Sulawasi...so far 🤩😊😳🤔😟

We left Obi 🏝 early, with lots of miles & shipping traffic to get through to reach Mangoli 🏝 before sunset. Obi, sadly, was mostly stripped of its forest... we only saw a little village at the watersedge with the rest being mining operations 😞. After a huge day, we arrived just before dark to a ripping tide (3knt +)... a very quick ⚓️ drop, arrival 🍺, 🍽 & 🛌.
For the next few days, we travel west along the island, making as many miles as possible with no wind & crazy tides that were more often against us than with us. We had to pull up at its worse... a 5knt + tide against & going 0.1knt with both motors at full revs 😲. Frustrated at slow progress, we decided to cut the corner & day/night/day down into SE Sulawesi.
We had a great overnight passage... flat seas but no wind. Heaps of traffic & FADs closer to land, leaving at 11am we ensure light for launch & arrival. We got to our 1st Atoll anchorage early arvo, plenty of time for 😴 before exploring. It felt surreal to stay in the middle of the ocean, no land in sight, & only shallow reef for protection... a reef which saved us when wild weather hit unexpectedly.
After a rock-n-roll night, we moved on to Labengke 🏝, arriving late arvo to a stunning anchorage that looks very similar to Misool- Raja Ampat. After nice sleep in, we set off for 👀 ⛱️ 🤿, 1st checking 🐊 situation with locals " buaya di sini?". Stunning vistas, very friendly locals, & protected anchorage made it hard to leave... our highlights being camping next to ⛰️, Red Beach, dingy rescue of local tour boat, finding the hidden blue lakes.
Unfortunately, from the west side of Labengke, the small bits of main island Sulawesi that we could see were stripped of forest. We were shocked to realise, after watching CH7 program about solar batteries/ dirty nickel, we are travelling through the middle of 🇨🇳 mining operations in Indonesia (North Malaku/Sulawesi). It is super concerning just how close this is happening to the beautiful villages, forests, corals, and ocean life we have been immersed in for the last few months 😞
With 👀 on a potential cyclone brewing between 🇮🇩 & 🇦🇺, we left early, making plans on the run. Our crossroad Qs... Do we race down to Flores (5 days/night push) before a week of strong westerlys hit? or Do we hold up high and explore nearby Wakatobi Marine Park at risk of a 2-week delay to our journey southwest to meet family mid-May in Lombok???

FYI... Wakatobi won, an amazing place to celebrate Ted's birthday, in the company & home of the Bajau (water gypsy) people. 📸 in next footprint.

Sad stories 😢 https://projectmultatuli.org/en/nickel-mining-o…Read more