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Our first morning in Debut and we were asked to gather for a Welcome Ceremony.  By now there were 47 yachts in the anchorage, several having caught up or just joined the Rally.  Everyone gathered in their dinghies in the middle of the channel in order to arrive at the dinghy dock together and at the right time.  We also all agreed to wherever possible wear the blue T-shirts the Indonesian Government representatives had handed to us in Cairns.  The “Home” strip rather than the bright yellow Rally shirts handed out by the NZ Rally organisers (the “away” strip).

The welcome ceremony on the dock was presided over by the Vice Regent for the Molluca Islands and included his speech of welcome and our first of many delightful dance groups.  Despite the islands having a majority of Catholics rather than Muslims the Rally was actually blessed by a traditional shaman.  Unfortunately it rained quite heavily but the tourist Department had erected a very substantial canopy where everyone could sit.