Wednesday, 15 September
The island of Belitung is at the southern end of the Karimata Strait, about midway between the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo). It is a popular tourist destination and I had anchored in the bay fronting one of its main beaches, Tanjung Kelayang, “known for… rounded granite boulders, fine sand, and calm waters.”
I woke after a full night’s sleep and ran the engine to charge the batteries, and checked the bilges and dried out the cockpit lockers and rope bags after all of the rain I had been through. I then set about launching the dinghy.
I had launched the dinghy before in Singapore but I had crew on those occasions to help me. On my own it took a while longer and was more physically challenging. First, I had to lift the dinghy out of the fore peak locker through the large forward hatch onto the deck, and then inflate it. Then I had to rig and stay the jib pole and use this as a derrick boom for lifting the dinghy up and outboard over the guard rails, for lowering into the water. My 6 hp Yamaha outboard engine weighs a little under 30 kgs, and I decided the safest and easiest way for me (on my own) to fit this to the dinghy was whilst the dinghy was still on the fore deck. As a result, when I lifted the dinghy its bow pointed skywards despite my best efforts to secure the lifting point as far aft as possible. There was no weight in the bow however, and I was able to manoeuvre the dinghy with the outboard attached over the guard rails and down into the water. From there it was a simple matter to bring it aft under the portable boarding ladder I had rigged amidships, and to carry down the petrol tank, anchor and rope, and oars. It was now 1330 however, and I decided to rest up over lunch before venturing ashore.
I had studied the cruising guide and spoken to Rob who had made some enquiries, and knew there was a jetty at the western end of the bay where I could tie up the dinghy and get ashore. I had anchored in the middle of the bay but was able to make out the small jetty with my binoculars, and on looking again I was pleasantly surprised to see Rona at anchor.
I set off in the dinghy at 1430, and on the way to the jetty I passed close by Rona. She had arrived in the early hours of the morning but David was not on board, having disembarked in Bangka for an urgent work matter. It was a long ride to the jetty but fortunately the sea was calm. Even so, the journey took over 15 minutes.
I tied up the dinghy and took the two fuel containers I had with me to the restaurant situated at the end of the jetty, where I met Ming. Ming is a flight engineer with Garuda but because of Covid-19 he had volunteered for and been granted unpaid leave and was now enjoying a long holiday in Belitung. He spoke excellent English. He knew the owner of the restaurant who is a keen sailor and who arranges fuel and provisions for visiting yachts. I told him I had 6 containers like the two I had brought ashore with me, and that I wanted them filled with 100 litres of diesel. [The containers each hold 20 litres but I never fill them above 90% (18 litres) to reduce the risk of leaks]. Ming made all the arrangements with the staff at the restaurant whilst I sat with him and had an Indonesian coffee and plate of fried rice.
At 1630 I returned to the boat in the dinghy. The wind was now E’ly force 4 and the sea was choppy making for a longer and bouncier trip back; and I was not long on board when Ming arrived with the restaurant staff in their supply boat at 1710.
The supply boat was a large wooden fishing boat only a little smaller than Shahna Bacal. It lay close astern on a short bow line, and an athletic member of her crew dangled off her bow to receive my fuel containers which I passed to him. These were then filled with diesel from fuel containers on the supply boat, and passed back to me; and when all 6 of the containers were back on board I passed across the money (Rp 1,400,000 – about S$140). I knew as I stowed the containers on deck that I had been short-changed and that at best I had only received about 80 litres of diesel. I was not going to argue however. I was grateful to Ming for arranging everything and to have the fuel delivered to my boat at the anchorage; and I considered the money to be well spent. These are also hard times and particularly for the restaurant staff as there are few tourists now in Belitung.
With the fuel containers stowed, I decided to relax and enjoyed dinner sitting in the cockpit. I still had to recover the dinghy but that could wait until the morning…