Anambas 1

Wednesday May 25

A comfortable sail through the night as the wind died out. A motor went back on just after midnight. A bit of shipping activity always wanting to converge on our little spot in the water. At one stage I had 4 ships lining us up. Thank goodness for Radar and AIS which make the assesment of proximity risk so easy.

Spent the morning cleaning the decks of salt and assessing the sail damage. Fortunately the sail wasn't damaged just the straps that hold the clew ring. Just a large and difficult sewing job to repair.

We decided to pull in to a little bay for a relaxing afternoon and leave the formailities in town until tomorrow. I checked the sattelite images of the Anambas Archipelago that I had down loaded in Terengganu onto Ovital Map on the iPad. From these I identified a little bay on a small island, called Genting Unjut, about 12 Nm short of the main anchorage. This proved to be a delightful spot and we anchored on clean sand in crystal clear water.

We went for a swim and found that Gemini Lady had gone through an oil slick. The oil was like treacle and very difficult to get off. We also removed the orange scum around the waterline from Terengganu. The new antifoul job is already growing barnacles. Not impressed Jotun!

We tried the beef we had bought at the market cut as BBQ steaks and found it tasty enough but very tough. The rest wil end up in the pressure cooker.

Thursday 26 May

We had a fishing boat anchored off our stern all night and we wondered if he was spying on us as we weren't cleared in yet. Anyway, paranoia set in so we didnt go for our planned snorkel and go ready to head into Tarempa. Just as we were about to leave, the fishing boat came over and tied up along side. They had some small fish frying and were offering us breakfast. They introduced themselves as Mal and Ika. I had some of the fish and it was delicious. We chatted for a while, Mal spoke some English. They were very friendly.

Eventually we moved off and made our way to Tarempa to formally clear in.

As we entered the bay 3 Rally boats were leaving and heading around to waterfall bay. We had a brief chat with them re clearing procedures. They warned us about the anchorage and the rubble and reef bottom so we spent a long time glued to the fish finder to check the bottom before finally dropping the anchor close to the town wharf, After anchoring the wind funneled down the valley at 25 knots so we let out some more chain.

Pikuditu (Leopard 46) came in an hour behind us. By mid afternoon we decided to go ashore and chase up the officials as nobody had come out to us as were informed would happen. On the main wharf the Harbour masters Officers welcomed us and made some phone calls on our behalf. Soon the head of Anambas Tourism arrived and he made some more phone calls. Then the Quarrantine Officer turned up and then finally Customs and Immigration. We think they were a bit put out by us coming ashore. Anyway, they told us to go back to the boat. They then all appeared in the big Immigration boat and promptly went to Pikuditu first. After seeing them crash into Pikuditu we put out lots of fenders.

Our turn cane and we snugged them neatly in the still choppy waters. Lots of people came aboard and Lea spend most of her time escorting the Customs Officers as they looked into everywhere including toilet bags, under mattresses and floor hatches fridges and freezers while I dealt with the paperwork.

Alcohol was a major issue and they kept finding more bottles everywhere. Even we had forgotton some of the staches. Lea got a few stern warnings not to take it ashore. The First Aid Kit was thoroughly checked for drugs. We were then informed that our “Q” flag could come down at 15:40 precisely. Photos were taken for their “Brag Book” and then they left all happy, leaving only dirty footprints from their boots.

Next time we will do a couple of things differently.

1. One department on board at a time

2. No shoes. Its our home and they would expect us to remove our shoes entering their homes.

As it was so late in the day we planned for an explore of the town then an early dinner.

Terempa is a quaint town built out over the water. The shore land is steep so narrow elevated concrete roadways provide motor cycle access to the houses that are built on piles. Easy on infrastructure as all sanitation and drainage is straight into the sea. Having said that the water is still amazingly clear. Be interesting to do an E Coli count. Boats are parked at the fromt door. Some people, requiring a bit more privacy, have built their houses with boat access only. Probably tax dodgers!

The town had a prosperous, active and very friendly vibe. Despite the heat many of the kids were playing volleyball after school. Some kids followed us around with lots of giggles and laughter.

On shore buildings were constructed around the natural features. At one of the small street venders we got a local SIM card for internet only to find the service was pathetically slow and most of the time you couldnt even get email.

Kite flying was also big.

We joined Steve and Dinki off Pikaditu for an early dinner. Dinghy security was not an issue as the Navy Billet was just accross the road from the dinghy dock. The armed guard had a rack of M16's ready to grab.

Friday May 27

The Rally Fleet started to arrive in the early morning. Psycho Puss had anchored over our anchor in front of us during the night. Esoterica arrived a little later with 2 of the film crew aboard. We gave them an update on clearing in procedures then decided to get out of the way.

Tide and wind were against us as usual as we enetered the reef strew chanel heading east. Passed a few spider like livaboard craft that are currently being towed around and used to harvest an abundance of small squid.

Lots of local boats going about their business.

We entered Waterfall Bay and found Tiki, Katani and Tuppeny anchored in the bay. Tge big scar on the hill to our right was the famous Temburun Waterfall. Still flowing , just.

Ashore we found the small village constructed out over the water again. Seems to be the style here.

On land there were some lovely plants and flowers.

We walked to the base of the waterfall.

Then found the track leading up.

Nice views but the water quality didn't inspire us for a swim. Not quite the Kimberley.

About half way up we found a weel developed recreational area now neglected and falling into disrepair.

Back on Gemini Lady I created some shade and did a bit of repair stitching on the Main. Soon got sick of the sheet flapping in our ears as the breeze came in so we decided to go for a sail instead.

Wove our way out to the east through a tortuous path through the reefs again helped by Satelite imagery. Once free of the reefs we popped the kite and had a glorious Spinnaker run to the NE chasing the other boats that had left earlier. We didnt quite catch them but it was a great 11 NM rum to Manda Riouw Darat. Another stunning bay and we just had time for a brief swim, survey and snorkel as the light faded.