DC Green
The Whirlpool
Power struggle in the Lombok Strait
The strait between Lombok and Bali is one of the most treacherous on Earth. This is the famous Wallace Line that divides Asia from Australasia, the line beyond which the rhinoceros, elephant and tiger could not penetrate. For even in the deepest Ice Age, the South China Sea to the north drained into the Sunda Trench.
Today this water still drains at several knots, right into the teeth of big Indian Ocean swells, often with a gale force trade wind howling in from a third angle. Little wonder then when eight feet swells suddenly desist, when stationary tidal waves rear up in the middle of the strait, when massive whirlpools open wide their hungry throats and bloated ferries go down without a survivor.
A strait crossing is at best an interesting experience for surfers who rent fishing boats with patched-up engines and captains who cannot swim five metres. On one such charter, and the guy in Paddy’s assured me this was a true story for he was the third swimmer…the single engine broke down, and the perahu (local boat) began to drift towards a whirlpool big enough to consume 10,000 such vessels. The three surfers on board decided to abandon ship and paddle for help on their surfboards towards Lombok – a bold plan, for they too were unable to escape the suck-back force of the vortex behind. So they paddled, and paddled, and finally cheered when their boat shuddered to life. Yet rather than picking up the surfers, the captain motored towards his own guaranteed safety! Lombok!
Tight muscled Bruce shouted to his mates: ‘I’ll be back!’ He put his head down and sprinted toward the fleeing boat until he was able to get in close enough to grab a thrown rope. He was wheezing and livid, especially when the skipper refused to return to rescue his friends. So Bruce pushed the skipper from the wheel and assumed command.
Having worked on enough tuna boats to know that a direct rescue charge would leave insufficient time to turn and escape, Bruce instead steered wide and approached at an angle. He ignored the screaming captain. The two swimmers had separated, so the more alert crew members were only able to rope in one. Undaunted, Bruce punched free and looped in for a second pick-up 20 minutes later.
The Indonesian skipper was so impressed, he let Bruce steer all the way to the harbour in Lembar. The last of the fuel spluttered out at the harbour breakwall. Bruce steered the silent boat towards the wharf.
That night, he didn’t have to buy a single Bintang (beer).