Banta Island

Hi everyone,
Today we sailed from Batumonco on the NW tip of Komodo Island to the bay on the N coast of Banta Island. We had a marvellous 15-18 knot SSW breeze and blasted across the 10nm wide strait between the islands in less than 90 minutes. We carried full sail and managed to keep ahead of Kakadu, mainly because they kindly only hoisted their headsail. The current was strong but across our course. In all the straits so far we've found the information in the book "Southeast Asia Cruising Guide Volume II" to be the best predictor of currents.

Zen Again Track

We are anchored at 08 24.961S 119 16.745E in 15m over sand. Banta island is very spectacular, with steep hills rising off steep-to coasts with occasional narrow beaches. We're in a large bay, but there are few tenable places to anchor. We're in a spot recommended by Bill Burbidge's "Cruising SE Asia". Here there is an area of sand about 5 to 10 metres deep which extends offshore perhaps 50m from the shallow coral, before diving down to 30m+.

Since the island is in the middle of the Sape Strait the wind has remained relatively constant all day. Being on the leeward side of the island we're getting some good strong "bullets" down off the hills too. We're hoping the wind will hold in tomorrow and carry us across to Sumbawa Island. Once in the lee of that island we expect the wind to die as it did off Flores and the other large islands.

Zen Again at Banta

Kakadu at Banta

This afternoon we snorkelled along the beach. The water is very clear but the corals and fish life less spectacular than at other places we've visited. Fascinating to view it all nonetheless. We also gave Zen Again's hull a quick scrub around the waterline.

Nice Bommie!

This evening we had dinner aboard Kakadu, with the dinner a joint effort by Anne and Nicki. The bullets off the hill were pretty strong and we kept a close eye on Zen Again. Happily the Manson Supreme anchor was well dug in and didn't drag.

Batumonco

Hi everyone,
Today we sailed from Pink Beach on the east coast of Komodo Island to Batumonco on the extreme NW corner of the island. Not the passage we were planning yesterday, but we decided on a shorter route on the day. We spent all morning reading The Weekend Australian newspaper(downloaded) and departed after lunch. The passage was 21.5nm over the ground but only 16.8nm through the water since we had help from the tide. We motor-sailed most of the way. We're now anchored at 08 27.05S 119 26.88E in 9m over sand and widely scattered rock/coral.

Zen Again Track

Significant chart offset at Batumonco!

The most exciting part of the passage was passing through the narrow channel between Komodo Island and Gililawa Darat. We went down the middle but the depth got down to 5m and we did a quick about-face before assertaining which side to favour. The south side appears to be deepest with about 8m over sand and coral. Don't try this channel unless the current is managable! We had 1.5-2.0 knots behind us.  The same against would be optimal, allowing one to "ferry glide" side to side to find the deepest water.  The GoogleEarth image is better than the chart in that it is accurately aligned to GPS positions, but doesn't have the resolution to show depth in such a narrow and shallow channel.

Batumonco is a nice bay with room for many yachts. It is listed as one of the best dive/snorkel sites in the Komodo area in the book "101 Anchorages in Indonesia". We're looking forward to exploring tomorrow, and hoping that Kakadu may catch up with us here. We passed them at anchor while approaching the channel described above and tried to contact them on VHF. Turns out they were out snorkelling and saw us going past. When back aboard they SMSed us but we didn't see the message until we were out of mobile coverage (as we are now). Hopefully they might read this, or the email we sent via HF, and understand why we didn't reply and where we are now! So many means of communicating and so little success! :)

Two other yachts in the bay

Zen Again at anchor

Kakadu arrived the following day, while we were still in the bay.  Seems they did receive our email!

Kakadu and others join us in the anchorage

Pink Beach

Hi everyone,
Today we sailed from the bay near Gililawa to Pink Beach, half way down the east coast of Komodo Island.  We had good breeze and only motored for the last mile when passing through a narrow channel with BIG current.  The passage was only 15nm but was great fun.  We're now on a mooring at 08 36.320S 119 31.485E, in 30m of water.  We're moored between Pulau Punya and the main island.

Zen Again Track

We hitched a big ride with the tide.  Despite the wind being on the nose we charged south, sometimes reaching 11 knots over the ground (i.e. at least 5 knots of tide with us).  Throughout the passage there were periods of overfalls, with patches of very smooth water mixed up with patches of very disturbed water.  Very spectacular.  We sailed between Tangung Torokuning and the offlying islets, where the water was very angry - we actually "sailed" directly to windward due to a nice lee-bow effect.  The only place I've sailed with similar conditions is the Channel Islands between the UK and France.

The passage through the channel north of Pulau Punya had a good current running too.  Only about 3 knots but lots of whirlpools and disturbed water.  We were slewed around a lot but the transit through the passage was no problem.  Once through we spotted a free mooring and grabbed it quick-smart.

Sailing with the tide

Whirlpools!

Overfalls

On the mooring

In the afternoon we took the dinghy over the the NW corner of Pulau Punya and from there snorkelled with the dinghy in tow.  The current took us NE back towards Zen Again.  The corals were very colourful, and we spotted several types we haven't seen before.

Despite the anchorage being called Pink Beach,  the beach is actually out of sight from where we are.  We decided to swim near the boat instead of taking the dinghy around the corner to the beach.

Tomorrow we plan to ride the current south in the morning, round the south coast of Komodo Island, and then ride the current north in the afternoon.  Hopefully we'll end up at Banta Island, NW of Komodo Island.  Banta is a convenient overnight stop before heading further west to Sumbawa Island.