WEEK 2 – Miri to Kota Kinabulu

Saturday 14 January – Miri – Kuala Belait Brunei
04°34.835N 114°11.337E
We had decided to leave at daybreak but when the skipper put the engine into gear there was a terrible grinding noise and he thought he musnt have aligned the prop correctly but after putting it into forward and reverse gears (while still tied to the jetty!) we decided it was probably just growth on the prop so we dropped the lines and off we went on a half tide and had half a metre under the keel. The seas were pretty sloppy but our two new crew members handled it really well. We arrived at Kuala Belait at 1.30 and anchored in the river opposite the town. As this was Brunei and we hadn’t checked in we stayed on board.
Miles: 35

Sunday 15 January – Kuala Belai – Jeffries Wall, Brunei
04°56.999N 114°a48.779E
We left at 6.50 am and had a good day of intermittent sailing and motor sailing and the seas had settled and it was a good trip. We caught a mackerel along the way which the skipper cooked up for a very tasty dinner. Anchored at Jeffries wall at 3.45
Miles: 43 Total This Trip: 78

Monday 16 January – Jeffries wall – Labuan
05°16.444N 115°14.318E
We left Jeffries at 7am and motored on a flat sea heading towards Labuan. We stopped off at Pulau Kereman – a lovely island for a swim. Brett copped a sting from something which appeared to be quite painful so we continued on to Labuan and anchored at 3.25 after two attempts.
Miles: 34 TTT: 112

Tuesday 17 January – Labuan
We checked into Labuan and out of Sarawak and then managed to find a minibus to take us on a tour of the island. We went to the War Memorial where the POWs from Sandakan are interred. As always, this cemetery was beautifully kept. We then went to a very interesting marine museum and then out to the chimney. This chimney is a bit of a mystery as no one knows who built it, when it was built or what it was for. No fire has ever been lit in it. It is however, where the coal mining used to be carried out on this island. We returned to town and did our duty free shopping and loaded the boat up and then caught another water taxi to town for dinner. Had Indian again and it was really very good.

Wednesday 18 January – Labuan – Pulau Tiga
05°43.243N 115°38.880E
We left at 6.45 and anchored in 4m of sand off the resort. This island was where the very first episode of Survivor was made. We went for a snorkel but it turned out to be huge seaweed plants so went back to the beach for a swim. The water was so clear. When the sandflies started swarming the skipper’s head we made a retreat to the boat and the skipper cooked up another great meal. Watched the monkeys on the beach.
Miles: 40`TTT: 152

Thursday 19 January – Pulau Tiga
In the morning we watched the monkeys and water monitors on the beach and then went ashore to walk to the mud volcanoes. We decided not to jump in the mud as it really didn’t look that appealing but it was extremely muddy and was bubbling up in places. We walked to Rocky Beach along the jungle track and then walked back again. There were monkeys playing both sides of the track and the skipper surprised a water monitor which made a hasty and noisy exit – not sure who got the bigger fright! We had a swim and went back to the boat and watched the monkeys and water monitors on the beach and the sun set over the sea. Such a beautiful spot.

Friday 20 January – Pulau Tiga – Kota Kinabulu
05°58.044N 116°03.219E
We left at 7.30 and motor sailed on flat seas to Kota Kinabulu and anchored off the marina at 2.15. It appears that once again there is no room at this marina for us. We caught a plastic bag on our first attempt at anchoring so reanchored. The skipper cooked up a slap up meal and we had a nice bottle of red to celebrate Brett and Delphine’s last night on board. We have really enjoyed their company.
Miles: 30 TTT: 182