Day 92, Year 3: A Quiet Day in Kalabahi

Day 92, Year 3: A Quiet Day in Kalabahi
Date: Hari Sabtu (Saturday), Bulan Agustus 9, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Perpetual Sunshine with No Clouds
Location: Kalabahi, Alor Island, Nusa Tengarra Province, Indonesia

We really needed a day of rest and we got that today, but we are going to pay the price. We have been so much on the move that we had not done much forward planning. So when we did our planning today, we realized that we cannot reach our next rally location in time for the welcoming ceremony. And, of course, the welcoming ceremony is the highlight of each venue. So we will leave early in the morning and see how things go. We’ve run the upper and lower transits of the moon for tomorrow and this
tells us we should not leave here before 8 am, but there is no way to make the destination for tomorrow night if we don’t leave here earlier. So we are going to go for it. We will probably be met with a strong current that just won’t let us move north, but we shall see. We have never cruised where you have to run these moon transits in order to predict the current, but we are learning lots of new things here in Indonesia. The worst case scenario is that we will just skip the Lembata venue, but
that might not be such a bad thing. There is a wonderful little atoll close to Lembata with good snorkeling and beautiful views of the volcanoes. We will just enjoy that and work our way to the next celebration on Flores Island.

Late in the afternoon today we went ashore to do some basic shopping-Coke, eggs, bread, bananas, and a few veggies. Notice that beer was not on that list. That’s not because it isn’t a “basic” on Windbird, it is just that it is an item doesn’t exist here. There are lots of shops that sell the other basics, but there are no grocery stores as we know them. Fruits and vegetables are sold on the side of the streets and in alley ways that wind between the streets. Everything in Kalabahi is a little
worn by time and lack of money. We have been many places in our travels where the people have had very little, but somehow when you got to know them, they were a proud people who didn’t seem poor. Here we are finding the poorest conditions that we have seen since parts of the Caribbean and Panama. The people here are certainly very friendly but they seem beaten down by years of struggling.

Day 91, Year 3: Another Wonderful Inland Tour

Day 91, Year 3: Another Wonderful Inland Tour
Date: Hari Jumat (Friday), Bulan Agustus 8, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Perpetual Sunshine with No Clouds; Winds in the Anchorage
Location: Kalabahi, Alor Island, Nusa Tengarra Province, Indonesia

Today we visited the local museum here in Kalabahi. We saw ikat weaving in progress and some beautiful examples of the weaving from different geographic areas. We learned that there is ikat weaving and sonkat weaving. The ikat weaving process is amazing. The design of the final product are died into the thread. The designs are tied off with plastic string to keep the dyes from penetrating. It takes more than a week to prepare the threads, and then the weaving commences. The actual weaving takes only two or three days. The sonkat weaving is more like weaving with which we are familiar. There is no preparation of the threads. Different colors of thread are woven in and out to create the pattern. Both processes produce beautiful cloth. The weaving was in one museum building and the moko drums were in another. The value of these drums in this country is amazing. Sonny, one of our guides and truly “modern” in every sense, is getting married in November. His bride price is one moko drum and two cows. In Alor, a bride price is still paid for every marriage and moko drums are almost always involved. These bronze drums are traced back to what is now known as Vietnam . They reached this island through trade and have remained here ever since. They are not found on other Indonesian islands. In the past, the people here thought they were a gift from the gods. Today they are just an accepted part of the economy with a very high value. The drums are about two feet tall and have the shape of an hour glass.

After the museum we headed to the north coast to the village of Takpala. This is a traditional village and we were greeted by traditional dancers. The men were dressed as warriors and the women all wore then hair down loose and danced with abandon. The women wore brass rings around their ankles that made a lovely jingling sound as they danced. The view of the Flores Sea from the village was phenomenal and the people were most gracious. After Takpala, we went to the village of Mali to have lunch and watch a group of elementary school children perform. This venue was on the ocean were the surf was constantly rolling in towards shore, and it was truly a spectacular beach. The elementary children performed for us in traditional dress and it was just great. We ate lunch and watched the dancing and the sea. And before we knew it we were off to the low mountain forest to plant a sandalwood tree in remembrance of our visit here. It was another spectacular day.

When we reached the harbor, the harbor master was there doing the final steps to check us in to this island. Mark did check in and out with the harbor master while I visited with other cruisers. Just before sundown we headed back to Windbird. We plan to do nothing tomorrow as we need a day of rest before moving on. The rally pace is fast and we need a little break before the next “expo.”

080808 Day 91 Alor, Indonesia–Kalabahi’s Museum Daerah
080808 Day 91 Alor, Indonesia–Takpala, Mali Beach, Memorial Forest Buiko

Day 90, Year 3: Dorothy, This Is Not Kansas

Day 90, Year 3: Dorothy, This Is Not Kansas
Date: Hari Kamis (Thursday), Bulan Agustus 7, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Perpetual Sunshine with No Clouds
Location: Kalabahi, Alor Island, Nusa Tengarra Province, Indonesia

Once again we were given a welcome fit for royalty. We went ashore this morning at 9 am following a long boat which picked up the first Sail Indonesia cruiser to arrive here to be our leader. We were met by drumming and gamelan music and lots of dancers dressed in traditional ikat woven sarongs and scarves. The official greeting was made by the head of tourism and then we were treated to traditional song and dance provided by the elementary children. They danced beautifully and the music was great. We were all provided with a boxed breakfast of local pastries and water and were all given an ikat woven scarf. A young woman who is serving as one of our guides asked us if we would do a greeting like this in our country. We had to reply that we have no “traditional” dance that would be performed. I guess this is what happens when you are a melting pot, but it did make me wonder what kind of greeting we would give to world cruisers arriving in the US.

This afternoon we all hopped on a local bus and went to a special market place set up for this Alor festival. The event was called Friendship Shopping and every little village and surrounding island had a booth there. It was sort of like a science fair. We went from booth to booth learning about the arts and crafts of various villages and islands. There were some things for sale but it was mostly an information fair. Mark was particularly curious about some of the traditional tools. There were things hanging on the walls of one of the booths that looked a little like a bow with no arrows. It was actually a mouse trap and of course, Mark had to set it off and then have them reset it so he could see how it worked. In the next booth, there was a similar contraption, but instead of mouse trap that kills the mouse, it was a trap to catch the mouse. It was a traditional Indonesian Hav-a-Heart trap. I couldn’t believe it. We learned all about the seaweed industry they have here where they build special shelters on the water to encourage the growth of seaweed that is then dried and marketed. We had a sweet bread made of ground seaweed and it was very good. And then there were the weaving demonstrations. The ikat weaving is very intricate and fascinating to watch. I bought a few beautifully woven baskets, a wonderful tray made of bamboo, and a couple of wooden writing pens . . . all for a total of $10US. We are told we should bargain, but the prices on some of these things are so low it seems a sin to offer less. Mark and I decided to walk back to the harbor. Walking through the local neighborhoods is always one of our favorite things to do. The children here yell “Mister” as we pass, and some little ones have learned to ask, “How are you?” We actually walked past the turn to the harbor and found ourselves in a Muslim neighborhood of very friendly people. No one could speak English, but one young man knew we were lost before we did. He helped give us directions back to the harbor and sent an older man along with us just in case we might get lost again. We love getting “lost” in places like this. This is when we have some of our best experiences. But after today’s walk, all I could think is, “Dorothy, this is not Kansas.”

We will be going back to shore this evening for a welcome dinner. The graciousness of these people just never ends. Tomorrow we are going on a tour that will take us to the local museum, the traditional village of Takpala, to a beach, and then to a memorial forest. We had thought of trying to do this on our own without going with the organized tour, but in the end that just proved to be too difficult. The language issues do make striking out on your own problematic.

080807 Day 90 Alor, Indonesia–Gala Dinner in Kalabahi
080807 Day 90 Alor, Indonesia–Friendship Shopping
080807 Day 90 Alor, Indonesia–Welcome to Kalabahi

Day 89, Year 3: A LONG Trip to Alor

Day 89, Year 3: A LONG Trip to Alor
Date: Hari Rabu (Wednesday), Bulan Agustus 6, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: No Wind, Then Wind, Then No Wind, But Always Sunshine
Latitude: 08 degrees 13.415 minutes S
Longitude: 124 degrees 30.885 minutes E
Location: Kalabahi, Alor Island, Nusa Tengarra Province, Indonesia
Total Miles: 134.82

We’re here, but what a looooong short trip. We can normally do 134 miles in a 24 hour period, but not this trip. Shortly after 5 pm yesterday, we started experiencing an adverse current that was unexpected. Dave and Pattie on This Way Up have done this trip before, and even they were totally surprised. And the negative current just didn’t go away. We fought it all night by motoring at high RPM’s with no wind. But pushing the engine as fast as she will go, we were only doing two to three knots until about 5 am in the morning. Then we got wind and with no current against us. We didn’t get a positive boost, but we were just happy to not be fighting the negative. We were feeling really good about this, but then we reached the selut (passage) going between Alor and Pantar Islands. We knew you can experience strong adverse currents here, but we thought we had the timing planned so that wouldn’t happen. Wrong again. We basically spent all day punching our way up the passage. And to top off the whole trip, we arrived in the anchorage area just before sundown and it took us an hour and a half to get our anchor to set. All the while we are listening to Muslim prayers being blared over the speakers while fireworks were lighting up the skies. Evidently there was some sort of welcome ashore, but we’ll just have to join the festivities tomorrow. We have heard on the radio that there will be no yachties’ gathering place here. It is evidently a dry island in more ways than one.

So we are tired and grumpy tonight, but I’m sure a good night’s sleep will solve our problems . . . as long as the anchor holds.

080806 Day 89 Indonesia–Kupang to Alor
080806 Day 89 Alor, Indonesia–Opening Expo Photos from Anne on Habreasail