Year 2- 5 September 2025 –Sebayur Besar – to Leh Sumar- Batu Monjo -Komodo Island

The alarm woke me at 6.15am and I put the kettle on. We had our tea as the day was warming up. There was the noise of a generator on one of the tourist boats. On another they were preparing for their first dives of the day. It was a lovely blue-sky day with little wind. We got the dinghy up and put the solar panels down and when we were ready we slipped the mooring and we then motored out of the bay leaving about 6 tourist boats behind.

We motored on as there was little wind and prepared breakfast of mango and melon etc. We then always have a cafetiere of nice coffee which always sets up the day. After about an hour there was just about enough wind to sail so we put up the genoa and set our best course on a broad reach. We made about 3-4 kts and so I put on the generator and started making water. The wind did not build but we still glided along doing 2.5 -3kts. We were not in a rush and it was good to fill up the port tank. There were a number of tourist boats around ferrying their occupants to various parts of the Komodo National Park. There were a few squid boats around phut phutting with enormous outriggers from which they catch their squid at night when they shine their lights.

A dinghy approached us and said hello and they were from a tourist boat and had been diving. They were from Belgium and France and wanted to know where we were from and where we were going. We chatted and waived goodbye and carried on sailing slowly until we were barely making 2 kts. We decided to turn off the generator and then motor our last hour before we got to the proposed anchorage at the top of Komodo Island. We came to the top after about an hour and motored into the bay. It was a large, curved bay with various reefs and we needed to keep into the centre of the bay before we could ease into a sandy patch just outside the reef. The sides of the bay rose up quite steeply and they were a light brown colour with the odd bush here and there and quite mountainous with rock showing some it quite red in colour indicating iron I think.

We slowly motored forward to a light blue patch indicating sand and dropped the anchor. There were what looked like rock or the odd bits of coral around. Once we let about 30 m of chain out we waited and settled. I then got in the water and snorkelled and could see the chain had wrapped round a rock/coral formation so I thought we had better start again. I explained the situation to Mark and we motored in the right direction to release from the rock and luckily it came up well and did not trap. Between us and another blue patch was a tree which must have lodged on the bottom with branches sticking out of the water. We motored round it and to a larger blue patch and dropped the anchor again but this time we put fenders on the chain every 10 m or so to lift it up a bit (like we did in the Tuamutus). We settled and I snorkelled again and all seemed fine and we were in a good patch of sand and the chain was free of any coral or rocks.

We then had some lunch and admired the view. We then had siesta and chilled. There was little wind but after a couple of hours we were facing away from the beach with our stern toward the beach whereas before we had been the other way. I went in again and I noticed that the chain was under a bit of coral which was holding us from coming back toward the beach any further. I checked the weather and the wind should come round to the East and then SSE so we should come round the right way and hopefully it will free itself. We monitored it all afternoon and felt we should be alright. Low water came and we were fine so I felt comfortable leaving things as they were. The water was crystal clear with lovely coral and some nice fish.

We then sat on the aft deck and tried to see if we could see any Komodo Dragons. We read that they are quite strong swimmers and can swim between islands and hold their breath for about 15 minutes. We therefore when we swam kept a good lookout!!. We then saw some deer on the beach come out and walk along the beach foraging. This was followed by two wild boar and a baby. Clearly there must be food for the dragons so they must be here somewhere and we expected a dragon to grab one but none appeared.

There was only one other boat in the bay so we had the place to ourselves really.  We sat and enjoyed the sunset which gradually lowered and disappeared behind the hills. The moon had been up early and as I write this is shining down on us.

We have noticed over the last day or so that the water pump briefly goes when we do not have a tap on. This indicates a small leak somewhere. I looked around and found it in the engine room. It is dripping from the old leak from before so when the engine room cools down overnight we will look at it and fix it. Leaks are not good to have on a boat.

I made a load of bolognaise last night and Mark decided to turn it into a Shepherd’s Pie with mash potato which was very good. We listened to Bob Dylana and the Kinks as we chilled in the cockpit and enjoyed the cool of the evening.

The picture of the day is our view from the boat in our anchorage.  

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