05:19.7S 123:31.8E

After 5 days anchored off the Wallacea Research station at Hoga Island we have come 20nm north to the main island of Wangi Wangi and are now anchored inside the very shallow lagoon off the main town of Wanji.

We initially picked up a mooring outside of the lagoon as we did not think that we could get through the shallow entrance. After a quiet nights sleep the wind picked up in the morning and one by one we dragged the deep moorings into even deeper water. This happened three times to Curious, each time with a different mooring, finally we dragged one mooring over to another and tied to both, a little better but still not secure in 60m of water. The harbour master Gino implored us to come into the lagoon and finally convinced us that we could get in at high tide. With Gino riding on the bow and guiding us through we did get in but with the depth sounder recording zero under the keel on three occasions. Once in, depths increased although we still gently touched bottom en route to a deeper part of the lagoon where we finally anchored safely.

The upside of being in the lagoon is less wind and no swell but the downside is that we are closer to the mosques and the loud call to prayer four times a day plus what sounds like a bizarre Kareoke session at 4 am every day. This morning one of the “singers” was giving us his version of Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne via a warble box over the very loudspeakers.

Hey ho, just another day in Paradise!