The Jakarta Offshore Sailing Club

Cruise Reports Thousand Islands

• Christmas Cruise Dec 2000 by Thierry Powis on Terus
• Idul Fitri Cruise 1997 on Mata Hari II

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Thousand Islands 25 - 31 Dec 2000 Thierry Powis on Terus

The month of December between Christmas and New-year is usually not the best period to visit  the Thousand Islands as  you could expect  a lot of rain with strong north-western winds.  Previous attempts to go to the Thousand Islands in 98 and 99 were aborted due to the reasons mentioned above. Genevieve was not so much enthusiastic about my idea to try it again in 2000. Nevertheless I decided that we should not give up. The day before our planned departure things were not looking that great,  the wind was heavy but no rain. Fortunately when we looked on the Singaporean weather Website things looked much better for the following day . Winds were going to be moderate and the sky clear of clouds. It looked like there was a window of opportunity coming up the day we planned to leave.  I was mostly concerned by the weather for the leg towards the Thousand Island. Going back was probably not too much of my concerns as we could expect winds pushing us.

On Christmas day we started our trip to the Thousand Island happy to leave Jakarta with his bomb attacks etc…. The wind speed and direction was in line with the forecast and we moved in a comfortable way but rather slowly towards our destination. Around 3pm we started the engine on, as we wanted to arrive before dawn. The target was the Island of  Bulat , it is a small privately owned island that we know had a nice pier. Two years ago on our first trip to the Thousand Island we thought we had reached Australia, as we were greeted at that time by a Kangaroo. Unfortunately the residents of the island informed us that  the kangaroo had died.  We docked Terus on the south pier and enjoyed a beautiful dawn.. As the tide was lowering one fisherman took a canoe and caught a few sea cucumbers  that were destined for the Japanese community. Everything looked perfect until the mosquito’s decided that it was feeding time.  There were likely as many mosquitoes as stars (it was new moon). The night was horrible and we spend more time trying to kill the mosquitoes than to sleep. So for all purposes an insect repellent is a must if you want to go to the Thousand Islands.

Finally to sun went up again and the surviving mosquito’s joined their sleeping quarters (be reassured there are enough left if you wish to try). After the breakfast we raised the sails and moved towards Pulau Sebaru. This island is very likely one of the few that has not been altered to much by the people as it’s position very north of the Thousand Islands has made it less attractive. Many mangroves are surrounding the island and only a small resort is located on the West side. There are also a few local people who are living there. Strangely enough for such a low densely populated island with no reasons to visit we found on the southern part a big, freshly build, concrete pier. There was also some construction going along the pier and the local people had been told that it will become a restaurant. But in view of the size of the pier it is very likely that some other projects exist than just a restaurant and the people of the island are not well informed. The layout of the construction did also not correspond with that of a restaurant reinforcing our idea that the people of the island had no idea on what was really going to be built. We took our lunch and a cup of coffee and enjoyed the quietness. Some slight breeze relieved us from the heat and we hoped that this would not allow the mosquito’s to get the take off permission.  Early in the afternoon a noisy fisher boat came next to us and dropped a uniformed person on the island. The boatman showed us proudly a red plaque indicating that he was on an official mission. The uniformed man took pictures of the construction and then later disappeared on the island for a few hours. In view of the number of habitants on the island it is more likely that he had a nap instead of doing some work.. Amazing Indonesia even in the most remote areas the administration is always present. The driver of the boat aware that he will have some free time decided to go fishing.  He jumped into the water with a knife and a small floating net but did not seem to catch a lot. Curious I decided to look at what he was catching. In the net there was a white mass that I could not immediately identify.  Only a few minutes later did I see an empty shell of a freshly killed giant clam. The systematic destruction of the fauna was even more evident when we dived.  The whole submarine landscape was just  a  field of debris proof  that dynamite had been used extensively on this part of the island to remove all life.

The night was a delight, with the pier being  far away from the mainland  no mosquito’s seemed to have to courage to visit us. The sky was full of stars and we could see the lights of the  petroleum platforms. The only unexpected event that disturbed our sleep was a little rainfall that forced us to retreat inside the boat, but otherwise is was a very good night.

The trip of the day was planed and we decided to continue northwards.  At a speed around 5 knots we moved towards the far end of the Thousand Islands and turned around a petrol platform before heading south towards Ringit . While we dropped the anchor south of  Ringit  we were greeted by a dolphin. With a limited number of scuba tanks on board a first exploration by snorkel was conducted, as we did not want to waste our air on a dynamited places anymore.  Underneath Terus laid a wreck of a cement boat. Nothing was left of the boat except the regular pattern of the solidified cement bags but otherwise the place did not look that attractive so we decided to try our chance elsewhere and reached before dawn  Pulau Kelor Timur. What impressed us upon arrival were the brand new tires that surrounded the pier. When we asked the guardian of the island how come the tires were new he told us that the owner of the island controlled a tire factory. He also added that for the owner of the island times were hard as three of his banks were closed, but luckily Ibra had not taken control of his island.

Our biggest surprise came when we put our heads under water. The place was superb with beautiful corals and fishes. It was clearly one of the most beautiful places I dove so far and I was relieved to see that dynamite had not been used. We started to regret not having taken a compressor with us to refill the tanks.  We thus carefully planned the use of our tanks and managed to conduct three dives on this beautiful place and each of them we was a delight.   The mooring was nice and the people friendly so we decided to stay there for two nights.

On Thursday morning we had no precise plan where to go however we moved northward towards the island of P. Pantuk Timur and P. Pantuk Barat. Someone had indicated on our map that the island should be named “Japanese islands”. As we approached we saw clearly that the island was well used as a high-class resort. Many boats were present and there were a lot of activities so we decided to move towards quieter places and moved Eastwards towards Papa Theo. Papa Theo was quit desert despite the Christmas-New year period . The Pier is well constructed and allow any sailboat to come as it’s depth is more than adequate. Unfortunately the island had no restaurant so we left Papa Theo after a short visit and moved towards Pelangi. Contrary to Papa Theo Pelangi was full of activity, all bungalows were occupied. This island certainly offers one of the best places to dock the boat. It has a protected harbor and a dike so even with strong Northwestern wind the place is safe for your boat.. The depth is also excellent. Arriving at Pelangi we met friendly people who helped us to moor Terus next to the restaurant.  The restaurant of Pelangi is quit interesting as it is above the water and the pillars who support the restaurant form a cage in which several big fishes were swimming.  They are one of the attractions of the restaurant as many people enjoy feeding the fishes in the cage. Children clearly preferred to feed the fishes than to sit in the TV corner of the restaurant. We took our lunch and chatted with some tourists who were interested in the boat.

Later in the afternoon we left  Pelangi  towards Matahari. Wind had dropped and we moved at the pace of a snail. Once passed Matahari we decided to go back and anchor the boat next to P. Kuayangin.  Suddenly the depth alarm  went on.  We tacked immediately on the port side and looked at the map and  GPS, but we realized that the rocks we were approaching were not indicated on the map. The rocks were nearly invisible as at that time only a few centimeters emerged and I thought at the beginning that it was a trunk of a tree  that was floating. P. Kuayangin is  located northeast of  Bira Besar and is so   small that   only a few people can live on it. Most of them work on P.Bira and in the evening they  move from Bira Besar to Kuayangin by rowboat. One came along us and proposed to sell two coconuts for the price of 5.000rp per coconut, which we gladly purchased.  Early in the morning we were greeted by the same people as the night before but  now they rowed towards Bira to start their workday. We asked if they know where to buy some fish but they could not help us.

That morning the air was absolutely clear and we could see the mountains of Puncak as well as the end of Java (Merak) and the southern tip of Sumatra.  Incredible more than 100 km visibility giving us an unusual scenery.

Our nice week was nearing it’s end and it was now time to move towards Jakarta, but first we would  visit Peniki Island . Peniki is located 18 miles north of Damar   outside the normal route between the thousand island and Jakarta. We dropped our anchor at the southern  side of Peniki and jumped into crystal clear water  towards the island. The two guardians of the lighthouse greeted us and explained that they were on duty for periods of two weeks.  Peniki seemed to be the most quiets place on earth but this impression is misleading. On the Eastern side of the island we saw a lot of debris including some of big wooden boats indicating that the sea around Peniki is not always as quiet as we were enjoying. We continued to explore the island and realized that the radio beacon is no longer working but still in good condition. The solar tanks were empty and the generators were not working. On the southern side of the island there is a large beach and a large part was only submerged by a few inches of water. As we walked towards the boat we had to be careful as many stingrays were hidden in the sand. The only regret we had was that we had no more scuba tanks as this place looks an interesting place to dive especially the North-East side. Peniki will certainly be on our itinerary in the future.

Our last night was another enjoyable evening. There was no moon and we could see the beautiful sky with all its stars as well as the Milky Way.

The next morning we set sail for Jakarta. The wind was very quiet and we moved at a speed of 2 knots per hour hoping it will pick up later during the day. As usual the opposites happen and we had to use the engine.  Slowly the water became more and more filled with debris and the color changed gradually. Yes we had left the paradise and were approaching what certain people called civilization.  At 3pm we docked at PM and unloaded the boat, but for sure we are already planning our next trip.

Some references:

Idul Fitri Cruise 1997 on Mata Hari II

Ahhh... it seems like a long time ago. Lying on the deck of Mata Hari II, sipping a glass of wine, chewing on some cheese and biscuits and contemplating yet another swim. How could I forget it, we did exactly this for nights on 6 days. Of course, it was not all wine and cheese. There was ample beer and a couple of pretty wild fruit punches concocted by our more adventurous drinkers and some sailing to boot.

Mata Hari II and Anjuna left Tanjung Priok on Wednesday night at about 1Opm and motor-sailed North to Pulau Seribu. We arrived at Pulau Sepa at about 5am, anchored and had a few hours sleep before moving on to Pulau Panjang, our intended mooring place for the break. That morning we met with Inspiration and its intrepid skipper Horst Scholtz en route from Germany to Germany via the Indian and Pacific oceans. While Pulau Panjang is protected from all directions except the South West, Murphy was alive and well and made sure the wind blew from this direction, making Friday night very uncomfortable.

Two of JOSC’s fleet, Dia Tantri and Kersey had intended to do some more serious sailing over the break, both intending to sail to Sunda Straight. Dia Tantri in search of a serious sail and Kersey in search of her anchor lost over the Christmas break. However, the wind blew like hell out of the West the night they left and forced both to revise their destination. Dia Tantri arrived at Pulau Panjang late Friday night and Kersey on Saturday morning. When Mumba arrived later on Saturday, six boats comprised our flotilla.

Sunday, our most active day so far, saw part of the fleet, Mata Hari II, Anjuna, Dia Tantri and Mumba explore nearby Islands. We weaved our way through a channel to the south of Pulau Panjang making our way around Pulau Putri and headed north. At this stage most us were under sail and I decided it be nice to have a photograph of the fleet under sail. Jumping into Mata Hari's zodiac and roaring of into that distance to make such a photograph, I questioned not the zodiac's reliability. To my great embarrassment, Mata Hari had to come and rescue me as the beast died and couldn't be revived. We caught you with the fleet and enjoyed a pleasant sail and lunch while making our way across the islands leaving them to port as we made our way back to Pulau Panjang via Pulau Matahari. Sunday night was forgotten by most due to a lethal fruit punch.

Monday was another very pleasant in the northern part of Pulau Seribu for Mata Hari Anjuna and Mumba. We motored north to anchor near Pulau Hantu after winding our way through other islands and some narrow channels. We anchored and enjoyed lunch and a few beers after a bit of snorkeling and feeding the fish with of Angela's home made bread and cake baked on board Mata Hari II. While we were exploring the northern islands, Dia Tantri headed South exploring the islands closer to Java and discovering some interesting new anchorages.

Tuesday morning came around too fast for most of us aboard Mata Hari II. We departed Pulau Panjang at 4am to make our way back to Jakarta. Several of our crew had planes to catch in the afternoon. Anjuna and Mumba made there way back later in the day, after waving Inspiration good-bye on its way back to Germany via Lombok.

Needless to say work on Wednesday was a sad comparison to the pleasure of cruising. Thank goodness it was only a few more days to the ~ next sail - a Sunday race.