captain's breakfast

Each year when the Sama Sama sails into its channel anchorage, a flutter of excitement rises with the anticipation of our annual breakfast outing. The graceful teak boat is owned by an Austrian couple, and in between charters they slot in a ten day holiday, before the boat heads to the Mentawai for the remainder of the surf season. 

With their Balinese cook they laid on a buffet breakfast that lasted all morning. Two loaves of bread -warm from the oven - fruit platter, toasted muesli, eggs, salami, banana and chocolate cake, a selection of jams and spreads, juice, tea and a bottomless plunger of coffee. Oh how variety can cause one to overeat. Sweet to savoury, back to sweet...another coffee? more bread? 

In between courses we dived off the deck, did laps around the boat, the girls played cards while the boys battled it out in chess. Tom found a spot on the daybed with 360 degree ocean views, and slowly slipped from the position you see above to a more horizontal one. 

Thank you Susannah and Gerfried for generously sharing your supplies and space. Your visit is always a highlight of the year. Until next time, may the wind fill your sails. 

parked up

Back in the garage at the end of another hard day's work. 

Mick's commuter vehicle takes poll position in the pool.

halcyon days

For those of you out there suffering through a winter's day, avert your eyes from the grey sky and gaze into the turqouise water of the lagoon.....

Where the bloody hell are ya?

boaties breakfast

A hot ticket item on the annual social calendar is the exclusive breakfast invite aboard the Sama-Sama, a 20 metre teak charter yacht.  This year six of us were transferred by dingy to the floating delights of a buffet with the boat's Austrian owners, Gerfreid and Suzannah.

The Balinese chef baked fresh bread, brewed coffee, and laid out a Continental spread of fruit, cheese and cereal.  All served with a flying fish's eye view of the wave and lagoon.  We are so enamoured of the boat's spacious interior, deck space and cruising potential, that there is talk of a few nights aboard in 2011, into the great blue expanse of Indo's ocean swell.  I wonder if they'll take me on as the tea lady?

Thanks to Jen Battles for photos.

control of the high seas

Dawn breaks over the lagoon as we load Mick’s tri-maran with snacks, sunscreen, fuel tanks and an array of equipment for water activities. Surfboards : check. Stand-up-paddle board : check. Kiteboard : check. Mask and snorkle : check. A day out communing with nature is imminent.


The water is glassy and clear as we motor around the reef and into the open ocean. A brief interlude for a morning surf, then Mick unfurls the “screecher” and we sail to protected waters for a cuppa and cranberry muffins. The water is like Venetian glass, reflecting a cloudless sky over a white sand bottom. I do my best to channel Jacky Onassis or Princess Mary, lazing away a Thursday on the bow.



We push 6 knots across the channel to the leeward side of “Bat Island” for lunch. Sail, swim, eat, repeat. I’m getting the hang of this sailing gig. The coral garden beneath us is undamaged, a rare display in an area prone to dynamite fishing and a total disregard for preservation. Above us looms a grey, gaping cliff face; ancient reef exposed to the elements in another eon. The westerly on-shore wind has picked up and we punch into the swell under full sail. It is my first real sailing experience since lolling about in tiny bathtubs for school boating. If I stay on deck I can endure fairly rough conditions, but five minutes in the galley and I’m toast.


The red sphere hits the horizon as we enter the lagoon and glide home. The perfect clichéd end to a magic day.