Friday 23rd Rene photographed porpoises on the bow and retrieved a dead flying fish off the deck – not much of a meal on it so threw it back! by early evening we’re anchoring off Indonesian island of Anak, part of the Anambas group. Saw giant turtles in the bay - well their heads and feet - or do they have flippers??!
A little fishing boat approached with two young indonesian fishermen aboard we don't speak indonesian and they don't speak english (or french) we sign languaged "have you got any fish for sale?" they opened up their coolbox one snapper and some tuna on ice - looked good but Drew declined - apparently you need to gut tuna quickly after it's caught or it tastes metallic from the blood in the flesh - we're learning all the time!!
Jon, Drew and I went ashore taking a look at the reef along the way - lots of sombre coloured coral - Drew disappointed not to see more colours - says it's either recovering from pollution or under threat. Saw a four legged blue starfish and some parrotfish, so not too disappointed! Collected a few pieces of coral - there was tons of it washed up and bleached white on shore. Saw turtle trails and the depressions where they nest - also saw the monitor lizard trails too - apparently they enjoy turtle eggs!
That night I saw torchlights scanning along the beaches onshore - I'd like to believe that it wasn't turtle nest raiders...
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tioman
Tuesday 20th Arrived Tioman Island about midday. Anchored in the bay as the marina looks a bit difficult to get into ... I tried snorkelling but didn’t like it - The reef is quite beautiful and the fish are all shapes and sizes, but I just can’t do it… everytime I put my face in the water I panic! Maybe if I had my feet on terra firma? Drew put on his scuba gear and went down to check the hull and keel for damage – some cracking of fibreglass where we hit the wreck (?) It’s minor stuff but the boat will need to be hauled out at some point for repair.
Walking to and from the port offices we passed shacks and dwellings that I’m sure will be long gone by the time we return here in our own boat. There’s a lot of tourist development going on, alongside the simplicity of island life. I wonder what we’ll see here on our return?
Massive downpour in the evening– not seen rain like that since Florida and an approaching hurricane! Happily, not a hurricane or cyclone here. Dined well at a small Chinese restaurant. and returned to the boat by dinghy. if the link works, this where we are: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=2.7894248&lon=104.128418&z=7&l=0&m=a&v=2
Wednesday 21st Tioman. Chilled out for the day. rene drew and I went ashore to eat. Drew’s a nice guy and has many an entertaining tale to tell. We're really learning a lot from him. Jon's OK when he's in a good mood, the rest of the time he tends to be monosyllabic and short tempered. Wonder how long we'll put up with it?
Thursday 22nd Tioman. Caught up with some boat jobs early in the day before the heat set in. 5pm we left the anchorage for the passage to Borneo. 4 hour watches for us all -full moon tonight and starry skies, lots of traffic around...
Walking to and from the port offices we passed shacks and dwellings that I’m sure will be long gone by the time we return here in our own boat. There’s a lot of tourist development going on, alongside the simplicity of island life. I wonder what we’ll see here on our return?
Massive downpour in the evening– not seen rain like that since Florida and an approaching hurricane! Happily, not a hurricane or cyclone here. Dined well at a small Chinese restaurant. and returned to the boat by dinghy. if the link works, this where we are: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=2.7894248&lon=104.128418&z=7&l=0&m=a&v=2
Wednesday 21st Tioman. Chilled out for the day. rene drew and I went ashore to eat. Drew’s a nice guy and has many an entertaining tale to tell. We're really learning a lot from him. Jon's OK when he's in a good mood, the rest of the time he tends to be monosyllabic and short tempered. Wonder how long we'll put up with it?
Thursday 22nd Tioman. Caught up with some boat jobs early in the day before the heat set in. 5pm we left the anchorage for the passage to Borneo. 4 hour watches for us all -full moon tonight and starry skies, lots of traffic around...
Monday, May 19, 2008
Back to sea
Left Singapore for the Malaysian Island of Tioman. I took my malaria tablet on an empty stomach and slept most of the day! Up most of the night as a result, but enjoyed the stars and taking the helm. Rene tells me that during the day, the wind was blowing from the stern – I missed Rallentando ‘goose-winging’
I definitely prefer sailing at night - it's a bit cooler, and I do enjoy spotting the lights of the boats and ships around us... not sure if I'll like it as much when I'm on my own and it's just rene sleeping below! The ipod is useful - i'm catching up on the BBC podcasts I downloaded for rene, and the chillout music is appropriate under the stars! When we're motor sailing, the autohelm is on, so we can 'relax' with the binoculars - under sail one of us is helming (steering!)
The wind so far has been really disappointing, not strong enough or hitting us from the wrong direction....
I definitely prefer sailing at night - it's a bit cooler, and I do enjoy spotting the lights of the boats and ships around us... not sure if I'll like it as much when I'm on my own and it's just rene sleeping below! The ipod is useful - i'm catching up on the BBC podcasts I downloaded for rene, and the chillout music is appropriate under the stars! When we're motor sailing, the autohelm is on, so we can 'relax' with the binoculars - under sail one of us is helming (steering!)
The wind so far has been really disappointing, not strong enough or hitting us from the wrong direction....
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Singapore
You should take a look at the marina we're in http://www.one15marina.com/new/index.htm it costs $55,880 to join - but you can't because there's a waiting list. 3 Ferraris parked outside this afternoon and a Maserati passed us as we left to find somewhere to eat!! It's costing 12.50£ per night to 'park' here and we get the run of the facilities tehe! The website doesn't really do it justice although it's verbose ( http://www.one15marina.com/new/abt_press.htm ) -I'm going to take some pictures tomorrow... might get them uploaded tomorrow night.
The marina is on the island of Sentosa connected to singapore by road, monorail and cable car (http://www.sentosa.com.sg/) - it's one big bloody theme park I tell you it's totally bizarre... we took the shuttle bus across the bridge onto mainland singapore and went to find an atm in the shopping mall where the bus dropped us.... talk about shop till you drop... it's massive ... and no money in the HSBC atm!!! had to find another.
rene, drew and I found a 'Carnivores' restaurant - Brazilian Buffet theme restaurant where you help yourself to salads and vegetable dishes and then a team of chefs circulate around the restaurant with massive carving knives and chunks of meat on 2' long skewers. They carve it straight onto your plate. Each of us was issued with a round disc - green side up 'yes please' to more meat and red side up 'no thanks'. regardless of what your colour was, they just kept offering more!! When the maitre d' saw how little we were drinking, he hurried us on to the chocolate fondu and 'please pay the bill my cash desk is closing' - great meal for about 12 quid each!! We then have to find our way back to the marina.... rene spots a monorail and just HAS to take a ride. Luckily it was going in the direction of the island - unluckily, the taxi rank at its final destination was short of taxis. drew decided to head back on the monorail to where we'd come from and join the queue there for a taxi there. meanwhile rene and I decided to get a bit nearer the marina by taking a bus and then walking the rest of the way... as it happened, the bus driver took pity on us and dropped us a bit nearer and a taxi with a pick up at the marina stopped to take us. we got back before drew!
rene crashed out and I came up to the flashy bistro to check the emails as i can't get a signal onboard. it's now 1.45am and I should head back! Tomorrow is sightseeing day...
Well that's it so far - we're not going to Batang it was actually Batam indonesia but the marina is closed for dredging!! so, heading around the coast to somewhere else - malaysian island of tiaman?? then across to Borneo after a couple of days. That'll take a week of sailing - our first long passage and hopefully the wind will be with us - it's been on the nose most of our journey so far so we've been motoring with the sails up ocasionally. Getting down here took 3 night passages and i'll catch you up with that when I connect tomorrow if time allows. The days are flying by but I'm keeping a written log!
Hope you're all well wherever you are!
The marina is on the island of Sentosa connected to singapore by road, monorail and cable car (http://www.sentosa.com.sg/) - it's one big bloody theme park I tell you it's totally bizarre... we took the shuttle bus across the bridge onto mainland singapore and went to find an atm in the shopping mall where the bus dropped us.... talk about shop till you drop... it's massive ... and no money in the HSBC atm!!! had to find another.
rene, drew and I found a 'Carnivores' restaurant - Brazilian Buffet theme restaurant where you help yourself to salads and vegetable dishes and then a team of chefs circulate around the restaurant with massive carving knives and chunks of meat on 2' long skewers. They carve it straight onto your plate. Each of us was issued with a round disc - green side up 'yes please' to more meat and red side up 'no thanks'. regardless of what your colour was, they just kept offering more!! When the maitre d' saw how little we were drinking, he hurried us on to the chocolate fondu and 'please pay the bill my cash desk is closing' - great meal for about 12 quid each!! We then have to find our way back to the marina.... rene spots a monorail and just HAS to take a ride. Luckily it was going in the direction of the island - unluckily, the taxi rank at its final destination was short of taxis. drew decided to head back on the monorail to where we'd come from and join the queue there for a taxi there. meanwhile rene and I decided to get a bit nearer the marina by taking a bus and then walking the rest of the way... as it happened, the bus driver took pity on us and dropped us a bit nearer and a taxi with a pick up at the marina stopped to take us. we got back before drew!
rene crashed out and I came up to the flashy bistro to check the emails as i can't get a signal onboard. it's now 1.45am and I should head back! Tomorrow is sightseeing day...
Well that's it so far - we're not going to Batang it was actually Batam indonesia but the marina is closed for dredging!! so, heading around the coast to somewhere else - malaysian island of tiaman?? then across to Borneo after a couple of days. That'll take a week of sailing - our first long passage and hopefully the wind will be with us - it's been on the nose most of our journey so far so we've been motoring with the sails up ocasionally. Getting down here took 3 night passages and i'll catch you up with that when I connect tomorrow if time allows. The days are flying by but I'm keeping a written log!
Hope you're all well wherever you are!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
still here...
Spending another day at anchor. Jon has to get the immigration clearance and Rene went ashore with him. Spending the time relaxing with a book...
At anchorage
We left the marina today and 'parked' just across the bay. Jon and Drew joined Simon (Sirius) and a gang of expats for a meal at 'wonderland' Rene and I opted for a quiet meal in...
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Shop till we drop?
Last day in Kuah, so had to provision for 3 months of wanderings... Neither the skipper or the 1st mate enjoy shopping so Rene and I put together some meal ideas and I crunched the numbers.
Rene gave Drew a hand to service the generator whilst I prepared the shopping list - he tells me it's just like the engine, only smaller.
Hope I got my sums right or we'll be going hungry at some point along the way... seem to have 34 tins of assorted mushrooms anyway - anyone out there got any good mushroom recipes?? IS there anyone out there reading this??!
Ok, having bought it all, it then needed stowing, after I'd logged just which stowage had what in it. And that was after labelling each tin with its contents - incase the labels come off later! Using a spreadsheet to log everything but I think a hard copy is called for. We'll have to come up with a reliable system when it's our own boat - switching on the Apple mac everytime we want a meal?? I think not!
Walked down to the Jetty point tonight for an Indian and our usual Starbucks coffee (with internet connection)
Leaving Kuah tomorrow for the anchorage around to the north of the island - so goodbye to shower block, happy hour at the bar, and the internet.... and then it's off to Penang, wherever that is! (South I think)
BFN
Rene gave Drew a hand to service the generator whilst I prepared the shopping list - he tells me it's just like the engine, only smaller.
Hope I got my sums right or we'll be going hungry at some point along the way... seem to have 34 tins of assorted mushrooms anyway - anyone out there got any good mushroom recipes?? IS there anyone out there reading this??!
Ok, having bought it all, it then needed stowing, after I'd logged just which stowage had what in it. And that was after labelling each tin with its contents - incase the labels come off later! Using a spreadsheet to log everything but I think a hard copy is called for. We'll have to come up with a reliable system when it's our own boat - switching on the Apple mac everytime we want a meal?? I think not!
Walked down to the Jetty point tonight for an Indian and our usual Starbucks coffee (with internet connection)
Leaving Kuah tomorrow for the anchorage around to the north of the island - so goodbye to shower block, happy hour at the bar, and the internet.... and then it's off to Penang, wherever that is! (South I think)
BFN
Monday, May 5, 2008
Getting to grips with the engine
Aah Drew is patience itself... today's lesson was how to service the engine. 140hp ford Lehman. Ok for those of you who are interested, we changed the zinc pencil in the heat exchanger, plus its two gaskets (improvised from a couple of pieces of cardboard - natty that!) Drained the sump, changed the oil filter without mucking up the bilges, changed the oil - supposed to take 14L but there wasn't much left from an 18L tub... learnt the mechanics trick of stuffing a metal rod into your ear and placing it on each of the injectors. Right. Looks good though.
drew worked on the watermaker -there's a problem with one of the hoses and the pressure gauge... left him to that one!
drew worked on the watermaker -there's a problem with one of the hoses and the pressure gauge... left him to that one!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Back in port
Well, we survived! Neither of us were keel hauled either!
We sailed (well motor sailed mostly as the winds were not very strong) around to an anchorage in a bay to the north of Langkawi - went ashore for an Italian meal (made a change from Curry) and left for the Thai islands to the north the following day. We've learned the art of dropping anchor in deserted bays off tropical islands and mooring on buoys. Learnt also, what the keel scraping on coral reef sounds like - that was a bit of a shock at 10pm at night... we moored in 5m of water in the early afternoon and it wasn't until we'd hit the sack that the water level had dropped just enough for the coral heads to cause a problem. By torchlight and bow thruster, John and Drew extricated the boat through a narrow channel of deeper water and we moored further away from the island.
The following day, Drew donned scuba gear to check for damage which turned out to be just a few scrapes. Rene went snorkelling and I watched from the boat! The coral reef was superb the colours and the fish were amazing! Just like peering into a giant aquarium tank! The deserted beaches of white sand.... hermit crabs scurrying along the shoreline, stopping to fight over an empty shell - I have never seen so many in one place! The strange night noises of the fish swimming alongside the hull.... saw my first flying fish and porpoises.... saw the Island where 'The Beach' was filmed....
One high spot (literally) of the trip was being hoisted up the mast (by Rene!) to change a light bulb. He then found the energy to haul me right up to the top where I posed for photographs! Well, I wanted proof!!
The next few days will be spent prearing the boat for the trip down to Singapore and then on to Sarawak... drew says the engine and generator need servicing , the bilge pump wants looking at, plus there's provisioning to do - meal planning for May, June and July. Mmm I've said I'll give it a go! I'm going to use a spreadsheet to calculate what we need, as it's too hot to think!
So, for the next few days we have a good internet connection and we'll let you know when we're due to depart.
Love to you all
We sailed (well motor sailed mostly as the winds were not very strong) around to an anchorage in a bay to the north of Langkawi - went ashore for an Italian meal (made a change from Curry) and left for the Thai islands to the north the following day. We've learned the art of dropping anchor in deserted bays off tropical islands and mooring on buoys. Learnt also, what the keel scraping on coral reef sounds like - that was a bit of a shock at 10pm at night... we moored in 5m of water in the early afternoon and it wasn't until we'd hit the sack that the water level had dropped just enough for the coral heads to cause a problem. By torchlight and bow thruster, John and Drew extricated the boat through a narrow channel of deeper water and we moored further away from the island.
The following day, Drew donned scuba gear to check for damage which turned out to be just a few scrapes. Rene went snorkelling and I watched from the boat! The coral reef was superb the colours and the fish were amazing! Just like peering into a giant aquarium tank! The deserted beaches of white sand.... hermit crabs scurrying along the shoreline, stopping to fight over an empty shell - I have never seen so many in one place! The strange night noises of the fish swimming alongside the hull.... saw my first flying fish and porpoises.... saw the Island where 'The Beach' was filmed....
One high spot (literally) of the trip was being hoisted up the mast (by Rene!) to change a light bulb. He then found the energy to haul me right up to the top where I posed for photographs! Well, I wanted proof!!
The next few days will be spent prearing the boat for the trip down to Singapore and then on to Sarawak... drew says the engine and generator need servicing , the bilge pump wants looking at, plus there's provisioning to do - meal planning for May, June and July. Mmm I've said I'll give it a go! I'm going to use a spreadsheet to calculate what we need, as it's too hot to think!
So, for the next few days we have a good internet connection and we'll let you know when we're due to depart.
Love to you all
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