Progressing northeast

Calypso at Labuan Marina

We were given free berthing at the Miri Marina for the duration of the activities which were held by the Borneo International Yacht Challenge.  Somehow we all found ourselves passed off to the BIYC as it was their intention that we participate in the various races.   For the record, I state with no hesitation, WE ARE NOT RACERS!!

Sleek light racing boats arrived with a dozen or more crew each to enter this challenge. They cleared off anything and everything that weighed more than half an ounce (except the crew of course) while here we are, a cruising boat, weighed down by full water and diesel tanks, months and months worth of provisions, a dinghy and engine hanging off our stern and two singularly disinterested crew members and we're  supposed to race with these guys?  Not on your nelly!   Most of our fellow cruisers had similar thoughts on the subject, so, the first morning arrived as the racing boats enthusiastically sailed out of the marina for a jaunt around the cans and we had a leisurely breakfast watching them go.  Not for us thank you.

 

That evening was a fancy dinner and entertainment which included some lovely traditional dancing and music and all was wonderful until they brought on a raucous trio of half clad girls (rather incongruous in an Islamic environment) that some organiser must have thought was what we'd appreciate but he couldn't have been more wrong as, at this point, there was a mass exodus. The dinner was excellent though and despite this being a Muslim country, they served endless mugs of beer but, sadly, no wine.  Humph.

The following morning was to be the start of the race from Miri to Labuan, a distance of nearly a hundred nautical miles.  We decided to go along with this as we had to get to Labuan anyway. 

The distance made it another overnighter but quite a storm made it's presence in the early hours of the morning so it was postponed in the hopes of things settling down.  The storm abated but the seas remained huge.  They finally gave the all-clear at about twelve whereby we pulled out of the protection of the marina into some of the worst waves we've ever encountered.  It was only five metres deep which caused the waves to break way out before reaching the shore - not a nice start to the day.   We even contemplated turning back but the thought of a wave hitting us side on was even scarier so we braved it and headed straight out.  We had a few things take flight inside but nothing too serious other than Paul's PC which took umbrage at being knocked about so much.

As it turned out, we had nice winds until the following morning when we were just a few miles from the finish at which time they died completely and the sea turned into a mirror which saw us doing 1.1 knots backwards.  Dedication and perseverance is one thing but at this stage we just said to hell with the race, turned on the engine and motored in the rest of the way but still, we were stone last.  As I said, we are not racers!

Again, we were given free berthing at the Labuan Marina but by the time we arrived, the busy schedule gave us just one day in there.  It was supposed to be used for another day out racing around the cans, but we opted to see the town, do some provisioning and restock up on a few items of the liquid variety as this is another one of those wonderful duty free islands.

Just what I've always craved, a bucket of dried jellyfish, yuk!

And an amazing selection of dried mushrooms, better

The final race was from Labuan to Kota Kinabalu seventy miles away and again, we chose not to take part.  If we had, we would never have made it in before dark even had we motored the entire way so we left the marina well before sunrise to get a good start in the hopes of covering the distance in daylight hours.  Much more sensible.  It proved to be a wise decision as we arrived about an hour before sunset whereas only two of the dedicated racing boats managed to get in just after us.  The remaining lot wouldn't arrive until the wee hours of the morning.