Part
4.
Rhino
Island
The day is breaking. Our position is Latitude 6° 45' South , longitude 105° 20' East. The stearing compass shows a course of 210°. Panaitan Island is close. Very close. And suddenly, as we cruise out of the Sunda Straight and into the vast north east Indian Ocean, the first big open ocean swell slides through underneath the Indies Explorer. A ruler straight 4m swell which gently picks us up...then drops us down again. Behind it another. Coming out of the south west.
"Checkit out!" somebody shouts on the foredeck. Now everyone on board is awake, scrambling for the binocs, peering into the distance where Panaitan Island is slowly revealing itself in the first light of dawn. The smell of fresh coffee floats from the galley where Chantal is brewing a pot of Java's best. Lombard is dicing 2 pineapples, a giant papaya and a handful babanas. He feeds a chunk of banana to our Sulphur Crested Cockatoo "Indie". Here we start our day with a healthy fruit salad. Two of our guests scale the rig, hoping that the added height will give them a glimpse of the surf. This party has flown more than 4000 miles to get here. And now they were only 1/2 hour away from one of Indonesia's legendary waves.
Panaitan Island guards the entrance to the Sunda Straight, the channel of water which separates Sumatra and Java. When Captain Cook sailed through here en route to the Pacific, he anchored his vessel Endevour in the lee of Panaitan and christened it Princess Island. They were hestitant to go ashore here. The jungle of Panaitan was teeming with tiger, leopard and rhino. Yes, RHINO.
Panaitan Island forms part of the Ujung Kulon national park, which lies on the extreme south-western tip of Java. The famous volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 wiped out Panaitan Island and most of the Ujung Kulon peninsula. Following the explosions and tidal waves, the area was blanketed by a layer of volcanic ash and dust. After the jungle grew back and the area was re-inhabited by wildlife, it was set aside as a nature reserve in 1921. By 1991 the area was designated a World Heritage site.
Ujung Kulon is the last remaining viable natural refuge for Javan rhinoceros. Only 60 of these lesser one-horned rhinoceroses remain alive. The hide of this rhino is characterized by large plates of hard tissue joined by thinner, more flexible layers of skin. A prehistoric animal with short horns and lower incisors resembling tusks.
So you think twice before paddling ashore after your surf. Sure, these Rhinos are now very scarce and the Javan tiger was locally extirpated about 40 years ago. But what about the leopards?
We see thick jungle spilling onto an empty beach. No sign of life so early in the morning. The Indies Explorer is approaching Panaitan from the lee side. So far no sign of surf. A small headland lies ahead, bending forward under the weight of the thick green vegetation. Behind we see white water spraying into the sky as a wave hits the wild side. The charter passengers have gone quiet on the foredeck. But still the headland hides the surf. What will Panaitan reveal?
Spellbound
passengers
The legendary One Palm Point is not a wave for beginners. The take off zone is marked by a solitary palm. The local Indo Surf guides describes it as ridiculously shallow and recommend that you wear any protective gear you can find.
I hear snatches of nervous conversation drifting up from the foredeck:
".....no I don't have a helmet. Have you got one?"
"I've got booties, but maybe we should wait for the tide to push?"
Freddie is already waxing his board. Peter is stretching on the foredeck. At a steady 9 knots the Indies Explorer rounds the headland.
When I think back to that moment when I first saw an absolutely perfect wave peeling from the wheelhouse of my own boat, it is difficult to put on paper exactly what went through my mind. Joy. Happiness. Fulfilment. Relief. We made it. The thing is, this was only the beginning.
And the wave just kept on peeling. A barrelling 6 foot beauty which just ran all the way from the outside, past the spellbound spectators gallery on the foredeck, and into the bay.
It was a good sized swell, and One Palm Point was pumping.
To
be
continued
... |
