Sail Indonesia Rally End - Tanjung Klayang, Belitung Island, Indonesia

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Thu 28 Oct 2010 06:02
02:33.167S  107:40.717E
 
October 8th we left unremarkable Gellum Island and headed west to the island of Belitung and the last official Sail Indonesia Rally stop.  It was another 150 mile, 24 hour overnighter.  This time with no sailing, no rain squalls and just enough squid boats to keep the horizon nicely lit.  What we found at the other end was a nice surprise.  We were expecting a semi-industrial anchorage next to a big town, and for the first time, we got less than what we were expecting - but in this case, less was definitely more.  The anchorage was a huge expanse of flat, sandy beach, with a few small islands marking the ends on either side.  Aside from 60 anchored rally boats, a few tiny beach restaurants, and a collection of tents and pavilions set up specifically for the rally, there was nothing else there.  What a beautiful spot. 
 
Once again the local government went more than out of its way to provide for our every need.  There was a Bintang beer pavilion (a huge hit since Kumai on Borneo was 100% dry - no alcohol at all was sold there), a diesel pavilion, a police tent, a mini medical center, a performance stage, and a small building used to house the customs, immigration, quarantine and harbor master officials brought in to clear all of us out of Indonesia (we cleared out of Indonesia in Belitung, but didn't actually leave Indonesian waters until we arrived in Singapore five days later).  Every day a free shuttle bus was available to take boaters to the nearest town and back, and on one day, 17 government-owned SUVs were brought in to take the whole group on a full day tour (again, free) of the eastern part of the island (complete with several police escorts, of course).  Thrown in here and there was a lunch, dinner and several music and dance performances.  Oh, and the crowning glory?  A matched set of boat boys (matched meaning they all wore matching shirts every day - each day a different color) ready and waiting on the beach to help us carry our dinghy beyond the reach of the water.  They watched over the perfectly aligned row of dinghies while we were away and jumped to attention when we returned to help us carry the dinghies back into the water.  Wow.  Beach bell boys for boaters.  Who would have guessed?
 
Our intention was to spend only a night or two in Belitung, but one or two nights easily turned into five as we fell under the spell of this very pleasant place (which, by the way, is not even mentioned in the Lonely Planet Guide - how could they have missed it?).  Below are pictures. 
 
 
The crew of Japanese boat Nerai and Tom from Priscilla modeling the very fashionable hats given to us upon check-in at Belitung.
 
 
The fish market in the nearby town.  This looks to be an eagle ray - something we'd rather see gliding through the water, not splayed out lifeless on a fish market counter.  As is true throughout all of Indonesia, one needs a very strong stomach to buy meat or fish at the market.  We are thankful for our very big freezer full of Australian meat.
 
 
The fish debris pile.  Note that the fins have been cut off and the carcasses discarded.  Ugh.  Still loving our big freezer full of Australian meat.
 
 
Sue and her fan club outside the very popular KFC in town.  These girls insisted on taking our picture, so we thought it only fair that they pose for us, which they happily did.  KFC was about the only place in town to get a cold drink to stave off dehydration in the pounding heat (no cafes and certainly no bars in this mostly Muslim place).
 
 
School kids watching the spectacle of 17 government SUV's pulling up and unloading close to 100 foreign boaters wearing funny-looking hats.
 
 
A small welcome ceremony performed by locals in traditional dress at one of the day tour stops.
 
 
Steve from English boat Independent Freedom posing with three of the dancing girls.  All the Indonesians love to pose with the really tall foreigners.  Those with blond hair and blue eyes are popular posing targets too.
 
 
Well, that brings our Sail Indonesia Rally experiences to a close.  We'd say it was excellent from start to finish with the exception of a few minor logistical glitches here and there and that one odd incident in Wakatobi.  From Banda to Belitung, what the local governments did for us was nothing less than amazing.  Especially in light of each location's obvious lack of wealth - which caused us to flinch now and then when we thought about what the rupiah spent on us might be depriving the local community of.  But then again, we brought a fair amount of rupiah to the communities we visited, so hopefully that more than made up for the hospitality provided to us.  We liked it best when the locals participated in the events so it wasn't just us on the receiving end of the entertainment.  We'd like to think that all the villagers enjoyed themselves as much as we did.
 
This was the end of the rally for us, but we did have four more quick stops in Indonesia - not the least of which involved a crossing-the-equator party.  Details to follow in a day or two.
Anne