08:29.9S 121:36.2E

1500 on 30/08/13

I decided to move on from Marole. The festivities last night, the official welcoming ceremony, were entertaining. Once again the children were the stars of the show, in this case quite literally because the show consisted of the local schools, elementary and secondary high, putting on dances. They all id very well and had obviously rehearsed long and hard, even the four and five year olds who danced for at least ten minutes. Quite something at that age I feel! Unlike Maumere the music was ‘canned’, apart from the last dance which was accompanied by a young girl soloist. Quite a haunting voice, almost another Enya.

Anyway, I decided to have a leisurely day’s motor or sail, motor as it turned out. I was planning on going to Maropokot  (22nm) the next schedule stop, but Maureen noticed that the rally blog suggested anchoring in Riung and we would be bussed for the festivities in Maropokot, which are scheduled for the 2^nd -4^th Sept. In Riung things are happening between the 5^th and 7^th and then we have a 90nm trip to Labuan Bajo for events scheduled 8^th to the 14th, which ends the Sail Komodo Rally but not the Sail Indonesia Rally. SKR is promoted and funded by the Indonesian Government to promote tourism in the Flores area. So, I had a 17/18nm motor today, we had to double back round a reef you see then maybe a day here tomorrow and on to Riung to arrive on the 1^st. A nice relaxed schedule. I feel I’ve been chasing my tail a bit since Larantuka. Oh yes, transmission still OK. Initially it slips a bit but once it gets ‘a grip’ we’re away. Another oil change soon I feel. The main problem now is the batteries, dead as dodos. After motoring for 5hrs and 15 mins I had to start the emergency elektrikery to put enough juice into the engine battery to power the electric shut-down system! I’m putting off messing around with the alternator until I’m somewhere I can get spares, probably Labuan Bajo.

The SKR finishes with a ‘sail past’ on the 14^th then we are due in Lovina Beach, Bali on the 20^th Sept. That’s an important stop because we have to extend our visas. It’s also 300nm so I reckon on 3-4 days for me on my present performance. There is an intermediate stop but I think it’ll be best to just press on. The rally is scheduled to finish on the 25^th(ish) Oct and time is beginning to fly by. For me the pace has been a bit hectic, even though I missed out the first five stops due to ‘problems’. A number of boats are ‘gala-dinnered out’ and I can see how that can happen.

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