Not likely.
Indonesia may be a fascinating, exotic tourist destination, but a cruising paradise it is not. It is a cruising sailor’s nightmare. Weak, shifting winds, strong currents, a myriad of small fishing boats, fish farms, fishing platforms, lack of basic boating infrastructure, hazardous floatsome, water pollution and mind-numbing bureaucracy make it very difficult for a regular yachtie to explore and truly enjoy this incredible tropical archipelago of a thousand islands.
One day, having motor-sailed all day, we arrived in Kilo on the island of Sumbawa. Diring our approach a tropical rainstorm broke and visibility was reduced to twenty meters. When the skies cleared we found ourselves in the middle of dozens of small fishing boats and I still do not know how I managed to zig-zag our way to the anchorage without fouling the props with a fishing net.
Once at anchor, we could relax and look forward to some well deserved shut-eye. But the local muezzin would have none of it. He cranked up his public address system and started praising Allah at six in the evening and then again at midnight. But then, at four in the morning, by popular demand, he put in a special surprise performance, just to make sure that the Allah-fearing people of Kilo were still on their toes.
A week earlier we were sailing from Comodo Island to Labuen Bajo on the island of Flores. We were in need of fuel and food. A nice little breeze developed out of the south-east, so we quickly unfurled the code zero and soon Spalax 2 was moving along at a steady pace of six knots. But then I noticed that according to SOG (speed of vessel in relation to land) we were not making any headway. I fired up the two engines and cranked them up to 2000 rpm. Finally we stared inching forward. The reason? We were sailing in the middle of a countercurrent of six knots!
But I have to qualify my condemnation of Indonesia. When you do manage to find a dinghy dock at water level to go ashore without a hastle, you will find the most gentle, helpful and friendly people you ever want to meed. Even though their English is rudimentary at best, they will go out of their way to organize fuel, water, cooking gas, food, sim cards and whatever your little hearts desire at a very reasonable price.
One bright star on Indonesia’s pleasure-boating horizon is Marina Del Ray on Gede Island just off the coast of Lombok. It boasts everything a discriminating yachtie needs and wants: full service berths, swimming pull, atmospheric outdoor restaurant, karaoke. Marina Del Ray is also a stopover of the annual rally World ARC. But the marina is almost empty, supposedly due to the pandemic. Let’s hope that this superb yachting facility will usher in a new prosperous era of Indonesia’s yachting industry.
It has been almost a month since we entered Indonesia at Kupang on the island of Timor. And to be honest, in spite of what I said above, Indonesia, particularly Bali, is beginning to grow on me.
