Pelan Pelan: Trouble on the Horizon

I took over the helm at the beginning of my last night shift.  The stars began disappearing, the sky was getting darker.  All of a sudden a squall hit bringing with it 5 force winds, 15 minutes of complete darkness, and a down pour.  In a matter of minutes, the bow of the boat was out of sight and I was soaked to the bone.  As soon as it had passed, I was brought a rain coat…so thoughtful.  The remaining two and half hours the sky began clearing up and I was again able to set my course to the Southern Cross.  I sat at the helm watching a huge lightening storm move from stern to bow a few miles off our starboard side.  As we continued onward, the stars again disappeared and we were submerged in darkness.  We prepared on deck waiting for the storm and another squall; there were blankets of rain falling all around us, but we managed to remain dry.  Visibility continued to get worse and worse, then the winds picked up and the rain finally hit.  My shift had ended, so I got to relax to the sound of the rain, the rocking waves from the squall, and the gentle hum of the engine.

In the morning, I emerged from the cabin to find the sea a dark color, almost brown…Welcome to Jakarta!!  At 10:15 we caught our first glimpse of the city on the horizon, many sky scrappers.  As we moved closer the entire coast line became visible, many tall buildings (urbanized) and dark water (pollution); very different side of Indonesia, not at all like the islands we passed on our voyage.  Dhany saw dolphins.

We neared the shore and tried to figure out where Batavia Marina was located.  There are many shipwrecks off the coast, it is very shallow, so navigation was rather treacherous.  We finally were able to make contact with the marina over the walky-talkies and they sent a boat to lead us in.  As we got closer and closer, it seemed more and more unlikely that we could make it into the marina.  The water was getting shallower, reading only 5 feet on our depth sound, and the current and wind were strong; we tried to abort, and while we turned around we got stuck in the mud and began drifting towards the rocky wharf.  The marina boat had to assist us in safely getting out, but there was a period that we were all on high alert and a bit nervous.  We anchored off of the coast and were eventually met by customs and immigration.  For the time being, we were quarantined to our ship.  We later learned that Batavia Marina decorates their club house with bits and scraps from shipwrecks!

We spent the evening on alert, at one point a squall hit beating us with rain, wind, and waves.  Carol, Satyavan, Jasmina, and I were the only ones onboard; we had to deal with the dragging anchor, maneuvering the ship, and staying calm.  We were scrambling to ship shape the galley, start the engine and keep in line with our anchor.  I was at the helm and Carol was orchestrating our successful bout of excitement.  Gaie and Laser arrived back onboard as the squall was dying down.  Exhausted, we all sat down to meet to go over shifts.  Each person was responsible for a 1:15 shift during the night to keep an eye on the anchor and be sure we weren’t raided by looters.  We were all eagerly anticipating the 6:30 wake up call, meaning we would get into the marina and have access to homemade ice cream, the fish market, massage parlors, and be able to see an admiral party containing 500 members of various Asian navies.

Woke up to the smell of Crepes with Mister Choc, oatmeal, and REAL coffee (first time in a week!).  The first step was getting the small boat in the water, but we discovered that rig setup had been dismantled and the largest shackle had been used on the anchor.  We were forced to adapt and now had to rely on the main halyard to raise the boat.  It was a lot of work to lift it high enough to clear the side rail.  I was warned to back away as I slowly-slowly released the break; after a gentle nudge on the break, the boat dropped to the water.  We were frantically rushing around, and in all of the confusion, the safety boat had gotten untied.  We caught it before it could get away, and decided to take a breather; we also then realized our clocks were still on Singapore time, and we were actually right on schedule.  Mir was finally able to make it past the break water and into the marina.  There was a strong current and substantial wind (and poor communication with the people on the dock), so after 3 attempts, we executed an emergency docking at a very small dock.  We decided to take the opportunity to make the repairs we needed, since we were still unsure of our stay in Jakarta due to all of the politics and whether or not we could continue our trip.  I hoisted Laser up the mast and we discovered that a steel eye had snapped open; the hazards of old rigging! 

The Batavia marina has beautiful décor, it looks like an industrial mill on the outside, with an external glass elevator connecting the 4 or 5 floors.  All of the windows are multicolored, and the entire building façade is composed with great symmetry.  The interior is decorated with elements from old ships and drift wood statues.  The bathroom had a sky mural, and HOT showers!

We were invited out to lunch by a local family, friends of Dhany, and they took us to a restaurant with traditional North Sumatra cuisine.  We sat around a large table which the staff proceeded to cover in two layers of little plates.  Each plate contained a different dish; Large fish eggs, many different beef and chicken dishes, a ganja pepper sauce, whole small birds, dragon balls, and a cool cucumber drink.  Although I had no idea what I was trying, the majority of it was delicious!  After 3 servings of the ganja pepper dish we were all feeling a full body high, very relaxed, and giggly.  Fortunately, we were able to rest before moving the ship to a special mooring they set up inside the marina.  A coral reef specialist, Phil Dustin, arrived from the University of Charleston.  We had a quiet evening, learning about our new shipmate, and enjoying Rum and Cake.  We had finally arrived in Jarkata!