April 18, 2023
As I write this, we’re anchored off Yamdena Island in Maluku, Indonesia, preparing to head out this evening for an overnight trip north to the Kei Islands.
It’s been a busy time since we arrived. Checking into Saumlaki was made difficult by the strong westerly winds that accompanied the birth of Cyclone Ilsa. I won’t go into the whole saga now, but even in the best of conditions Saumlaki wouldn’t be the easiest place to check in (although I’m not sure other places are any easier). The windy, rainy conditions of our first few days took this to a new level of “not easy.” But after a nearly a week, we finally finished the process.
What’s interesting is that in spite of the difficulties in Saumlaki, we found ourselves falling in love with the tropics again. Being anchored out in the trade-wind breezes, the heat of the sun offset by clouds and rain showers, has re-balanced the misery-to-reward ratio of cruising in this climate.
And even though we’re not yet in any of the “big gun” destinations in Indonesia (yachties come to Yamdena to clear into the country, not really to see this island or the town of Saumlaki), we’ve already had some very nice rewards, including riding across the island on the back of motorbikes to a wonderful restaurant, being brave and trying a new food at another eatery and having it be one of the best things we’ve ever tasted, and then on our way out of Saumlaki, managing to figure out how to anchor off of, and make our way to, an incredibly beautiful hidden beach. Here in this dream world we had our first real swim in months.
After our Hidden Beach outing, we found a good anchorage on the south side of Yamdena. The sunset was spectacular, the air had that gorgeous feeling of a tropical evening, the night sky was full of stars and constellations I haven’t seen in a long time, while the Milky Way stretched overhead. The only sounds were an occasional splash of water and the cooing of a night bird from the thick vegetation on the shore. Yep, this is what we came for.
Now, we’re making our way up the west side of Yamdena Island, figuring out more anchorages because, as I soon discovered, our guidebook only covers mainstream anchorages, not ones needed while en route to those places. During our second week in Indonesia we’ve stayed in five uncharted anchorages! And more of these lay ahead before we get to the city of Tual, our next mainstream destination on the island of Kai Kecil.
So, we’ve barely begun, and we’re still facing the great unknown; but we’ve started down the road. Rich is already working on the next post, planning to share our experience at Hidden Beach. We’ll both organize a detailed post about Saumlaki (and the extreme difficulties of checking in there). Then, I am going to pick up where I left off in Australia (Rosslyn Bay Marina) and write about the journey, sometimes a bumpy road, that brought us from there to here. –Cyndi
Below, photos of Saumlaki, the Harapan Indah Hotel (headquarters for meeting up with some of the officials when checking in), the fabulous dish we tried–ayam woku (chicken woku), Rich riding on the motorbike with Mr. Bobby, Koki (the wonderful restaurant we rode to), and Hidden Beach. (Click any photo to enlarge.)
