Our World ARC Rally re started from Darwin on 6th September. We crossed the start line with head winds, which made for exciting sailing as we all tacked backwards and forwards across the channel out of Darwin port. Our new crew were put to work pulling ropes to change the foresail from side to side of the boat and they worked hard keeping us sailing fast and close to the wind. However, after a couple of hours the wind dropped away and we put the engine on, and on it stayed for four days. Occasionally, we would try to sail with the spinnaker or rig up an extra forestay to make us cutter rigged depending on the wind direction, but the wind always died within an hour and so on went the engine yet again, which made for tedious travelling in the Timor Sea.
Part of being in a rally is keeping in touch when on passage and this is done by High Frequency radio (Similar to CB). Each boat takes a turn to be the duty net controller(DNC) who takes a roll call and position from each boat twice a day. They may also pose a question, quiz or task in the morning to such as a ditty or limerick, or a favourite film etc. which helps to pass the time at sea, especially when motoring. Along the way we saw quite a few fishing boats and cargo ships. We also saw at least one water snake every day, plus the usual flying fish, one of which came in through the small side window and landed in our crew Paul’s cabin! For this leg we had 2 Aussie crew, but it turns out they were both from the UK originally. One from Birmingham, close to our roots, so we were able to swap stories about dear old Blighty.
One day we saw some big whales blowing and breaching in the distance, otherwise, it was a fairly monotonous five days until in the last 36 hours the wind freshened. We then started to sail properly and fast until we arrive at the arrived at the SE corner of Lombok and turned into the channel between Lombok and Sambawa. Rising out of the clouds was the majestic volcano on Lombok called Rinjani mountain, which soared majestically to a hazy 3726 metres. The passage up the east side of Lombok took us 6 hours and the tide was strongly against us, slowing us down to 1 knot over the ground when we were doing 7 knots through the water! Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world, so we could see many lights and habitations along the shore of Lombok, there were ferries crossing nonstop across the straits which we had to dodge around. However, this meant we arrived at Medana Bay on the Northwest coast just after dawn which was stunning, and the first thing Richard and I did was jump off the boat and swim! Something we had missed doing in Australia. We only had five days n Lombok, but we made the most of our time, going on 2 full days of tours. On another day we went diving, which was glorious, there were plenty of colourful fish and lots of Hawksbill Turtles at the small islands off the Lombok coast called Gilis. There are 21 Gilis around Lombok and roughly 13000 in Indonesia, as well as the larger islands. This multitude of islands are governed from Jakarta, and speak a Polyglot language called Indonesian, but each island has its own language, of which there are over 700. The people on Lombok are called Sasaks and were delightfully friendly and welcoming people who seemed very pleased to explain their culture and way of life.
On Lombok 95% of the population is Muslim and there were hundreds of mosques all calling the people to prayer five times a day, starting at 04.30, the island is quite a noisy place!
There are also thousands of motor scooters on the island adding to the noise level and the rules of the road are not understandable so we were happy to have a driver and tour guide with us.
We visited a Hindu temple of which there were several, and explored interesting local markets and eating places.
Lombok means chilli and the Sasaks love spicy food, which was delicious; plenty of vegetables, tofu and tempeh dishes, we were delighted to enjoy our favourite dish from our previous visit 40 years ago, called Gado Gado . This is a mixed vegetable salad served with a spicy peanut and tomato sauce, delicious! We even took part in a cookery class and found out how to grind the sambal with a stone pestle before cooking up our own dinner.
On our next outing we visited a local pottery which is run as a cooperative. We travelled there by horse and cart which was yet another exciting experience on the roads in Lombok! After getting our own hands covered in clay making our own masterpieces, we purchased a cooking pot and magic water jug. These are now carefully wrapped and boxed for stowage in our lazarette until we get home.
Next on the agenda was a guided tour of a traditional village called Sade, which has traditional buildings is a weaving village. We were shown the looms and heard about the weaving, cooking and marriage selection process as well as having a go at the stick fighting and musical instruments.
Very sadly, my brother died while we were in Lombok, which was extremely difficult to deal with due to our remote location and distance from family and friends. Intermittent internet availability and poor wi-fi connections made the situation even worse. I am very glad my niece had set up a video call for me with Michael while I was still in Darwin. It seems that the world circumnavigation Richard and I are undertaking has been interwoven around a catalogue of personal and family challenges, as well as the worldwide pandemic. After, many tears and much heartache I have decided that the logistics of returning home for Michael’s funeral are too difficult. So, we refuelled the boat and from jerry cans using a good old siphon system!
Then on the 18th September we set off to cross the Indian Ocean along with the other 7 boats in the World Arc Fleet heading for a tiny place called Christmas Island, 650 miles away. We have swapped our two Australian crew for Karl from Conwy. This passage was the reverse of the Darwin to Lombok leg. We had no wind across the start line and all the boats motored for several hours to get clear of the islands.
However, the tide was with us as we headed south through the west passage between Lombok and Bali, called Selat Lombok. Once we were clear of the island we found fresh winds and a favourable current so made excellent progress and had an uneventful passage arriving at our destination early on Thursday 22nd September. Dark skies and glorious stars plus phosphorescence that lit the sea like fairy lights made the night watches beautiful and the ocean, waves and wind were my companions in my grief and homesickness.
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