We have been on holiday for the past week! With the festivities of Buru over we were free to move on. The formal itinerary of the rally gave us three days before we needed to be at the next place (Wanci Wanci) and as there was supposed to be nothing planned there for us, we decided to bypass this harbour and go to an island a little further south (Hoga Island) and have a break. This required another overnight sail during which we had more milky seas, although not as marked this time, nor for as long. Hoga Island is the home of a couple of dive “resorts” but not much else. It is close to another island on which there are a couple of villages but all fairly low key.
We have had a fabulous break here during which we have lazed in the cockpit, socialised with other boats, bought squid and cakes from the locals who visited us in their canoes, walked on the beach, swam and watched the sunsets. We have done the best snorkelling so far this trip- lots of different coloured fish and coral and great sunlight penetrating the water and lighting up the colours.

We also visited a stilt village inhabited by the last of Indonesia’s sea gypsies- I don’t quite understand how they can be gypsies if they live in a village but this is what I have been told. The village is built entirely on coral blocks which have been built up by hand in shallow water. Each house is built on stilts which sit on these rough coral blocks with the houses joined together by a boardwalk. We were welcomed “ashore” and spent a few hours wandering around accompanied by a band of children. The poverty and living conditions were a bit confronting, but the children at least seemed quite happy. A couple of the houses actually had a pool table underneath the house. There was no grass in this “village”, no crops and only a couple of forlorn banana trees. Goodness know what the free range chickens under the houses were eating.

We will be moving on tomorrow to the next stop which is proving somewhat controversial among the fleet. It is a village where traditional whale hunting is still practiced. The villagers apparently kill a couple of whales each year for eating, using traditional methods and harpoons. Some boats are bypassing this stop as a protest against this practice. Others are bypassing it because in order to get there we have to sail south for quite a distance and if the forecast easterly turns a bit southerly (which it is want to do), then it could make for some uncomfortable upwind sailing. However, the forecast is for light easterly winds so we will give it a go. If it proves too difficult then we can alter to a more south westerly course.