Jocara Newsletter
Sep 12, 2004

We were hoping for a little burp or an orange glow at night, but Anak 
Krakatau seems peaceful for now, just a few wisps of white smoke visible 
near the summit. The weather's also getting more and more hazy, not the 
best conditions for taking photographs. After spending one day at anchor 
under the cliff of Rakata, frequently glancing over at Krakatau, we 
decided to go explore a little bay of Sumatra, just 24 n.m. across the 
Sunda Straits.  On the chart this bay looks very intriguing, surrounded by 
hills and a big volcano. On the way, we passed close by Anak Krakatau to 
take a closer look.  An other-worldly little island, black, grey, brown 
and red rock, jagged piles of it, forbiddingly barren over most of its 
surface with surprisingly healthy young trees sprouting incongruously here 
and there and bright green scrub along the shoreline at the Eastern edge.  
Most of the shoreline is viciously jagged beyond belief.  Water depths 
just 50m from the shore vary from over 50m depth to 10m in an instant.  
Treacherous waters, these, and the charts are soon superceded by the 
growing, shifting volcanism.  We saw three people climbing up the eastern 
summit, and one in a white suit scaling the main summit - probably 
scientists in protective clothing.  One smokey fumerole was surrounded by 
very yellow sulphurous deposits - not a healthy place to spend a lot of 
time! 

Our route takes us passed the big volcano Sebesi, but even though it's 
only 10 miles away we can barely see it in the haze. We do get to enjoy 
the scenery when we pass through a narrow channel between two islands that 
are very beautiful. Our destination is a lovely big bay with kelongs 
strewn across the entrance and protected waters inside. We make our way to 
the far end of the bay and drop anchor at 5 deg. 45.30'S, 105 deg. 
09.63'E, just off the mangroves near some fishing stakes. The haze gets in 
the way of seeing the tall volcano, otherwise the view would be 
spectacular. We're up a few times during the night because it starts 
raining and we have to scramble around closing all the hatches. In the 
morning the skies are still gloomy, so we feel our way back through the 
showers to anchor at 5 deg. 48.53'S, 105 deg. 18.47'S between two islands 
we thought so beautiful the day before. When rain limits visibility to a 
few tens of metres, the GPS, digital charts and radar are vital to keep us 
clear of small rocks, reefs and Kelongs (wooden fishing platforms made 
from many poles lashed together), not to mention the many tiny wooden 
fishing boats darting about. In the afternoon the weather clears up and 
the kids take the dinghy around a little island and find a cave with small 
grey bats, and in the shallows they chance upon a resting black tip shark. 
John and Caroline get a tour of all their findings later on which we 
combine with snorkeling a pretty healthy reef. 

That night we get a surprise. We suddenly spot little wiggly streaks of 
light in the water surrounding the boat. At first they look like little 
snakes, but when Casper catches one it turns out to be a tiny worm, no 
more than about 12 mm long, perhaps 1 mm in diameter with miniscule hairs 
and brown bands across its body. It seems to have a head shaped like a 
snake.  How can this tiny creature make luminescent streaks of more than a 
meter behind it? There's no end of surprises in the sea, always something 
new to see.