The Arenui

Recharging with Ragu?

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The Arenui, Ragu

A quiet evening on the skydeck of the Arenui

By Tom Peyton

As dusk settles and the haunting melodies of Muslim hymns float through the air, our host and friend Luigi is hard at work in the tiny yet magical kitchen aboard his luxurious dive liveaboard, the Arenui.

Earlier that day, Luigi walked into the salon and showed me a steel bowl filled with different cuts of meat: Partrimi pork belly, fennel black pork sausage, and some regular beef. In his other hand, he carried carrots, onions, and chickpeas.

“Tonight we will have my famous Ragu!” he told Margo and me. He was right—his Ragu really is famous in our small foodie circle.

Resting before new clients’ arrival

The boat felt hushed, emptied of the first week’s guests who had already departed. Luigi slipped back into the kitchen, vanishing into his culinary world. He is a masterful chef, and we have often lost track of time together, creating feasts in each other’s kitchens in South Carolina or Kuala Lumpur.

Time with Luigi means savoring every stage of a dish, each taste accompanied by a new bottle of wine. Our conversations inevitably turn lively, swirling from politics to the economy, and always circling back to the food and wine before us.

That night aboard the Arenui, Margo, Luigi, and I let the aroma of his sumptuous Ragu seep into every nook of the ship as it lay peacefully in Tarakan Harbor.

The city lights of Tarakan

We walked up the steps to the ship’s upper deck and saw the table set for three, with a 2013 French Château Margaux breathing in a decanter.

The city lights of Tarakan traced the harbor’s edge, while the gentle putter of small fishing boats glided past our motionless liveaboard. The peace was a welcome contrast to the previous week’s bustle. This dinner felt like a deep breath before the next wave of divers arrived.

Margo and I sat waiting for Luigi and his Ragu. We enjoyed the night and the unique melodic rhythms of the Muslim chants. The “Adhan” is the call to prayer that invites Muslims to perform their mandatory prayers. Tonight, it sounded like five different hymns were playing at once.

Having grown up in a small Midwest town, I marveled at the strangeness and beauty of eating homemade Ragu with five kinds of meat, served by a true Italian chef on an Asian dive liveaboard in the heart of Indonesia, all while Islamic hymns echoed around us. The singular atmosphere filled me with gratitude for the extraordinary life Margo and I have created. I felt humbled and awestruck by the unexpected.

Lingering with Noodles

The Ragu was decadent and bursting with flavor, but the true revelation was the spaghetti, stewed gently in the sauce rather than simply boiled. Each time Luigi cooks, I discover a new technique or secret.

That night, as with so many spent with Luigi, nourished our spirits and bodies through the shared ritual of food. We were all weary from the week, but lingering over wine and home-cooked dishes reminded us of the deep bond that made us friends.

To see more images from Borneo (See link)

What is a Fishtropolis?

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Corals, Fish, Indonesia diving

There are no traffic jams in Fish City, Indonesia

By Tom Peyton

It’s tough to picture what it’s like to see a Fishtropolis for the first time. As a Caribbean diver, I had never come across anything similar. The coral structure and density just aren’t found in the Caribbean Sea, especially in shallow water.

Borneo wasn’t my first time seeing huge stretches of healthy coral. Places like Komodo, Raja Ampat, and the Forgotten Islands also have incredible marine life. Still, Borneo’s mix of hard and soft corals was beyond anything I had imagined. It was unlike anywhere else I’ve been lucky enough to explore.

The oldest known Brain Corals?

Hundreds of tabletop corals spread across the reef, making it look like an underwater city. Staghorn and antler corals form a base that stretches for miles in the shallow water. Huge Brain Corals are scattered throughout, some possibly hundreds of years old. The oldest known brain corals are between 900 and 1,000 years old.

The dense foundations of staghorn and tabletop corals painted the shallow water in vibrant shades of terracotta, peach, and soft pink. Just below, massive brain corals and overlapping lettuce-leaf petals added earthy, alien greens and deep browns to the underwater cityscape.

The Lettuce Leaf Coral grew thick and dense, a bit deeper than the rest of the reef. In some spots, the big overlapping petals at 30 to 40 feet were all I could see. It felt like floating through a scene from the movie Dune.

So why call it a Fishtropolis?

If you’ve never seen billions of fish in a shallow reef, it really does feel like New York City. Parrotfish, Damselfish, Butterflyfish, and small blue Triggerfish were everywhere, surrounded by Anthias—the small, brightly colored fish that gather in large groups near the hard corals. The sheer amount of fish reminded me of morning rush-hour traffic during a commute to New York City from Jersey one morning. And much like rush hour, there seemed to be fish lanes of movement throughout the coral city.

I could not believe how many Anthias there were. These little fish moved like snowflakes at night, drifting under a streetlight. Watching hundreds of thousands of them dart through the shallow water was amazing. Sunlight caught their movements, making it look as if someone from the shore was throwing millions of coins into the ocean.

Schooling Bumphead Parrotfish

On this dive, at least 10 turtles moved slowly through the busy Fishtropolis, weaving between the lively Damsels and the flashes of Anthias groups. Even better, 20 big Bumphead Parrotfish swam just a few feet in front of my dive buddy Luigi, who owns the Arenui, and me. We hid behind two large brain corals so we wouldn’t scare these amazing creatures.

Time seemed to slow down as we floated through the busy, healthy community of marine life. For me, it felt like an underwater opera. I didn’t know whether to cry for joy or just be amazed at how much life our planet can create when it’s left alone. Nature’s creativity was so huge it felt like I was on another planet in a distant galaxy, far away from Earth.

But this is Earth in its purest form, making beauty beyond anything I could imagine. After these dives, I would come up to the surface and feel a deep sense of gratitude. There was a quiet awe for the beauty of Fishtropolis.

To see more images from Borneo (See link)

If I Had A Boat

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If I had a boat

I’d host the Kids Sea Camp

And if I host Kids Sea Camp

I’d show ’em how I’d float

And we could all be together

Go out on the ocean

I said me and Kids Sea Camp on my boat

And if I were Luigi

I’d own the Arenui

I’d have all the nicest wood without fail

Oh, it’s just be Mei and me.

We’d ride through Indonesia

We bought a boat, and on the sea we’d sail.

And if I had a boat

I’d host the Kids Sea Camp

And if I host Kids Sea Camp

I’d show ’em how I’d float

And we could all be together

Go out on the ocean

I said me and Kids Sea Camp on my boat

Well, our Italian host was smart

He got himself a Dino

‘Cause Dino did the dirty work for free

But Dino was smarter

One day, someone said, “Boss man, sir!”

“Kiss my ass, I bought a boat, I’m going out to sea.”

And if I had a boat

I’d host the Kids Sea Camp

And if I host Kids Sea Camp

I’d show ’em how I’d float

And we could all be together

Go out on the ocean

I said me and Kids Sea Camp on my boat

And if I were like Tom and Margo

We’d live for the ocean breeze

We’d go and dive wherever we pleased

And we’d teach kids in Bonaire

And we’d teach ’em in Belize

And kids everywhere would learn to dive with ease

And if I had a boat

I’d host the Kids Sea Camp

And if I host Kids Sea Camp

I’d show ’em how I’d float

And we could all be together

Go out on the ocean

I said me and Kids Sea Camp

by Brian Dewan (sung to the melody of the Lyle Lovett song…apologies, Lyle!)