Indonesia gets better and better!

 And so my blog continues as I have thousands of photos that I want to share and a diary of my thoughts and good and bad times that we have gone through, to tell you about:)

This blog is a continuation of my last one with our sailing adventure back to Indonesia at the end of last year 2013..My photos however are of that trip and scattered throughout are pics from earlier days as well as recent times when two families from South Africa joined us in Thailand to create some wonderful memories!!

 Sunrise as we cross the Straitts of Malacca:) ...These ships in the shipping lane are quite intimidating...

How stunning is this!! Deep into Indonesia...In our 5 trips from Malaysia or Phuket to Indo for surfing safaris, we have only been to this spot once:( ..but it was worth it just for this photo (above)

 Hello to my blog readers again:)

 Thank-you for your patience in waiting for the next blog! 

The last post we had left for Indonesia again and we had crossed from Malaysia over the Straits of Malacca on a good crossing only to be welcomed by storm after storm on the eastern coast of Sumatra...Our journey to find surf and to get around the northern point of Sumatra continues:)...

Stormy days...

The morning after our big grocery shop in Banda Aceh...we pulled up anchor from one of windiest and unprotected anchorages. We committed ourselves to facing the still howling wind and looming swells in an attempt to get through a pass of water that would take us to the OTHER side of Sumatra- the West coast.

You can see in the above photo, how strong the wind was as we motor sailed into it to get through the channel that would take us from the Malaca Straits to the West coast of Sumatra.

The Pass has been passed through by us many times before over the past three years but each adventure into Indo is different and unknown! And this time has been the wildest and most challenging of all! Unpredictable weather has brought out the ugly side of the sea and we are in the middle of it!

 Right now- a swell just broke over the side of the yacht! It is almost surreal and I have had to detach myself a bit from this experience so that I can cope with my fear of being out here. 

Sudden downpours are very normal in Indo but also a welcome relief to cool down in the heat:) Closing all the hatches and portholes is not that easy to remember though because one never thinks it possible that a sudden rainfall may occur when the suntan lotion is applied and the beach sand is roasting your feet:)

This is the real Indian Ocean...Like our ocean in Natal...just like the ocean I used to look at on a stormy day and think thank-goodness I am in a nice warm safe house:) The photo of the palm trees above gives one an idea on how strong the wind was blowing through the Pass and we were riding right into the wind and swell- never mind the powerful current that we sweeping us inch by inch across the expanse of water toward the reef where a shipwreck  being smashed by surf loomed ahead in warning of the fate of an engine that could seize up....

I did not know it at the time but this cross that is sticking out of the sea at one of the surf breaks in Nias where Brent,Cal and Cody were surfing; had a crow or kingfisher perhaps, sitting on it so I took the pic..This cross was for a surfer who had drowned here...One would expect a seagull to be sitting there but that bird looked too ominous....This same surf spot also had sightings of a crocodile as well! This we heard after Brent and Cody surfed around at one of the popular surf spots a short paddle away from a little river that pours a stream of village refuse into the ocean:(

On a happier note:)- a more recent photo 2014 with Granny Charl in Koh Lipe:)

What a privilege to be alive!! I want to live my life and explore it and take photos of all the magic and beauty that my life has to offer!!

I am so fortunate and I hope that my photos bring a smile to others and that you are sharing and enjoying my perspectives of my life...These photos are taken 2014 on our sails between Thailand and Malaysia:)

This young growing very fast boy of ours is just  so full of love and kindness! We could not do this without him on Micah! He is my shoulder to lean on and Brent's constant tool buddy:)

Below- Cody in Indo 2013 but now he is far away in South Africa and we miss him...

 Micah sharing the many faces of the ocean and the sky...

Cheers Caden!! A recent photo -breakfast in Phuket!

Still to come in the photo above...We made some friends along the way:)- Here is Daniel-a famous bodyboarder;)-from Portugal...and all his friends who magically appeared out of the palm trees shortly after we thought we would take the dingy ashore on some remote beach in the middle of Indo:)....

Brent drops in on Cody- Fathers are allowed to do that;)

My not so little YOGA spider:) below not above;)

Rainbows and sunsets- breathtaking beauty that four months cruising around Indonesia searching for the best surf, has allowed me to be part of...

Spectacular Beauty all around us!

Below- Caden does his schoolwork in one of his many classrooms:)

Above pic:Early exploration of remote Indo islands! Look at Cal's tan!!

Above:This is sunset at Au Chalong recently:)

A surprise wrong turn in the ocean:)- and we found a little piece of paradise recently on our sail from Langkawi to Phuket...above photo- Cally makes me happy posing and beautifying my photos! 

Ah! 2013...Those beautiful peaceful days at random islands that we are still waiting to get to as we sail through Indo waters:)...

A recent family photo  2014 and a rare one...Charlotte squeezed in too:)

Cally posing in the light of a stunning breathtaking cave...
Below: Cal swimming at Rebak

My beautiful daughter...After not seeing her for one year last year...Cally will have been with me for three months soon! I have loved having her near to me and emotions well up when I say that soon she will be heading back to SA again to start a new life after school...

Above: Brent sails away this year for a four day trip with some of his mates from SA and Caden and Cal got to have the pleasure of my company;) It was such fun to be living on land for a while!
Below is a photo of our homeland-our home in SA...waiting for our return which I feel is near....:(

Back to our adventures in Indo end of last year!
Below-the dress that Cally and I bought at the Phuket night market recently. This was the first time I had ridden on a motorbike in three years so thank-goodness the hectic one hour scooter ride through peak traffic, was worth it;)

Above- we visited a place in Langkawi called Hole in the Wall- You actually have to sail through a narrow gap in the cliffs to get in here! It was a good trip because we had the opportunity of observing huge eagles being fed by the long tail boats who bring an endless stream of tourists in there:)
Crossing the Malacca Straitts on Indo trip 5 and coming back to Phuket- this is what shoved us back to land for the last 8 hours!
 See Below- the quiet about 10 seconds before a 50 knott wind hit us! Look at it coming behind us-can you see that black line on the horizon?

Back to Indo6 adventure:)
Today, as we headed out of that hectic ocean, closer to land to try and find some more protection for the night, the most massive chocolate swells were building up behind the yacht-as high (so it seems) as the cockpit roof! I took one look at this, screamed and ran down to the galley to try and cook dinner! I have no idea where we anchored in the end but it felt like we were in the shore break! As for tomorrow...how are we going to get out of here back through those huge swells?

Just before we left Rebak marina, a beautiful charter catamaran had sailed out with 3 families on board. They put 8000 euro deposit and headed to Koh Lipe island where they hit a rock and sank their charter yacht!  This can happen in Indo so easily as there are strange and ominous pinnacles and underwater rocks, rocks awash, jagged exposed rocks and wrecks scattered all over..

A curious island snake blends in with the shadows on the tree...

Indo trip5-This is a photo of our anchorage at Lagundri Bay! Not far from us is this gi-normous wave that fills my heart with dread when Brent and Cody say they are going for a surf.Thank-goodness they have been quite sensible but from the dingy taking a photo of this wall of water is terrifying:)...When that swell comes into the bay...it stretches across the entire bay and I think- this is it...it is going to break across the whole of the bay and take me, Caden, the dingy, the yacht all tumbling with it!!!!

And so we carry on...Today Yugh! Everything feels damp and clammy from no sunshine and fresh air! It has been a week now and I still ask-when is the sea going to calm down!? All our normal calm anchorages have huge rolling surf!

Recently we added another board to our collection on Micah:) A beautiful stand-up paddle board and Caden and I especially have had a lot of fun on it just going to shore and back without having to drop our big dingy down from it's cradle into the sea using the main halyard...

Ah- to have these calm perfect days then as seen in a recent photo of mine:) Both of these photos were taken between Malaysia and Phuket recently...

Back to my blog and Indo's epic adventures :)

Fishing on this last trip to Indo was not as good as the previous years...Below this sailfish was revived and released :) The dorado got eaten....

What happened to those days when my family were all together on Micah:( Now Cody above has grown up three years later and is back in SA going to proper school....

This is another shade of Indo waters! I love all these blues!

This is the real color of the ocean in some parts of Indo!!

So yesterday, after we had picked up countless flies off Banda Aceh...

Below- the Boys return from grocery shopping in Banda Aceh...Never an easy task as first they had to find a place on the shore to be dropped off by Cody in the dingy. I stayed on the yacht to look after her although if the anchor had pulled out in the relentless 35 knot winds...I would have probably have blown back to..Africa?

... we had to time it right to get through the pass of water. I took a deep breath while Brent revved the engines and plowed into the current and swell and wind.

 As our speed dwindled down to one knot, we inched our way through the pass , while constantly being sucked across by the menacing current...and crept past the wreck that was proof that failed engines have a bad ending here. 

Brent had to use both the main and genoa sails to increase our speed against a dangerous relentless current.

The infamous Pass of water that divides the west and the east coast of Sumatra...

And when we finally got through to the other side, we entered the Indian ocean with waves breaking over the front hulls! The sea had such massive swells and troughs that I could only watch in mute horror! Of course some of us got excited about the prospect of some good surfing in the near future;)

We got around the Northern tip of Sumatra and have stopped at a beautiful anchorage where we have been bobbing up and down into the rhythmic swell:)

Not the spot but calm waters anyway;)

 Every now and then, the catamaran swings side on to the swell and gets slapped around leaving cupboard doors swinging and objects creaking. My body and mind have finally been beaten into submission that Sea Sickness is a way of life on this Indo trip:)

I am in constant amazement how the same places that we have anchored at on previous trips here,can be so different each time we revisit!

 This finger bay that we have arrived at- has wrapped Micah in shades of turquoise green murky ocean on this trip but in the past, howling winds have twirled us around on our anchor, while lashing rains and fretful nights have left us wondering if our anchor has gritted its teeth into the earthy watery world below enough to keep us from blowing away~:)

Ooo! I jumped off the roof of the yacht the other day for the FIRST time in the three years we have owned Micah! After having a wee breakdown over some trivial thing I am sure ( like who used all my "precious" bleach probably ;) )- I decided to jump! ~ off the bimini roof- very daring of me!!

It was a liberating experience!

We finally got to one of my favorite anchorages!

As you can see in the photo below...in Sumatra the one minute you are suntanning on a pristine beach with palm trees waving above you...and suddenly a monstrous black soggy cloud will come galloping across the sky and it pour down on your head (and yacht:) )..and that is why it is very important to always close all portholes and hatches on the yacht when one leaves it-even when there is not a glimpse of a cloud in the sky;)

 

The South African is deep in Caden as can be seen...despite having only returned to SA for three months in 3 years, he has an endless supply of plastic toy guns in his cabin! 

At our first surf spot in Indo!! The boys were eager! No- Caden was not surfing with goggles but he wanted to jump off the dingy to have a look around:)

When everyone was finished getting their first surf of Indo out of their systems...we found some beautiful shade next to a quiet stream flowing into the sea and Brent hung up his hammock and had a well deserved rest!

December 2013 Charlotte and Cally arrive in Malaysia from SA to visit us for Xmas!! Ahhh! Looking at this photo of Cody makes me feel emotional...we have not seen him now since about 14th Jan:(

The good old days:)

We are now on the other side of our first surf spot and calm (ish) anchorage...Another escape to land where I served lunch to those members of the family that lay in hammocks:)Ah! Actually this is our first land stop off since we left Malaysia!! Must be ten days already without leaving our 50m2 island of yacht:)

At Sibolga in Indo... This little girl just loved having her photo taken:)

Look at my beautiful boy posing again:)

The sun has wings:)

We have to check in to Indonesia in a little dirty port called Sibolga which is still a long way from where we are presently achored... Above is a photo of our transport when we get there:) Yip- when this man on a bicycle sees us coming...all four of us about to squeeze into his cart:)

Ah! The earlier Micah days...two or three years ago already! Indo...a younger Cody and below Caden...

Look at Cody below...I am sitting in a dingy and caught this pic as he leapt into the sunset!!

More good times when we went to Indo with our USA friends Jack, Jackie and Austin from Barbara Ann! We have not seen them for more than one year now!:( Jacs I miss our tea times together!!!!!

Below:A little island in the middle of no-where:) Beautiful in the day but jee whizz- you do not want to end up on this in the middle of the night!

Whilst looking for fruit in Indo for a friend of ours who was sailing with us...we were given directions to this island:)...nope there was no fruit market here...there was nothing here except for one little man in a little hut on the most perfect beach!

A mournful Brent needs consoling:)- There was no surf to be seen but just more stormy clouds and grey churny ocean!

I had to remind him that luckily we own a yacht and he can find surf elsewhere as we have four months to search for it!!

I convinced Brent that a walk through the palms might lead us to a viewpoint of the surf break...It did in the end but there was no surf to see....the walk was fun though I thought!

It was so funny because while I was serving lunch to my family resting in hammocks on that little beach...this boy came walking past me with his family. He was wearing a Durban Surf cap and immediately I took pics and ooed and ahhhed to his mother how these clothes that her children were wearing belonged once to my children and that we gave those clothes to them years before on a previous trip to Indo..I was trying to tell her that her daughter was wearing my daughters shirt and that it made me sad because Cally was far away in SA and I had not seen her for 9 months at that stage...The mom did not understand a word that I said and I did not know what she was saying but we smiled and gestured... Turned out that Brent had given those clothes to them about ten minutes before without me seeing!!

 We do not mess around when we go to an isolated beach in the middle of Indo...We take the huge heavy gazebo to shore and set it up...and let us not forget the marshmallows to braai for a quick treat!

On a recent trip to SA after our four month Indo surf safari...Caden gave all his love to his dog Shadow:)

How precious is this photo above of Cody and Caden many years ago:)
Cally is flying back to SA in two days on her 19th birthday...:( We have taken so few mother daughter photos:( So this one below is extremely precious!!!

When my children misbehave...I just behead them:)

This photo is just my best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very rare family photo recently before Cody flew back to SA in January 2014...

In Phuket, while we were sipping wine at a beach bar, this fisherman strung a net around all our dingys in the shore to catch the few little fish that may be there......if any left.
um..talking about lefts:)- not sure if this is a left or right that Brent is surfing:) To me it depends if you are looking at the wave from the front or the back:)....

Three years ago..Caden was so tiny that he could not see over the top of the console of the dingy:)...But here he is at Lagundri bay in a 40 Plus knott high wind, bringing the dingy to the yacht!!!!

They cannot all be surfing photos of Indo:)..I have to keep you on your toes!

I love my recent spider photos:)....

Cally and Caden keep me smiling:)

Recently- In Phuket over December- we had a few friends from SA come and join us- I am so sorry that these photos of you guys have taken so long in coming out!!!

Wendy looking pretty with that flower in her hair:)

Shaina below lets the wind take her spirit as she overcomes seasickness and just relaxes on Micah!

Cody paddles next to Micah:) and below that- Cally and Caden go for a paddle board paddle!

Above-

Heading to the water tanks...Cally making waves:)...We actually put water in our tanks again today at Koh PhiPhi island and it is ridiculously expensive. It cost about R1000 to fill our two tanks!!

Connor tackling oyster opening on Micah December 2013...
Below-Brent takes pool seriously:)

A little piece of Heaven??:) Thailand waters...

Cheyna and Andrew- guests on Micah recently...heading to the beach for some fun!

Caden doing a rubbish run on an island! I love this little man! And below-Cally stays behind and does a little tanning:)

An unknown..I think he is tanning:)

Above~Caden trying a new watersport in Phuket:)~and below...Charlotte trying out the Rebak pool.

How about this huge spider! He has a little old man's face:)

Below-magic magic everywhere!

 Look at this little monkey in Phi Phi islands:) They stole some-one's bonnet, and now this little monkey is wearing it!!

Well...I still have so much to say...and so many photos of my memories and experiences to share but this blog needs to end for now...:) Until next time!!