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It took three days and two nights to reach Sabang, the northern and western most point of Sumatra and one of the areas hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami. During this time, we had to cross perpendicular to the shipping channels. Before, we had been following the ships up the strait. Now, we had to time our crossing and cut in front of and behind the ships. It was intimidating, and we got pretty close to some massive boats a few times, but we made it. The days passed both slowly and quickly. It’s like that on a boat. The horizon stretches out, the wind shifts and the ocean moves. Clouds come and go. We cooked roast dinners, baked bread, read our books, tinkered around. One morning a fishing boat zoomed towards us at full speed. We were in an area famous for piracy, and had been told before the trip that we should bring firearms on the boat. We definitely hadn’t followed that advice, but the thought kept us on our toes. The boat came right up on our port side, and pulled alongside us. Our chests were thumping with adrenaline, and I was getting prepared to do I’m not sure what. Karate or something. Luckily, it was just a few extremely friendly local fishermen who wanted cigarettes. The relief was palpable as we chatted with the men, out at sea for two weeks in a small boat with no shade. We gave them a bottle of whiskey and some fruit. They gave us two fish. It was my birthday, and that night Torren cooked the fish whole in the oven with roasted potatoes, garlic and lemon. Quite the turnaround.
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The afternoon we approached Sabang, we were joined by a big pod of dolphins who leapt and danced at our bow. As we neared shore, the current switched and we hooned into the harbour at a whopping 7.5 knots. It felt monumental to finally be in Indonesia, and we were all in good spirits. In Sabang, we had to deal with the port authorities and check into Indonesia. It turned into a hilarious ordeal. The customs and immigrations officers came onto the boat, where we all ate birthday cake, and they sat around making jokes and having a full on party while they ‘looked over our papers’. Initially, the quarantine officers told us we would have to stay on Calypte for three days before being allowed on land. We knew that Indonesia had changed their Covid rules a month prior, and we told the officials that we didn’t think we should have to quarantine. One of the guys googled it as we all sat around drinking soda and smoking cigarettes, and chuckled as he realised we were right. I guess that they hadn’t checked the rules in a while. Needless to say, we were overjoyed that we got to stretch our legs and eat some nasi goreng on land the next day.
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In Sabang, we anchored behind a small, picturesque island that sheltered us from the variable winds and squalls. It was a beautiful spot where we met some of the first other traveling boaters we had encountered. There are not really any surfable waves around the town, but by a stroke of luck we woke up the next morning to find a tiny, perfect little left and a right breaking about 300 meters from our anchorage. It was Torren’s birthday and felt auspicious. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, birds sang in the jungle around us, friendly fishermen waved hello as they went by. We spent all day in the water, ate big fruit salads and drank cold beers. After a few months of challenging crossings, learning a lot, and feeling on edge more often than not, that day felt like a gift. The journey from Sabang to the Banyak Islands was about another 300 miles down the coast of Sumatra. We hadn’t spent much time thinking about this bit, but the other boaters we met in Sabang warned us that they had encountered pretty gnarly weather there. Word on the water was that Sabang was cursed. Apparently, of the ten boats who had tried to leave in the last few months only one had made it out. The stories were intimidating, and we braced ourselves for shit to hit the fan as we made our way out of Sabang.
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The first day was a bit of a challenge. We were going into a bottleneck between the islands and the open ocean, and we had swell, wind and current on our nose for about eight hours. It was a bumpy ride as we fought the energy of the Indian Ocean wrapping its way around northern Sumatra. We were happy when we made it out the other side and lucked into a good weather pattern. During our night watches, it felt like a huge relief to not constantly be surrounded by marine traffic. We made good time and arrived in the Banyak Islands a few days later. This was our first real surf destination, and as we approached the islands it felt like we had finally made it. The islands looked like something from a dream. We arrived at dawn and a thin mist sat over the ocean. The jungle rose up suddenly from the crystalline ocean, impenetrable and vibrantly green. It was exactly like you would imagine a tropical island paradise, but somehow better. These islands are remote, and we saw no signs of other people at all. It wasn’t long before we laid eyes on the first real surf we had seen since the trip began. The waves were about three foot, and peeled perfectly along the reef. The water was absolutely crystal clear, and there was no wind. It was a crazy feeling to know how far we’d come, that we could drop the anchor and jump off the boat and go surfing. We were finally here, over 2,000 nautical miles later. For the first time since the start of the trip, we had nowhere else to be and we finally thought we could relax and soak it all in. The next day… we ran aground. Then our windlass broke. Then the mosquitos moved in. The adventure continues…
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