We are here or here! depending on which system we checked into last.
Tell us what you're doing! email Dave and Pattie at vhn9638@sailmail.com
or Paul & Judy at vjn2927@sailmail.com. Give us something to read!
We departed Dent Haven a bit before 6:30 am and managed to get a favourable current for about 5 hours - up to 3 kts at times. Hardly any wind to speak of, so the motor has been on all day. Once again making bread and water. Received Column 8 courtesy of Anthony. Made .phone calls before we lost phone contact with Malaysia. Now in Philippine territorial waters, seen a few small fishing boats miles from anywhere. About 3 days 6 hrs to Bitung on current rate of progress, about 5.5 kt.
The breeze was up overnight, and the anchorage was a bit choppy, so we took off at 6am. Motored with mainsail up but wind light and behind us, so not much help. Dodging logs again, although not as many as yesterday. Nice anchorage with a nice breeze, clear water might tempt us in for a swim. We will leave in the morning for Bitung on the NE corner of Sulawesi.
Brendan's 6th birthday so we woke at 4:30 to ring him. Suspended our Celcom broadband accounts, got away about 10:30am. Calibrated the compass, sailed and motor-sailed in light winds and flat seas. Lots of logs outside the river mouths. 40 NM travelled today. Made bread and water. Anchored just off-shore in 5m depth.
Topped up the fuel tanks, not much used so far. Shopping in the markets for last-minute fresh fruit and veg. Dave and Paul spent two hours getting bum steers where we had to go to do the paperwork for clearing out of the country.
After a good morning sail we arrived in Sandakan at 10:30, anchored near the Yacht Club and fisherman's wharf. About 5 other yachts here. The harbour is pretty dirty, not as bad as Ambon but ... Lots of boats and ferries buzzing about so it gets a bit bouncy at times. The ladies went shopping in the supermarket in the afternoon.
Left at 6:30am with main up, good land breeze but close to on the nose. Motor-sailed and sailed all day, 69NM trip. We had a passenger for a while; a small blue bird sat on the rail for about 30 minutes. Anchored by 5pm at Silingaan Island. Change of plan: we are not going to Tawau to clear out, we'll do it at Sandakan and save about 150NM and a few days.
We left the anchorage early, had a downwind sail with about 1.5m swell until we reached the northern tip of Borneo. Turned the corner, swell had gone, so had the wind. Got a bit of drive from time to time, but motor stayed on all day, charging batteries, making bread and water. Anchored in Tigabu, everything tickety-boo.
Similar day to yesterday with 20 kt following winds and seas. Anchored near Palau Kulambok, just 5 NM south of the corner.
And we're off!! We pulled away from the dock in Sutera Harbour Marina, Kota Kinbalu at 10:10am, after waiting for news of mail for Paul and Judy. Unbelievably, International Express Courier only gets tracked as far as KL, then it disappears into the Malaysian postal "system". Of course it arrived an hour after we left!
Conditions were very good for our first day with SW winds at about 20kts as predicted by the GRIB files. Good for us that is because we were running with it so the apparent winds were about 12 - 15kt, and the seas less than a metre. Not so nice for our friends on 'Cool Bananas' who were heading SW to Labuan.
We have anchored in a small bay with a bit of breeze to cool us, and no swell; ideal. Dave and Paul been fighting with the watermaker, trying to bring it back to life. It seems to be OK ...
All fuelled up and provisioned, ready to go tomorrow, mail and weather permitting. Short trip to get started and familiar with the boat and systems.
Flew from Miri to KK bringing lots of food with us. On board, getting things sorted and unpacked.
Dave and Pattie have left KK en route to Miri, should be here in a couple of days.
We were rung by Dave on "This Way Up", asking if we would assist in taking "Truest Passion", a Seawind 1160, back to Brisbane. This is the catamaran that we sailed on in the Borneo International Yacht Challenge from Miri to Kota Kinabalu with Stuart and Nanette. Stuart has been diagnosed with lung cancer and has returned to Brisbane for treatment.
We thought about it for a while and then decided we'd do it. If we were in the same situation, we would like to think that someone would help us out.
TWU has left KK on the way to Miri. They will leave TWU here while they are away. Similarly, we will leave Meridian here until we come back after Christmas.
The journey will take us from KK past Sandakan, then into Indonesia over the top of Sulawesi. From there we will head almost south past Ambon, on our way to Gove. From Gove we cross the Gulf of Carpentaria, and after rounding Cape York, we head SE to Mooloolaba. The total distance is around 3,500 NM.
Winds will probably be light to none, so we expect a lot of motoring. With four on board, we should be able to manage a reasonable amount of rest between watches.
Dave's plan is to leave KK in about 10 days time.
Last Updated Monday, November 01, 2010