Taken at 1100 hours, and it is hot. Working on the rigging now. We should get lifted in a couple of hours. Seas are good.
PS. We are at the airport now and Sabbatical III is on the ship.
Waiting for our ride
Sixteen of the seventeen boats that the Thorco Svendborg will carry to Turkey are now arrayed on her deck, sitting in cradles welded to the steel deck plates. The only boat left is Sabbatical III. We are spending our third night at anchor waiting to bring her alongside.
The wind and sea came up strong last night and persisted all day, slowing the loading process. By 5 pm only two boats had been loaded today with two to go. The third boat of the day did not get lifted aboard until dark (we think). Even if they could get to us, the steep waves would make it impossible for a rigger to work at the top our mast taking down the triadic stay and rigging runners. The peculiarities of our ketch rig necessitate these actions. We are the only ketch coming aboard.
To get out of the waves, we moved behind Ko Nakha Noi island. It is much more comfortable than last night when we were on the eastern side of the island, facing the freighter.
We hope to move alongside the freighter at 0630, but that depends on the sea state. It seems to be calming,so we are hopeful. There is little left to eat except canned goods. Fear not for we are still plump and healthy.
M.
Sights and Tastes of KL
Our 3 month visas for Thailand were due to expire on March 5th and in order to get a one month extension we had to leave the country, so we flew (60 minutes in the air) to Kuala Lumpur (KL) , Malaysia last week for a four day trip (Feb 24- Feb 28) . There is a U.S. embassy in KL, and we needed to go there in order to get new passport pages ( I was down to my last page).
There are so many nice hotels in KL, and at very good prices, that it is hard to pick one, but after lots of time spent on hotels.com we picked the Royale Chulan Kuala Lumpur. It turned out to be a lovely hotel, and they upgraded us to a very large executive suite when we arrived. The room was great, with views of the city, and most importantly views of the beautiful Petronas Towers, the 88 story twin towers that dominate the landscape of the city.  These towers were the tallest buildings in the world from 1998 to 2004 and are still the tallest twin towers.
We had a great 4 days – just being tourists. It is an interesting multi-cultural city. One sees a lot of ethnic Malay women wearing their very stylish colorful head-scarves with tight jeans and colorful blouses, side by side with tourists from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries dressed in full black burkas with even their eyes covered by sunglasses. Malaysia is popular with tourists from Arab countries because it is easy to find halal food and they are comfortable in a majority Muslim population. On the other hand, however, there are many Chinese- and Indian-Malaysians so you also see a lot of women in mini-skirts, short shorts and all sorts of outfits. The men, religious or not, all seem to be able to get away with wearing t-shirts and shorts.
We enjoyed the tremendous variety of Malay (including Indian-Malay and Chinese-Malay) food, went to a bird-park and to a movie, gawked at the Petronas Towers and the fantastically extravagant shopping malls, and just wandered around the town enjoying a break from boat life.   People were very friendly and it was nice to be able to communicate in English and in Bahasa Malay which is very similar to Indonesian. (Malaysians speak much better English than Thais as they study English in school, whereas most Thais do not).
Now we are back in Thailand with visas good until the end of March and lots of passport pages to get us through the next few years.  The freighter that is taking our boat (and 23 other boats) to Turkey is supposed to arrive here on the 15th of March. We are hoping that they won’t be delayed.
L.
KL
We are in Kuala Lumpur. The US Embassy was very efficient this morning and Laura already has 24 new pages in her passport. We had a very nice lunch at a nasi kandar restaurant and are now back in our deluxe hotel room at the Royale Chulan which was upgraded for free to an executive suite. I know this will be a controversial statement for most, but we prefer Malaysia to Thailand for eating. Just to be certain, over the next few days we will sample lots of different restaurants in KL, including some duck places.
The photo is a partially obscured view of the famous Petronas Towers taken from the KLCC park.
M.
Practically Perfect
We just spent the last 3 weeks sailing along the west coast of Phuket and then out to sea about 100 miles north and west of Phuket to visit the famous Similan and Surin Islands.  We had a wonderful time:
Highlights:
Koh Miang and Koh Similan. Crystal clear water, beautiful boulders leading down to the sea , jungle, white powdery sand beaches, lots of fish, good snorkeling, great sunsets, trying to get to shore from the dinghy without getting soaked (it was impossible not to get totally wet as the breakers were so big that you had to anchor your dinghy well away from shore and then swim in). Going on waterlogged hikes with Wind Pony and Dedalus… after we all ended up swimming to shore holding our hiking shoes up over our heads to try and keep them dry (in vain). Climbing to the top of the look-outs on both islands.
Dinner tossed to us from a fishing boat in Koh Ra (written about previously). Not raw fish as you might expect, but some chicken on skewers and Thai papaya salad (very spicy) and sticky rice in a plastic bag. The most unexpected gift and gratefully eaten.
Unexpected discovery of Koh Ra and Golden Buddha Ecolodges
An abandoned looking pier near our anchorage at Koh Ra on the west coast of Thailand (not too far from the Burmese border) turned out to be the gateway to a lovely and partially paved path to a lovely, very rustic ecolodge. There we met Mike and Sue, an English couple on a one month vacation who had just checked into the lodge (non-sailors). We felt an immediate bond with them and ended up spending the whole day together, starting with an amazingly fresh and delicious buffet lunch on the verandah of the eco-lodge with the other dozen or so guests. (Many thanks to Laurie, the German woman who runs the lodge for her kindness)  A self-guided walk through an easy, but beautiful jungle path was lots of fun, with many wonderful trees, vines, birds and glimpses of monkeys.  Sue and I bonded over having mothers the same age, and then were delighted to find out that we were born within a month of each other (and she looked so young!).  After a great walk, lots of conversation, and some tea on the verandah of the ecolodge, they came out to our boat for sun-downers.  We all agreed that the accommodations on Sabbatical III are a step above the accommodations at the ecolodge…. Hey we have electricity any time of day, not just from 6 to 10 pm , there are no spiders or ants in the bathroom, and our toilets actually flush. We said goodbye and the next day sailed down the coast to another ecolodge on Ko Phra Tong (Golden Buddha Island) that we knew Mike and Sue were headed to a few days later.  It was amazingly beautiful but too rolly an anchorage to stay for more than one night, so Mark and I  just spent the day there enjoying the 10 miles of golden sand beach, the delicious lunch on shore and then we left a surprise note for Mike and Sue to find when they checked in.  They later e-mailed us their puzzlement to hear upon arrival that someone had left a note for them. All they could think was, “But who in the world even knows we are here?â€.
Our position was N 09 14.377 E 098 18.975 at Koh Ra and N 09 07.771 E 098 15.128 for Golden Buddha
Other sailing notes :
Koh Miang in the Similan Islands was lovely, but quite rolly. Still worth a visit if conditions are calm and you can get a mooring ball that is well tucked into the bay (no anchoring allowed there). There are a set of mooring balls on the west side of  Koh Payu Island, which is just north of Koh Miang, which might be useful under some conditions. Restaurant on beach. Expect to get wet so go to shore in your bathing suit.
Our Position N 08 34.393 E097 38.181
Koh Similan –  Our Position: N 08 39.945 E 097 38 662
8 working mooring balls when we were there. It was possible to pick one up almost any time of day. Sometimes the balls are picked up by the tour boats, but they only stay a few hours. Lots of tourists arrive during the day to swim, snorkel and have lunch, but they all leave by 4:30. The boats were not as noisy as the longtails we have seen elsewhere in Thailand, but the sheer volume of them, and the hundreds of tourists disembarking throughout the day is certainly a drawback to the place.   You will see lots of dive boats there as well. It looked like a great place to go diving.  Restaurant on beach.
Surin Islands -Â Our position: N 09 25.543Â E 097 51.346
We spent three nights there, but did not like it as much as the Similans. The water is pretty clear, but not terrific and there was noise from the long-tail boats. The wind had also picked up when we were there – so much so that we were not really comfortable taking the dinghy to shore and the wind howled through the rigging all night.   The hills surrounding the anchorage were beautiful, however, and we heard there was a challenging hike through the jungle.
Ao Bang Tao – Our position:  N08 01.600 E 098 17.02
A comfortable and attractive anchorage on the NW side of Phuket. A great place to stop when heading to or coming back from the Similans or from Surin.   There are lots of restaurants and hotels on shore but we did not check them out.  Quiet.
Patong Bay – Our position: N 07 53.57 E 098 16.973
Patong is probably the most touristed city in Phuket….just filled with restaurants and bars. But its main attraction is the sex trade that goes on there. It was pretty overwhelming just in terms of the sheer masses of people that were wandering the streets there, either selling or buying… well, you know what.   Also sheer masses of rather perplexed looking tourists probably wondering what the heck they were doing there.  We went into town with our friends Karin and Jean Francois from Intiaq and had a nice dinner with them at an Italian restaurant (a nice break from the Thai food) and then spent an hour or two just wandering around gawking.  That was enough really for us.
Nai Harn – Our position: N 07 46.35 E098 18.073
Last good west facing anchorage before you hit the south coast of Phuket and the big rolly anchorage of Ao Chalong (which we avoided due to its constant roll). It was a lovely anchorage with several outdoor restaurants on the beach, at least 100 masseuses, and heaps of the typical Thailand tourists (Chinese and Russians). We ended up spending 3 nights there and visited with our friends on Dedalus as well as Caminata and Bichu Vermelho.
We are now berthed at the Royal Phuket Marina on the eastern side of Phuket. The boat will probably not move again until we head out into the bay just north of here to get picked up by the Danish freighter “THORCO SVENDBORGâ€Â for the ride to Turkey. Best estimated pick-up date for that is now March 12-13. We have a Turkish boat next to us in the marina and they have guaranteed us that we will love Turkey!
L.
Update from Koh Ra: an unexpected exchange of gifts
This morning we left Koh SurinTai island, which is right at the Burmese border, and began our one week return trip to Yacht Haven in Phuket. We did not expect to go anywhere today as the winds were forecast to be strong with rough seas, as they were yesterday. It gusted to 30 knots last night in the anchorage at Surin. But a weather change occurred overnight and the skies were blue and the winds light when we awoke this morning. So we called our friends on Dedalus, with whom we have been traveling for the past two weeks, and asked them if they were up for leaving. They were.
The wind was from the north at 15 knots and we made good time heading east for Koh Phra Thong (Golden Buddha) island about 30 miles away. As the day wore on the wind shifted to northwest and then west. We had hoped to anchor in front of miles of beach that make up the western shore of these islands but the unusual west wind brought breaking surf to the beaches. So we headed around to the other side of Koh Ra and anchored off a channel used by the local fishing boats. Minutes after we dropped anchor we heard men yelling behind our boat. We ran out on deck and there was a very large steel fishing boat (80 feet long) with her crew of young men all shouting and gesticulating. What they wanted to do was get close to us and throw us some packages. At first we thought they wanted to give us squid, prawns, or fish, but it was clear that they were just heading out to sea to fish, not returning. The captain came out of his pilot house and did that great Thai bow and pantomimed eating. As he skillfully pulled his ship to with 15 feet his crew threw us packages of barbequed chicken pieces on skewers, sticky rice, and spicy green papaya salad with crab. I threw back cans of Malaysian beer, much to the crews delight. We all bowed and waved to each other as the older Captain yelled “I love you” which may have been the only English he knew. A random act of kindness by the warm and friendly Thais.
M.
Ko Miang
We arrived in Ko Miang island, one of the Similan Islands, this afternoon. Turns out there is some pre 3G Mobile phone service here even though the islands are uninhabited except for a park ranger station. The service was installed as part of a tsunami warning system. Anyway, the water is crystal clear and there were lots of fish when we swam around the boat. We will write more later. It is nice to have cell phone service wherever we go.
M.
Departing for the Semilan Islands
Tomorrow (Thursday) morning we will leave Yacht Haven Marina heading for the Semilan Islands. We need to sail south to the southern end of Phuket Island and then north and west to the Semilans. We will day sail the trip around Phuket before heading to the Semilans from Patong Bay. From the Semilans we expect to sail to the Surin Islands that lie on the Myanmar (Burma) border. There is no phone or Internet access in the Semilans and we no longer have the sat phone, so we will not be able to post a blog for awhile. We will be away as long as we have fresh water in our tank since our water maker still does not work, but no longer than three weeks.
At the end of February we will do a visa run to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via air. Loading of Sabbatical III on the freighter will be sometime in the March 5 to 20 window. So we are pretty much booked up for the next few months.
M.
Talking Turkey
We have decided that there are too many pirates in the northern Indian Ocean and that the seas are too large in the Southern Ocean, so it makes sense to skip “over” these problems by putting Sabbatical III on a freighter and shipping her to Marmaris, Turkey. She will load sometime in March and unload in Turkey about 3 weeks later. Marmaris is the sailing capital of Turkey, located just a few hours sail from the Greek islands. This means that the planned circumnavigation will not happen, but the point all along is to have a safe and memorable adventure. We are looking forward to cruising in the Med.
M.
Some more photos from Phang Nga Bay
Phang Nga Bay with Ben: Part III
Phang Nga Bay with Ben: Part II
After spending most of the month of December at the marina in Phuket doing boat repairs we left the dock on December 28th to start heading across Phang Nga Bay to Krabi Province to pick up Ben.  Krabi is only about 32 nautical miles away as the crow flies, but you can’t go directly there because of all the islands in the way between Phuket and Krabi. There are also several areas in the large bay where the water is too shallow to cross except at a higher tide, so the timing of each day’s passage had to be planned out. We spent 4 days sailing through Phang Nga Bay stopping each day to drop anchor and explore the many spectacular islands that rise almost vertically out of the bay. The steep cliffs of these islands are famous for their many beautiful hidden “hongs†which are caves that are burrowed into the mountain, often opening into dramatic enclosed lagoons with emerald green water. Access to the hongs is typically by kayak, and sometimes the openings into the hongs are so small that you can only swim in.   The mountains of Phang Nga Bay, as well as the hongs, are famous and you would most likely have seen them in many of the travel brochures or other ads for Thailand.  There was even one featured in an old James Bond Movie (“The Man With the Golden Gun”) and it is now known as James Bond Island. Although James Bond Island was a bit underwhelming to us, compared to the other islands in the bay, its name has made it one of the busiest tourist destinations in the area.
We began at Koh Hong island where, in addition to the large hong, we were offered fresh prawns early each morning by fisherman on longtails. After spending a quiet New Years by ourselves in a beautiful anchorage 15 miles west of Krabi (Koh Kudu Yai) we sailed east towards Krabi in winds that often topped 30 knots. We arrived in Rai Le Bay (near Krabi) on January 1st.  As soon as we pulled into the beautiful bay we got a phone call from Ben. He was on the beach and had watched us drop anchor.  He and his large group of friends, all visiting Thailand, were all anxious to come to the boat. They had all attended the wedding of two of their Brown University friends in Bangkok (Sunissa and Nat) and were extending their celebration at the low-key backpacker resort area at Rai Le.   Ben arrived on our boat at about 5:30 p.m. via a longtail boat ( the name of the noisy local wooden boats that carry tourists and just about anything else you can think of back and forth) with a half dozen of his friends.  Soon after another 2 longtails arrived dropping off another 10 friends and we had a wonderful party onboard Sabbatical III. It was such a fun celebration to have Ben with us again, and then to be part of the celebration for his fantastic group of friends.
That night Ben went back to shore to spend one more night with his friends.  Poor guy got hit with either food poisoning or the flu and was up sick all night. By the next day he felt better and he and his close friend Nathanial and his wife, Stephanie all came out to the boat. We had planned to take them all out sailing for 2 days, but by the time we had dinner it was clear that it was Nathanial’s turn to be sick so he and Steph headed back to shore where they knew they would be more comfortable. They both ended up being sick, as did many others in their group. It must have been quite a contagious flu, but neither Mark nor I got it.
Rai Le Bay was beautiful, but way too noisy with dozens of longtails zooming by in the anchorage all day long, so we were happy to lift anchor, with Ben on board and proceed to one of the nearby anchorages (to “Chicken Head Island†) where we could enjoy the beauty of our surroundings.  We then spent the next 6 days sailing back towards Phuket with Ben, stopping in all of the beautiful places we had discovered on our way to meet him, and finding several more.   I am providing detailed notes on these anchorages later in the blog to aid other sailors.  Highlights of the trip included watching thousands of fruit bats rise up out of the trees on a mountain near us and fly directly overhead as they crossed over to some distant island, swimming everyday in the emerald green water (always on the look-out for jelly-fish), exploring the “hongs†or inner lagoons of many of the islands (to enter the hong you usually have to paddle through a narrow entrance either on a kayak or a dinghy – in some cases you can only swim in), admiring the sheer beauty of the sea mountains and all the strange shapes of the stalagtites, watching monkeys on the shore, watching Ben climb up to the naturally carved walkways formed on the outsides of the cliffs and leap off  (sometimes via a swinging vine), sitting on the deck every evening watching the clouds and stars, eating lots of mangoes, watermelon, bananas, mangosteen, rambutan, longan (Ben’s favorite). Eating too spicy curry. Making fruit smoothies. Being surrounded by natural beauty every single day. Having the anchorages all to ourselves at the end of the day when all the tourist boats would leave.
We arrived back at Phuket on the evening of the 8th and pulled into our marina slip on the 9th. On our last day on the boat together Mark and Ben had a chance to talk research and statistics and then we went to Nai Yang Beach where Ben and I were able to get a Thai massage at one of the 30 or so massage parlors that line the beach (they were great).  The airport is just 5 minutes from the beach and we managed to get Ben there just in time for his flight back to Bangkok and ultimately back to New York. It was a great trip.
L.
Phang Nga Bay with Ben: Part I
These are some photos taken after we left Yacht Haven at the northern end of Phuket Island and headed east through Phang Nga Bay in order to pick up Ben at Rai Le Beach in Krabi Province and bring him back to Phuket. More text and photos will follow in separate blog posts.
- Sabbatical III at anchor
Arrival in Thailand
We arrived at the northern tip of Phuket Island, Thailand late in the afternoon of December 5th and are tied up at the dock at Yacht Haven Marina at the north end of Phuket Island. We left Rebak Marina in Langkawi, Malaysia on November 28th, and only about 10 miles later entered the waters of Thailand. The whole week we moved north slowly, sometimes sailing just a few miles a day, trying to stop at many of the lovely anchorages that are along the way. We were able to do a lot of swimming and snorkeling for the first time since we left Indonesia more than a year ago. We didn’t swim in the ocean at all when we were in Malaysia as they have lots of nasty jellyfish there – some of them deadly poisonous and some of them just big and ugly and able to inflict quite a nasty sting. But since we entered Thai waters, the scenery and the water both changed dramatically (see photos). The weather was good the whole week and we loved being back at sea again – sleeping with the hatches open and the sea-breeze coming through (well, a bit of a breeze, anyways, it is still bloody hot). It is generally pretty windless here, but on the two days when we had to do 40 mile trips we got very lucky and had both the right wind and the right current to move us along quickly and we had lovely, fast sails, going an average of 8 to 9 knots on our best day.
Our first night at anchor was marred a bit by two events. We had finished inflating our dinghy so that we could go to shore at the first Thai Island (Koh Lipe) and then were trying to move the dinghy engine onto the dinghy when we found that something had seized up in the engine mount so that it could not swivel. It is not really possible to steer a dinghy unless you can swivel the engine, so Mark spent quite a bit of time trying to fix it, but to no avail. We had friends nearby (Rob and Mieke from the Dutch boat Stomper), who offered to take us to shore, but we decided to just stay on the boat and enjoy the lovely views. At about midnight, our quiet, peaceful anchorage suddenly erupted in loud, booming music and we discovered that we had anchored just across from a very late night disco on shore. The very bad and very loud music continued till after dawn! First thing in the morning our friends dinghied to shore to buy Thai sim cards for both of us and then we both sailed just 6 miles away to a very beautiful, deserted anchorage where we knew we would have peace and quiet. It was delightful and they invited us for dinner on their boat, picking us up in their dinghy.
There are many beautiful and famous islands here in Thailand, but perhaps the most popular one with tourists is called Phi Phi Don (that’s pronounced Pee Pee by the way). It is incredibly beautiful, but its beauty has been seriously marred by the vast number of tourists and tour boats that now flood the place. Ton Sai Bay, which is the largest and most protected bay on the island, is just filled with tourist boats of all shapes and sizes, all taking the multitudes out on day trips to snorkel or dive, or just sightsee. We spent one evening in the bay and were amazed by the volume of boat traffic in the small harbor. Our boat was constantly being rocked back and forth by the large wakes created by the boats speeding by us. Many of the boats came within a few feet of our boat at full speed. There are also a lot of people chartering sailboats. Most of the charterers are not very experienced and we always worry that their boats will drag during the night because they don’t set their anchors carefully. At any event, we really wanted to get off the bouncing boat and go into town as it is quite famous for its restaurants and shops and we weren’t sure how we were going to arrange this without a dinghy. Luckily for us, we were once again anchored next to friends, this time an Australian boat named Spirit of Sobraon whom we had met in Malaysia. Garry and Wendy came over in their dinghy and took us to shore and we had a wonderful evening wandering around town, enjoying the shops, eating our first Thai restaurant meal (delicious of course), and just being amazed by the number of tourists that were there. People from everywhere imaginable, including a large number of Russians, Israelis, Australians, Japanese, Koreans and Chinese. It is very disturbing to think of what happened here during the tsunami that hit S.E. Asia in 2004….. there were a vast number of casualties when the huge December tsunami hit the coast here. Since that time, when pretty much everything was destroyed here, the place has been re-built and has since become one of the top tourist destinations in S.E. Asia.
The most beautiful anchorage of all was the one we went to the next night. It is called Phi Phi Le and it is truly magnificent. It is a beautiful lagoon, surrounded by soaring limestone cliffs with a beach which was made somewhat famous by a Leonardo DiCaprio movie called The Beach and all the tourists want to see it. It really is beautiful, but if you go there between 8: 00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. the place is just filled to capacity with loud tour boats (loud engines) coming in and out constantly and hundreds of tourists on the beach and in the water. After 4:30, however, the place pretty much empties out and that is the time for sailors like us to come over. We got there at 4:30 and had only one other sailboat there with us and a couple of small tour boats. By 6:00 p.m. it was just us and the other sailboat and we had the most magnificent evening. The sound of the waves breaking on cliffs behind the boat was really something special and we sat outside until long after dark. By 8:00 the next morning there were at least 10 boats in the anchorage and more coming every minute so we untied ourselves from the mooring ball and headed out to our next spot. Having your own sailboat in these places is really the best possible way to travel.
Now we are once again in a marina. We would prefer not to be, but we have lots of repairs that need to be made. Our water maker is still not working, our generator is leaking water when it Is on (so we can’t run it), our dinghy engine does not work, our bimini (which gives us protection from the sun in the cockpit) is completely worn out and needs to be replaced, and the wood on the companionway door is all peeling off, making the door difficult to use and ugly to look at. Thailand has a good reputation for being a place to make boat repairs and we hope that this will turn out to be true. We rented a car for the month and have already found it to be really helpful as our marina is on the northern tip of Phuket and it will give us the flexibility we need to get around the island.
Lots of good food to try here. We have already discovered that the fruit is abundant, inexpensive and delicious, so we are quite happy.
L.
Leaving Malaysia
Well, it’s November 27th , the day after Mark’s 63rd birthday, and we are planning to leave Malaysia tomorrow. We have been in the same marina since October 25th.  (Rebak Marina on  tiny Rebak Island near the larger island of Langkawi on the west side of Malaysia)    It was unusual for us to spend so much time in one place.  There are lots of other sailors here and we had a nice little community of friends, old and new. We are neighbors with two Australian boats who are very friendly…. Soul and Investigator II, and we also have good friends down the dock on the boat Revelation.  Intiaq was here for a while, as was Freeform and Dedalus. Lots of other friends are here, all waiting to head up to Thailand.
I was doing yoga and pilates in the mornings with a group of other cruisers until I threw my back out one morning. Since then, I have just stuck to swimming in the resort pool which is lovely, especially in the late afternoon. Our marina, as we may have mentioned before, is kind of a showpiece for a 5 star resort which seems to be a popular honeymoon spot for Saudi’s, Indians, as well as many westerners. It’s a great mix of women in burkhas and women in bikinis.
We get decent internet here so we have been able to catch up on the news everyday and have been able to talk to the kids and my mom on a regular basis through either Skype or Google voice. Cell phone service is cheap, but the reception here is kind of spotty and we find we do much better with the computer options.
Since we are on a small island which is a few miles away from the main island of Langkawi, we have to take a ferry to get to town. We have gone in about once a week to get groceries.  It is relatively easy, but still a major undertaking. The day before we go to town we have to contact a Mr. Din by phone to request a car. He is a Malaysian guy who rents out very crappy cars for about 50 ringgats ($15) a day to cruisers.  We hop on the ferry that is run by the resort (several crossings every day) and take the 15 minute ride over to Langkawi. Mr. Din is always there with a lineup of dented, much abused, but still running cars. You just pay him the 50 ringgats and he hands over the keys. No paperwork- no insurance. The only rule is that you have to leave two bars of fuel in the car (hence the nickname 2 bar Din)   Once in the car it is about 10 miles into town, but along the way there are lots of different places to stop and shop for whatever you want. It is not a very attractive place, but is well stocked since it is a duty free island. The sailors love it because you can get booze very cheaply, along with whatever else you need.  We are not exactly big drinkers, so we didn’t benefit so much from the cheap booze, but did find some delicious duty free chocolate which we will have no problem eating over the next few months.   The only hard part of the excursion is that once you have collected all your groceries and cans and bottles and returned the car to the dock you have to load everything onto the ferry boat, and then when you get back to the marina you have to unload it and carry it up one dock and down another and then onto the boat, and then down the companionway stairs.  It is always so hot by that time of day that we are absolutely pouring sweat and once we get home and get everything put away we have to collapse for a while.  Makes life interesting and makes you appreciate whatever food you have on board.
There is a restaurant here for the cruisers called the Hard Dock Café and we meet there pretty regularly with friends.  Service is incredibly slow, but the food is good. There is also a lovely place to have breakfast at the main resort – a delicious breakfast buffet that we have tried to take advantage of at least once a week.
Our trip to Cambodia ( November 6th – 14th) which was by airplane, not by boat, was an interesting excursion, but since we have already posted pictures of that trip on the blog, I won’t talk about it here.
It is only 24 miles to the Koh Lipe, our first Thai island. Just a few hours by sail.
L.
Photos from Cambodia: Part 2
Photos from Cambodia: Part 1
Rebak
We have spent our time at the Rebak Marina working on the boat and spending time with friends who are here working on their boats. Most everyone is also waiting for the unsettled weather to end and for the northeast monsoon (the dry season) to settle in before moving north to Thailand. We have had late afternoon and evening squalls almost every day, typically with plenty of lightening and strong wind gusts. The forecast is more of the same as the southwest (rainy) monsoon lingers.
The big issue on Sabbatical III is the water maker, which is still inoperative. I have been communicating with a technician in Spain and have made some progress. We have ruled out the water maker pumps as a source of the problem and are now focusing on the logic board that regulates the process and monitors water pressure and the like. I may need some parts sent to me from Europe to get the water maker working again. Langkawi is a good place for that as it is a duty-free island with an international airport. I have already received a box of parts from the US (for an unrelated issue) that arrived quickly and without trouble.  Maintaining and fixing one’s boat is really a big part of cruising and my repair skills are not nearly as good as many other sailors.
Later today we are flying to KL (Kuala Lumpur) in order to catch an early morning flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We found a great deal on Air Asia, which flies out of Langkawi. We will spend 3 or 4 days in the Siem Reap area (where Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom are located) and then take a boat down river  to Phnom Penh, spend a few days there, and then return. All of our friends who spent the wet monsoon season in Malaysia have done similar “land†trips up to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar while waiting for the sailing season to begin, and they all speak glowingly of their experiences.
This is a photo taken at the Halloween party. Laura and I came as “Floridians†with big glasses. Drew from “Revelation†is Lance Armstrong (note the syringes in his arm), and his wife Lili came as the “galley winch†(that’s a winch handle on her head). It was a great party. It was held in the open pavilion adjacent to the marina and organized by Rebak resort. All the waiters and cooks were dressed as ghouls and the like, the desserts were served out of caskets, and the table clothes and decorations were all appropriately themed. The food was great and there was live music and dancing. We ate char kway teow, our favorite noodle dish from Penang, skewered prawns, barbecued lamb, and ABC (mixed fruit ice). We also won the prize for best dancing couple which entitled us to a free meal at the resort restaurant.
We will try to send reports from Cambodia.
M.
Langkawi
We are tied up at the Rebak Marina, part of the five star Rebak Island Resort. We arrived yesterday morning. We spent the night before at the “Fjord anchorage” in southern Langkawi after a hot but fast (due to current, not wind) sail from Penang. It was only 10 more miles to Rebak Island.
This morning (Friday) was the weekly “veggie run” over to the big island of Langkawi. The resort/marina took us yachties over in a small ferry (about 15 – 18 passengers) to meet the veggie man who comes over in his van and lays out boxes of fruits and vegetables on the ground, plus styrofoam containers with frozen meat and fish and chilled yogurt and cheese. It is a mixture of Malaysian produce and Australian products. It was a better assortment of fruits and vegetables than we saw in Penang, the second largest city of Malaysia. I think the nice assortment of food derives from the supply chain for the five star resorts that are a major part of the economic life of Langkawi, the fact that Langkawi is a duty-free archipelago, and the international airport connecting Langkawi to sources of supply. We all came to buy — filling up bags with all kinds of good stuff. The veggie man did a lot of cash business in 30 minutes, and had a grateful bunch of customers,
Langkawi consists of 104 islands of which only four are inhabited. Rebak Island was apparently not inhabited until the Taj Hotel group built the resort and marina. The resort is popular with Saudis. We have seen many young Saudi couples (some on honeymoons) and families strolling around and riding the ferry. The women are dressed head-to-toe in black burkhas and sit by the pool to watch their husbands and children swim.
We will be here for a few weeks working on some boat projects and visiting with some sailing friends from last year and before.
M.
View of Straits Quay Marina complex (Penang) in the morning mist
Jewish Cemetery: Penang
Yesterday, we ventured into Chinatown, Little India, and then to the Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery is on Zainal Abidin Road, but was called Jahudi Road in the past. The Indian-Malaysian caretaker lives in the cemetery with his family and was happy to open the gates and show us around.
There is only one Jewish-Malaysian passport holder left — Mr. Mordecai’s niece, who lives in Sydney, Australia.
One grave in the cemetery is kept up by the British government. It is that of Eliaho Hayeem Victor Cohen, a Lieutenant in the British Indian Army killed in an accident on 10 October 1941.
The Penang Jewish Community reached its peak numbers around 1900. Today only some Russian refugees are said to remain.
We went to the Hameediya Indian-Malay restaurant for lunch. Physically, it is not much to look at, but the food is great and cheap. We had some rendang beef, Laura’s favorite dish, as well as curry, martabah, and naan.
Tomorrow we will leave the Straits Quay Marina heading for the islands of Langkawi. We will anchor out in southern Langkawi the first night, and then make our way to the Rebak Marina on Rebak Island the next day.
M.
Kek Lok Si: Penang
Kek Lok Si is claimed to be the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. It is quite spectacular even though it was a hot day for walking around. There were shady places in pagodas and gardens.
By one accounting, Penang is one of the 10 places in the world that one has to see in one’s lifetime. In every article about Penang, the excellence and diversity of the cuisine always gets equal billing with the physical attractions. Not wanting to miss out on this facet by narrowly focusing on places and people, Laura and I have devoted substantial effort to sampling all of the foods of Penang, although only to gain more insight into the place. We have had duck in one form or another almost every day, plus chicken-rice, the national dish, dim sum, kangkung (spinach) in oyster sauce, satay in spicy peanut sauce, tandori chicken with naan and dal, ABC (Air Batu Campur – mixed ice) which is shaved ice, palm seed, red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly, peanuts and condensed milk.
We have dined in restaurants and at food stalls and we tend to prefer the food stalls. There are collections of stalls everywhere. For example, there is an outdoor food court that is a 15 minute walk from the marina. In this food court, there are 40 or so stalls, each about 5 feet wide, serving a different food cooked for you at the time you order. A quarter crisply duck with rice and duck soup is Ringgit 9 ($3). In each food court there is only one vendor selling drinks. Laura always orders the carrot susu ais, fresh carrot juice with sweet milk on ice. I tend to get different fruit juices every time. All made fresh. There are plastic tables set up in the center of the food court that not assigned to a stall. We start by walking around the perimeter of the food court looking at whats cooking, ask some questions, order and point to a table. In five minutes, the food arrives.
There is a very nice restaurant 50 meters from the boat inside the Straits Quay Marina Mall called Cheeky Duck. We have had the duck and dim sum there and it has always been great. The bottom line is, Penang is justifiably famous for its food.
M.
Penang: Buddhist Temples
This morning we went to the Thai Consulate to apply for 90 visa. We had 5 hours to kill waiting for our passports to be stamped, so we visited two nearby Buddhist Temples, had an early lunch, and visited the Penang Museum.
The Penang Museum traces all of the peoples and religions that shaped Penang. Buddhists from Siam and Burma, Hindus from India, Arabs and Jews (Bagdadi Jews), Indonesians (Acehnese, Javanese, Minangkabau), Chinese, Malays, and Europeans. There are Confucian, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist temples, mosques, Catholic convents, and churches (the synagogue closed in 1976).
M.
Maps of where we are and where we are going
We started our sailing season in Pangkor and are now in Penang (in a marina outside of Georgetown). From here we go to Langkawi for a few weeks and then to Phuket, Thailand.
We spent a few hours walking around one section of Georgetown yesterday, taking in the sights and sounds and sampling food. Tomorrow we will try to see the old colonial section of town, plus get our Thai visas.
M.
On the road again
We left the Pangkor Marina on Wednesday and arrived in Penang Island yesterday (Friday) before noon. The sail was uneventful (except for the failure of our watermaker). There were lots of fishing boats, many of them trailing nets, light morning breezes from the northeast, and nice afternoon winds from the west. We sailed more than I expected. It was sunny and hot, and we had to get used to sleeping in a hot boat while anchored (at Pulau Talang and Pulau Rimau).
Yesterday morning we sailed up the east side of Penang, through the new bridge under construction, then under the old bridge, and around the top to the new marina at the massive and still incomplete complex being built by Eastern and Oriental (E&O). The marina, Straits Quay, was built as eye candy for the luxury condos and shops built on a few square miles of fill. There are 40 restaurants fronting on the marina, including Starbucks and Subway, and twice as many shops including Versace and all the fancy brands. There is a performing arts center, pools, spas, and exhibition space. Seven new highrise towers are being finished just to the west of the marina, and a few more to the north. There is a giant mall centered around a Tesco supermarket. A delightful oceanside walking path follows the coast for a mile in the direction of Georgetown (the main city), all of which is part of the same E&O development. The path fronts one and two story luxury homes, many still under construction. Many have private pools. There is a whole lot of new money floating around southeast Asia and it seems as if a lot of it is getting parked in Penang.
The marina is quite small but it is the nicest one we have seen since we left the US, and probably the nicest we have ever stayed. The cost — $17 day plus power (perhaps $5 day, metered). We booked 12 days here (reserved two months ago) and later today we will explore Georgetown. Penang is a UNESCO World Heritage site with many urban and physical attractions, and is considered to offer some of the finest food in the world. Duck is a famous specialty. We will report more on all this later.
Here are some photos of from our launch and sail.
M.
Departing for Penang
We will leave the Pangkor Marina in about an hour (at 1100 local time) heading for the island of Penang. Today we will only go 16 nm and anchor behind Pulau Talang (Talang Island). Tomorrow we will anchor behind Pulau Rimau just to the southeast of Penang. Friday we will pass under the new bridge under construction that connects Penang to the mainland, and enter the Straits Marina on the north side of the island. It is hot and sunny and the wind seems to be right on the nose, although it is light . I think we may need to motor some of the way.
M.
Provisioning the boat
We went to the night farmers market to buy produce last night. Sabbatical III should be ready to head north on Wednesday.
M.
Back in the water
We were gently eased into the water by the Sealift at the end of the day on Monday. The engine started up right away, the bow thruster deployed, and water did not leak into the boat. All in all a good start. This morning we got the air conditioning working, which is a good thing considering the heat, and started putting away the pile of stuff we brought aboard. We hope to start heading north in 8 to 10 days. Since we are not going far to start, we do not have to get every issue on the boat resolved before setting out. The aft cabin is full of sails, a life raft, abandon ship bags, and assorted other stuff that needs to be put into their right places. It is good to be living aboard again. We were getting to like living ashore in the Best Western Hotel too much.
M.
Still out of the water
We did not get launched as planned today. Yesterday, I went to put anti-fouling paint on the inside of the bow thruster and found a small amount of gear oil pooled at the bottom. For a minute, I tried to tell myself that this was just thick water but then had to admit that there is no such thing as thick water. It was definitely oil and that meant I had to find the leak and fix it. Not that big a job actually but it meant delaying our launch until Monday since I would need to drop the whole bow thruster assembly out of the bottom of the boat.
Only one boat can be launched on Saturday (because of tides and the need to paint the bottom of the scheduled boat’s keel while in the lift), so we had to book a late Monday launch appointment. I replaced the bow thruster prop seal today, which I hope will cure the problem,
Our hotel now has a bar and just put up this poster to advertise it. I think that they mean “tid bits” with beer as this is a pretty conservative small town.
M.
Back in Malaysia
Hi there! We are back in Malaysia, after a long, but relatively easy series of flights . The money spent for extra leg-room on the 15 hour flight between N.Y. and Hong Kong was well worth it. We even managed to sleep for a big part of the trip. You know the kind of sleep I am talking about if you have flown long distances. Sitting up-right, with your head nodding and drool coming out of your mouth, and then jerking awake because your head is about to fall off your shoulders. Your hands and arms numb from having them crossed in front of you. Your buttocks aching from sitting upright. Your mouth dry and your breath bad from eating airline food. Not exactly your idea of a great night sleep – but still a great way to pass the time as quickly as possible. The Chinese man sitting next to me put his blanket over him as we took off, closed his eyes, and except for snapping to attention during the two meals that were served, he seemed to sleep the entire 15 hours.
All our luggage arrived in Malaysia in good shape. This is always a big relief for us as our bags are stuffed with various spare parts for the boat – things which would be hard and expensive to replace.  Our bags must have looked suspicious to the TSA staff as a few of them had obviously been opened for inspection.  (They leave you a note inside when they do that).
We had a good nights’ sleep at the airport hotel before proceeding by bus to Setiawan – a small town that is close to our marina.  One of our old sailing friends, Jim (from the boat Cardea), picked us up in a rental car we will share with him. Our boat is out of the water and in no shape for habitation for at least a few days, so we checked into the Best Western Hotel that is right at the marina. It is clean and comfortable, with a few oddities, but it has free internet.
I had to laugh when the first song I heard on the radio coming to the marina was “Call Me Maybe†– the number one hit in the U.S. There is such a mix of cultures in Malaysia that it is quite an interesting place just for people watching.  We will try to post some pictures to illustrate some of this. The most telling are the women… and how they dress. You see everything from very conservative full burkhas to girls in t-shirts and short-shorts and no-one seems to bat an eye.   At least half the women have a head-scarf.
We found the boat in good shape, except that one of the wires on the solar-panel had apparently corroded while we were gone and the batteries, which we had expected to remain fully charged through solar power while we were gone, were nearly drained. Mark was able to repair this quickly and we hope that the batteries will be ok.  The boat hull is getting painted this week (between deluges of rain) and we plan to  get her back in the water by Friday.
L.
Sabbatical III on the hard
At the end of November, Sabbatical III was hauled out of the water and placed on a hardstand at Pangkor Marina, Malaysia. We are now back in the US and regular blog posts will resume once we return to the boat. In the coming weeks, we will prepare and post some video and additional photos of the last sailing season.
M.
Photos from Malaysia
Laura and Jean-Francois of Intiaq in the Cameron Highlands
Beware of “Bogus Monks” at Buddhist temples (Melaka)
Scorpions at nature park, Cameron Highland
Tarantula at nature park, Cameron Highlands
Green Leaf Bug, Cameron Highlands
Boh Tea Plantation, Caneron Highlands
Jean-Francois and Karin from “Intiaq” with us at the Boh Tea Plantation
Rickshaws in front of Christ Church, Melaka
M.
Where we have been and where we are now
The map above shows some of our stops over the past two months. The red icon is Bali, the yellow icon is Kumai, Borneo, the white is Belitong Island (our last stop in Indonesia), and the green is Singapore.
The map above shows our stops in the past month. Belitong (Indonesia) in white, Singapore in green, Port Dickson, Malaysia in red, and Pangkor (Lumut), Malaysia, our current location, in yellow.
M.
Photos from Singapore
Here are some photos from Singapore. — M
Old and New in Singapore
The AIS screen on Sabbatical III showing the freighters and tankers around us in the Singapore Straits as we entered from Indonesia. Sabbatical III is the purple dot at bottom center.
Tankers in the Singapore Strait.
Touring Singapore with Melinda and George of “Dedalus.”
In case there was any doubt.
Hannah in Little India.
The Boon Lay subway station. The station nearest to the Raffles Marina.
With Karin and Jean-Francois of “Intiaq” in Little India (Singapore) after dining on Kerelan food.
With Karin and Jean-Francois on the subway.
The famous Raffles Hotel in the background.
Little India.
Milk ad on bus (Singapore).
Sign in supermarket.
Port Dickson, Malaysia
November 2, 2011
We are now at Admiral Marina in Port Dickson – about ¼ of the way up the west side of Malaysia. We left Singapore several days ago – October 27th . Even though we are currently only about a 3 hour drive from Singapore, it took us a few days of sailing to arrive at our destination. We only want to sail during daylight hours here because of the large amount of shipping traffic moving up with us through the Malacca Straits (one of the world’s busiest shipping channels), and there are also lots of smaller boats with long strings of fishing nets strung out behind them, much as we have seen elsewhere on our trip this year. It is a bit too risky to sail at night, so we had to do day sails to arrive at this first marina. We stopped for a night each in two anchorages – Pulau Pisang and Pulau Besar – on the way. Each afternoon at around 3:00 p.m. there are heavy rainshowers and a lot of thunder and lightning so we have tried our best to be at anchor by that time. We arrived in Port Dickson on the 29th and were thrilled to find it an extremely comfortable and rather elegant place. The marina is attached to some very luxurious condominiums and we are enjoying the uniformed Gurkha guards saluting us as we go up the dock to shore each day. There is a beautiful swimming pool, a couple of restaurants and a lovely, colonial style building that houses the complex. Malaysia is a very interesting county – a mix of Malays, Chinese and Indians – with many of the women dressed in very colorful head-scarves and conservative Muslim dress, but many others dressed in short skirts and high heels. It clearly seems to be a thriving economy.
We took a couple of days off the boat and went down to the city of Melaka. It is just about 75 kilometers from here. We took local buses (clean, modern, air-conditioned and very comfortable) down there to meet our friends Karin and Jean-Francois from the boat Intiaq who stopped there with their boat rather than at Port Dickson. The buses were clean and comfortable, but it took about 4 hours to go there as we had to switch buses at a town that was actually out of the way. Melaka used to be one of the greatest trading ports in Asia, but it is now considered a tourist town. The city is clean and attractive and very trendy, with a great Chinatown area, some old forts from previous Portuguese colonizers (they were also colonized by the British and the Dutch, not to mention being occupied by the Japanese during WWII). There are lots of very trendy and fashionable clothing shops and art studios, but most importantly an abundance of delicious and inexpensive restaurants. Once again, as in Singapore, we are finding the highlight of our day to be the food we are eating. It is wonderful and you can’t go a block without finding several wonderful restaurants or food stalls. Melaka is apparently a very popular week-end spot for people from Singapore who also are keen on the food.
We stayed at an adorable hotel in Melaka- the Hotel Puri- – which was right in the middle of Chinatown and had beautiful décor in the lobby (old Chinese cane and inlaid furniture) and cool(ish), quiet, gardens to relax in. The rooms were simple, but air-conditioned and quiet so we were quite happy. They served a wonderful breakfast in one of the inner courtyard gardens – complete with steamed buns, egg custard tarts, curried noodles, fresh fruit, and lots of more European style breakfast foods. Had our first pieces of toast in several months, so even that felt like a treat. We really enjoyed our two days there. We decided to take a taxi back to Port Dickson which turned out to be a great idea – cutting the time involved in half and we had a lovely view of the countryside – stopping on the way back to buy local mangoes and about 10 kilos of other fruit.
We plan to leave here tomorrow and continue heading north – hoping to be at our final destination – Pangkor Marina – in just a few days.
L.
Departing Singapore
It is 7:30 am Thursday morning in Singapore, and we will be departing for Port Dickson, Malaysia in about one hour. It is a two and one-half days passage up the Straits of Malacca to Port Dickson. We plan to anchor at the small island of Pulau Pisang tonight, at Pulau Besar tomorrow night, before arriving at the Admiral Marina outside of Port Dickson on Saturday afternoon.
M.
Singapore
We’ve now been in Singapore for about 10 days, having arrived here on October 15th. It is hot and humid with almost daily thunderstorms. It is also incredibly clean, and green and efficient. Despite all the buildings and construction and highways, they have managed to keep an incredible amount of green space which really makes the city very attractive. We had Hannah with us for the first 6 days and we kept busy doing sightseeing and eating as often as we could in Chinatown, Little India, and even shopping malls since the food is so uniformly delicious here. It reflects the mix of people who live in Singapore – primarily Malay, Chinese and Indian. The Raffles Marina where we are staying on our boat is kind of far from the city, but there is a free shuttle bus that takes us the 15 minute ride to a huge shopping center (Boon Lay), and from there we have a very inexpensive, clean and fast train that takes us into town in less than 1/2 an hour.
We visited the botanical gardens yesterday with good friends of ours from the boat Dedalus and really loved it – the most beautiful orchid gardens you can imagine.
We have also re-connected with old friends from the catamaran Intiaq. These are friends that we met in the Galapagos and we sailed on and off with them for much of our 1st and 3rd years out. We somehow managed to arrive in Singapore on the same day – after not seeing them for 2 years. They sailed in from northern Borneo and we arrived from Indonesia. Small world?
Lots to do and see in this place, but we plan to leave here on Thursday and start sailing up the coast of Malyasia to Pangkor Marina. That’s where we will leave Sabbatical III for the winter…..
L.
We visited the botanical gardens yesterday with good friends of ours from the boat Dedalus and really loved it – the most beautiful orchid gardens you can imagine.
We have also re-connected with old friends from the catamaran Intiaq. These are friends that we met in the Galapagos and we sailed on and off with them for much of our 1st and 3rd years out. We somehow managed to arrive in Singapore on the same day – after not seeing them for 2 years. They sailed in from northern Borneo and we arrived from Indonesia. Small world?
Lots to do and see in this place, but we plan to leave here on Thursday and start sailing up the coast of Malyasia to Pangkor Marina. That’s where we will leave Sabbatical III for the winter…..
L.
Photos from Belitong (Indonesia)
One of hundreds of billboards and banners welcoming “Sail Wakitobi Belitong”
“Mr. and Ms. Belitong”
Kite festival
Lunch given by the Regent of Belitong
Regent (in blue shirt) poses with us and Carmen of “Caminata”
Rambutan (“hairy fruit”) for sale in Belitong market
Three local schoolchildren whom we hosted on Sabbatical III
M.
Crossing the Equator to Singapore
Hannah prepares to be initiated into the Secret Society of Mariners who have Crossed the Equator on a Sailing Vessel
                                                                     Â
We are in Singapore. We left Belitong late in the afternoon of October 11 for a 44 hour sail to Sebangka Island. We rested for the night at anchor at Sebangka and then day sailed to Batam Island, rested for the night, and then sailed the remaining 9 hours to the Raffles Marina in Singapore, arriving yesterday (October 15) in the afternoon.
At about 7 am on October 13, Sabbatical III crossed the equator just south of Kentar Island. The last time we were in the northern hemisphere was late March 2007 when we were a day away from the Galapagos Islands on the passage from Panama. It is a tradtion among mariners that those aboard must be initiated the first time they cross the equator by boat. At 7 am on October 13, the “tadpole” Hannah was initiated by King Poseidon (see photo below) and Queen Neptune (not shown as she was taking the photo).
Hannah is initiated by King Poseidon (who carries a monodent instead of the usual trident)
Also, noteworthy on that day is the passage of a waterspout (tornado over the water) that passed within a mile of Sabbatical III.
We will post photos from Belitong and blog about Singapore in the coming days.
M.
Belitong
We have been in Belitong for nearly a week now – our last stop in Indonesia. We have never encountered a more welcoming place. They have made all the cruisers feel so welcome – with huge “Welcome Sail Indonesia” ” Sail Wakatobe Belitong” banners all the way down the beach and down the road for 20 miles or more – traditional dancing everyday on the beach – events and tours and meals for us every day. The people here are so friendly and everyone wants to take our picture. I think we must have posed for 40 different families already. The water is lovely and the beach is clean and we have been able to kayak everyday – early in the morning when it is calm. The weather is starting to change as we get nearer and nearer to the equator and later in the season – and we are starting to see thunderstorms almost daily.
Last night was the final event of this year’s “Sail Indonesia Rally”. We had a fun evening on shore with some speeches by local dignitaries (a bit boring), followed by lots of traditional dancing, and then very funny performances by various groups of sailors.
We are sad to leave, but it is time to get to Singapore with Hannah. We leave this afternoon and it will take us about 4 days to get there – with a few stops on the way.
L.
Last night was the final event of this year’s “Sail Indonesia Rally”. We had a fun evening on shore with some speeches by local dignitaries (a bit boring), followed by lots of traditional dancing, and then very funny performances by various groups of sailors.
We are sad to leave, but it is time to get to Singapore with Hannah. We leave this afternoon and it will take us about 4 days to get there – with a few stops on the way.
L.
Trip up the Sekonyer River
We just got back from a two day/one night trip up the river near Kumai (Borneo) to see the orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park. This is the main, and only, tourist attraction in this part of Borneo, and it was one of the things we have most anticipated on our tour through Indonesia. We signed on with “Herryâ€, a local tour guide operator who has a very good reputation among other sailors who have been here in previous years, to take a tour up the river on a local klotok (a wooden boat – see pictures we have posted).
The boat has a big deck on top, open, except for a canopy overhead to protect you from the sun and rain, that was our private space while our “crew†including a guide, a pilot, a cook and a “boat boy†worked mainly on the lower deck to take care of everything we needed on the trip. The klotoks are very simple, but felt quite luxurious to us as we are so used to doing everything ourselves and suddenly we had people making us food, steering the boat, cleaning up after us, serving us tea, etc. The boat ride takes you up a narrow river, lined by thick vegetation up into the national park where the orangutans live. The ride is lovely with many types of monkeys in the trees overhead, tropical birds and even some crocodiles and large lizards. Our guide was named Seapon and he is a native Dayak (an indigenous ethnic group in Indonesia) who spent 11 years working at Camp Leakey (the main site for the orangutans).
We stopped at three places over the 2 days and hiked into the jungle to view the orangutans who come down to specific feeding sites. They were pretty amazing and we took lots of great photos. In between orangutan viewings we were entertained by our guide Seapon and were fed wonderful meals. We anchored in the river at night and the crew set up our beds for us – thick mats on the floor of the deck – and covered each bed with mosquito nets. The crew sat and fished from the boat while Mark and Hannah and I had dinner and just sat in the candlelight talking and listening to the wonderful jungle sounds. At dusk there were hundreds of monkeys in the trees lining the river – including the fantastic proboscis monkeys ( they have huge long noses) and then after dark the trees were just filled with fireflies. It was a terrific trip.
L.
Orangutans
Video:Â Alpha males descends from the tress to drink milk
M.
From Bali to Borneo
We had a great trip to Bali. Hannah was especially smitten with the place. We left our boat for three days and went up to a beautiful little village called Munduk which is up on a high mountain ridge – ringed by mountains and terraced rice fields. We stayed two nights in a beautiful Balinese bungalow called “Puri Lumbungâ€. We had a private little cottage overlooking the rice paddies with a lovely balcony and a big mosquito net over the beds (which was fortunately not necessary as it is the dry season in Bali). It was not a huge room, but felt so spacious compared to the boat. It had all the hot water we could use, a beautiful buffet breakfast….. luxuries that we don’t get normally while living and traveling on the boat. The grounds were landscaped so beautifully and we spent a fair amount of time just wandering around admiring the lovely setting. That area of Bali is known for great hiking and we spent most of an entire day with a local guide walking up and down the steep terraced fields, in and out of various villages, up to a waterfall, and through coffee and clove plantations. It was very beautiful.
We had to get back to the boat since we are not comfortable leaving it in any anchorage unattended for two long. Gwen and Don, two friends of ours who were baby-sitting another boat volunteered to turn on our generator twice a day while we were gone and keep our batteries full and our fridge and freezer running. Once we got back to the boat Hannah decided that she would like to go see Ubud – the center for arts and culture in Bali. She took a shuttle bus there and found a beautiful little “home-stay†in Ubud ($10 a day including breakfast!) and had an amazing adventure – meeting a lot of Balinese, watching a Balinese dance class and then arranging for a private lesson with the teacher, getting invited to the teacher’s house in a nearby village, attending a cremation ceremony and a wedding ceremony (separately of course), and just falling in love with the beauty of true Balinese culture. A lot of Ubud is very touristy, but she was able to find her way out of that stuff.
There were a lot of “Sail Indonesia†activities while we were in Bali as well. There must have been 70 sailboats from all over the world there at the same time – all in the same anchorage – all having started with the Rally in Darwin, Australia like we did. There were organized activities every night which were fabulous – Balinese dance and gamelan music on the beach for all the cruisers to enjoy for free. I had not seen Balinese dance for 30 years, but it was as beautiful as I remember it. The last night of the rally there was dancing and music and a big dinner party on the last night of the rally and we all enjoyed it –complete with crazy fireworks being set off about 10 feet from where we were eating- and funny karaoke singers with sailors joining in full voice.
We left Bali on Saturday (November 24) at 1:30 am heading for Kangean Island in the Bali Sea. We arrived there at 4:00 pm after a rolly sail with plenty of wind, and anchored next to our friends on “Gosi.†We were very tired since we had little sleep the night before but after a good night’s sleep, we got up early on Sunday (6:00 am) ready for the 2 ½ day passage to Kumai in the province of Central Borneo (Kalimantan Tengah), across the Java Sea.
There was lots of traffic to avoid in the Java Sea. There were scores of fishing vessels, many of them quite small and without lights. There was substantial international shipping traffic, such as tankers heading for Brisbane, that broadcast an AIS signal warning us of their approach, but also lots of Indonesian inter-island traffic without AIS or the internationally required sets of lights. These included tugs pulling enormous barges loaded with coal from Borneo. We had to scan the horizon constantly during the night, plus check the radar looking for targets. Night watches were very tiring compared to those we experience sailing across the Pacific Ocean. We often had to change course to keep clear of other vessels. Having Hannah on-board was a great help. She was with each of us for half of our night watch, scanning the horizon while we fiddled with the AIS and radar, or just relaxed a bit in the cockpit. We had enough wind to sail about half the distance to Borneo, motoring the rest of the time, which is about what we expected.
We wound our way up the brown water of the Kumai River, the banks of which are dense mangrove and rainforest, for 3 to 4 hours until we arrived at the town of Kumai about noon yesterday. The town is adjacent to a large national park that contains orangutans (the only great ape found outside of Africa), proboscis monkeys, and a variety of other remarkable creatures. The only transportation in this area is by boat on the myriad rainforest rivers. Tomorrow we will take a two day trip on a local klotok (wooden boat) to see the orangutans and monkeys at Camp Leakey and other research centers in the interior rainforest. We will sleep on the deck of the klotok, under mosquito nets. We will have a captain, a boat boy, a cook, and a guide. Should be exciting, and no night watches.
L. & M. & H.
Photos from Bali
This is a selection of photos from Bali:
Bali
We have been so busy enjoying ourselves with Hannah, that we have been terrible bloggers lately. Lots has happened and I cannot recite events now since we are packing for a three day trip into the central mountains of Bali. We are currently at Lovina on the northwest side of Bali after a surprisingly fast sail from Gili Air. We spent 8 days at Gili Air, a small island just off the north coast of Lombok Island, where we were able to eat out in a restaurant every day, buy mangoes, pineapples, and other fresh fruit and vegetables, swim and snorkel, and take long walks. Hannah took the 3 day PADI Open Water scuba course and is now certified. She did four dives as part of the course.
We will be in Bali for one week. There are 3 days of Sail Indonesia Rally events here, and about 50 sail boats are now crowded behind the reef. We will write more after we return from our Bali mountain retreat.
M.
Time in Indonesia with Hannah
We have had Hannah with us for 10 days now and have been too busy (and sometimes too tired) to write. We are having a great time – have sailed a few hundred miles with Hannah – through the Komodo Islands , past Sumbawa and on to Lombok (right next to Bali). We have taken her for a hike to see the komodo dragons, had some amazing snorkeling in the komodo islands, done lots of kayaking in beautiful deserted bays, seen wild deer, wild boar, and sea turtles, had two over-night sails where Hannah shared in the night-watches, introduced her to lots of other sailors, and we are now enjoying the resort atmosphere of the tiny island of Gili Air. This place is filled with backpackers and restaurants and dive shops. It is a little like Bali of 30 years ago – low-key and hassle free. Hannah is currently taking a 3 day course to get a diving license (that’s diving, not driving!). There are tons of restaurants here , all overlooking the beach, and they are good and incredibly inexpensive so we have been eating out a lot. It doesn’t get much better than this…..
(Our route with Hannah has gone from Labuhan Bajo (western Flores Island) to Rinca (western Flores Island) to Pantai Mera (Western Flores Island) to Batu Monca (Western Flores) to Pulau Medong (Sumbawa) to Gili Air (NW Lombok).
We will be here for a few more days and then head to Bali!
(Our route with Hannah has gone from Labuhan Bajo (western Flores Island) to Rinca (western Flores Island) to Pantai Mera (Western Flores Island) to Batu Monca (Western Flores) to Pulau Medong (Sumbawa) to Gili Air (NW Lombok).
We will be here for a few more days and then head to Bali!
Kayaking in northern Komodo Island with “Haven” and “Gosi” anchored in the background
Photos from Komodo and western Flores
- Komodo Dragon sticks his tongue out at us: Rinca Island
Video of Komodo dragon above
M.
Boars, monkeys, and dragons
A lot has happened since we posted our last blog. We are currently anchored off of Teluk Sorolia (Sorolia Bay) on Komodo Island. The is no habitation on the shore that we are facing, only five large wild pigs (boars) walking up the beach looking for something to eat. They are quite skittish since they are preyed upon by the Komodo Dragon, the largest reptile in the world. The dragons are up to 10 feet long (a lot of that is tail) and 220 pounds. They prey on every creature on this island and the neighboring island of Rinca (aka Rinja and Rincah), including (Asian) buffalo, deer, monkey, and the occasional human. They look and move like creatures from a 1950s Japanese horror movie. More on this later, first I need to get our blog caught up with our movements since the last posting.
We left Riung, Flores on August 16th for our third attempt to find the right conditions to sail to Labuan Bajo. The seas were quite flat so that even with light winds, we could make decent progress under sail alone. We averaged less than 4 knots of boat speed but we sailed 90 percent of the way, and it was a beautiful night with an almost full moon. Diesel is hard to come by and we hate to motor anyway. Labuan Bajo has trash everywhere and is charmless. We were able to get 6 of our jerry cans filled with diesel (there are no fuel docks for yachts in Indonesia), get some fruits and veggies at the market, and have a couple of restaurant meals. The internet service was so slow as to be essentially unusable.
On August 20th (Saturday) we sailed to Rinca Island and anchored in Loh Buaya Rincah, a narrow fjord-like bay. We were one of four Sail Indonesia Rally boats anchored there, three of which are Amel’s like ours. Rinca and Komodo island (and some smaller adjacent islands) make up Komodo National Park, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is only the place in the world with the magnificent Komodo Dragons. We did two treks over two days on Rinca Island, accompanied by a National Park ranger, who carried a long forked stick in case he needed to keep aggressive dragons at bay. It is a Park requirement that tourists walk accompanied by a ranger as the dragons are not that picky about what they eat. We saw at least ten dragons including some large males. Yesterday to sailed to Teluk Ginggo some miles to the west of Loh Buaya Rincah but still on Rinca Island. We encountered something we had not experiences for some weeks — strong winds. We zoomed along at over 9 knots, some of which was current. The anchorage was fine and there were monkeys and dragons on the beach, although not mixing socially.
Today we were were almost two-thirds of the way to an anchorage on the south end of Rinca Island when the wind began to gust 30 knots on the nose, The current also seemed to turn against us as well. It seemed like it would be a hard slog to weather, so we bailed out and turned around and headed for Komodo Island. The currents are very strong, and with the strong wind and coral and rock bottom, it was difficult to anchor the boat at the first place we tried (between Komodo and Punja Island). The boat would not turn head into the wind as the current was so strong. We sat with our beam into the strong wind for a while deciding what to do when a small local boat came up and said that it was dangerous to anchor where we were due to the current. We had two local young men come on board and they led us around a headlands to the northwest were we are now anchored in sand off the beach with 5 wild pigs. It is comfortable and I will certainly sleep better at night here than in the previous place that had the churning current and winds. Our new friends who come from tiny Komodo village and they will take us to the park tomorrow in their longboat.
M.
Photos from Flores Island
We bailed out of our planned 28 hour passage to Labuan Bajo after a few hours. The winds were too light to sail and there was an uncomfortable swell from the north. So we anchored out in Ciendah and tried again the next morning. Same outcome — light winds and uncomfortable swells. So we are now in Riung (since yesterday) and looking to leave tomorrow. We had a nice walk around Riung today and bought some fruits and veggies at the market.
Here are some photos taken since we left Kupang.
M.
Batu Boga
It is Friday evening and we are about to start our third night anchored on the west side of the rocky peninsula known as Batu Boga. This is a very small bay with steep hills on three sides and a coral reef to the west. There is room for at most 3 sail boats. There is no village here, just a simple compound with an extended family that fish and plant yams. There are few trees and those trees are occupied by monkeys that we have heard but have not seen. It is a beautiful and peaceful place. We have developed a very nice relationship with the family. We have an excess of goods to give away, particularly children’s clothing, and this family with 7 children has been the recipient of bag loads of clothing, toys, freshly baked banana bread, batteries, sunglasses, and assorted other stuff. They are sweet people with a cute gaggle of children.
This bay has decent snorkeling and excellent water quality, except at low tide. We were able to get in the water and give the waterline of Sabbatical III a good cleaning, as well as remove marine growth from the rudder, keel, and knotmeter. Every afternoon about 6 to 8 small (20 foot) Indonesia fishing boats arrive here from Maumere and anchor quite close to us in very shallow water (3 feet). They bath, collect some kind of sea critter from the bottom that they just pop into their mouths, and cook supper. They laugh and joke with each other and make good natured comments about us. An hour after sunset they all leave to spend the night fishing and then return to Maumere, about 25 miles away.
We arrived here from Pulau Besar in the company of the Australian boat “Freeform” with Dale and Sophie onboard “Freeform” is a Freedom 32 sloop built in Warren, Rhode Island and is just a smaller version of our previous boat “Sabbatical II”, a Freedom 38. We connected up with “Freeform” in Wailamung two days prior to arriving here. Wailamung was nothing special except that we were there for the once a week market day (Tuesday). This is a poor island and it is the dry season, so there was not very much of interest to us even in the weekly market. No eating bananas, just plantains. We did buy a couple of pineapples, some tomatoes and bok choy, and some yams, and these were welcome additions to our diet. From Wailamung we sailed in company with “Freeform” to Pulau Besar, a small, very steep island a few miles offshore the big island of Flores. We anchored in a small, protected bay opposite a Muslim fishing village containing about 10 houses in a single cluster, and a mosque. It seemed a peaceful place until it was just about time for evening prayers. We heard a small generator start-up, and then shortly thereafter the muzzein’s call to prayer was blasted from a loudspeaker even though all of the houses were in easy earshot of the mosque and each other. At 5 am the generator was started up again for the morning call to prayer. There was no way one could sleep through it. We needed to be on our way to Batu Boga anyway, so it was no matter.
Tomorrow morning we will leave for the 145 nautical mile passage to Labuan Bajo at the far western end of Flores Island. We will try to sail (as opposed to motor) this distance even though the winds are almost always very light. We sailed to Batu Boga in light winds, averaging a slow but comfortable 5 knots, and that is all we can hope for tomorrow. It should take us 24 – 28 hours to get to Labuan Bajo. “Freeform” is making the same passage as well.
M.
Tanjung Gedong
We arrived at Tanjung Gedong on the northeast end of Flores Island yesterday after a motor/sail in light winds from Kroko Islets. It is a very pretty and protected small bay. Coming from the east, there is nothing but steep cliffs dropping into the sea until Tanjung Gedong. Even here, the small village is on a fairly steep cliff and the water depth increases quickly away from the beach. We are anchored on a rock shelf just ahead of a 50 meter precipice.
On arriving, we were visited first by local children in wooden canoes (sampans), to whom we offer lollipops, and then by Niko, a poor fisherman with two beautiful helmet shells that Laura loves. We traded a new Chinese digital watch, some children’s clothes, and some fish hooks for the shells. When we took our kayak to shore, there was a man waiting for us. He is Josef, a man in his forties, who had accidentally hacked his big toe with his machete while working in his garden. He asked if we had medicine to treat him. So we went back to the boat, put together some first aid supplies, and returned to the beach. As numerous locals looked on, I cleaned the wound, applied antiseptic spray and antibiotic ointment, and bandaged the toe. I also supplied Josef with antibiotic ointment and told him to reapply ointment and a fresh bandage in a day.
Laura and I then walked up the steep hill to the village, with Josef hobbling after us. He invited us into his family compound where he lived with his father and mother, wife and children, and siblings and their children. They served us delicious Flores coffee and we took a couple of family portraits, and we said our goodbyes. Back on the boat later that evening, we decided to stay one more day and have a good look at the village. Early in the morning Josef, and his son Josef, paddled over to Sabbatical III with some gifts of tubers (ubi kayu) and plantains, and stayed for coffee. When we came back to the village, he showed us the ceremonial pavilion (rumah adat), the large but simple Catholic church, the water system, and the long broken power generator. Everyone was returning from church in their Sunday best. The people in the far eastern end of Flores island are of the Lamaholot ethnicity. They are more Melanesian (as in Fiji) in appearance then people in most of the rest of Indonesia (such as Java and Bali), who are considered “Malay.” They are also Catholic from way back. The remaining ship of Magellan passed these shores around 1500, soon followed by Dominican missions. This end of Flores island became a center of Portuguese trade and mission work in the East Nusa Tenggara region. The nearby town of Larantuka has a cathedral, which Josef and his family pray at once or twice a year, and a seminary that supplies the priest that visits this village regularly. The Portuguese did not leave Larantuka and the surrounding area until 1850, when they sold it to the Dutch. (The Portuguese kept East Timor until late in the twentieth century, but that is another story).
We visited Josefs family compound again and exchanged gifts, had coffee and fried plantains, and returned to the boat. It was a very nice day (and Josef’s toe is much improved). Tomorrow we will sail on to Waimalung, about 25 miles further west on the northern coast of Flores. The island is over 200 miles long, and we will be day sailing along this coast of Flores for a about 3 more weeks.
M.