We met Nikki and Cameron on Dreamer in Borneo(Kalamantan) and it was really nice to cruise for a while with another cruising boat. They come from Australia and they have a 10 meter catamaran. It was nice to have someone else pick anchorages and we cruised together all the way from Borneo to Singapore.
When we left Kumai, we decided to make the trip around to the southwest corner of Borneo in one overnight trip, whereas Dreamer made the same anchorage in 3 day trips. It was there that we caught up to them and did the overnight crossing together to Belitung Island. We both had a calm crossing and it was nice to have another boat within VHF radio distance all night. We cruise at similar speeds and some trips we would beat them and other days all we would see was their wake.
We made our way in day trips around to Tanjung Pandan where Cam jerry-jugged some fuel and I enjoyed a cold beer and visited with the locals. One woman closed her shop for me and drove me (on the back of her motorcycle) to a market. I was constantly amazed by how much they can load on to these motorbikes. The photo below was just bread, but the driver was completely enclosed. I bought vegetables for both boats while Cam did his fuel. Our last fuel run was way back in Lombok (before Bali) where the locals delivered it to the boat. It is nice having such big tanks and being able to get fuel where it is cheap and easy!
In many of the anchorages we were surrounded by stilt houses built in 30 feet deep water. Many were equipped with nets that they would lower into the water and the dropping tide would catch the fish; very ingenious. Others would be simply for fishing with a small house in which to sleep.
All the villages we visited were friendly and we were soon followed by swarms of children looking to see the strange white folks or to practice some English. Emily always kept them entertained by making Origami flapping birds or dragons.
In one village, Nikki bought a handful of candy for about $3 from the local store and passed it out to the children creating smiles all over the village.
In some of the villages they were making sturdy wooden boats and in another they had hundreds of fish traps being made. Every villager was proud and willing to show us his craftsmanship.
We shared wine and nibbles on each other’s boat every evening and it was nice to discuss plans and boat things. On Australia Day, we were presented with a signed Aussie flag and they introduced us to Vegemite as we were served breakfast. Vegemite is a yeast product that resembles something you might scrape from the bottom of your shoe, but spread thinly with butter on toast, it was surprisingly good! We found our last bottle of champagne from America deep in the bilge and shared it with them as we crossed the equator for the second time.
We cruised through the Bangka and Lingga islands and both arrived at Danga Point Marina in Northeast Batam Island. We stayed there for a week at the dock with air conditioners humming constantly. We did some provisioning at the local supermarket and found most of the things we needed. Emily did not care for the smell of the dried fish that is so popular with the locals.
We will continue to splurge and will cross into Singapore next and stay in a fairly expensive marina downtown. Come along Dear reader and see if we can cross the busy shipping channel without getting run down by the supertankers.
Tom
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