Scooting from Lovina to Ubud

Hard to believe but I’ve been in Bali almost one week. I think the sun must somehow melt the hours away because I’m not sure where the time goes.

So far the whole experience has exceeded all expectations. Although we haven’t set sail yet we’ve found plenty of adventure here on Bali.

I should define “we” as the crew of the Tropicbird which currently includes myself, our Captain Julian and my fearless crewmates Omar and Alison both from California. (You can check out their wonderful blog at http://www.tacosandtea.blogspot.com/)

After spending the first couple of nights on the boat anchored off the beach in Lovina, Alison, Omar and I decided to rent motorbikes and drive to Ubud, which is no small feat. Firstly the towns are on opposite sides of the island, north and south, and are separated by a road that winds over the mountains like a snake who has lost its way. Secondly, riding a motorbike in Bali is similar to being one small fish swimming in a massive school of fish who have no comprehension of road rules. Anything goes.

But I’m happy to report we all survived the trip.

Some of the highlights include the Pura Ulundanu Batur, the volcano Butan, Git Git waterfall, rice fields as far as the eye can see, making some wonderful friends at Yoga Barn in Ubud, the traditional Kecak Ramaya dance (Monkey Dance), the Big Tree Chocolate factory tour, the Goa Gajah, being attacked by monkeys in the Sacred Monkey Forest, having a local help us circumvent a police checkpoint, poop coffee (luwak coffe), the flight of the heron bird colony returning to nest for the night and of course the Balinese people.

Pictures will be posted when I can find better internet, upload times are currently too slow.

And I’m vowing to start keeping my blog daily, even if I can’t post it to the internet. Really. I promise.

9/29 Update: Pictures. YAY!

Omar, Alison and I with our trusty steeds. Stopping to stretch our legs on the way to Ubud.

Gitgit waterfall near Lovina

Met this little guy at breakfast at Praety home stay in Ubud.

 Big Tree Farm chocolate factory tour with our Ubud friends. (www.bigtreefarms.com)

Roger (USA), Isabella (Austria), Me, Irene (Big Tree tour guide), Alison (USA), Carolin (Germany) and Omar (USA/Mexico)

Goa Gajah baths.

 Goa Gajah, Elephant Cave entrance.

Herons coming home to nest. Near Ubud. 

Sacred Monkey Forest, Ubud.

 Batur volcano panorama.

Prayer at Pura Ulundanu Batur.

Sliding into Semarang head first

We’ve made it through our 3^rd and final day of passage. A haze hung over the water most of the day making visibility a bit short, but open waters and high winds made for easy sailing. The winds took us all the way up to 8 KTs at times, which is pushing the Tropicbird’s top speed.

We operated under watch by committee for the bulk of the day, which made room for lots of reading and card playing.

The action really started after night fall when the fishing boats were out. We found ourselves tiptoeing through a minefield of small Indonesian fishing boats who don’t operate their navigation light under international standards. A lot of times they don’t bother with lights at all until another boat gets close and then they shine a spot light to let you know they are there. To combat this Captain stood watch on the bow and called out instructions for our evasive maneuvers.

It all reminded me of the classic Asteroids arcade game. The Tropicbird the trusty spaceship in the middle trying to avoid the asteroids flying in from all different angles. If only we had a laser cannon.

Despite the high stress low sleep night we've arrived this morning unscathed and within a stone’s throw of Semarang. We should be in port in less than two hours

(Written 9/29 at 9:00am from Lat: 06⁰ 47.082S, Long: 110⁰ 28.055E)

Sailing, sort of. Wait, definitely sailing. And not.

We left Lovina at around 9am and set sail for Java. The journey will take several days so we’ll sail around the clock, each of the crew taking turn at the wheel on watch.

I had first watch from 9am to noon. We had a bit of wind so we sailed for a couple of hours but by 12:30 the wind was down and the seas were up so we proceeded to motor for a few hours.

The swelling seas persisted throughout the day and all the crew combated churning stomachs the best way we knew how, with frequent catnaps in the hammocks and playing Tropicbird gin.

My second watch started at 6pm and we were still motoring, which is a bit frustrating. So we prepped dinner and sat down to eat. Naturally with dinner on the table the winds finally decided to arrive in force. The boat was spun like a top 90 degrees counterclockwise and the battering began. Frantically the sails were adjusted to take advantage of our new found propulsion.

The wind served us well through the night and into the early hours of morning, which is where I’m writing from. Unfortunately we had to restart the engines at 5am as the wind has again died down and we were bobbing like a 50 ft cork.

Hopefully we’ll find wind again soon. We still have a long way to go at over 200 nautical miles to our next anchor in Semarang.

written 9.26.2013 5:00am

9,171 miles from home

Finally! I've arrived in Bali! and it wasn't easy. It took 5 airports (DEN->SFO->KIX->SIN->DPS), stops in 4 countries, 3 in flight movies, 2 near sleepless nights and 1 narrowly avoided traffic accident (I'm talking inches!) but my toes are finally in the sand in Bali. Now if only I can find that boat!

Ready, Set, Sail..

Ready, Set, Sail..
It's hard to believe, but in 8 days time I'll be boarding a flight to Bali to join the crew of the Tropicbird for the second leg of the Sail Indonesia 2013 rally.
Over the next 3 months I'll be blogging here about the people, places and things I encounter along the way.

"..every time I travel, I learn something new and hopefully I get to be a better person." - Yvon Chouinard, 180° South