And Isis Makes Three

The comings and goings in the marina this week have matched the goings with the comings for several boats.

First, Auspray departed on Saturday for an overnight passage west.  It was a beautiful day and we envied them as they sailed off to the horizon.  However, a call later in the day revealed that the weather had turned upon them and rather than continue into the night with headwinds, thunder, and rain, they would return to Miri Marina.  They arrived back before sundown to find the entrance a bit rougher than when they left.

Second, we finally had a departure date, we had checked out, Tweed was looking very shipshape and the weather was looking good for a passage 30 NM to the NE to Kuala Belait in Brunei.  We left in calm, overcast conditions.  The seas were down but still quite lumpy but setting the mainsail helped quell the roll somewhat.  It was good to be back on the water.  We were only about 7.5 NM out when the dreaded sound of a surging engine sent Jon below to change the fuel lines over from the port tank to the starboard tank.  The engine was happy again.  Jon checked the fuel filter from the port tank and it appeared that it had the dreaded diesel bug in it.  Rather than continue on and risk the same sequence of events with the starboard tank, we decided it would be better to return to Miri where it would be easier to get the fuel system sorted out (once again).  Motoring back, the wind almost died, the seas glassed out apart from a long, low swell and we made the marina entrance safely and returned to our dock.

Third, Isis departed this morning, also for Kuala Belait.  We had all jokingly suggested that they too would soon be back and unbelievably it was only a short time later that they returned to the marina with autopilot problems. 

As they say, cruising plans are never set in concrete.

We hope to have the fuel problem sorted soon and be on our way once more!

Passing the Time in Miri

Just over a week until Jon has more of a suspicious spot excised from his scalp after which we can think of leaving Miri.

A few jobs to keep us busy as usual.  Jon has been hauled up the mast to remove the mainsail halyard sheave - the little roller that the halyard passes over and into the mast.  Somehow a screw had come loose and was stuck between the plates, scratching the faces and making it difficult to haul up the mainsail.  This was soon cleaned up and put back together ready for another trip up the mast - the view is good!




Our little Karcher had a workout as well when Jon used it to power clean our boom tent to clean off all the green that has grown on it over the last 12 months - has it been that long!

The canvas has lost its waterproofing and the drips on the underneath gather moss so it was time to remove it.  Jon also took the opportunity to clean bits of green off other parts of the boat as well.






Shopping in Miri is a little different from the experience in Australia.  Although you can buy fresh and frozen meats in the supermarket, the freshest pork comes directly from the pork men, located near the Central Markets.  Here you can buy almost any part of the pig you want - head (left), toes (middle), ribs (right), loins (centre right), bellies (foreground) and all sorts of offal (not pictured).  You can even choose a nice lean piece of loin and have it minced rather than buy the pre-minced stuff which is 30% fat.  Now that's service and it is also very cheap.

 Saturday night we took a trip out to the Saberkas night market which runs from Thursday through to Sunday.  It is a fairly typical night market with a big selection of local fruits and vegetables, hawker food and general things like clothing and other bits and pieces.


We got brave and tried some durian between us and we bought a small jackfruit and other fruit.

Then it was into the hawker food section where we tried pulut panggang (grilled sticky rice in banana leaf) and rempah udang (grilled sticky rice with prawn in banana leaf) - very tasty.

 We didn't eat everything we saw but here are a few pics of what was on offer:

 Fish and ray wings grilled on banana leaf

 Smokey grilled fish 

 Thousands of satay sticks to choose from

 And, something for the sweet tooth - Kek lapis Sarawak (Sarawakian layer cake).  As you can imagine you can't whip these up in a few hours!  Many layers and patterns AND (in these modern times) very bright food colouring. The heavy smoke from the charcoal grills finally drove us out of the place but it was an interesting place to visit.

We seemed to have formed a habit of having Sunday breakfast at a Chinese yum cha restaurant.  We have found several with two of them a bit more of a bike ride away.  One is about 7.5 km away, is airconditioned, crowded and has carts bringing a huge selection of steamed and fried goodies to eat.  Another, 2020 Cafe, is about 5.5 km away which spills onto the pavement area and is always crowded.  The choice is probably not so huge and here you choose the baskets you want and a nice person brings them to your table for you.  They are both incredibly cheap and require an early morning start to arrive before it gets too hot. 

Here, Pam gets ready to tuck in while Jon has chosen bubur ikan (rice porridge with fish) to start the day.

 A Sunday morning fish market on the Miri River - straight from the fishing boats

 Looks like low tide at the stilt village.

At Home Aboard Tweed in Miri

 Four months away from Tweed! 

More than two months since the last blog!

Will we ever go sailing again?

Tweed has been in this marina since November, 2011, when Jon arrived from Japan.

Pam hasn't been sailing since May, 2011!

Our "new" grandaughter is fast approaching ten weeks old!

 

Yes, we hope to set off from Miri within a week to ten days.

Apart from getting the boat tidied up for cruising again, we have had a few jobs to do - 

Tracking down and purchasing antifoul paint,

Sending the anchor chain off for regalvanizing,

Rebedding a couple of chainplates and deck prisms,

Replacing the impeller on the Brooks and Gatehouse speed log ---

a serendipidous find in Yacht Grot in Fremantle where Jon picked up 2 new ones and an old one for A$50!  

Little jobs that seem to take a day or more to finish....

Like, how long does it take to re-cable an external stereo speaker??**

Plus, Jon has had to have a suspicious lump removed from his scalp,

and another new dental crown which is still to be finished.

Medical and dental services here in Miri are very good.

The weather is as hot and humid as it always is here but the aircon makes life bearable.

It's great to know you can be out and about on your bike and have a nice cool cabin to retreat to when finished.  Nightly thunderstorms are the norm at the moment as well.

Boats continue to come and go, with new boats arriving and waving off friends we have got know, with some heading in the direction of Singapore and beyond while others are moving north.  Many seem to be heading for Kudat at the tip of Borneo for haul out - just like us.

So, life goes on.  We have celebrated Jon's birthday with a yum cha breakfast and dinner at a local restaurant.  

Then yum cha at a different restaurant to celebrate another yachtie's birthday.  

Had several Indian meals at the nearby Banana Leaf cafe.  

Enjoying the lower cost of living after the sky-rocketing prices back in Australia.  

Annoyed that our bank (NAB) has suddenly introduced fees and charges to our debit card!  

We now have a $4 ATM fee as well as a 2% fee on cash withdrawals - the same as we had on our ATM card.  

Oh, well, it was good while it lasted.

Jon thoroughly enjoyed his passage aboard Taipan from Cocos Keeling Islands to Mauritius, via Rodriquez, despite being fast and a bit uncomfortable at times.  See previous post for links to that passage.  Unfortunately, he lost his little waterproof Olympus camera so no pictures.

 The thunderstorm came early today and this afternoon a heavy tropical downpour, accompanied by thunder and lightning, reduced visibility in the marina.

The red bucket in this picture was empty a short time before and is now overflowing. The white snowballs are raindrops caught in the flash.

** Three days!!

It's About Time

It would appear that it is more than three months since we posted a blog!!  What have we been doing in all that time?  It seems to have passed so quickly.

Unfortunately, not a lot of sailing - in fact, none.  We had considered sailing to Singapore but in the end it was just too easy to stay here in the marina at Miri.  So, what have we been doing all this time?

Jon has all but finished the varnishing job and is now working steadily on the central butterfly hatch.  This is the 'window' in the main saloon, made of solid teak, hinged along the centre and with perspex fitted to each side to let in light.  Recently, it had been letting in water as well and as it was starting to look a bit worse for wear Jon decided to replace the lens.  This turned out to be a mammoth job as what looked like two pieces of perspex was actually one long sheet and the framework around the perspex is wide. Sikaflex or some similar adhesive had been used to glue it in and took days to wedge apart.  Then came the job of cleaning off all the old adhesive and sanding the whole thing before a couple of coats of varnish.  Once the other side is done the whole lot will be varnished properly.

Along with the shiny varnish the coachroof has had a new coat of Poliglow applied so Tweed is looking a lot more respectable than she did back in November when she arrived from Japan.  The topsides need doing but we may leave that until a bit later in the year.  

Not all our money has been getting spent on the actual boat for a change and we have purchased a washing machine, an industrial sewing machine and an airconditioner!!  All are working well and the aircon makes life aboard so much more comfortable, especially at night for sleeping.  The sewing machine has been used to make a new cover for the liferaft, new weather cloths for the cockpit and to convert some side curtains to side windows by inserting some clear plastic in them.  Other jobs are planned or on the drawing board.

Lambir Hills National Park

During this time we enjoyed a day out with friends from the marina, Rob and Margie, Geoff and Karen, and spent a day tramping through the Lambir Hills National Park. 










The lure was a waterfall with a lovely pool.  A nice break from the heat and a change of scenery.







Marg and Karen enjoy a cooling swim at Lambir Hills National Park

England
 
We have spent five weeks abroad during this time as well.  Most of it in England where our daughter was married in Worcestershire.  The weather was fine until they emerged from the tiny chapel and a squall came thru... sounds like boating!

Erica and Andrew

 
After quite a nice start to spring we encountered a return to winter.  Cold temperatures and wet or overcast days keeping us in our winter woolies for most of the time we were there.  We think it was warmer when we were there at Christmas time!  Record rain fell during April so we didn't just imagine it.  The rain and cold continued into May as well but it did not really dampen our holiday and time with family.

And while in London we  just had to pay a visit to Neil's Yard at Borough Markets to pick up some Stilton for the canal boat trip...mmmm!






Canal Boating

After the wedding we hired a canal boat from Viking Afloat for seven days and made our way along the Worcester-Birmingham Canal as far as Alvechurch.  We were hoping to continue on thru Birmingham and then return to Worcester down the Severn River but all the rain had put it into flood and it was closed!

Pam was a natural when it came to manoeuvring the 65' boat in and out of the locks which had about 2" to spare either side.

WE had an email to advise that a proposed camper van hire was cancelled due to the insurance company not accepting that we only had a PO address!!  Plan B - we hired a smaller canal boat and went on the Droitwich Canal.  This canal had only been reopened last year following many years of closure.  Once we arrived in Droitwich the Waterways man locked the lock behind us as the levels had risen and we would not be able to get back out!!  Droitwich has a long history going back to the Romans when salt was mined in the town.
We had to wait for these two boats ahead of us when the lock was re-opened at Droitwich.


Luckily, it was re-opened about midday the following day and we were able to return to Worcester in the given time.  The rain and the high water didn't stop us from having a good time though and we would certainly love to do it again some time in the future.

  

Venice

By this time we had an invitation from good old Kiwi/US friends on Silver Fern to join them in Venice along with another couple they know.  We hummed and haaa'ed a bit as Pam had a chest cough and didn't want to keep everyone awake at night with the coughing.  In the end we decided it was too good an opportunity to miss so we flew off to Venice for five days and had a wow of a time in great company.

Well, we are working when we are not having fun!!




Jon, Pam, Bryce, Martha, Christine and Lindsay enjoying Venice





 

Now it's back to the boat.  Jon continues with the other side of the butterfly hatch but seems to have it down to a fine art now and the Sikaflex is all removed.

On the horizon is another trip back to Australia in a few months.  When we return we are contemplating going over the top of Borneo to the Kinabitangan River in Sabah to see some Bornean wildlife.  Then, or instead, we may go to Palawan in the Philippines.  Time will tell....

And The Work Goes On....

The varnishing job is coming along a treat as Jon continues to work hard mostly on the sanding - the more time spent getting the teak smooth and then sanding properly between coats the better the finish.  He has nearly finished the starboard side - hand rails, 'eyebrow' and cap rail plus the steering wheel.  All this rubbing despite receiving treatment for a crook right shoulder at the local physio, a short bike ride away.

Otherwise life in the marina continues with some boats leaving and others arriving.   Friday nights, while the sun sets slowly in the west and weather permitting, the crews generally get together to share a drink and some nibblies to catch up on the week's happenings.


 

The giant seahorse doubles as a lighthouse at the entrance to the marina.

Marinas all over the world seem to attract wedding groups or magazine shoots for that 'romantic' touch.

Celebrating and Working

It is just over a month now since we celebrated Christmas in London, quickly followed by New Year celebrations, also in London. Since arriving back in Miri, Sarawak, we have seen Chinese New Year being celebrated by the local community and yesterday, 26th January, the Australian contingent of the yachting community here in the marina celebrated Australia Day. A barbecue on the dock was planned but rain put paid to that and the party moved to the roomy Solita, an Australian flagged motor boat from Darwin ... thanks to John and Sue. The celebrations were shared by our Kiwi friends, an American couple, a French woman and a German - very multicultural, just like Australia.

Big jobs have been the number one priority on board with the starboard fuel tank having an inspection port fitted then being cleaned of diesel 'bug' and finally filled to the top with clean diesel; a problem with the diesel generator was finally traced to the loosening of the retaining nut of the rocker assembly (the cylinder wouldn't work because the valve wouldn't work); new alternator belts have been fitted and aligned; starboard teak handrails and cap rails have been sanded in preparation for re-varnishing... these tasks have been performed admirably and uncomplainingly by Jon while Pam mostly sticks to the not all boring and domestic tasks... visiting the markets, shopping, cooking and cleaning, organising laundry, sewing and mending, etc. and learning the ropes of her new iPad, which includes downloading ebooks - a boon for yachties as it means less books to carry, less weight for the boat and also not having to rely on 'swap' books as you can choose to download what you want to read. Needless to say Belle's Books has been visited and a nice new copy of the Birds of Borneo added to our reference collection.

Sailing plans are a bit up in the air at the moment. Our Aussie based daughter is getting married in April in the UK so where to go and what to do? We are considering setting off towards Kuching and Santubong, further SW along this part of the Borneo coast, and then across the South China Sea to Singapore and into the Jahore Straits, where we would leave Tweed in the marina at Danga Bay. Like all sailing plans there could be many changes... mmmm, we'll let you know as it happens.

Sent from my iPad

Almost Year's End

As the New Year creeps up on us just a quick update.  Jon has been kept very busy in Miri, draining the fuel tanks, fitting inspection ports and cleaning out all the gunk which has been causing us problems over the last couple of years.  Hopefully he has been able to rid the tanks of the bug this time.  He has also been having a very social time with the other cruisers coming, going or staying.  In the meantime Pam has been busy in Australia and has spent the last month in Brisbane getting to know 16-month old Alfred even better.

We will both meet up later today in Singapore and fly off to London to spend Christmas with our younger daughter and her partner.  Another cold Christmas is in store for us but after last year in Fukuoka we know what to expect.

We plan to be back in Miri some time in January.   We wish all our friends both land-based and those afloat a safe, happy and healthy festive season!

The Passage in Review

The following description was written by Chris who crewed with Jon on the passage from Okinawa to Miri.

Just a shortish note describing a passage with my sailing friend (Jon Choate) bringing his yacht from Okinawa in Japan to Miri, Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

The yacht is a Hans Christian 43 rigged as a cutter, set up for offshore cruising and weighs in at around 17 tonnes. Tweed is quite a hefty girl but is sea kindly and is very safe.

I left Daun in charge of “More Magic” on Tuesday 25^th October, after convincing her that I would be back in Miri  “…in just a couple of weeks…” I arrived I Okinawa on Wednesday after flying from Kota Kinabalu to HK, thence on the Okinawa. 

There were a few jobs to do before we could leave Okinawa which took a few days to complete.

After getting the local marine department, and customs approvals we set out from the west coast of Okinawa early on Saturday 29^th October. The local weather forecast was for moderate to strong nor’easters to Ishigaki some 260 miles to the south. Almost as soon as we headed out with reefed main and genoa we settled into good sailing conditions and were reaching at good speeds in a mostly dry cockpit. The occasional wave would fill the leeward deck space and swoosh up to the stern plopping over the cockpit coamings and send us a wake up call.

We soon settled into regular night watches of 3 hours swapping over every day so one of us would get to catch up on sleep. Jon did all the cooking and I did the cleaning up and tea and coffee so we shared the load. Sort of.

We had a go at fishing but the lures were all very large for big game fish really, while the lines were quite small so we didn’t hold out for a fish dinner. We kept trying but the fish were wary and scarce. We did however, land lots of flying fish at night. Jon said it must have been the breeding season.

We arrived at Ishigaki around 10 pm on the Sunday giving us a relatively fast 40 hour passage. As we were unfamiliar with the harbour we anchored in the middle of a basin in the inner harbour towards what looked like yacht masts. We were woken at 6am by the wash from several departing one man fishing boats. 

After finding our pre arranged berth we spent two days and three nights in Ishigaki refueling, re-victualling and watering as well as enjoying the local seafood and pork while sampling the famous Ishigaki beef.

We departed Ishigaki for Subic Bay in the Philippines on Wednesday morning after clearing out with immigration the previous day. The weather from the nor’east was well established and continuing to dominate the patterns so it still promised to be a great sail.

During the later afternoon we spotted a large pod of Bryde’s Beaked Whales heading south from Japan away from the whaling fleet. Unfortunately we were unable to get a decent photo but Jon and I were convinced of the identity of these beautiful cetaceans from a comprehensive whale book.

Our route took us generally south to the Luzon Passage north of the main island of the Philippines, then west thru the passage and south again along the coast of north west Luzon. When we turned south west to go through the Luzon Passage on Friday we were able to pole out the genoa and had a great day’s sailing almost dead downwind.  We were later able to gybe and head south west towards the northern tip of Luzon in freshening conditions.

On Saturday as we approached the northern coast of Luzon we ran into the north bound Luzon current which slowed our progress considerably. The conditions were really great for sailing for the first three days but gradually deteriorated in the latter stage of the passage. On Sunday afternoon approaching the Gulf of Lingayan midway down the west coast of Luzon a breeze sprang from the south so we motor sailed for a few hours before a savage squall put us on our ear and we reduced sail and hove to for 6 hours before resuming our passage south. The next day was more of the same and so we headed for Port Matalavi for a nights respite. 

Only 60 miles to go to Subic Bay so we were off bright and early Wednesday in calm conditions. The breeze gradually filled in from the south west to give us a work towards Subic. As we neared the coast in the afternoon on a strar’bd tack we picked up a nice lift off the mountains which took us another 15 miles towards the Bay. We arrived in Subic at 10 that night and anchored outside the marina.

The next day we headed for the marina and a procession of Philippine officials all with their hand out for US$50 to clear in. We again re-victualled, collected more fuel, went to the extensive fresh market 2 days in a row, and passed another US$50 to the nice Immigration official to leave the country. Boy, were we pleased to be out of that place.

The forecast was not so good from Subic but Miri was calling us so off we went, early on Sunday morning we motor sailed south to the west coast of Mindoro towards the Sulu Sea. Our route took us into the Sulu Sea to take advantage of the southward current. We made good time and as the sun went down the breeze came up giving a good nights passage towards Borneo. The same pattern followed the next day so after 3 days we were closing on the main channel of Balabac Strait. Early in the afternoon we headed south west to take advantage of the shelter of Banggi Island and anchored for the night on Thursday in a sheltered bay on the east side of the island.

By now we were low on diesel and planned to call into either Kudat on the northern tip of Borneo or press on the Kota Kinabalu 80 miles to the south. Gradually the breeze filled in on Friday from the west and we were able to reach down the coast to KK. One unfortunate side line to sailing in Borneo is the number of logs floating just below the surface many of them up to 15 metres in length and 3 metres diameter. We encountered one of these “beauties” just as we rounded the Northern Tip which caught the prop and put a small bend in the shaft, enough to make the motor shudder at 1800 revs.  We missed several other logs in the same area.

We made it to KK early Saturday morning and tied up at the Marina ready to take on water and fuel and catch up with some friends. We dined out at the best Peking Duck restaurant in KK the King Hu Saturday evening and headed for sea the next day at 6am.

Next stop was Labuan 60 miles to the south and duty free shopping. We had a nice reach down the coast in the afternoon and reached Labuan port at 10 Sunday night.

Our final passage was fast approaching and after a quick trip to shore we up-anchored and headed for Miri 100 miles further south. An uneventful passage with the exception of a close call with an anchored dive boat as we sailed along in smooth water at 6 knots with a 15 knot sou’ wester. We arrive at the Miri Marina at 9am Tuesday 22 November, four weeks to the day after flying out, and was greeted by one very happy Daun complete with sweaty body after a frantic pedal from the market. 

In all we sailed 1600 miles in about 16 days with a few stops on the way. We had favourable sailing conditions for about 70% of the time and consumed about 400 litres of diesel at 3.5 litres an hour. 

During the passage we experienced fuel starvation caused by contamination in the tanks thru biocide treatment. At Subic Bay we removed both fuel filters and thoroughly cleaned them before blowing out the fuel lines and replacing the 10 micron filters. In KK we replaced the engine fuel filter and the filters looked much cleaner than previously.

It was a great passage and terrific experience in a well found, heavy displacement  cruising yacht.

Thanks, Chris!! ... And some more figures from Jon:


Total distance from Okinawa to Miri: 1837 nautical miles
Total number of days: 25
Days under full sail: 13
Days motoring/motor/sailing: 7
Days in port: 5
Diesel consumed: 586 litres 

Arrival Miri!

A good night's sail down the coast of Brunei with a light breeze.  Arrived in Miri Marina at 0800 yesterday morning, 22 November.  Jon and Chris left Okinawa in Japan on 29 October and covered approximately 1400 nautical miles in 24 days.  Tweed performed well apart from a minor fuel problem and another problem with the generator.  All in all a great experience.

A Quick Passage from Sarawak to Sabah via Labuan

Our Sarawak adventures were fast coming to a close and it was time to prepare for the upcoming Borneo International Yacht Challenge 2009. This event usually starts in Labuan and finishes in Miri but this year it started in Miri with a 100 nm passage race to Labuan followed by a passage race to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah and finished with two day races off KK. It fitted with our time frame so we duly entered and received RM1000 (about A$330) for doing so, plus free marina berth, hotel accommodation and several dinners. A good time to meet other cruising yachties and have some fun. Tweed is not a racing boat but somehow we ended up in Division A with six other boats of differing capabilities and handicaps.

We managed to arrive in Labuan just under the 26-hour time limit - the organisers forgot about the south setting current and that perhaps there would not be much wind. We came fourth in our division so no prizes there!! We entered the 'marina' outside the Waterfront Hotel in Labuan. This marina has been constructed since we were there in 2007 and is already breaking up. The original marina, which was breaking up in 2007, is nested inside the new one and although repairs have been undertaken it is breaking up again!! Such a pity that they can't get it right but we don't know who is to blame for this poor construction.

Tweed enjoys a short-lived sail with the 'Flasher' at the start of the Labuan to KK passage race

Half a day in Labuan and a quick trip for duty free before dinner out and then off the next morning on the 68 nm passage race to Kota Kinabalu. Conditions were fairly light to start with but along the way the wind picked up slightly so we were able to sail most of the way resulting in less penalty points and were awarded third place for this leg. Most boats arrived after dark and would have a lay day the next day except for the IYC boats. The lay day was most welcome as we and others had found the pace quite hectic and were pooped!

Two day races were held on Thursday - one in the morning and one in the afternoon - off Kota Kinabalu. The conditions were good with about 15 knots of breeze but we still couldn't fight our way past the two leading boats in our Division so took out third again. We were pleased with that. It had been a great few days but now we could look forward to relaxing a bit.

The 4095m peak of Mt Kinabalu, 88km from KK seen from the waters off the sailing club

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