135 yachts gather in Darwin for Sail Indonesia Rally

10:01 PM Fri 19 Jun 2009 GMT

'Sail Indonesia - war canoe Banda' .

There's a lot of painting and cleaning and boat repairing going on in Darwin at the moment. As July 18 gets closer there'll be much partying as well, as 135 yachts gather in the northern port.

They are gathering to join the Sail Indonesia Rally that allows them to enter and sail the magic coastlines and islands of Indonesia with a minimum of fuss - they hope.

Kupang, which impounded the entire fleet of 120 yachts when they arrived there last year, has been dropped from the route. Last year, in spite of all arrangements having been made with the Indonesian Government, Kupang

Sail Indonesia - wandering the beaches - .. .

officials impounded the yachts, demanding 'import duty'.

After being held up for two days, the bureaucracy was sorted out, and the yachts, many of which were still in a state of shock, allowed to continue.

Instead of visiting Kupang, the yachts are being 'encouraged' to sail a different route and end up in Bunaken, thereby assisting the Indonesian Government to make a success of their own pet project, Sail Bunaken, which is being organised in Manado and Bunaken in August.

In Bunaken, another 24 yachts have registered to join the rally there, making a total of 159 yachts participating this year.

As a reward for going where the Indonesians want, they will be turning on cultural events along the way, and it will be

Sail Indonesia - Mesjid al Fatah - .. .

interesting to see whether this new formula goes down well with the participants.

The Indonesian Fleet Review 2009 is a maritime extravaganza which is primarily a Naval affair, and 42 countries have agreed to send their naval chiefs to participate.

There'll be a sailing pass parade to include warships, including the USS George Washington with around 5,000 crew, traditional ships, tall ships, the yachts and other vessels of various kinds.

As for the Sail Indonesia rally, boats from Australia and the United Kingdom are represented heavily among the entries, but there are also many others from a wide

Sail Indonesia - Laut Ambon - .. .

range of countries.

European boats are there in force, while under-represented this year are yachts from the USA.

Among more unusual entries are those from the Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu.

The majority of yachts are between 30ft and 50ft, and the more heavily constructed, long keeled yachts are in the majority, known to be suitable for safely crossing oceans.

Yachts who do NOT stick to the required route are being warned by Rally organisers

Sail Indonesia route - .. .

that not all the provinces of Indonesia will abide by central rules governing the arrival of yachts into the country, and their yachts could be impounded until hefty 'import duties' are paid.

For full details of the route, the Indonesian expectations and the other tricky aspects of this popular rally and the new cruising route, go the Sail Indonesiaweb page.

by Nancy Knudsen

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