On Thursday
September 25, 2014 we decided to continue our voyage to Lombok Island. The direct distance from our mooring at
Sabayor Kecil (08-30.255’ S x 119-42.674’ E) is 223 nm. We will overnight and day hop this
distance. One could spend much more time
in the Komodo National Park area but we are now approaching a monsoonal change
at the end of October and still have 1400 nm to sail before we depart Indonesia
for Singapore. We left the mooring at 0654 for Kilo (08-18.63’ S x 118-23.108’
E) which is about 88 nm West of our
present position. Our sailing will now
be along the northern coast of Sumbawa Island.
During an average day whether sailing, motor sailing or motoring, we
average about 5.5 – 6.0 kts. Because of
the reefs, I do not enter anchorage areas after 1500-1600 hrs. The sun gets too low in the sky to have good
eyeball navigation. The navigational
charts we are using – Cmap and Navionics are too far out for reliable enty into
a restricted area. The solution to this
is to use Google Earth snapshots for more accurate navigation. There are programs that allow one to download
the Google Earth snapshot and then convert it into a Navigational Chart that
charting programs such as OPNCPN can read.
MaxSea Time Net Zero incorporates a satellite overlay on all of the
Jeppeson Cmap charts which is quite accurate but expensive. I use MaxSea and Jeppeson Cmap charts along
with Navionics and OPNCPN. Without the
satellite overlay, the charts can be so inaccurate that they show your track
line going over land when entering an anchorage.
We were able
to sail for some of the day and most of the night but were becalmed at 2348
hrs. Since we weren’t that far from Kilo
we decided to lie ahull until daylight.
Unless one is sailing at least 7 nm offshore, there are too many fish
traps placed along the coastal areas for safe navigation. Radar does a pretty decent job of picking them
up but not all of them! Also, the small
wooden dugout canoes with outriggers start fishing at night. Many don’t carry lights but get out of the
way so they aren’t a big problem. At
0500 hrs on September 26th we resumed sailing towards Kilo (08-18.63’ S x
118-23.108’ E) and were just starting in when two of the boats in our Sail2Indonesia
fleet were coming out. After talking to
them about the anchorage, I decided to continue on to Kananga (08-08.389’ S x
117-46.051’ E) which was another 43 nm distant and easily doable in
daylight. Also, our friends, Ken and Lil
Bardon from “Moonbeam”, were heading that way. The voyage to Kananga was motor sailing all
the way. We dropped anchor off a black
sand volcanic beach at 1448 in 50’ water depth with 170’ chain out (08-08.389’
S x 117-46.046’ E). This town is rather
unique because one can dig a small hole in the black volcanic sand very near
the incoming sea and find fresh water!
There were several itinerant sea gypsies living on the beach in
makeshift tents. They fish at night and
dry the catch during the day. We were
told that most of them came from Wera which is a village to the East on Flores
Island. There were at least 30 outrigger
boats and many families with their children.
They were taking fresh water baths by digging trenches in the sand. This water is potable and used by the local
fishermen. My guess is that it is coming
from an underground river emanating from the numerous volcanoes that are
nearby. Some of these may have crater
lakes inside them that supply fresh water to the town and beach area.
The size of Kananga is deceptive from the
beach. It’s a rather large town with
well paved streets and provisions including fuel. We could have spent another day here
meandering around but there were even more delightful anchorages to visit. With that in mind, we got u/w at 0942 hrs on
September 27th for the island of Medang (08-08.678’ S x 117-22.383’
E) which was 23 nm distant. This island
has an exclusive resort that caters to wealthy clients. Their pricing excludes anyone else from going
there. Yachts can anchor there and enjoy
the services of the resort if they wish to pay the extravagant prices. We did not even land on the beach; it was an overnight stop. We anchored in 16’ water depth with 90’
anchor chain out in position: (08-08.649’ S x 117-22.373’ E). the water was crystal clear and I dove on the
hull to clean off any barnacles and check the rudder and propeller.
September
28, 2014 Sunday
We got u/w
from Medang for Potopuduu (08-22.959’ S x 117-10.307’ E) which is about 20 nm
to the SW from Medang on Sumbawa Island.
The Cmap and Navionics charts for this area have been so inaccurate that
eyeball navigation and Google Earth are a necessity. MaxSea’s Time Net Zero Satellite overlays on
existing Jeppeson Cmap charts were spot on whereas the Cmap charts show the
vessel going overland. Potopuduu is a
cyclone hole. The entrance narrows down
to 90’ at one point with reefs on both sides.
There is a dogleg to get in, but once inside, it is stunningly
beautiful. This is a remote area of
Sumbawa with a small village of fishermen.
They are friendly and welcoming but don’t go away and just hang around
the yachts. The children, especially,
are constantly asking for multiple items which we are happy to give: medicine, clothing, soda, books, pens and
pencils. They come in dugout canoes with
outriggers. We saw no motor boats in the
village. There is a book called “101
Anchorages within the Indonesian Archipelago” which lists Potopuduu as #49. It is widely used by the sailing community. Because of this, it is obvious that many
yachts have anchored here and the locals receive gifts and other necessities
from them. In is their only contact with
a modern world that has escaped them to date.
This will change quickly as they are building a new resort for tourists
on top of a hill overlooking this beautiful bay. Already they have put up cell phone and
internet towers that are some of the fastest we have seen thus far. For the most part, cellular towers exist just
about everywhere in the Indonesia we have seen so far; internet is another
story. It is slow, unreliable and, at
times, inaccessible. Nevertheless, it is
cheap by US standards: $10 US gets you 2 GB of data and phone service for a month.
We have found that there are fewer users online during the early morning
and late evening.
September
29-30, 2014 Monday-Tuesday
From Potopuduu, we decided to sail directly to Medana Bay
Marina (08-21.883’ S 116-07.754’ E) on Lombok Island about 74 nm to the west. This would require an overnight passage so
that we could arrive in daylight for navigation through any reefs in the area. As
we leave Sumbawa Island for Lombok, we are leaving a remote traditional and scarcely
populated one for a densely populated modern one. Flores Island was mostly Christian; Lombok is
the “island of a thousand mosques”. We delayed
departure until noontime to make a daylight arrival. Initially, we had very light winds and had to
shift between sailing and motor sailing.
At 1600 hrs we were crossing north of Selat Atlas (Atlas Strait) and the
wind picked up to 25 kts coming out of the strait. So much wind we had to reef the jib but held
onto a full mainsail and made 7-8 kts!
It was an exhilarating sail but, unfortunately, it didn’t last long
enough. By 1900 hrs we were becalmed
north of Gili Lawang Island (08-11.8’ S x 116-44.9’ E) and had to take in all
sail. That was the end of any wind as
the tall mountains of Lombok blocked everything even though we were 7 nm
offshore. This distance was chosen to
avoid entanglement with any fish traps or nets closer to shore. It has been our experience that, in crossing
any one of the numerous straits, there will be good wind coming from the
South. It doesn’t last long but it shows
that the SE Monsoon is alive and well.
Since we have taken the Northern route along the coasts of Flores,
Sumbawa and Lombok, the mountains cut off the wind flow so motoring is
required.
September 30, 2014 Tuesday
We started into Medana Bay Marina at 0700 hrs and had some
wind coming out of the bay so we set a full jib. At 0900 hrs we were on approach to Medana Bay
Marina at 08-20.483’ S x 116-07.648’ E.
The marina has several moorings for rent which seem to be well
maintained. Additionally, there are four
alongside berths and three short Mediterranean mooring berths. We had made reservations with our friends
form “Moonbeam” so we slid into one of the alongside berths (08-21.883 S x
116-07.754’ E).
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