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Peter Hendra

On 27 Mar 2007 17:34:07 -0700, wrote:

Peter Hendra wrote:
If there is one thing I have learned, it is that one should never
ridicule other people's choice of boat any more than one should
ridicule their occupation, station in life or choice of spouse.

Well, most of the time. There's always the well-justified exception.

OTOH there's always the bitter losers who will spew their bile on any
possible target, thus proving to the world what they really are.
"Wilber Hubbard" is just one of many such.

Vic Smith wrote:
Thank you for writing of your experiences here. It is educational,
to say the least.

I agree. Visiting Rinja (or for that matter, much of Indonesia) must
have been fascinating. Do you see any Komodo dragons?

Regards
Doug King

Hi Doug,
Yes we did. The larger ones are the size of large crocodiles (or
aligators to thee) - about 10 feet long.

Unlike the aligators I saw in the Everglades which can have a dreamy
benign facial expression, these things look mean and evil
(anthropomorphic I know). On the two islands that constitute the
national park, Rinja and Komodo - they are also on neighbouring
Flores, they eat water buffalo, goats and pigs. The water buffalo are
huge, much bigger than a dragon but the dragons lie in ambush near
say, a water hole and bite the buffalo either on the leg or soft parts
of the body. This bite couldn't kill the animal but it soon becomes
infected from the bacteria from the Komodo's teeth (they do not have
toothbrushes and no money for toothpaste). The buffalo dies and the
smell of the putrifying carcass attracts the dragons for miles around.
The larger ones can kill goats, monkeys, smaller dragons and humans
outright. The rangers' only defense against them is a stout pole. We
were also fortunate to see a breeding female occupying her nest -
litter scrapped into a heap. I personally couldn't imagine a male
komodo finding her attractive enough to mate with, but then one should
never criticise one's choice of spouse - or boat.

As this is a "cruising" newsgroup I can safely say that Indonesia is a
fantastic cruising ground. Unfortunately much of it is not safe for
lone yachts to travel through over the past few years. There are
however still plenty of places one can visit provided one is careful
and uses one's brain. The archipelago is so varied, both in geography
and cultures that it would take years to exhaust one's curiosity.
Depending upon yourself, people are generally very friendly and
hospitable and if you take a firm but polite stand, corrupt officials
(by no means all are) and shady people can be dealt with. To sail up a
river in Indonesian Borneo and see Orangutans in the jungle is just
one of the life-time memories you can experience.

Malaysian Borneo is also a treat - the states of Sarawak and Sabah
which are much safer to visit and where facilities for tourists and
yachts are excellent. Again, the cultures are diverse in a small area
with the Iban (Dyaks) in their long houses up river - very hospitable
to the Malays and the Chinese.

Charts of Indonesia are suspect and one should always be suspicious of
one's navigation. The Malaysian ones have all been corrected for GPS
and are accurate.

There are Sunsail hire yachts in West Malaysia if anyone is interested
in a good, safe and relatively cheap place to holiday. I am not sure
if there are any in Sarawak or Sabah.

Can you imagine sailing along and asking a prawn fishing boat to sell
some fresh, flicking prawns with tails 4 or 5 inches long? On our
patrol boats we always carry small scales to weigh them and often have
them for dinner.

cheers
Peter