Indo continues

To All

Once again we have been busy here enjoying the sights and sounds of this exotic land. Some of the sounds, prayers from the local mosque at 4 am or the village fishing boats powered by one cylinder diesel engines with no exhaust muffler going by at all hours are not to good for sleeping but still provide an interesting look into the local culture.

We departed Sabu in the afternoon of the 14th of August for an overnight passage to Sambu. We had continued to be busy in Sabu with more tours and my having to repair our engine drive refrigeration system. It seems the boat never lets you rest as if it's not one thing breaking it's some other important system. Our passage was mostly a motor assisted sail with only a slight problem of an alternator squeal caused by a loose belt due to a broken bracket, something else to get fixed.

We arrived in the early morning got anchored and aided one of the other yachts as their anchor fouled on a large, 200lb. old discarded one. It took several of us to get things freed up. Next it was into shore to see what the rally staff had in store for our stay. The stop in Sambu was the most organized yet. On stepping ashore we were warmly greeted by several English speakers and asked what they could do to help us. I was soon whisked away on a motor scooter to get the alternator bracket welded. 15 minutes later I was back to the dinghy landing bracket fixed at a cost of $1 US, it would have been only $.50 but I had no change. Our next 5 days were busy with dinner's, tours, an occasional boat project,a visit to the local outdoor market and the town swimming pool.

One highlight was the celebration of Indonesian Independence Day. The morning began with a very formal flag raising ceremony followed by several tug of war matches and the most interesting the climbing of a greased pole to retrieve a flag. He who got the flag was awarded one million Rupiah or about $100 US. Quite a prize when you consider the average wage is $2 US per day. That evening was a "gala" dinner with maybe 25 food vendors providing different verities of Indonesian cuisine. They also had a local "brandy" more like white lightening.

Sambu is noted for their weaving of "Ikats". They are made from handspun thread and the dyes are made of bark, roots and leaves. The cloth is woven on a back-strap loom and individual threads are dyed. Motifs include animals, people and figurative, totemic objects. The textiles are used for clothing, ornament and ritual gift giving. We visited several villages to view the entire process and make purchases of some beautiful examples of this unique art.

One lowlight was my fix of the engine drive refrigeration system did not last. The replacement compressor works but we have developed a gas leak and I lack the copper tube flaring tool I need to repair where I believe the leak is coming from. Thankfully we have a 12 volt back-up system but it is not quite as efficient.

Our next stop was to be the west end of Sambu but we instead diverted to Rinja island. Here we are anchored in very quiet spot perhaps 50 yards from a beach where we can see the Komodo dragons sauntering by. We have also seen monkey's, deer and wild pigs. The Komodos, truly a monitor lizard supremo, are huge from 3 to 10 feet long.

We will be in this general area for the next week or two before moving further west toward Bali.

That's it for this edition of the Indonesian travels, we wish you all the best. J&K