Islands and Volcanoes S8 14 E123 19
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A slow and uneventful passage brought us to the
island of Lembata. Many of the fleet had opted to visit Alor, further west but
we decided we were partied out and wanted swimming rather than beer. We anchored
in the south of the island in an attractive bay but were unable to land due to
the swell that was crashing spectacularly on the beach. Consequently we headed
north the following morning through a passage with a strong tide that meant we
were travelling at nearly 10 knots for a while.
Our anchorage was to the north east of the island of Adunara and we were in sight of 3 volcanoes. One had river of semi molten lava running down its flank which was very obvious at night and this one appeared to be steaming gently.
I suspect, however, that what appears to be smoke is in fact a cloud formed due to the heating of the moist air above the volcanoes hot crater. Neither volcano is supposed to be active according to the US Geological Survey.
It was good to be able to swim again and Peter did some good bombs.
The reef was mostly in good condition but there were few large fish and many just a few centimetres. The locals were out in force everyday using every method they could to catch fish. This handsome chap was catching octopus by hand by feeling around under likely rocks.
We were visited a number of times by locals, some on the scrounge but mostly trying to sell fish, bananas, pearls or other types of jewellery.. This is our banana salesman in one of the smallest canoes we have seen here.
I was tempted to ask for a go in his canoe...but all their canoes look as if they may harbour all sorts of bugs that might make their home in bits of my anatomy. It was fun to be able to snorkel again in warm crystal water, no need for a wet suit here.
There were many soft
corals with delicate colours
and some young staghorn coral, home to many seeking its protection.
Some of the most beautiful creatures were the masses of impressively coloured sea urchins.
This excellent anchorage provided some relaxation after the urban grime of Kupang.
Annoyingly we had a couple of minor disasters. I managed to drop the filler cap for the diesel tank into 22 metres of water...irretrievably deep. Fortunately the cap for the holding tank fits so we used that and now have a large cork plug there which is an excellent fit. More annoyingly was that I seem to have broken Lorraine's camera by taking it too deep whilst taking this not very special photo.
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