The first part of our trip, from Saigon to Lombok, had been a typical delivery voyage that involved non-stop sailing (or motoring), except to replenish fuel or food. For the third and final stage, we would take it easy and anchor at night whenever it was feasible to do so.
On the evening of April 15th, we were joined by my friend Paul—of Great Australian Bight crossing fame. Once again, the Marina del Ray restaurant with its sunset view over the water, proved to be the top choice for our pre-departure dinner.
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Marina del Ray, Lombok |
The following morning the friendly marina staff finalized exit formalities, which involved notifying the authorities of our crew rotation and our destination.
We got underway at 09:28. Conditions continued to be light, necessitating frequent motor sailing. The quiet hum of an electric motor is bliss compared to the noise and smell of a diesel engine; you hardly notice it. That said, Honda-San (the name for our Honda EU32i genset) was running a great deal of the time, so we’d merely substituted a noisy motor for a noisy generator.
Our first anchorage was at Tembobor Beach on the northwest coast of Lombok, where we went ashore for dinner at Café Yoman. Knowing that we were not sailing through the night meant we could enjoy a couple of Bintang beers
For our second night we stopped at Pulau Petagan, an unsettling anchorage surrounded by poorly charted coral reefs—a common occurrence in Indonesia. Despite my gut feeling to avoid taking a certain direction, the following morning we briefly ran aground. Fortunately, with the help of our spare anchor and the rising tide, we kedged off, with only minor scrapes to the hull and dings to my dignity.
Forty-nine nautical miles later we were anchored at Raka Island. Liam had found a whaleshark tour operator that would pick us up right from our boat at 06:00 the following morning (April 20th). The tour was one of the highlights of the whole trip. My whaleshark experience at Ningaloo Reef last year, which I had greatly enjoyed, involved attempting to keep up with fast-moving animals. In the Saleh Sea, however, fishermen have trained the whalesharks to feed off the backs of their boats. It enables you to get up very close to these magnificent animals and so it is a considerably more relaxed experience than trying to chase them.
We were back from the whalesharks in under three hours and promptly weighed anchor at 09:11. Our next stop was Satondo Island, a volcanic island with a freshwater lake in the caldera. The sun was setting when we arrived so we didn’t go ashore until the following morning (April 21st). Apart from the caretaker, we had the island to ourselves, enjoying a refreshing swim in the lake and a scenic hike along the rim.
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| Satondo Lake |
We motor-sailed through the night, eking out a modest daily run of 81 nautical miles. The following morning, fighting a three-knot current and low on charge, I went to start Honda-San. To my horror, it sputtered and conked out. It was more than a hundred hours past a scheduled oil change, so I immediately suspected that was the problem. I’d been attempting to purchase 4-stroke engine oil ever since we arrived in Lombok, but could only find the 2-stroke version. Fortunately, I found a dribble of clean oil left over from the previous oil change and the top-up was enough to appease Honda-San. We were on borrowed time though, and needed to find more engine oil soon.
On April 22nd, after sailing 68 nautical miles we anchored at Pulau Sebayur Besar and treated ourselves to Happy Hour and dinner at the island resort. After over a week of boat meals, it was surreal to be dining on land in an ornately-decorated restaurant.
The next day (April 23rd), low on fuel, oil, and provisions, we pulled into the provincial city of Badjo. Conventional wisdom suggests checking in with the authorities in large Indonesian ports, but we focused entirely on provisioning. Despite anchoring directly in front of the police boat, or perhaps because we brazenly did so, the authorities did not bother us. A few years ago Indonesia introduced its electronic Vessel Declaration System, which makes it easier for authorities to identify foreign vessels in their midst, so perhaps the physical check-ins are less critical these days. Paul and I purchased fuel, while Liam minded the boat, then Paul and Liam went to buy food, leaving me behind. In a stroke of luck, they bumped into an Aussie expat living in Kupang who’d watched Lightning arrive and graciously drove them to a shop where they could purchase 4-stroke engine oil.
Three hours later we were again underway and at 16:55 we were anchored at the head of the serene Loh Buaya Inlet on Rinca Island. Once the last of the day-tripper boats had cleared out, we had the inlet to ourselves.
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| Lightning anchored at Rinca. |
At 07:00 we were ashore and grabbed the first guide on duty. We signed up for the 3-tour tour of the Komodo dragons and were not disappointed. The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is the world's largest living lizard species and reaches up to 3m (10’) in length. They hunt using a combination of powerful jaws, razor-sharp teeth, and toxic saliva. They have been known to kill humans occasionally, but fortunately our guide kept us safe, even while facilitating close-up photos. Somewhat reassuringly, he carried a big Y-shaped stick designed to pin down a dragon’s neck.
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| Komodo dragon |
The following morning (April 25th) we encountered another “new boat” problem; the anchor windlass refused to work. Pressing the “up” button was met with silence; not even the clicks of a struggling electric motor could be heard. As a workaround, we used the starboard electric winch. While this avoided back-breaking manual work, it was a tedious process of pulling up 10m of chain at a time, by tying a mooring line to the chain, then repeatedly untying and retying. Later, I diagnosed the windlass problem to be loose connections at the solenoid control unit. It is not uncommon for new boats have teething problems, and this would not be the first.
For only the second time since leaving Lombok, we sailed through the night and reached Kupang at 03:20. This bustling city, which is located on the southwestern tip of Timor island, is the capital of East Nusa Tenggara Province. It is steeped in maritime history due to its strategic position as the the easternmost outpost under European colonial administration prior to the Australian colonies. Once it was a crucial lifeline for trans-Pacific and Australian voyages, such as being the destination chosen by Captain William Bligh after the 1789 mutiny of HMS Bounty.
We would exit Indonesia here and as the skipper I had to stay on board to complete the customs and biosecurity formalities. Because there was no marina, I engaged the services of an agent to guide us and manage the whole process. Liam and Paul were free to go ashore and explore Kupang’s bustling market. Then, once we had our customs and biosecurity clearances, someone had to go to the customs house to collect our stamped passports. This time, Liam offered to stay on board, so I could explore a little of Kupang with Paul. I would love to have spent more time in Kupang and Timor. Unspoiled by the mass tourism of Bali, it offers an authentic slice of Indonesia—raw yet captivating.
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| Customs in Kupang |
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| Kupang market |
Alas, we did not have time to linger, and back at the port we secured our clearance from the Harbour Master for a 17:00 departure. In addition to the paperwork, a mysterious envelope changed hands between the agent and Harbour Master, which I suspect was the “incentive” to authorize our departure in a timely manner. The Harbour Master was certainly a character and enjoyed having his photo taken in interesting poses, which Paul was happy to facilitate.
Kupang Harbourmaster hamming it up with Paul
At 16:40, we departed ahead of schedule, not that anyone seemed to notice or care. We slid into the busy waters of the Semau Strait and headed south for the Timor Sea, the body of water separating Indonesia from Australia.
Next stop, Darwin!
OVER
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