Capt. Sedana sails ancient trade route

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some people considered Navy Captain I Gusti Putu Ngurah Sedana brave for attempting a voyage from Jakarta to Ghana aboard a traditional wooden sailing ship. Others just thought he was crazy. But everyone will be amazed by the stories he has to tell.

The captain recently commanded the Borobudur Samudraraksa, a ship designed based on reliefs from the Borobudur Temple in Central Java, to retrace the cinnamon route taken by Indonesian merchants in the eighth century to sell spices to Africa.

Fourteen or 15 seafarers, half the crew foreigners and half Indonesians, were on board at all times. The Indonesian crew included three boatmakers and 10 inexperienced civilians, who took turns on the four legs of the journey.

The ship, 4.25 meters wide and 18 meters long, contained no iron or nails, with coconut fiber binding it together. Although it contained state-of-the-art equipment -- a global positioning satellite and NavTex to broadcast information on navigation routes -- the ship was at the mercy of nature, with only two sails to catch the winds, its sole driving force.

The first time the Borobudur encountered a big storm was when it passed through the Mozambique channel, going from Madagascar to Cape Town.

Putu was resting in his bunk when he heard the wind screaming between the ropes. "I knew there were big winds coming," said Putu. "We couldn't run from them."

It was 11 a.m. when the wind picked up and the rain began. Thunder and lightning rent the sky as the ship was tossed about helplessly on waves six to seven meters tall.

Trapped in the eye of the storm, the crew panicked. "They just stood there, stunned," said Putu.

At the yells of the captain some of them came back to life, put on their life jackets and tied themselves to the mast or any unmovable object. Soaked to the bone, they managed to bring the smaller sail down, but the wind was so strong that it was impossible to take down the main sail, which was eight meters-by- 15 meters in size.

The ship then tipped sideways, so far that it almost capsized. "We knew we would have to rip the sail," said Putu. But the wind, at 40 knots, was faster than them and shredded the main sail.

"Those who worked on the sails first were the Indonesians," said Putu, pride written all over his face. "The foreigners ran to the back, huddling near the lifeboats, while we were on the deck playing kite with the sails," he said with a small laugh.

Later in the journey, when the Borobudur faced another big storm near the Cape of Good Hope, the crew knew what to do and was able to manage the situation. But after that first storm, two of the foreigners asked to leave the ship at the first port they saw, in Richard Bay, South Africa.

"This got to the Indonesian crew too, who started thinking about quitting," said Putu.

He could endure the weather, the storms and the hardships, but when his crew wanted to quit, his spirit sank.

Together, the team covered some 10,000 nautical miles in more than six months, leaving Jakarta on Aug. 15, 2003, and reaching Ghana on Feb. 23, 2004.

"I was ordered to lead the voyage," said Putu, who looks the part of a Navy officer with a well-trimmed moustache and a no- nonsense posture.

"I was disheartened at first, but an order is an order. So I just had faith."

It was not a lack of competence that worried Putu, his abundant experience on the sea told him how dangerous the trip would be.

Ever since he entered the military academy in 1990, the captain has been fascinated with sails. "The free air of the ocean blows away stress," he said. And so he took up windsurfing and sailing.

In 1996, Putu sailed around the world in 14 months aboard the vessel the Arsa. "But that was different from the Borobudur. With a modern ship, one can easily turn on the engine and run from bad winds," he said.

At that time, his wife, Diah Sriwahyuni Purnamasari, was pregnant with their first child. Putu saw his daughter for the first time when she was 10 months old.

"We named her Genova, because my husband was in Genoa when she was born," said Diah, 30. The couple has two other children, a 6- year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy.

Putu has taken part in many competitions, including the Sydney-Hobart trip in 1998 and the Raja Muda Cup in Malaysia in 1999. In both events, Indonesia won.

"I'm always astonished when people underestimate Indonesia. On the sea, we rule!"

In his last event, the Singapore Strait Regatta competition in 2000, Putu was the skipper and his team took third place. "We still achieved something although our ships are less modern than those from other countries."

Diah was proud that her husband was trusted with bringing Indonesia's name abroad, but hopes that now he will have the chance to stay on land for a while. "He has to continue his education for his career."

It has been six years since Putu became a captain, following the first Post-Graduate Education for Officers in Surabaya. In June, he plans to take up the second course, which will last for six months, to become a major.

In the meantime, he will take a posting on a warship.

"I don't know where I get my love of the sea from, all I know is if I don't see the ocean in a month, I develop a headache," said Putu.

Well, Indonesia's ancestors were masters of the seas.