If you’re heading to Raja Ampat, Batanta is the first large island you come to after leaving Sorong. We often use it as an overnight stop on the way to the other islands, but this time we thought we’d spend more time exploring the north coast of Batanta itself. And what a gem we discovered!
Continue reading “Beautiful Batanta”
Finally, we escape Sorong. The maintenance jobs are done, and we’re off to do more exploring in the islands. And by some miracle, there’s enough wind from the right direction to put the sails up. Glory be!
Continue reading “Hello Sailor”
Ah well, there goes the fun for a while. Our trip to Triton Bay was great, but lately it seems we can’t go a week without something else to fix, and having been away for six weeks, well…you get the picture. Some fixes are in the ‘Mayday, Mayday’ red-light-flashing category, and others are in the ‘yeah, we should get around to doing that when we have time’ category. But either way you cut and shut it, there’s no getting away from the dreaded “M” word. So here, Ladies and Gentlemen, in no particular order, are the nominees for Fix of the Month, May 2021:
Continue reading “May is for Maintenance”
There are only a few places in the world where the diversity of marine life is so rich, so stunning, that it takes your breath away. Triton Bay is one of those places. It’s like exploring Creation’s design studio, packed to the rafters with colourful corals and the most magnificent marine animals – from humongous whale sharks to the most exquisite, tiniest pygmy seahorses. Be warned – there are a LOT of photos in this post! But, like us, I hope they make you marvel at the beauty of our marine world and give you a glimpse of the wonders of Triton Bay…
Continue reading “Giants and Pygmies”
“You never know what the day will bring”, “Every day’s an adventure”, “Expect the unexpected” are just some of the cruising mantras that reflect the notion that nothing is certain except uncertainty when you live a cruising life. You expect wind from the south? You’ll get wind from the north. You’re looking forward to a quiet day of doing nothing? Something will break and you’ll have to fix it. Sometimes the surprises are unpleasant, sometimes the surprises are wonderful – and sometimes they’re just plain bizarre.
Continue reading “You Never Know What the Day Will Bring”
If you exclude our enforced time back in Sydney last year, we’ve been in Raja Ampat since Sept 2019. That’s quite a lengthy time by any cruiser’s standards, but then Covid has forced many of us to be stuck in one spot for much longer than usual. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re going to be stuck anywhere, then Raja Ampat is one of the best and most beautiful places to be – but we’re ready to do some exploring of parts unknown. So, we’re off to Triton Bay, some 396 NM south of here on the west coast of Papua (still part of Indonesia).
Continue reading “Parts Unknown”