'Borobudur' crew greeted with top state medals

Leony Aurora , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cheers and praise greeted a group of intrepid sailors returning on Friday from an epic six-month voyage tracing the Cinnamon Route from the archipelago to Africa onboard the Samudraraksa, a traditional sailing vessel.

After eight of them had Satya Lencana medals for culture conferred upon them by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the adventurers received certificates of recognition from State Minister for Culture and Tourism I Gde Ardika in Jakarta later in the day.

"The success of this expedition proves that the ancestors of Indonesians were great sailors," the proud minister said. The ship, designed based on reliefs found in the Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java, is wind-propelled, has no iron or nails and was built using wood and coconut fibers.

The Samudraraksa, meaning a ship that can protect and secure the waters of the archipelago, is 18.29 meters long and 4.5 meters wide. It has two rectangular sails and two outriggers on its sides.

Navy Captain I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana led the crew, which included 10 civilians specially selected for the mission, three carpenters, as well as promoter Philip Beale, to complete four legs of journey.

They ship set out from Jakarta on Aug. 15, 2003, and sailed past the Seychelles, Madagascar, Capetown, and St. Helena, and finally arriving at the port of Accra in Ghana on Feb. 23 of this year.

"It was a mission impossible," said the captain with a laugh. In the first three weeks, he said, seasickness had been a major problem.

Nevertheless, the voyage should serve to rekindle again the love of the sea in the hearts of Indonesians, apparent in minister Ardika's hope that "once again we can become a maritime nation that rules the waves."

Beale, formerly of the Royal Navy, initiated the construction of the ship and the expedition that followed. The vessel was built by a crew under seasoned traditional shipbuilder As'ad Abdullah with the help of an Australian maritime adviser, Nick Burningham, in the Kangean islands, some 60 miles north of Bali.

During the award presentation ceremony, Beale officially handed over the vessel to the Indonesian government to be preserved in a museum to be built at Borobudur temple in Central Java.

"The ship is still in Ghana but is already on a cargo ship," said Sudana. "It will take approximately one month for the ship to reach Semarang and be transferred to the Borobudur complex."