Sail Indonesia Rally End - Tanjung Klayang, Belitung Island, Indonesia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Thu 28 Oct 2010 06:02
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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
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