Saturday 4 July - Sng Tadian - Pulau Lankayan
06 32.973N / 117 42.165E
Well the weather held and we had quite a good night. A little rocky but no roll and calm in the morning. We left at 6.45 and headed towards the island we thought we should have anchored off but when we came out from the reef which had been protecting us it was quite rolly and would have not been good. We slipped through the reefs and shoals and picked up a mooring buoy at Lankayan Island. This island is an absolute paradise and there were more buoys than there were last year which was just as well as Haven was on one and Brother Wind came in later and picked one up too. The water is the most amazing aqua blue and the sand so white. We went to the turtle museum which we gave a cursory glance and thought later we should have spent some time there. We walked out to the restaurant which is an amazing building built out over the water with a big walkway out to it. The chalets along the beach look lovely and we walked around the island which is actually very small. The army had several bunker huts around the island and we had a chat with a soldier occupying one of them. This is close to the Filippino border and it was pleasing to see the security. We went for a snorkel. The island has been managed and protected since 1995 and the coral wasn't too bad. It was the best snorkel we have had in ages and there were heaps of fish. The crew saw what she thought was a diver and swam over there only to see the biggest trigger fish!! The skipper tangled with an attack nemo and then on the drop off we saw the biggest barracuda - it was as big as the crew!! We didn't know they grew that big and we also didn't know if they attacked and the size of his mouth and teeth was enough to make us take a hasty exit!! This island has a turtle conservation programme and later in the afternoon they released 152 hatchlings into the water. By all accounts it was something to see but we missed it as we were aboard. We wondered how many of the poor little things would survive with fish like the baraccuda waiting out there. The whole resort lit up like a Christmas tree all night and we had a lovely calm night.
Miles: 21 TTT: 375
Sunday 5 August - Pulua Lankayan - Sandakan
05 50.469N / 118 07.686E
We decided to go and left around 6.30 and had a lovely sail till 9.30 when we started motor sailing. We saw a huge brown ray leap out of the water. As we were coming in to Sandakan pushing a 2.2 knot current we saw a dead rat amidst all the rubbish in the water. We anchored at 5.30 - there were three other yachts there and Brother Wind came in after us. We moved everything off the deck which we could and cleared the cockpit and the skipper put 9 metres of chain and two locks around Freddy (mercury - outboard) and we stayed on board. We watched workers putting a pylon in just off shore. It rained. The mosque was talking and singing (chanting?) from practically the time we got there and was still going when we went to bed at 9.45 and we heard it again at 3am.
Miles: 50 TTT: 425
Monday 6 August - Sandakan
We did some computer work - fastest internet we have had! When we put Bob in to go ashore we found we were in the middle of a current line with all manner of debris and rubbish floating around us - yuk! Went to town around 10.30. It was very busy and they have a new shopping mall attached to the Sheraton. It makes the town look very modern when viewed from the boat but the town is the same. The shopping mall was supposed to open yesterday and then it was tomorrow - more shops not ready than ready. It was an overcast day - did some shopping then had a scrumptious lunch on the waterfront - we recognised our waitresses from last year. Called in to the fresh market then back to the boat. The skipper did a water run and then we stayed on board. Lots of boats going past and they all wave and shout and in one case threw us a kiss. Another boat had a near miss at hitting us. He had a big water tank in front of him and couldn't see. The skipper thinks he must have seen our mast and just missed us. Some of the big boats and fishing boats come pretty close but they are just curious and they generally give us the thumbs up. A fishing boat went out with their washing hanging at the top and the stench from the boat was horrific - cant imagine what the washing smelt like! It poured through the night and was quite windy.
Tuesday 7 August - Sandakan - Dewhurst Bay
05 38.178N / 118 35.886E
When we pulled up the anchor we did a Wavesweeper and had a huge metal piece of infrastructure hooked all around our anchor chain. Took a little bit of manouvering to get it off! Sandakan was badly bombed during the war and there is a lot of debris in the water. We left at 6.45 amid a very grey sky and did the radio sked at 7. It was high level cloud and everything just looked white for most of the day and it was actually cold - well chilly anyway! We had a wonderful sail for an hour or so but then we motor sailed. There were a few fishing boats out towing their nets so we stayed out of their way. We had two strikes on the line but the fish got away and third time lucky and the skipper pulled in a baraccuda. Had to haul it in as we needed the lure back. Braveheart texted us from Lankayan Island wanting a weather report so the skipper consulted the grib files and they talked on the HF radio. We came across the very calm bar into Dewhurst Bay which is where we headed up to the Kinabatangan River last year. The lowest we got to was 2 metres under the keel and we anchored at 3.20. Scrubby trees on either bank and fishing boats in front of us with a nice breeze. Lots of big logs floating in the water. There was a house or two on one bank and the fishing boats all went out fishing. We had wind against tide for quite a while swinging 180? from side to side and by the evening we weren't sure if we were dragging so we reanchored in the dark and went to bed. Earlier in the 6pm radio sked Cilantro advised that they had hit what they thought was a sea container floating just below the surface and damaged their rudder and would have to return to Kudat for repairs.
Miles: 43 TTT: 468
Wednesday 8 August - Dewhurst Bay - Tambisan Island
Happy Birthday Margaret
05 26.953N / 119 08.486E
Awoke to absolute stillness with no one else around. Sat and enjoyed the serenity and then did 7am sked when we found out that Cilantro had been visited by 9 army personnel at 11pm who wanted to see their passports and paperwork and asked for beer (which was not given). A very scary incident for them and today they are off back to Kudat to haul out for repairs to the rudder. We left after the sked around 7.30 and passed all the fishing boats coming back in. We went down to 1.4m under the keel. The sun was shining, a slight breeze - (on the nose) and the seas flat as we start on the section of our journey where we have not been before. Well at lunch time the wind came up on the nose but we had current with us which made the seas buck up a bit and we were really pushing it for two hours to get up around the island and into the channel. As we were coming in we thought we heard coastguard calling us so we answered and the skipper was asked all manner of questions including which country were we in. We later heard him calling Green Express and we suspect it was Coastguard Philippines!! Well now everyone knows we are here! We came in between the channel between the island and the mainland. The chartplotter was way out. We went down to 3m under the keel and anchored off the island at the end of a stilt fishing village and people seemed very friendly We could see an electrical storm at the other end of the island but it just missed us. It is very sheltered in here.
Miles: 40 TTT: 508
Thursday 9 August - Tambisan Island
We left just after 6 in beautiful conditions with current with us. We took a bit of a different track out and had a little bit more water. The skipper did his usual check only to find the bilge full of water so it was on with the bilge pump with the crew doing the manual pump while the skipper tried to find where the water was coming from - nothing scarier! We did the 7am sked and no one could hear us. We returned to Tambisan against the current, which had been so kind to us earlier We got back in and anchored thinking all sorts of terrible things. The skipper discovered the water was coming from the exhaust water lock. He pulled it out and there were two small holes which had rusted through so he put kneaded epoxy putty on the holes then a layer of epoxy filler over the whole base. So thank the Lord its good to go. Cilantro couldn't hear us on the sked so texted to see if we were alright - bless em. They have their fibre glasser on the job fixing the rudder and other damage and hope to be back in the water Saturday or Sunday. The skipper changed the microphone and it works much better now. Ended up being a boat day!! Lovely still quiet night.
Miles: 6 TTT: 514
Friday 10 August - Tambisan Island - Tungku
05 00.920N / 118 53.563E
We upanchored at 6. The crew is now pushing the chain down in the anchor locker as it comes up instead of the skipper running down to do it - don't know why we never thought of it before!! Motored out past the fishermen who all waved and one videoed us on his phone. We came out to a rising sun heading directly into the reflection of the sun and birds swirling about, lovely flat sea - beautiful. A rainbow refraction around the sun and clouds on the horizon. The skipper paranoidly checking checking checking - the crew feels better when he looks up and grins and gives the thumbs up! Bilge still dry!! We had over 2 knots of current with us and wind on the nose and the waves were up a bit as we rounded the tip - would hate to do that with the current against us. This was one leg we had not been looking forward to as we could see the Tawi Tawi Islands in the Philippines just twenty short miles away and they have been known to take people hostage. However, there was a surveillance plane and Malaysian warshisp there which made us feel much better and stopped the crew from looking very suspiciously at all the fishing boats!! It also stopped us from worrying about all our secrets we had blurted out on the radio to Coast Watch Philippines yesterday!!! We passed a tug towing a barge and behind the barge hanging off a line were five small fishing boats, one behind the other having a free ride! The skipper saw a yellow and black banded seasnake about two inches in diameter and 4 feet long and we saw a few huge turtles which dived as soon as they saw us. So they haven't all been eaten by the baraccuda! We motor sailed till 1pm when we turned the motor off and had the loveliest sail. As we were approaching where we were going to anchor - which is in the open off a beach - we pulled the sails in and started the motor only to find we weren't pumping water so we had to turn the motor off and put part of the headsail out again to sail to our anchorage then turn up into the wind, pull the sail in and drop the anchor (3pm). Turned out it was the impellor so the skipper changed that and we are all good again now. We are hoping the weather holds as we are very exposed here but it is a very pretty spot. The whole coast was really pretty except it is all oil palms the whole way down. What happened to the jungle and the animals and birds and bugs!! Passed lots of fishermen in tiny little boats a long way off shore. It was pretty rocky at first but then the wind started to die off and the seas calmed and we had a lovely calm night.
Miles: 49 TTT: 563
Well we hope our run of things going wrong is over. We are currently anchored in a little bit of paradise and will spend a few days here.
Happy Birthday to Pam - not sure when it is but know its soon! And all best wishes to Maureen for her birthday.
Calm seas and fair winds
Love
Dell and Peter
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Saturday, August 11, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
LWH – Week 4 : Kudat- Sungai Tadian
Saturday 28 July Kudat
Thoughts with Amy and Pete today for their gig at the Tivoli.
Went to town for my haircut. Had the hair wash and they do a most amazing head massage – so worth it. Then the most meticulous hair cut I have ever had – turned out very well. The weather was getting quite windy and we were warned that it was going to blow up.
Sunday 29 July – Kudat
Very blowy – forecast 3m seas around the tip and 30 – 35 knots of wind. All the fishing boats have come in so we are now pinned down by the weather. One fishing boat had just been put back into the water and as he went past us he was throwing all his rubbish overboard – we were not impressed. We have all our chain out and feel quite safe here. A huge wind with blinding rain came up about 5.30 – one of the boats further in dragged and had to reanchor. We were pretty snug.
Monday 30 July – Kudat
We had a bit of a swell throwing back off one of the breakwalls this morning and it is still terribly windy. Dont want to leave the boat while this weather persists so filling in time. Hoping to get away Thursday or Friday at the latest. Rubicon Star came over to visit.
Tuesday 31 July – Kudat
Blew all day and we stayed on board. The skipper doing sudokos, me Jewel Quest – very addictive!
Wednesday 1 August – Kudat
The skipper went to the market at 8am and got meat and fruit and by 10.30 it was blowing hard again. Dropped off a bit in the afternoon and Kind of Blue came to visit and Haven said hullo in passing. About 5.30 Rubicon Star called up and invited us over for sundowners and the sun went down very late that night!!!
Thursday 2 August – Kudat – Pulau Banggi
07⁰06.803N / 117⁰05.376E
A fishing boat went past us with a rooster standing up the back of the boat crowing. Checked the weather and it seems to be on the improve so we left at 8am (Haven had already left) and motor sailed to Pulau Molleangan Besar (07⁰05.054N/ 117⁰03.818E) and anchored. As we approached Molleagan Island it got really rough and we were surfing down waves – seemed to be wind against tide – didn’t last for long and it was really odd. The beach looked lovely and there were tourists on the beach. The only trouble for them was that it was an extremely high tide and there was hardly any beach and the trees had thorns on them. We took Bob ashore just as they were leaving. Tim off Rubicon Star had told us about Basheer who is the tour operator who brings the tourists out and he drops them on the beach and goes fishing then picks them up later in the day. Basheer introduced himself and told us to come to the town. It was getting windy again so we just had a swim then went back to the boat. There was a swell coming in and it was getting rolly so we decided to go down and anchor off the town. The town is a Muslim village – lots of stilt houses over the water, a big mosque and some large flash buildings up the hill The people are very friendly. It was pretty blowy but at least here we are facing into the swell but we have reef directly behind us. Brother Wind cam in and anchored nearby. We had a huge wind storm 40 knots with little rain but it died down eventually and we had a quiet uneventful night. So interesting to watch a village at work. A very low tide so children exploring and playing in the shallows and stacks of monkeys looking for food where the tide had gone out. Some houses haul their boats out of the water and hang them under their houses. A big fish leapt out of the water just beside the boat.
Miles: 18 TTT: 300
Friday 3 August – Pulau Banggi – Sungai Tadian
06⁰32.969N / 117⁰36.329E
Call to prayer was at 4.30am. Left at 6.30 and got out past the reef and the chartplotter stopped working. Luckily (or unluckily depending how you look at it) we had this problem last year so the skipper did a factory reset and back it came – minus all the waypoints we had put in to come home! Motor sailed for a while then just motoring following the shipping channel through the reefs, shallows and islands. A lovely day with calm sea but a long day of motor sailing. Took our shortcut through the reef but it was awfully rough going up to the channel and it takes ages to get in and out so we went a bit further up the coast and anchored about two miles off shore. We dropped anchor and the boat didn’t know which way to go so we dropped again and we eventually came around to face the wind and the chop. A while later we were sitting on the deck looking at the shore when the skipper went to turn the chart plotter off and realised that we had dragged 0.6 of a mile!! So we went up and reanchored and this time we stayed put.
Miles: 54 TTT: 354
Well it seems that we are on our way. Tomorrow we head south and stay that way till we get home.
Love to you all – thinking of you, especially Maureen.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Thoughts with Amy and Pete today for their gig at the Tivoli.
Went to town for my haircut. Had the hair wash and they do a most amazing head massage – so worth it. Then the most meticulous hair cut I have ever had – turned out very well. The weather was getting quite windy and we were warned that it was going to blow up.
Sunday 29 July – Kudat
Very blowy – forecast 3m seas around the tip and 30 – 35 knots of wind. All the fishing boats have come in so we are now pinned down by the weather. One fishing boat had just been put back into the water and as he went past us he was throwing all his rubbish overboard – we were not impressed. We have all our chain out and feel quite safe here. A huge wind with blinding rain came up about 5.30 – one of the boats further in dragged and had to reanchor. We were pretty snug.
Monday 30 July – Kudat
We had a bit of a swell throwing back off one of the breakwalls this morning and it is still terribly windy. Dont want to leave the boat while this weather persists so filling in time. Hoping to get away Thursday or Friday at the latest. Rubicon Star came over to visit.
Tuesday 31 July – Kudat
Blew all day and we stayed on board. The skipper doing sudokos, me Jewel Quest – very addictive!
Wednesday 1 August – Kudat
The skipper went to the market at 8am and got meat and fruit and by 10.30 it was blowing hard again. Dropped off a bit in the afternoon and Kind of Blue came to visit and Haven said hullo in passing. About 5.30 Rubicon Star called up and invited us over for sundowners and the sun went down very late that night!!!
Thursday 2 August – Kudat – Pulau Banggi
07⁰06.803N / 117⁰05.376E
A fishing boat went past us with a rooster standing up the back of the boat crowing. Checked the weather and it seems to be on the improve so we left at 8am (Haven had already left) and motor sailed to Pulau Molleangan Besar (07⁰05.054N/ 117⁰03.818E) and anchored. As we approached Molleagan Island it got really rough and we were surfing down waves – seemed to be wind against tide – didn’t last for long and it was really odd. The beach looked lovely and there were tourists on the beach. The only trouble for them was that it was an extremely high tide and there was hardly any beach and the trees had thorns on them. We took Bob ashore just as they were leaving. Tim off Rubicon Star had told us about Basheer who is the tour operator who brings the tourists out and he drops them on the beach and goes fishing then picks them up later in the day. Basheer introduced himself and told us to come to the town. It was getting windy again so we just had a swim then went back to the boat. There was a swell coming in and it was getting rolly so we decided to go down and anchor off the town. The town is a Muslim village – lots of stilt houses over the water, a big mosque and some large flash buildings up the hill The people are very friendly. It was pretty blowy but at least here we are facing into the swell but we have reef directly behind us. Brother Wind cam in and anchored nearby. We had a huge wind storm 40 knots with little rain but it died down eventually and we had a quiet uneventful night. So interesting to watch a village at work. A very low tide so children exploring and playing in the shallows and stacks of monkeys looking for food where the tide had gone out. Some houses haul their boats out of the water and hang them under their houses. A big fish leapt out of the water just beside the boat.
Miles: 18 TTT: 300
Friday 3 August – Pulau Banggi – Sungai Tadian
06⁰32.969N / 117⁰36.329E
Call to prayer was at 4.30am. Left at 6.30 and got out past the reef and the chartplotter stopped working. Luckily (or unluckily depending how you look at it) we had this problem last year so the skipper did a factory reset and back it came – minus all the waypoints we had put in to come home! Motor sailed for a while then just motoring following the shipping channel through the reefs, shallows and islands. A lovely day with calm sea but a long day of motor sailing. Took our shortcut through the reef but it was awfully rough going up to the channel and it takes ages to get in and out so we went a bit further up the coast and anchored about two miles off shore. We dropped anchor and the boat didn’t know which way to go so we dropped again and we eventually came around to face the wind and the chop. A while later we were sitting on the deck looking at the shore when the skipper went to turn the chart plotter off and realised that we had dragged 0.6 of a mile!! So we went up and reanchored and this time we stayed put.
Miles: 54 TTT: 354
Well it seems that we are on our way. Tomorrow we head south and stay that way till we get home.
Love to you all – thinking of you, especially Maureen.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Sunday, July 29, 2012
LWH – Week 3 : Ambong – Kudat
Saturday 21 July – Ambong – Kudat
06⁰56.455N / 116⁰50.608E
Just after we sent the blog last week, we were sitting on the deck watching the soccer game which happens on the beach every afternoon after the tide goes out when five young men (ages 12 – 22) came out in their boat and asked if they could come aboard. Two of them did and we sat and chatted as best we could with their limited English and our limited bahasa – though the skipper is getting better with the language. The other three mucked around and had a swim and sat on the transom, then sat in their boat beside ours. The boys explained that this village is called Bura Bura (or something like that!) and it is an entirely Filippino muslim community and they are all fishermen. We found it surprising that they are all Filippino. He said they go back to the Philippines every five years but they can’t get passports. They were really interested in a passport to go to England. We don’t think they actually realised what a passport was. Sad really. After a while we told them we were getting dinner so they politely shook our hands and left. We were sorry we hadn’t met them on our first visit here instead of our last.
We got up in the dark trying to get the internet to work to get an updated weather report. Took ages but we got away around 6.20 just after Suspense. It wasn’t the best day but we’ve had worse. We ran the motor at 2100 and put the headsail out to try to get round the Tip of Borneo before the 20 knot winds came in. It was very swelly and not terribly pleasant but we rounded the Tip at 3pm and came into calm water. We then had a lovely sail down to a bay before the town of Kudat and anchored at 5pm. We are so pleased to have that leg out of the way. It was very blowy but a calm night.
Miles: 64 TTT: 282
Sunday 22 July – Kudat
06⁰53.412N / 116⁰51.598E
We had an easy start to the morning then upanchored around 8.45 and motored to the duckpond and haulout facility. We were a little dismayed to see three yachts anchored there so we anchored too and the skipper took Bob to do a reccy. It is very sheltered from the wind here but we are in the channel to the haulout facility. Haulout set for 7.30 tomorrow. The other boats are not waiting for haulout yet. The fishing boats coming in and out managed to go around us all and we had a good night.
Monday 23 July – Kudat Haulout
We were up early and could see the travel lift wasn’t in place so called them up and they said they were ready so in we went and the crew threw the lines to waiting hands and they soon had hold of us. Then the travel lift came down - there was no opportunity to get off the boat so the crew stayed below until we were chocked up on the hard outside the office held up by eight large concrete blocks. There is a breakwater around the facility which might just be short of a few blocks!! It looks a bit iffy but it seems to work. We had to ask a couple of blokes for a ladder as we were stuck up the top of the boat. This is a ship building yard for the fishing fleet though there are quite a few yachts and cats scattered around the place. There is a resort at the top of the duck pond so it is quite a pretty outlook but we have decided to stay on the boat. We have a key to our own shower (a dribble) and toilet so that is ok. The day was spent cleaning and sanding the bottom of the boat which actually wasn’t too bad – a few barnacles though the prop was pretty fouled. There is a very slight movement in the prop shaft but the skipper is confident it will get us home. The skipper managed to get the first coat of antifoul on and has cleaned the prop beautifully. We then went to the golf club just down the road for dinner.
Tuesday 24 July – Kudat haulout
The skipper put another coat of antifoul on and some more on the prop and we took the short walk to town to check in. We found Immigration and Customs but the Harbour Master was more problematic - was located up some grotty stairs on an indescript street. I noticed that most of the names of the people working there had the word ‘bin’ in it so asked about it. The name before the ‘bin’ is their first name and the name after the ‘bin’ is their father’s name. We walked through the market and the shops and the people were very friendly and welcoming (this is the place where we were robbed – I keep looking for my prescription sunglasses!). We had lunch – I asked for spicy and it was! We checked out the marina across the other side of the duck pond but t it appears to be owned by an unknown Chinese man who doesn’t want yachts there and is planning on bringing in a barge to dredge there – it doesn’t actually look very sturdy. The skipper did more work on the boat while the crew took the sheets and towels to the laundry – time for a good wash! The Tuesday market was set up by this stage so I spent an hour or so wandering through looking at all the interesting food they were cooking up and all the different species of fish they were selling. We went to the Golf Club for an indescript meal.
Wednesday 25 July – Kudat Haulout
We could have gone back into the water today but decided to wait till tomorrow. The skipper put fuel in the tank then we went to the market and bought fruit and veges and then had lunch. I collected the laundry – couldn’t believe how clean and soft it all was – comes up so much better than handwashing! We asked the waitress where we could get a taxi and she just waved down a bloke in a car who took us to the boat then took the jerries to the petrol stations – you can only fill two jerries at a time. We then went to town and bought some takeway – it is Ramadan so they have heaps of food stalls in the evening.
Thursday 26 July – Kudat
They lifted us up at 1130 so the skipper could antifoul the bits we couldn’t get at then at 1.30 we hopped aboard and travelled in the yacht by land and were placed very gently back in the water – no trouble at all. In fact it was one of the best haulouts we have had! We anchored back where we had been and cleaned the decks . We really enjoyed being in the yard watching all the fishing boats being hauled out and worked on. We even saw one of the very long skinny fast ferries lifted out – so interesting. And everyone very very friendly.
Friday 27 July – Kudat
Rubicon star came in so we had morning tea with them. Then we went to town for lunch and the skipper had a haircut. We went with Rubi to the Golf Club for dinner
As I am typing this, we are pinned down here with some bad weather which looks as though it may go on for some days – more on that next week. We also had an email from Suspense who went into Sandakan that they had had their outboard stolen even though it was locked on to the dinghy which was in the davits very high up and they had alarms in their cockpit – they still cant figure out how they got it. We may just give Sandakan a miss and not even bother going in there.
Anyway love to you all.
May the winds soon calm down
Dell and Peter
06⁰56.455N / 116⁰50.608E
Just after we sent the blog last week, we were sitting on the deck watching the soccer game which happens on the beach every afternoon after the tide goes out when five young men (ages 12 – 22) came out in their boat and asked if they could come aboard. Two of them did and we sat and chatted as best we could with their limited English and our limited bahasa – though the skipper is getting better with the language. The other three mucked around and had a swim and sat on the transom, then sat in their boat beside ours. The boys explained that this village is called Bura Bura (or something like that!) and it is an entirely Filippino muslim community and they are all fishermen. We found it surprising that they are all Filippino. He said they go back to the Philippines every five years but they can’t get passports. They were really interested in a passport to go to England. We don’t think they actually realised what a passport was. Sad really. After a while we told them we were getting dinner so they politely shook our hands and left. We were sorry we hadn’t met them on our first visit here instead of our last.
We got up in the dark trying to get the internet to work to get an updated weather report. Took ages but we got away around 6.20 just after Suspense. It wasn’t the best day but we’ve had worse. We ran the motor at 2100 and put the headsail out to try to get round the Tip of Borneo before the 20 knot winds came in. It was very swelly and not terribly pleasant but we rounded the Tip at 3pm and came into calm water. We then had a lovely sail down to a bay before the town of Kudat and anchored at 5pm. We are so pleased to have that leg out of the way. It was very blowy but a calm night.
Miles: 64 TTT: 282
Sunday 22 July – Kudat
06⁰53.412N / 116⁰51.598E
We had an easy start to the morning then upanchored around 8.45 and motored to the duckpond and haulout facility. We were a little dismayed to see three yachts anchored there so we anchored too and the skipper took Bob to do a reccy. It is very sheltered from the wind here but we are in the channel to the haulout facility. Haulout set for 7.30 tomorrow. The other boats are not waiting for haulout yet. The fishing boats coming in and out managed to go around us all and we had a good night.
Monday 23 July – Kudat Haulout
We were up early and could see the travel lift wasn’t in place so called them up and they said they were ready so in we went and the crew threw the lines to waiting hands and they soon had hold of us. Then the travel lift came down - there was no opportunity to get off the boat so the crew stayed below until we were chocked up on the hard outside the office held up by eight large concrete blocks. There is a breakwater around the facility which might just be short of a few blocks!! It looks a bit iffy but it seems to work. We had to ask a couple of blokes for a ladder as we were stuck up the top of the boat. This is a ship building yard for the fishing fleet though there are quite a few yachts and cats scattered around the place. There is a resort at the top of the duck pond so it is quite a pretty outlook but we have decided to stay on the boat. We have a key to our own shower (a dribble) and toilet so that is ok. The day was spent cleaning and sanding the bottom of the boat which actually wasn’t too bad – a few barnacles though the prop was pretty fouled. There is a very slight movement in the prop shaft but the skipper is confident it will get us home. The skipper managed to get the first coat of antifoul on and has cleaned the prop beautifully. We then went to the golf club just down the road for dinner.
Tuesday 24 July – Kudat haulout
The skipper put another coat of antifoul on and some more on the prop and we took the short walk to town to check in. We found Immigration and Customs but the Harbour Master was more problematic - was located up some grotty stairs on an indescript street. I noticed that most of the names of the people working there had the word ‘bin’ in it so asked about it. The name before the ‘bin’ is their first name and the name after the ‘bin’ is their father’s name. We walked through the market and the shops and the people were very friendly and welcoming (this is the place where we were robbed – I keep looking for my prescription sunglasses!). We had lunch – I asked for spicy and it was! We checked out the marina across the other side of the duck pond but t it appears to be owned by an unknown Chinese man who doesn’t want yachts there and is planning on bringing in a barge to dredge there – it doesn’t actually look very sturdy. The skipper did more work on the boat while the crew took the sheets and towels to the laundry – time for a good wash! The Tuesday market was set up by this stage so I spent an hour or so wandering through looking at all the interesting food they were cooking up and all the different species of fish they were selling. We went to the Golf Club for an indescript meal.
Wednesday 25 July – Kudat Haulout
We could have gone back into the water today but decided to wait till tomorrow. The skipper put fuel in the tank then we went to the market and bought fruit and veges and then had lunch. I collected the laundry – couldn’t believe how clean and soft it all was – comes up so much better than handwashing! We asked the waitress where we could get a taxi and she just waved down a bloke in a car who took us to the boat then took the jerries to the petrol stations – you can only fill two jerries at a time. We then went to town and bought some takeway – it is Ramadan so they have heaps of food stalls in the evening.
Thursday 26 July – Kudat
They lifted us up at 1130 so the skipper could antifoul the bits we couldn’t get at then at 1.30 we hopped aboard and travelled in the yacht by land and were placed very gently back in the water – no trouble at all. In fact it was one of the best haulouts we have had! We anchored back where we had been and cleaned the decks . We really enjoyed being in the yard watching all the fishing boats being hauled out and worked on. We even saw one of the very long skinny fast ferries lifted out – so interesting. And everyone very very friendly.
Friday 27 July – Kudat
Rubicon star came in so we had morning tea with them. Then we went to town for lunch and the skipper had a haircut. We went with Rubi to the Golf Club for dinner
As I am typing this, we are pinned down here with some bad weather which looks as though it may go on for some days – more on that next week. We also had an email from Suspense who went into Sandakan that they had had their outboard stolen even though it was locked on to the dinghy which was in the davits very high up and they had alarms in their cockpit – they still cant figure out how they got it. We may just give Sandakan a miss and not even bother going in there.
Anyway love to you all.
May the winds soon calm down
Dell and Peter
Friday, July 20, 2012
LWH - Week 2 : Labuan - Ambong
Saturday 14 July - Labuan - Snake Island, Tiga
05?40.107N / 115?35.402E
Left just after 7am and it looked like being a long boring motoring day but there was a storm brewing off our port side which brought us some wind so were motor sailing beautifully then had to reef the headsail as it got a bit strong. At one stage the rain just arced around us with us in the middle with no rain - it was the strangest thing. The rain continued and blanketed Labuan. We arrived at the sandspit behind Tiga (Survivor) Island at 3.20pm just as it started to rain. It was a soaking rain, no storm so very pleasant. We could see Suspense anchored behind Tiga Island
Miles: 43 TTT: 159
Sunday 15 July - Snake Island - Kota Kinabulu
05?58.053N / 116?03.281E
This has to be one of the loveliest anchorages around - so pretty. We left at 7.10am. It was a beautiful sunny day and we motor sailed in very calm conditions. We passed a lot of rubbish in the water and the crew had to go forward a couple of times to navigate through many large logs, trees and bits of wood. We anchored off Kota Kinabulu marina at 12.50 in 13m. A chap came out and told us that the marina was now charging 30rm ($10) just to tie the dinghy up - maybe we will find out tomorrow when we try to get in.
Miles: 26 TTT: 185
Monday 16 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina
A huge thank you to Amy and Ruth for all their help in overseeing the removal of our furniture.
We just had the worst night we have had in a very long time with a side to side roll all night - no sleep!!! Tried calling the marina but too early so put Bob in and went into the marina and were met by a woman saying we would have to pay our 30RM to leave our dinghy there and thanked us for checking in - most don't - and at $10 a day we can see why people wouldn't announce themselves!! We met the new boss of the marina who said we could come in but he had to go to a meeting with his boss and the girls would sort us out. The boys in the office (which opens at 9) finally turned up around 9.10 (no key) and 9.15. He wasn't so sure he could let us in but we told him his boss said it was ok and then he wanted to put us on the outside dock and we said we wanted to go beside Deja Vu and because we told him his boss was ok with that, thats where we got. We went out and put Bob aboard and headed in. Jeremy off Suspense helped with our lines and there we were - finally on the fourth try in Sutera Harbour marina!! Obviously the 'dont let them in' sign had been erased from our foreheads! We headed to the Indonesian Consulate and there were so many people there all with numbers. We went back out to the security man and he told us we didn't need a number but to go to counter No. 4 which was a door. We stuck our heads through and were told counter No. 3. There were the visa application forms so we filled out two each and put them in with copies of our other paperwork, then to the Maybank around the corner to pay the fee and back again so it was all lodged by 11.30am. We were told to come back at 4. We walked to town, had lunch and did some shopping and went back to the Consulate at 3.30 and there were our passports waiting with our Indonesian visas in them!! So we are ready to go!! The Indonesians there were very friendly and we are looking forward to sailing through their country again. We caught the resort bus back, had a lovely hot shower - towel supplied - and had a lovely meal at the resort. Its around $25 per night for the marina and dinner for two around $30 - $40. So pleased to be in here.
Tuesday 17 July - Kota Kinabulu marina
Happy Birthday Stuart
Went to town on the resort bus and did some shopping though the skipper was a very reluctant shopper! Guess shoes and shirts don't turn him on Bought some fruit and went back on the resort bus. Had a hot shower - towel supplied! - and dinner at the resort.
Wednesday 18 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina
We should have left today but didn't. We walked all round the resorts for a look. There are two resorts with the marina and country club in the middle. We are allowed to use the Country Club pool (we didn't) which is lovely, the bowling alley which the crew really wanted to but didn't quite make it (about $7 per game plus shoe hire), billiard room and movie room. The crew went to town shopping while the skipper stayed on board and also checked us out to leave tomorrow We almost went to town for a cheap meal but ended up at the resort for dinner after - did I mention a lovely hot shower - towel supplied!
Thursday 19 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina
It rained steadily all night, the wind came up and it was blowing a gale gusting 35 knots so no way could we leave. We emptied our water tank from Miri and put in the cleaner water from KK. At 11am the wind had dropped off and we thought maybe we should go but there was that little niggle of doubt so we used the 'if in doubt' rule and stayed. Then the sky blackened, the rain started then the wind came and it blew a gale gusting around 40 knots we reckon. The skipper put extra lines on. The old sailors used to say if the wind precedes the rain its not too bad but if the rain precedes the wind you are in for a blow. And did it blow - we were so happy to be in the marina and so happy we didn't leave. It blew a gale and rained all day. We just played computer games and had a lovely day. We had intended to catch the 5pm bus to town but got talking to Jeremy and Natalie off Suspense then two of the lads off one of the super yachts came over to invite us to a barbeque tomorrow night and we chatted some more. It was a bit late by then so we had a hot shower - towel supplied! - and dinner at the resort. They have three blokes singing each night and they come to your table to serenade you - embarrassing but they played us 'leaving on a jet plane'. Another lovely day. A Danish boat with about ten young people came in late in the afternoon rocking and rolling till they got into the marina. There didn't appear to be any shelter on the boat at all, from the wind or the rain. One of the girls later told me that they had been eight days coming down from Thailand - they would have had a shocking scary day.
Friday 20 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina - Ambong
06?19.231N / 116?15.441E
We got up early and consulted three weather sites on the internet and the grib files and at 7am decided to go (besides which it was getting expensive!). It was a bit swelly but not too bad. Had quite a good run with just the headsail out and seas from astern. The wind started picking up as we got closer and we surfed in and were quite pleased to be here. A quick run getting in at 12.45. We are tucked in out of the swell. It is still pretty windy but the sun is shining. Suspense came in around 2pm but couldnt furl their headsail so had to go up the mast a few times (it is a very big mast) and they worked on it for quite some time and ended up dropping it. It looks as though it will be pretty windy around the tip (of Borneo) tomorrow and it is a long run so we will consult the weather again in the morning to see if we go or not.
Miles: 33 TTT: 218
Love to all. Best wishes to Maureen and Winston. Missing little Rosie. If you or yours are in Brisbane on the 28th July get down to the Tivoli for a great night - its for a very good cause (Cancer research).
May all your storms be small ones
Dell and Peter
----------
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05?40.107N / 115?35.402E
Left just after 7am and it looked like being a long boring motoring day but there was a storm brewing off our port side which brought us some wind so were motor sailing beautifully then had to reef the headsail as it got a bit strong. At one stage the rain just arced around us with us in the middle with no rain - it was the strangest thing. The rain continued and blanketed Labuan. We arrived at the sandspit behind Tiga (Survivor) Island at 3.20pm just as it started to rain. It was a soaking rain, no storm so very pleasant. We could see Suspense anchored behind Tiga Island
Miles: 43 TTT: 159
Sunday 15 July - Snake Island - Kota Kinabulu
05?58.053N / 116?03.281E
This has to be one of the loveliest anchorages around - so pretty. We left at 7.10am. It was a beautiful sunny day and we motor sailed in very calm conditions. We passed a lot of rubbish in the water and the crew had to go forward a couple of times to navigate through many large logs, trees and bits of wood. We anchored off Kota Kinabulu marina at 12.50 in 13m. A chap came out and told us that the marina was now charging 30rm ($10) just to tie the dinghy up - maybe we will find out tomorrow when we try to get in.
Miles: 26 TTT: 185
Monday 16 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina
A huge thank you to Amy and Ruth for all their help in overseeing the removal of our furniture.
We just had the worst night we have had in a very long time with a side to side roll all night - no sleep!!! Tried calling the marina but too early so put Bob in and went into the marina and were met by a woman saying we would have to pay our 30RM to leave our dinghy there and thanked us for checking in - most don't - and at $10 a day we can see why people wouldn't announce themselves!! We met the new boss of the marina who said we could come in but he had to go to a meeting with his boss and the girls would sort us out. The boys in the office (which opens at 9) finally turned up around 9.10 (no key) and 9.15. He wasn't so sure he could let us in but we told him his boss said it was ok and then he wanted to put us on the outside dock and we said we wanted to go beside Deja Vu and because we told him his boss was ok with that, thats where we got. We went out and put Bob aboard and headed in. Jeremy off Suspense helped with our lines and there we were - finally on the fourth try in Sutera Harbour marina!! Obviously the 'dont let them in' sign had been erased from our foreheads! We headed to the Indonesian Consulate and there were so many people there all with numbers. We went back out to the security man and he told us we didn't need a number but to go to counter No. 4 which was a door. We stuck our heads through and were told counter No. 3. There were the visa application forms so we filled out two each and put them in with copies of our other paperwork, then to the Maybank around the corner to pay the fee and back again so it was all lodged by 11.30am. We were told to come back at 4. We walked to town, had lunch and did some shopping and went back to the Consulate at 3.30 and there were our passports waiting with our Indonesian visas in them!! So we are ready to go!! The Indonesians there were very friendly and we are looking forward to sailing through their country again. We caught the resort bus back, had a lovely hot shower - towel supplied - and had a lovely meal at the resort. Its around $25 per night for the marina and dinner for two around $30 - $40. So pleased to be in here.
Tuesday 17 July - Kota Kinabulu marina
Happy Birthday Stuart
Went to town on the resort bus and did some shopping though the skipper was a very reluctant shopper! Guess shoes and shirts don't turn him on Bought some fruit and went back on the resort bus. Had a hot shower - towel supplied! - and dinner at the resort.
Wednesday 18 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina
We should have left today but didn't. We walked all round the resorts for a look. There are two resorts with the marina and country club in the middle. We are allowed to use the Country Club pool (we didn't) which is lovely, the bowling alley which the crew really wanted to but didn't quite make it (about $7 per game plus shoe hire), billiard room and movie room. The crew went to town shopping while the skipper stayed on board and also checked us out to leave tomorrow We almost went to town for a cheap meal but ended up at the resort for dinner after - did I mention a lovely hot shower - towel supplied!
Thursday 19 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina
It rained steadily all night, the wind came up and it was blowing a gale gusting 35 knots so no way could we leave. We emptied our water tank from Miri and put in the cleaner water from KK. At 11am the wind had dropped off and we thought maybe we should go but there was that little niggle of doubt so we used the 'if in doubt' rule and stayed. Then the sky blackened, the rain started then the wind came and it blew a gale gusting around 40 knots we reckon. The skipper put extra lines on. The old sailors used to say if the wind precedes the rain its not too bad but if the rain precedes the wind you are in for a blow. And did it blow - we were so happy to be in the marina and so happy we didn't leave. It blew a gale and rained all day. We just played computer games and had a lovely day. We had intended to catch the 5pm bus to town but got talking to Jeremy and Natalie off Suspense then two of the lads off one of the super yachts came over to invite us to a barbeque tomorrow night and we chatted some more. It was a bit late by then so we had a hot shower - towel supplied! - and dinner at the resort. They have three blokes singing each night and they come to your table to serenade you - embarrassing but they played us 'leaving on a jet plane'. Another lovely day. A Danish boat with about ten young people came in late in the afternoon rocking and rolling till they got into the marina. There didn't appear to be any shelter on the boat at all, from the wind or the rain. One of the girls later told me that they had been eight days coming down from Thailand - they would have had a shocking scary day.
Friday 20 July - Kota Kinabulu Marina - Ambong
06?19.231N / 116?15.441E
We got up early and consulted three weather sites on the internet and the grib files and at 7am decided to go (besides which it was getting expensive!). It was a bit swelly but not too bad. Had quite a good run with just the headsail out and seas from astern. The wind started picking up as we got closer and we surfed in and were quite pleased to be here. A quick run getting in at 12.45. We are tucked in out of the swell. It is still pretty windy but the sun is shining. Suspense came in around 2pm but couldnt furl their headsail so had to go up the mast a few times (it is a very big mast) and they worked on it for quite some time and ended up dropping it. It looks as though it will be pretty windy around the tip (of Borneo) tomorrow and it is a long run so we will consult the weather again in the morning to see if we go or not.
Miles: 33 TTT: 218
Love to all. Best wishes to Maureen and Winston. Missing little Rosie. If you or yours are in Brisbane on the 28th July get down to the Tivoli for a great night - its for a very good cause (Cancer research).
May all your storms be small ones
Dell and Peter
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Sunday, July 15, 2012
Long Way Home – the journey begins
First of all Happy Birthday to Carol for the 9th
Tuesday 10 July – Miri – Kuala Belait Brunei
04⁰34.822N / 114⁰11.362E
We woke early and wondered if we should go as it seemed very windy. We checked the weather on the internet and when we realised the 23 on the weather map was the temperature and not the wind strength we decided to go. We stowed everything, disconnected the power and Cilantro came to help us with our lines. And off we went finally heading home. The wind soon died out and we motored. A little swallow rested a while with us – not at all afraid. We could see a huge weather front on our port side as we turned the point. It got very windy coming from behind which built up quite a chop and it started to rain as we approached the river at Kuala Belait. We dropped the anchor in 2.8m beside the mangroves across from the town at 2.45pm. A humungus barge came down river towed by a tug – went quite close to us. A rope was attached to each side of the barge and the tug controlled it by releasing one rope and tightening the other so he could steer it – ingenious! The sailing yacht Kind of Blue came in and anchored further up river.
Miles: 35 Total This Trip: 35
Wednesday 11 July – Kuala Belait – Jefri’s Wall
04⁰56.972N / 114⁰48.761E
Once again we watched all the big boats go out – first one we saw was at 5.15am in the dark. Kuala Belait is a port town which services the Brunei oil rigs and has a lot of large boats – kind of like over sized tugs. There are heaps of oil/gas rigs off the coast. We left at 6.20am after all the big boats. It doesn’t feel a lot like we are on our way home yet but every mile we do now is a mile closer to home. A long hot day of motor sailing with slight swell. Interspersed the boredom taking turns playing a computer game! Hooked a fish but the crew was too slow at hauling it in and it got off. The second fish the skipper was hauling in quite a big one when snap – all he had left was the head! There was something big out there! Came inside Jefri’s wall around 3.15pm. The police boat was there again but they seem to tolerate us. Kind of Blue and Suspense came in. There was a big storm over the land but we had a lovely calm night – as always, courtesy of the Sultan’s brother, Jefri.
Miles: 46 TTT: 81
Thursday 12 July – Jefri’s Wall – Labuan
05⁰16.462N / 115⁰14.313E
Upanchored at 7am – heaps of mud on the anchor and chain. It is actually quite cool. The skipper has had a shirt on for the last two days! Can see two flames out on the horizon – presume it is gas burning. A lovely sight with a dark weather front behind it. It always amazes us how long it takes for a big boat’s wake to hit us. A boat passed us and was a mile away before his wake hit us – big wake too! Suspense left at 8 and passed us by 10 – he is a bit bigger than us! As we were leaving Brunei waters we saw a big plane flanked by two fighters and 9 helicopters – we presume the Sultan must have been going somewhere!! We anchored in our usual spot off the town of Labuan at 2pm. We called Jai to pick us up in his water taxi and take us ashore. His driving skills seemed to have deteriorated since we were last here but he was happy to see us. We did a reccy and bought some wine – there’s still not a lot around. We got our Indian takeaway – not up to its usual standard! Jai took us back – gave the boat a nudge but no harm done. Dinner on the deck watching the harbour and city at work – wonderful to watch the world go by. Then it started to rain.
Miles: 35 TTT: 116
Friday 13 July – Labuan
Its another Black Friday birthday for our little Jessie’s 5th birthday – Happy Birthday Jessie
We put Bob in and headed to a little beach Judy had told us about. Its on our side of the river so very convenient. A man was cleaning up the leaves and he had his three small sons with him. The boys ‘helped’ us pull Bob ashore. We went to the supermarket and bought them out of beer. The boys helped stow it into Bob then after asking permission of the boy’s father the skipper took the oldest boy out to help unload. The boys helped stow the rest of the beer. The smallest boy went head over turkey in the sand. Very funny. The two little ones had been up in the big garbage skips and came out with about eight empty spray paint cans which they proceeded to hit with stones to open them. They said they were trying to get the bullets out without much success thankfully. While the crew was waiting for the skipper she walked back to the supermarket except this time the warehouse on the right was open and it was filled with beer – the mother lode!!! And it was cheaper – could have saved $10 if we had found it first (another carton of beer!) Anyway we took a few off his hands and found some white wine in the supermarket. How much easier it was to just be able to load the dinghy up instead of using the water taxi. And for those who wonder at all the supplies we put on board – we cant just run down to the corner store every time we want something – we have to be pretty self sufficient for the next four months. Except for the fresh stuff we have to have everything on board though of course all the bigger towns we visit have some kind of supermarket. We paid the two little boys 1RM each and the older boy 2RM and gave their Dad a packet of chippy things and dried mangos. The two little ones had disappeared – guessed they had gone to spend their money! We then took Bob across the other side of the river to the town – there wasn’t a lot of boat traffic today and the crew waited under the water taxi jetty while the skipper grabbed a few more things – so much easier. We got back on board and as it was Jai’s day off we called Jo Bro and he came to collect us – he is a good driver. We had lunch and went to check in/ check out with Immigration, harbour master and customs then back to the boat with Jo Bro to stow everything away which took the rest of the afternoon. We sat on the deck watching the world go by again. It is such an interesting harbour.
Well that’s week one of our journey home. It feels good to be out on the water and good to have a purpose again though we wont really feel that till we have done our haulout and head into unknown waters. If you wish to know where we are, we will endeavour to update our Yotreps link every evening.
Love to you all. Special love to Maureen and Winston.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Tuesday 10 July – Miri – Kuala Belait Brunei
04⁰34.822N / 114⁰11.362E
We woke early and wondered if we should go as it seemed very windy. We checked the weather on the internet and when we realised the 23 on the weather map was the temperature and not the wind strength we decided to go. We stowed everything, disconnected the power and Cilantro came to help us with our lines. And off we went finally heading home. The wind soon died out and we motored. A little swallow rested a while with us – not at all afraid. We could see a huge weather front on our port side as we turned the point. It got very windy coming from behind which built up quite a chop and it started to rain as we approached the river at Kuala Belait. We dropped the anchor in 2.8m beside the mangroves across from the town at 2.45pm. A humungus barge came down river towed by a tug – went quite close to us. A rope was attached to each side of the barge and the tug controlled it by releasing one rope and tightening the other so he could steer it – ingenious! The sailing yacht Kind of Blue came in and anchored further up river.
Miles: 35 Total This Trip: 35
Wednesday 11 July – Kuala Belait – Jefri’s Wall
04⁰56.972N / 114⁰48.761E
Once again we watched all the big boats go out – first one we saw was at 5.15am in the dark. Kuala Belait is a port town which services the Brunei oil rigs and has a lot of large boats – kind of like over sized tugs. There are heaps of oil/gas rigs off the coast. We left at 6.20am after all the big boats. It doesn’t feel a lot like we are on our way home yet but every mile we do now is a mile closer to home. A long hot day of motor sailing with slight swell. Interspersed the boredom taking turns playing a computer game! Hooked a fish but the crew was too slow at hauling it in and it got off. The second fish the skipper was hauling in quite a big one when snap – all he had left was the head! There was something big out there! Came inside Jefri’s wall around 3.15pm. The police boat was there again but they seem to tolerate us. Kind of Blue and Suspense came in. There was a big storm over the land but we had a lovely calm night – as always, courtesy of the Sultan’s brother, Jefri.
Miles: 46 TTT: 81
Thursday 12 July – Jefri’s Wall – Labuan
05⁰16.462N / 115⁰14.313E
Upanchored at 7am – heaps of mud on the anchor and chain. It is actually quite cool. The skipper has had a shirt on for the last two days! Can see two flames out on the horizon – presume it is gas burning. A lovely sight with a dark weather front behind it. It always amazes us how long it takes for a big boat’s wake to hit us. A boat passed us and was a mile away before his wake hit us – big wake too! Suspense left at 8 and passed us by 10 – he is a bit bigger than us! As we were leaving Brunei waters we saw a big plane flanked by two fighters and 9 helicopters – we presume the Sultan must have been going somewhere!! We anchored in our usual spot off the town of Labuan at 2pm. We called Jai to pick us up in his water taxi and take us ashore. His driving skills seemed to have deteriorated since we were last here but he was happy to see us. We did a reccy and bought some wine – there’s still not a lot around. We got our Indian takeaway – not up to its usual standard! Jai took us back – gave the boat a nudge but no harm done. Dinner on the deck watching the harbour and city at work – wonderful to watch the world go by. Then it started to rain.
Miles: 35 TTT: 116
Friday 13 July – Labuan
Its another Black Friday birthday for our little Jessie’s 5th birthday – Happy Birthday Jessie
We put Bob in and headed to a little beach Judy had told us about. Its on our side of the river so very convenient. A man was cleaning up the leaves and he had his three small sons with him. The boys ‘helped’ us pull Bob ashore. We went to the supermarket and bought them out of beer. The boys helped stow it into Bob then after asking permission of the boy’s father the skipper took the oldest boy out to help unload. The boys helped stow the rest of the beer. The smallest boy went head over turkey in the sand. Very funny. The two little ones had been up in the big garbage skips and came out with about eight empty spray paint cans which they proceeded to hit with stones to open them. They said they were trying to get the bullets out without much success thankfully. While the crew was waiting for the skipper she walked back to the supermarket except this time the warehouse on the right was open and it was filled with beer – the mother lode!!! And it was cheaper – could have saved $10 if we had found it first (another carton of beer!) Anyway we took a few off his hands and found some white wine in the supermarket. How much easier it was to just be able to load the dinghy up instead of using the water taxi. And for those who wonder at all the supplies we put on board – we cant just run down to the corner store every time we want something – we have to be pretty self sufficient for the next four months. Except for the fresh stuff we have to have everything on board though of course all the bigger towns we visit have some kind of supermarket. We paid the two little boys 1RM each and the older boy 2RM and gave their Dad a packet of chippy things and dried mangos. The two little ones had disappeared – guessed they had gone to spend their money! We then took Bob across the other side of the river to the town – there wasn’t a lot of boat traffic today and the crew waited under the water taxi jetty while the skipper grabbed a few more things – so much easier. We got back on board and as it was Jai’s day off we called Jo Bro and he came to collect us – he is a good driver. We had lunch and went to check in/ check out with Immigration, harbour master and customs then back to the boat with Jo Bro to stow everything away which took the rest of the afternoon. We sat on the deck watching the world go by again. It is such an interesting harbour.
Well that’s week one of our journey home. It feels good to be out on the water and good to have a purpose again though we wont really feel that till we have done our haulout and head into unknown waters. If you wish to know where we are, we will endeavour to update our Yotreps link every evening.
Love to you all. Special love to Maureen and Winston.
Fair Winds and Calm Seas
Dell and Peter
Saturday, July 7, 2012
FINAL TWO WEEKS IN MIRI
Well the time has flown by. The cushions came back and luckily they look a million dollars – we are very happy with them. And the life raft is back where it belongs. We have two schools of fish under our boat – Archer fish and Happy Moments (apparently they sting if you touch them). The archer fish can spit very accurately and if the skipper hasn’t fed them in the morning they will spit and hit him in the head till he feeds them!!
We finally hired a car and went to the Niah Caves but unfortunately we took a wrong turn and only saw the great cave and missed the best of it but the less said about that the better!! But what we saw was fantastic and it was fun to follow the walkways up and down in the dark with our own torches. And we actually saw someone collecting the swiftlets' birdsnests. We stayed the night in the national park which was really lovely and were able to drive to town for dinner. We returned to Miri and finally also went up to see the museum of the history of oil here in Miri but it is closed for refurbishment. We did see a bit of Miri and it really is a lovely place.
We actually ran out of water on the boat. It has been so lovely to be able to use water as we like that we ran the tank dry – that’s the first time we have ever done that!! Oh well it will be back to austerity next week! Wednesday night found a heap of us in the Ming Cafe for dinner to watch the state of origin – great result! And a really good night.
We are fuelled up, gassed up watered up and doing some last minute shopping (and getting the spokes on the skipper’s bike fixed – again!) and get some Indonesian rupiah and we are off. Leaving here (weather permitting) on Tuesday 11th to sail leisurely north to haul out on the 25th. Its lovely here and we have enjoyed Miri very much but we don’t want to live here so it is time to go. So many people seem to arrive here and never leave!! We are really looking forward to being back out on the water.
Hope you are all well. For those of you in Brisbane, our son in law Pete is the supporting act on the 28th July at the Queen concert at the Tivoli so get along and give your support to the cancer fund.
http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=KILLERQU12
Cheers
Dell and Peter
Well the time has flown by. The cushions came back and luckily they look a million dollars – we are very happy with them. And the life raft is back where it belongs. We have two schools of fish under our boat – Archer fish and Happy Moments (apparently they sting if you touch them). The archer fish can spit very accurately and if the skipper hasn’t fed them in the morning they will spit and hit him in the head till he feeds them!!
We finally hired a car and went to the Niah Caves but unfortunately we took a wrong turn and only saw the great cave and missed the best of it but the less said about that the better!! But what we saw was fantastic and it was fun to follow the walkways up and down in the dark with our own torches. And we actually saw someone collecting the swiftlets' birdsnests. We stayed the night in the national park which was really lovely and were able to drive to town for dinner. We returned to Miri and finally also went up to see the museum of the history of oil here in Miri but it is closed for refurbishment. We did see a bit of Miri and it really is a lovely place.
We actually ran out of water on the boat. It has been so lovely to be able to use water as we like that we ran the tank dry – that’s the first time we have ever done that!! Oh well it will be back to austerity next week! Wednesday night found a heap of us in the Ming Cafe for dinner to watch the state of origin – great result! And a really good night.
We are fuelled up, gassed up watered up and doing some last minute shopping (and getting the spokes on the skipper’s bike fixed – again!) and get some Indonesian rupiah and we are off. Leaving here (weather permitting) on Tuesday 11th to sail leisurely north to haul out on the 25th. Its lovely here and we have enjoyed Miri very much but we don’t want to live here so it is time to go. So many people seem to arrive here and never leave!! We are really looking forward to being back out on the water.
Hope you are all well. For those of you in Brisbane, our son in law Pete is the supporting act on the 28th July at the Queen concert at the Tivoli so get along and give your support to the cancer fund.
http://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=KILLERQU12
Cheers
Dell and Peter
Monday, June 25, 2012
TWO MORE WEEKS IN MIRI
The life raft has gone in for a service, the stainless steel has gone on to hold the headsail in place – that, we had to get done twice. The first stainless man didn’t do it in thick enough stainless and charged us 80RM but the second stainless man did a great job with thick stainless and charged us 20RM! The bimini has been repaired and new clears put in, forward navigation lights rewired, the winches have been serviced, the alignment of the prop shaft has been refigured and the engine has been serviced. The oil pressure sender unit has been put in and our CAIT paperwork to allow us to go through Indonesia has arrived. And we finally took our cushions up to the canvas man and hopefully they will be back some time this week looking either a million dollars or really really bad – it was a bold choice of cover!!! But it hasn’t all been hard work – last Sunday Cilantro called us around 4pm and said they were out the back of the market with a lot of local people drinking beer at 4 cans for 10RM ($3.33) so of course we joined them and had a good session. There are also lots of little eateries there. James spent some time “talking” to the deaf and mute men at the next table and we met a man who had come in with his mate to get something to take home for dinner as it was father’s day – of course there was a bit of beer involved in that!! We then adjourned to the Indian restaurant for some tandoori chicken and naan bread. Braveheart arrived at the marina with their daughter Trish on board and Bach & Byte turned up with Russel on board which was a real surprise. The marina is really filling up and the main fleet from the Sail Malaysia rally hasn’t turned up yet. It has been incredibly hot so a few days were spent in the shopping centre in the air conditioning! A lot of people have air conditioning on their boats so it is funny you don’t see many people but around 5pm all these little heads start peeping up out of the boats! Our little grand daughter Charlie turned 2 on 13th July – HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE! We also had dinner on board Second Wind with Brian cooking up a storm – a lovely night. Braveheart have headed off on a flight to Kuala Lumpar to follow their noses (or ipad) to wherever they can find. Apart from that there is not a lot of news – just usual marina life and we still have things to do yet. Meanwhile we hope you are all well and if you aren’t then we hope you are recovering. Special love to Maureen and Ruth. And thanks to Rosie for her email!!!
Cheers and Beers and love to all
Dell and Peter
Cheers and Beers and love to all
Dell and Peter
Friday, June 22, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
TWO WEEKS IN MIRI
Happy Birthday to Bill
Happy 60th to Judy
Well two weeks has flown by. The crew has finally finished washing every “wall” and all of the boat interior and it now looks as though clean people live there!!!! We have spent our time working on the boat, shopping, eating out and on Friday nights sundowners with all the marina crews. We had a huge windstorm (gusting 40 knots) last week at 5am and again this morning and its still blowing. I had patched our shade cover after the last storm but the skipper wasn’t keen to take it down this morning and it tore – so down it came. The skipper had been keen to put a new one up (we have spares) so that could have had something to do with it!!! We have discovered big mangos – they are the size of a pawpaw and its unbelievable how many different kinds of bananas there are. We found some last week we have never seen before – like little pregnant ones – very unusual but they all taste like bananas except the smaller ones are a little sweeter. We ride our bikes to the edge of town and leave them locked up there. We have applied for our CAIT which will allow us to take the boat through Indonesia – we should have it by around 14th July all going well. The skipper has had the sewing machine out making covers for the new water jerries we bought in the Philippines. We have been trying to get the canvas man to come down to look at our cushions but so far he hasn’t turned up. The skipper was talking at the front of our boat the other day and the other skipper noticed a stress fracture in the stainless which holds the forward head sail stay. How lucky was that so our skipper has designed a stronger one and it is currently being made by the stainless man – we will pick it up on Monday. The anchor has gone off to get galvanised. We are waiting to see how others anchor chains come back before we decide to get ours done. The skipper has got out 100 metres of rope and the other anchor so we can anchor in deep water if we have to. Cilantro had a fright the other night. James woke to a furry thing against his face and being licked! He knew it wasn’t Sandra so they jumped up and there was a black and white cat in their bed!! At least it wasn’t a rat! Anyway thats about it for now.
Would love to hear from Rosie. And all our love to Winston and Maureen. And we hope the Tasmanians haven’t turned to ice!!
Take care
Dell and Peter
Happy 60th to Judy
Well two weeks has flown by. The crew has finally finished washing every “wall” and all of the boat interior and it now looks as though clean people live there!!!! We have spent our time working on the boat, shopping, eating out and on Friday nights sundowners with all the marina crews. We had a huge windstorm (gusting 40 knots) last week at 5am and again this morning and its still blowing. I had patched our shade cover after the last storm but the skipper wasn’t keen to take it down this morning and it tore – so down it came. The skipper had been keen to put a new one up (we have spares) so that could have had something to do with it!!! We have discovered big mangos – they are the size of a pawpaw and its unbelievable how many different kinds of bananas there are. We found some last week we have never seen before – like little pregnant ones – very unusual but they all taste like bananas except the smaller ones are a little sweeter. We ride our bikes to the edge of town and leave them locked up there. We have applied for our CAIT which will allow us to take the boat through Indonesia – we should have it by around 14th July all going well. The skipper has had the sewing machine out making covers for the new water jerries we bought in the Philippines. We have been trying to get the canvas man to come down to look at our cushions but so far he hasn’t turned up. The skipper was talking at the front of our boat the other day and the other skipper noticed a stress fracture in the stainless which holds the forward head sail stay. How lucky was that so our skipper has designed a stronger one and it is currently being made by the stainless man – we will pick it up on Monday. The anchor has gone off to get galvanised. We are waiting to see how others anchor chains come back before we decide to get ours done. The skipper has got out 100 metres of rope and the other anchor so we can anchor in deep water if we have to. Cilantro had a fright the other night. James woke to a furry thing against his face and being licked! He knew it wasn’t Sandra so they jumped up and there was a black and white cat in their bed!! At least it wasn’t a rat! Anyway thats about it for now.
Would love to hear from Rosie. And all our love to Winston and Maureen. And we hope the Tasmanians haven’t turned to ice!!
Take care
Dell and Peter
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