Singapore

October 28, 2010--October 28, 2010—On October 18 we left Nongsa Point Marina in the morning. We headed west and stayed parallel to and just outside the shipping channel. The amount of traffic moving from both east and west was really amazing. There were cargo ships, tankers, tugs with barges, and even a cable-laying ship. Our AIS system was sending out warnings as fast as we could mute them, and our screen looked like a video game.

As we approached our waypoint for crossing the shipping channel we approached quite a few local fishing vessels. There was a tanker approaching from the west and seemed to be close to one of the boats. The fisherman just went about his work, while behind him loomed a huge ship. We thought the picture came out well and shows quite a dichotomy. Look closely at it.

We began to look for a gap in the traffic and noticed one after a large tanker passed us from our left. As soon as we could, we headed across the channel and crossed right behind the large tanker. We were close enough that our boat got caught in the ship’s prop wash, which moved us around a bit. Once we were behind the tanker, we checked to our right and saw that we had quite a gap before the next ship would cross our path. We pushed on and watched out AIS screen to see how close any ship would come. The closest point of approach was never less than 0.3 nautical miles, so we were fine, and we soon entered the western anchorage.

There must have been 50 commercial ships anchored in this area. We called Immigration and after about 15 minutes, their boat pulled up close to ours, and the officer held out a fishing net for our passports and ship’s papers. When we had placed our papers in the net, he took them and asked us to wait. About 10 minutes later the boat returned, and our papers were in the net. Steve had to sign a few papers and return them to the officer via the fishing net. It was all done very efficiently, and the officials were friendly and helpful.

We then proceeded through the buoys that mark the harbor and slowly motored through the breakwater for the One degree 15 Marina on Sentosa Island just south of Singapore Island. The marina is a very large and upscale marina with several mega yachts moored here. It is quite a change from Indonesia. We were directed to slip D 03, where we tied up and then headed to the office to check in. We returned to cleaned up the boat and hooked up the water and electrical. A little while later we received a tour of the facilities, which include a pool, a gym, a spa, several restaurants, and a laundry. There is regular shuttle service to Vivo Shopping Mall where we can catch the MRT.

The MRT is a light rail system that gets us around Singapore Island pretty easily. Once we understood the schedule and the system, it was easy to make our way around. Sometimes the MRT can be pretty crowded, but it is still the best way to get around.

Sometimes the MRT is not crowded--and sometimes it is.

One afternoon we took a long ride on the MRT looking for boat parts, and then we met three other couples at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar, where the Singapore Sling was invented. The Raffles Hotel has been here since the mid-1800s and is quite famous. The four ladies all ordered a Singapore Sliing, while the guys had a beer. We all walked around the facility for awhile, and then we headed for Little India and the Banana Leaf Restaurant. The food at the Banana Leaf Restaurant is served on placemats that are made of banana leaves. You can order from a buffet line or order from the menu. We ordered a tandori dish for two, which turned out to be very spicy.

Afterward we walked around the Little India Arts Belt and walked through the arcade, which was fascinating because of all the items that were for sale. The streets are decorated with lights for the upcoming Deepavali Festival, which is a Hindu celebration.

Our dinghy is on its last leg, so we began to shop around for a new one. Luckily, there is a Mercury dealer here, so we just ordered the exact same dinghy plus a new 8 horsepower engine. We also needed a few other parts, which Steve was able to pick up. Unfortunately, on one of his runs, his wallet didn’t make it back into his pocket and was left in the front seat of a taxi. He reported the loss to the taxi company, the police, and the U.S. Embassy, hoping that someone might turn it in.

We spent the next few days seeing some of Singapore. One day we went downtown, where we walked along the river and enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant filled with business people. We went to see our first movie in a year in a wonderful, air conditioned theatre. On another day nine of us left to go to the zoo; however, it started pouring rain, so we decided to go to the Asian Civilizations Museum instead. It was quite interesting, and there was a special exhibit on Sumatra that we really enjoyed.

By the 23rd Steve was feeling very poorly. His intestinal bug that he had in Belitung returned, and it really laid him low. He went to see a doctor, who ran a test to find out exactly what it was. We should have the results in less than a week; however, the doctor told Steve to begin the medicine for Giardia right away. Two days later Steve had a cold that has been going around all the cruisers, so we are taking it easy and keeping a low profile for now. We have not heard anything on his wallet, so we assume that is a total loss, which creates hassles since we are so far from home. The good news is that we can go to the pool and relax where it is nice and cool.

Yesterday we received our brand new dinghy, and it is so pretty that we have decided to just leave it on the deck and not use it. It was hard to put the old one in the trash bin, but its time had come. It did, however, give us six years of excellent service.

Today we decided to go to Chinatown for lunch and to do some shopping. It was quite a place, and we did find some interesting things.

We will leave tomorrow, October 29, and motor the 36 miles to Danga Bay Marina. We have a slip reserved at this brand new marina, and it is where the cruisers are all waiting to begin the Sail Malaysia Rally the first week of November.

Belitung Island and Crossing the Equator

October 16, 2010—The past ten days have been a swirl of activity. The day after we arrived at Belitung, we took care of getting fuel. Steve took our jerry jugs ashore and watched with interest as the diesel was siphoned from a 55-gallon drum into a large open pan and then transferred to the jerry jug using a one-liter ladle. It took awhile to fill our four jugs.

The next day we went into the town of Tanjungpandan to use the Internet and buy some groceries. It was Sunday, so the Internet spot was packed with kids all playing video games with the volumes turned all the way up. I wanted to upload the last blog, as well as some pictures, and it took all my concentration to get that done. All around me I could hear “Fire in the hole” followed by explosions. What an experience.

We had a fast lunch at KFC, which included a delightful chocolate sundae, and then picked up our groceries—important things such as Oreos and Ritz crackers. Now it was time to catch the bus back to the anchorage.

Steve was not feeling well the next day, so I went on an all-day tour with the Rally. We drove over to the East Province of Belitung where we stopped at a museum. It was a very small and sparsely filled building, but it was interesting. The best thing was the school across the street. Janet, Marilyn, and I walked across the street to say hello to the kids. You would have thought that we were rock stars. They all began yelling and waving, and they wanted to shake our hands. The teachers joined right in and even asked to have their pictures taken with us. It was the most amazing experience we have had.

From there we made a quick stop at a dam and then went to the Regent’s for an excellent luncheon. The building was quite old but well maintained and ornately decorated. From there we went to Panai Beach for more traditional dancing. On our way back to the anchorage we stopped in a town renowned for its coffee and had some time to shop. Marilyn and I were stopped by some local women to have our picture taken with them when all of a sudden another woman appeared and handed me her baby boy so that he would be in a photo as well. Another wonderful experience!

Our last stop was the Kwan Im Temple, which is a Buddhist temple overlooking the ocean, and it was very interesting. By now it was getting quite late so we all climbed in our vans and headed back. It was 6:30 before we arrived at the beach, and we were all very tired. It was a long but interesting day.

Steve stayed on the boat the next day since he was still suffering from Montezuma’s Revenge. Dave, Marilyn, and I decided to take a bicycle ride on vintage 1950s bicycles, and as we rode along the street, we were greeted all along our way with waves and “hello mister.” We rode quite a distance and then stopped to have a cold drink, but there was no ice available so we just got a warm drink. We drank our sodas and spent some time talking with an elderly local who stopped to chat with us. We stopped on our way back to pick up some vegetables and eggs and then returned to the anchorage very hot and tired but happy with our excursion.

By now Steve was still feeling ill, so we went ashore and went to the medical clinic that had been set up. No one spoke English so one man went to get a guide to translate for us. After he arrived, we got the information across, and the people got busy gathering several drugs for Steve to take. We thanked them and started to pay, but they told us that there was no charge. We think that he picked up Giardia, and the one of the drugs that they gave him was for that.

October 13 was the last day of the Indonesia Rally. We had to do a few things to prepare the boat to leave the next day, but we took it pretty easy during the day. Luckily, Steve was beginning to feel better. At 6:30 we went ashore for the Farewell Party. There was live music and some local dancers. The dancers came over to our seats with a brass box. Inside were some leaves and spices. They instructed me to take a leaf and then put a pinch of three spices on it. I then was to roll it up and taste it. I have to say it was very bitter and not good at all. After a minute or two my mouth was numb and the bitter taste was still there. Local fare can be so interesting.

It was now time for us to eat. There must have been ten tables, all of which had different dishes laid out for us. The food that we tried was excellent, and Steve was able to eat most of it. Dinner was followed with speeches by the local government representatives. It was getting late, and we had to leave early in the morning, so we snuck out and headed back to the boat, where we loaded the dinghy and went to bed. We found out later that we only missed more speeches.

Belitung was lovely because of the white sandy beach named Tanjung Kelayang. It felt as though we were walking on powdered sugar. Also, there were some very interesting rock formations on two of the surrounding islands, which we visited twice. One of these formations had a passage through the rocks, and we drove through it several times one day. Steve began to sing “It’s a Small World” as we were going through the last time. The people here were friendly and welcoming, which is what we have found all across Indonesia. It has been well worth the time and effort to see this country.

Now it was time to leave for Batam Island. We pulled anchor at 5:30 a.m. on October 14 and motored out of the anchorage and for the rest of the trip because of very light winds, but we did have a current helping us along. We had the usual fishing boats through the night, as well as a lightning storm to the west of us. Luckily, it never came close, and we had no big winds from it.

On October 15 we continued to motor with calm seas and a good current. This was a special day because we would cross the equator for the second time. On our Pacific crossing we arrived at the equator at night. This time we arrived right at sunset so we took pictures of us on the boat with the sunset behind us. Right after that we reached the equator, where we stopped and each of us swam around the boat. We then gave King Neptune the obligatory shot of rum and toasted each other with a shot of Damiano, which we have been carrying since 2007. After that we happily continued on our way.

The next morning we were entering Riau Strait, which was filled with commercial shipping. It was interesting trying to figure out all the lights on the ships to determine their direction. The AIS system really helped to figure out which ships presented a danger to us. Luckily, only a short time after we entered the strait, it was dawn, and the light really helped us to see the situation more clearly. We entered the Singapore Straits for a short time and then went through the breakwater to Nongsa Marina on Batam Island.

The marina is very nice with very few boats. A pool, a laundry, and a restaurant make it a nice place to rest for a couple of days. The evening that we arrived we invited Tin Soldier over for some champagne to celebrate crossing the equator, as well as our trip together through Indonesia. We spent a lovely evening together sharing some of our favorite moments of the rally. Next stop is Singapore!

Kalimantan Orangutan Tour

October 9, 2010—We, along with Tin Soldier and Baraka, arrived at the Kumi River at dawn on September 30. We proceeded carefully up the river following behind a ferry and a tug towing a barge. We were able to safely pass the tug and barge and motored 10 miles to the anchorage just across the river from the town of Kumai.

The next day we were busy working on the boat and meeting with Harry of Borneo Holidays to plan our three-day trip up the river to see the Orangutans at Tanjung Puting National Park. Nine of us would be together on one klotok or boat, which included Tin Soldier, Baraka, Air Stream, and us. We packed our bags and got the boat secured for our absence.

At 8:30 a.m. on October 2, Harry dropped off our boat boy, who would be staying on the boat to watch it and do some stainless polishing for us, and then he dropped us off on our boat named Dolphin. We would be sleeping and eating on the upper deck of the boat, while the crew stayed on the lower deck.

We enjoyed a relaxing ride up the river and did see one Orangutan and a macaque monkey on the trip. We arrived at the park in time to change and go ashore for the 2 p.m. feeding. There was a long, elevated wooden walkway from where the boats tie up to where Camp Leakey is located. Camp Leakey, the primary site, was established in 1971when Canadian researcher Biruté Galdikas began taking in rescued orangutans with the assistance of the Leakey Foundation, the U.S. philanthropic foundation.

We were half way there when a female Orangutan named Swisi was sitting in the middle of the walk and would not move. One by one we made our way past her, but when Janet went past, Swisi grabbed her arm and stopped her. She had a captive audience for about five minutes before letting her go. The next captive was Steve. Swisi grabbed his leg and proceeded to unzip his pockets and leg zippers in order to look for food. When Steve tried to pull away, her grip got stronger but not painful. Finally, Steve was able to extricate himself from her grasp, and then the rest of us made it by Swisi without any problems.

Our next thrill was seeing a Gibbon monkey up close. He was hanging down from a tree and was entertaining the tourists while eating bananas. They have a very interesting looking face, and it was great fun to watch him for awhile.

We proceeded to the viewing platform and took our seats on one of the benches. There were several females, some with infants, sitting on the platform eating bananas. We did not have to wait for very long before the “King” appeared. Tom is a 25-year-old male who is the dominant or alpha male. He is very large, very powerful, and just amazing to watch. He went up to the platform, sat down, and began to eat bananas. The females who were on the platform took to the trees to keep a safe distance from him. He spent about 10 minutes eating and then took to the trees and vines and put on a spectacular show for us. He would hang by all fours and just look at the group, and it was amazing how unsettling his stare was. He entertained us for a good 30 minutes before he took off after one of the females, who started screaming and climbed as high as she could to the small branches that would not hold Tom’s weight. We were told by our guides that Tom can be quite a bully.

By now it was 3:30 and time to return to the klotok as we were all tired but thrilled at the day’s events. We had just set out some chips and peanuts when suddenly Pan, a male and son of Princess, came aboard the boat, climbed to the top deck, and swiped the chips from the table. He then ran off the boat and climbed a tree where he sat eating the chips with great pleasure.

That evening we enjoyed a delicious dinner and several hours of just relaxing. The crew then put down our mattresses with mosquito netting, and we all prepared to crash. It was only 8:30; however, we had put in a long, full day and were all very tired.

The second day we ate breakfast and then went ashore to visit the Information Center, where we watched a wonderful documentary on Kusasi, who was the previous alpha male. He was orphaned at two, rescued and taken to Camp Leakey, ran away to the jungle and survived without a mother for

18 months. He then returned to the camp for several years, which is when Dr. Galdikas was able to study him. He left the camp as a young adult male and became the alpha male at 25 years of age. Tom then became the alpha male about eight years ago after winning a fight with Kusasi. The guides at the camp are not sure if Kusasi is still alive or not because no one has seen him recently.

The guys went for a two-hour trek while the ladies took a shorter walk around the grounds. We then wentback to the boat for a rousing game of Scrabble. The guys soon returned, and Steve showed me a leech thatwas trying to burrow through his sock to get to his skin. The leech looked like a small earth worm—about an inch long and very thin because it was not gorged with blood. He picked it off and disposed of it quickly. Steve told me that on the trek they had encountered Princess, a 35-year-old female, and he was able to actually hold her hand for awhile. He thought that it was an amazing experience and was thrilled by it.

We just had time for a delicious lunch before it was time to go back to the 2 p.m. feeding. On the way I was met by Percy, who is Princess’s son. He took hold of my little finger so I stood quietly for a moment, but when he tried to grab me to pull me closer, I decided that it was time to leave.

At this feeding Tom appeared from behind the viewing benches so we all had to scatter in order to clear his path. He just sauntered up to the platform, sat eating his bananas for about ten minutes, and then left. We were so glad that we had seen him the day before because this appearance was not nearly as good. We watched the females and infants for awhile and then headed back to the boat.We returned to the dock walkway to find Peta, a female with her infant, standing to the side but hissing and swiping at people as they walked by. We waited for a minute and then each of us quickly made our way past her. At the head of the dock, Pan was once again lounging close to the boat boys who were sitting under the gazebo. He was so relaxed that it was funny.

Once again we set out our snacks but this time we kept an eye on Pan. He didn’t try to come on board that day. We let go the mooring lines and motored downstream a short distance where we tied up for the night, and then we enjoyed another delicious meal. It was another early night, but most of us did not sleep well because it rained heavily almost all night.

The next morning we went to visit the local village on the river. Unfortuna

tely, because of the rain the village was flooded. Luckily, most of the homes were built on platforms, so they were not flooded inside, but most of the walkways were under water.

Our last stop was at another camp with a feeding platform for Orangutans that were a bit wilder. We ha

d to walk on a wooden walkway that was under water to a home and then get into a canoe that was pushed by our guide to dry land about 500 feet away. From there we walked to the platform and

watched the Orangutans come quickly down from the trees in order to stuff as many bananas into their mouths as possible and then run back up to the safety of the trees. It was very interesting but nothing compared to watching Tom on our first day.

There was one more feeding station; however, the mosquitoes were supposed to be quite bad there, and we decided that we were very happy with what we had seen so we skipped it. We decided to just take a leisurely boat ride back to the anchorage so that we could relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery of this beautiful and interesting land.

We arrived back at the boat around 4:30 and were thrilled to see that the work our boat boy had done was excellent. The stainless looked fantastic so it was well worth the 210,000 rupia that we paid him. We quickly unpacked and then downloaded our 100 or so pictures.

The last day in Kumai we were taken to a memorial in Pangkalan Bun, a large city a few miles from Kumai, where we helped to plant trees in a reforestation effort. From there we went to a soccer stadium to attend a local festival. There was the usual dancing, but we were also treated to a soccer game that was played with a burning coconut instead of a soccer ball. Now those were real men! There was also top spinning, and I tried out my aim with a blow dart gun. It was really interesting and fun, and the locals welcomed us very warmly.

Our lunch was with the Regent of Kotawaringin Barat Regency and was held at a local restaurant. The buffet food was good, and singers and dancers entertained us. After lunch we were taken downtown so that we could do some souvenir shopping. When we returned to the boat at four

o’clock, I was exhausted. Steve had stayed on the boat because of a stomach ailment, but it had been a very long day for me. I collected my laundry from Harry and then began preparing the boat to leave the next morning.

Our passage from Kumi to Belitung got off to a rocky start. We headed back down the river following the same course as when we arrived. We were doing fine until the last turn in the river where a tug and barge, as well as a freighter, were coming up the river. We moved to the right to give them plenty of room and were okay until the freighter decided to pass the tug. This put him between the tug and us and forced us closer to the shore. I was watching the depth meter and saw it start to shallow quickly. The next thing we knew we were aground. We immediately dropped the main sail because the wind was blowing us up on the shoal, and then we used the engine to try to push us off. Luckily, the waves actually helped to rock the boat so after a few minutes, we broke free and were off. As the freighter passed us, all the guys were waving and yelling, “Hello” to us. A few minutes later, the freighter was aground on the same shoal and the tide was falling. It appeared that it would be there for awhile.

Our trip took three days and was challenging because of squalls, fishing fleets, and commercial cargo ships. At dawn one morning I was on watch and was trying to weave through about five fishing boats. Not until the last minute did I see a line of floats attached to a drift net. I immediately put the engine in neutral and coasted over the net. Not five minutes later I went over another net. Our keel design makes it easy for us to pass over the nets without catching them on the propeller so we were lucky.

Next we started to receive AIS alerts from commercial ships. We had two coming from starboard and two from port. The fifth alert was from a vessel coming towards us. Our closest point of approach was very slim on several of these ships, so we had to time our direction and speed to cross the shipping lane without getting too close to one of them. We spent an hour dodging these ships before we were safely across.

The last night out was difficult because of all the small fishing vessels, but we made it though and arrived at Belitung in the early morning. The anchorage is large and shallow so we had no trouble anchoring. We settled in, straightened up the boat, and then slept for several hours. Now we will prepare to attend the last events on this rally. Three months have gone by very quickly.

Around Bali

September 30, 2010-We left on September 20 and headed to Lovina Beach on the island of Bali. We had light winds but made decent time for awhile. In the early afternoon, the winds died down to about 8 knots so we decided to put up the spinnaker along with our jib so we were able to move along at a nice 7 knots. This was the first time that we have flown both the spinnaker and the jib, wing on wing, and we were very pleased at the performance.

We arrived at Lovina Beach and made our way through the channel in the reef to find a nice spot in 30 feet of water with good holding. We got the boat all put away and then decided to go to shore for dinner. It was Steve's birthday so the crews from Tin Soldier, Scarlett, Pó oino Roa, Baraka, and Airstream all joined us to help him celebrate. The band even sang "Happy Birthday" to him. We had a great time and an excellent meal.

The next day we joined Chay, Katie, and Jamie from Esprit for a drive down south to Despensar to shop at the Carfour grocery store. We drove up steep, winding roads to the ridge, and then descended into a valley. Along the way we enjoyed the lovely scenery with all the terraced rice paddies. In one small town we enjoyed seeing all the traffic, which were almost all horse-drawn carts and motorcycles. We arrived in Despensar where we stopped at a dive shop and Ace Hardware. At the mall we purchased a new camera to replace the one that we lost, and we then we ate lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken. Next we took care of our grocery shopping and grabbed an ice cream sundae before leaving.

The drive back was by a slightly different route that proved to be just as lovely. This island is quite green and beautiful, and many crops are grown in the central valley. Most Balinese are Hindu so we saw many temples on our drive. There was also the usual monkey forest where one could see more monkeys, but we declined this time.

On the 22nd we spent the day taking care of government paperwork and patching our dinghy. In the evening we attended the welcome ceremony and were treated to some wonderful Balinese dancing. One dance by a beautiful young woman in a stunning costume included picking men from the audience to dance with her. Steve was chosen once again and put on quite a show for the audience. He was a very good sport. About six men danced with her including one young local man. There were three dances in all, and the costumes were amazingly beautiful and colorful. After the entertainment we walked to the Sea Breeze Restaurant for a buffet dinner, which was quite good, and we enjoyed the music that was played for us.

On September 23 we left on a road trip with Esprit and Tin Soldier. We decided to go to Ubud, which is an artist and handicraft town in the south central part of Bali. Our first stop was at a beautiful temple called Obyek Wisata "Ulun Danu" at the edge of a lake. We walked around the peaceful grounds, and we had a chance to watch men making a new roof for one of the buildings. One type of palm tree on the island has a thin, black fiber that grows around its trunk. These fibers are layered to create a thick roof for the temple buildings. Next we stopped at a coffee plantation where we sampled Mongoose coffee, which is made from coffee beans eaten by the mongoose. The beans are then recovered from the poop of the mongoose, washed three times with boiling water, and then roasted. The coffee was good but very expensive. One taste was good enough for us.

We arrived in Ubud around noon and checked into Sama's Cottages, which is a quaint place with small cottages and a lovely pool. We walked into town and enjoyed lunch at the Lotus Café. After lunch we walked to the central market, which was huge. Everything you can imagine was sold there, and it was a maze of isles and shops stacked to the ceilings with goods. I bought another hand fan and some small wooden spoons. The vendors are open to bargaining, so I usually paid about half the asking price. It then began to rain, so we decided to return to our cottage. That night we decided to eat at Miro's Restaurant because it was still raining and the restaurant was very close by.

The next day we went with Tin Soldier to the Monkey Forest on Monkey Forest Road. We hired a taxi driver named Yomen, who turned out to be very funny and helpful, and he waited while we went through the forest. We bought some bananas to feed the monkeys and entered the park, where we were immediately set upon by the monkeys because they could smell the bananas in our pockets. Steve decided right away to ditch the bananas, but Glen held on to quite a few. One monkey jumped on Glen's back trying to get into his pockets to get the bananas and actually got quite aggressive. Glen then decided to hand out his remaining bananas, and from that time on we just enjoyed the scenery and watched the monkeys carrying on. It was very entertaining and a nice way to spend an hour.

From the Monkey Forest we drove to a weaving shop where we purchased some nice pieces for back home. We then had Yomen drop us off back at the market so that we could walk through it again. Steve and I left after a short time and found the Mumbul Restaurant where we could have lunch, and Tin Soldier soon joined us. Steve ordered pumpkin bisque, which was exceptional and chicken curry. I enjoyed a lovely chicken avocado salad.

We returned to the cottages and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the pool. For dinner we decided to return to the same restaurant because the food had been so exceptional. This time Steve had fish curry, and I ordered a tuna steak, both of which were excellent.

At 10 o'clock the next morning our drivers picked us up at Sama's, and we drove back to Lovina Beach by a different route. This trip took us to the very large Tuluk Biyu Batur Temple in Kintamani. Before we could enter the temple, we had to rent a sarong with a tie sash so that we would be appropriately dressed. We were very lucky because It was a special day in the Hindu faith so the temple was decorated with brightly colored flags and banners. The locals were all bringing offerings of food such as whole roasted pig, fruit, rice, etc. It was quite interesting to watch them make their offerings and then sit down to say prayers.

After the temple we ate lunch at a restaurant that overlooks two of the volcanoes on Bali. Mount Batur was spectacular, and we could see where the last eruption had blown part of the cone away. The larger Mount Abane was hidden in the clouds. We all decided that we were now ready to return to Lovina Beach so that we would have enough time to stop at the local Carfour grocery store for some last minute items, which just happened to include ice cream.

In the evening we went ashore once more for more dancing. After the dancing we returned to the Sea Breeze Restaurant for the Regent's dinner, where there was the usual speech and buffet dinner, but it was a lovely evening, and we had a very good time.

Our last day in Bali was a busy one. We enjoyed lunch with Scarlett O'Hara and then took care of posting a blog. About five boats got together at Tropis Restaurant for dinner and then walked to J.B.'s to enjoy a dessert of Death by Chocolate. What a way to end the day.

We left for Kumi the next morning. The passage was mainly motoring because of very light winds. It was a challenge with all the fishing boats, cargo ships, and tugs pulling barges. We arrived in Kumi on Kalimantan on the 30th after a three-day passage. I will write about our adventures in Kalimantan in the next blog.

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