We left Kupang (East Timor) on Sunday for an overnight sail (140 miles) to Alor and the town of Kalabahi. Not much wind as we had been warned, so too much motoring for our liking. And no fish, just a large baracuda. We sailed when we could, so were well behind many other boats who started their engines as soon as their speed was less than 5 knots. Not a good idea in this case as they arrived at the inlet leading to Kalabahi as the tide was pouring out, and could hardly make headway. By the time we arrived it was slack water and then we had the flow with us so were doing 8.5 knots at one point and we all arrived within an hour of each other.
It is a pretty anchorage with the small town nestling below steep volcanic hills, and like Kupang, slightly smoky and misty which makes for wonderful sunsets and sunrises. It is a much cleaner place than Kupang though (or they had a special clean-up for our arrival). We were greeted by children in wooden outrigger canoes who have a few phrases of English, but get quite stumped when we answer them. This morning they were doing the rounds at 6am shouting their "hello, how are you" to the fleet who, if still asleep, wouldn't be much longer! Ramadan started on 1st Aug, so there are extra long calls to prayer from the mosque at 5am - luckily not very close to shore.
Managed to get some diesel yesterday ('solar'). Our jerry cans and those of 3 other boats were thrown into the back of an ancient pick-up, the men folk climbed in, and us two ladies sat up front with the blaring music. It was a good way to see a bit of the sprawling town. Bits of productive garden around each house with vegetables growing, and chickens and pigs roaming around. Lots of fruit trees - bananas, papaya and mango, the latter not quite ready yet. Went to a proper filling station, paid for the fuel, and then just paid our driver and assistant for their efforts. 35p a litre in this part of the world.
Also got a jerry can of water to use for washing - straight from a well with a bucket to lower down. It's slightly brackish, and not suitable for the water tank. Unfortunately our water maker is out of action, mainly because we haven't needed to use it for 3 years, so various replacement parts are needed. Still we left Darwin with all containers full of good water, and can buy drinking water and get washing water quite easily.
Before leaving Kupang we had a load of laundry done by a local lady, and it smells so powerfully of fabric conditioner that we have had to rinse it all again. It would have been better to have got it done here where they wash in a local stream and spread everything out over the bushes to dry.
Only 12 boats here the day we arrived, but yesterday many more came in so we are now about 35, too many for our liking, and we are looking forward to moving on to less frequented spots. The official activities start tomorrow with a welcoming ceremony in the morning and a dinner in the evening, but it is all very vague, and we heard some music and announcements in English booming out late yesterday afternoon when most people were back on their boats. We were told to put away out watches in Indonesia as time really doesn't mean anything!
We were looking for a chicken to buy on the market yesterday, having seen plenty in Kupang. Our 'guide', a teenager who wanted to practise his English was doubtful we would find one. When we returned to the dinghy we asked a tour guide who was hovering hopefully. He asked if we wanted a live one, and when I said that I would prefer it dead and ready to cook he said that we should just buy a live one and get it prepared - he could organise it of course. Later we heard that if we hunt down a Chinese grocery they will probably have frozen ones. And in the meantime we found a simple but clean restaurant and had nasi goreng, much less effort!
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