Final Voyage: My Last Leg

I arrived back onboard as people were still in their morning meditations, finishing deck yoga, and others were waiting by the coffee pot for the last REAL coffee before the voyage.  We were supposed to leave at 11 AM, but during morning meeting we pushed the time back 4 PM.  After shipshaping the galley, the deck, Bosuns, and my bunk, I had some time to call my mom for her birthday and change my flight from Singapore to the UAE; two important tasks I had been putting off. 

We finally set sail and began our journey around the west coast of Bali, towards the narrow straight with a 6 knot current protecting Bali from Java.  I was exhausted from my evening with mason and Stefanie, but I did my best to force myself to stay awake and see as much of the Balinese coast as I could during the daylight.   

My first official shift began at midnight (0000 to 0400): Sailing from Benoa, off the west coast of Southern Bali, we were hit by several squalls accompanied by unrelenting rain.  When I was at the helm, I was completely soaked through, and when inside, I was constantly mopping up leaks, moving buckets, and trying not to be surprised when another spot started dripping.  At the helm, I motored us through complete darkness, rolling fog, and unknown sea.  The only time I could actually see the weather all around the ship was when the blinding lightening turned everything white, burning the shape of the bolt in my line of sight.  Alone in the rain, cold and wet, I sang to the constant bass sound of the humming engine and the splashing percussion of the falling rain.  The only interruption was the deafening claps and booms of thunder telling me we were only getting closer to the storm.

I woke up around sunrise, just as we were entering the narrowest part of the channel.  Rounding the furthest north-western tip of Bali, we turned down and made our approach on Menjangan.  Off the coast of Menjangan near the Ganesha Temple we dropped our final Blue Marble, completing the journey from Malta to Menjangan.  Everyone was excited to see the island we would be diving off of for the next two months and anxious to get to the bay and set our anchor.  As Laser and Carol sped off in the Zodiac to check the entrance of the bay and mentally prepare Mir’s navigation route, a Brutus whale breached along side of our ship; it was a sign to Gaie that we were home!

Inside the bay, it took us three attempts to drop our anchor in the right spot.  The first time we let it out over 300 ft, which then had to be completely pulled in so we could move to another spot.  The anchor has to be manually winched up, which is quite a lot of work (it didn’t help that I was still feeling my night out with Mason and Stefanie).  By the time we finally set our anchor in a place we were happy with, we had winched in around 600 ft of anchor chain…a great endurance workout!  Again we were quarantined to the ship while we checked in with the local marine police, who kept visiting us, showing off their machine guns.  The police were looking for any reason to tax us, which is incredible since they had a huge stack of papers in front of them showing that we had cleared into Jakarta, the capital, and Benoa.  Everyone is out for their own interests! A weight was finally lifted when we were officially at Menjangan, anchored in the bay out of harms way.

Spring Break 2011: Bali Edition

Mason and Stefanie arrived at the Marina after dark during a downpour.  They had their huge backpacks and had just paid more than double the standard fare for a cab from the airport.  We decided not to tour Mir since it was very wet and dark, so we headed out to the famous Kuta Beach.  Our driver kindly took us to his friend’s hotel located at the end of numerous twisting alleys off of the main road across from the beach.  Free of our bags, the three of us went in search of a Balinese meal.  Per the advice of Prita, I introduced Mason and Stefanie to Gado-Gado and Nasi Goreng; boiled vegetables and tofu with peanut sauce served cold and Indonesian fried rice.  The dishes were an instant hit…delicious food!  Kuta Beach is full of brand name shops and is known by the locals as a place to find drunken Aussies fighting outside of bars and clubs.  We walked around the streets in the rain for a bit dodging umbrella sellers and hurdling offerings placed in front of each shop.  The general feel of Kuta is very similar to the small shopping districts in Hawaii, surf shop after surf shop, billabong followed by quicksilver followed by yet another billabong.  The night didn’t provide any of us with much sleep, Mason and Stef struggled in the very small beds, and I kept waking up shivering and dizzy.  My first night in 2 months with air conditioning and back on dry land after a rough sail from Jakarta…the entire night I felt like I was rocking.  Our first day together, we spent the morning on Kuta beach; luckily we arrived after the daily beach clean up.  I later learned that every morning the locals clean a layer of trash off of the beach to ensure that the tourists keep coming back.  The water was dark and full of floating trash, but against better judgment, the three of us went body surfing.  There was very poor visibility in the water and we kept getting plastic bags and noodle packs stuck on our legs and chests.  We were able to catch a few good waves and watched as beginning surfers kept wiping out.  At noon we headed over to Sanur, which is less commercialized, and in my opinion a much better scene.  The shops were smaller and more local, the streets were dirty, the beach was clean, and the water was crystal clear.  We found a nice home stay and headed out for the beach.  At the edge of the beach, we got dragged into the Sanur Beach Market where everyone was very friendly and offering a good price since it was a slow day.  I was looking at artwork and wood carvings, Stef was looking through sarongs, and Mason was getting a free sample massage.  We finally made it to the beach and enjoyed the crystal clear waters.  We found many fish and crabs and starfish, enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the neighboring islands, and got a beach massage (which was quite poor for $5 each!).  We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening walking around looking at shops, wandering down local streets, and searching for a market.  We had a great meal consisting of various Indonesian dishes, except for the potato fritter that I specially ordered which turned out to be French fries.  We found a reggae bar and enjoyed mangosteens (quite possibly the best fruit on the planet) and a taste of arak, the local home brewed alcohol (nothing like vodka despite what the locals say).  We quickly discovered that the Reggae was a tribute to Bob Marley, and although they played a few songs more than once, they had great energy and provided a nice environment for the three of us to catch up.  After closing, we made our way to the next live music bar, enjoyed 2 for 1 fruity cocktails, several games of pool, the company of guys from Holland on holiday, and a rather humorous band; they sat in a row on benches and couldn’t really get the English words quite right.

It was a great evening, awesome to catch up with Mason and Stefanie and to hear about their experiences, but in the morning I was off early…had to catch my ship bound for Menjangan.  We said our goodbyes and planned to hopefully meet again in the north.

Balinese Preparations

We had meeting lined up for the following two days.  The first was with some Australian scientists who have been conducting studies in the same area.  We were advised on methodology, all of which sounded very familiar to my ecology lab days at Kenyon.  We also met with some locals to help organize public outreach and reef awareness.  Again getting ideas on how to approach the locals and the issues at hand.  We refueled for the 2 months in Menjangan, and caught up with some old friends who live on Bali.  The conversation I was listening to covered so many topics, from global economics, to conspiracy theories, to the amazing power of the brain.  It was an amazing discussion conducted by some very intellectual and interesting characters.  It brought me back to the glowing dolphins…same kind of mental state!  I met a guy who has been living in Bali for a few years, he sailed out from California.  Very excited to see our large steel ship!  I discovered that he lived in Colorado for two years and attended Cherry Creek for a year, AND played Kent in Lacrosse!  What a Small World.  I have finally made my plans for Bali and the end of the trip, which is getting harder and harder to say good bye to after meeting all of these phenomenal people and hearing about the projects to come.  I will stay aboard Mir until April 4, primarily helping as a boat crew for the research team; driving the zodiac to dive sites, filling dive bottles, and cooking.  Afterwards, I will spend a few days travelling through Bali, back to Denpasar and fly home to Abu Dhabi via Singapore.

Tonight a new adventure begins as my long lost friends arrive in Bali.  Mason and Stefanie are due in a few hours!!!!  Its crazy how things work out!  1 year ago I was with a group of friends in Daytona, now in BALI!!!!

I hope everyone back home is doing great, its been amazing to get email from people and hear about your lives!  Soon I will be back in touch with reality…teaching sailing in the Arabian Gulf!