We will board the liveaboard in Saumlaki, one of the easternmost islands in Indonesia. We'll then sail north through the Banda Sea through a chain of islands and atolls known as the Forgotten Islands. One of the attractions of the Banda Sea, besides us most likely being the only boat in the area, are the reefs. They are absolutely mind-blowing. The coral is so dense that you will be hard-pressed to see any patches of the reef's limestone foundation. Many of the reefs consist of expansive fringing hard coral plateaus that extend from the island or atoll and then eventually drop off into the deep blue. These walls or slopes are covered in sponges, colorful soft corals, and sea fans. Additionally, there will be plenty of reef dwellers like dazzling schools of tropical fish, larger pelagic species like tunas, jacks, and batfish passing in the blue, and juvenile reef sharks patrolling the shallows. It's also the time of the year when the blue whales start their migration south to Australia. Thus, it may be possible to spot one or several from the boat.

0

0

0

119

0

0

0

0

485

0

0

0

0

689

0

0

0

0

29

0

0

0

0

500

Ira just wrapped up photographing the F18 Americas Championship, and I drove for her one of the days. Those things haul ass!!! We were in a 18 ft. rib with a 90HP, and to get ahead of these things or do a ride-along with them involved some moderate butt-pucker... down wind OR up wind. The other challenging thing as a photo-boat driver is figuring out their bail-out angles. I want to get close, but if then need to come down hard in a puff the change in direction is a good amount larger than what a mono would do (understandable as the range of apparent wind angles are broader because the range of boat speeds are also larger). It was a ton of fun playing out on the SF bay with these rocket ships!

0

0

0

1,728