Aug 10-14
Hi All,
Kawula: As mentioned in the last blog we had anchor down, passage beers open and watching the Lembata volcano by 5pm……a 68 nm passage that took us 10 hours….avg 6.8 kts……so a 1.2 kt avg adverse current….our fuel mileage sucked on that one!!! The volcano had the iconic cone shape and while not spewing or even a red lava glow it was venting steam through several spots….it made the rocks whitish/green and as the sun set behind it there was this beautiful greenish glow all around…..quite a site!!! We were the only boat in the anchorage…..it was soooooo quiet it was heaven after the hectic sensory overload pace we had been on. But, it was very still, hot and humid……we stayed up on the FB until well past dark just enjoying the peace & quiet, fish jumping and occasional birdsong….many of which were new to us!! It was popcorn and the last show of season 6 of Downton Abbey for us…..a happy ending except for poor old Carson:))))
We were up around 6am for a 6:30am Skype call to Kyle at Spectra…..more on that later. A couple of boats were trying to make our anchorage yesterday but with that pesky current they ducked into the previous bay and anchored at Balurin around sunset. But, around 7am we hear a vhf transmission that they are passing us and heading for Krokos atoll, the same as us, and it had been reported on the net the anchorage was full and to seek alternative anchorages….ugh, ugh, ugh. We texted our friends on Bella Vita who were there and they said ITHO there was plenty of room so not too worry….oh, what a relief. So, the 4 boats decided to give it a look see and if it was full we would keep going another 10 miles to another acceptable anchorage. We did the 22nm passage in about 3.5 hours, still fighting the adverse current. Indeed the anchorage had 10+ boats but we decided to anchor out away from the normal spot in about 70’…….actually a quite lovely spot….and as it turned out with the currents and tides the 1st night we were there, many of the boats were swinging differently and quite radically and several got very close……all around midnight with lots of chatter on the VHF…..hmmmm, people looked at Mystic and we were resting comfortably on our own…..we never heard the hour long chatter on the VHF……snoring blissfully ignorant of all the commotion!!!
The atoll is beautiful…..white sandy beaches and lovely crystal clear waters and a very healthy reef…..this is by far the prettiest anchorage to date!!! Plenty of spots to snorkel or scuba but not going to happen for us. Brett and Stacey came over right after the anchor was down and joined us in a celebratory passage beer….well, we were having BM’s as it was still morning……and then the games begin…..it was just one of those days where we had plenty to drink/party/sharing all our Indo experiences/boat issues….BM’s turned into beer into wine……not so much to eat and then the call goes out that HH is on the beach from our Aussie freinds……we didn’t even have lunch/dinner so gathered more to drink and went with Brett & Stacey and had a lovely time on this white sandy beach with 20+ other people and a big bonfire. We get back around 7:30 and after a very fun and long day I turn on the Gen, set the alarm for 2 hours and fall fast asleep!!
While on Atlantis for HH at sunset the next night, we witnessed a fruit bat (flying foxes) horde flying to feed at night. I really do not know how to describe it…….the line of bats went on for about 3-5 miles…….really, maybe 100 bats across they filled the whole horizon….we have no idea how many but the guess was several hundred thousands to millions. The next morning Kathy got up early and saw the horde coming back to the nesting spot on the far atoll….right over Mystic and we have the poop splats to prove it. We have seen fruit bats before but never in this quantity…utterly amazing!!!
Watermaker: Yep……it is becoming the dominant factor for us. The morning we talked with Spectra, Kyle said it probably was the Clark pump, although still could be an obstruction somewhere……..ugh, our worst nightmare as now we must figure out how to get the part into Indo which is practically impossible. They do have a rep in Singapore which deals with Indonesia so hopefully they can get it all sorted. Well…..the watermaker just refused to run for a day and a half……after the call and all that day….cutout immediately on high pressure. So, after the big party day we spent 6+ hours in the 90+ deg F laz taking everything apart we could think of but no joy……whaaaaa. We went over to Atlantis for HH that night and when we came back and started the GEN the watermaker ran for an hour…..ok, better, then the next day it ran for 1.5 hours…..still better. We are thinking there is an issue with heat in the laz and the pistons in the Clark pump maybe sticking……although it sounds perfect…..as in no sticking at all…..ugh!!! We have a couple more things to check/replace……flush solenoid and feed water pump…..brand new in Sydney when the problem started…..hmmm…curious……but that is for another day….right now we are 3/4 full and need to recover from yesterday’s heat!!! We also have a full service kit for the Clark Pump……like a gazillion seals/o-rings…..so if nothing is working then I will get some help from Brett and we will tackle the beast!!
Gedong: While we wanted to stay in Krokos and play for a day we were both too pooped to enjoy so we decided to go along with Bella Vita to Gedong and then onto Maumere…..we know we can get water there in 20 liter jugs if we need too. Gedong was a very lovely anchorage although very steep to, full of coral bommies and rubble. We dragged anchor the first 2 times we tried to set but finally got a good set on the 3rd try….ugh….obviously our Bruce anchor is not doing so good in all this coral rubble…arghhhhhh!!! We had a lovely afternoon evening…..got in a good nap and started to feel a little better from yesterday’s hot yoga workout. In the guide book it mentioned monkeys on the beach but we looked hard all afternoon and sunset and didn’t see anything. What we did see on the passage, though, were a pod of maybe 50 dolphins asleep on the surface…..Kathy researched and it is called “logging” as they look like a bunch of logs on the surface. Usually females and juveniles and we did see several juveniles playing outside the group…..it was really a sight to see!!
I will close the blog now as we are on passage to Maumere……about 50 nm……so will arrive mid-afternoon…..and the watermaker ran for 1.5 hours this am so still about 3/4 full!!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
GO MYSTIC GO!!!
PS: Still no pics……internet very slow and we had no service at Gedong!!!