With the beautiful islands of Sumatra and incredible Krakatoa behind us, we watched Jakarta fading on the horizon. But leaving Indonesia’s capital wasn’t without a big problem to overcome first.

We were all set to leave Batavia Marina, but when Jamie engaged reverse we lost all steering and drifted out towards the other boats around us!

With memories of our failing gear box way back in Turkey, Liz sprang into action with fenders as Jamie wrestled with the controls. Luckily it was a reasonably calm day and no damage ensued.

We took stock and came up with a quick solution to the problem. Phew!

Just a few miles north of Java there is a little bit of paradise, well-known to Jakartans, it is a best-kept-secret from the rest of the world.

“Thousand Islands” has desert islands, coral reefs, peace and serenity just a short hop from Indonesia’s capital and we wanted some of that!