So much has happened since the last entry, that I will break this post down into categories...
Balikcil Family... Diving... and Everything Else thats happened.
Balikcil Family...
Our friends who lost their rudder coming over from Australia were rescued by
Daryl - Vimy and crew, Frank - Nogal and crew and Fiddler VI and crew,
this was achieved in awful conditions of over 50 knots,
with them being safely brought into Debut (as mentioned in my last post).
This was to be the beginning of a journey that took us just under 900nm with Balikcil
along with Vimy, Nogal and Auntie to get Balikcil to a port
where they could have their new rudder sent from France.
Due to us being in such remote areas, this would end up being
Lebuan Bejo (near Komodo National Park).
The trip meant that we did not ever allow Balikcil out of visual sight,
Richard diving to recover their bowprod in over 30 metres of water,
diving to release them from rope from a fishing net,
going onboard with Mustafa for a 2 day trip to help get the steering organised and Elif coming sailing with me overnight on Our Rose.
Along with this, we also had a lot of fun with what we now fondly call the "Balikcil Family"
Elif & Mustafa - Balikcil, Daryl & John - Vimy, Frank, Marilia, Julia & Sophia - Nogal & Eve Auntie
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| Elif with me on the overnighter |
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| As we arrive Lebuan Bajo with the drogues behind Balikcil |
Finally the rudder installation...
Julia and Sophia did a beautiful job of decorating the Rudder Party cake I made...
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| Elif and Mustafa - so happy at the Rudder Party |
The Diving
While waiting for the rudder, and after installation it was time for some serious diving - being in the Komodo area - one of the top 5 dive areas in the world...
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| John helped us fill I dont know how many bottles over the time |
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| Julia and Sophias first dive off Our Rose once being certified - awesome! |
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| my one and only dive - hurting my ears... so I became the "dive boat" taking everyone to the dive site, dropping off and collecting on Our Rose |
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| Frank is right into his underwater photography |
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The Manta Rays are amazing...
This guy hiding under a rock
Getting ready to go diving...
The Divers...
Evertything Else That Happened...
End of July and that time comes around again very quickly - my birthday...
I was serenaded awake by Eve, Daryl and John (Auntie and Vimy)
and greeted with a "wicked" wake up cocktail
Brought over this lovely happy birthday from Julia, Sophia and Marila - Nogal
I then cooked all day, making NZ Lamb Racks, Pavlova and other lovely food to enjoy with
Vimy, Nogal, Balikcil and Auntie for my birthday...
(sadly the photos of everyone were blurred - nothing to do with birthday cheer hahaha)
Most of our days when at anchor, we are woken with the call to prayer...
Muslim is a strong religion here in Indonesia, along with Catholic.
Banda, the original spice islands, we went on a lovely tour of the spice island
seeing these gorgeous children getting the water for their homes from the well
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| Nutmeg |
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| Taka Oa, Waka Nui, Auntie, Balikcil, Our Rose and Nogal on tour... |
Of course we had to do a cooking course
and this is what was made... YUM
At Hoga Island - a very very deep anchorage, we sheared the pin on our windlass
So, our friends all came over, a temporary fixit was a success
until Franks nephew arrived from America with our replacement part...
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| Balikcil, Nogal, Vimy and Our Rose working on it |
While at Hoga Island, Julia and Sophia wanted to help "clean up"
the awful amount of rubbish on the beach -
so enlisted us all for a clean up morning
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| The clean up team |
We have had such beautiful scenery, people and sunsets...
and so much fun...
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| on Our Rose |
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| Harvey from Waka Nui was awesome! |
the crowd over at Our Rose, heading off snorkling
The four Muskateers...
making Bread, Bread Rolls and Cinnamon Rolls...
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| cutting the Cinnamon Rolls before the final rise |
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| icing them to finish |
and finishing the "Thank You" cake for Anton
(dive guru Frank - Nogal organised to live aboard for 2 weeks while in Komodo)
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| Working on the cake |
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| Finished... |
not to mention the Balikcil Cake!
Of course Komodo would not be Komodo without mentioning the Dragons...
