Left Ashmore Reef
08 August 2006 | Ashmore Reef, Timor Sea
Chris
We left Ashmore reef yesterday morning before we planned. The wind had increased to just below a gale and the chop in the protected lagoon was breaking over the bow. Fortunately the anchor was holding fine, but it did not seem like any fun to be stuck watching over the boat when we could be making good progress towards Cocos Keeling (1500 miles west) or Christmas Island (1000 miles west) where we might stop.
I was disappointed because we had heard that the snorkeling at Ashmore is excellent and both of us wanted to go for a swim after having spent the last 2 months in crocodile infested waters. It was not a total loss, as we had a good night of sleep while on anchor and had enjoyed a nice dinner the evening before.
Ashmore Reef is a small offshore reef with a lagoon and three sandy cays which at least one of them has a couple of palm trees and some sparse greenery. The reef is located 80 miles south of Timor and about 500 miles west of Darwin, Australia. It is a marine preserve which means there is no fishing other than what you can eat that day.
Curiously enough there are about 30 traditional Indonesian fishing boats anchored here. They are rough wooden sloops about 30' to 40' long. Each had a long bow sprit and short raked mast with a long boom. They have small cabin houses with no windows and they look much sleeker than you would expect for fishing boats. There crews were 3 to 5 wiry young men dressed in what appeared to traditional Indonesian dress.
While I was checking the anchor in the middle of the night, I watched one the boats deftly beat through the pass in the reef with only an oil lamp and experience to guide them. They must be excellent sailors and the boats make very good progress to windward in tight quarters with short tacks.
According to the Australian government's guide, the traditional Indonesian fishermen have been congregating here for hundreds of years and have graves on three sandy cays which they visit. Australia presides over the marine park at Ashmore and often has a boat stationed there, although we did not see it.