Indonesian Governtment Mis-Information - Cruising

[MarkJ]

The Indonesian Government routinely lies and applies pressure to cruisers. This is exacerbated by their endemic corruption.

I received this (unsolicited) email from some Indonesian Government lacky today about an alternate route in this years Indonesian Rally.

SAIL BANDA 2010 PRIVILEGES

All participants who choose Banda route will received many privileges
from Sail Banda National Committee. The participants are free of
charge for the Quarantine, Port, Immigration and Custom Procedure; in
addition they will also receive many official Sail Banda 2010
souvenirs, such as T-shirt, Hat, Bag, etc.
Otherwise, all participants who choose Kupang route will be applied
normal regulation without any privileges. Thank You

The coercing liars are saying that unless you do the government wished route you will find official clearing in more difficult and much more expensive.

Indonesia is not really a cruising destination. It a debacle which if endured will provide some great moments before a long rest and recovery period in Singapore and Malaysia.



Mark

[svBeBe]

Bali was very enjoyable. Nothing else in Indonesia interested us whatsoever. We did not participate in any rally. Had no difficulties clearing ourselves in at Bali even though Bali Marina insisted we would have to pay a $600 fee to them in order to not post a bond (Sept/Oct 2009). Not true; we were not required to post a bond or to pay a fee in lieu of posting a bond. Not one official even hinted at wanting a bribe or "gift." Nongsa Point Marina handled our outbound clearance for $25 fee.

You are so right. Indonesia is just a place to be endured as you make your way to better destinations.

Judy
S/V BeBe

[Sabbatical II]

There are enough beautiful places that welcome cruisers. The more we know about the ones trying to rip us off the easier it is to make sure they don't get our money.

[surfingminniwinni]

An unsolicited email, ever heard of the word scam? Another cyclone in a port glass.

[Fast Forward]

Well we thought Indonesia was fantastic! Banda was amazing - as were the islands of Wakatobi... Komodo and Rinca particularly was a divers paradise. Lombok and Bali were great... and the tip to see the Orangutans was unforgettable. Indo is so fantastic we are going again this year - and not on a rally either. Getting the CAIT has been a piece of cake ... what is the big issue here anyway?? There is corruption, baksheesh and people wanting handouts all over the show....

[surfingminniwinni]

Originally Posted by Fast Forward

Well we thought Indonesia was fantastic! Banda was amazing - as were the islands of Wakatobi... Komodo and Rinca particularly was a divers paradise. Lombok and Bali were great... and the tip to see the Orangutans was unforgettable. Indo is so fantastic we are going again this year - and not on a rally either. Getting the CAIT has been a piece of cake ... what is the big issue here anyway?? There is corruption, baksheesh and prople wanting handouts all over the show....

+ some of the best surfing to be found in the world

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

The Indonesian Government routinely lies and applies pressure to cruisers. This is exacerbated by their endemic corruption.

I received this (unsolicited) email from some Indonesian Government lacky today about an alternate route in this years Indonesian Rally.




The coercing liars are saying that unless you do the government wished route you will find official clearing in more difficult and much more expensive.

Indonesia is not really a cruising destination. It a debacle which if endured will provide some great moments before a long rest and recovery period in Singapore and Malaysia.



Mark

At the moment we are living ashore in Thailand but will bring the boat here in a year or two, so I can't speak specifically about cruising here yet. However, we have found plenty of corruption and outright lying about all sorts of things. Just getting our households through customs was a case in point. Our moving company made it clear if we insisted Customs do their job they would open every shipping crate, probably damage some stuff, and end up charging us two or three times the value. Or, we could pay the $700 bribe and things would sail through untouched ... which we did of course.

The smiles behind the "Land of Smiles" hide a lot.

[Kiwis]

Have to Agree with Fast Forward, Indonesia was great, the trip up to Kumai to see the orangutan was something we will never forget. Sometimes the paranoia and attitude of cruisers has more to do with how a country is enjoyed than the attitude of the people and officials of that country. Dont go cruising unless you have an open mind, sure listen to others experiences but go and make up your own mind too. Cruisers who skip through an area then slag it off should not be taken any notice of!!! Search Indonesia on www.sailblogs.com and you will find heaps of interesting and positive experiences and infomation.

[svBeBe]

The reason we did not like Indonesia had nothing to do with the people or the culture. That part was fine. And, as I stated earlier, the officials were very easy to deal with and did not even hint at wanting a bribe or gift. However, we had seen orangutans and Komodo dragons at home so those attractions were not a big deal to us. And the jellyfish were so plentiful that getting into the water was out of the question at any of the places we stopped in Indonesia, so no swimming or snorkeling for us.

The reason we did not enjoy Indonesia (other than Bali) were the horrendous currents.....always adverse to our intended direction.......and the total lack of wind. There was only sufficient wind to sail for 3 days during the entire time we were in Indonesian waters. We used more diesel getting through Indonesia that we used for the entire crossing of the South Pacific, including the passages down to New Zealand and back up to Vanuatu. And dodging those thousands of wooden rafts with upright palm fronds got very annoying very quickly, especially during night watches.

Others loved Indonesia, but I agree with the OP. BTW, a comment often heard from other cruisers during the time we were there was that the Sail Indonesia Rally needs to be renamed to the Motor Indonesia Rally.

Judy
S/V BeBe

[MarkJ]

For some advice given its just reality, and it doesn't mean we didn't enjoy a place. But its far better in my mind to give people fair warning so they can better handle a country. And what better than an email from their government showing how they deal with cruisers?

I'll totally stand by my original post, for anyone heading there needs forwarning. Yes, Fast Forward did enjoy it more than us as a whole, and the invasive government and dictitorial methods really put me off, as did having 'secret' police follow us around when in one city. Some people like that sort of thing. I just found it creepy. A throwback to soviet russia.

But as I said in my op there are great moments, including some highlights of our whole cruise.

But I won't guild the lilly by lying.

[Kiwis]

If motoring puts you off a cruising area dont go to the Red Sea, lots of motoring and so far in the Med there is also lots of motoring for us. Head winds in the Red Sea mean you are often waiting for a calm patch which then you motor in to make progress. That is unless you sail up the middle and miss all the good places. There seems to be two ways to view countries as a place to transit or a place to visit and try and manage progress through with favourable winds. Even across the Indian ocean we motored abit where as others sailed, maybe we were unlucky.

[surfmachine]

The Indo's are a bunch of "crooks", and they know it and laugh about it, I have resisted all attempts at extortion of money, except when backed up with an M16 carbine!! It was kept in the bag though and the money was for fuel?
Otherwise, my 5 months in Indonesia has been "heavenly".
I am really, really enjoying the north west coast of Sumetera!
Keith.

[dingoman]

Hi Keith,
Wanted to ask you if going from Langkawi tward Banda Ache wher would be a good place to tuck into after crossing the Staight of Malacca? Thanks, Dingoman

[swagman]

Hi Mark,
Years back we were quite heavily involved with Freo Sailing Club who battled each two years organising the Fremantle - Bali Yacht Race.
It finally got too too hard not becuase of Balinese officials, but the mob they'd insist were shipped down from Jakarta to 'help run' the event. The sailing club had to pay airfares, hotels, and more.
It invariably cost the club a lot more in freebies once the event was underway, and it hard describing how tought it was to simply get the Bali end race control radio imported.
I believe for the last few races Freo shifted and ran it Freo - Lombok but the difficulties continued.
Personally, I do not think they minded the race arrivals anbd the tourist trade the 500 or so flying in supporters bring, but I believe they will always make it real hard for the cruisers heading back on onward through the islands!
I may sound cynical but strongly believe having a bunch of boats swanning around seeing exactly what was / is happening across this huge and muti cultural contry - and all of them equipped with radios to report what they see to the outside world - is not something that Jakarta actually wants just yet.
All IMHO of course.
JOHN

[surfmachine]

Ahoy Dingoman!
We are anchored in the Mentawi island chain. At a place called Telescopes, just south of Playgrounds. A beautiful long left hander, with a nice barrel section, surfed for 8 hours yesterday, in 2 sessions. The NW storms have abated and it has been glassy all day and night. The swell was 2.4m at 17 seconds, pretty solid and some double overhead waves.

Once you cross the Malaccan straights you can anchor in the sw end of the Banda Aceh bay, or around near Pulau Weha, where you can check into cutoms and immigration, then continue around the corner down the nw coast and there is a good anchorage down at bay protected from the swell and winds about 45 nmiles down the coast, a days sail from banda aceh, then a few more anchorages along the way to Sibolga, or just head straight to the bay of plenty in the banyaks, 2 days sail, as I did, or stop at bangarus, or at simalue, sabang? I haven't got the gps coordinates in front of me, can write them later or show you on a chart?
Lots of problems of untangling the chain from the coral in the Mentawi anchorages, but starting to relax again. The injector pump appears to be holding up!
Fair winds from Keith.