I was up early as usual and cooked up another feast of bacon & sausages for breakfast while the loud chanting from the mosque loud speakers continued from the night before. After checking the engine oil and belt tensions, (all fine) we headed of around 08:45 for a 24 nm (4 hour) passage to Banta Island.
Farewell to Wira
It was dead calm for most of the passage and I got a few small boat jobs done along the way as well as cleaning up the boat and putting a few things away.
It was so calm the local fishing boats were floating in mirages
I arrived at Banta Island at 13:20 and anchored in the northern bay on a tiny sand patch in 7m of crystal-clear water.
Though technically we were just outside of the park, we were now in the majestic Komodo Islands. It was very hot and after lowering the dinghy, I dived in and checked the area for bombies and then spent the next hour or so inspecting the hulls for any damage (from the grounding the other night) and scraping off a little growth. Only a little anti fouling was rubbed off under each mini keel, we were so lucky.
After checking the hulls, I took the dinghy for a long trip around the North Western side of the island. The water was crystal-clear and extremely deep and the current was ripping through extremely fast. It was all very exciting, I did a few drift dives but the current was a bit too strong to relax, so I went back into the large bay where we were anchored and went snorkeling for several hours in the North East area. The coral was in really good condition and I saw several small sharks, a turtle and many small fish.
Latter back at the boat, Luke cooked a large pot of beef rendang that we took into the beach. We had dinner next to a huge fire I built with drift wood (surrounded by large lizard tracks) then washed it down with a few beers while staring at the embers. It was another great day and pleasant evening in a very beautiful location.
Track Sirocco’s progress
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