'Sandeq' team aborts mission<\/p>\n
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura<\/p>\n
A team of sailors from Japan and Indonesia has aborted a boat
\nexpedition to Peru as their boat failed to overcome the huge
\nwaves off the Solomon Islands.<\/p>\n
\"The 17-meter high waves were too tough to be overcome, so we
\ndecided to abort the mission and return to Jayapura,\" said
\nYoshiyuki Yamamoto, the leader of five sailors from Indonesia and
\nanother from Japan.<\/p>\n
The expedition team, on board the Sandeq traditional boat from
\nthe Mandar area of South Sulawesi, began the expedition in May
\nfrom Makassar. They stopped off in Jayapura in July and continued
\ntheir journey bound for Peru. The team was slated to arrive in
\nPeru in August but delays and then harsh weather forced them to
\nabort. Yamamoto's team then returned to Jayapura on August 21.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the same boat successfully completed another trip;
\nfrom western Sulawesi to Thailand in 2003.<\/p>\n
Both expeditions were aimed at repeating the success of the
\nMandar tribal sailors, who set sail with the same type of boat
\nhundreds of years ago and were said to make it as far as South
\nAfrica for trade purposes. The expeditions were also aimed at
\npromoting their boats and sailors, who have been well known as
\nbrave sailors for centuries.<\/p>\n
Yamamoto recalled how earlier the team had actually taken into
\naccount the bad weather off the Solomons. They attempted to set
\nsail in July but the change of boat crew on their way from
\nMakassar to Jayapura slowed down the journey, meaning they had to
\nface the reality that they had to pass the Solomon Islands in
\nAugust -- generally considered a bad time for weather.<\/p>\n
\"If there was no bad weather off the Solomon Islands, we would
\nhave been in Peru in August,\" said Yamamoto in Jayapura.<\/p>\n
Although the expedition was a failure, Yamamoto said that he
\nwas not disappointed. He and his sponsors from Thailand had
\nplanned that the boat would carry out another expedition either
\nto China or Arabia.<\/p>\n
The Sandeq is now docked in a port near Dok IX Beach in
\nJayapura. The boat is undergoing repairs to the stern, which was
\ndamaged in the waves.<\/p>\n
The boat is 17 meters long, 1.2 meters wide, with 13 leeboards
\nand an 18-meter tall mast. It is made solely from wood and
\nbamboo. The boat cost Rp 250 million (US$25,000) to build and the
\nteam spent US$150,000 in operational costs.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sandeq-team-aborts-mission-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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