Padang and Cubadak Island (25th April to 6th May 2012)

We arrived at Teluk Bayur, the cargo port of Padang on the 25th of April and  spent a week restocking with supplies and orientating to our surroundings.

The morning anchovy catch fresh for the market

private wharf used by charter boats and  yachties

My brother Ralph arrived from NZ to crew for us to Mauritius via Chagos (BIOT) We hired a guide and a driver for the day. On the way to pick Ralph up from the hotel we were stopped by the police as part of a roadside check. Nothing was wrong but the driver had to pay him a bribe. He said that as he was transporting tourists and earning good money he should have his cut! A common occurence in Indonesia

Motorbikes and sidecars/trailers carry huge loads but there appears to be no restrictions on cargo size 

Meeting Ralph on the 1st of May

We lunched at a traditional Padang cuisine restaurant

The cat under the table wanted his share too

Our guide Azu and driver John

Ralph organising new transportation???

Cubadak resort, Cubadak Island, 10nm sth of Padang

Enjoying beers with hosts Marco and Dominique

Filling water tanks at the resort jetty

Cruising friends Peter and Cathy. We joined them for dinner at the resort that night to celebrate his birthday

View from the top of the hill

Cathy on top of the world!

We got a lift with Marco to and from the nearby village, Carocok. He had guests to pick up and others who were leaving

We had 4 hrs to look around before getting a ride back to the resort

We got a ride in an opelet (motorbike with sidecar) to the nearby town, Tarasun where there was a market. It took about 20mins.

There were many children who had finished morning school walking home

This man at the market (pasar) was very happy to have his photo taken shredding coconut

The local people were extremely friendly and inquisitive

Indonesian coffee (Kopi) was enjoyed here while Ralph purchased gifts to take home to NZ

We had a great day out

Tomorrow we leave for the Mentawi Islands, an overnight sail, and we will leave there for Chagos (BIOT)

CRUISERS NOTES

Padang: 01' 00.01S 100'23.06E. We chose to go to Padang even though many people had said that anchoring south at Cubadak Island and commuting north to Padang by bus was nicer. We needed supplies, diesel and also to pick up Cathy’s brother as crew. This would have meant multiple trips and we didn’t know what we might get at Cubadak. We knew we would get it all at Padang.

We had a recommendation for an agent (guide) in Padang. Azu. Ph 082171871084. He is a pleasant young man who is trying to establish himself as a fixer (surfers term). He is young and is just coming to realize that cruisers needs are different to those of a surfing boat charterer.

We had him arrange some cheap transport 250,000 Rph/day. This included a non English speaking driver and fuel. Azu charged 250,000 Ir for the day and you are expected to buy them lunch. Azu knows some nice places. We got most of what we needed from Basco mall super market.

We landed our dinghy at the small private jetty at the head of the bay. This is owned by Azu's ex boss and he has an arrangement to use it. However this requires a payment of 250,000 Rph through Azu to the owner. This is for one use or multiple uses. We paid as we would use it often. But we found that Azu's colleges were not looking after our dinghy as arranged and we hauled it on the little beach just to the right of the jetty. While in harbour a squall came through and we dragged anchor. As many as six ships dragged and there was a near collision. Moorings may be arranged if any of the charter fleet are out. The bottom seems to be a fine mud of varying thickness and may be covered in rubbish.

We had been told that the authorities here, particularly the immigration can be quite brutal with fees.

We paid the immigration nothing. He did hint at whiskey. We paid Harbour Master and Quarantine 50,000 Rph each. The immigration man works between town and the port and keeps his stamps at his home ?

There is a good little market a short walk from the anchorage. Diesel is 10,000 a lt and a 110,000 delivery fee to your boat. We organised cheaper 7,000 fuel around the corner at Bungus habour and got a bogus shitty brew! We arranged another day to pick up Cathy's brother and do the clearing rounds. For this we hired a better vehicle, 600,000/day with driver. We were stopped at a police road block and the driver had to pay a 50,000 rp bribe or things could be made difficult ? The car and driver we all legal but if there are tourists aboard then there's money and the police want their cut. We did reimburse the driver.

Cubadak: 01' 12.94S 100'24.06E. The anchorage is on sand in 16 to 25 meters. The shallower you anchor the greater the chance that you may pick up a bomy. We had no problems. There is moderate fetch to the east but we felt safe. The resort is run by Marco and Danial. They are french but have excellent English. They could not have been more accommodating. We carefully tied up along side their light weight but well braced jetty to take on water and enjoyed a beer while the tanks filled. They refused to take any payment for it. They then went further, as at that time no fuel was available at the Menawies and they felt it may not be good to fill up over at Corocok. (We have heard from others that it was good and convenient to fuel there.) How ever Marco kindly topped us up with 60 lts of diesel and also sold us 4lt of petrol at 5500 per lt. They took our rubbish and burnt it. The only small profit that they may have made from us was from a few modestly priced beer's and a superb evening meal.

I hope no-one in the future does anything to change their attitude to cruisers calling in there in the future.