Indonesia, Riau - Fishing in the seas around Mapur Island
Mapur Island is administratively considered part of the Bintan group of islands which are in turn part of the Indonesian province of Riau. Mapur is located in the South China Sea just east of the main island of Bintan. This trip in late July/early August of 1999 was my first fishing trip to Indonesia. A 45-minute ride onboard a fast Catamaran ferry brought us from Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Bintan. From here, we transferred to a speedboat before boarding the fishing boat, a fine 50-ft fibre-glass sports fisher. On the way out to sea, we encountered extremely strong waves and had to "take cover" near a small island. At around 6.00pm local time, we moved out again and soon reached the designated fishing grounds for this trip. Strong waves continued to hit the boat causing everybody to slip time and again as the boat pitch and roll to the wishes of the sea. We had to grab hold of rails as we move around the boat. Falling into the sea in such cond