Friday, 21 October 2016

Extra Stop: North East Bangka, October 19 - 21 2016

Much to our delight and relief the anchorage at North East Bangka was calm and not a bit rolly. The 33nm journey from Parai Beach took us 6 hours, taking a wide berth around Mengudu Island as per instructions in our guide book. The area is not chartered particularly well and reports of needle coral was something we did not wish to rediscover. Please note don’t be tempted to sail between Mengudu Island and Bangka Island towards the anchorage, it’s littered with boulders and rocks awash.



We anchored at 01 30.43S & 105 52.74E in 6 meters of water over sand. Holding is very good. From Parai Beach, it is only 33 nautical miles.

The bay here is huge with little hazards, we cannot see any coral heads or reef. As we sat enjoying sundowners 5 other rally boats trickled into the anchorage after picking up their passports at Parai Beach as they also couldn’t stand the rolling, so they left.



Early evening many fishing boats came out and visited us and the other yachts in the anchorage. Not to sell anything, just having a look. We cannot see their villages so they must be set back from the water front. We are not sure about any supplies being purchased here.




The anchorage is very exposed to the north but during anything southerly it is a great spot to catch your breath before taking off again.

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