On A Mission
02 December 2016 | Teluk Orensbari
Inspection
Monday 28 November 2016
After a hot, rolly, downwind motor, Amsterdam is not bad. Getting in the coolish water before dark, even better. The Charlie's located a WWII (the good war if memory serves) landing craft which we dived on this morning. Considering it's been down there for 70 odd years there's a lot of skeleton left and it's larger than one might suppose. Lots of big fish and coral.
Unfortunately the wind, which is generally non-existence in Indonesia, can be a perverse thing and, in a fit of mischievousness, decided to blow big waves and us toward a lee shore by late morning so off we scampered (this was an aberration as we more often scurry, scuttle, scoot, skip or sprint) for Manokwari, an overnight venture.
Tuesday
Sailed downwind, wing and wing with breeze over the transom, but it was hot, rolly, rainy and various other words meant to express discomfort. Arrived around 1400, but the harbor at the end of a narrow bay with apparently little flow is a pit worse than Sorong, so we found an anchorage off the mainland due north of Mansinam Island. This means absolutely nothing to you, but though deep it was lovely and near a resort that we found useful for food (homemade ice cream) and information.
Friday
Six of us hired a car for yesterday morning into afternoon to do a little sightseeing and shopping after breakfast at the resort that left some with a touch of jelly belly. This regrettable experience suppressed enthusiasm for dinner there that evening, so we decided to get together on Anthem to eat soup and discuss plans.
Although no excuse is normally required for hooch fueled attitude adjustments, a visit by immigration, customs, port authorities, police and various non-uniformed personnel who tramped over the yachts for an hour and a half (nearly encroaching on happy hour) examining paperwork, taking photos of all and sundry and inspecting liquor supplies with the admonition to not take it ashore, gave us one. Because of rampant overindulgence, alcohol is no longer legally sold in West Papua and authorities are cracking down on usage. They should invite Anheuser-Busch into the country to promote responsible drinking. All efforts in our case were typically and rather impressively counterproductive.
Nevertheless, all 3 anchors were weighed and catted by 0800 to head south toward Kwatisore and whale sharks - about 140NM. The downwind motoring was hot and rolly (detect a pattern here?), but only until 1330 when we stopped for tonight in a hooked bay, where it was not hot and rolly (huh?), not wanting to sail overnight through extensive reefage into the depths of the Bay. After checking calendar, will probably do just that tomorrow night.
Plan C (or so): Four or five days of swimming with whale sharks (he optimistically projects), then we start back west even earlier than previously envisioned. This should allow time to wait out adverse weather, revisit favorite places and enjoy new ones on the way back to Malaysia and still arrive into Puteri Harbour by end of February. Witness another triumph of hope over experience.
Jack