After a few hard working days in Padang---topping up the diesel, provisioning for a long voyage etc.—we moved on the 15 miles or so to anchor off the Paradisio resort on the island of Cubadak

for some rest and recreation. Beautiful anchorage with some nice coral reef and fish life, and sure enough the resort is close to Paradise----run by a French couple, Marco and Dominique,both very sociable,

the resort is quiet, cocktails at 1900 followed by an excellent dinner at 2000---all sitting round one big table---Marco and Dominique included---good converstion and great food! So we’ve been lunching and dining in the

resort for the last three days and doubtless will for another couple of days at least.

Marco is a diver, and a fount of knowledge on all things wildlife both in and out of the water. He lets us take on water, use his washing machine, burn the rubbish etc. And tomorrow we’ll go to the village market in his boat for a final topping up of fresh supplies.

 

Only a couple of gremlins. The forecasts indicate that we are going to have to go unusually far south to get into reliable trade winds---there is very little wind north of 9 degrees and no sign yet of it kicking in---so we may have to motor much more than I would like. And our watermaker has developed a small leak---currently just a dribble---but this time it’s not from the hose, which I could fix, but from the Energy Recovery Unit, which is something of a black box---and repair will almost certainly need spare parts and a workshop job!  I’m currently in discussion with the manufacturers to see what if anything can be done.  Currently it still makes water---but small leaks generally get bigger! So we may need some serious

water management across the Ocean!

 

But that’s a problem for another day---it’s now time for another lovely dinner!