WORLD VOYAGERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22523, 14 September 1936, Page 6

WORLD VOYAGERS

i IDLE HOTJB'S CEUISE FAREWELL TO BALI ARRIVAL AT SOERABAYA BY IVAN TALMEE In the following article an Aneki.„.. - member of the crew of the American ketch Idle Hour describe* hj, .East Indies as far as Soerabaya. j av^ SOEBABAYA, JAVA, Angiigt 22, Five weeks after leaving Thursda Island, Idle Hour arrived at Soera! baya, Java, after a glorious cruise through the islands of the Dutch East Indies. It was perfection all the ti®e although we could have done with ' great deal more wind. 3 We made stops at remote villages o six islands before we reached Bali After a three-day sightseeing tour of South Bali we returned to the north ern port of Boeleleng to find that Tim! had spent an anxious time in our ab. sence. It was fortunate that he had elected to remain iu Boeleleng, f O , throe times in boisterous weather Idlj Hour dragged her anchors in the poo, anchorage in Boeleleng roads. Once she grounded on sand near a danger 011 , fringing reef, but each time Tirni the aid of several Balinese boys' * a able to tow the craft to safety. ' Early the following morning we W. a reluctant farewell to Bali and headed for Soerabaya, 150 miles distant. One* more we had to resign ourselves to calms and light airs, with occasion ally a gentle, breeze. It was an inter" esting trip, none the less, with the waters of Madura Straits, between Java and Madura Islands, teemin? with native praus and fishing canoa with double outriggers. Strong Navy at Soerabaya Wo were without the use of tha motor, which had failed a week or so previously, and had to contend with strong currents entering Soerabaya. Efforts to repair the engine's carbni rettor at Bali had proved fruitless. We reached Soerabaya at midnight after having drifted the last five miles on the tide. It is a flourishing city—the trade centre of the Netherlands Indies —with splendid roads and fine architecture in the modern Continental style. Absolutely flat, it stretches miles inland from the artificial harbour, which can accommodate all but the largest vessels. The day following our arrival was Fleet Day, an annual event, when the entire East Indies squadron makes a two or three-hour cruise with as many of the residents of Soerabaya as wish to go. Altogether 20 ships of war took part, including six submarines. The climax of the demonstration came at night, when the six largest vessels, brilliantly outlined with electric light bulbs, gave a, searchlight display in time to band music. Modern Ships and Aeroplane* I was surprised to learn the strength of the naval and air divisions of the Dutch Navy located at Soerabaya. There are five modern cruisers—with three more in course of construction —three sloops, eight destroyers, and 20 subas well as numerous minelayers and mine-sweepers. At a base in the centre of Java there are 2000 aeroplanes, many of them not yet out of their packing cases. It is exactly six months to-day since Idle Hour left Auckland and almost a year since Timi, the 16-years-old Tahitian lad, joined the crew at Borabora, French Oceania. He has grown even bigger than he was in Auckland. His English continues to improve by leaps and bounds and the surest way to annoy him is for Dwight or me to address "him in "pidgin'' English.., Timi is the pj;oud possessor of a ukelele and with his inherent love of melody has whiled away many pleasant hours for us singing Tahitian songs and "himenes," French ditties and his version of the latest jazz song he has heard Overland Through"Java Instead of making the trip from Soerabaya to Singapore on Idle Hour, I propose to go overland through Java and then to take a small steamer to Singapore. By this means I hope to see a good deal of Java and will probably be able to reach Singapore before Idle Hour. * Dwight and Timi leave in a few days. It will be the first time they have manned the tiny ketch alone since arriving at Auckland from Pago Pago, American Samoa, toward the en 4 9 last year. Dwight plans to remain in Singapore about a month before eroding the Indian Ocean with the northeast monsoon and continuing to England via Suez. He hopes to be in London by next May, in time for the Coronation celebrations, but to do that he will need to make long passages with only brief stops at important P orts ' The final stage of the trip will probably be the Atlantic crossing to York; it is at present unlikely that the young American will sail Idle Hour back to Seattle, for it would mean a long trip by way of Panama.