We arrived at Belitung early in the morning and waved to a few fisherman on the way to the anchorage. There are large outcrops of granite boulders, palm trees, white sand and a few simple huts on the beach. In the anchorage there are 25 yachts as well as the colorful local boats. Ken dove down to check the anchor which has dug in well in sand six meters deep and very clear blue water.
We went ashore late in the afternoon for beers, dinner and catch up with the other yachties. The warung was very basic but had a great view the beers cheap at $2.00 large bintang and noodles and nasi goreng $ 1.50 why would you bother cooking.....
We did the town tour the next day we visited a local high school so the students could practice their English, they were very enthusiastic about it and we enjoyed the experience. Next up the museum and then lunch at a traditional timber building with woven leaf mats on the floor for us to sit on. They served us lunch in groups of four on a tray we had fish, chicken, rice,noodles and a soup which we had to eat with our fingers, not sure about the soup with fingers so poured it over the rice, it was delicious.
Most of the people on Belitung are either farmers, tin miners or fisherman, although they are trying to promote tourism to add to the economy, there are no five star hotels here yet but it won't be long as it has a lot going for it, friendly people and clean beaches with natural features.
The weather is starting to change we are experiencing more humid conditions and storms or rain for part of the day. The next few days were spent making water, fuel top ups and gas refills all thirsty work, the warung on the beach a popular place to cool down and socialise.
We headed off after five glorious days on Belitung and hope to return one day to see more of the island.
As there is not much wind we motor sailed and watched rain and storms go past us, the first anchorage was so uncomfortable, the boat rolled all night, we got up at 3.30 am to head off to the next spot which was really calm so stayed another night we got two storms while there but not a lot of wind just some rain to top up the water tanks and do some washing.
Our last overnight sail for the trip was glorious, full moon no fishing boats but no wind either oh well.... in the morning we crossed the equator so we celebrated and toasted Neptune, took a couple of photos and I christened Ken with a half a bucket of salt water then he threw the rest over me... We arrived at the anchorage just before a storm and also saw a waterspout close by.
We had some locals come and visit so we swapped paw paw and mangos for books and pencils, they live in a stilt village not far from the boat. Sunset drinks on Southern wing was fun to celebrate the crossing with 6 other boats was good fun, lots of food and champagne and stories.
Our last stop in Indonesia was on Bintan island anchored off some five star resort, the beach was ok the water not clear at all, food and drinks were back to Australian prices, such a contrast from Belitung were we were anchored last week, beautiful clear water and white sand beach and indonesian prices for food and drink.
We had to do the clearance papers which took a day, official things in Indonesia take lots of time but we have our clearance papers so off to Malaysia tomorrow.
Up early for our trip across the Singapore Strait to make the most of the current, we had fine but hazy weather and no wind, there was plenty of shipping traffic going both ways, our top speed was 8.3 knots. As we started to go up the Johor Strait between Singapore and Malaysia our speed dropped to 5.4 we passed hundreds of ships and cranes in the Harbour area I have never seen so many. Further up the causeway we motored under the link bridge to Puteri Harbour marina arriving at 4.00pm a dream run across a busy water way with lots of traffic, glad it's over.
Puteri marina was very clean and has great facility's so everything got washed and cleaned and Ken started on the list of boat jobs.
Last week we moved to a cheaper marina Danga Bay $33 a week there are lots of boats here and security is good as we have been talking to the locals who have been here up to 7 years.
The buses stop outside the marina and it is 10 min to the city, so I have been exploring and have found some good shopping and simple hawker stalls to eat delicious local food at around $ 2.00 a plate.
The weather is a bit hotter than townsville and nearly every afternoon we get a big thunderstorm and after it's finished the temperature is much cooler.
We fly back to Brisbane at the end of November to celebrate my Dads 80th birthday then up to Townsville on the 10th Dec - 24th for Ken and 27th for me so we would love to catch up with you at some stage while we are back.
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