Safe Anchorages in the Mentawais ?

[surfmachine]

Hi, I am heading down the west coast of Sumatra from Langkawi and would appeciate it if anyone has the locations of good anchorages around the islands of the Mentawais?

[Laidback]

Originally Posted by surfmachine

Hi, I am heading down the west coast of Sumatra from Langkawi and would appeciate it if anyone has the locations of good anchorages around the islands of the Mentawais?

Hello Kieth,
When do you intend to arrive in Western Sumatra ? The Transition of the seasons is happening right now.
The problem of deciding where it is safe to anchor is to understand that the island chain lying off the main island of Sumatra is some 2 degrees either side of the equator - where the inter tropical convergence zone moves north and south of the equator, bringing with it fierce squall lines called Sumatras with as much as 50 knots of wind. The prevailing winds north of the equator are light westerlies to S.W.s while the prevailing winds south of the equator are light Easterlies to S.E.s. The seas on both sides of the Eq. will be from the S.W.
Another factor to consider is that much of the waters around these islands is poorly charted and also in places the Great Tsunami created new reefs and destroyed others all uncharted.
Here is a small list of islands where anchorages on the Eastern side provide shelter from the SW swell (but remember to set anchor sufficiently well to hold if a 'Sumatra' arrives. The alternative if a squall line is seen on the horizon is to take down all canvas and up anchor and motor into the approaching squall giving your self lots of sea room. :-
Pulau Tuangku
Pulau Simeulue
Teluk Sinabang (underwater rocks)
Pulau Pagai Selatan -- S.E. Corner
Batoe Belajar