Aug 18 – 20
Hi All,
Always an adventure fueling in Indonesia and this time was no exception. Now we had been texting to Farizan, the nice young man who helped us check in and was arranging our fuel. He has his own boat with a portable tank for fuel with his own pump…..sweet as!!. We wanted 1200 liters and we bargained a price of IDR9,000 which is USD0.67/liter or 2.56/gal, which is well below our $3.33/gal average over the 13 years we have been cruising!! We go into town around 9am…..of course, it is raining…..and do the market thing…scored a cantaloupe and broccoli….it’s the little things we get excited about……then to the ATM to get the cash needed for the fuel, then to see Farizan. We find him with his English speaking friend….all set for the fuel…meet you at Lue Bay at 1400…..about a mile away….seems the Customs people will not let them transfer fuel in the Bay……hmmm. He had already texted me and told me his pump was not working so we will use ours…..no problema.
We then ask for the 10th time over the past month that for sure the “officials” are open tomorrow, a Saturday, for us to check out. He frowns and says……well, they should be but this is our Independence weekend so better to checkout today and we will have them stamp for tomorrow, the 19th. Hmmmm, ok…..doesn’t matter to us……so we go back to the boat and get all the papers and come back in to go to Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Port Captain. A very nice young woman named Elvina from the tourist bureau shows up to escort us around…wow, thanks, but we know where to go….oh, no problem, when I have time I like to go with the tourists to practice my English and share information….wow, cool!!! She indeed bonded with Kathy and we learned all sorts of things about her and Tarempah!!
Ok…..all checked out…..back to the boat and we get the fuel pump ready and then mosey over to the next bay…..text Farizan we are ready and he texts back……hmmm, having problems with my boat….maybe meet you at 1600….we text back, not good, we do not want to overnight in this Bay as it is too exposed and no guarantee Farizan will make it at 1600……we tell him we are going down the channel about 3 miles next to the Anambas Lodge…..he says ok……so we raise the anchor for the 2nd time. Around 1600 he texts that he will leave with another boat w/in the hour…..he does show up at 1700 but he says we have to move, can’t fuel there…..too close to town…..ugh…..raise anchor the 3rd time…..btw, Kathy wants me to include that all these spots are deep….75-100’…….we go maybe 300 yards further down the channel and they say ok here…..not sure this is a better spot as you can still see most of the town……it is over 100’…..we say no……we hunt and the best we find is 90’…..so we anchor again……we then raft up their boat and proceed to fuel…..I sample the fuel and it looks good…..it takes maybe 20 min to fuel…..we pay and take some pics and boom they are gone. So, we raise anchor the 4th time and move back to our original spot 300 yards away and anchor AGAIN!!!! We both collapse on the Flybridge for that well deserved passage beer…..it is 6:30pm……ugh!!!!
So why all the subterfuge regarding the fueling? We suspect that what is happening is maybe a bit shady/illegal. We think the “guys” are buying commercial fuel which is heavily subsidized by the government and then selling to us at retail rates…..making a tidy profit. While this irritates some of our cruiser friends I kind of look at it as capitalism at its best and do not be begrudge the guys making some money…..we think Farizan might have made USD200 to be split up with the various parties. Good for them and still a bargain for us!!!
All this was very reminiscent of fueling the first time in Indonesia in Alor last year when we had to anchor FIVE times and it took all day:))))
The next day we are planning to go 19nm to the furthest east island Selai to stage for our run to Midai the next day. Go to start the Cummins and nope…..the starter sticks again and makes a horrendous noise. We go through the various attempts to de-energize the solenoid but to no avail…ugh, ugh, ugh!!! Now, in all fairness we knew this was on it’s last leg and today it said no mas…..we were hoping to get to Kuching and find a battery but nooooo it couldn’t last……so we spent the next 3 hours and got the spare on doing very hot Yoga…over 100*F in the engine room…….but got stumped as the spare did not use a neg wire from solenoid to starter but had the spot sodered and a metal strap run to the starter housing…..I guessed it was ok and it was. Then Cummins used star like bolts…..WTH…….took every socket I owned to get one that worked……arghhhhhh….and, oh, had to remove the Reverso oil changer in order to get to starter….of course, all 4 screws were stripped…..took a while to just get all 4 out…..yep, livin the dream…..but success…..happy dance and fist bumps and away we go….but, it’s a bit late so we change spots to Penjending where we have been before and saves us about 6nm today…longer day tomorrow…….so away we go!!!
After we have gone 3nm and under a new cell tower…..what do I see on my phone…..OMG…..it’s 5 bars of 3G……I try to download some emails and it works……so we stop in the middle of the channel and start to do donuts. OK…..just remember we have been mostly unplugged for 30 days…..no sports, news or emails >50k……but wait, didn’t you go into Tarempah a day early to have internet…yep, but it turns out Telkomsel had some network issue and no internet….REALLY…….so we spend 30 minutes getting weather, better waypoints for Kuching, all emails….wow……AND……49’rs won their first preseason game, Giants still suck and Bannon is out at the White House….but alas, Trump is still the Pres……sorry for that political comment as I know some of our far right friends are not too happy……but quite frankly we are both getting so tired of having to answer how could America elect a guy like Trump!!
We make it to Penjending…..no other issues…..what a gorgeous anchorage…..Kathy says let’s celebrate…..rib eye steaks and a 1996 Thomas Coyne Cabernet Franc…..and it was excellent…..hats off to dear Thomas as that man can sure make wine….may he rest in peace!!!
Passage to Midai: We left a little after 6am and made it to Midai around 5:00pm….anchor down and passage beers opened by 5:15pm……LIG on Mystic again!!!!
AND, there is 5 bars of 3G internet……OMG…..online banking, facebook, news…darn 49’rs lost to those dreaded Broncos:(((((
About 6pm the Indonesian Navy arrives…..maybe 10 young men……all as nice/professional as can be. They invite us to the island but we beg off as we are leaving 0600 tomorrow…..they checked our papers, took many pics and then back to town!!!
Stats: August 20 to Midai:
Position: 3 01S 107 54E
Traveled: 82 nm today
Course: 95M COG
Wind: 5-10 kts S-SSW
Waves: 1-2’….very trawler like but a bit beamy so some slight rolls
Speed: 7.1-8.3 kts; 7.6 kt avg; 1600 rpm
Weather: 10% cloud cover am; 50% cloud cover pm; sea temp 87* F; air temp 88* F, 80% humidity….yes, it is HOT!!!!
Boat sightings: ~10-15; mostly fishing boats; a few tankers on AIS
Fishing: First time fishing all season; yep, fishing not catching:(((((
Sail: down
Fuel burn: very good, 1.37nm/gal
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Midai South China Sea Indonesia
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