THE DEADLIEST PLACE ON EARTH TO ANCHOR?
Lightning struck the sea next to the boat as we made slow going in a 4m confused swell on the 190-mile passage from Enggano. By dawn the weather system had eased and Krakatoa lay in front of us.
Our plan was to sail to Borneo from Thailand round the western coast of Sumatra, taking in the remote Mentawai islands and the Krakatoa archipelago on the way. In 2018 Anak Krakatoa began chucking clouds of dust and magma into the air. But it was not considered dangerous, and a couple of friends had sent back images of the smoking volcano from their boats where they anchored. Then, as we prepared to leave Thailand in December, news of a devastating explosion at Anak Krakatoa rocked Southeast Asia. The tsunami which followed killed more than 400 people, injuring a further 7,000 and displacing 47,000 from their homes on Sumatra and Java. Like many people, we donated
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