Welcome to Indonesia! It’s only 350NM from Vanimo but we’ve been transported into a completely different world. Mosques, calls to prayer, big boats with big outboards zooming past, fishermen’s houses on stilts over the water, the smell of the fish market, the noise of traffic. Our senses are bombarded by it all, and we sit slightly overwhelmed in the cockpit figuring out how to get ashore.
Continue reading “Selamat Datang! Biak, Indonesia”
Our sail from Vanimo towards Biak is almost perfect – flat seas and 12 kts of wind from the right direction for almost two days. Wow, that’s got to be a personal best for this trip! Our calculations see us arriving late on Friday afternoon, so we decide to hang out in the nearby Padaido Islands for the weekend before checking into Biak on Monday morning.
Continue reading “Spinning Out – Padaido Islands, nr Biak”
Approaching Vanimo on the mainland we’re full of apprehension – a bit like Manus Island, it has a bad reputation amongst yachties. In the last few years there’ve been several reports of boats being boarded and robbed at night. If we didn’t need to get our Indonesian visas here we’d be giving it a big miss, but we have no choice. So our plan is to get in and out in the same day if possible to avoid an overnight stay. It feels akin to riding into Dodge City to face the outlaws.
Continue reading “Dodge City – Vanimo, PNG”
We’ve heard a lot about Longan Island from other cruisers, and it sounds like a great place to share the last of our trading goods. I’m also keen to distribute more of the ‘Days for Girls’ kits to the school there. Longan Island is on the north side of the lagoon, about 4 hours away from Mal. There’s a south-easterly blowing so we unfurl the jib and have an easy sail across. But we also realise that the anchorage at Longan isn’t going to be comfortable in a southerly breeze, so instead late in the afternoon we drop anchor off the north side of uninhabited Hotum Island. I have a feeling it’s going to be a very social time at Longan so we’re looking forward to a quiet day of snorkelling and relaxing at Hotum tomorrow.
Our first week in the Ninigo Islands is a necessarily quiet one to allow Bruce time to recover from his bout of malaria – it’s left him with very little energy and some aching joints.
Continue reading “Recovery Mode – Mal Island, Ninigos Pt 2”
Many people assume that a cruiser’s worst fears are facing big storms or pirates. To my mind they’re always possible, but probably unlikely if you take sensible steps to minimise the risk. No, my biggest fear is something happening to Bruce through misadventure or illness, particularly if we’re in a remote area with little help at hand. And now here we are in the Ninigo Islands, possibly the remotest place we’ve ever been, 200NM from the mainland with no airport, ferry service or hospital and I’m having to face my fears.
Continue reading “Shakin’ All Over – Ninigo Islands Pt 1”