Bali and Beyond
Vega
Hugh and Annie
Sun 20 Oct 2019 15:31
The contrast between Bali and the other Indonesian islands we have visited could hardly be greater. No 0400 call to prayer for a start. We have learned to recognise some of the calls that on their own can be exotic and soulful. In competition with several other discordant loud speaker systems going at full blast the call loses its charm and the more tuneless droning predominates. Bali provides a relief from the daily calling and introduces the wonderfully colourful and mesmerising Bali dancing accompanied by the gamelan orchestra. At our first anchorage we were treated to a cremation ceremony on the adjoining beach that included the joyous parading of a large brightly painted fish, accompanied by much cheering and laughter and of course the ubiquitous gamelan. The festivities went on all afternoon and turned out to be just part of a month long series of cremation festival events. It seems this Hindu thing can be fun.
For some more introspective people in the west their body can be a “temple”. The Balinese take this to a higher level and their home is, quite literally, a temple. Or probably two or three temples - front garden, inside the house and maybe one at the back. Every village has three temples - upper, middle and lower - and the god effigies are pampered with umbrella sun shades, sarongs, flower and food offerings. All highly stylised and decorative and combined with frangipani flowering trees makes for a very interesting visual experience when travelling around.
In Bali we were based in the north which is much less touristy than the south. Nevertheless tourism is an important part of the local economy, albeit on a more laid back and spiritual level. One thing we have noticed is that in the more touristy areas, including on other islands, there is much less plastic waste lying around and much more scope for non plastic alternatives. It seems that pressure for a more “sustainable” holiday experience can lead to a cleaner environment although we are not sure what happens to all the waste when it is collected.
The passage between Bali and Borneo brought us back to cruising earth with a number of boat maintenance issues needing to be addressed. In order to tighten the alternator belt it was necessary to remove the panel in front of the engine which then allows you to see beneath. To my horror the catchment sump underneath the engine was full of oil which of course meant a leak. One suggestion from cruising colleagues was to check the fit of the oil filter and lo and behold it could be tightened a quarter of a turn with the aid of a filter wrench. This seemed to prevent any further leakage and the fault lies squarely at my door for thinking that hand tight was sufficient when changing the filter. The recovered oil looked pretty black and so both the filter and the remaining oil have now been changed - along with the two fuel filters as we have a tank full of Indonesian fuel. Even the highest grade diesel that we have now been able to source leaves a black residue in the filter I use for filling the tank.
Just for good measure when tightening the alternator belt I discovered that the seawater intake pump is leaking. The internal seal must be worn but this is an item I have not previously looked at and we have no replacement seal on board. I am trying to source a replacement pump and a seal kit so we can keep the existing pump as a backup. We probably won’t be able to source one in Indonesia so have to hope the leaking pump will hold out for another three weeks until we can get to Singapore.
When sailing up to Borneo we could, just, set both the mainsail and genoa but the wind was sufficiently from behind that the genoa was blanketed from time to time and flapped. Sometimes the genoa refilled with a sharp snap and towards the end of the trip I noticed that the sun protection strip down the leach of the genoa had split. Another repair job for Malaysia. At one point we had bright lightning and rumbles of thunder and the boats ahead reported 35 knots of wind and torrential rain. In anticipation of this we furled the sails and started motoring. Fortunately the storm missed us but it was a reminder that we are now entering the rainy season here.
Also on this passage we had to weave our way through many brightly lit fishing boats. Fortunately they didn’t seem to be laying nets and some even moved out of our way. We were straining to see any smaller boats without lights when we heard loud shouting. In alarm we peered ahead but couldn’t see anything. Then we noticed that the shouting seemed to be coming from inside as well as outside the boat. Careful investigation found that a walnut from the earlier pasta supper had lodged between the cooker and the side of the cooker space and every time the cooker rocked there was a horrendous shrieking sound!
Once at anchor in Kumai I needed to go through the routine of removing the Hydrovane vane and rudder. The large plastic hand nut for retaining the vane came away from its metal core that screws onto the retaining bolt but fortunately the core could be removed using mole grips. I have reunited the core with its surrounding nut and hope the epoxy adhesive will be up to the job.........
Dawn, Sumbawa
Central Bali
Balinese dancing at sunset - unfortunately you can’t see the dancer’s mesmerising eyes in this photo
A typical village temple entrance
A temple guard - still not sure what these creatures are
Incense and offerings
Frangipani
Get your temple adornments here.........
A coffee outlet, not a temple!
Rice terraces
Miss Indonesia at our welcome gala ceremony on Bawean Island. Apart from being beautiful it seems that an important criteria for winning a beauty pageant here is to be taller than everyone else (4 inch stiletto heels help but make climbing up onto the stage somewhat precarious).