SAIL BANDA YACHTS BEGIN FLOCKING TO WAKATOBI FESTIVAL

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Aug 8 (ANTARA) - Some yachts, both those taking part in Maluku's Sail Banda and those which failed to reach the international event due to rough seas, began flocking to Wakatobi Island in Southeast Sulawesi province to take part in a local cultural festival.          "Twenty  yachts have arrived. About 146 yachts from various European countries, the United States and Australia are expected to take part in the Wakatobi Cultural Festival," Wakatobi district head Hugua said on Sunday.          Maluku province is now organizing an international yacht rally called  Sail Banda from July 24 to August 17, 2010. In the meantime, Southeast Sulawesi will also organize a cultural festivity from August 13 to August 16, 2010.          Participating yachts from overseas entered Indonesia through the province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) but due to bad weather and huge waves, some 40 yachts are still not able to reach Maluku for the Sail Banda rallies.          It seems that these yachts have decided to change their directions to Southeast Sulawesi to take part in the Wakatobi cultural festival.          As the Wakatobi festival draws near,  yachts from Maluku (those taking part in Sail Banda) and from East Nusa Tenggara (those hampered by bad weather) have begun flocking to Wakatobi Island.          "Eight arrived on Saturday and 12  others arrived today," Wakatobi district head Hugua said. With the arrival of 12 yachts on Sunday, the number of yachts which had anchored in the Wakatobi waters had reached 20, Hugua said.          "It is expected that about 10 to 15 yachts will arrive at Wakatobi tonight and all of the 40 yachts are expected to have arrived in the coming two days," the district head said.       Hugua said that the yachts had entered Indonesia through NTT. But to continue their trips to Halmahera (Maluku province), the yachts were not able to face huge waves which could reach up to five meters high.          "Because of the bad weather the yachts decided to change course to Wakatobi to take part in the "Wakatobi Cultural Festival" which will begin on August 13, 2010," Hugua said.          Hugua said that he had contacted a sailor on an American yacht which had arrived at Wakatobi. The district head said he was informed by the American sailor that about 40 other yachts which had changed their directions would continue their trips from NTT to Wakatobi.          Sailors of the yachts which have arrived are now having under sea diving around the Hoga island. Hoga island is one of the isles in Wakatobi district which has 750 coral reef species known to be the most beautiful in the world, one of them is the newly found species, the palo streak, a species which is only found in the Palao Island in the Philippines.          Regarding the "Sail Banda" participants which number about 50 yachts, Hugua said that they would enter Wakatobi in stages and it was expected that all of them would have arrived in Wakatobi on August 16, 2010.         Actually, all Sail Banda participants are expected to have arrived  in Wakatobi on August 13, and they will be greeted with various cultural and art performances during the Wakatobi Cultural Festival, including the Bangka Mbule-Mbule cultural attraction.          The Bangka Mbule-Mbule attraction is to greet Sail Banda participants and would be performed by around 10,000 fishermen from various coastal areas in Wakatobi.          Wakatobi  is the biodiversity hotspot known as Wallacea. It is also host to  Operation Wallacea, a UK based non-profit conservation group looking at sustainable development of fisheries and coral reef research.          Bangka Mbule-Mbule is a ritual of Bajo ethnic community in Wakatobi offered to ask for the Creator to bestow the local fishermen with blessing and save them from perils when they go fishing at open sea.          "At the night of August 16, 2010, all of the sail rally participants would be served a dinner at the residence of Wakatobe district head. At the dinner party, we will serve them with various kinds of local traditional foods such as 'ksuami,' 'pepe,' and other tuber foods," Hugua said.         He said that during their participation in the festival in Wakatobi, the guests would have undersea diving, witnessing cultural attractions such as 'karia,' 'kabuenga,' and other traditions.          The karia is a local tradition ceremony where Makatobi families declare that their daughters had entered the grown-up age and were ready to be proposed. The karia ceremony will be attended by about 10,000 locals from various areas in Wakatobi district.          "This cultural festival will really reflect the local people's ceremony in welcoming yacht participants. We can say that this ceremony is really of a folk festival," the district head said.          The peak of the festival which would be broadcast live by SCTV television will see the sail participants from 40 countries to unfurl the Indonesian white-and-red flag in the sea bed about 20 meters under the sea level.          "The participants who will unfurl flags are limited to 60 participants only. The activity will be done after the Independence Day Proclamation Ceremony is finished at the State Palace in Jakarta," he said     It was earlier planned that the  Sail Banda participants would be in Wakatobi from August 13 to 20 to enjoy the underwater panoramic beauty and diving in Wakatobi waters.          At least 1.3 million hectares of Wakatobi are part of Wakatobi National Marine Park with Karang Mari Mabo, One Mombaa, Pulau Hioga, and Pantai Patuno diving sites. "Even United States ambassador to Indonesia Cameroon Hume has ever gone diving at Karang Mari Mabo site," Hugua said.          Mari Mabo in the local dialect means getting drunk. Thus the diving site is called Mari Mabo because the area has stunning under water panoramic beauty that makes divers stay longer under the water and forget to resurface.          "While diving in Wakatobi, you'll not only see beautiful vistas or pristine coral reefs, but also abundant colorful reef fish and rare and unusual cryptic "critters". New undocumented species are being discovered in Wakatobi," Hugua said.***4*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/A/S012) 08-08-2010 22:36: