Yachts at Ancol Marina offer an alternative weekend away

JAKARTA (JP): Yacht crews at Ancol Marina recreational park, North Jakarta, have their own version of peak season.

They call every July and August, for example, the Arab holiday season. At the end of the year, it's the Japanese holiday period, they told The Jakarta Post last week.

The marina seamen name the periods simply to mark the presence of crowds of Arabs and Japanese who, at particular times of the year, rent yachts to sail to several spots in the vast Seribu Islands marine resort in Jakarta Bay.

"From July to August, many Arabs usually come to the marina to rent boats. That's why we call the months Arab holiday," deckhand Gufron, 15, said.

The busy days of the crews do not only depend on foreigners. Even though the rental fee could be considered relatively expensive by locals, particularly in such a time of hardship, local businessmen often spend their money treating their counterparts to a pleasure cruise.

When the city was hit by riots in July three years ago, the yachts became "lifeboats" for fearful Chinese-Indonesian families. The crews say the time was also a peak season.

Mahfud, 21, a crew member of Pari Kudus, said the marina was heavily packed with Chinese-Indonesians, who hastily asked the crewmen to sail them to islands in the Seribu Islands.

"They did not bargain at all. They just paid whatever price we mentioned," Mahfud said.

Home to some 125 luxurious yachts, the marina sees dozens of crewmen going about their daily chores of maintaining the boats every morning in the sparkling waters of Jakarta Bay.

According to the crewmen, many of the boats -- with price tags of around Rp 3 billion (US$340,000) each -- belong to Jakarta residents. Few of them are owned by expatriates.

Several noted figures, such as TV presenter Zsa Zsa Yuzaryahya and businessman Surya Paloh, have their own yachts, they said.

"This big boat over here is Zsa Zsa's," Mahfud said.

Surya Paloh, owner of Media Indonesia daily, berths his boat at Sunda Kelapa harbor, about two kilometers from Ancol Marina, he added.

According to Mahfud, people usually rent the boats on Saturdays and Sundays to travel to one of the many islands in the Seribu Islands chain.

The yachts, which are between 10 meters and 15 meters in length, are furnished with comfortable sofas. Some of the boats have a company name painted on their hulls, such as the one bearing the name of the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN).

Crew member Daeng Ahmad, 26, said his boat was for rent at Rp 3.5 million for a 10-hour trip.

"My boat can take a maximum of 12 people. So it is not that expensive if you divide the cost by 12," Daeng said.

He added that people usually rent the boat to go fishing near Putri island, some 70 kilometers northwest of the marina.

"We provide the fishing equipment," Daeng said. "And if necessary we can leave very early in the morning when fish are much easier to catch."

Rental rates, however, vary from yacht to yacht.

Other yachts are rented for between Rp 2.5 million and Rp 5 million per trip. Thus, bargaining skills are need by the prospective renter to get the best deal.

An owner of a garment company in Cilincing in North Jakarta, Tri Yuwono, who was trying to get a good price for a boat, was patiently going from one boat to another.

"I usually take my business colleagues from Japan to the islands on weekends. It's good for recreation and it's a good deal," Tri said.

Head of the finance department of Marina Jaya Ancol office, which administrates the docking of the boats, Boerny Amir said that each of the 125 boats registered to berth at the dock was charged Rp 121,000 for each meter of the boat's length.

"We check the yachts every day so it's impossible for unregistered boats to dock here," Boerny said.

However, he refused to mention the names of the owners of the boats. (08)