With just over 100NM from Tawau to Tarakan in Indonesia we decided to break the trip and anchored overnight on the north side of Pulau Bungyu. This anchorage was a little out of the way to get to but proved very calm and we slept well. We could just as easily have anchored further south as the conditions were very settled.
Next stop was Tarakan, our official entry port into Indonesia. Check-in procedures took time as it was a new country and a few hoops to pass through. It was just a matter of being patient and spending a lot of waiting about! Our agent had a driver at our disposal so we were able to get to an ATM for some cash, a fresh market for more produce and a mobile phone shop to buy SIM cards for phone and wi fi router.
We had arrived during big spring tides and the first afternoon we spent waiting for the tide to come in to refloat our dinghy which was sitting in the mud at the bottom of the jetty! Pity we hadn't tied it further out. A storm the first evening had us feeling uneasy as we dragged slightly and it seemed like we were surrounded by other yachts. All was well but we decided to reanchor the next morning to give ourselves a bit more room. When the anchor came up it had a piece of rubber caught on the point which prevented it from digging in properly so we were glad we had decided to move.
The water here is extremely busy with all sorts of boats - hi-speed ferries, water taxis, fishing boats of all sizes, etc. Some of the boats now use outboard engines while a few still have the very noisy 'longtails' which have no mufflers. We even had tugs moving along between us and the shore. The wakes from all these vessels plus the strong tidal flow made it pretty uncomfortable at times but it quietened down during the evening. All the passing boats were very friendly and called and waved to us. We certainly felt very welcome with no cause for unease.
Tarakan has a big fishing industry with most of the fish being exported. Coal is also mined and tugs and barges loaded with coal are seen sitting at anchor offshore waiting for ships to come in and be loaded as there is no real port here. All of the coal is exported.
We had a late start leaving Tarakan due to a miscommunication regarding some of our papers. By the time we were ready to leave it was after 1300 but along with two other boats we set off in the direction of Derawan Island. The route was about 90 NM and we decided to break the leg to anchor in a small bay about 52 NM south. The weather was still calm and settled, although there were rain showers about. Light winds off the bow meant we had to motor sail as usual and we continued into the evening, arriving at the anchorage just before 2200. The bay was very gently shelving and we anchored in 5M over mud. Very comfortable.
On our way out of the bay next morning we passed about 50 fish-attracting structures. We had seen the lights on them the night before and thought they must have been fishing boats. These structures have a small shack on them for the people who man them and nets hanging below into the water. We assume the bright lights at night attract the fish and they are caught in the nets.
So it was another relaxing motor sail to Derawan Island. It was so flat we brought the little twin tub washer into the cockpit and did all the laundry which we hadn't been able to get done in Tarakan. It was all dry before we arrived!
We picked up one of the new moorings put down for arriving yachts. Some have come from Davao in the Philippines while the rest have come from Malaysia. The channel is quite deep and the tide flows fairly fast once it gets going. The moorings are good but not laid out very well. We soon had a smaller boat almost alongside of us so we decided to move. That one seemed too close to a reef for comfort so we moved again. This one seemed OK...mmm. Sleeping soundly at about 9.30 p.m. when we hear voices. The boat on the next mooring had drifted down and Tweed's bowsprit was almost in their cockpit! We managed to separate them without any damage but it was a bit unnerving to have a boat only about 5 metres away!
We knew another boat had left a mooring earlier so we shone the spotlight to see if we could see it. We could so we marked it with a flashing light and moved across there in the dark at 10.00 p.m. Safe at last! There is another mooring buoy not far from ours so just hope any more arriving yachts don't decide they want it. The problem seems to be that the moorings all have lines the same length without taking into consideration the depth. The channel is 15M deep at the sides and goes down to over 50M in a very short distance. We were in 35M so the mooring did not swing very far, whereas the other boat that touched us was only in 15M and he swung a long way each turn of tide. Somebody didn't do the maths!
The main street - very clean.
Going ashore to the Mutiara Pelangi resort jetty restaurant for a welcoming dinner.
Coal loading facility on Pulau Bungyu
We had arrived during big spring tides and the first afternoon we spent waiting for the tide to come in to refloat our dinghy which was sitting in the mud at the bottom of the jetty! Pity we hadn't tied it further out. A storm the first evening had us feeling uneasy as we dragged slightly and it seemed like we were surrounded by other yachts. All was well but we decided to reanchor the next morning to give ourselves a bit more room. When the anchor came up it had a piece of rubber caught on the point which prevented it from digging in properly so we were glad we had decided to move.
The water here is extremely busy with all sorts of boats - hi-speed ferries, water taxis, fishing boats of all sizes, etc. Some of the boats now use outboard engines while a few still have the very noisy 'longtails' which have no mufflers. We even had tugs moving along between us and the shore. The wakes from all these vessels plus the strong tidal flow made it pretty uncomfortable at times but it quietened down during the evening. All the passing boats were very friendly and called and waved to us. We certainly felt very welcome with no cause for unease.
Tarakan has a big fishing industry with most of the fish being exported. Coal is also mined and tugs and barges loaded with coal are seen sitting at anchor offshore waiting for ships to come in and be loaded as there is no real port here. All of the coal is exported.
We had a late start leaving Tarakan due to a miscommunication regarding some of our papers. By the time we were ready to leave it was after 1300 but along with two other boats we set off in the direction of Derawan Island. The route was about 90 NM and we decided to break the leg to anchor in a small bay about 52 NM south. The weather was still calm and settled, although there were rain showers about. Light winds off the bow meant we had to motor sail as usual and we continued into the evening, arriving at the anchorage just before 2200. The bay was very gently shelving and we anchored in 5M over mud. Very comfortable.
On our way out of the bay next morning we passed about 50 fish-attracting structures. We had seen the lights on them the night before and thought they must have been fishing boats. These structures have a small shack on them for the people who man them and nets hanging below into the water. We assume the bright lights at night attract the fish and they are caught in the nets. So it was another relaxing motor sail to Derawan Island. It was so flat we brought the little twin tub washer into the cockpit and did all the laundry which we hadn't been able to get done in Tarakan. It was all dry before we arrived!
Welcome to Derawan!
We knew another boat had left a mooring earlier so we shone the spotlight to see if we could see it. We could so we marked it with a flashing light and moved across there in the dark at 10.00 p.m. Safe at last! There is another mooring buoy not far from ours so just hope any more arriving yachts don't decide they want it. The problem seems to be that the moorings all have lines the same length without taking into consideration the depth. The channel is 15M deep at the sides and goes down to over 50M in a very short distance. We were in 35M so the mooring did not swing very far, whereas the other boat that touched us was only in 15M and he swung a long way each turn of tide. Somebody didn't do the maths!
Love the colour of the water!
The main street - very clean.
Going ashore to the Mutiara Pelangi resort jetty restaurant for a welcoming dinner.
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