Simeulue Islands ( 5th April to 15th April 2012)

On the 5th of April we left the mainland of Sumatra and sailed/motored overnight to the Simuelue islands. 

They are rocky volcanic islands blanketed in rainforest and fringed with coconut palms and clove plantations. Tourists are not very common here apart from keen surfers
We had a full moon and light conditions with the occasional rain cell. It was beautiful sitting on deck bathed in moon beams. We were visited by dolphins, making their presence known by the sound of their spouting, followed by acrobatics in the moonlight. It was the right time to play my ukelele.

 Not wanting to make landfall at night and having a time schedule we continued down the island to the southern end and anchored in a sheltered channel between 2 islands, near the village of Labuhanbajau.

We shared the bay with Jim and Helen on SV Gaia (Canadian). It is a very calm anchorage surrounded by mangrove covered coral outcrops and the only sounds were birds and the dipping of paddles by fishermen.

On the 8th we joined SV Gaia and headed to Palau Lasia, 18nm south. A pretty little island not offering much shelter but since it was calm we decided to stay overnight. We enjoyed coconut crab and rum as the afternoon became evening.

In the night we were woken with a jolt as the boat pitched and rolled with 25-30knts of wind and 1-2m waves. It carried on for 2 hrs, the anchor held well and Cathy was able to enter into Erica's book of records "Vomited on anchor"
After a morning of kayaking, swimming and walking on the island we upanchored and headed for the  island of Nias, 57nm SE. With 2 trolling lines out we didn't catch any of these fish the dolphins were rounding up. Nearing the island at dark and in torrential rain and squalls we "hove to " until daylight to enter Lahewa lagoon.

It was a very sheltered anchorage
We tied the dinghy up at the wharf and walked into the village to see the harbour master/coastguard.

We enquired about getting fuel and one of the men took Eric on his motorbike to the garage to buy a 200L drum of diesel, then he organised a motorbike and sidecar to deliver it to the wharf.

Cathy went to the market behind the coastguard office and purchased fruit and vegetables
All along the road were cloves drying

We brought "Erica" alongside this very good wharf and siphoned fuel into our tanks. .

It was after morning school and the kids lined up to watch us and to practice their english. Very few tourists come here and everywhere we went the people were inquisitive as to where we were from and what we were doing there

We met Fidel who is a lobster diver and he took us to his holding pens which was really interesting. The person he works for exports all over Asia

We were amazed by the varieties and size of lobster that they harvest here. We bought Slipper lobsters and dined on these that evening. they were delicious!

The next day we headed to Palau Hula Wunga which before the 2005 earthquake was a fully enclosed anchorage. Now it can only be entered with a very shallow draft vessel. The sea bed has been raised we've been told by 4m. On the other hand at Afulu across on Nias island an island has become connected to the land and is now a very protected anchorage

We left Palau Hula Wunga and were oblivious to an 8.7 earthquake that occured as we were sailing. When we entered Afulu between 2 reefs Cathy was on the bow ready to take photos as very large waves were breaking on the reef. She was confused as the waves suddenly ceased.
as we entered the lagoon we noticed another yacht at anchor and she was rocking up and down.

we anchored and our new neighbour roared across in his dinghy to inform us that an earthquake had happened and a small surge had come into the bay. As we were talking to him we felt an aftershock and the whole boat shuddered.

We felt quite anxious as night fell but were reassured by information on the internet that there was no tsunami.

The next day we explored the bay. The following photos are showing the effects of the 2005 quake that shook this area and caused the raising of the seabed. The coral is now land.

This was once a deep waterway and island to the left of the picture

Kevin from SV Helena is a keen surfer and each day he took his boat out beyond the reef to surf the waves. The west Sumatran islands are a popular world renowned surfing spot with some of the best surfing in the world. Kevin has been coming to the area for 5 consecutive years.

We went into the village to buy some eggs and the people were very friendly and helpful

We notice all over Indonesia there are thousands of new mosques being built even in the most remote and poor areas there will be several in town. We do wonder where the funds come from for these?

CRUISERS NOTES
Simeulue Island...Labuhanbajau..
Note that we approached the land in the north and followed it around in about 30m. This was to ensure that we passed the rock awash in the middle of the entrance with a safety margin. We entered at high spring tides and did not see this rock. On exiting to the south it did at one stage become quite shallow at around 3.5m and we noticed a yellow bombie which had less water covering it.
We anchored in around 12-15m. Gaia anchored in shallower water and brought up a lump of coral on their anchor. We were anchored in mud

Nias Island...Lahewa lagoon/harbour
The information in "101 anchorages" we found accurate. The waypoints were helpul
We chose to anchor in view of the wharf in good holding mud from 7-20m
We landed next to the Tsunami warning building on the wharf and tied off to the railing. We found this a reasonably good access from our dinghy, although a bit of a climb at low tide
The harbour master's office is about 30m from the wharf gates on the left. They were very helpful but limited English
Bank but no ATM
Fidel Chen (lobster fisherman) speaks excellent english Ph 081370277919
Exaa Nazara (student) 0813916160880 also speaks excellent english offered his services

Afulu
The information in "101 anchorages" we found accurate. The waypoints were helpul
Very sheltered bay. Be aware that there are some rock outcrops in places you may not expect them so stay in the recommended anchorage.
Beach access is great on sand. Keep an eye out for rock outcrops just off the beach.
Landing and access to the town is in the direction of the communication of the tower and just to the left of the local boats on the beach. The tower is where the town is. It is a short walk
Most supplies are available here, including beer and if there is something you cannot get contact
Makmur or his brother Darus, both speak good english and are very nice men willing to help
Makmur ph 081370951444
Darus Ph 081263578874
Small town. No ATM