Shipwrecks, the surf break, was first given the name because of a cargo ship that had run onto the reef there in the 60s. The sea has long since eaten that wreck, but apparently it’s such a regular occurrence, with dozens of ships of different sizes going up there, that … Read More
Lembongan
After another quiet night we headed out in the dead calm for Lembongan. Typical rows of fishing lines/nets. We come across these quite often in Indonesia. Huge swaths of sea covered and inaccessible. Lembognan is an island just a few miles from Bali. It’s a unique place, with a surf … Read More
Clowning Around
Not much to say about this place. Just a couple miles from Gili Gede, was Gili Asahan. A nice spot to spend a couple of days snorkeling, hunting for elusive seahorses, and wandering the small village, hunting for dinner. Spotted a monkey on this little islet. He was busy raiding … Read More
Gili Gede
After a few days of eating out every night, and getting Ouest’s little toe surgery taken care of (it healed up perfectly), we were off again. Along this particular stretch of water there were hundreds of these fishing boats zooming along with a line or two trailing out the back. … Read More
In Stitches
The whale shark anchorage wasn’t great, which had become a recurring theme along this stretch of Indonesia, so we upped anchor again and continued west. We had our sights set on a number of different places along the coast, but encountered problems in nearly every one, so for the next … Read More
Whale Shark
This morning we woke early, ready to go swim with whale sharks for the first time. We were anchored inside the huge Saleh Bay (more like a sea, at 50 miles deep and 10 miles across) that was well known for housing whale sharks. The experience falls somewhere underneath a … Read More
Cuttle Time
It was just a short sail out to an anchorage near Manta Point, the same place we had dived a few days earlier. We decided to give the drift another try, this time snorkeling, and see if we could get lucky and stumble onto some Mantas. We spotted lots of … Read More
Labuan Bajo
None of us had ever heard of Labuan Bajo before, so we were a little surprised to find it a hub of backpacker travel activity. Dozens and dozens of big liveaboard dive boats anchored in the bay, as well as plenty more day tripper fast boats. For us, it was … Read More
Diving in Komodo
Near our anchorage was a drift snorkel (ride the tide) that looked like fun, with shallow coral dropping off quickly down a slope into a trench between islands. We hopped in and it wasn’t long before we started to see the turtles that call this place home. We can both … Read More
Blue Whales
While I was up front raising our anchor to leave I heard the tell-tale sound of a whale spouting nearby. I turned to see the water slick left behind, then watched as they surfaced again right next to another boat in the bay. They continued out around the point and … Read More
Komodo Dragons
We sailed overnight to Komodo National Park to go see the famous Komodo dragons. It’s exciting to be able to sail to see a creature that is endemic to just a few small islands in Indonesia. While seeing one particular animal might not be that big a deal in the … Read More
Parasailor
This post is dedicated to our favorite sail ever, the Parasailor. Unfortunately, the conditions needed for this sail are narrowly defined. Wind has to be from behind at 120 degrees or more, and it has to be under about 17 knots. When conditions are right, though, it’s magical. It’s dead … Read More