Balbulol is an island group at the eastern end of a chain of islands that run out to the east from Misool. It is one of the jewels of Raja Ampat.

We have had the last few days tied up in the lagoon here, enjoying exploring the area. While we were here, the tides have been extremely low in the middle of the day, and this has prevented us getting over the coral to snorkel or explore the inner lagoons while the sun is high. Many of the mornings were overcast or wet, so most of our exploring was confined to the afternoons.

We left Balbulol this morning to head to the major city of this area, Sorong, in order to reprovision and to pick up my father, Don, who has arranged to fly in for a week or so. Sorong is about 80 nms from Balbulol, and with no wind, we must motor. To conserve fuel, we are motoring slowly, at around 4 knots, so this means two days of 10 hours each to arrive in Sorong. With no wind the seas are as flat as the anchorages, so we maintain watches and read books.