And the last email ended….“Our last evening in Teluk Narah was spent working on the charts, working out the route, waypoints etc and uploading them into the Nav System.Then, the next day we headed off – destination Kumai in Kalimantan (or deepest darkest Borneo as it was once known).”Heading to KumaiIt was a little strange saying goodbye to Eloise and Optimum Trust, but also fulfilling.  For the first time we were heading off the beaten track on our own – and that is one of the…

Greetings All,The weather has a lot to do with how often we write these short (sic) missives.  For example, here we are in Miri, a small city in Sarawak, one of the Malaysian provinces in Borneo and it hasn’t stopped raining all day.  And, while we’d been planning to leave tomorrow, the weather forecast shows some pretty average weather around here for the next few days – so here we will stay.  Looks like Peter will have his birthday in Miri after all.To pass the time,…

Smart Slider with ID: 13Off to meet the relativesAnd again we were very fortunate.  In addition to the young driver, we had Yani (info@orangutantravel.com) as our guide.  Very experienced, he actually runs his own tour guide company but had stepped into the breach to help Herry out.  He was a mine of information, not just about the apes, but all the flora and fauna we were to see, and had eyes like a hawk, soon spotting our first orangutans way up in a tree by the…

Smart Slider with ID: 2 14th June 2008 Bali 08 44.4S 115 12.8E Written by Jean and Peter Yes – you read right.  Bali.  Not Darwin. Bali!  BALI!  A land of tropical dreams, beautiful people, memories of Bob and Bing, and of long cold glasses of Bintang. And the land where Hinewai now sits smugly in her berth at the Bali Marina in Benoa, preening herself, telling all the other yachts about her very nice trip over from Darwin – and probably complaining a little that…

Smart Slider with ID: 12Greetings to all from Hinewai, currently anchored off Teluk Naruh, a small bay to the north of Lombok (well, as it was when we started this – now being sent from the little island of Labuan off the north west coast of Borneo).Shreck and the PropellerThe end of our last email found us languishing in Bali Marina, Benoa, nursing the disappointment of a broken propeller, but confidently telling you that we’d soon have it off, repaired and refitted.Blah, should have know better.Job…

Smart Slider with ID: 1114th June 2008Bali08 44.4S 115 12.8EWritten by Jean and PeterYes – you read right.  Bali.  Not Darwin. Bali!  BALI!  A land of tropical dreams, beautiful people, memories of Bob and Bing, and of long cold glasses of Bintang.And the land where Hinewai now sits smugly in her berth at the Bali Marina in Benoa, preening herself, telling all the other yachts about her very nice trip over from Darwin – and probably complaining a little that we’ve broken her again (but more…

Smart Slider with ID: 1015th March 2008Written by PeterWell, this email was started way back in January, with the opening “Been a bit torn over the last few weeks.  As much as I'd love to do another scribe about our trip, would people really be interested in "here we are still sitting in Darwin…"?But then, the last few days, we've had 4 emails from friends asking how things are.  You know who you are – so it's all your fault if anyone complains.”A few logistics got…

Smart Slider with ID: 917th October 2007Written by PeterGreetings All,And a special Happy Birthday to Peter's Mum.I think today is the 3rd month anniversary of arriving in Darwin – and we’re starting to slip into the life-style here.  Darwin is part of the Northern Territory, or NT as it is abbreviated.  It appears that NT also stands for “Not Today” “Not Tomorrow”– it’s a sort of Aussie version of “mañana” – why do something today or even tomorrow when you can put it off until some…

Smart Slider with ID: 8Sunday, 2nd September – 06.00Greetings all,Once again, the more astute among you should now be saying “Hang on!  This email’s STILL being written from Darwin – shouldn’t they be in Indonesia by now?”And, once again, you would be right, but sadly there is now no chance that we’ll be going anywhere for the next six or seven months at least.It turns out that I did a really good job on myself.  Apparently some 50% of broken ribs do not clearly show up…

Smart Slider with ID: 7       Saturday, 28th  July – 17.30 written by PeterGreetings all,The more astute among you should now be saying “Hang on!  This email’s being written from Darwin – shouldn’t they be in Indonesia by now?” And you would be right.  Unfortunately, our trip has been delayed a little due to Peter and the rubber dinghy trying to share the same space and time as a large catamaran – more of that later, but to reassure those of a more nervous disposition, the rubber dinghy and…