We’d chosen the city of Tual as our arrival point into Indonesia. Tual is the main port city of the Kai Islands. Here, we were greeted by our agent and the government officials that checked us in, and experienced our first taste of Asian culture.
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Entry to Indonesia Completed
This morning we moved right down into Tual harbour and arranged for our entry into the country. We had quarantine and then customs officials on board SeeBeeZee for inspections, and our agent handled the immigration bureaucracy on our behalf. It was so smooth. Thank you to our agent, Fitri. Now we are free to go…
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Tual Markets
This morning we went ashore and walked around the market district of Tual. We were constantly harassed by locals wanting to provide services to us, such as translate and advise or take us for a ride on their motor scooters, but we declined and walked around until a heavy shower of rain chased us back…
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Tual Departure
It was becoming a chore by the start of the week. We were both feeling unwell. I had a fever, and the start of a respiratory illness. The heat and humidity was getting to us. So we gathered the remnants of our energy on Monday, and bought n as much fruit and veg as we…
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Pulau Walir
It was a short 20nm sail over from Kai Kecil to Pulau Walir today. The breeze never went over 10 knots, and it was so calm. We are trying get further north to the island of Misool, and are having to pick the days to travel as the SE trade winds die away for the…
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Return to Tual
Tual in the Kai islands was our port of arrival back in October last year. After leaving Banda, we sailed for two days to reach the Kai Islands, passing through a severe storm the first night and being becalmed the second night. The storm was the worst we have seen in Indonesia. The other two…
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South from Tual
After staying in Tual see Eid at the end of Ramadan, it was time to start heading south again. We had less than two weeks left on our Indonesian visas as we left Tual, and the intention was to get to Saumlaki on the island of Tanimbar to clear out of Indonesia. Conditions were light,…
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Goodbye Indonesia
A few days after leaving Tual, we had only progressed as far as the southern end of Kai Kecil, where we anchored in the safe harbour at Uf to avoid the constant stream of storms and squalls that were passing through. Our visas were going to expire, and the trip across to the offices in…
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Chris turns 66
We’re anchored in the deep bay at Uf, on the bottom end of Kai Kecil, and the days have been rolling by as we wait for weather suitable for the journey across the Arafura Sea to Darwin. And the days rolled by to my birthday. We are here with three other yachts that we have…
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Crossing to Australia – The WAIT
We’ve cleared out of Indonesia, and now our customs agent is saying that immigration will be looking to fine us if we don’t actually go. But we are staying put on the south of of the island Kai Kecil, waiting for the right weather to head across the Arafura Sea to Australia. The cyclone season…