We’ve made it. Not exactly where we intended. But better.
We sailed there. Rounded the corner heading into the harbor and started the motor. Around the corner I had located a small bay I thought we could spend a day or two. But NO. As we came into the larger bay, I noticed a SW swell had an open invitation. A night of rolling was not in our cards. We moved on. On to where our Raymond (our sponsor) had suggested we drop the hook. A couple hours more motoring wouldn’t matter. I had marked it on the chart. We pulled into that anchorage and it too was not going to work. First it was deep. 100 feet deep 100’ from the shore. With any W or N winds we would be kissing the shore. Not what we want. We moved on. The guide (the one I believe makes a better cruising dream book than an actual guide) suggested right in front of the town. We motored through there. It too was not good.
Not another bridge. Any avid reader of this blog knows that I don’t like going under bridges. No matter how high they are the mast always look like it will hit! And this bridge didn’t have an air draft mark on the chart. Nor any placards on the water. I checked the nautical charts and publications and found an air draft listed as 30 feet. It was greater than that. I know other sail boats have passed under. We would; hopefully too. I’m thinking it was an error and the mark ought to be 30 m. Quite a difference. Further we had a Zulu Waterways report that the inner harbor was dirty. Yuck. We hoped at least calm.
We cleared the bridge fine. My heart rate backed to normal. And the individual that said the bay was dirty. It wasn’t. We expected a pleasant night at anchor. The following days were for reprovisioning, exploring, and completing our immigration paperwork. That night we spoke with Mike on Natsumi and he suggested we contact a bloke named… Johnny Ambon. Not his real full name but for yachties that is the one he knows we can easily pronounce. Mike had suggested him and I contacted him on FB. He called 30 minutes later and we picked up some good info on where to put the dinghy and who to contact hiring a taxi. We didn’t know it yet. He was the catalyst that made our stay in Ambon exceptional.
Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long