23^rd April 2026 – At last we arrive at the first Raja

As predicted this post is from the first Raja.  Raja Ampat means four kings and relates to the four main islands which are Batanta, Waigeo, Kofiau and Misool.  We dropped anchor off Batanta yesterday afternoon behind an island in the middle of a large bay.

The last week has been a bit busy.  I went into the Tampa Garam Marina as planned on Thursday.  As mentioned, it is very basic.  I believe it was originally built as a kind of resort and not a marina.  The marina basin was not built for yachts but as some kind of seawater type park which activities could be used for different activities.  The basin is ringed with chalets and there is a large central building at the end on the other side of which is the biggest fresh water pool I have seen.  All around there are remnants of theme park paraphernalia, a flying fox, pedalos cabanas, etc, all in an advanced state of decay.  Surprisingly the pool looks immaculate but unfortunately is only luke warm.  An enterprising guy here in Sorong called Wick Alliston has leased the basin and provides the marina services along with his other businesses.

Tampa Garam Marina

The amount of rubbish in the marina depends on tidal flow, rains etc, and the day I came in it was particularly bad.  I was really worried about getting garbage into the cooling water intake.  The marina wall is crumbling away so you “med moor” stern to i.e. come in and drop the anchor and then reverse onto the marina wall and lay out two stern lines.  You then need to use the dingy to get to and from the shore.  There were probably about a dozen boats already in the marina when I arrived.

The first task was to refuel.  If you want high spec diesel the only way to do this is by taking jerry cans to the normal filling stations in town.  Given I was after 250litres that was 13 x 20litre jerry cans.  Luckily Wick apart from being an extremely nice guy and helpful also knows his way around this place.  He put me in touch with a driver called Pak Berty and loaned me the jerry cans then it was off to the ATM to get cash, then to the filling station, filling all the cans, back to the boat, unload the cans into the dingy, ferry to Sea Otter, unload onto Sea Otter, empty into the vessel fuel tanks and then shuttle all the containers back to shore.  All in all it was about a three to four hour process all done in pretty hot conditions.

The next day after a very hot night I hired a driver called Pak Nedy and we went to numerous stores around town to complete the provisioning of all the non-perishable foods.  I also had to buy some alcohol for the next part of the trip.  When its just me onboard I do not generally worry about alcohol but once there is two of you its sometimes nice to have a beer or two or a glass of wine.  That night, an Australian couple on a boat near me came over so I could pick their brains on anchorages.  They have been in Indonesia for almost a year and so had a lot of useful information.  One bit of local knowledge was that one of the smaller but iconic islands called Wayag is closed.  It seems the government closed a nickel mine nearby which upset the locals who have taken to hurling rocks at any visiting boats.

Given that I had completed the fuelling and provisioning and that it was very hot staying in the marina, not to mention the garbage, I decided to leave the next morning (Saturday).  I slipped the moorings, retrieved the anchor and went to anchor just outside the marina for the afternoon and night.  It was a relief to get a cooling breeze across the deck.  Next day I motored down to Sorong and picked up Nicole from the airport and got her stowed away onboard.  We treated ourselves to a pizza and beer ashore for dinner.

Fishing Boats at Sorong

We were off early morning with our driver Iky to stock up on fresh food and to clear out with the local quarantine office.  Iky took us to some really interesting fresh produce markets, helped us buy eggs and, after a quick stop at the supermarket, we were back onboard ready to depart Sorong……again.

 

Nik in her element

The days destination was Yefman Island approx. 8NM away which we made by mid-afternoon.  We anchored in a protected small bay where there was a settlement onshore and a jetty.  The idea was to relax here for a couple of days before pushing on to Batanta.  Whilst we did stay for a couple of days most of the time was spent pulling the watermaker apart.  The HP pump of the unit has sheared some bolts so I had to remove the pump unit and the membrane housing.  We toyed with the idea of returning to Sorong to get it fixed but in the end decided to push on, be careful with our water use and start catching rain water.  Luckily the boat has water tanks with over 400litres capacity so we should be OK.

Sea Otter Anchored Off Yefman Island

I did manage a wander on the island to look at some old WWII Japanese bunkers on the beach and some crazy rock formations.  Back at the boat we had a visit from a two local kids who brought us a couple of coconuts and I regaled them with knot tying demonstrations.

Wyner - our local visitor

The next day (Wednesday) we crossed the 15Nm to Batanta managing to sail for half the time.  The lack of wind here means that there will be an inordinate amount of motoring to be done but given the difficulties of obtaining fuel we will sail wherever possible.  We headed for a large bay called Teluk Marchesa with Ayemi island sitting in the middle fringed by reef.  Its getting more and more peaceful the further we get from Sorong however unfortunately there is still a lot of garbage in the water.  The bay is lined with hills covered in dense forest/jungle.  There are a couple of small settlements and a few pearl farms strung out in the water.  The only noise is the lapping of the water and occasional small boat going past and in the morning the pretty loud calls of the forest birds.  We will hang here for a couple of days and have a look around before pushing on to the north side of Batanta.

 

 14^th April 2026 – In and Out of Sorong

Last blog was almost a couple of weeks ago but there really has not been that much going on as I wait for Nik to arrive.

I managed to hold out in the peace and quiet of Matan island until Wednesday the 9^th April then decided to make the move into Sorong.  It was an easy 3hr motor across to Sorong and I was anchored up by late afternoon just off the main harbour.  First impressions is its very busy, noisy with a lot of trash in the water, making for an altogether unattractive destination but I was determined to give it a go. There was one other yacht also anchored up and I went across to get some local information from them. 

Sorong is the principal town in Western Papua with a population of over 250,000.  Apart from being the jump off point for the Raja Ampat tourist scene it is also an administrative centre for the region and logistics hub for the oil and gas industries operating in the vicinity.  As with most of these places there is a major road running parallel with the coast which most shops and businesses are located on.  The waterfront area has businesses all the way along it from major logistics operations such as a container terminal, fuel receiving terminal, a general freight wharf and a ferry wharf. In between these are a myriad of smaller waterfront service businesses.  All day long and into the night vessels are moving around either arriving/departing the port/anchorage or servicing vessels at anchor or zipping between Sorong and the settlements on the nearby islands.

There is a mooring area further out in deeper water and that is used by all the “live aboards” – a term for the Raja Ampat tourist charter vessels which are mainly decked out Phinisi’s (traditional local vessels) with a couple of modern small diving charter vessels.  There must be around thirty of them at anchor so am assuming this is the off season.

Phinisi "live aboard" vessels anchored off Sorong

I stayed onboard for the first night and then headed out mid-morning the next day.  My objective was to get some food and to get some laundry done.  First stop was directly opposite the anchorage where there were a few wooden shacks and a landing area.  Here I found a laundry service run by a lovely lady by the name of Elka who promised to have the washing done by Saturday.  After that I pressed on into town and had a look around.  The town is typical Indonesian i.e. infrastructure crumbling away, lots of Gojeks and minibuses whizzing around, stray dogs and cats wandering about, churches and mosques dotted here and there and litter everywhere.  Given the size of the place I believe you could get most of what you need here.  There is a big supermarket called Saga which stocks all food items – there are ATM’s (limit of Rph 1,000,000 or AUD90!) and a number of hardware / marine stores.  There are a couple of malls and all the other normal shops you would expect in a decent sized city.

One thing that I have found wherever I have gone ashore is how friendly the locals are – always smiling at you and eager to help.

I loaded up on some fresh food and a six pack of beer and then headed back to the boat.  That night I took the dingy into a boat landing near the commercial jetty where there was a restaurant and had the first dinner I have not had to cook for about six weeks.

Remu River in Sorong

The next few days I took care of a number of issues.  I had to get park passes for the vessel and for Nik and I.  Whilst it was pretty straight forward there are always some issues which means it invariably takes longer than expected.  After visiting the park office I eventually completed the application and payment online but had to re-visit the office to get our passes.  I also went out and hunted down 150m of rope plus chafe protection which we will need to moor the boat in some of the more deeper anchorages in the islands.  I made arrangements to fuel up which is a bit of an exercise here - primarily they supply whats called bio diesel which is diesel containing 30% palm oil.  It can be used but there are issues with moisture.  For proper diesel you need to visit a filling station - more on this later.  The biggest highlight was the pick up of my laundry.  Its amazing that at home the washing machine runs two or three times a week whereas here I get laundry done once every few weeks - admittedly due to the weather the amount of clothing you wear is pretty minimal.

The anchorage location was wearing a bit thin by the end of the weekend.  The constant stream of traffic around the boat which has no concept of a “no wake” zone makes it a rather lumpy experience plus the amount of garbage flowing past the boat was really disgusting.  There is a very basic marina about 3NM to the north, and I have decided I will put Sea Otter in there for a few days around the time Nik arrives.  This will be quieter, cleaner and should be quite efficient to fuel up the boat and carry out the last shop before heading to the islands.

I made a final run into town on Tuesday during which time the outboard propellor was fouled by a used disposable nappy – which just reinforced my decision to leave Sorong.  So Tuesday mid-morning I retrieved the anchor and moved three miles up the coast to a spot which seems very pleasant even if I am anchored off a small shipyard.  There is very little traffic, almost no garbage and only a gentle swell rocking the boat.  I will look to go into the marina on Thursday 16^th April and then Nik arrives Sunday 19th. 

Fingers crossed the next post will be from Raja Ampat.

2^nd 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 (28^th 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.

Last Leg - Teluk Ingelas to Selat Sele

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.

Approaching the outlying islands of Misool at sunset

Halo Moon

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.

The Jungle Anchorage

Sunrise 

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.

Matan Island

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.

Squid Fishing Boat

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 19^th April in Sorong and the tour of Raja Ampat will start.