West Lombok
Try a unique taste the Territory’s neighbour, Indonesia, from aboard a historic ship, island-hopping and sailing the serene seas around Bali
“Who here has been on a cruise before?” asks Peter Kissner, the Star Clipper’s ponytailed Bavarian cruise director. Around half the ship’s 105 passengers raise their hand.
“Well, I want you to forget everything you’ve learned or anything you think you know about cruising. Here, there are no cabaret shows, no casinos and no shopping malls. Our aim is to teach you what it’s like to sail on a tall ship, and by that I don’t mean all the men up top scrubbing decks while the women stay down below peeling potatoes. We encourage you to help hoist the sails. And our bridge is open 24 hours if you want to chat to the ship’s officers or learn how to navigate.”
So begins the Star Clipper’s inaugural sevenday westbound cruise around Indonesia from the Balinese port of Benoa. It’s our first morning on board after sailing through the night, and we’re navigating through the Lombok Strait that separates the Indian Ocean from the Pacific further north. Earlier, our Russian second officer had explained to me that we hadn’t sailed in the opposite direction towards the Bali Strait — the narrow body of water separating Bali from Java — because the winds would not be as favourable and the waters too shallow.
“We’re a sailing boat. Whenever we can, we’ll use those trade winds to our advantage,” he’d said, further underlining how our voyage on the Star Clipper would differ from conventional cruise liners. That much is clear just by looking up. Every sheet of canvas — all 21 sails across four masts — has been unfurled to catch the breezes that propel us through the water. The highest of those masts towers 70m above the deck, making the Star Clipper the tallest of all the tall ships sailing the world.
It’s been that way since the Star Clipper first set sail out of Belgium’s Scheepswerven van Langerbrugge shipyard in 1992. Ever since, it has sailed around the Mediterranean Sea during European summers then wintered in the Andaman Sea, off Thailand. Not so any more. As of May this year, the Star Clipper began sailing exclusively around Southeast Asia, opening further holiday opportunities for Australians who are looking for more than just a stop and drop vacation in Bali.
Over seven days, our voyage will cover a total of 560 nautical miles, sailing from Southern Bali to East Java before backtracking to Lovina Beach on Bali’s north coast. From there, we’ll navigate eastwards towards the unassuming port of Carik in Lombok’s far north, after which we’ll shadow the volcanic Mt Rinjani along the island’s west coast, anchoring off Senggigi Beach and Gili Sudak before steering back towards Benoa.
Clippers are distinguishable by their long narrow hulls, high bowsprit and multiple masts. Though clippers first entered the world’s nautical highways in the 17th century, they peaked 200 years later during the heady American gold rush days. At the time, clippers were called the “greyhounds of the sea” because of their ability to sail four or five times faster than other ships of that era, and shipowners began to maximise profits by freighting smaller loads of gold from one coast to the other more frequently.
On our voyage, every anchorage has been purposely chosen because of their proximity to worthy attractions. A handful of guests will never leave the ship. For them, the romance of sailing the first clipper ship to be built since 1912 is what sets this cruise apart. The rest of us will have multiple opportunities to step ashore and look around, either on organised tours or independently. On the island of Madura, we’ll have the option to join a cultural tour around Sumanep, visiting a sultan’s palace and royal baths, and a four-metre-high copy of the Koran that weighs half a tonne. Then a full-day excursion by bus, jeep and pony will take us to the crater rim of steamy Mt Bromo, in Java’s most easterly province.
From Lovina, outings to waterfalls and temples and hiking trails are planned. And on Lombok, we’ll travel inland through Sasak villages to see centuries-old mosques and contemporary Buddhist temples, and to hike through rainforests and plantations to majestic waterfalls. On our last full day before we return to Benoa, we’ll spend hours kayaking, wakeboarding, water skiing and snorkelling in an island lagoon, and feasting on barbecued lunches by a white-sand beach.
Most of the sailing between ports is done overnight, with today the only exception. It will take us 23 hours to reach Madura, though there’s no shortage of scheduled activities to keep us busy. While the Europeans idle on the sun deck beside one of two swimming pools, others hide away inside surprisingly spacious cabins. Or in a lounge area that’s rich in mahogany and teak trimmings, listening to the background tinkling of our Napolitano pianist.
But there are also instructional tutorials around how to read sea charts, tie sailor’s knots or use the ship’s sextant. A treasure hunt doubles as an orientation exercise in case of emergency, and introductory scuba courses are organised ahead of several opportunities we’ll have to dive and snorkel over coastal reefs.
After our five-course evening meals, guests will inevitably gravitate towards the Tropical Bar where fashion shows, trivia competitions and a dance floor that stays open until late ensures that the stumbling walk back to one’s cabin isn’t always triggered by rocky seas.
“When most people look at a map,” continues Kissner, during his introductory greeting, “they see water as something that separates the land. As sailors, we see it as a way to connect everything together.”
With so much ahead of us, it’s a sentiment I feel sure we’ll echo by our voyage’s end.