Year 2- 18 August 2025 –Hoga Island -Wakatobi- to Wangi Wangi

We woke about 6.00am as it had got light by 5.30am. We had a cup of tea and the wind was blowing 15-20kts. Once we had had our tea we upped the anchor and headed out of the bay. We had to navigate through the reefs and it was lowish water. The depth went down to 5m but no lower. We got through without any issue and motored along passed Hoga and its island opposite (Samaba Harai) heading North. We then went west and were able to put up the genoa. We sailed westish until we thought we could make the right angle to sail to the North of Kapitan Island which we had to go round to go South to Wangi Wangi. As we sailed we used the last of our eggs to make scrambled eggs and Tony’s bread to make toast which was a great start to the day.

We sailed along about 6 + kts and it was quite a blustery grey day but with no rain. We passed a number of FAD’s and lots of birds fishing. There were a number of long type fishing boats and so we concluded this was fish abundant waters. We came to the North of Kapitan Island and as we came round it we had to be careful of the reefs and as we came round the wind increased from 17 kts to 24/25 kts rapidly. We were about to furl the genoa away and so we did so quickly and motored toward Wangi Wangi.

Wangi-wangi Island is in the north-west cluster of the Tukangbesi Islands and is the seat of the Wakatobi Regency, part of the province of Southeast Sulawesi. It covers an area of 191 km2 and had an estimated 61,283 inhabitants in mid 2022. The Wangi-wangi white-eye (Zosterops paruhbesar) is a recently discovered endangered bird on the island."Wangi" in English translates to "fragrant" or "perfumed". It can also refer to the general concept of "fragrance". In the context of the location "Wangi Wangi," it's the name of an island and a district in Indonesia, which translates to "Wangi Wangi Island" or "Wangi Wangi District" in English. The island is also sometimes referred to as "Wanci.”

We motored toward the island and could see the town ahead of us with various aerials and a few mosques. There was a channel we had to go through toward the pontoons which are part of an abandoned marina. There were some concrete posts which we saw and then we saw the masts ahead of the other boats on the pontoons. We prepared our lines and fenders in advance and we had communicated with Anders Ullman who owns Yaghan – the Hallberg Rassy 62 like Stormbird with that boat being no 10 and Stormbird is no 12. He had explained about the entrance and where our mooring pontoon was.

We entered the channel and it was quite shallow 4-5m and then we saw the pontoons and the one we were going to moor at. There was quite a crowd to greet us and I backed into the mooring in one go and we tied up easily. Adam gave me 10/10 for the mooring. We sorted out our lines and moored as I like it done. We then got rid of the rubbish and made some lunch and said hello to a number of the boats there. I thanked Anders on Yahgan for a tool he had lent us for the engine and I gave him the electrical socket I had got for him from the UK.

We had been invited to join a number in the rally who were going to a bar nearby and then for some food. We agreed to join them about 4.30pm. We joined them about that time and walked out of the marina which was on a bit of a spit which we had to walk round. There was a bit of an internal harbour which was full of some wrecked boats and a caterpillar vehicle. There was an English School nearby and a lot of the students came to greet us and to practise their limited English.

We then walked on and came to a lovely market with fruit and vegetables laid out and it looked clean and fresh. Everyone here is very friendly and they all want to say hello or hello mister and it is so nice to feel welcomed and not just be stared at in a suspicious way. They all stop and wave and say hello including those on mopeds. It is a humbling and welcome experience.

We walked on past the market and into the town which is quite poor but with more concrete buildings and with lots of street vendors selling good. The streets had colourful flags for Independence Day and it was quite busy with lots of mopeds and very few cars. The Australians led us to a karaoke bar which was a bit of a dump but it sold Bintang – the Indonesian beer which they wanted. We stayed for one drink and Anders and his wife Nilla (who own Yaghan the other HR62) suggested we went to a restaurant which sounded a lot nicer than drinking in that bar and getting some street food. We therefore joined them and we walked for about 15 minutes and came to a restaurant on the waterfront which overlooked the water and there was a magnificent sunset. We ordered some noodles, squid, fried fish and a vegetable dish which was all very good. The waiters wanted to take our picture with them which was nice. We had a great meal and enjoyed their company.

We then walked back on the dark on the roads with everyone saying hello and being very friendly. We got back to Stormbird and decided it was time for bed. We look forward to exploring more of the island tomorrow.

The picture of the day is our party at the restaurant with our waiters.  

Need/Opportunity Year Three

In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.  I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com