When we cleared into Indonesia, the 3 ½ months we were to be here stretched out ahead of us. Now we were facing the last couple of weeks. The changing season from dry to wet and also the more northern latitudes brought us our first squall while sailing from Belitung to Penuba. We spotted it coming so were prepared and as it turned out it was not very severe. It did bring some gusty wind and then some very welcome rain to wash the boat which was really dirty after weeks of smoky dusty conditions. We had many passengers on this part of our trip- lots of little birds who were clearly exhausted and looking for somewhere to perch. Some of the other boats in the rally had some larger birds like an albatross who spent the night in a dinghy.

The seasonal transition and our location also meant that we were now spending a lot of time motoring, as there was insufficient wind for sailing. This made for a few very tedious passages, especially for Phil as he really enjoys keeping the boat sailing along, trimming the sails frequently and thinking about wind shifts and the course. We broke the passage to Penuba with a couple of overnight stops. When we arrived, the chat was heavily dominated by preparations for crossing the equator, followed by preparations to cross the Singapore strait which was starting to occupy people’s minds – especially those like me who have not yet had a lot of experience in heavy shipping areas. Most of the fleet left Penuba the day after we arrived there and headed north to a bay very near the equator for a party. Much and all as we would have liked to been a part of that, we simply were not ready to get going again and so we spent a couple of days in this quiet little village before setting off for our next stop, Benan Island, in the northern hemisphere.

The equator crossing, as one might expect, was remarkable only in that we carried on with some traditional nonsense when a person sails across it for the first time. We only just managed to actually sail across it, turning the engine off, putting the sails up, and using the boat’s momentum to get us across. We had a nip (probably more than a nip actually) of brandy (I know, it is meant to be rum, but we did not have the foresight to keep some rum for this purpose), and ran around the perimeter of the boat naked. Phil splashed my face with equatorial water, sparing me from the dunking that I should have had. However, the wind gods did not allow us much time to bask in our achievement as there an impending squall ahead, so we were back on the job quick smart, dropping the sails and battening down the hatches. We did not quite make it to Benan Island that day so spent the night in a convenient anchorage nearby and completed the last 10 miles the next morning.

Although very low key in terms of festivities, the natural beauty of Benan Island made this a memorable part of our farewell to Indonesia.

We were not particularly looking forward to the last stop, Tanjung Penang, as we thought that it would just be a dirty city with not much to offer except a customs and immigration office. However, we have enjoyed ourselves here (but I would not recommend it as a tourist destination). The market was very interesting with lots of things that we would not ordinarily see, and the restaurants have been very good indeed, and ridiculously cheap. As it is a reasonably large city, we have also been able to do some other shopping here for a few things that we are now starting to need.

The highlight here was the farewell dinner. It was a fairly informal affair, and smaller than most of the other dinners as many of the boats had already checked out and moved on to their next destination. The food was excellent and the band was very good.

Then the Dutchies got into the act with a couple of Dutch songs they have been practicing, followed by the French who encouraged us all to sing Frere Jaques (which most of us learnt at school). The Aussies did “I still call Australia home” and “Waltzing Matilda”, ably led by Dot and Jonathon’s (Bali Hai) daughter who has a sensational voice. The Kiwis then topped off the nationalistic acts with a rendition of the Haka. More singing and dancing followed and a rollicking good time was had by all. No-one wanted to leave, even after the band played “Auld Lang Syne”, so they were good humoured enough to keep playing for a bit longer. The party eventually petered out and we made our way back to the boats in lovely cool air under a starry sky.