We will probably be in Tawau until the weekend when we will leave for Tarakan in Indonesia. There are about 22 boats anchored off the Tawau Yacht Club, most of which have arrived with the Sail East Malaysia Rally. Some will be continuing to Derawan for the water festival and then making their way in different directions - continuing south of the island of Borneo to complete a circumnavigation of the island; returning to Malaysia; sailing north to the Philippines, etc.
There are many choices and some of us are planning to sail back through the Spice Islands of Indonesia to Australia, with some travelling over the top of New Guinea, others south or towards Darwin.
Our stop has involved getting our Indonesian visas from the Indonesian Consulate here. This is a very busy office with very friendly and helpful staff. We applied for our visas on Monday morning and picked them up early afternoon.
The town itself is quite busy and has all the shops and services that yachts people require. The fresh market is huge and has an excellent variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef, water buffalo, eggs, etc. There seem to be numerous supermarkets to fill those lists of top-up provisioning and diesel has been easy to acquire at the right price.
The Tawau Yacht Club has been very welcoming and we have had several good meals there. Some of the crews gather later in the day after having showers in the facilities for a drink or a meal together.
The anchorage itself has so far been OK. We are approaching spring tides and the morning ebb tide certainly goes out with a rush - we feel like we are sailing at times. The danger is a squall during these times but fingers crossed on that one. We have had several thunder storms pass close by without any affect on us.
This thunderstorm just missed us
The harbour front which stretches along the shore both sides of the yacht club is busy with big ships coming and going, fishing boats ploughing through the anchored boats, fast ferries in the channel, and Customs, Police, and Maritim Malaysia vessels making their presence felt with the wakes they leave. Oh, and don't forget the tugs.
There are many choices and some of us are planning to sail back through the Spice Islands of Indonesia to Australia, with some travelling over the top of New Guinea, others south or towards Darwin.
Our stop has involved getting our Indonesian visas from the Indonesian Consulate here. This is a very busy office with very friendly and helpful staff. We applied for our visas on Monday morning and picked them up early afternoon.
The town itself is quite busy and has all the shops and services that yachts people require. The fresh market is huge and has an excellent variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, chicken, beef, water buffalo, eggs, etc. There seem to be numerous supermarkets to fill those lists of top-up provisioning and diesel has been easy to acquire at the right price.
The Tawau Yacht Club has been very welcoming and we have had several good meals there. Some of the crews gather later in the day after having showers in the facilities for a drink or a meal together.
The anchorage itself has so far been OK. We are approaching spring tides and the morning ebb tide certainly goes out with a rush - we feel like we are sailing at times. The danger is a squall during these times but fingers crossed on that one. We have had several thunder storms pass close by without any affect on us.
This thunderstorm just missed us
The harbour front which stretches along the shore both sides of the yacht club is busy with big ships coming and going, fishing boats ploughing through the anchored boats, fast ferries in the channel, and Customs, Police, and Maritim Malaysia vessels making their presence felt with the wakes they leave. Oh, and don't forget the tugs.
Fishing the reef near Gaya Island
No comments:
Post a Comment