We departed the lovely limestone karst island of Gaya yesterday morning at 6:30 bound for Mabul Island, 28NM away. The route took us around submerged reefs and small, flat islands with a light breeze allowing us to sail for a bit.
We arrived off Mabul near lunch time but weren't that happy with an overnight anchorage here. On the protected side it seemed too deep and some shallow patches to the NW seemed very exposed - considering there was a dark squall line headed in from the NE. So a change of plan and we headed for the southern end of the Semporna Channel and anchored inside a small inlet for the night near Kampong Senellang.
Entry to the inlet was easy as it had channel markers along it to keep us clear of fringing reefs and mud banks. We anchored down from Now A Days who had the same idea as us. A local fisherman soon came alongside and rather than asking us for food he had a nice catch of good-sized blue swimmer crabs to offer us. We bought four and Pam had a crazy senior's moment and paid far too much for them! Whatever was she thinking...maybe thought she was paying in Pesos rather than Ringgits. Despite the cost they were thrown in a big pot of boiling water and tasted sweet and delicious.
Plan this morning was to get to Tawau, 51NM away, but again our plan was thwarted. 15NM along our course we noticed two yachts anchored off Horn Reef, quite a large reef area with a couple of tiny sand cays but still offering protection from any blows which might come. One was Mind The Gap who we had been sailing with since before Sandakan so we changed course and anchored in the clear waters.
A snorkel over the reef filled in the rest of the morning and, well, Tawau? Maybe tomorrow but it won't be so far now.
Position: 04* 15.162 N, 118* 25.922 E
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