Blog 43. Thursday 1 August. At Sea. 4.26.83S 129.30.88E
Alcedo
David Batten
Fri 9 Aug 2019 03:17
The volcano on Banda Gunungapi, currently inert and with a strenuous walk to the top for the super fit, not us, particularly as we are suffering along with many others with sore throats and mild fevers. Note the shallow water this side of the channel.
The actual plantation was beautiful, apart from the rubbish, with lots of bird song and huge jungle almond trees, fast growing and planted to protect the nutmeg trees from the sun,
Our tour group with guides Ayo and ?Sandra and the crew wearing our new T shirts, at the roots of a jungle almond, several hundred years old and the nutmeg tree it was protecting in the front. In the picture, Richard from Waypoint, Venetia, Lisa and Nils from Rubicon, the Skipper and Bill.
We are given a lecture by a local plantation owner on how to prepare cinnamon and...
....gather nutmeg.
Tuesday was a session on recycling and what Ayo and other women were trying to do to teach the children about litter and how to minimise it and recycle the endless tiny plastic bags they seem to wrap everything in. It also provided the women with some pin money and a bit of independence from their dominating husbands.
The rally recycling class of 2019. Some participants were more enthusiastic than others!
Another form of local transport, motor bikes being the most popular.
Yesterday afternoon was our first experience of snorkelling in Indonesia. The coral was the best we have seen to date and the fish the best we have seen since Venezuela. Then it was another supper at the Cilu Bitang Estate restaurant.
Dawn broke grim and wet and we had almost decided to stay another day, particularly as one of the locals had taken the dinghy petrol can to fill and had not returned as promised by 7.00. However, he turned up at about 8.00 and by 9.00 the weather had cheered up and we were ready to go to sea. We have been sailing for about 3 hours with one reef in the main and full Genoa with the wind just aft of the beam. Very satisfactory although we are not going as fast as Hylit and The Pub who left ahead of us. No fishing boats yet, the sun is shining and Bill is practising steering a compass course and maintaining a reasonable cross track error so he can be left unsupervised on watch without having to use the auto helm. Our destination, Telek Tifu, South Buru is approximately 200nm away and the wind should remain good, so we hope to be there well before dark tomorrow. We no longer have internet, so not quite so sure when this blog will e posted.
Alcedo
Sent from my iPad