KOMODO DRAGONS – NAH.

20 November 2023

Last night I was reflecting on my plan to visit the Komodo National Park to see the dragons.   The diversion will take a couple of days and cost $$$ to see the dragons.  I have already seen a Komodo dragon in Balikpapan, a guy there had one in a cage (I don’t know why).  Anyway, I have been close up to a dragon and had the opportunity to poke it with a stick, something not recommended in the wild, they are not particularly nice creatures.

So, I have decided to skip the dragon visit and save a few $$$ by continuing my way to Lombok.  The weather is so hot at the moment and tramping through dragon country will be hard going and not much fun.

We weighed anchor and departed from Labuan Bajo in the early dawn, heading west towards the top of Komodo Island.  There was not much wind and we motor sailed the twenty-five miles across to the north of Komodo Island. 

By midday we were anchored in a large Bay on the north side of Komodo Island called either Loh Serau or Teluk Batumonco depending on which chart is in use.  The anchorage was completely deserted, no other boats or sign of life ashore, this is unusual in Indonesia as there is normally some human activity just about everywhere.  There were some strong currents swirling around the bay and for a while we had the dreaded wind against tide thing. 

The anchorage was visually impressive, beautiful looking beach with a fringing reef, scrubland ashore rising to barren hills.  On the beach there were three sets of dragon tracks.  In the late afternoon we had a rain shower, lovely fresh smell of rain on land, refreshing but it was over too soon.  Then a large black pig came on the beach and ploughed a long furrow in the sand with his snout.  I get the impression its dragons in the morning and pigs in the afternoon.

The night at anchor was unsettled, the current swirled around the bay and the hills accelerated the southerly wind, gusting into the anchorage.  Nothing too strong but just enough to be tiresome through the night.

The next morning there was a breeze and we had a good sail across the strait, north of Banta Island to Sumbawa.  Unfortunately, as soon as we approached the Sumbawa coast the wind died and the effects of a strong adverse current could be felt.  The engine was called upon and we crept slowly along between the coast and Sangeang Island.  Mr. Yanmar doing his best and heating the boat up nicely.

Later in the afternoon I found an anchorage on the coast in a bay about 10 miles outside the port of Bima.  Not the best anchorage but good for an overnight stop in settled weather.  During the night the wind swung around to blow blustery gusts off the land, and we lay out safely in deep water. 

Another early start the next day and I was not unhappy to get away from the anchorage.  Today we are heading for a place called Kilo, thirty plus miles away.  The breeze helped us for the first two hours and then died away, on went the engine, the air became hot and I spent more time on the foredeck where there was a slight breeze and I could see the fishermen and their nets cunningly laid out to trap us.  With the remote control for the Pelagic Autopilot its an easy matter to alter course from the foredeck and dodge the nets.

From mid-morning until we reached the anchorage at Kilo the wind and engine were on and off.  One minute we had a perfect sailing breeze and the engine was shut down.  A few minutes later the breeze died, then teased us with small puff before returning for a while then disappearing completely.  Back to motoring and wait for the next breeze.  Late afternoon, we anchored in 20m just off the beach at Kilo.  The children watched from the beach and by the time we had settled at anchor they had found a leaky canoe as transport to Truce.  They had mango and coconut to trade for pencils and biscuits.

The anchorage was a bit windy late afternoon but later at night it calmed down for a restful night.  Once again, we were off early in the morning, an early start is so good as the temperature is slightly cooler.  The weather has been so hot, almost unbearable, even the locals are complaining.  Today we are aiming for Kananga on the north coast of Sumbawa.

The day was quite uneventful, not much wind, flat calm, and the forty four miles was completed under motor.  We anchored at Kananga off the beach in 25m of water.  I was exhausted after motoring all day and fell asleep in the cockpit for a couple of hours.  The temperature inside the boat was almost forty degrees (the downside of a fully insulated boat) and unbearable.  But I have made good progress to the west and am getting close to Lombok.

I have a decision to make now.  The fuel reserves are getting low, I can stock up in Badas which is on the route but requires a detour.  Alternatively, I can hope to have some wind and sail part of the way and press on to Lombok.  After some consideration I have decided to head on towards Lombok but will do a final decision based on the weather tomorrow.  Its been a long hot trip from Saumlaki and I need to get somewhere cooler, eat good food and have some serious sleep.  The heat of the last weeks has drained me, I need to recoup.