Day 141, Year 3: Arrival at Bawean Island
Date: Hari Sabtu (Saturday), Bulan September 27, Pada Tahan 2008
Weather: Clear Skies; Winds SE 15
Latitude: 05 degrees 43.825 minutes S
Longitude: 112 degrees 40.112 minutes E
Location: Labuan Harbor, Bawean Island, Indonesia
We made it! We arrived here at Bawean Island after sailing/motoring the 212 miles from Bali just after 9:00 this morning. Last night was a much better night, but Justin and Jo are still struggling to get their sea legs and be able to sleep while on passage. It really is an acquired skill, so we will hope that when we leave here tomorrow for the overnight to Karimunjawa they will be more into the groove. At least tonight we can get a good night’s rest tonight at anchor and once in Karimunjawa
we will three or four days to rest and enjoy before our next overnight to Borneo. I keep saying we are going to Borneo, and in fact that is the island to which we will be sailing, but the Indonesian part of Borneo is called Kalimantan. The specific part to which we will be sailing to see the orangutans is Kumai. Probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is, just in case.
After arriving this morning, we launched the dinghy and went over to see Dave and Patti on This Way Up. There were nine boats in the anchorage when we arrived and seven of them, including This Way Up, were planning to leave around 11 am for Karimunjawa. Dave is always a wealth of information and we just wanted to touch basis with him before he took off. When we returned to Windbird we jumped in the water for a swim and then prepared for a trip to shore. We took the dinghy in following the family on the yacht “Ten” with their almost one year-old, their five year-old, and their eleven year-old. Brave souls! Once on the beach we talked with folks from the other boats left in the anchorage and then walked to the tiny little village of Labuan. As we walked back from Labuan, Justin was on his cell phone talking to a client in the US. I have a great photo of him on the beach with that cell phone. Once he completed his business, we then took the long walk over the hill to Tampak Timur. There was not a lot to see, but we did have a couple of great encounters with locals. A young Muslim woman in her birka on a motor bike stopped to say hello to us and she then proceeded to introduce us to her mother on the back of her bike, her sister on another bike, and her cousin and his wife on yet another. She wanted to know where we were from and wanted to have a picture taken of all of us with her cell phone camera. We continued on, walked through town, found the mini-mart and bought eggs and bread, and headed back. We did stop to talk to a man who spoke good English and we thought we had arranged to rent motor bikes for a trip around the island, but actually he wanted to take just one of us on his bike. He would be the guide and charge us the equivalent of $10US per hour. Since we had rented bikes in Bali for just $4US for the day, we declined and walked back to the beach.
We are going ashore for dinner tonight-we think. Mark and Justin tried to arrange this at tiny little restaurant onshore, but the language barrier might end up to be a problem. We are headed in how and are hoping we get to eat. I’ll report on this tomorrow.
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| 080927 Day 141 Indonesia–Bali to Bawean Island |
