Another year added

Paul's another year older and we celebrated with our friends on Saol Eile who organised a superb dinner menu with the marina's chef on that evening. They had also done something similar on my birthday back in Tioman so we have been totally spoilt by this wonderful couple.

The only sting in the tail was when Myra went down to buy a cake, it appears that her wallet was lifted out of her bag with a fair few bucks in it but more seriously, her credit card. Such a nightmare. We are all a little shocked as it's simply not expected here, all the people have been scrupulously honest that we've encountered. 

During the day, Paul had gone off to get a few spare parts and I caught up on my internet at the club so was sitting right near the pool when two large monitor lizards decided to pay a visit. One hid under the hedge while the other checked out the pool but I think I frightened it off when I tried to take a photo. I didn't exactly hear the music to “Jaws” playing in the background but would have been a bit disconcerted had I been in there swimming at the time.

While I was on internet, something came up that rather surprised me and I'm not sure whether to think its clever or what as I also find it a bit creepy. I wanted to Google something and the icon came up with Google written in birthday cakes with “Happy Birthday Paul” on it. OK, so I understand how that could happen on Paul's PC but this was mine, registered to me, used by me and everything else by me. How the hell did it come up with this message for Paul? As I said, creepy, it makes one wonder what else they have access to!

Sandakan

Sandakan is an old run down sort of town where the buildings look as though they received their one and only coat of paint when they were built some 35 - 40 years ago and any semblance of maintenance is errr, well, it just isn't.  It's a rabbit warren of narrow streets, home to a myriad of little Chinese shops crammed full of seemingly incongruous objects but this creates a charming atmosphere of hustle and bustle, everyone with their ready welcoming smiles wanting to know where we're from and how long we plan to stay.

The fresh produce market is a great source of vegetables, fish and meat offering a combined smell that I struggle with in this heat but it's always such an adventure to buy from the markets. The people are a delight and the ambiance unique; supermarkets are such a bore in comparison.

We were taken to visit another orangutan sanctuary but Paul and I chose not to enter as the cost was very high and we felt it couldn't offer us anything we hadn't already experienced.  After hearing some of the others, we obviously didn't miss much but, again, I'm just thrilled that there are so many sanctuaries to help preserve this amazing creature.  Nearby there was a Sun Bear sanctuary but again, the costs were too great so instead, we watched a fabulous video on this gorgeous little bear which is a highly endangered species primarily due to the loss of its habitat but also, sadly like the orangutans,  the mothers are killed to steal the cubs to sell to international buyers.  I shudder thinking about it.

Speaking of the loss of habitat which is a major threat to both the orangutan and the sun bear as well as a host of other creatures such as the Malaysian leopard, the pygmy elephant and the Borneo rhino, it is very evident throughout both the Malaysian Peninsula and Borneo that the loss of rain forest is primarily due to the oil palm industry which is growing so rapidly.  Vast areas of rain forest are destroyed to make way for planting this palm which spreads as far as the eye can see.

Malaysia accounts for 44% of the worlds palm oil exports and, when considering the size of this country, that's a significant amount.

 

In response to concerns about the social and environmental impact of palm oil, the government pledged to limit plantation expansion by retaining at least half the nation's land as forest but, as so much of the logging is illegal, the rain forest is still diminishing daily.  According to one article I read, "there has been extensive deforestation since the 1960s as the native economies of the region experienced rapid industrialization. In the 1980s and 1990s the forests of Borneo underwent a dramatic transition. They were levelled at a rate unparalleled in human history, burned, logged and cleared, and commonly replaced with agricultural land or oil palm plantations. Half the annual global tropical timber acquisition currently comes from Borneo. Furthermore, oil palm plantations are rapidly encroaching on the last remnants of primary rainforest. Much of the forest clearance is illegal."  A sad state of affairs.

We also visited the Rainforest Discovery Centre with its wonderful canopy walkway which took us 25 to 30 metres up and across the top of the rainforest offering spectacular views above the trees some of which are hundreds of years old.  It would be a great place to sit quietly just to observe the birds and the monkeys. 

While in Sandakan, we anchored just off the Sandakan Yacht Club who hosted us to a wonderful evening of delicious food and fun.  I'm surprised that we're not the size of a proverbial barrels by this stage but I guess sailing keeps us fit.

Other news is the tragic loss of yet another Air Malaysia flight, absolutely devastating for all concerned.  Closer to home is also the sad loss of Don's Spirit of Nyumi Nyumi in a dreadful storm that hit while he was anchored in Opua, New Zealand.  Fortunately, he got off safely but the boat was dragged onto the quarantine dock, holed and sank.  

Happier news: congratulations to my dear Mom who is just about to turn 93 and (for anyone who was following our adventures while it included Peter on Troutbridge), he's back in the UK hopefully about to earn some bucks and has an offer on Trouters.  Someone will be taking on quite a task there but hopefully a worthwhile one in the long term.

PHOTO GALLERY: 

Looking out over the rainforest from above

And looking down

The streets of Sandakan

Day hopping to Sandakan

The boy's dormitory

Due to the military guarding the Malaysian coastline near the southern Philippines, we have been given a curfew for travelling at night so the next few islands were chosen to cover about 20nm between stops in order for us to comfortably get into a safe anchorage before the 6 p.m. deadline.  The distances were fine but this is an area where there is a lot of squally activity so we had to be sure to find protected spots out of the prevailing winds.  

Our shadowing escort

Our destination was to be the Turtle Islands, a turtle sanctuary about 100 nm away where we were to meet up with Sazli, the rally coordinator.  We arrived a couple of days in advance which was a good thing as it gave Paul the time to tackle yet another boat problem. 

Our water maker seemingly died!  Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be a catastrophe but in order to make room for the water maker many years ago, we had to sacrifice one of our water tanks leaving us with only about 250 litres.  And, considering that we're in the middle of nowhere with no great facilities coming up in the near future, what would we do if we had to order in new parts?  Well our resident sleuth / plumber / electrician / carpenter / general dogsbody, maintenance man and miracle worker got stuck in and, lo and behold, we now have a working water maker again, phew!  He dismantled the entire menagerie of the workings, renewed and replaced whatever he could, cleaned and greased whatever he could and, a couple of days later, we held our breaths while he turned it all on again.  Yeah, my hero!!

The Turtle Islands are a breeding spot for both the green and hawksbill turtles who come ashore at night to lay their eggs.  We attended a video on the methods used to ensure the hatchlings stand a better chance of surviving and were to be picked up at night to view all this for ourselves.  How exciting!  But, sadly, the weather didn't play ball.  We had a horrendous storm in the late afternoon causing incredibly rough seas which, in turn, caused most of us to drag our anchors.  By the time we all managed to extract our anchors, fight against the winds, move to another spot, re-anchor, and allow our blood pressure to return to normal, the venture had to be cancelled.  I wanted to cry.  I had so wanted to see this.  When we'd been strolling along the beaches during the daylight hours, we could see dozens upon dozens of tracks where the turtles had come ashore as well as hundreds of holes where the rangers had dug up the eggs to move them to a protected area.  The sex of the hatched turtles depends on the temperature in which the eggs are buried.   If they spend the majority of the day in a warm, sunny position, they are born female; males develop in the more shaded areas.  Four degrees makes a world of difference.  Unprotected eggs are under constant threat from rodents, birds, monitor lizards and elsewhere, human beings so it's wonderful to see such projects in operation.

Our next port of call is Sadakan which was the former capital of British North Borneo.  More about it once we've had time to investigate all the it has to offer.


PHOTO ALBUM:

The indentations under the trees are where the eggs were laid

Turtle tracks in the sand

The girl's dormitory

Monitor lizard

Just before the storm hit

Kudat

There was Kuching, Miri, Labuan, Kota Kinabalu and then there's Kudat.  Well, I take back all that I said about beautifully maintained cities and gardens at least when referring to Kudat.  This is like being back in Indonesia.  Everything is poor, rundown, dirty, broken, unpainted and generally a right mess but, like everywhere we've been in both Indonesia and Malaysia, the people are a delight.

We've been told that Kudat survives on smuggling all and sundry to and from the Philippines so there's a large military presence around endeavouring to catch said smugglers.  There's probably a bit of 'who's policing the police' in this case but I think they're trying.

We anchored in a tiny bay called The Duck Pond where there's an equally tiny marina but, again, very friendly and welcoming.  The marina manager didn't even know that the rally was coming but once he did, he pulled out all stops and went all out to provide us with a super evening of snacks and drinks as a welcome.  How absolutely wonderful.

Serving fermented rice

The following day, we were taken across to the west side (in fact it was exactly to the bay where we'd had to precariously anchor just a short time before) to a homestay where we were treated to another evening of traditional dancing, music and delicious food.  It really was extra special.  It never ceases to amaze me at how kind and generous these people can be to a bunch of total strangers who they'll probably never see in their lives again.  Everyone was given a traditional beaded necklace then snacks of a sweet rice in banana leaves, fermented purple rice (hmmm not sure about that one) and a scrumptious cake. 

Dinner had to be delayed until much later as it's Ramadan at the moment; no food intake until night (us infidels and great unwashed were allowed to snack) so later in the evening, dinner was served with massive plates of grilled fish, chicken, ray, prawns and a selection of vegetables, all delectable.  Some of us were then taken to collect mud crabs from nets in the little estuary which was a tad underwhelming but served to add to our education on the lives of the local population.  A fabulous day all round.



Myra (Saol Eile) and I spent an entire day on her Sailrite sewing machine trying to repair our shredded spinnaker.  It was torn considerably more than we'd initially thought but we managed to fix up the torn luff and leach quite well.  I hadn't realised that it had also torn right across the entire sail horizontally about 4 to 5 metres from the top and this is going to require a little more than a lick and a promise.  I'm hoping a big patch might do the trick but that will now have to wait for later.  Thanks so much for all your hard work, Myra.

And the others

The official opening ceremony

During our time there, the marina had it's official opening so we were invited to the proceedings early one morning whereby the son of a sultan from another province in Peninsula Malaysia was to do the honours. True to form, he was over an hour late, did his thing then got whisked away in a military boat to heaven knows where.  

School children on Pulau Banggi

A few of us were then taken on a parks board boat to investigate other anchorages across the bay.  Would have been a great outing had it not been for the fact that it was ever so rough and we took a pounding going there and a worse one coming back.  Bit hard on the kidneys.  We didn't even really find anything suitable either but we did get to visit a couple of small villages along the way.

 
Off in the morning to cross the bay and start our trip down to some of the smaller islands as we make our way southwards.

PHOTO ALBUM:

Elaborate bead and needle work

A spectacular sunset on the west coast

Visiting a tiny fishing village

Uh?  a taxi in Kudat

The mirror turned topsy turvy

After leaving Kota Kinabalu, we sailed out in light but good winds from behind (not the usual on the nose stuff) heading further northwards.  It was so good that we pulled out our almost forgotten gennaker, hauled it up and enjoyed an hour or so of pleasant sailing with this wonderful balloon sail.  However, all good things must end and the winds suddenly went from a peaceful 12 knots to well over 25.  Now we always drop the gennaker if the winds get to more than 17 but this happened so quickly and the snuffing sock stuck that we couldn't get it down in time so, sadly, it blew out big time.  Before we knew it, we had red, blue and yellow fabric all over us, the boat and in the sea.  Paul managed to wrangle it all back on board and into the bag; we'd have to check on the damage later, damn.  Up until Miri, we'd had nothing but flat, calm and mirror-like sea conditions so this came as a bit of a surprise.

.........and not so good (it was worse than we had thought)

While it was looking great

It had been our intention to stop at a couple of small islands about 15nm from the mainland where we'd heard that there was some good snorkelling but when we got there, the recommended anchorage was far too bumpy.  We sailed around to the other side thinking it may be more protected but still no good.  This meant that we'd have to go back to the mainland and find an alternative anchorage.  Our charts showed us a possible place called White Rocks (hmmm rocks, not a good sign) but we headed for that anyway.  We actually got as far as dropping our anchor but soon realised we would never be able to sleep or relax as it was just way too rough.

Up anchor and off to the next possibility another 15nm away but by now daylight was in short supply.  And then all hell broke loose!  We were hit by another horrendous squall of about 40 knots and we desperately tried to pull the headsail in but a block broke away on the inhaul and the sheets went flying.  I started the engine to move away from the shallows and just then the port sheet whipped over to the starboard side, dropped into the water and promptly wrapped itself around the prop. Great!  Fortunately, we threw it into neutral immediately and just prayed we hadn't damaged the propeller.  We're now in shallow water with rocks nearby, can't engage the engine and can't take in or let out any more sail as the sheet is jammed under the boat. 

The angle of the wind allowed us to move out further into deeper waters but there was nothing we could do to free the tangled sheet, we just had to carry on under a compromised sail.  In all of this, Paul (aka Tarzan) decided he had to do something about freeing the clew end of the port sheet or else we'd be unable to tack back and forth so he tied himself on, stood up on the microscopically thin life lines and managed to undo the bowline in the clew.  But now he had to also find another rope to replace the port sheet and tie that on.  Somehow (I could barely watch) he leaned out, reached up and almost one-handed, tied a replacement line in place.  All this in the most incredbly rough conditions.  Whew!

The next three hours went quite smoothly other than many more squalls were attacking us at regular intervals but we made good time.  In order to get the right angle to tack into the next anchorage, we had to sail well past it and it's now getting dark.  Saol Eile went ahead to check things out and give us a rundown on conditions and depth as we had no other options open to us now other than turning back out to sea and spending the night out there.  Paraic flashed a light periodically to show us the way in (actually, if truth be known, I'm sure he flashed it to ensure that we didn't run into them) and, despite the hideous conditions, we were able to go right in then release the sail and drop anchor.  We made it!  It was an awful night hobby horsing in huge waves and swells; we couldn't sleep but the anchor held and we just had to ride it out.

In the morning, it was still incredibly rough but Paul had to dive down to check the wrap which, so very fortunately, had only turned around the prop shaft a few times and he was immediately able to release the sheet, thank goodness.  I had visions of the boat coming down on top of his head while he was down there but he managed quickly and easily - not bad for an old bloke.  The second it was free, we upped anchor and got out of there.

It was only another ten miles to the tip of Borneo where, once we'd turned over the top, conditions improved radically so we managed a nice sail for about another hour then chose an anchorage just down the east side to stop to rest - we needed it.

Kota Kinabalu, aka KK.

KK, in the province of Sabah, is quite a large and modern city which, we have to confess, rather surprised us as had Kuching in Sarawak. Borneo is not just the wild jungles and head hunting tribes of the (relatively recent) past but rather a fairly wealthy region with modern structures, first world four and five star hotels, resorts, shopping malls and sophisticated infrastructure. And, even more surprisingly , these cities are beautifully planted and maintained; the gardens and roadsides are a delightful mix of well groomed lawns, flower beds, trees and shrubs.

All of this may not be what the adventuresome being desires when thinking of travelling to wild Borneo but those 'wild' places do still exist. Unfortunately it's true that so much of the land here and in Peninsula Malaysia has been turned over to oil palms, but there appears to be a concerted effort to save and protect vast areas for conservation and wildlife where, previously, slash and burn was the order of the day. I'm not saying that this doesn't happen any more, it does, but there is certainly a major effort in some quarters to put a stop to it and a big concern to protect the environment.

We anchored off the very prestigious Suteri Marina and Golf Resort in somewhat rolly conditions. We were allowed to take our dinghies into the marina for the duration of the festivities but it was fairly clear that this was a concession that wouldn't last long. I guess they're not catering to the sea-faring nomads of the world. Regardless, the staff were very friendly and cheerful.

Delicious Laksa

Saol Eile and ourselves made several trips into the city to sort out computer problems and simply to have a look around. We found possibly the best laksa ever as well as a fish market where one chooses ones fish which is then taken away, cooked to perfection and delivered to the table. However, Paul, Myra and I chose Tom Yum, which was really spicy and delicious whereas Paraic chose a huge snapper so nicely prepared. All this with the ambiance of the colourful fishing trawlers basking in the setting sun beside us.

The beautiful mountain of Mount Kilabalu is rather famous in its own right.  It's the highest mountain in the Malay archipelago at just over four thousand metres and is a favourite for mountain climbers of all levels from simple hiking to serious rock climbing.  We didn't get to hike up it but it certainly looked as though it would be a great challenge.

 


On one of the days, we were taken on a tour around the town. We visited a few mosques, a Chinese temple and the state museum which included a Heritage Village, a display of numerous traditional houses from some of the many different tribes who inhabit Sabah. After this, we were given an amazing presentation of Sabah and all that it has to offer which, we have to say, is a lot. We were then introduced to representatives from the Navy, Coast Guards and police who would be responsible for ensuring our safety while travelling in their waters.

After five days, we said farewell to Kota Kinabalu to head off around the tip of Borneo after which we'd start moving southwards down the eastern coast.

PHOTO GALLERY:

Scenes around the fish market:

 

Spicy Tom Yum

 

Our guys playing soccer again the Kinabalu Yacht Club - we won!

The Heritage Village:

Head hunters house

Just LOVED the English translation

 

It was obviously a popular spot for wedding photos

A central hung tower block built from top down