Sunday 18 January – snorkelling around the islands

Today’s weather was forecast to be rainy but turned out fine so we headed out for a snorkel around the islands before the weather changed. There is so much reef around, with quite a current flowing through but we found some good spots. Mixed areas of stunning coral structures and other areas looked a little broken. We saw a turtle and a shark which generally means that there is a good sea life balance. Not as many fish as we have seen in other places but some big ones. Rowan was very pleased when he went out on his own in the afternoon to see a big group of the bump head wrasse. The trails of rubbish are never that nice to swim through, but I’m grateful the current keeps it confined.

Rowan took some great drone footage in the afternoon. Clint bought him the super duper drone in Jakarta, when he realised he had forgotten to bring the one that Rowan had sent to him in Rome. This version can go 6kms, so he sent it over to the island where we walked yesterday to see what the building was on the top of the hill. Turns out they were also derelict, most probably part of the resort. There must have been quite a lot happening on the island in the past. I was very impressed with the distance the drone flew. I wonder if there were a few fishermen wondering what it was.

Another lovely sunset and no rain all day. Getting a little apprehensive about the forecast as we are waiting for winds to arrive tomorrow. However it looks better to set sail on Tuesday, fingers crossed. We are gearing up for a two day passage to get us to our first destination, a small passage Rowan has found that divides an island in two, so we will not have to go all the way around it, hopefully keeping our wind angle. We can stop overnight and then two or three more days sailing south to WangiWangi which is a Marine Reserve south of the big island Sulawesi. We will have a couple of weeks there before heading south to the Lombok area.