Across the Java Sea to Pulau Bawean Lat. 5 degrees 43.8' S Long. 112 degrees 40.2' E

Hi to all,
Well, we arrived at Bawean at 1100 this morning Central Indonesia Time (5 hours behind NZ). We left Pulau Ra-as yesterday morning and crept out of the tricky entrance following the electronic track we had left from the approach the day before. So, not as difficult as the arrival. Still, with all these things it's just a matter of a patient, slow approach coupled with the trusty Mark I eyeball! At least the water is reasonably clear so it is possible to see the shallow water and reefs.
While anchored at Ra-as we were hassled by local fishermen wanting to sell us some fish which were well dead and not even gutted. In these temperatures that was most unappealing! They wouldn't leave us alone until we gave them something so we found some children's and adult's clothing which seemed to satisfy them. They had wanted 100,000 Rph (NZD10.63) for each of these scungy fish. Jean did an act and said that fish made her sick, whereas in fact she loves fish. However, these could well have made us both sick - not to mention the possibility of Ciguatera poisoning. We are still trying to catch our own fish by trolling a lure but so far to no avail. There is a shortage of fish here now due to overfishing. There is also no doubt that Indonesians are not good at conservation. Apparently until recently they used dynamite to catch fish. The other thing that is also a real hazard are these fish aggregation devices we have mentioned before. They are devishly hard to see particularly in failing light. They must work though because the seas around here are littered with them.
We started off sailing in reasonable wind (309 true) but true to recent weather patterns which we do not pretend to understand the wind died to about 5 knots which is far too light for this old girl. So, motoring again. As we passed the NE tip of Pulau Madura it was startling to see the water depth suddenly down to 15-20 metres after all the eastern parts of Indonesia with 1000's of metres. At least anchoring won't be so difficult from here on. Most of the Java Sea is shallow with about 50-70 metres. Then, we saw what appeared to be islands on the northern horizon, but there was nothing on the chart! Then, as we got closer we realised that they were 3 massive barge loads of coal being pulled by powerful tugs. Each barge had 4 heaped up piles of coal and they were doing just over 4 knots. Only one was transmitting on AIS! Most of Indonesia's electric power is coal generated and all the coal comes from Kalimantan (Borneo). We surmised that this coal was headed to Surabaya which is a major port on the eastern end of Pulau Java. It was touch and go whether we could get past the westernmost tug so we increased the revs and scraped past. Otherwise we would have had to go around the back of the barge which would have been quite a detour as the tows were very long (at least 500 metres).
As we headed into evening darkness the wind freshened somewhat so we were able to sail but later it died again so for about 3 hours we just plodded on under sail and both got some sleep without the engine noise. However, the night was fraught with squid boats everywhere but fortunately well lit to attract the squid. We had the first of 2 close calls though when just after dark we were discussing unlit boats when there was a burst of light from just ahead. A quick disengagement of the autopilot and a 90 degree turn to port revealed a small otherwise unlit fishing boat with about 4 people on board all looking apprehensive as we bore down on them. Then, unbelievably once we were past and back on course feeling a bit shaken they turned their lights out again! We then turned on the radar but found it of dubious value in picking up small wooden boats - and it uses a lot of power when transmitting.
The rest of the night was spent dodging heaps of squid boats. Just as we thought we must have got through them more would start appearing above the horizon. We turned on our flashing strobe light for the rest of the night thinking that if there were any more unlit boats at least they would see us and maybe advertise their presence again! Then we had our second close call which was really scary. We saw a squid boat off to our starboard side and beyond that more lights which gradually resolved themselves into a ship. We could see its red navigation light which meant it was heading across our course. It did not appear on the AIS so we had no details of its position course and speed, other than what we could deduce from seeing it. We decided to take prudent action and turned to starboard so as to run down their port side port to port which is the correct thing to do. However, at the same time they must have seen us and turned to port not realising that we had already turned. Obviously they had intended to pass by our stern but had not communicated this to us in spite of us calling them on the VHF. Most of these coastal crews speak no English so they hardly ever reply. There we were seeing their red and green lights which meant that they were heading straight for us not at all far away. So, another snap decision was made and we turned back to port onto our original course and increased revs to clear them. It was all we could do and in the absence of any firm information all our responses were made on the basis of educated supposition. Fortunately we made the right decision and they passed us close astern without reducing speed. It felt as though we could reach out and touch them. Sailing Indonesian waters at night is definitely not for the faint hearted but, faint heart or otherwise, when you're there you have to make the best of it.
The rest of the night was relatively stress free and then soon after dawn we could start to see the faint outline of Bawean in the haze. We kept well out to the east of the island as there are many reefs (Kars) there and so as to have peace of mind, we probably travelled an extra 10 miles or so but well worth it. The approach into the anchorage was straightforward and we anchored alongside "Libertad", "Adagio", "Zoa", "Delphian", "Nahanni" and a couple of others. Bawean is a mountainous island and very attractive from what we have seen so far. We will go ashore tomorrow and hope that the natives are friendly!! Otherwise it's loading the poop cannons with grape and an armed party ashore!! Capt. Cook would be proud.
More later - keep watching this space.
Lotsaluv from us
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Pulau Bawean
Indonesia

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