Borneo

Well what a great time we had at Tioman Island. It would easily rate as the most social place we have been too so far. Maybe it was just the company we had for the month we were there. Every night was spent partying at Captain Kerk’s and after many beers we would gravitate down to one of the great restaurants for a meal and a couple more beers. Being a duty free island certainly has its advantages.

One of the many social events - on this occasion celebrating Giovani's birthday

We arranged to do some diving with a local dive company that was recommended by a long term Aussie yachtie who arrived last year with the rally and went no further. The dive company took us to the best dive sights with another pommie couple and we did 4 dives, thoroughly enjoyed it, small but plentiful fish life and some excellent soft and hard corals, many we haven’t seen before as they don’t live on the GBR. We were very surprised to see many small coral trout same as back home living and breeding in the marine park so hopefully the numbers will increase here as well.

Reeno and his crew were great to dive with

I did a 30m wreck dive on a local coastal patrol boat that was purposely sunk to create an artificial reef, it’s only 12 months old so hasn’t developed much as yet but as you can see it can provide some amusement. The boat has been opened up enough to swim through the entire length.



Jen dwarfed by a giant gorgonian coral

We did a hike with another couple through the thick jungle over the ridge to the next bay, took about 2hrs and a gallon of sweat which we replenished at a local café. The rainforest was full of huge trees and strangler figs, a small waterfall and some local inhabitants. Our return was less strenuous but more terrifying in the back seat of a taxi which was more like a roller coaster on the steep winding concrete road.



Hiking through the rainforest

After a month it was time to move on otherwise we would have joined Brian as a long timer, and our livers would have shrivelled to nothing.  As it was we both suffered from dehydration after diving in the hot water. We headed off SE around the bottom of the Indonesian islands which are hostile towards yachties and also known to harbour pirates that have reportedly hijacked ships in the past. Well it is the South China Sea after all.



Here's proof that fish sleep - a large cod taking a nap in a clam shell

The trip from Tioman Island to Santubong near Kuching is 350nm and took 3 days, 2 nights. Thankfully after clearing the main NE shipping channel between Singapore and Japan the first night we encountered 2 huge thunderstorms which seemed to stalk us for hours, the first peaked at 36kts and the second 44kts, thankfully they came from the SW so we could ride them forward and we had prepared early by reefing the mainsail. The temperature dropped by about 10 degrees when the rain started and we felt cold for the first time in a long while. The lightning associated with the storms was unbelievable and we were very lucky not to be struck being the only structure around for miles.



Soft corals make the bottom look like a garden

The next day the skies cleared and it was very pleasant right through till we reached Borneo, we had planned our trip across to coincide with the full moon so with the clear sky it certainly made up for the previous night.



A 50mm long nudibrach, wicked colours 

Our first anchorage in Borneo was in a small cove at Tangung Datu, which is on the border with Indonesia’s state Kalimantan. The next was at Pulau Satang a small island where many turtles come to lay eggs, we did see some turtles on our trip across but unfortunately no fish which surprised us.



Reeno posing on top of the wrecks mast

It was only 6nm to Santubong so we left the island to cross the bar at Sungai Santubong to coincide with the incoming tide, just as we approached the final turning point we were forced again to do circles as another whiteout hit us before we could reach the anchorage, this storm was 35kts but only lasted about 30 minutes. We are becoming more accustomed to these violent but rapid thunderstorms and in a way appreciate them as they cool us down which is a pleasure in this incessant heat. Our latitude at present is 1˚ 50’ north, so hot and stormy is the norm.



Hard coral gardens

Santubong is the preferred anchorage rather than going up the Sungai Sarawak to the city of Kuching about 20 miles away. The anchorage is in a quiet river adjacent a private fish farm, the latter provides a small jetty to leave the dinghy, assists with fuel and water supply, they will even arrange to get your laundry washed. We shared the anchorage with one other yacht, a French couple who had arrived from Cambodia a couple of weeks previous, we then shared a ride with them into Kuching so we could clear back into Eastern Malaysia after clearing out of Western Malaysia in Tioman and renew our 90 day visa.

910m high Gunung Santubong from the boat

We hired a motorbike for our weeks stay to give us a bit of freedom rather than trying to rely on a very unreliable bus service or very expensive taxi, it’s a very pleasant ride on some very good roads, much better than expected. It also helped in searching out the diesel servicing centre we needed to find so we could purchase a new priming pump/filter unit for the genset, which had developed an annoying air leak. A small piece of rubber diaphram had disintegrated in the heat rendering the pump inoperable, and allowed air to leak into the fuel line. It appears that everything made of rubber or plastic has a very limited lifespan here.

One of the gaudy government buildings in Kuching

Kuching (malay for cat) is situated on the banks of the Sarawak River and has a lovely waterfront area with good restaurants and souvenir shops with carvings and local made crafts, we spent half a day perusing the area. Santubong is just a local village which comes to life every July with the International Rainforest Festival, a 3 day event which attracts many people from all around the world. It also has an Arnold Palmer designed golf course attached to a rather large resort which appeared empty when we went past.



Spices of all kinds available on the footpath

The wind and storms come in everyday from different directions which makes predictions near impossible so it’s a matter of going with the flow for the time till we get further north. We’ll check out some of the famous river inlets on our way up to Miri in Northern Sarawak and try not to lose our heads in this renowned headhunter territory.

Beers and Cheers,

J&J