Back to Redang and across the South China Sea to Borneo

I am writing this on a beautiful moonlit night crossing to Borneo when I am reminded of why we have loved this life. It is a life of frustrations and incredible rewards. Last night was a stark contrast as we bashed into 1-2 metre swell with a 1 knot current against us. As it got dark we had to cross the shipping lane dodging the tankers carrying freight from Singapore up to Vietnam, China and beyond. We then had to avoid the fishing boats which fortunately were well lit as they sat at anchor. All of this with 20 knots of wind at a close reach. We needed to make sure we would avoid the Anamba Islands which have pirated boats in the past. The tight point of sail meant that despite the winds we needed to run the engine and could only make a speed of 5 knots. By the morning the hazards were passed and the wind veered more to the south allowing us to sail at a more favourable angle and make 7-8 knots all day despite the 1 knot current against us. Now in the night I am on watch as Ken sleeps and the seas have calmed and the moon shines bright as we glide through the water at a comfortable 6-7 knots. We are still crossing Indonesian waters but for some reason unbeknownst to us we are in a no fishing zone which means no fishing boats which is a rare treat.There are several around which obviously do not heed the non fishing zone but nowhere near the numbers we are used to. If we can mantain the speed we will anchor at the NW tip of Borneo tomorrow night and travel the last 50 miles the next day to Santabong, the anchorage from which we will explore Kuching and the surrounding areas. I am writing this on my new computer—our last one kept turning itself off, fortunately without the “blue screen of death” which meant with the help of yet one more cruiser computer expert—luckily there is always one!! We were able to copy the last couple of months pictures onto the hard drive—yes I know I should have done it more often!!!—Maybe will be more vigilant from now on—but with a brand new computer will I need to???? Previously we had made our way back from Redang to Tioman fighting current to get south again. First stop was Terangganu to restock at the main supermarket and enjoying the great restaurants of Chinatown. Ken and I both had haircuts which came with a wonderful 15 minute head massage and shampoo for a total cost of $8 each. We also were able to purchase our new computer at a reasonable price. Next was Chukai where we were able to once again take our jerry cans and fill them at gas station prices—60c a litre—after our motoring into head seas coming south we needed to refuel. We stocked with yet more mangos but were sad to see the season appears to be ending and is being replaced with durian. This is the fruit described as the one which smells like dirty socks which is fairly accurate—one of the smells of this part of the world along with dried fish!! Then an overnight anchorage at Pahang and the following day arrived at Tioman. We are with number of rally boats all getting ready to cross to Sarawak, Borneo, the next main stop of the season. Previously some boats had crossed from Redang and gone straight to Miri, at the east end of Sarawak and although we had talked about doing this we opted to go south to Tioman and head to Kuching at the west end. Returning back south down was such a slog with adverse currents and one particuraily uncomfortable day bashing head seas, we are not convinced we made the right choice. If we were to do it again we would pick one of two routes, either cross to Kutching directly from Tioman or, if we wanted to go up as far as Redang would then cross straight to Miri. We had one last day in Tioman taking advantage of the duty free liquor managing to procure a case of Trapiche Malbec wine from Argentina which we love. Until now we had not found much palatable wine at a reasonable price so were delighted to be able to buy this at $12 a bottle. Gin and rum generally are about $18 a bottle and beer at $15 a flat of 24 it does make wine a luxury. The following morning we left along with Brother Wind and Camille to do this 390 mile passage in a straight run. Several others opted to go as far as Pulau Aur which would allow them to cross the shipping lanes in daylight but we are feeling Borneo is calling and want to get there as soon as possible. We arrived on schedule anchoring as the sun went down at the eastern most point of Malaysian Borneo—the tip is owned by Indonesia and then the north coast to Malaysia. We arrived to have a glass of wine to toast Canada day—I did try and photograph our flag as we sailed in but there was little wind—perhaps it is an unhappy flag as it is definitely a bit ratty!!! Awakening early the next morning to birdsong unfamiliar to us it was an awesome feeling that we have made our way to this exotic part of the world on our own boat. We are now motoring across the last 40 miles to the Santubong River where we will anchor and start our Sarawak adventures.