Passage to Indon Not the Debut they were hoping for

I AWAKE at four in the morning after eight hours of blissful sleep, the longest period of uninterrupted slumber I have had for a week. Sailing Vessel Zefr has just completed the passage from Thursday Island, Australia to Debut in the Kei Islands of Indonesia.

I lay there enjoying the stillness of the boat in its protected anchorage. Skipper Gary snores contentedly beside me. I start drifting off to sleep again when a very loud chant jerks me awake, Toto, we ain’t in Queensland no more.

We are on the Wonderful Sail2Indonesia rally and there are almost seventy boats along for the ride. It was wonderful sailing, the sou’east trade winds pushed us along for the five day, 560 nautical mile journey from Thursday Island to Debut.

The first melodic call to prayer has rolled out across the anchorage. Five minutes later a second call to prayer from the competition starts up, the combination of the two is a choral cacophony, as the two calls jarringly compete down the streets and across the water.

At 5am they both cease for a moment, then start up again with a modern Muslim soft rock tune. By now the roosters have joined in and I am wondering why the dogs are not