Coromandel Quest

August-September 2010

The next day we sailed down through the reefs to a small anchorage at Wodong, again putting out a stern anchor to keep our bows to the swell, although it wasn't too bad at all.  We spent a couple of days there as there was so little wind that the sea seemed to blend into the sky on the horizon, the whole being a washed-out blue.  The passage from there to the anchorage at Sea World, though, was one of the best we've had - first 8-10 knots from the north sending us gliding along very happily, then a sudden switch to 20 knots from the south east, which necessitated a rapid reef and then a beat down to the anchorage, where we parked Coromandel in about 5 metres of water just off the beach.

On 19 August we went to the Welcoming Ceremony at the Wailiti Resort, yet again being surprised and overwhelmed by the hospitality.  One of the sad things, though, was that there were a number of traders there selling local wares, but by the time the speeches were over it was dark and  no-one could see anything.  Still, Andy managed to buy me a beautiful pearl necklace, thanks to a local lad providing us with a cigarette lighter!

The next day, Di and Steve (Independent Freedom) came with us to the three-coloured lakes at Kelimutu.  The day was not auspicious; it was drizzling when we left and by the time we stopped for coffee it had become a torrential downpour.  Still, we pressed on to the park and walked up to the craters feeling rather disconsolate - would we be able to see anything at all when we got there?  At the first viewpoint we looked out over a sea of cloud, but Steve said, "I'm sure it's clearing", so we went on to the next.  Still no view.  We walked from one viewpoint to the next, trying to imagine what it all looked like, then suddenly the clouds seemed to part and there before us was a stunning bright aquamarine lake.  Beyond we could see a darker blue lake, and when we rushed to the other side there was a dark grey lake.

26-28 August  Mausambi  On the advice of Graeme and Gillian of Kathleen Love, we anchored at the Mausambi end of this bay, rather than at Maurole, even though the events were taking place at Maurole.  It was a good choice, as no sooner had we gone ashore than we were invited to the evening celebrations of a wedding.  Two young women, coming across me standing in the road waiting for Andy, urged me to come into their home to be out of the Sun.  After demurring for some time, I was virtually dragged inside, sat down and given a coconut to drink.  Both Osi and her sister Fannie could speak English, so we had a good old chinwag without having to resort too often to the dictionary.  Then Osi said that we must come to the evening celebrations for her wedding.

The next day, Steve Di Andy and I took a took a tour inland, visiting first a village where palm sugar was made.  We passed rice paddies and stopped to watch the women as they pulled weeds from between the rice plants and buried them in the thick black mud; the women themselves were muddied to above their knees, but laughed and joked with us as we watched.  Palm sap is collected twice a day from the trees, put in a cauldron and boiled to reduce it to a thick consistency.  This is then allowed to cool and crystallize, forming palm sugar - a delicious confection that has many uses (we later had fish baked with a thick crust of palm sugar).  After trying some, we bought a few rolls, which the men wrapped in banana leaves.  From there we went to another village when arak was produced, again from palm sap.  We had tried arak in Lewoleba and found it not unpalateable, but it was interesting seeing how it was distilled using a covered pot and a bamboo still.  Needless to say we bought some more, together with some coffee.  The interior of the island was a mass of lush trees and shrubs, thick vines and lianas, palm trees of many varieties, plus teak and kapok trees.

On Friday evening we went ashore to take part in the festivities for Osi's wedding.  She and her husband, Abe, greeted their guests still in their wedding finery, a conventional suit for Abe and a gorgeous white wedding dress for Osi.  I noted that Abe wore white cotton gloves and Osi net gloves that reached above her elbows.  Later they both changed into Indonesian-style clothes for the dancing.  And boy - did we dance!  These were deceptively simple dances, done in lines or arm-in-arm, but despite the simplicity of the steps, it was difficult to remember when to pause, when to go right, when left.  However I don't think we made too bad a job of it.  We finally left at about 1 am, tired out.

28 August-3 September Narangujong, Maropokot, Riung  We then spent two nights at anchor on the way to Riung, but both anchorages were rather roly, although in the second - Maropokot - we put out a stern anchor.  The offshore islands around Riung and surrounded by reefs, but in the clear weather these were easily visible with the aid of polaroid sunglasses and we wended our way through them, finally anchoring on a sandy spit off one of the islands.  We spent three blissful days doing very little, although on one day Dowi and Raymond from Sail Indonesia turned up and persuaded us to go with them back to Maropokot for a meeting with the Regent.  We were joined by Di and Steve, François and Danielle (Méroé) and Pierre and Cathérine (Teá).  It was a fascinating day, being jolted along pot-holed roads, having lunch with some Moslem ladies, visiting a market garden and then on to meet the Regency's secretary and his staff, where we were giving another lunch.

Rice Paddy

Andy and the Arak Still

Kelimutu's Blue Lake

Feeding the Monkeys

Osi and her Family

Riung Anchorage

Dancing at the Wedding

9-10 September 2010 Loh Buaya, Rinca The adjacent islands of Rinca and Komodo share one unique feature: they are both home to a species of dragon - well, not a dragon really, but very large monitor lizards.  So we made our way down to the inlet of Loh Buaya on Rinca, some 15 miles south west of Labuhan Bajo, to pick up our permits and hopefully get a sight of these fearsome creatures.  We were not disappointed, and saw 7 or 8 in the course of a couple of days.

Bargaining for Pearls with Elias