Extra Stop: Kananga, Sumbawa Island, September 8, over night stop only

Another long day to Kananga, Sumbawa Island, but pleasant. We took 8 hours to get there and enjoyed sailing along for 6 hours this day. We dropped anchor at 08 08.45S & 117 46.00E in 19 meters of water. Again we could of anchored in much closer but the depth here shows 200+ meters, 88 meters and then 8 meters very close to shore and we worried if we turned stern to we may hit the bottom being so close.

There was a note we found in someones blog that stated if we anchored out the front of the red roofed hut we would find 9 meters. Unfortunately for us we only read this after the fact and laughed as friends motored in a dropped anchor right in front of the red roofed hut in said 9 meters!

Local ferry, rather large and fully loaded with people all peering at us as we passed.

Sunset with a lone fisherman trying for his dinner.

The anchorage was a surprise as its basically an open road-stead with only Satonde island for any protection, but we had a very comfortable night and enjoyed sun-downers on Matilda with our friends.

Our friends boat as we left Kananga. To the left of the picture is Satonde Island and to the right is Sumbawa Island.

Extra Stop: Kilo, Sumbawa Island, September 7, over night stop only

The journey from Loh Serau - Flores to Kilo, Sumbawa Island was a long 13 hour trip. We anchored in 08 19.74S & 118 23.14E in 10 meters of water.

The current between Sangeang Api volcano on Sangeang Island and Sumbawa is extraordinary. This is why we took so long to to arrive at Kilo. Matilda was often forced down to 2.2 knots.

We entered in the dark at 1930 and the shallower water is found quite close to the shoreline here. We did drop anchor a bit further out than needed. Entering in the dark here, while not ideal was not too bad but we had several other rally boats in the anchorage talking to us on the VHF and they had reported seeing no FADs upon entering the anchorage.

Due to arriving in the dark and leaving at first light, I don't have any photos of the anchorage. But its a good size and can host lots of boats.

As we left the anchorage in the morning heading to Kananga, Sumbawa Island 4 other rally boats all reported seeing pilot whales swimming alongside them - what a treat.

Stop 10: Labuan Bajo, Flores Island, September 4 - 6 2016

We only spent 1 full day in Labuan Bajo but it felt like a week. We motored for 4 hours from Gili Bodo around the corner to Labuan Bajo, Flores and anchored at 08 30.42S & 119.52.43E in 15 meters of water. Most of the time stern to the beach, but very good holding, nice and flat.

As soon as we rounded the headland to Labuan Bajo I loved it. This place is a feast for your eyes. The landscape is a mix of lush and barren lands, its very interesting. It's also very busy as Labuan is a major port and tourist area. We were glad we could anchor out of the mayhem in calm water and well out of the way of all the boat traffic.

Arriving on the 4th at 10 am we all went to shore and had a good look around. Enjoyed lunch, a good stroll around and ended up staying there for dinner. We did some shopping and enjoyed being able to meander around soaking up the local area. Our dinner venue provided us with spectacular sunset views.

Our view from our dinner venue.

A view from our lunch venue.

Our lunch!

Pretty clever use of tree branches as art.

Our choice of lunch venue was pretty cool.

Guess what we had for dinner?

Another spectacular sunset.

We've both been enjoying loads of these.

On the 5th we spent the morning going to Rinca Island, Komodo National Park to see the Komodo Dragons. Our trip over in the long boat was very enjoyable, even when we lost steering. True to form of most Indonesian folk, our driver and assistant weren't not fazed by the least, they simply got in, fixed it and off we went again.

Me, practicing with a friends long lens (gee these are heavy),

Collected skeletal remains from the Komodo Dragons feasts. (not joking)

Great advertising and senses of humour here.

Entering the komodo area to see the dragons was very interesting and the anticipation level was high of what they were actually going to be like to see in real life. OMG they are huge animals. As we approached the rangers station we could see there they were: about 6 or 8 of them. They like it here as they get fed!

Everyone was duly reminded these are wild animals and on average kill one human being a year (good grief). We had 3 rangers with our group and as a group, we picked the middle of the range walking track, not to long and a mix of jungle with open spaces to enjoy.

Along the way we saw a few more dragons and some with their nests. Interesting but hot and to be frank we simply could have stood for much longer at the rangers station to watch these creatures.

Mummy guarding her nest and very well camouflaged.

She wasnt too happy about the onlookers so we didnt stay long.

Another mummy.

On leaving the Komodo Park area, these monkeys were not fazed at all by us walking past.

Along the way we saw a green viper snake. I have posted a friends photo and used it with her permission (cheers Pepe). It was surprising to see the viper was so small, but its deadly venomous and it was good spotting from our guide as it was snuggled up in a tree branch hollow.

On the way home we passed many different and interesting boats moving about the local waters.

Once back we all went ashore again. Found the markets, which was fantastic to buy fresh produce from and had dinner out at a Mediterranean place which produced interesting plates of food for us.

On the 6th we hauled anchor and went over to Makassar Reef to try and snorkel with the giant manta rays.

We have every intention of returning to Labuan Bajo and the Komodo area for more exploring!

Extra stop: Loh Serau via Makassar Reef, September 6 2016

This was an interesting day out. We started out from Labuan Bajo - Flores, went over to Makassar Reef - Komodo for a swim with the manta rays and then headed around the corner to Loh Serau, Komodo Island to anchor for the night. It took about two hours to motor over to Makassar Reef and then about 1.5 hours to motor around the corner to Loh Serau.

Our attempt at trying to anchor in sand at Makassar Reef (at an allocated spot) was not very successful. A few of our rally boats where 'harassed' by a fast boat, maned by hooded men in commando outfits, who demanded money as Makassar Reef is inside a national park (all of Komodo is a national park, including its waters) stating they were rangers. We did not encounter this problem, but we couldn't find a place to anchor safely as the current is crazy strong here.

This area is world famous for it diving & snorkeling. There are 100's of options and well worth revisiting for us.

However, as we moved about a bit we saw the massive manta rays lolling around in the warm water near the surface. Some of the bottom here is 'rubble'  made up of large broken coral (making anchoring very difficult) in which the manta's like to rub their bellies on to clean them of parasites. Being on the bow I could see them clearly and so in awe of what I was seeing I forgot to grab the camera. These things are massive!

Local boats full of tourists doing drift dive and snorkeling with the manta rays.

We did not drift snorkel with the manta rays and left feeling very disappointed that we missed this wonderful opportunity. However, a few other rally boats seemed to get it right and we loved seeing their underwater photos and listening to their stories. If you ever get the chance to do this, don't miss it! I would even go as far as saying for the time, money and effort we would consider actually doing a day tourist trip over to save the hassle and leave Matilda at anchor in Labuan Bajo.

At Loh Serau, Komodo Island we anchored at 08 27.05S & 119 26.97E in 12 meters of water. The anchorage was a touch rolly for us.

However, we enjoyed snorkeling for a few hours straight off the back of Matilda and the coral and fish where fantastic. As the sun was setting we sat with our binoculars watching the shoreline for any komodo dragons coming down for a scavenge, we didn't see any but we did see a large boar who come down to have a look around.

Extra Stop: Gili Bodo, September 2 - 4 2016

It took us just under 8 hour to motor sail from Lingeh Bay to Gili Bodo - Sabibi Island, a small island just off Flores. We anchored at 08 22.13S & 120 00.92E in 20 meters for water.

Coming in and around the Island of Sabibi the reef is very clear and we used Open CPN with Google chart overlaid and using SV Ocelots (The Hacking Family) track. Its not an enormous anchorage, but it easily fitted 8 boats while we were there, you just have to expect to anchor in deep water if the sand patch has 3 boats already in it.

We could have moved around a bit to find shallower water once a few others left but felt the anchor was dug in nicely and we weren't going anywhere. There is not much current in here but you are anchored in between a fair amount of coral so we sat still.

When we arrived we were greeted by this (we assumed) father & son who came asking for anything we could share.

The anchorage is fantastic. Monkeys came out each afternoon looking foraging for food on the shore line. The snorkeling is a treat with fabulous visibility. We simply dropped into the water to snorkel off the stern of Matilda and due to very little current it was easy to float around and we felt very safe.

After two nights, many snorkels and a great night of sun-downers on the beach we hauled anchor and motored onto Labuan Bajo and the Dragons!

Flores Island in the background.

Not a bad view while enjoying sun-downers on a friends boat.