27^th March 2026 – Seram Island

Another 2 day / 2 night sail followed my departure from Saumlaki.  Winds were again far more northerly than expected but lighter so the sailing was not too uncomfortable but a bit longer in duration and it did mean that there was a few hours of motoring towards the end.

Route Saumlaki to Tk Ingelas

I was aiming for the south east point of the island of Seram.  I had identified an anchorage just on the northern side as that would provide some degree of protection from the prevailing weather.  To get there necessitated passing through a narrow channel between the main island and an outlining smaller island.  This channel has significant tidal currents given the constriction it presents which unfortunately can generate very rough, but very localised conditions when there is a wind against tide situation.  Unfortunately I hit this at the wrong time and endured about 15mins of rough seas which was not too bad apart from just before the end where one wave reared up over the stern quarter and dumped itself into the cockpit soaking me at the helm and taking out my Ipad which I was using as a secondary navigation tool.  I was so close to coming through unscathed.

I dropped anchor for the night around 1700 in a small exposed bay just off Seram.  In reality the anchorage was too shallow and i only managed to scrape in due to Sea Otters very shallow draft, but I wanted to set down and get a decent nights rest.  Anchorages here in Indonesia are tricky as many are just too deep or they shelve very quickly leaving little swing room.  I carry about 75m of chain and so anything over 20mwater depth is a challenge.  Next day I moved north about 10Nm to a more suitable location just off an island called Pulau Akat to wait for a favourable weather window.

Next few days were spent relaxing on the boat and doing odd jobs.  There was a small village/town on the shore but it was a bit too far in the dingy given the weather.  I was anchored between the mainland and a small island and each night I would watch from the deck as hundreds of large bats took off from the island and made there way to the mainland presumably to feed.  These were big, some with wingspans not far off a meter.  Very spectacular.

I left the anchorage heading for Sorong on the Tuesday 24^th March however contrary winds again forced me back to Seram about 50Nm further up the coast in a place called Teluk Ingelas.  This is quite a nice anchorage and have now been here for the last three days.  I will try and strike out for Sorong again tomorrow.

Teluk Ingelas is a small village/town.  The main focus looks to be around a large ferry terminal which has had a number of vessels arrive and depart while I have been here.  I went ashore the first day and had a look around.  It looks typical provincial Indonesia – primarily wooden houses, crumbling infrastructure hewn out of the lush vegetation and most people looking pretty poor.  Chickens roam everywhere and many cats lounge around between the buildings but interestingly there are no dogs here - could be because its a predominantly muslim?  Any pools of water look pretty disgusting and are covered in garbage .  The people however are extremely friendly and polite  - unfortunately there is the language barrier but have been making great use of Google Translate.  

Ashore I was a huge hit with the kids as I doubt very many foreigners visit these places.  They mobbed me and then followed me around town shouting meeeester, meeester and trying to scrounge some money.

The kids in Tk Ingelas

Alem - my go to man for veggies

I managed to get some fresh vegetables but no fruit so next day I went further afield to Bula, a larger town about 10Km down the road and was more successful bagging watermelon, bananas and a pineapple.   I also bought a small fresh tuna for dinner – the first protein In have had for quite a while.

Bula was an interesting place – not pretty by any stretch of the imagination but it used to be an oil producing area and all the old “nodding donkey” pumps are still there on manmade sand spits off the shoreline.

Bula Oilfield Equipment

One thing that is endemic here is garbage.  It is everywhere.  I guess when every day is a personal struggle, cleaning up rubbish is pretty far down the list of daily priorities but it is a real shame to see the scale of it.  Some areas along the coast have plastic bottles and other detritus covering the ground almost 100% and others are clear and you can see how beautiful it can be.

Beach off Tk Ingelas

Early tomorrow morning I will head off again and try and make it across to Sorong.  Winds are light but may just be able to sneak through.

 16th March 2026 - Darwin to Indonesia

Upon reaching Darwin last year around late August I left Sea Otter at the Cullen Bay Marina supposedly for only two to four months.  I had a number of things to do onshore not least of which was to visit my aging mother in Denmark with Nik.  Nik came up to Darwin to help me mothball the boat and we had a very pleasant couple of weeks taking it easy on the boat and slowly packing all the gear away, decommissioning and making safe the various onboard systems and enjoying Darwin sights in the evenings

Back in Perth a number of events conspired to delay my return to the boat – we had a longer than expected, although most enjoyable, trip to Denmark, then I had a run in with prostate cancer which had to be addressed immediately.  Christmas and post op recovery followed and then early in 2026 sadly my mother passed and a return trip to Denmark was necessary to attend the funeral.  Given all this Sea Otter sat securely in her berth in Darwin even surviving tropical cyclone Fina unscathed.

I returned to the boat in Mid Feb and started to get her ready to sail again.  There was quite a list of work to carry out.  Nothing major though. I spent 10 days ticking off the items from my to do list and slowly melting away.  The heat and humidity in the top end is constant and I was living onboard the vessel in the marina so there is no respite.  In addition to that it was very wet just to compound the misery.  The marina is sheltered so even any breeze is mitigated by the marina surrounds.  My favourite time of the day was when I had knocked off in the late afternoon.  I would wander across the road from the marina and sit in a small park on the shoreline and bask in the cooling onshore breeze while reading a book.

I flew to Perth for a quick visit with the family and then returned to Darwin on March 4th.  This is not the season to be doing a crossing to Indonesia but I wanted to get the boat back out sailing and up to Irian Jaya to start cruising.  The North West monsoon winds have kicked in and there is a steady north westerly flow across the top of Australia and Arafura Sea which is far from ideal given that I need to get North.  There was a weather window coming up where the winds were more westerly than norwest and that I hoped gave me an opportunity.  Monday March 9^th was set as the departure date.

I scrambled to get the last of the onboard preparations completed including stocking up with foodstuffs and essential spares.  In addition I have bought all the antifouling paint for the next haul out which only just arrived in time given the flooding in the NT.  Also had to complete the departure formalities from Australia which were pretty straight forward and the arrival procedures for Indonesia which are a bit more involved.   I hired an agent in Indonesia to assist in preparation and submission of all documentation,

The immediate plan is to sail up to Raja Ampat – an area of Indonesia near Irian Jaya which has some spectacular scenery and marine life.  Once at Raja Ampat Nik will join the vessel for a couple of months as we cruise the islands.  First though I need to get the boat across to Indonesia and will sail initially to a place called Saumlaki on the island of Tanimbar directly due north of Darwin.

On Monday the 9^th March I threw off the mooring lines and moved out of Cullen Bay Marina onto the customs quay outside the marina lock gates.  The Australian Border Force officials visited the vessel, had a quick look around and then presented me with my outward clearance documentation.  Once formalities were complete they waited on the dock for me to leave.  I cast off around 11:00am on a grey showery day and headed out into Beagle Bay making for the Dundas Strait between Melville Island and the mainland.  That in itself is an 80NM sail through waters which are beset by strong tidal currents running up to 2knts to 3 knts at times.

Darwin to Saumlaki Route

 I am conscious that this is only the second time I have sailed the boat solo and so decided to take things really easy.  I anchored around 10:00pm on the mainland to get some sleep and then continued early Tuesday passing through the Straits late in the afternoon and into the Arafura Sea.  I set a course for Saumlaki and then settled down as best I could.

The next couple of days were pretty taxing being on my own and the fact that the weather was slightly more northerly than expected which meant I had to sail closer to the wind which exacerbates the movement of the vessel and makes it quite uncomfortable.  Not having been on the boat for a while I was also seasick – not debilitatingly so but enough to make you wonder why you do this.  Overall apart from being uncomfortable the crossing was pretty uneventful – had consistent 12 to 18knt winds from the north west with gusts to 23kts, a 2m sea and little rain.  I sighted Tanimbar late on Thursday afternoon and found a sheltered cove to anchor in overnight.  It is rare that I will anchor in a new location after dark but I just made it in using the last of the dusk light.  On the way in there were unlit fishing boats which I could not see and only knew they were there when they shone a flashlight at me.

The next morning I moved around the headland into the bay and motored into the Saumlaki Port anchorage just as a number of squalls moved through.  Got the anchor down on the second attempt and it held. 

Saumlaki town consists of buildings lining the shore and the sloping low hillsides behind the shoreline.  It is home to around 50,000 people.  There is a large passenger ferry jetty and an obvious church and mosque.  The island is predominantly Christian and Saumlaki is the major town on Tanimbar island.  It is also a dedicated port of entry hence why I chose to arrive here. I am the only yacht here – apart from it being out of season most yachts go to Ambon or Tual to clear in.

Saumlaki Waterfront - North side 

Saumlaki Harbour - South side

Once I got the boat squared away I launched the dingy and headed in to meet my agent Ken at the Malabar Indah Hotel.  Once there we met the quarantine guy at the hotel and handed over some papers and got some stamped papers in return.  Then it was off to immigration to hand over some more photocopies of passport, vessel registration, visa documents etc.  Then we broke for lunch and Ken took me on the back of his scooter to a local place for some Mee-goreng.  After lunch we met with customs and I had to ferry the customs officer to the boat where he had a cursory look around before deeming everything satisfactory.  Back to shore we went finished for the day but still having a couple of official things to do before I am good to push on which would not be completed until Monday.

Ken insisted on taking me to his local village called Wodondo down the coast.  We sped off on his scooter for the 30min journey which gave me a chance to see some of the island.  Its very lush and green and forested.  The village was pretty big and was all brick houses..  We met Kens' brothers and his father, sat and had some coffee and then sped back to the harbour where I got back onboard the boat for some rest.

Ken works for a shipping agency based in Tual.  He is a really nice guy - super helpful -  and I am glad I decided to use him.  He was telling me that he recently helped another sailor called Aaron Carrotta – this guy is rowing around the world if you can believe that.  So no more whinging from me about sailing being tough.  The locals seem very friendly from my brief walk around the town.  The infrastructure is all there but pretty badly in need of maintenance.  It reminds me of the streets of Samarinda when I was working in East Kalimantan but there are plenty of shops, stalls selling most of what I guess you would need.

I spent the weekend on the boat relaxing and doing boat things – there are always jobs to be done.  I had to get in the water and clean the hull and prop which had picked up some marine growth from the time in Darwin.  On Monday I met up with Ken again and finished the last bit of official business with the harbourmaster.  I was given what is called a green book which needs to be carried by the vessel whilst in Indonesian waters and was then all good to go.  There was time for a final lunch with Ken, some shopping for fresh vegetables and then I returned to the boat ready for a departure the following morning.

Waiting with Ken in the Harbour Masters Office

My plan evolves as I go.  Initially I had hoped for a big push to Saumlaki and then easy hops along island all the way to Raja Ampat.  Given the prevailing winds and forecasts though I have decided to make another 250NM push to the next staging point on the island of Seram. 

Hopefully the seasickness will abate.

FAD - Fish Aggregating Device - unlit and strewn all around the coastal waters