After leaving the harbour at Sorong, light northerly winds encouraged us to head west to the island of Batanta, about 20 miles away.

We anchored the first night near a pearl farm, and motored along the north shore of Batanta using the tide to assist us, as it was another day of calms, so typical of the doldrums.

We shared our anchorage in a large bay with an expedition yacht travelling the world, who were also here for the waterfall that runs down out of the jungle. The waterfall flows into a creek that exits into the bay, and we explored up this creek in our dinghy, into the mangroves, till we came to the boardwalk that leads to the waterfall. It was instantly cool to be in the rainforest, and this was a very welcome respite, as out on the water, the sea temperature of 32॰ means that it is never cool on the boat.

We walked the track to the falls, and swam in the pool at the base, and repeated this again in the morning before leaving for the next anchorage.