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| Tiger Blue-The Whole Story |
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22 Apr 2008 (866 days ago)
Tiger Blue our wonderful, traditional phinisi schooner, offers comfort, style and fun! Built by the renowned Haji Abdullah, master boat-builder, in Tanaberuh, near Bira, on the southern end of Sulawesi, Tiger Blue encompasses the age old tradition of phinisi boat-building without sacrificing any modern comforts. She is 112ft/34m long with a deck width(beam) of 25ft/7.6m.
Tiger Blue has completed sea trials and her maiden voyage. All the pictures you see of her here were taken on the very recent maiden voyage on April 6th from Bira to Makassar, as she makes her way to Makassar Harbour for all her finishing works. She is currently ready to be totally complete by mid June. We are happy to report that she sailed beautifully with Wouter, all crew and Family Wilkinson on board! She managed, under power, an average speed of just over 10 knots for 11 hours, showing she is one of the fastest boats in the traditional fleet.
Tiger Blue's teak decks and super structure offer numerous open spaces to relax in comfort. Spacious cushioned daybeds are available on both the main and top decks. These offer great opportunities for sleeping under the stars on clear nights. At the stern there is the comfortable, fully air-conditioned, more formal salon which is fully equipped with multi-media facilities. From here, the covered deck leads down onto a full width dive platform.
Tiger Blue has some of the largest cabins and beds of similar sized boats in South-East Asian waters . The 4 large, light, fully air-conditioned cabins are individually styled to be bright, fun and comfortable. All four cabins have en-suite bathrooms; 2 double cabins, a smaller cabin with 2 single bunks and a larger family cabin which will happily sleep a family of 4. Designed for only 10 guests Tiger Blue gives more space per guest than virtually all similar sized boats.
Our navigation room will provide ample plug points for recharging equipment such as cameras and computers, and for those who cannot sacrifice work totally, satellite internet connection will be available. Tiger Blue can also be steered from her top deck which also provides great space for tanning, relaxing and enjoying sunsets.
Based out of Makassar, Komodo and Bali, Tiger Blue is well placed to visit some of the islands that make up this fascinating, friendly and culturally diverse archipelago of 18,000 islands. The Marine Reserve of the Komodo Islands offers some incredible diving , stunning beaches, walks and views. A bit farther afield, the famed Spice Islands, The Bandas, as well as the Raja Ampat Islands off the coast of West Papua are also on our itinerary and these offer phenomenal diving as well as being of great cultural and historical significance. Although we offer an itinerary of trips throughout the year which are dictated to a certain extent by seasonal changes, we are happy to offer customised trips based on the requests of our passengers.
Towards the end of 2008 we are offering exploratory trips to(and on route to) the Raja Ampat islands at a discounted rate. These are most suited to divers and explorers who would be interested in helping to find great dive sites as well as sites of amazing natural beauty and culture that Tiger Blue would promote on her trips. This is possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit these areas at a very reasonable rate on Tiger Blue.
Tiger Blue is a well equipped dive boat. She will carry two dive compressors , 20 tanks , snorkeling and dive equipment. In addition she will have 2 sea kayaks, a 5.8 meter RIB tender and a smaller 3.2m RIB, water-ski's and other games and toys. Tiger Blue is geared up to offer a range of fun activities to do when you are not diving, snorkeling, swimming, fishing, relaxing, eating, reading or sleeping !
The Owners- our mission
Tiger Blue is owned by 2 families- The 4 Fosters, based out of Somerset in the UK and The 5 Wilkinsons, currently based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Nigel Foster has had a long relationship with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia having been involved in commodities such as cocoa and coffee. David Wilkinson is a Malaysian of British descent whose grandfather came to Malaysia as a rubber planter.
Currently, Nigel is involved with a number of bar, restaurant and music ventures in the Uk including the Big Chill Festival and bars, Camino Spanish Restaurant and Cargo Live Music Venue. (www.cantaloupegroup.co.uk)
Rebecca and David Wilkinson run Tiger Rock (their jungle home on Pangkor Island in Malaysia), as well as China Tiger (their restored merchants house in Penang, Malaysia) as more sustainable alternatives to large hotels in the region. David is currently working out of Jakarta.(www.tigerrock.info)
Both families have a great love of the sea, especially of that around Eastern Indonesia. Tiger Blue will give them the opportunity to explore and promote this area of Indonesia which not only offers great natural beauty, a wonderful sense of history and culture, but also wonderfully diverse and friendly peoples.
"We look forward to attracting a diverse range of passengers onto Tiger Blue. Awareness creates interest and value for the environment. All our children have developed a great respect and interest in the safety of the sea and what it holds within it, and we hope to see both hardcore divers as well as families enjoying what Tiger Blue has to offer. Each journey and trip is different and offers a fantastic experience. We hope to welcome you all aboard soon!" - Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson
Our Dream Trip and Wouter van den Houten
Tiger Blue is a dream come true. Nigel and David, both keen sailors, have talked about building a boat together for years. Both families have spent holidays on boats and David's family had a sailboat in Malaysia. In August 2006 both families decided to take a trip from Makassar to Komodo. It was an experiment to see if a traditional phinisi style boat would appeal, and if the families could handle being together with kids ranging from 6 to 17 years. The trip lasted 9 days and at the end of all the diving, the snorkeling, hiking up hills, shooting stars at night, beach-combing and seeing the dragons of Komodo, everyone wanted a boat. It was decided that this trip from Makassar to the Komodos, across the Flores sea was the best trip ever and we didn't want to go home!
It was also on this trip that we met Wouter van den Houten, our skipper/owner and host on The Majestic. Towards the end of the trip David and Nigel were already negotiating with Wouter on whether he would be interested in managing the building of a boat in Bira. It was one of those times when all the cogs fall in place, where everyone seems to understand each other, like each other and want to work together. It was great! In February 2007, the keel was laid on the beach at Tanaberuh by Haji Abdullah and Tiger Blue came into being.
For Wouter this partnership is also a chance to build a boat with the best features, taken from his own Majestic and all the other phinisi's he has seen over the last 6 years.
Wouter, a skilled sailor and qualified dive-master, is from the Netherlands and came to Makassar in 2001 looking to build or buy a boat and dive and explore his way around Indonesia. In early 2002 he found Majestic as a finished hull, turning her a year later, into a lovely 25m pacific schooner. In the following year Wouter explored Eastern Indonesia and wanting to share the beauty he saw, started to operate Majestic as a live-aboard for exploration and dive trips in 2003.
Wouter cruised Majestic 23,000 nautical miles and dived and explored Bali, Komodo, Alor, Tanimbar, Banda, Manado, Ternate, Tidore. He sailed surf trips to Kupang, Roti, Savu, Sumba and did a coral survey in Tanimbar. During all these he "drowned himself in culture, nature and local tradition".
Wouter has since sold his Majestic and is now part of the Tiger Blue Family, managing the whole boatbuilding process from beginning to end. He has employed a fantastic crew and will give his great experience and expertise on board, to the trips organised on Tiger Blue. He is now married to Chichi, who is also from Makassar.
The Boatbuilder
Haji Abdullah is a renowned boatbuilder who has built scores of boats. He is one of the top builders of premier liveaboards in Indonesia. All the boats start their life on the beach at Haji Abdullah's boatyard at Tanaberuh near Bira, South Sulawesi. The boat building site at Tanaberuh has a history stretching back some 500 years. Woodworking is in the blood here and men are born craftsmen.
Tiger Blue had her keel laid on February 12 2007. A ceremony called 'potong lunas' is performed by the local imam (religious head), who marks the part of the keel which will be chopped off and offered to the sea. This ensures a trouble free construction of the boat, good luck and safe passage to the boat throughout her life.
A cockerel was brought to 'donate' a few drops of blood which were dripped onto the keel. A selection of food was then offered to the keel. It was blessed and prayers said. After the keel piece was sawn off, Haji Abdullah threw it to the sea. Everyone then celebrated the beginning of the boat by eating and drinking the offerings near the keel. Attendance at the ceremony with Haji, his family and workmen, was very special for David and Wouter. It marked a great beginning.
Haji Abdullah has been very pleased with Tiger Blue and has expressed that she seemed eager to get into the sea. The construction went very smoothly and on being launched, by hand winch to the sea, Haji told us it was very easy, smooth and fast!
Haji Abdullah currently has 7 boats being built at his yards. |
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