Culture club

'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Mon 26 Aug 2013 01:11
I've had a great two days here. The welcoming ceremony perhaps wasn't as impressive as that in Larantuka but to be honest that would be hard to beat. We yotties were formed into two lines to hear an address by the local regent. There was some confusion. Were we supposed to do a conga? Would the regent run the gauntlet down between the two lines? In the event he made a short speech then we all sort of ambled into a seating area.

The rally stop was timed to coincide with a local cultural festival. Lots of singing and dancing by various groups and the MC did a good job of explaining in English what was going on. After a couple of hours we had a break for the gala dinner which was very well presented and delicious to boot. We were entertained during dinner by further groups of dancers. The children in particular were enchanting and the amount of effort that was put into it must have been considerable. Everything had obviously been well rehearsed and certainly I didn't spot anybody making a mistake. It's wonderful to see people staying in touch with their cultural roots and what is striking is the respect shown by the children to the elders. Yes Daughter, did you mutter something?

The second evening the festival continued and the standard remained high. Possibly there were more locals there and although the MC (Laurence) again did a sterling job of telling us what was going on, some of the subtleties of the dance movements escaped us, or escaped me at least. The locals were appreciative though and once again we were invited to dance with some of the performers. For me the only problem was the sound system was up at full blast and it really didn't need to be. After about two hours I was all danced-out and returned to the boat. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the two evenings and hopefully I'll enjoy more of the same in other places.

Calypso, as did some others,  left this morning for the next stop, Maurole. I borrowed Paul's 'wobble' pump and did a partial oil change in the transmission. This next leg is only 36nm but with absolutely no wind for a lot of the day I'll have to leave at first light or even just before to ensure I arrive at Maurole in daylight. The plan is to up anchor at 0530 tomorrow morning and hopefully be in the next anchorage before 1800. This anchorage has been fine so far. Calm most of the time, holding has been no problem and only a five(ish) minute row to the beach and a relatively dry landing. I just put in 20 litres of fuel that I brought in Larantuka and it was clean. I ran it through the Baja filter and it basically went straight through so basically it was clean or the filter is not filtering....sorry, after a while you get to suspect the worst!

So, a lazy day. A bit of gentle proof reading of the next book, maybe a swim around the boat and generally chilling out. Yes I know I still have to repair the gennaker in one small patch. I'll do it, OK?

Blog Entries

2015 2014
Dec 2014 Nov 2014 Oct 2014 Sep 2014 Aug 2014 Jul 2014 Jun 2014 May 2014 Apr 2014 Mar 2014 Feb 2014 Jan 2014
2013
Dec 2013 Nov 2013 Oct 2013 Sep 2013 Aug 2013 Jul 2013 Jun 2013 May 2013 Apr 2013 Mar 2013 Feb 2013 Jan 2013
2012
Dec 2012 Nov 2012 Oct 2012 Sep 2012 Aug 2012 Jul 2012 Jun 2012 May 2012 Apr 2012 Mar 2012 Feb 2012 Jan 2012
2011
Dec 2011 Nov 2011 Oct 2011 Sep 2011 Aug 2011 Jul 2011 Jun 2011 May 2011 Apr 2011 Mar 2011 Feb 2011 Jan 2011
2010
Dec 2010 Nov 2010 Oct 2010 Sep 2010 Aug 2010 Jul 2010 Jun 2010 May 2010 Apr 2010 Mar 2010 Feb 2010 Jan 2010
2009
Dec 2009 Nov 2009 Oct 2009 Sep 2009 Aug 2009 Jul 2009 Jun 2009 May 2009 Apr 2009 Mar 2009 Feb 2009 Jan 2009
2008
Dec 2008 Nov 2008 Oct 2008 Sep 2008 Aug 2008 Jul 2008 Jun 2008 May 2008 Apr 2008 Mar 2008 Feb 2008