Sept 23 2017 – Kalimantan (Borneo) & upcoming plans:
- Travel up & anchor in a river next to Kumai town.
- Tour a traditional Dayak village with Sail Indonesia Rally 2017 and tour Kumai all organized by the local rally committee.
- Learn about orangutan conservation @ Camp Leakey
- Find & try bird’s nest soup
- Reserve a Klotok river boat, guide, etc for a 3 days cruise to take us to Tanjung Puting Nat’l Park w/wildlife stops and onboard meals along the way, observing from & sleeping on the elevated deck.
- Find a “boat boy” to watch over Kandu, living in the cockpit while she remains locked up; a common Kumai practice
- Prepare to celebrate Trent’s 14th Bday with some “forest people/orangutans.”
- Head off for exotic Belitung Island where Nick will join us.
That’s what’s planned for next week starting 9/25. As always, twice as much will occur over what is planned. There could be a welcoming dinner with trad’l dancing, a museum or temple or two, geological points of interest, food items, etc.
Sailing at night, we must pay close attention for little red & blue flashing LED lights affixed to wooden scaffolding fish attracting devices. Also, few Indonesian boats have AIS, even the larger fishing boats, ferry, tugs, & cargo vessels, which by int’l maritime law they are required to. Makes for a very attentive watch. FAD’s are invisible to RADAR and can cause great damage to a sailboat, esp the prop & rudder. Also have to be on look out for the occasional large ocean obstacle – in this case a random buoy.
Sept 24, 2017 – Celebrated Bryce’s 16th bday yesterday with chocolate brownies instead of cake! He loved the specially wrapped gifts of the items he’d picked out in Yogyakarta!
Arrived Kumai to unexpected gift. M/Y (Motor Yacht) Restless M owned by Claire and Errol White, longstanding friends of Eric was anchored in the river waiting for us. We anchored up to their huge yacht, enjoyed dinner together while BnT entertained us boat jumping and swimming in the muddy river water.
Sept 27 2017 – After reading about and hearing the sounds coming from swiftlet bird’s nest buildings, our imagination was peaked. The bird’s nest are highly sought after in China and they sell for large amounts of money per kilo. We bought 2 bird nests after 2-day tour of S. Central Kalimantan (Borneo).
We were introduced to local tribes, sultans, & culture, including playing with blow darts and rice wine. During tour, took narrow 4-person river boat tours up a large stream to visit a local market place. It was like we were sent back in time.
Then orangutan conservatory lunch. A Jr. High School visit had special local music and dance. After the show, our boys were signing autographs like rock stars, girls screaming like at Beatles concerts. Leslie was asked to sing center stage to introduce them to opera. Then we headed off to the Kumai Tourist Center where we enjoyed more dance and music. They truly spoiled us!
The second day of the Kumai rally tours brought us to a fancy Indonesian outdoor buffet held on Dayak communal grounds. The performers entertained us on a stage set-up under their Dayak house. They were beautifully trained middle school dancers and musicians. We felt thoroughly spoiled and honored. After lunch we were off to visit the local sultan and his family. The eldest daughter and wife were dressed in the most beautiful yellow gowns. She took a liking to Leslie and walked with her arm in arm around her grounds to Leslie’s absolute delight. They couldn’t talk to one another except in facial & body language yet the overall sentiment was equal admiration. It was a GREAT 2 days.
Starting tomorrow we will live on local river boat cruise for 3 days w/friends on all-inclusive excursion into Nat’l wildlife jungle park to glimpse orangutans in the wild, probiscus monkeys, macaque monkeys, birds, etc. We’ll be 8 to a river boat, communal room sleeping. They have a cook & r providing the food plus a guide. Leslie is happy – No cooking & cleaning!!
Some work to do on Kandu when we get back. Main Sail furler is turning roughly & we must clean port side fuel tank.
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