a good 24hrs with wind and a milestone passed

At 8:am yesterday I turned the motor off in light breeze after noticing the current had abated. The day panned out well with us drifting along at 2-4 knots for most of the day, and in the afternoon and most of the night the southerly lifted to 10-15 knots and we made some good time. We turned in a 100 mile day with the motor.

Quiet day aboard with the usual reading, computer usage, games of chess and sleeping.

The midnight muffin maker (Liz) struck, and the boat has the lovely smell of fresh baking now.

This morning we passed through the Sangihe Islands and have now left the Celebes Sea and are now entering the Molucca Sea. The islands were very steep, rising up from a 3000 metre seabed and seem to continue up. One in the distance had the classic volcano shape and the nearby island was shrouded in cloud with its own personal lightning show going on inside.

A day and a half should see us at Halmahera, where we start to head south.

Hope to catch a fish today. Had the line out yesterday with no luck. New sea, new day..

Currents against us.

Very frustrating scene on board as there are light winds that we could glide along at 3 knots but the current is pushing us back and south at around 2knots so one knot forward is the result. No good. Motor on.

Haven't seen anything today, except for a light in the distance during the night. We are 100 miles from the islands which reach north from Suluwesi, so I expect to see some more fishing activity soon. Had our line out yesterday but no luck.

Everyone is well on board but am hearing the word 'bored' fairly regularly.

Day 4 dawns in the Celebes Sea

Nice and calm this morning and over the last six hours we've been just about becalmed. The sea is now flat and has settled after the lousy conditions yesterday.

Day 2 was OK with a squall kicking up early in the morning but it didn't last too long and replaced itself with some southerly winds that we tacked into to go down through the Sibutu passage. The passage separates some Indonesian and Malay islands and is a smuggling route. We were told to hold to the Malay side but we split the difference as we tacked down. We were overflown by a business jet type of plane which I assume was a surveillance aircraft. Later in the evening Liz spotted two very fast
boats with green lights which we again assume was some kind of border patrol. With talk of pirates, the girls were most dissappointed when we came across no Johnny Depps or Orlando Blooms. Almost through the passage, and around midnight a squall come through with more teeth and we had 15-25 knots which were able to reach across into the Celebes Sea. It held and we had a fast but rolly ride all night.

Day 3 started with the same southerly wind easing a bit and giving us a lumpy ride. During the day we saw several pods of whales. One pair were a few hundred metres away and could see they were small (3 metres?) with blunt noses. Liz and the girls have been laying low with various level of discolour,but all jumped up on deck with the call of "thar she blows!".

Later in the day a really nasty squall hit with 30 knots sustained for a few hours. Again a good burst of speed with the boat racing along but uncomfortable in the lumpy conditions. As the wind eased in the afternoon the sea was just bloody horrible. I (Colin) seemed to spend the last two days, furling and reefing, unfurling and unreefing sails or collapsing into a short nap. Definitely not the the "gin and tonic at Sunset, end of the bargain".

So last night the calm conditions and no speed was OK as the restful nature of the motion was most appreciated.

Have a few problems aboard withhe the main alternator not putting out much current, the engine alternator is going OK so no drama there. We have small tear in our headsail which we taped up last night but this morning the tape has lifted so will need to give it another go. Our gearbox may have an oil leak, possibly from the cooler, but it's not bad and I have lots of oil for it.

The girls are going along OK, each vying for computer time to play the "Sims", read Fan Fictions, write stories and watch movies. Liz has had the worst of the sea sickness but a calmer day today would help her.

I have had trouble getting email out but this morning was able to access another "radio mailbox" in South Australia which worked well.

Please send a short comment so we can have some news of the outside world.

First night out of Sandakan

A little bit later than planned but we are now on our way. Courtney and Liz went up to the Kinabatagan River for a night in the Jungle Camp and enjoyed the beauty of the place and the river cruises to spot the wildlife. Sandakan Yacht Club was extremely friendly. Usual nice staff and all the different board members made a point to introduce themselves and often bought rounds of drinks for us.

And we had the company of another boat. Arawana, with Warren and Mary aboard who are also heading into Indonesia with a final destination of Darwin. We won't cross paths but will endeavour to keep in touch on the radio.

So with the boat full of food, fuel and water, we said our goodbye's to customs, immigration and the ports office, and left Sandakan behind at 3:30pm. The first few hours saw a steady sea breeze and had Reflections IV gliding along at six knots in a flat sea. Around midnight a series of squalls are passing over. Lots of rain and short bursts of 20 knots.

In and out with the headsail as the squalls went through til 1am when it calmed off with only a knot or two of forward motion. Early morning and light SW are keeping us around 4-5 knots. Very comfortable sailing. Have a favourable current of a knot and hope that will accelerate as we get closer to the Sibutu Passage.

Sandakan - revisited

Hi

No update for a few days as I've had other distractions. Firstly turtles and now town. We sailed in light headwinds til early evening from Palau Tigabu, to an island in the Turtle Island group. Next morning it was nice to laze the morning away and then go across to Palau Silingaan. This island is the focus for tourists to visit, with nice accommodation, a lovely beach, OK snorkeling and of course, lots of turtles. Mainly Green Turtles and some smaller Hawksbill Turtles come to lay here for most of
the year.

Having been here with my sister Wendy only six weeks earlier, I knew the drill. We paid our park fee and wandered round to the beach for a swim (Anna) and book reading (the rest of us). While on the beach little hatch-lings would appear from the higher sand behind us tourists on the beach and scurry to the water. We all watched with delight as these tiny things, with flippers far too big for their little bodies, made their way to the relative safety of the water.

On the way back to the boat Anna found in the sand a 2gigabyte memory card. Back aboard we examined the photos on the card and recognised a lady and her daughter from the beach. When Anna returned the card to the lady she was quite overcome as the card had her photos from many weeks of travel in Europe, Japan and SE Asia. Anna ended up with a nice reward.

That night we assembled in the dining area and then followed the ranger to see a large green turtle laying her eggs with another a metre away still digging her nest. They take the eggs to a hatchery to protect them from predators and then release them from a basket at the waters edge. A very interventionist approach.

Next day a short sail brought us into Sandakan. We have had many reports of theft of outboard motors here, so we cleared our deck of valubles, and each night put the outboard inside the boat. That said, the yacht club is very welcoming and friendly. From my experience I have found people more open and friendly in Malaysian Borneo than on the more busy peninsula.

Liz and Courtney have gone to the Kinabatagan river for a night to see the myriad of wildlife that is compressed into one of the last vestiges of forest in this oil-palm dominated environment.

We hope to leave on Tuesday.. or Wednesday.

Colin

PS: There are photos available for this post. Also I have several pages/photos on Sandakan when I was here with Wendy. The link for these pages is on the right hand column of this page.

At anchor at Palau Tigabu

Started out with a squally evening, strong winds, and had to keep a close eye on our position for a few hours, the weather then settled right down ,and we had very calm evening. Motored in the calm morning for a few hours and then sailed for an hour, then as the breeze picked up to a constant 12 knots it also positioned itself directly on our nose. Easier to just motor then tack through the reefs that are everywhere here.

We came into anchor and chose the western sided and once anchored had a man in a small boat wishing to trade fish for fuel. We agreed on 10 RM instead and he handed over a large bowlful of sand crabs, which were really tasty and a nice change. Two small children came along next and left with a pencil each and writing pad. It's been many years since we've encountered visitors like this. A second canoe came from the same small motor boat anchored near us with two men aboard with two young babies. They asked for food and we gave them a few cups of rice and some packet noodles. Their eyes showed appreciation of the gift. They probably live aboard permanently and drift around the islands between Malaysia and the Philippines.

A nasty squall started brew just before dark and we followed the other boats to re anchor north of the island. As most of the squalls lately it was short lived but start with a burst of 20-30 knots. We've had very clear skies and impressive displays of cloud formations and night skies.

at anchor just near the tip of Borneo

Always neat to pass a major point. At the northern most tip of Borneo we leave the South China sea, can see the Philippines north of us in the distance, and we turn south east into the Sulu sea heading towards Sandakan.

Spent the day fiddling with the spinnaker. Now I knew in the back of my mind I needed some light rope for something but couldn't remember what. Today I found out why. I had pinched the 30m rope for the spinnaker sock for other purposes. We hoisted it without sock and drifted along slowly in 2-4 knots and at least cast some nice shade on deck.

Ended up making only 15 miles progress as the drifting along sort of mesmerised us, and the day got away with our original anchorage too far away. Anchored out of the swell and sitting very quietly out of the swell.

Colin

Almost to the tip of Borneo after a very nice day.

Left Usukan Bay after a rolly night. The swell is about a metre and comes for the NW so get into the bay. Not too bad. Slow sail out in the morning on a light land breeze then motored for three hours til the sea breeze came up steady and light and we sailed along at 5-6knots under idyllic conditions. Liz spent a huge day cooking three loaves of bread and two pizzas. Then we caught a lovely big Spanish mackerel so we won't starve.

Lots of lightning around and the wind is building, so a storm tonight is likely. We're anchored on the northern side of a headland as most of the weather comes from the south west this time of year but tonight it's looking like something will come out of the north.

Time will tell.

Colin and the girls

At anchor just outside of Kota Kinabalu

Always great to finally get out of the marina and away. The task today was to use the last of the free flowing tap water and wash down the boat, a few last minute shopping things and then once out of the marina go to a fuel barge off the township and fill 'er up.

Now we are at anchor in a small bay off Gaya island which is one of three island that make up a marine park off KK. Very pretty.

With a few extra jugs for diesel we have around 540 litres of fuel aboard. This relates to a around 700 miles of motoring. As our trip is around 1800 miles we hope to not have to stop to get fuel and still be able to motor on calm days.

This message is sent using our email system on the boat. It uses a special 'modem' called a pactor which communicates with our short wave radio to another radio, in this case in India, which then sends it on through the Internet. Much much slower the WiFi, but much better range.

If you post a comment on the blog, the comment will be emailed to us on-board.

Colin and the girls.

PS: the legs have almost recovered from climbing Mt Kinabalu!

The plan as it stands

The plan is to sail the boat back, probably to Newcastle.

The first part of the trip is to get to Gove in the Northern Territory, which should be achievable in the six weeks that Liz and the girls have off school. From there I (Colin) will continue on, keeping an ear to the ground for any job possibilities.

I will be looking for crew along the way so anyone interested should contact me.

Liz and the girls will then head back to Phuket. The main reason is to allow Courtney to finish her IGSCE in June 08.

From here in Kota Kinabalu, we head north east along the coast, round the tip of Borneo, and south east along the coast to Sandakan where we will leave Malaysia. From Sandakan we head east towards the western end of of Irian Jaya and then skirt along the southern coast till we are due north of Gove. Then across the trade winds that blow hard from south east to Gove.

It's a long way (2000 miles) and plenty of potential for things to change. A lack of wind in the first 1500 miles then too much in the last 500 miles are the most likely.

So in a few days we will leave KK and hopefully have a relaxing coastal hop to Sandakan. I can send posts to this blog from our radio email so 'stay tuned'.

Colin.

Climbing Mount Kinabalu

Liz and the girls flew in from Phuket just on a week ago. Now we are just about loaded up with supplies and are getting close to leaving.

We had hoped to climb Mt Kinabalu but as we hadn't booked ahead and didn't have a budget to do a package tour (which still needs to be booked weeks ahead) we thought we'd missed out and decided to just go to the park headquarters and stay there for the night to enjoy the cooler climate at 1800 metres.

When we arrived we asked about cancellations to climb, and found there was two spots available. A quick consult with the girls, and they were more than happy to stay in the unit we'd booked and endure Satellite TV and a fireplace instead of hiking. Liz and I hurriedly packed our gear and set out to the first stage of staying overnight at the Laban Rata guesthouse, 6kms away and at 3200 metres. We started at 1pm and after a very hard long climb we reached the guest house at 6:40pm, feeling very tired and cold as it was 8 degrees. Liz was feeling dizzy and had a pounding head, which we thought were symptoms of altitude, so she decided to not try to do the summit the next day.

So after a short sleep, laying awake mostly to the noise of wind and rain, I got up at 2am and got ready to do the 3km climb to the summit at 4100 metres. The rain was a real worry and I decided if I got too cold in the first hour I would turn back. I had good warm clothes but had only sailing gloves with exposed fingers I knew that my hands were in for it - and of course a set of legs that hadn't been well prepared for this ordeal.

The short story is, after 5 hours of walking, pulling myself up on ropes, shuffling up a long smooth granite face and finally scaling hand to foot up the summit I crouched (too windy to stand) on top of the highest mountain in South East Asia. The trip down was eased by the fact the surrounding clouds cleared and I was presented with a truly incredible view.

Meeting back up with Liz at Laban Rata at 9:30am, we then headed down to the park headquarters. The trip down just became harder and harder as my body started to tell me what sort of unaccustomed effort I had put it through. In just over 24 hours I walked only 18km but during that "walk" went up and then back down 2.2km

Today it's the next day, back on the boat, and I feel very flat and any attempt to move my legs is met extreme reluctance. Walking is more of a wobble. No boat jobs today.

But it was really worth it - come and do this!

Colin

The photos of the climb are here.