More underwater loveliness

We had a lot of comments on the underwater photos, so I thought I'd share a few more. Raja Ampat was simply breathtaking. Several people asked what kind of camera we use- ours is a Canon Powershot D20. It's just a nice point-n-shoot, not a fancy setup (but I learned that if you're fancy you probably use "lights"!). But we were lucky to be in Raja Ampat at the best time of year, and enjoy sparkling water clarity.

Our friend Dan took some really spectacular photos. These are a few of my favorites (thank you Dan!). He's a pro freediver, so was able to get down and hang out with some of the really cool stuff that we didn't see closer to the surface. Freediving isn’t just about getting down deep- it’s about being able to stay below the surface, and look around for a while. We weren’t in any crazy depths, so the photos are all done with natural light- it's not super deep. But the difference is that Dan can hang onto his air and take the time to explore when he’s down, and as a result saw some really beautiful things. As these show, his specialty is macro.


First, my favorite: just look at this amazing thing! I can’t remember (and maybe we didn’t know?) for sure if it’s eggs or an anemone. I think the conservation crew saw this and speculated that it was a clutch of cuttlefish eggs. Whatever it is (anyone? Buehler?), it’s gorgeous.

After an expedition underwater, we liked to sit with our field guides and look up the plants and animals we’d seen. This one took some hunting: what we thought was a sponge turned out to be a variety of clam. Makes sense once you know it, but puzzled us at the time.

The variety of anemones was incredible… this is just one variant.

These feathery fans are graceful, but don’t touch, or you’ll be in for a shock! I grazed one by accident, and that was enough to make sure it didn’t happen again. We usually wear stinger suits (for sun protection as much as anything), but the water was so warm here that we were sometimes just in skins.

These beautiful organ pipes stretched up to the sun. This group was covered in worms. To give you a sense of the scale, I believe those worms are as big around as my index finger. Yes, that thing is really big!

A folded crinoid, captured with beautiful delicacy.

Misool Eco resort: a slice of heaven

The Misool Eco Resort is nestled in another string of islands below our nook in the karst maze. We’ve heard about this beautiful place from other cruisers who stopped by in the last few years, and were excited to spend a few days here and see it for ourselves.

The beautiful Misool Eco Resort

We hoped to arrive at slow time when there would be a mooring available (they have several used for their supply boats and dive tenders). Some email attempted to coordinate but it really came down to luck that our arrival timing coincided with a week of fewer guests, so we could visit and enjoy some of the facilities without feeling like a burden.

We could snorkel their fantastic house reef by just jumping over the side...

The resort has been instrumental in establishing conservation practices in the area and funding much of the work. It’s impressive to learn about their commitment to the healthy reef- if only more places could be like this! If the underwater grandeur of the area weren’t enough, the resort itself is aesthetically stunning and staffed by a sweet crew. We joined their guests for a “Manta Masterclass” presentation by the dive master, and learned so much about these spectacular creatures.

Dan treats us to dinner, so we get a beautiful meal (our veggies are thin after a week) and no dishes. The restaurant staff completely charms us, and the children are completely charmed by Darwin- a resident bird, who will happily steal your chips. I am already putty in the hands of the director’s babe, who in addition to being deliciously cute is the first wee one in a while that doesn’t cry at my scary white skin.

Darwin: cute but naughty

Relaxing before dinner at the resort

We only had three days to enjoy this magical place before timelines required us to press on for Ambon for Dan’s flight home, although I think Dan was at least a little tempted to look at changing up his travel plans to try and squeak out an extra bit of time here. Somehow, his 10 days with us have flown by. It was really tough to depart, and we left very seriously thinking we might make a U-turn from Ambon and sail the 2-3 days back to Misool.

Our prior anchorages in Raja Ampat were conservation areas, but not no-take zones. Here there is no fishing at all, and the difference is immediately apparent. The fish weren't skittish of us, more often they were even curious. The average fish size was significantly larger than anything we have seen in a very, very long time. And oh, the turtles. So many turtles I lost count! Finally we had the routine appearance of sharks as well. They may make many people uncomfortable, but they are the essential hallmark of a healthy reef environment. Even if that one blacktip was a serious PITA and chased us out one day...

There were other pretties to enjoy. Like this gorgeous nudibranch. I love nudibranchs.

Also gorgeous, but evil: the crown of thorns

I swear I did not order this image. It just happened.

You never get tired of turtles

More underwater awesomeness on the Totem Flickr stream.

Southern Raja Ampat’s underwater drama

Raja Ampat underwater is one stunning tableau after another

Raja Ampat is famous for its marine life: it is alleged to be among the most biodiverse in the world. Every time we put our heads underwater we are reminded of the incredible drama below the surface. Finally, I can share some of it here! After our new underwater camera died the first time we used it underwater in PNG, we have a replacement. In the big duffle full of goodies that Dan has brought us from the states is a new underwater camera, a gift from my brother. I cannot stop taking photos with it and am so happy to finally have an underwater camera in hand again. Dan has brought his as well, and between us we are truly snap-happy.

Dan is a freediving instructor, so he’s been helping us with tips and information to safely improve our diving. Are we lucky or what? Don’t worry Mum, I’ll still probably never get much below 30 feet, even with professional help! Niall can manage over 40 now, confirmed he retrieved a lost piece of gear from the bottom in another anchorage. The girls are getting more comfortable, but have no depth ambitions, which is fine. We are never going to be hardcore freedivers, but since Totem doesn’t have the room or budget for scuba gear, it’s great to learn more about how to get down and enjoy beauty of the world underwater.

Like this.

A feather grabs the light.

Dan hovers behind a free-swimming crinoid.

The turtles never get old. Never, ever, ever.

Clownfish are adorable. #fact

Have I mentioned the adorable anenome fish?

It's just that they have so much personality! Yes, they are fish. Yes, I said personality. TRUST ME.

Crazy anchoring in Raja Ampat

Anchoring in most of Raja Ampat has been challenging to say the least. Depths of 100 feet and more are common; so are strong currents. We experienced this both in the island north of Sorong, and south near Misool. The deep water plus strong current is a difficult combination, especially when you throw in the squalls that this equatorial zone mixes into daily weather. But as a friend of ours likes to say- if this were easy, everyone would be doing it!

When the conservation team we met near Misool offered to guide us to a secure spot with good protection- and a mooring- we happily accepted their offer.

They took pictures of us on their cameras & phones, so I had mine taken with them

The entrance is so wedged between tall limestone islets that we wrote it off as being much too small when we passed it by previously. The tiny channel does open up more than we realized, and under their guidance we find ourselves inside a maze of karst (limestone) islands. It is absolutely stunning.

You want us to go in there?

The recommended mooring turns out to be inadequate- we might use it for our dinghy, but not Totem. The anchorage they have in mind is also very deep- the best we find is still about 130’. Then, the area is so small, that even putting out all our scope (and still being just shy of 3:1) doesn’t makes sense - we’d risk hitting the rock walls of the islets around. So it’s lines to shore: two from the bow, one from the stern.

Too deep to anchor, we only have lines- with chafe gear- holding Totem to shore

This little nook proves to be a haven. It’s a safe place where the kids can run a cycle of jumping off the boat to swim for hours while we explore the reef nearby…a haven from the wind and seas just a short distance away, outside our little karst maze.

Totem tucked into a little nook. Reefs prevent passage between the visible islets

We are just a few boat lengths away from reef walls where the karst islands plunge straight down into the water. During the days to come, we range around the small archipelago by dinghy to explore for more places to stick our heads underwater. Again and again, we keep coming back to our little parking spot to snorkel. EVERYTHING is good, but you can't beat just jumping in off the mother ship.

Misool’s conservation crew

This little island is home to camps for itinerant fishermen and a resident conservation crew

We’re anchored for mere minutes before the dinghy is splashed and we head out for our first round of exploration in southern Raja Ampat. Beaching on the island we’ve anchored adjacent to, the girls take off finding cuttlefish bones and shells. There are signs that fishermen overnight here- a rough platform that could double as a table, and the remains of a fish smoking setup. Along the beach are turtle tracks. We follow them eagerly to a large divot in the sand. Are there eggs below? The tracks are visible, but not perfectly fresh- it’s rained at least once since they were made. How many weeks could the eggs incubate? We resolve to do our homework on the boat and revisit the site.

Underwater, the eelgrass gives way to coral heads, and little gems begin popping out. A seahorse as it bumbles along near the bottom. I’ve wanted to see one for years- one that wasn’t behind aquarium glass, anyway. Finally, here it is! It is trailing seaweed and seems unwell, so we give it peace instead of stressing it further. We find out later that this kind of “playing dead” is a survival technique… the seahorse was fine, just trying to shake us off. Mission accomplished.

We hear the high pitched whine of an outboard from underwater, and pop up to see a fiberglass boat speeding heading towards us. It’s a little unnerving. This turns out to be full of the local conservation staff. They’ve been to Totem and met Jamie, but the language barrier was too great to accomplish whatever they wanted, so he’s come to collect me to translate. OK, no problem- we all head back to Totem.

It turns out they’re just checking up to make sure we all have the park fees paid for Raja Ampat and needed to see our paperwork from Sorong. The team alternates staff in the islands with staff in a village back on Misool, and monitors the conservation area. Once we establish that everything is in order and answer their survey questions they lighten up a little. We hadn’t seen many smiles at first, but now they’re pleasant and curious about us. Where are we from? How long have we been sailing? Where else have we been? They offer tips for where we should go in the mass of surrounding island, and tell us where to find a mooring nearby. The mooring sounds like a good alternative to our somewhat exposed, deep anchorage. We will stay the night but plan to move the next day.

During the following days, we get to know this crew and see them morph from the grim officials we met to a bunch fun-loving guys stuck out in the sticks. They invite us to their camp for dinner. It’s a rough setup of plastic tarp lean-tos (how do they manage with the torrential squalls?) on a small island with a fishing camp. We bring rice, vegetables and chocolate cake- they procure and barbeque some delicious fish. It’s a sweet and memorable evening.

Dinner at the crew's camp

We reciprocate, and the next day they’re invited to Totem for dinner. This gets a little comical. At first, there are seven who will come. Late in the afternoon, one of the guys arrives with a bunch of fish for us to fry up, and he tells us there will be a few more- maybe eleven? Then another boat of conservation staff arrives, and the numbers swell to seventeen by the time we have dinner! They have brought a bucket of fish, we cook up a small mountain of rice, and everyone gets to try “American” apple pie. Somehow there is enough food for all.


We give them tours on the boat and I try to answer questions. They are not the usual questions, but with a lot of dictionary references, I learn how to describe our engine properly in bahasa. We run through photographs of things we’ve seen underwater, and they help us identify the more mysterious sightings (squid eggs- I would never have guessed) and learn the Indonesian names. By the end of the evening, I have blown a mental gasket with all the attempts at rough interpretation and can barely speak.

We're only around the crew for a handful of days, but it's time for group photos by the time we move on. Great memories!

South to Misool

Our route is planned to take us through islets in the southern portion of Raja Ampat. We have a week and a half before Dan flies out of Ambon, 350 miles to our southwest, and want to make the most of it. First, though, we simply have to get away from New Guinea and down to the islands! Because charts are terrible and all navigation must be visual, the trip is divided in two parts: our first day takes us through the channels of waterways south from Sorong; the second day will open up into the Seram Sea and take us across to the islands off Misool.

Motoring through the windless channel that runs south and west from Sorong, we skate cleanly through a line of afternoon squalls. The kids wait very, very patiently but they know they have a host of goodies sent from the states in Dan’s luggage. Finally- we are through the rain and tackle the duffel. It’s like Christmas, but bigger! Their grandparents have sent a treats from books to games to clothes.

Dan's here! Southbound from Sorong, hanging out in the cockpit

The charts are bad and the nights are inky, so towards the end of the day we pick a spot to anchor overnight. There's a quiet spot well outside the channel, although the one or two fishing boats that pass by per hour don’t constitute much in the way of traffic. Some of them swing closer to Totem to check us out.

I'm the king of the world!

Every once in a while, a village emerges from the mangroves. I’m so curious to know more about them. Who lives in there- are they Papuan, or transmigrated populations? Are they primarily subsistence lifestyles or is there some commercial work here? It’s hard to imagine what, other than a few signs of the (un)natural extraction occurring.

The occasional small village with homes like this on the water...but not many people

The current through here gets strong: thankfully, we haven’t had too much against us yet. Unfortunately, we expect foul current for most of the next the morning. It’s a new moon, but even if we had full moonlight we wouldn’t travel through here at night. There are no navigation lights and the charts are inaccurate. With the shallow bottom and shifting shoals here, it’s not worth the risk. Rows of subtle buoys strung by the hundreds from a pearl farm around the bend remind us why we only want to continue on with good visibility! So we drop the hook, and enjoy a sunset while current swirls in whirlpools next to Totem.

On the move in the morning, we manage to avoid the worst of the current by staying toward the sides of channels. Back eddies sometimes even give us a little push. We worried that the distance we need to make before our rather uncertain anchorage could start to push daylight hours, so it’s a relief not to face much foul current.

It turns out we are grateful for the extra daylight hours to anchor. We explore several islets and bays before finding a manageable depth. It’s frustrating to see a picture-perfect bay, with the crescent curve of gorgeous white sand beach - fronted by tropical blues of the reef, backed by the lush green mountainside. But it’s very deep, too deep to anchor- until the bottom comes up rapidly to… much too shallow! It’s a challenge to find a spot but the exploring is fun, and we scope out several spots to return to by dinghy…and rest.

Memorable Stopoff at Mansuar Island

We could go straight back to Sorong, but we decide to stop off on the way- see if we can trade a couple of days in the islands first, and make it up with efficiency getting our Sorong errands done.

Heading past Mansuar island, looking for a place to drop the anchor, we see an open mooring in front of a dive resort. There's a liveaboard boat on the other mooring, so we putter up and ask if we can take it and are happy to recieve their enthusiastic response. It's 130 feet deep here, and the current runs at 3-5 knots, so we'd be a tad anxious on the hook.

We go ashore to get details on the mooring. It's $20/night, which sounds great to us. They take our booking for dinner. There's even wifi! We make plans to come back later in the afternoon, after some snorkeling time. This is the polar opposite experience to the cold shoulder at resort on Pulau Pef the day before.

The staff is friendly and attentive- we feel like welcomed guests. The dive master remembers seeing us off a dive site the prior week and asks what we saw. We get tips from another on islands to visit in Nusa Tenggara- places he thinks will be especially interesting for us. The children are over the moon with a "nice" restaurant dinner, and the chef basks in their adoration, bringing extra treats to the table. We play Mexican Train Dominoes on the lanai, and wait for the sunset.

We cruise out in the dinghy to a manta ray hangout, but are skunked on sightings. There were many the day before, just not our luck! But we meet a sweet couple who have paddled across the channel to collect shellfish in the reef. They give us mangoes, and cut them for us to eat when they realize we don't have a knife in the dinghy (not touching that gorgeous mango with a fishy dive knife. oh no). I flashback to PNG and the total ubiquity of knives and machetes.

In front of the resort, we discover the most amazing collection of fish hanging out right under the jetty. There are at least four lionfish, but instead of hiding in nooks and crannies, they are floating around in full display. It is both alarming and spectacular. Masses of glassfish part for the lighting fast passes of predatory trevally. Pairs of moorish idols and a school of batfish just kind of glam around looking fabulous. We should have stayed here!

We end up spending two nights in front of the resort. It's just too nice and relaxing to leave after only one, especially when faced with the far less appealing anchorage in Sorong- where the water attractions will be dirty diapers floating by instead of jumping needlefish. It means we'll only have one day to get everything we need in Sorong before Dan arrives, but we are feeling up to the task.

The second afternoon, a squall kicks up. It peaks around 45 knots. Not awful, but we think about how anxious we would be if we had anchored. I am trapped ashore with the kids: there's a steep chop built up between the jetty and the boat, and the rain is epic. It's fine, though. The chef (new best friend to the kids) makes them hot cocoa while we watch a movie on the iPad and wait for the weather to settle.

As it does.

Raja Ampat: turning back south again

We move on from our teacup anchorage to find one more spot for a last hurrah with Nalukai and Muscat. There's a sweet collection of islands just a few miles north, and since there's not enough wind to sail, everyone is happy to minimize the motoring distance.

Pulau Pef turns out to be a lot less friendly than the impression we were given by their pretty photos in the Raja Ampat tourist office. For the privilege of one night anchoring off their island (not using a mooring they have installed, not going ashore, not using resort facilities) they want 25 euros per person. On our boat, that's more than the cost of an annual pass to Raja Ampat- for one night! It might happen in some parts of the world (Caribbean?), but here, it's very unusual. The vibe from the Swiss fellow on shore is pretty clear: we're not wanted there. It's too late to change anchorages, so we decide just to leave in the morning and make the most of it.

We'll part ways the next day, so it's time for a little celebrating. Muscat hosts, and is decked with party lights.

Skits have been in the works: the children have been practicing a Monty Python routine, but lose their nerve. It's hard to do anything when you are giggling hard! Nalukai treats us to the Time Warp dance (this is a family night, so Jeremy has kept his costume at an appropriate G rated level).



It's a beautiful evening, one we thoroughly enjoy despite the sorrow at saying goodbye to our friends. They are heading towards the Philippines, and we're headed back to Sorong (to pick up Dan) and then on through Indonesia. We'll catch up again this year... Malaysia? Thailand? Not sure where, but confident that it will happen.

Raja Ampat: lingering with friends

I suppose if we were determined to tick the boxes of "things you are supposed to see and do" in Raja Ampat, we would have left our teacup anchorage after another day. But it's friends who make a place memorable, and we are having too much fun with our friends on Nalukai and Muscat to contemplate a move. Our days blend together.

The children run and swim and hours of freestyle playing and exploring, just as they should. There are endless jaunts between the boats and a small beach where they have set up camp, complete with hermit crab forts and sand castles. They can jump right off the boat to swim around to the coral garden, or just to paddle around. Siobhan provides a ferry service to Willow in her new SUP/kayak style.



A bird of prey (sea eagle?) treats us to wheeling and diving right behind the transom. He misses this one, but caught others.



Around the corner from our little nook, there's a beach with a few shelters used by itinerant fishermen (and the odd foreign kayaker, it turns out). It is the perfect spot to kick around in the afternoon.

There is a swing, and a line of patient children who wait their turn.



Fiercely competitive bocce ball breaks out.



The beach is nicely shaded for much of the day: a bonus in this heat. We string up a hammock to make the most of our pretty spot.



The snorkeling just off the bay is spectacular, and this side of the island is just outside the conservation area- so spearfishing is ON.  The grouper are large, and at least initially, are unfazed by our presence- excellent dinners are procured. Jeremy is a spearfishing newbie, but proves lethal. Jamie lands some beauties. I still can't reload the spear on my own- that's a problem that needs fixing!

Fish, hours from the sea, cooked on a beach fire. It doesn't get much better than that.



The firepit has a rough table and bench; with a few camp chairs added, it's the perfect place to get together for dinner. A bag of marshmallows is found in some corner of the bilge, and the kids get to have a roast.



We're joined on our last night by a fisherman who paddles into the beach. He's hard for me to understand because he doesn't have many teeth, but we get that he'll use one of the shelters overnight, and is pleased to share the spot. We share our dinner with him, and Muscat give him some gas for his outboard. It turns out he's quite a long way from home but had been paddling to conserve fuel. With the generosity of those who have little to give, he insists on giving us a beautiful fish from his catch.

Beautiful

Raja Ampat: now THAT'S what we came for

It happens. Our next anchorage, which becomes referred to as "the teacup" for it's wee size and general shape, is such a slice of heaven that we decide to stay for days and days. We scout it out, then lure Nalukai and Muscat to our position. It's not too difficult.


Nalukai anchors all the way inside; lines to shore help keep us both in place

Tucked between two islands, it's a deep cut that makes it hard to effectively. The shoreline is about fifty yards on either side of Totem, and the water is around ninety feet deep- so even putting out all 400 feet of chain, we don't really have enough scope given the squalls that roll through most afternoons. Besides, once that all that stretches out- we end up on the rocks. No thank you! We still drop the hook, but secure lines to shore as well.

While Jamie and Jeremy are fiddling with lines on Totem and Nalukai (there is an aborted attempt to create a raft), Niall and I decide to just get our heads in the water already, and dive in. We meander around the perimeter of our teacup. The sides are very steep-to, and drop to the bottom of the basin in just a few yards. The coral looks like it was the victim of dynamite fishing- disappointing, although we're not sure.

As we get around the point of our little anchorage and turn the corner into the channel that opens to the sea, everything changes. It happens so quickly, we can't believe it. Niall and I are having a massively exuberant "conversation" underwater without actually saying anything to each other, but with may wild gesticulations and ecstatic expressions. Quite simply, we are blown away. We decide on the spot that this is the most dramatic coral reef we've ever snorkeled. That is a massive statement, and I'd back off somewhat with the heat of the moment in hindsight, but it truly is awesome and certainly among the best.

What makes it so amazing? It seems to have everything. There is a great variety of corals: hard corals creating the architecture of the reef, with soft corals adding a flow on top that is alternately gaudy and gauzy. The colors are amazing. And the fish- oh, wow, the fish. It starts with a few large racoons- OK, interesting. Then there's the school of curious barracuda that follows us. Cute! And then the explosion occurs, when we come just around the bend to see more than we can really comprehend or take in at once. Swirling schools of tiny baitfish, a group of bumphead parrotfish (with a big 4-footer in the lead), anemones with cheeky clownfish popping in and out, schools of some kind of fan-tailed trigger we've never seen before, and just masses of colorful reef fish. I cannot begin to describe it well.

It is such a shame that our underwater camera died prematurely. I have mourned it throughout PNG and I'm really mourning it now. But the good news: after we left Sorong, we learned that we'll be having a visitor from home- soon! Orders are hurriedly placed, and the promise of a new camera is exciting...but I regret not having a chance to capture this early impression of the amazing Raja Ampat region.

Nudging north in Raja Ampat

Getting ourselves out of Sorong (finally). We have almost a month to play in Raja Ampat, which sounds like a lot, but we already know it's going to be impossible to see as much as we would like. So every day we don't leave Sorong is a day we don't spend in the beautiful islands. Not to put a negative spin in it, but we're motivated to get ourselves along.

We're in company with Nalukai and Muscat. They're great fun and we decide that rather than make tracks to some of the more distant (but famous) spots in the region, we'll enjoy our time with them. The level of awesomeness here is all in little degrees of difference anyway, and with waning days to spend together (they are planning to head north toward the Philippines and Malaysia, while we'll be going south to continue through Indonesia)- we want to make the most of our time.

Glassy anchorage. Bev and I had the most amazing yoga practice in front of this view!

The first spot is ethereal. It appears to be a jungle-clad shoreline, spiked with inlets, but as we get close we realize it's actually a maze of islands. It's hard to tell where the "main" island is and which are just the fringing islets- there are so many! Waking to see our new surroundings in the early morning light, rising mist helps provide definition. 

it's still impossible to discern the extent of the maze of islets 

Later in the morning, I take the kids for a kayak paddle to explore. The water is very clear, and we can see beautiful fish and corals below. It's so exciting to have our first peek at this famous area! We decide to go around the backside of the islands closest to Totem, only to realize that there's not just one row of them. There are islands after islands after islands. You could get lost in there!

In the afternoon, we blaze out with Nalukai to a dive site called "the passage" at the western end of the bay. We're all really excited to get underwater, and it's fun to be pulled through with the current, but a little underwhelming. A few fields of pretty soft coral, streaming in the flow of the water, but not many fish and not a great deal of variety of either. The underwater gardens that Raja Ampat is famous for are still ahead. 

Back at the anchorage, a dugout with a family on board stops by. The Papuans are from a village around the corner of the bay. They'd like some gas. I ask if they'd like to trade- do they have any fish? No, they don't have any fish- can we give them some anyway? We have full jerry cans on deck- I point out that these are diesel, and we don't have a lot of gas. But we give them a bit anyway, it seems like the right thing to do. That, and we'd rather stay on good terms. It also helps open the good opportunity to ask a few questions, through which we learn that there are crocodiles here. He tells us not to worry, that as long as the sun is up overhead, there is no danger. I'm thinking that he and I have different scales for evaluating danger.

Between the crocs and the coral, we'll be moving on in the morning.