We left Santubong at the bottom of the tide with plenty of water under the keel and once beyond the barred entrance hoisted the main, unfurled the headsail and shut down the engine, we were sailing, a very pleasant beam reach, till we rounded the first headland where the wind backed to the SE and on the nose at 15kts, it wasn’t far to our next anchorage so we managed to lay a course and close haul to Lakei Island at the tip of Baku National Park north of Kuching. The anchorage was small and well protected despite the close proximity of some nasty looking pointy rocks. We explored the island’s derelict resort and several small beaches and searched for the elusive probiscus monkey without success, we heard a lot of noise but in the thick jungle no sightings. We did however spot a crocodile the previous day in Santubong as it crossed the river behind the boat.
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| A sentinal guarding the anchorage at Lakei Island - that's an eagle's nest on top |
Next morning was a picture post card dawn, so with a good wind forecast we headed off and sailed in a good 15kt SE for several hours before losing the wind as it veered to the SW and died. We were out of sight of land till late in the day when we reached our intended destination which was at the head of a river network which traverses for more than 100nm up into the interior of Sarawak where the hill tribes live. We decided to do the shorter inland route around Beruit Island about 40nm to the next anchorage, so we wound our way along the twisting Paloh River avoiding the shallows and surprisingly small cargo ships. The scenery was interesting but dulled by the heavy smoke which seems to be all along this coast from peat fires which burn day and night, making visual navigation difficult.
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| A lovely isolated beach adjacent the derelict resort Lakei Island |
The next 2 days we motored from daylight to dusk with no wind and beautiful blue skies, then anchored miles offshore on the 10m line, the coast was bland, not a single fish caught although we did manage to snag a fish trap line, thick smoke and a lack of adequate shade made this section very boring. The only interesting part was on day 2 passing Bintulu Port which services the oil rigs offshore and having to dodge one of the high speed service craft.
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| No wonder the markers aren't where they're supposed to be |
We had 35nm to get to Miri and high tide was at 1100hrs so we up anchored at 0500hrs and set off with a nice 10kt Easterly which soon increased to 15+kts and our arrival time was well ahead of schedule, the wind lasted for about 3 hrs then died again unfortunately, but some sailing was better than none. We entered the marina and found our berth where we met the very jovial marina manager Captain Finn who took our lines and helped us tie up.
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| Another sentinal, this one at the entrance to Miri Marina |
Back in a marina again was very pleasant as the west coast of Borneo is subjected to a small NW ground swell, so unless anchored in a river you’re exposed to a constant roll which is very uncomfortable especially when the wind drops out. The previous 2 nights were bearable but a third was definitely not.
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| Miri Marina with a couple of restored anchors from a local wreck, must have been a big ship |
Miri Marina is 4km from town and after our first day of walking in the heat we found a local yachtie who was willing to rent his motorbike to us for the length of our stay while he returned to OZ for his 28 day work stint skippering a 500t tug on the northwest gas project. When in Miri he spends his time diving on a 19th century ship wreck which he and his wife discovered several years ago about 100nm west, sunk on the Lucona Shoals. A very interesting couple with an enviable lifestyle albeit very hectic at times. They hope to do a documentary on the story associated with HMS Viscount Melbourne which sunk in 1842 when it struck a reef in a violent squall, some of the crew and passengers made it back to Singapore after several years of hardship battling the tropics and avoiding pirates.
Some local entertainment depicting traditional lifestyle in Sarawak
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| Legacy of offshore oil extraction, no wonder the beaches are empty |
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| Another sentinal at the entrance to Deer Cave |
The cave tours required a guide which our package included so along with another Chinese/malay couple from Kuala Lumpur after checking in and a quick lunch the 5 of us set out the first day for a 10km round trek to 2 caves. The first cave was named Lang Cave after the white man that found it only 40 years ago, the local Penan tribes people had been here long before, extracting guano deposits left from the millions of bats that inhabit the caves during the day and collecting swiflet bird nests from the high ceilings which is a Chinese delicacy, the second, named Deer Cave after the mouse deer that went there to drink the bat urine laced water from the stream that flows through the cave. After the caves we went to an observation deck to witness the stream of bats leaving the cave on dusk but due to increasing rain the bats refused to leave their dry roost so we missed the mass exodus.
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| Hey is that Grant up there??? |
The next day the 5 of us headed upstream in a local river boat to visit a Penan “traditional” village enroute to the next 2 caves, Wind Cave and Clearwater Cave. The satellite dishes attached to the dwellings belied the term traditional but the village did contain a Longhouse which was destroyed by fire last year. A longhouse is a multitude of adjoining apartments under a single roof where a whole village lives in a communal environment. Homestays in village longhouses is a high tourist attraction in Borneo apparently but personally not our cuppa tea. The villagers keep dogs contrary to the Muslim people who despise them and these dogs are mangy, smelly, horrible things so spending 1 or more nights in their company would be more like hell than a holiday.
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| Our transport up river to the caves with Lou our guide and fellow passengers |
Wind Cave had some fascinating formations created by a constant draft flowing through but it was Clearwater Cave which was the best, with a river running through the centre highlighting the extent of time for the cave to evolve into its present form. This cave is 178km long and links to many other caves in the region.
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| Entrance to Clearwater Cave looking out |
Our final day was spent traversing the rainforest canopy along a 300mm wide suspension walkway 40m in the air. This canopy walk extends for 400m, is the longest suspension viewing platform system in the world being attached intermittently to the largest trees in the area. The design is similar to the suspension bridge we built 17 years ago at our old Tanawha property, ours being 1m wide however and much more stable. The canopy was interesting but along with the rest of the rainforest we viewed, there was a noticeable lack of wildlife. Like the rest of Asia so too has Borneo depleted its stocks of wildlife species. Lucky we went to the Singapore Zoo earlier this year to see them.
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| One of the giants within the jungle |
Back on the boat again and still a few things to see and do here in Miri before we head north so will cover all that in the next blog.
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| One of the critters in the canopy |
Bye for now.
