Capt. Sedana sails ancient trade route

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.