This is about Daryl & Laurel Fisher and their cruising adventures on the catamaran "Cool Bananas"...


Monday, 24 August 2009

Bitung/Manado, Indonesia - August 2009

We have arrived in Bitung, the host of the largest marine event ever to be staged in Indonesia. They want to put this area on the map in marine tourism. A budget of $800,000US has been allocated to hosting the sailing yachts alone. And did they ever go all out, in their typical friendly but (frustratingly) chaotically disorganized manner. We’ve been showered in gifts – hats, tee shirts, key rings, soft toys, local bitung beer, DVD about the marine area, medals, cash, fuel, certificates and a beautiful hardcovered book of photographs of the area. There have been free tours and dinners. They really have tried so hard to give us a good time.



Local horse and cart transport in Manado................Independence day parade in Bitung

In general when we are out on the street we are the only white faces to be seen and the locals treat us as if we are royalty. The locals seem to feel it is a privilege to be photographed with us, especially photos with those young ones amongst us. We found a great local eating place called Pasar Tua, a street of restaurants most with big barbeques outside. Beside the bbq is a table full of wet fish. So you choose your fish, squid or prawns by pointing to the one you want (literally), it’s weighed and then cooked for you. Deliciously fresh. Quite a few amongst the fleet have had stomach upsets but thankfully not Daryl, Dave or I. Lydia, however, has had a couple of bouts. When a guide was taking us to the local fruit and veg market he warned us we may see rat, bat and dog for sale – all in the experience!!! In fact there is a good European styled supermarket so we don’t need to be using the local market meat supply. Even saw some NZ sirloin in the freezer!!

Daryl and Dave entered to be a part of the Guinness Book of Record for having the most divers in the water at one time. It was broken with about 2600 divers.



Divers limbering up



Daryl underwater along with 2600 others..........Daryl's keen supporters

We did a tour to the national park and saw our first monkeys in the wild – fantastic. Worth the 3hr tramp in sweltering conditions (I think). There, as well, were the tarsier monkeys, the smallest primate in the world. Sooooo cute!!!! We also took the opportunity to see the tarsier at close quarters at a zoo we could dinghy to from the anchorage. However some of the other sights at the zoo were a sad, with monkeys held in bare steel cages up off the ground without them even having access to water if they wanted it. The upside was that the place looked clean and the animals in healthy enough condition.


Laurel getting a shot of the tarsiers.....Cute or what

After a week of harbour life we were all relieved to head around the coast and anchor up in a bay with clear water and a sandy beach. Ahhhh, swimming, snorkeling, diving and sundowners on the beach. We had our first game of cards in weeks. The women especially agreed that it was also good to be able to peel off some of the modest clothing and feel cooler.

The climax event was a sail passed which was held in Manado, forty miles around the coast from Bitung. On all the advertising it had the Indonesian President attending, actually he was the main feature we were ‘sailing passed’. In reality he was never going to be able to be there as he was attending a major political meeting (with 300 delegates) in Jakarta - only in Indonesia!!! One thing we have learnt is -never believe what anybody says. And also – someone else is always to blame. Never mind, it’s frustrating but we knew it would be like this. Despite the lack of a President’s presence it was a grand event. In attendance was the US aircraft carrier George Washington plus frigates, destroyers, tall ships, yachts and various boats I don’t have a name for (it really should be a man writing this bit). Thousands of people were on the shore watching. The George Washington launched jets (including three stealth fighters) that did acrobatics over us - Quite spectacular.


Getting in behind the tall ship..............................Laurel on the helm


USA frigate with many white uniformed crew....getting organised in pouring rain




Plane formation fly over................... Cool Bananas leading the fleet



The naval fleet approaching ................US George Washington





Our naval officer, Fahima in Wori Bay................Fahima getting fleet instruction


For the event, Cool Bananas lead the fleet, as we had the navy advisor for the fleet aboard. Other notaries aboard included one of the local event organizers and his friend, who was Vice President of the five star Sadona Hotel in Manado. So after the event we were guided (along with two other friends’ boats) into the lagoon outside the hotel and that night dined on probably the best five course meal I’ve ever had (I suppose that’s not too hard as I haven’t had many 5 course meals). The hotel pool, etc, were at our disposal over the next few days so it was pure luxury. Daryl and Dave went with a dive company to do a wreck dive and two dives out at the world famous Bunaken Island dive sites. They came back buzzing (and found me supping cocktails by the pool). The hospitality has been amazing.



Anchored at Sadona Hotel............... Cardinal fish only found in Lembah Straits



Wreck dive in Manado

Nudibranches here there and everywhere

We are now back in Bitung awaiting a weather window to make our way south west to Wakatobi. With the trade winds being from the South east we are hoping for some calmer weather to do it in. The wind is howling through the anchorage this morning so we shall see……..

Sunday, 16 August 2009

Ambon - Bitung, Indonesia - August 2009

We have entered our first ever yacht race. The starting gun went off at precisely 10am from Ambon. It was a great sight to see all the yachts leaving to sail up the harbour. That’s about where our commitment to serious racing finished. There was a recommended dive site 25 miles from the anchorage which we wanted to stop at and did. So two dives and a few games of cards later we were all tucked up in bed. Also guiding our decision was that we wanted to ensure that we arrived in Bitung in daylight, which meant an early start. We weren’t the only ones to stop so we had some company for the crossing.




Crossing the Equator



We have had a few whale sightings, even breaching whales but nothing very close. Seeing dolphins is always a treat during a crossing.
With four aboard the night shifts are pretty cushy – 2hrs on and 6hrs off. At about 7pm on the second night we crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere. The nights were kept busy with boats calling in having sighted things in the water. It seems the fishing boats had huge mooring drums which would have had to have had two to three kilometers of rope to attach them to the bottom??? Other yachts saw big fishing traps floating. The thing was that the drums, traps and some of their boats weren’t lit at night. Thank goodness for a full moon and luck on our side.



Wednesday, 12 August 2009

Ambon, Indonesia - July 2009



Ambon is probably not one of our favourite stops but it did have some highlights. The local Sail Indonesia organizers did their best to give us a good time. They have removed their entire fishing fleet from the port to give most of the yachts prime parking up against the dock. It seemed we had exclusive use of all the fishing port facilities ashore as well.

They put on a fantastic welcome, just a shame the invitation was in Indonesian and we read the function time of ‘12.00- finish’ as being 12.00 start in fact it meant it finished at 12.00. Never mind, we were in time for a great lunch. We have thrown caution to the wind regarding what food we eat. It is hard to refuse the hospitality we are receiving so….. you can remind me I should have been more cautious on the days I’m confined to the bathroom on the boat!!

View from the yacht.......................................................GO COOL BANANAS GO !!!!!!

On the passage out of Darwin we tore our mainsail. Lydia’s Dad was flying to Ambon so he brought us some sailcloth. After an ask around the boats we had enough glue to do the job. The lovely navy men of Ambon found us a shed to work in and helped us get the hefty sail to the shed. From there Daryl and Dave, with the constant offer of help from the nice navy men set about to glue and sew a patch onto the sail. Daryl is pleased with the outcome.

While they were confined to the shed I disappeared off on a day tour. Would you believe it, we were police escorted for the day. It was just like in the movies!!! The police on motorbikes drove in front of the tour buses and shooed all the traffic off the road. But the fact we were travelling quite fast and being close behind the bikes, plus me sitting in the front seat, added up to a hair raising ride. At times I just shut my eyes and hoped the traffic stopped in time with enough room for us to squeeze through. In the afternoon we gave up on a parade, given in our honour, apparently, that still hadn’t arrived after 2 ½ hours. It amazes me that, although there were so many officials running around with radios, no one could establish where the parade was and how long it would be. We heard that 50% of those employed are employed by the government.


Village welcome dance.


Petrol station - Indonesia style

Lydia represented Cool Bananas at the farewell dinner, while we were putting the sail back up. Each boat got given a beautiful hardcover book about the history and art of the area. They certainly tried their best to look after us.




Bandanaira, Indonesia - July 2009


Pulling out of Bandanaira



Washing in the village....... Chn will be chn


Village life.....


The sails were hoisted and we sail the 180 miles to the Banda Island group further north. This is what we have been hanging out for -clear water, albeit a chilly 27 degrees. It is exciting to be seeing sea life we haven’t seen before. Bandanaira, where we are anchored, is a Muslim community so it has been a challenge to stay comparatively covered up in these warm temperatures. They like us to be covered for swimming also so the rash shirt has had an airing. The locals here are more tourist savvy than the other stops but Lydia did well bargaining down her laundry quote to a quarter of the original asking price. And of course we are dealing in Rupiah, where 6000rp is equivalent to NZ$1 – we’re spending thousands.
We dined out at one of the flash hotels for less than $20 for the four of us. Daryl is finding the food a bit spicy but he’s coping. What is great about travelling this way is that we can still eat on the boat if we want a western styled meal. With eggs being readily available Daryl is smiling, as he is still gets his poached eggs for breakfast. Gado gado, vegetable with peanut sauce, is my current favourite. Followed closely by a Banda speciality, eggplant stuffed with almond paste. With these dishes I finally think I could become a vegetarian.
Bandanaira is seeping with history. In the 15th century these islands supplied all the worlds’ quality nutmeg. There is a castle and ruins that date back to 1629 when these islands were occupied by the Portuguese then the Dutch. The island has sustained some bloody battles in pursuit of control of the nutmeg trade. The biggest losers appeared to be the local people whose population dropped from 15,000 to 1,000 in 1621.There was wealth in the islands well into the 20th century when extravagant living and corruption sealed its fate and now the locals live amidst what remains. Needless to say we are all in to nutmeg at the moment. David had pancakes with nutmeg jam for breakfast yesterday. I didn’t realize that the nutmeg fruit has flesh which the locals stew and dry. I’ll let you know what it tastes like once we’ve tried some. At dinner on the last night we had nutmeg and potato soup and surprisingly it was nice (I think the coconut cream had something to do with it too).


The plantation...... Nutmeg

Daryl and I felt privileged to be asked to attend and photograph a local wedding. It began in the morning and in all we saw the bride in three different outfits. She started in a lace and batik outfit, then a full on white wedding dress (which she only had on a few hours) and then she changed into a short dress for the dance. It was a real mixture of traditional culture, local culture and then the influence of western culture. The family seemed as pleased to have us there as we were to be there. We felt rather like special guests of honour.


Celebrity guests at the wedding..... Wedding procession

Daryl, David along with friends on ‘Allaban’ and ‘Three Ships’ hired a local boat and guide and went diving at a nearby island. We are enjoying being in a new sea with new and different creatures. This island is known for having a ‘mandarin fish’ that isn’t seen in many places. One cruising couple has been waiting years to see one. After two late afternoon dives we can now cross that off our ‘to do list’. There are fabulous snorkelling and dive sites within a dinghy ride so it feels great to be in the water daily again – even if it is a chilly 27 degrees.


Rare mandarin fish..... A new coral yet to be identified?


Daryl, Dave and friends on dive boat.

There have been quite a few ‘antiques offered to us and Daryl has chosen to buy some 17th century trading nuggets used by the Dutch and the English (hopefully they aren’t fake).We figured they would take up less space on the boat as opposed to the canons we were offered.
We had a lovely guided tour on a neighbouring island, wandering the nutmeg plantations, watching village life, visiting their sacred well and visiting the old Dutch fort. The trip over gave us opportunity to see the locals skills at maneuvering their boats, given that their simple economical motors have no reverse.


Rice for lunch..... Village store


Locals watching us..... View from the Dutch Fort. Built 1629


Playing at the Museum......... Wedding guests.


View from Banda Besar....


Daryl couldn’t let up the opportunity to hire a motorbike for the same price as a bottle of beer. I declined gracefully leaving him and another cruiser to tour to the outer perimeters of the island. They couldn’t resist testing the bikes limits down the airstrip – boys will be boys!! They said the outer villages were gob smacked to see two white boys on bikes come through.
What a fantastic place and a great start to our time in Indonesia. But reluctantly after having stayed over a week we drag ourselves away to the next scheduled port, Ambon.



The bikie boys............... Bamboo Crazy Tradition