Passage from TAKA Lambaena to Ende rally stop – 4^th to 5^th September               

In the morning, we motored from the anchorage to the main pass out of the atoll.  We anchored next to a small island to snorkel for the day.  During our time here, Sally and Jeremy went snorkelling over the reef whilst the boys swam around the small island.  It was very pleasant snorkelling here.  On the way out of the pass, we hooked into two fish which were more than likely barracuda on the deep diving lure.  Unfortunately, they both came off the hook.  There was no wind on the passage south to Maumere, so we had to motor the entire way.  With no sails to dampen our motion, the swell was causing Astra to roll uncomfortably so we had to change our course and head south west towards the rally stop at Ende.  Total sailing/motoring distance of 89 miles.

That evening, the slight swell completely died and we motored under a full moon to the anchorage on the island of Flores.  We arrived just off the island around 2am and motored to the next bay as the initial bay was too deep to drop anchor.  Finally, the anchor went down at 4am.

The following morning, Sally and the boys went ashore to look around, visit the local market and figure out how Liam was going to make his way to Maumere for his flight to Bali the following morning.  They made it back to the beach bar setup by the Sail Indonesia group and went to pick up Jeremy from Astra.  For the next several hours, we all sat eating and drinking on the beach whilst the boys played French boules.  At around 3:30pm, Liam got a motorbike ride to Maumere 80km away.  We had no intention of joining in with the rally program at the Ende anchorage so we set off west to Labuan Bajo by Komodo National Park.