Saturday 11 June - Redang Island to Perhentians
05°55.789N / 102°43.399E
We left at 8.25am and headed north to the Perhentian Islands. These islands have a more bushy sort of terrain rather than actual jungle and are rugged looking around the edges. We came up past a lovely long beach with lots of activity going on and quite a few low key resorts/buildings on shore. We came up a bit further and went up the channel between the two islands. The chart is out a bit here so the crew took watch at the bow. The water was aqua and perfectly clear. We passed a few more lovely beaches and headed for the north beach. Rubicon Star was in there and called us up as we couldn't make our minds up and said it was good so we anchored there and then Whisper HR came in too. We headed ashore to the restaurant - D'Lagoon - it seemed to be a backpacker place with a dorm and small chalets - a really nice spot. We set up a snorkel tour for the next day and Rubicorn Star and Whisper HR said they would join us. We snorkled the coral near our boat and saw a shark about 6 ft long - supposedly a reef shark. Luckily it was scared of us! At 5pm we all went to Rubicon Star for sundowners. Rubicon Start is a converted steel fishing boat from Tasmania with two short masts, so she has heaps of room. She's a beaut boat and we all sat up in the bow (8 of us) on deck chairs and had room to spare. We had intended to go ashore to eat but the tide had dropped and we doubted we would get in so ate on board. A bit of a storm came up through the night but we were ok. We have noticed that no matter how often we clean the boat it always seems to be dirty. We cant decide if it is in the rain or in the air.
Miles: 21 TTT: 928
Sunday 12 June - Perhentians
05°53.621N / 102°44.115E
We left at 8.30 for our snorkel trip and went around behind the island to see if we could find the sharks. Swimming along looking for sharks sounds so wrong and the senses say no!!! But luckily or unluckily there were none there. It was a very overcast day. We headed out to five smaller uninhabited islands further out. We landed on a small beach and snorkelled out from there and it was like a wonderland. Quite shallow but the coral was fabulous and so many fish. We saw two big Napoleon humphead wrasse which are about 3ft long and 1 ½ ft high and they just cruised around not at all concerned with our proximity. The second one almost looked like he had elephant skin. We then went to another area and jumped off the boat and saw more wonderful coral but different to the last place - lots of colourful clams - heaps of fish - some we had never seen before. One looked like a dinner plate with two funny fin things at the back. They were fantastic - it was a fabulous snorkel. We then went looking for sharks again. Peter and Mae saw a big reef shark and I saw a smaller one. Our last stop was to the coral garden with lots of table coral and the soft plants the nemos live in - heaps of nemos. As we were snorkelling we could feel large drops of rain falling on our backs. It was a fantastic morning and we would have loved to have gone back again on a sunny day but we were just so happy to have seen it all. We all ate ashore then, as there was a bit of a swell coming in, we went down between the two islands and a few of the yachts were anchored there so we anchored as well. The water was so clear - clearest we have seen in Malaysia so we got in Bob and next thing we see a huge turtle and it came up beside us to breath. The next one we saw we jumped in and swam with it. We were then going to go around to the other beach but Rubicon Star returned and said it was full of coral heads so we reanchored where we were and at 6pm we went ashore with Rubicon Star and Wave Sweeper and had dinner at a little local place on the beach and the food was great - would like to have spent a week here.
Miles: 2 TTT: 930
Monday 13 June - Perhentians to Kapas
Happy Birthday Charlie
05°13.681N / 103D15.696E
We woke up at 5 to 7 and upanchored at 7!!! We put the main and the headsail up and motor sailed all the way with good wind arriving at Kapas at 4.45pm. Cilantro had come out of Terangganu and we could seem them 2 miles in front of us. As we anchored we could see a storm heading our way. Cilantro came over to say hullo but stayed in their dinghy and made a quick getaway when the rain came. We anchored in 4.2m and during the night the wind blew hard from the north and we went back to 3m. A good day.
Miles: 52 TTT: 982
Tuesday 14 June - Kapas to Pulau Ular
04°03.621N / 103°24.152E
We left in pitch dark at 6am. The crew stood at the bow to keep watch until daylight. We started off with great wind and current with us so made some good miles under main and headsail (and motor). The wind died off around 10am and the sea was flat and oily looking. Dodged heaps of flags on pots. We made it to our little island anchorage at 6.45pm
Miles: 78 TTT: 1060
Wednesday 15 June - Pulau Ular to Tekek Tiomans
02°49.074N / 104°09.024E
It proved to be a long day with no wind and current against us. We left at 5am in the dark. The crew stood at the bow looking like a bedraggled demented figurehead. I think all this did was to let us know how many close calls we had as you couldn't see the buoys until you were on top of them - however did my duty for two hours! As we approached the Tiomans we thought we might have got some good wind and would come in to the anchorage under a full moon. We could see a storm and thought it would miss us. Next thing we were in the middle of heavy rain with lots of lightning and lightning strikes away to the left. This put paid to the full moon so we came in in the dark and just as we were approaching the town there was a lightning strike and the whole town was blacked out! Thank goodness for the chartplotter which still had our previous tracks and where we had anchored so we were able to anchor with no problem at 9pm. At 16 hours it was a very long day. Cilantro came in at 10pm.
Miles: 89 TTT: 1149
Thursday 16 June - Tekuk to Juara, Tiomans
Happy Birthday Suzanne
02°47.568N / 104D12.344
Well what a shocking night. The wind came in from the north and the swell turned us to the side and we rocked from gunnel to gunnel from 2am. The crew sat jammed between the lounge and the mast and read as it was impossible to sleep although the skipper managed a good night's sleep! Had to secure everything as things were going flying. At daybreak Cilantro upanchored and went into the marina and managed to get a berth. We went to town and got another 90 litres of fuel and restocked the beer cupboard and checked out at Immigration. We then motored around to the other side of the island to Juara. It was a bit swelly but we didn't have a bad night. We ate ashore at the restaurant. Single Malt and Braveheart both arrived at Tekek.
Miles: 13 TTT: 1162
Friday 17 June - Juara Tioman
It has been pretty windy all day and the wind is really picking up now - coming straight in on us and bucking the seas up. We heard from rally boats on the HF this morning who left from Teragganu going against wind and tide. We spent the day getting the boat ready for our crossing. The skipper serviced the motor. Cilantro, Braveheart and Single Malt had a very slow trip around here pushing wind and tide. We will have discussions this evening to decide when is the best time to leave for our three night crossing to Borneo. They all anchored on the other side of the bay so went to join them and the skipper gave them timings for different speeds for the crossing. We actually found it much rollier over this "sheltered" side of the bay. The locals didn't build their jetty on the other side for nothing and we decided to go back there to anchor for the night. But then we all decided leave for Borneo at 8pm and as the swell was really bad by then we all actually left at 7.45pm.
Borneo Crossing Week 10
We headed out into quite strong winds and a swell and current about 2 knots against us. We put our headsail up and off we went. Did three hour shifts for sleep. About 3am the halyard separated from the top of the furler which means that the headsail dropped and we were very lucky to be able to haul it in and wrap it round the furler but it is about 1.5m down from the top. The halyard (rope) has gone down the mast. We waited til daylight in building seas for the skipper to go forward to get our mainsail up. We are always hooked on with life jackets and safety tethers at night but we kept them on day and night. The deck was really bucking and the skipper moved forward hooking on, moving forward hooking on and off till he got to the mast. Was a bit hairy but he got it up with one reef in so it was at least steadying us and giving us a bit of a push along. We were under motor the entire way with help from the sail. Others managed to sail quite a bit of the way but when we need to get somewhere in the most comfort and as quickly as we can we use the motor - sailing purists we are not!!! The seas became horrendous through the day - biggest we have been in - 3 metres with the odd rogue wave. It is terrifying to look to the side and see a wall of water higher than the boat - of course it just slides underneath us. The downstairs became a mess. We are usually so careful about packing things away but everything we have read and heard about this crossing said the sea was so calm people stopped for a swim! So the skipper's left over dinner hit the floor smashing the plate and spreading food everywhere. The good sailing books in the nav station hit the floor as did one computer, the guitar, cushions and everything else which could actually fly!! The crew spent much of the day either in hysterics or in bed neither of which helped the skipper get any sleep. For lunch we had a boiled egg and 2 slices of bread - turned into a sandwich in our tummies!! A cup of soup for the crew and a sandwich for the skipper for dinner which he had to make as in conditions like these the crew can only get to the back bunk or the loo (luckily also at the back of the boat) even though sea sickness tablets were taken. Suffice to say it was the scariest day and the crew thinks she needs a change of career!!!!! Anyway with thoughts of Jessica Watson (what an intrepid sailor!!) and words like the boat will take care of itself, by late afternoon the crew took was able to take a turn on watch and found the best way to deal with it when the boat got wacked around was to close the eyes and hang on! So the skipper got some much needed sleep. The skipper had hand steered for the afternoon as we were worried about losing the autohelm in the bad conditions. We saw big dolphins which swam with our boat for quite a while - lovely. Went through a shipping lane which was at least ten miles wide with stacks of ships. Went quite close to some but they were pretty good and also tried to avoid us. The moon was full and we did our three hour shifts. Hit something through the night. Early morning and the crew saw a black thing at the bow of the boat. Got such a shock as there didn't seem to be anything out there. It was almost as if what are you doing there!! Anyway a black flag on a stick on a buoy dragged all the way down the boat and almost got tangled in the gear at the back. It was the only flag in the entire ocean and I hit it!! I have a theory about it though. It was a pristine flag and pristine buoy and two boats which didn't show o radar were previously in the vicinity. What a great way to pass on something illicit!!
Day 2 and conditions were still very sloppy with the odd big wave to knock us. The skipper got out one of the sails from under our bunk and put it on the inner forestay and it helped bring us back around after we had been knocked off course by a wave. The skipper cooked scrambled eggs for breakfast but the first lot of beaten eggs went all over the floor. During the day saw some tiny little dolphins swimming with and playing with our boat - they were gorgeous. They were about half the size of a normal dolphin. We passed well south of the Indonesian Islands renowned for piracy and which we are not allowed to land at anyway. More of the same. The skipper managed to cook a pretty good spaghetti bol but with macaroni instead of spag so we could eat it with a spoon! The last night was interesting with a tug pulling a barge and a few ships passing. The skipper had seen a huge log in the water longer than our boat and as big as a tree so we really tried to watch out for stuff. The crew went to bed at 3.30am and awoke at 7 in dead calm water seven miles short of the Indonesian point of Kalamantan, Borneo. As it was early morning (which was the plan) we decided to push on to the island of Pulau Satang Besar (what was another 40 miles!!) which is just near the entrance to the Santubong river which is our destination - 30k from Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, Malaysia. We pulled the mainsail down as we had been worried that the headsail halyard may have tangled with the main and we wouldn't be able to get the main down but it came down with no worries. The crew commented that she hadn't done her hair in three days and the skipper said it looked good and people would pay a lot of money for that look - bless him!!! The skipper had a good day and caught a 105cm long Spanish mackerel (yes he did measure it!) and then discovered that this boat has a spa! Sat at the back going along and had a spa bath which was really lovely and then a spray down with fresh water. We had to change the fuel filter over - luckily the skipper had installed dual fuel filters so it was just a matter of a switch and he can change if later.
We are now anchored with 9 rally boats with our life jackets packed away and our safety tethers hanging to dry enjoying a well earned beer and wine beside a lovely island in blessed calm water. One of the boats which came down the long way suffered a broken boom and shredded headsail - it wasn't an easy trip. The skipper threw a couple of pieces of fish (in a plastic bag) to Cilantro as they went past but Sandra knocked it into the water so the skipper jumped in and retrieved it (he wasn't letting any get away). It was only after he got back on board that he said I hope there aren't any crocs here!!!
Pulau Batang Besar - 01°46.820N / 110°10.038E
Miles:373 TTT: 1535
Well the next challenge is getting up the river to the rally point at Santubong.
Have a great week
Fair winds and Calm seas
Dell and Peter
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