Moyo Island, Sumbawa and onto Kekalok, Lombok

Having departed Komodo at 0630 in the morning in company
with Heidenskip, we motored for the first two hours. Then, much to our delight
we got some wind…….lots of it. So it was up with the sails and we
had a cracking reach in winds of up to 18knots apparent. As we powered along,
two things happened. We were charging along at around 8 knots when Heidenskip just roared past us like we
were standing still. She is a 65 foot flying machine and made a magnificent sight
in the mid morning light with the sails perfectly trimmed.
The next thing to happen was to be an end to the fishing draught
I had been enduring since leaving
Crew had ordered Spanish Mackerel, but Mahi Mahi was the
“catch of the day”. Enough food for 8 meals. Along the way we passed one of the largest Pulau Sangeang, with the towering 2,000 metre Gunung Api
volcano. The last time this volcano erupted the local government had to close
down one of the villages and move the people. We could see the new village on
the southern foreshore, through binoculars. It looked incredibly basic………………….. It was 140 nm to The staff laid up a table for four, next to the beach on
this star lit night. A magical setting and we were determined to make the most
of it. Being so close to nature has its down side
too……………Wendy got bitten by a soldier ant. We
then discovered that her chair was firmly “parked” in the middle of
Ant ally, and her hand bag and shoes were covered in them. So we asked the
staff to move us and we were very efficiently moved to an ant free section
inside the restaurant area, whilst Wendy repaired to the bathroom with Jennie
to do some ant cleaning………. It was a lovely evening and it was great to see the girls
all dressed up. The food this time was a little disappointing given the high
standard of the lunch. The prices were French Polynesian levels…..which
explains the fact that the same hotel group own the The next morning we headed off for the anchorage off the As soon as we were anchored, children started gathering on
the beach to look at us. Position 08:20:21S 116:42:28E, which according to
C-Map put us firmly on the beach!
This was a Muslim fishing village, with a lot of very basic
homes and one “posh one” which had a tiled roof and a huge
satellite disk to one side. We assumed that this was the head mans home and
was where everyone gathered in the evening to watch “telly”, once
the village generator had been started. In front of this structure on the
beach, with their own shelter were lots of brightly pained “dugout”
style vessels fitted with twin out riggers. They have a simple single sail,
which seems to give these light weight craft of varying sizes a remarkably good
performance both up wind and down wind. They also use it to hold the boat stationary
in the water, whilst fishing, which I assume requires a fair degree of skill. Just before sunset, a small dugout canoe approached
Zipadedoda with three young boys in it, aged about 8, 6 and 3. They were all
smiles and happy faces and shouting “Hellooo
Misteeer”. This was a very crude craft. With the dugout being
less than 3 feet wide and 8 feet long, with “paddle power”. The out
riggers were made from 4 inch grey PVC pipe, with wooden, painted stoppers in
each end. As the boat came along side, the eldest boy skilfully backed it up to
our side carefully avoiding the outriggers coming into contact with our
topsides. There followed a short exchange in broken English. At the end of this
Jennie gave them three writing pads and three biros. The elder boy passed these
to the youngest, who was not paddling. The look of joy on their faces at
receiving this simple gift, filled our hearts. They just kept saying “thank you mister, thank you mister”,
as they paddled furiously back to the beach with their new found treasure.
Loads of other boys & girls raced down the beach to meet them as they
landed on the beach once again. They then proudly showed off their new
possessions to them and some adults who came to look too. There was then much
waving from the gathered crowd. At this point we expected to be invaded, but
not so. The reason followed about five minutes later. A female (yes, female)
Imam, started the call to prayer from the mosque within the village over the
loud speakers. In 30+ years of travelling to Muslim countries, this was the
first time I have ever heard a lady Imam giving the call to prayer. {note: we choose not to photograph the
kids in the dug out because it was such a special moment for us (and we think
them too) that we did not wish to break the spell by producing a camera} With its large Volcano’s for a back drop, and the ever
present large number of fires burning. (We assume where there is land clearance).
Together with lush green hillsides, off set by its black volcanic sandy beaches.
Lombok it is a huge contrast to the other We snuggled down for the night and an enjoyable Mahi Mahi supper.
As we were relaxing in the cockpit, enjoying the evenings cooling breeze, a
lightening show started some way off. Two ours later all hell broke loose as we
had torrential, driving rain and winds gusting 40 knots. I had left the Gennaker
erected, and furled away. At this point it attempted to unfurl itself.
Mercifully I managed to stop it doing so. But not without a lot of noise and manful
heaving on the furling lines to tie it off securely. It is a huge sail and if
it had come undone it would have been a very unpleasant experience…for a brief
period before the sail was wrecked in these winds. One hour later we had a very
clean boat and it was time for bed!! The following morning (20th October) we raise the
anchor at day break and headed off to our next destination. The The Gili Isles and more specifically Gili Aer, is “Pack Packer Heaven”. More of
which anon. |