In 2007 my yacht SV Basilea set sail from Bums Bay on the Gold Coast of Queensland Australia. After cruising the east coast, a motley bunch of cruisers joined Basilea and sailed across the Gulf of Carpinteria to Darwin.
I had never seen that part of Australia’s coast otherwise known as Arnhem land because of the Aboriginals that had lived there since time began.
We joined the sail to Indonesia rally and a fleet of 90 boats raced to Kupang in Indonesia.
After the formalities some of us sailed west towards Lombok and Bali and hung out around the famous Gili Islands before visiting Bali.
During my time aboard I discovered Gili Gede as I wanted to surf a famous break called “Desert Point” when I was there, I noted the calm bay that is protected from the monsoon winds year-round and thought it was a perfect place for a Marina.
Three years later my wonderful crew Jenny left me and I found myself alone in Chalong Bay.
One morning while reading the Singapore Straights newspaper the President of Indonesia had been interviewed about his countries expectations to build a Marine Tourism Industry and noted that they needed foreign knowhow to build Marinas.
My friend Made whom I met when in Bali helped me buy the first peace of land on Gili Gede where Marina Del Ray is located now.
Once we had the land, I sailed back to Lombok alone and began the task of making the marina a reality.
It took until January 2018 to begin its construction after receiving all the necessary licences and corporate structure to legally become the first foreigner in Indonesia history to operate a Marina for Tourism.
We still remain the only one which is also a port of entry for foreign boats.
By October 2019 we finally opened officially. Within months the Marina grew to have about 90 boats by early February 2020.
In March the Pandemic had struck and we cared for many boat owners stranded in Indonesia at the time.
By late 2020 many of the boats began to leave and over the past years we have been losing money as the world went into lockdown.
I’ve managed to hold on and the team have kept the condition of our Marina in top condition while we pray the boats will return soon.
We have changed our pricing strategy based on Australian dollars instead of US $
We are desperate to get boats there to stay awhile and help us pay our staff to keep Marina Del Ray operational.
Some would know that I suffered a stroke in 2021 which almost killed me and due to that I have tried to regain my health and try to continue my unpaid role as the CEO.
We are desperate know and happy to do some very special deals for long term yacht storage and I urge anyone interested to email me ray@marinadelray.co or send me a WhatsApp message on +628123632266 to discuss a deal that suits your budget.
I built Marina Del Ray because during the decade I cruised here I saw an urgent need for a place that I could leave my yacht while I had to work overseas and I because of President Jokowi invitation it made perfect sense.
After all the 14 years I worked very hard navigating the construction of the Marina and teaching the staff and government on how Marinas must operate professionally.
I’m now 61 and fear Marina Del Ray may not be able to make it.
The sharks are circling, I don’t want it to become a shipwreck.
Raymond
