2nd April 2026 - Arrival in Raja Ampat Area
I had just finished my morning coffee when I
heard shouts near the boat. I came up on
deck to see a local craft with two older women in it paddling in towards Sea
Otter. I could see fishing equipment in
the boat and thought “Great they are coming to sell me some fish”. Once alongside however it became clear that rather
than a bit of trade this was a shakedown for some anchoring fees.
I had struck out from Teluk Ingelas on Seram island early
Saturday (28th March) under power as there was almost no wind. Apart from the forecast being light there is
also a wind shadow in the lee of the island.
I dislike having to run the engine for extended periods of time but need
to get used to it here as light and variable conditions are a prevalent. After five hours of motor sailing I decided
to shut the engine down and wait for the wind which came in – almost as
expected about an hour later.
The wind was light but enough to get us
moving. I generally consider the boats
speed in the following categories: 2kts – what’s the point, 3kts - acceptable, 4kts
- reasonable, 5kts is the target average and good and anything above 5kts a
bonus. On this sail we were anywhere
from 3 to 6kts depending upon the wind and direction. I set the auto pilot to follow the wind and
as such the course took a bit of a hit but we maintained a fairly constant 4kt average
in 6kt to 8kt winds.
I was not to worried about the speed as I did
not want to arrive at my destination during the early morning. The total crossing is about 90Nm and at about
55Nm in, around midnight I had to navigate through some very narrow passes
formed from the myriad of offlying islands of Missol. It is pretty straightforward with modern navigation
aids but caution and attention is still required as the charts for this region
are notorious for being incomplete or or just wrong. An incredibly bright near full moon with what looked like a halo around it also
helped to outline the dark shapes of the rocks. Once through the islands it was the early hours of the morning and there
was a bit of traffic coming across the stretch of water between Misool and the
Selat Sele which resulted in me not getting much in the way of sleep.
The Selat Sele (or Sele Strait) is a 35Nm stretch of water which separates mainland Papua from an island called Palau Salawati. It is a short cut to Sorong when approaching from the South. The passage is narrow in the south and opens up after about 15Nm into a myriad of islands and channels not too dis-similar to a river delta. At its narrowest it is still 1 NM wide but it sees quite a bit of passenger ferry traffic and bulk marine vessel traffic serving the industries around Sorong.
I reached the southern end of the strait around
0900 with a bit of a tide against me so found a suitable spot and put down the
anchor to wait for the tidal current to change.
This also allowed me to get some sleep.
Around midday I awoke and checked the current which had turned and so
continued up the Strait under power. My
goal was to find a nice quiet anchorage just past the narrow part of the Strait. After three hours motoring I set the anchor
in 17m of water up a narrow waterway with jungle and mangroves all around, not a
soul or or even signs of any human activity in sight and just the noise of
birds in the trees. I spent three days
here just relaxing and doing odd jobs on the boat. Occasionally a local boat
would speed by shouting out to me and I would oblige by going on deck to wave
and shout back.
Whilst this location was very peaceful – there was that little motion it was as if the boat was on dry land – it was not really conducive to swimming. The water was murky and there are saltwater crocs in some of the mangrove areas and I was not willing to risk it. So I moved on out of the Strait and anchored off a small island call Matan about 8NM from Sorong where I am now and where the shakedown occurred.
I arrived yesterday passing a number of squid
boats also anchored just off the land.
These are strange looking contraptions and from a distance look like
they have wings but they are huge outriggers to hang the high powered lights from
which they attract the squid. Needless to say
it’s very much a nocturnal occupation. I
put the anchor down in 7m of water on a sandy bottom about 0.5NM off the island
and immediately was visited by some dolphin – always good to see. The water is now clear and conducive to
swimming.
So back to the ladies and the transaction. I was told it is 500k rph (about $50 Aud) to
anchor here. After a bit of negotiation
I got that down to 200k and after paying them suprisingly was given an official stamped
receipt showing it was for anchorage fees at Matan. Have read that at some of these places there
are fees payable and others are just locals trying to make a buck. Regardless as long as it is not every time in
every anchorage and not ridiculous its probably fair enough.
I am in a bit of a holding pattern now with me
being so close to Sorong and waiting for Nik to arrive in mid April. I have read that Sorong whilst having good amenities
such as supermarkets and restaurant is not that pretty or enjoyable and the
anchorage is questionable at times. As
such am trying to stay out of Sorong for as long as possible however my food is
running low and my clothes are getting smelly so will probably have to make a
run in after Easter. In the meantime I
will hang here having paid my dues (hopefully the local maritime mafia will not
be back tomorrow) and get on with jobs on the boat, reading my books (I am
trying to get through the classics), writing the blog, watching a bit of
Netflix, swimming and attending to other administrative and household chores.
Nik has booked her flights and we will meet up
on the 19th April in Sorong and the tour of Raja Ampat will start.
