Across the Banda Sea

We left the Banda islands for a 3 day passage across the Banda Sea toward the Nussa Tengarra islands to the south. The first two days we had to beat into the winds. Apparent wind angle (AWA) of 60* with the true winds around 18-20ts. Anytime the wind is in front of the beam the sailing is ungentlemanly and the crew tends to get grumpy.  On the third day the winds just quit, leaving the sea absolutely glassy. We are now in Adunara Islands. This chain of islands is just one volcanic peak after another, some smoking.

There was not much traffic on the passage, but we did pass near by this massive LPG tanker heading to Australia.

The anchorage we are in is about 3/4 of a mile from a small village. The locals stop by to see if you want to buy any of their fish or give them something. This guy wanted a "toupe", aka hat, so I coughed up one of my Gold Coast City Marina caps from Australia.

We dropped anchor at 08:30 on a sunny calm day-- the first we've seen in quite awhile.  After a little rest we managed to get inspired to do a little snorkeling. Nothing too exciting, but warm clear water and some healthy corals and attendant reef fish.

Paul