S 08 37.951
E 122 18.625
Crazy trip from South Buru to Maumere. Chandara (Daisy and Steve) and I decided to skip the next two stops on the itinerary. The decision was based on a combination of criterion: easy of entering the anchorage, down time in each anchorage, etc. But the deciding factor was the apparent wind angles from North Buton to Wakatobi and from Wakatobi to Maumere. In both cases they indicated very unpleasant uphill slogs. With a puking XO that was the last thing I needed.
I left South Buru in a huff. The anchorage was terrible. Reboot spent most of every day and night rolling. XO spent the same time crying and puking. What was supposed to be a pleasant three to four day beam reach to Maumere turned out to be anything but. The first 24 hours was beautiful. Beam reach, moderate winds, making 6.5 to 7 knots. Then it all went to puppy poo. The winds got light. Combined with what little boat speed Reboot could generate we were looking at an apparent wind angle of 30°. Speed ranged from 1.5 to 5.5 knots. The vane could not steer so over to the electric autopilot. Finally the wind died completely. On came the iron genny. As I motored through dead calm seas Chandara reported 25 knot winds and 2 meter waves on the bow. I thought they were kidding. As I made my final turn into the bay at Maumere I discovered they were not. The last 15 nautical miles were directly into a strong shore breeze. What a crummy ending. I arrived, of course, after dark. Chandara talked me in. This morning I discovered that the rest of the boats in the anchorage were all listening and watching. Finally anchor down.
This morning I looked at my fuel gauge. The internal tank is almost out of fuel. Dodged that bullet. Joana (Wade), Chandara (Steve and Daisy) and I shared a car to town. That is the subject of my next post. I came back to Reboot and cleaned the starboard quarter waterline and then dove on Chandara. The water is beautiful. We will be here for several days so I will do a quarter a day and then dive on the bottom. Off tonight for a nice dinner.
Fair winds and following seas :)
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