We bid the friendly people of the Tawau Yacht Club farewell and next morning set sail at 0600 to cross the border.  We would also be leaving the Sulu Sea to drop below the ridge where the Philippines rise up and into the Celebes Sea.

The destination for Gryphon II is Pulau Tarakan, Indonesia’s island border town for checking in with Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Harbour Master.  It is about 85 miles from Tawau to Tarakan, 14 hours if the boat could make an average of 6 knots which wind and tide don’t always allow. We don’t like to sail in Indonesian coastal waters at night as there are many fish traps, fish aggregation devices and long buoyed nets not always visible and especially not in the dark. We earmarked Pulau Bunju for an overnight stop; this would get us 50 miles on leaving a short leg for getting to Tarakan the next day. After nine hours on the waves we arrived.

Pulau Bunju was rather different to the islands we had become used to so far on this East Coast of Borneo. What we hadn’t realised is that it is a coal mining island and in this part of Indonesia’s East Kalimantan there are rich seams of high quality coal which are being exploited.  We anchored were we felt there would be less coal dust should the wind get up but there was no dust at all and after a peaceful  night…..

…………. a glorious sunrise.

On to Tarakan.

Still a long way to go so we left at 0600 again and got nicely underway. We were just raising the mainsail when we came to a dead stop and thought we must be aground but the echo-sounder was clearly showing we had plenty of water under the keel. Then we realised we had caught a net, this is one of the very difficult things that can happen under the boat as keel, rudder and propeller can be caught and sometimes need a dive to get release. The engine was quickly put into neutral, we considered reversing but cancelled that as a bad idea as the net was starting to wrap around the boat. Two other yachts stood by for us but could not help else they may also become entangled. In the end the fishermen appeared and started taking in the net. This took quite a while as it was a long net. They eventually came level, communication was difficult, Chris wanted them to go around the other side of the boat to drag the net away but they didn’t seem to get the gist and wanted us to get a knife to cut their net and line. We told them no - this would have been an expensive option for all concerned and may not have solved our problem either. Chris got on flippers and snorkel and dived under; the two guys kept asking for a knife but I stalled them and since the net was now slack Chris was eventually able to pull it under the keel to release us. Our good fortune was that the propeller wasn’t caught, that would have been another kettle of fish. We felt unsure about the communications, we think the men might have liked us to pay for a new net had they cut it but providence prevailed and they were lucky as we had no Indonesian currency at that stage.  I made up a carrier bag of good foodstuff and handed it to them. They thanked profusely and we went our separate ways. Hugs of relief and thanks to our fellow yachties who stood by to see us on our way again.

No more dramas, we arrived at the Tarakan anchorage 10 hours later despite this being the shorter leg, tide against us and the hold up with the net contributing to our slow progress. We dropped the hook then went ashore to be greeted by a reception crew who told us what would happen for checking in next morning.

The reception building for checking in. Climbing skill are quite useful, getting out of the dinghy is often a challenge in Indonesia.

Such a joy to be here, these people are just as we remembered them smiling and friendly and delightful.