Fishing has not been good. Lines have been put out, lures changed and changed again. So when the sound of the line whizzing out came it was wow! Where is everything, gaff hooks, nets etc.? Yes, we had finally caught something - a fisherman! He decided to cut very close behind us and collided with our lines. Still, no harm done, but what an anticlimax.


We had one of our best sails going from Lombok to Bali. We shot across at 7.5 knots often hitting 8 knots with a good wind off the beam right up to the anchorage at Ambat. The setting was wonderful. A small village, a couple of resorts, and a pearl farm nestling beneath the volcanos.

After darkness fell the sea seemed to be garlanded with lights.

We anchored in the large bay and were quickly joined by our friends on Azzan and another yacht. As dusk approached two more boats came. There is clearly a theory of anchoring which says that when you are anchoring in a large bay with loads of choice the best option is always as close as possible to another boat, safety in numbers I guess. It's a bit like the second car in an almost empty supermarket carpark will park next to the first car in. Just to make sure that your security doesn't move out before you, you then drop a short anchor right on top of their anchor. Names of the offenders can be had by special request.

The following day no sign of the miscreants as we headed towards them trying to get our anchor up. Luckily a gust of wind blew them to the side and we were spared having to waken them. We motored along the coast line with little wind, playing Mozart's Don Giovanni.

It somehow seemed to fit. The tranquil sea and the angry volcanic mountains. The scenery along the West Coast is magnificent but it is also a return to civilisation with numerous resorts, and we spotted a Carrefour supermarket sign in a largish town we passed.

Guess where we shall be going when we go ashore.