwise left alone. We had read the usual horror stories on the Internet about poor defenseless yachties being attacked by the Indonesian military and were concerned. We were further anxious because we were not with the Rally Fleet, all 3 of them. We fretted about being rummaged by Customs agents as they looked for stuff to steal. We were advised to sail to Tual, the main town. However, that involved sailing through a minefield of shoals and reefs and we had no idea how accurate our charts were. So, in the end the intrepid Captain decided to play his role and take the ship to the port of Debut as scheduled, as the safety of ship & crew was at stake. It was not the official Port of Entry but damn the officials, full speed ahead!
|
