Nael arrived safely in Singapore after quite an adventure. We dealt with adverse currents, days of no wind, very powerful thunderstorms, miles and miles of fishing boats, fish traps, nets, and areas of heavy shipping, We had an adventure like no other up the rivers of Kalimantan (Borneo), and the clean and luxurious Marinas of Nongsa Point and Raffles in Singapore. Here is the story.
We set out from Benoa on Bali at 12:25 the 28th of September after a bit of a dance moving boats around. We had been tied to the dock and had Raphurst close off our stern and two boats rafted together off our bow. Dream on was rafted to us. The conditions were beautiful with southeast winds of 12-15 knots and clear skies. As we were negotiating the reefs on the way out we passed Guardian on the way in. I actually would have put off our departure another day had we known that our Brazilian friends were coming, but what the heck, we would all be in Phuket at the same time anyway.
Once again we had to deal with the incredibly strong currents in the Lombok straits and it took until nearly 4 a.m. on the 29th to escape its grip on us. We found that clinging to the shoreline in the ebb of the set allowed us to make nearly two knots of progress.
As dawn came, out of the darkness appeared hundreds of small, ornate sailing boats. We obviously had been sailing right through them in the darkness and never saw any of them, as they were unlit. These were fishermen from the north of Bali. Most had only one person in them and the colorful designs were incredible.
We had intended to stop at Bawean island, but there were fishing nets everywhere and when we nearly ran up on an uncharted reef in the vicinity of the island, I had enough of the place and changed course to Kalimantan (Borneo). We lost the wind that day and the rest of the trip was an uneventful motor to Kumai Bay.
As the sun was setting on the 2nd of October, we put down our anchor ten miles off shore in 28 feet of water. Merlyn stood the first anchor watch and we were approached by a couple of boats during her watch. Who knows what they were up to? As soon as she shined a light on them, they left.
The following morning, against yet another adverse current, we made the remaining thirty miles acctoss the bay and five miles up the Kumai River. We had the anchor down again just before dark. For the rest of this day and all of the following day we rested, only doing a few small maintenance jobs. We had talked to our Canadian friends on "Lesqueti" and they were due in on the 5th. We planned for them to leave their boat in the Kumai River and take Nael up the Sekonyar River to see the orangutans. At 63 feet Lesqueti was too large to turn around up the tributary. And there were only three aboard at the time. So, with all five of us on Nael, we headed up the river. The only problem was that we were going up the wrong river! This was corrected when Jiem, the guide that I had met in town, came chasing after us in a speed boat and pointed out our error. We got turned around and found the entrance to the narrow but deep Sekunyar River. At some points there was only a few feet of clearance on either side, but we never saw a depth of less than 28 feet.
It was only about ten miles up the river to Tanjung Harapan to the first ranger station in the Tanjung Putting National park. But against the current of the river it took us three and a half hours to get there.
We arrived just in time for the feeding of the youngster orangs. We all were spellbound by these incredible animals that so closely resemble humans. At this point the story gets so involved that you will have to read my book to hear it all , but here is a brief narrative.
ORANGUTANS ON KALIMANTAN, RIVER TAXIS IN SINGAPORE
The next day we took the dingy up to Pandok Tanggui (the second station) and Camp Leaky (the third station). At the second station there were wild orangs and transplants from the first station. There were also several other monkeys, including a black handed gibbon who had decided that this was a good place to live and that the humans who visited made good pets. On this visit all the creatures were well behaved and did their own thing. I got some great photos of the young orangs swinging like Tarzan on the vines.
We arrived at the third station a bit early for the guided tour, so we went for a walk. As the rangers began to call to the orangs for their feeding, a large female came out of the jungle and started chasing Merlyn around the bench where we were seated. This 90 or so pound animal got a hold of Merlyn and carried her off into the jungle! Needless to say, I was alarmed at this course of events. The ranger told me not to worry as this particular orang would not hurt her and only wanted to show her to the feeding area. This did little to comfort me and I followed only to find that after a while, the female orang decided that Merlyn should carry her instead. Now Merlyn is strong, but this is a heavy animal. We managed to convince her that maybe it would be better if I took on this job and I carried her the rest of the way to the feeding area. Whew!
During the rest of our stay up the Sekonyar river, we saw and interacted with many orangs, at least six varieties of monkeys, a couple of large crocodiles, and many types of birds. We hiked miles through the jungle and visited the gold mine. The amount of adventure and real life experience could fill an entire book by itself, but I managed to condense it into one chapter of my book "Still Lost After 40,000 Miles," which is nearing completion.
After nine days in this magical place, we departed Kumai on the 12th of October bound for our Indonesian check out of Nongsa Point on Batam Island. We had a couple of horrendous thunderstorms and negotiated our way through fishing fleets that resembled floating cities. All in all, it was a good 500 miles and we arrived in Batam on the 18th.
Nongsa Point was a beautiful marina with all the comforts of a luxury resort. The staff was friendly and helpful in every way. Hanging around the pool with a cold beer is a great way to return to civilization.
There was a little incident with my expired ships document, but that was all smoothed out by an e-mail from my mother explaining the nightmare of getting the US Coast Guard to understand that we simply do not have a physical address at this time (most cruisers don't). In the end it was just like school -- all you need is a note from your mother!!!
Only a short trip across the Singapore Strait and up Johor to Raffles Marina. Wow, what a marina! This place has everything imaginable: pool, jacuzzi, restaurants, bars, a modern gym, snooker room, aerobics room, laundry, well-equipped chandlery, you name it. Every morning the newspaper is delivered to your boat and if you are feeling a bit lazy or tired, cheuffeured golf carts will give you a ride down the spacious docks right to your boat (or from your boat). There is a free bus to the MRT to get into town. I could go on and on. Never have I been to a cleaner, more luxurious, well-run marina anywhere in the world. It is a bit pricey, but then so is all of Singapore. More than worth a visit.