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Blue Dragon in Komodo National Park

The Making of Blue Dragon Live-On-Board

After operating live-on-board diving in Thailand for 4 years – where we covered Hin Daeng/Hin Muang, the Trang sea and the Similans in the Southern Andaman Sea; and Chumphon and Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand – we were looking for new places to explore.Somehow, we stumbled into the Komodo National Park in Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. There, we decided to build our own live-on-board to explore this mysterious lost world inhabited by the famous Komodo dragons! It will be a Bugis Phinsi Schooner – a traditional twin-mast sailboat used in Indonesia with more than 1500 years history that locals said to have been sailed even as far as Madagascar. Of course, modernization means that the motorized version was introduced in the mid-70s and they are now called the “Kapal Layar Mesin” (KLM) which means “Boat Sail Machine”.

Learn more about Komodo Diving and Komodo National Park here….

The construction of the boat started on 20^th June 2008 in Makassar, South Sulawesi where the phinisis have traditionally been built. The most important part of the boat, the hull, will be built of good, strong wood, namely, teak and ironwood, which will be totally handcrafted and expected to last a long time.

My partner, Gan, on site

Blue Dragon Boat under construction at Komodo

For the layout of the boat, we brought our experience from operating live-on-board diving in Thailand and designed it for practicality and comfort. The boat is 25m long and 6m wide and can move at about 8 knots with its motor – and even faster on sails! It has 7 air-conditioned cabins, open dining area, sun/moon deck, and a wide wet area for divers to put their gear and suit up. It is a nice, simple and comfortable floating resort for the sea, sun and adventure-seekers visiting Komodo National Park.

Learn more about Komodo Diving and Komodo National Park here….

Blue Dragon Boat scale drawings

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