06.08.12 - An island appeared in the horizon...

An island appeared in the horizon, we’d left early that morning, had 90 miles to go that day. With a southesterly wind 6-10 m/s, we had all sails out, sailing wing and wing, the genoa poled out to starboard. Orbit was rolling from side to side in the big waves yet making a really good speed, 7,5 knots. When we had the island on starboard, we Jibed, got around the corner into the leeward side of the island. The seas soon crumbled and the wind died. Many smaller islands were hidden on the north side of the main island (Pulau Wajil). 

Our attention was drawn to the tall rocky lava mountains completely overgrown in fresh green tropical jungle vegetation, small exotic white coral beaches every here and there. We were taken back to a time long before humans walked the earth. Ken, Sofie and Kai went up the ladder by the mast guiding us through the maze of corals. I asked Kai if these reefs surrounding the islands were fringing reefs, I’d read something about the formation of reefs in a diving book earlier that day. He responded with excitement in his voice; “I don’t know what you call these. Garden of Eden reefs!” I nodded. This was for sure a magical place.

I was filled with excitement, couldn’t wait to explore this place. So felt everyone else. As soon as the anchor was set, we got the dinghy in the water and Ken and Sofie disappeared over the reef. Kai, Megan and Kenneth snorkeled up and swam to a little island where they got ashore on a beautiful little beach where the palm trees grew with a distance, as they knew we would come by one day to set up a hammock. I got into the kayak and took off in the opposite direction, over a shallow reef where small bright turquoise fish were swimming around me. I was heading in through a pass between two dramatic walls that rose on each side of me, looking up. The lava was nothing like I’d ever seen before. Jagged and rough. Impossible for man to climb. Still somehow plants had found a way to grow here, small carnivorous plants, bigger plants and even larger trees. I could feel my heart beat as I got further in, not knowing what to expect next. It soon opened up, and I was surprised to find that it had been a pass into this small, enclosed pond with a rock breaking the surface in the middle, all surrounded by steep lava walls. On the right side, the wall formed this huge stalactite formation. It was breathtaking. I drifted for a bit, listened to the foreign sounds of unknown animals, birds and insects. I really got the feeling of being far away from home.  

Next day. Back at the boat. I was sitting in the pulpit at the bow letting my thoughts drift by. This was the first time we really had a place all by ourselves. We were far away from the other boats from the rally, no villages, no curious local fishermen pulling up to the boat, just us. It was a relief, all the planning prior to this trip, working hard to get the boat ready in Darwin, provisioning ect. It was all done. This was what we’d been striving for. Kai and Megan left in the kayaks and I watched them head in the same direction as I’d gone the day before, excited on their behalf. I hadn’t said what to expect on the other side of the pass. Some time after I saw them come back out. They didn’t come back to the boat, but continued around the island and was soon out of sight again. I stayed in the bow for a while enjoying the peaceful surroundings before I returned to the cockpit. I was in the cockpit with Kenneth when Kai and Megan returned. Sofie and Ken were down stairs. I got out on the swim platform at the stern, eager to hear how they liked the secret pond and what else they’d discovered. Megan had this smile glued on her face that just didn’t fade away. It was the same face that I’d seen on the beach where Megan was in ecstasy cause of the many shells. I’m sure the people who know her well, know exactly what I’m talking about. “How was it?” I yelled. Megan just waved her hand crazy in front of her chest. I took me just a second to realize what that meant. “really, really?” I could see something glinting in the sun on her finger. I really liked Sofie’s response, she started jumping up and down screaming “Oh my God, of my God, congratulations, oh my God!”, embracing Megan and Kai. We went downstairs to watch the episode on the computer. I’ll leave this for Megan and Kai to tell them selves, I think they do that better themselves. It was perfect.

Kenneth and I went on a new adventure in the kayaks. After exploring the area for a bit we returned and went into the pond. Kenneth paddled over to a huge stalactite that came almost down to the surface now that the tide was high. He paddled around it. The view looking up was incredible. He reached a hand out to hold on to better be able to take in the impressions. The overhang was majestic. It made us feel so tiny. His hand fell into a jug, he touched the surface. Damp but smooth. We’d been talking about doing deep water soloing several times cause the rocks are often vertical down to the surface. The jagged structure and the shallow fringing reefs had made it impossible so far though. We looked down into the beautiful turquoise water. We could see the bottom it looked promising. Kenneth put his paddle in the water to get an idea of the depth, didn’t hit the bottom. Hmm. Closest to the stalactite it was at least 2.4 m and the slope was steep. Kenneth decided to give it a try. He tied the kayak to the pillar, got up standing in the kayak and started the ascent. He was careful to check the quality of every grip, keeping an eye on the kayak below, ready to push off not to hit the kayak in case he fell off. Man it was cool. He jumped, a big splash, a satisfying scream and a high five. My turn was up next. With the guidance from below I saved some energy and continued a little higher now we were sure the water was deep enough. Then I looked down and remembered that I had to get down again. My brain started fucking with me. FUCK. I realized that I was still wearing sunglasses, my cap and had a compass and a camera around my neck. I fumbled to put the stuff in my short’s pocket and held on to my cap when I, on Kenneth’s countdown, jumped out. I was surprised to be airborne for so long. Then I felt the splash breaking through the surface, saw the bobbles all around me, I surfaced, swam to Kenneth and gave him a high five;-). Of course Kenneth had to get even higher on his next try. It looked easier this time without the spray skirt and feeling confident about the grip. We were still high on adrenaline when we got back to the boat. Kai was still out spearfishing. Megan and Sofie had swum back to the boat when the current had picked up. Kai came back before sunset with this beautiful Barramundi.

He’s the best spear fisher I’ve ever met. So dedicated. Actually I think he’s a fish himself. Sofie made us all a sundowner that we enjoyed in the cockpit where Kai told that he’d been hiding the ring in different places for six month for Megan not to find it. It had been tricky sometimes cause Megan usually do the unpacking. He’d been waiting for the right moment, the right place, being around the right people. This was it. They looked so happy.

When he looked at her, he had this beautiful, charming smiling face, and you could see the love in his eyes. Oh man! It melted my heart. Kenneth and I were talking the day after and he said; “did you notice that Kai said that he’d waited to be around the right people… that it meant that he thought we were the right people?” “Yea” I answered. That was possibly the greatest compliment we could get from him.

Later Kai, Megan and Sofie prepared the most amazing dinner. The Barramundi turned out so good, the meat curled up just like a lobster. So good.

Written by Pil