Nongsa Point Marina, Bitam, Indonesia

We arrived at Nongsa Point Marina yeaterday at about 1500H after a long day of motoring and motor sailing. We had an adverse current for the first half and consequently went quite slowly, again dodging ships and tugs and barges. There were also headwinds but fortunately quite light until we were 15 miles from Nongsa. The marina is spotless and kept in pristine condition, prices are American. There is internet, a swimming pool and airconditioning!
We will spend the weekend here and do the customs clear our from here and head for Malaysia on Monday morning.
For those cruisers coming up behind us, the fishing nets are a real problem, especially at night as are the tug and barge combos. The latter do not show up on AIS and it is sometimes difficult to predict their course and speed and their intentions. Best not to sail at night if you can help it. We know of at least two boats who suffered prop shaft and/or transmission damage due to nets.

the local bystanders watching the dance performance put on for the cruisers in Kumai, Borneo

mother and baby Orangs

These were the most extraordinary buildings. They were built to attract birds by blaring bird noises from loudspeakers at various times of the day. The purpose is to harvest the bird's nests for the Chinese and Koreans who enjoy bird's nest soup. Go figure.

A baby turtle going back to the sea on the beach at the Kumai river estuary

Here are some photos from Borneo. There are lots more to come

Position Report

We are just over halfway to our next anchorage at Pulau Messenak and we have 
been motoring slowly for hours through the flat calm of the doldrums, sixty 
miles south of the equator. It's hot and muggy and the ocean is like a lake. 
Think of the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. We had breeze for about eight hours 
and the engine has been running ever since.
We should get in tomorrow at noon, maybe earlier if we get some breeze.
Current position is 0 50.75S, 106 20 88E, Speed 5.6 kts, course 305M. Wind 0. No 
swell.

8 October 2012

We are in a delightful little anchorage on the island of Nangka after a late 
arrival last night. Fortunately there were two boats already here and that 
helped a lot as we are anchored in deep water (25 metres) surrounded by a 
fringing reef.
The Kumai experience was excellent but the Indonesians seem to be burning Borneo 
down as the smoke off the coast and in Kumai itself was sometimes so thick in 
the morning you could not see much more than a boatlength in front of you.
That said the river trip was unforgettable. We opted for the 2 day 1 night trip 
but a 3day 2 night trip was offered. We went in the company of Gloria and 
Michael of Paikia Mist and David and Marian of Kilkea II. We were picked up from 
our own boats by a klotok which is a locally made wooden houseboat. This one was 
about 17 metres long but they had various sizes. We had two boat crew, a cook 
and our Guide, Chris who had excellent English and was very knowledgeable about 
the National Park. 
Up the river we went at about 6 kts. through the rain forest. The flora changed 
over a few miles from flat palm tree lined river banks to thick jungle. We saw 
wild orangs in the trees and macaque monkeys. We also saw proboscis monkeys 
which are only seen in Borneo. Further up the river, as the water cleared we saw 
crocodiles, monitor lizards and many local birds.
Later in the day we arrived at Camp Leakey in the Tunjung Puting National Park. 
There was a welcome committee of a few juvenile orangs looking for a handout. We 
took a short hike to the Camp Leakey feeding station and saw many orangs, mostly 
mothers with small babies swinging through the trees to the feeding station 
where they were rewarded with the days fare-bananas. We were able to get very 
close to these remarkable creatures and we observed them for about two hours. 
The younger ones had a few strange eating habits as they did not like to linger 
long at the feeding platform. In order to keep there hands and feet free they 
would stuff as many as ten bananas into there mouths and then disappear into the 
trees to eat them at their leisure. These guys were banana eating machines. They 
could peel them with one hand and consume them at an amazing rate.
We went back to the boat and went downriver and tied up for the night. We were 
served a local dinner on the upper deck of the klotok under a full moon. 
Absolutely magic. Dinner was washed down by a fair amount of red wine and a 
bottle of Irish whiskey appeared courtesy of the Kilkea's and that was seriously 
dented as the night wore on.
the sleeping arrangements were also on the upper deck. the crew put down 
mattresses and mosquito nets and we all slept al fresco.
At dawn, the jungle came alive with sounds of all of its denizens. Birds of all 
types and gibbons whooping and monkeys chattering. This lasted for about 45 
minutes and then settled down again. We visited two other orang rehabilitation 
ares and got a chance to see many more of them. We have lots of photos of the 
fauna and words do not do them justice.
After that, came the long slow boat ride down the river back to Kumai.
On arrival on our boat we found out that  Sail Indonesia rally which we thought 
was moribund was putting on an event the following day. This turned out to be 
surprisingly good. We were picked up in the morning and the local officials had 
the ubiquitous welcoming speeches and I was able to use the time to get the 
cheapest haircut yet at $1.50. and the lady did a very good job. They also had a 
performance from some local singers and dancers. They took us on an air 
conditioned bus to the town of Pankalan Bun in central Borneo a bustling 
metropolis of 40,000 people. We went on a boat ride up the river on the long and 
narrow local speedboats and got a look a Borneo city life from a different 
angle. The Admiral was not so interested in yet another boat ride, so she was 
able to spend the time shopping and has increased her collection of local 
outfits.
Lunch was laid on with some more entertainments and then another bus and boat 
ride to a turtle sanctuary, where some baby turtles were released back into the 
wild.
It was well after dark by this time and by the time we got back to Callisto, we 
were met by our friends Sven and Katrin from Solar Planet. A few glasses of red 
wine and it was time for an early night before an early departure to points 
north. 
We will leave Nangka tomorrow for the final few hundred miles to Malaysia. We 
plan to be at sea for the next two days to cover the 300 miles to Pulau 
Messenak, another remote island and then a day hop to Nongsa Point on Batam to 
clear out of Indonesia. I can't believe that this year's cruising season is 
almost at an end but we will also enjoy our UK and US trip over the next three 
months.

7 October, 2012

We are again at sea after an excellent visit to Kumai in Borneo where we went to 
see the Orang Utans in their natural habitat. This was, for us, an unforgettable 
experience and I will post more on out trip with some photos very soon.
We left Kumai yesterday and  we spent the night dodging fishing boats and even 
more exciting a tug towing a barge whose captain must have been having a bad 
hair day.
We have been sailing all but the  few hours it took to get us down the river.
Current position on Sunday, October 7 at 0850H local time is 2 44.40S, 109 
24.50E so we are almost back in the northern hemisphere for the first time in 
two years. Speed 6.6 kts. course 291 M wind is SE at 15 kts. seas 2-3 feet with 
minimal swell.
We will try to get to Pulau Nangka tonight before sundown to anchor for the 
night but if we are too late we will go on the the island of Banggka 180 miles 
to the north west. Time is short now as we must be in Malaysia by the 16th to 
get the boat cleaned up before our flight back to the UK

Kumai Borneo

View leaving Bali

Kumai,Borneo, Indonesia

We arrived at the Kumai river yesterday morning after a pleasant sail overnight. It's much hotter and muggier here and this morning there was so much smoke and haze that we could not see the other side of the river. We went ashore this morning to find out about tomorrow's tour. The dock area was pretty much the usual situation, dirty and dilapidated. We were shown a boat that was completely unacceptable, it listed twenty degrees to port and smelled of diesel. We also found out that we had paid too much from other cruisers who had not pre booked their tours. Fortunately, two of our party of six had not yet paid so we were able to negotiate a much better price and a different newer and cleaner boat. We look forward to the trip to see some new and strange flora and fauna. To any other cruisers reading this, you should know that you do not have to pre book anything the locals will always find a way to accommodate you and when asked for a price,negotiation should begin with the aim to pay about half of the initial asking price. The buyer will still be making a healthy profit!