Triton Bay Anchorages
Blue Hound
Phil Marks & Rosy Jensen
Thu 24 Nov 2022 03:30
We left Tual in the Kei Islands soon after midday, after cleaning a very muddy anchor chain and headed northeast towards West Papua. Motoring at first but a good overnight sail, anchoring off the island of Adi in Triton Bay the following afternoon. Fresh skipjack tuna steaks were put on the barbeque, having been landed a few hours earlier! The following night we found a sandy strip to drop anchor on the south east corner of Aiduma Island. Next morning the water was inviting enough for a before breakfast dip! That was the first time we’ve swum in the sea for many many months, having been warned about crocs and box jellyfish all along our route.
Triton Bay is named after one of the Dutch ships, The Triton, used when the Dutch wanted to establish a trading post on the southwest coast on New Guinea in 1828. The bay offers several well protected anchorages, surrounded by very deep water. Triton Bay Divers Resort is a small resort based in a beautiful bay on the island of Aiduma. We went ashore in search of a cold beer, which we enjoyed and chatted to the German holiday makers, but Phil's request for a second beer was refused as only six remained for the resort guests!
Across the bay on the Papuan mainland we anchored in Manggarfura Bay, an narrow inlet of 2nm into the lush hills, providing peace and isolation. For another peaceful night we tucked into a bay on the northside of Muawara Island, protected by karst hills and karst islets. (bedrock dissolution) Another pretty anchorage was Raf Bay, having rounded the karst islands & reefs to anchor off a small beach.
Photos:
1. Aiduma island anchorage – clear water for a swim.
2. Triton Bay Divers Resort
3. Manggarfura Bay
4. Blue Hound Muawara Island
5. Still morning Muawara Island
6. Raf Bay & beach
7. A small village
8. Fish Aggregating Device showing the nets which are dropped.
