August 27, 2010-Bottom Cleaning at Telaga

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Bottom Cleaning

We could either haul the boat at Rebak's boatyard and have them pressure wash it or scrub it ourselves but one way or the other the bottom needed cleaning.

Plus we needed fuel and Telaga Harbor has both a fuel dock and a clean anchorage.

So we went to Telaga for a few days.

We filled up the tanks at their fuel dock and then we anchored in the anchorage and scrubbed the bottom.

It took around 3 hours, all told, me doing the prop and the lower bits and Judy doing the waterline and down several feet. It surprised me after I did the keel and rudder how little of the rest of the bottom was left for me to do; Judy had reached down at least five feet along the full length of both sides. It seems that her fitness level is pretty good and I think mine is OK too. Cleaning the bottom of a 43 foot boat with a scrub pad and just snorkle and mask, and fins tests that in short order. Anyhow I finished the middle of the bottom and we were done.

Both of us working together; just as we always have.

The way it should be.

So now we have a full fuel tank, a clean bottom,

...and Pierre.

Pierre

Pierre arrives next week. What more do we need?

Stay tuned, more adventures to come.

Wings


Fred & Judy, S/V Wings, Langakwi, Malyasia

Click here for more pictures from Telaga.

August 21, 2010-Swimming under the Frangi Pangi Tree

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Swimming under the Frangi Pangi Tree

It’s twenty-five meters across the pool where I’ve been swimming these days.

I start in the corner near the lounge chairs, swim past the curved pool bar, swim under the Frangi Pangi tree, and swim over to the ladder on the far side. Then I come back.

Twenty six trips makes it six hundred and fifty meters. It takes me twenty minutes.

The best part is swimming under the Frangi Pangi tree.

I do my best thinking there, swimming under the Frangi Pangi tree.

Six hundred and fifty meters allows for a decent amount of thinking.

Today I was thinking about how good the slow pace in this quiet corner of the universe feels and how it suits me these days. When you slow down enough thinking can turn into meditation.

The choices Judy and I are about to make need some slow and careful consideration, some meditation.

The kind I can do swimming under the Frangi Pangi tree.

So we go over to the pool nearly every day and get water logged as we laze away the afternoon talking to the other cruisers about the things cruisers talk about and if the pool is not too crowded I swim my laps and meditate.

I swim under the Frangi Pangi tree, slowly and methodically putting one arm after the other over my head into the water and slowly and carefully consider things.

Today I found some peace. I came to the conclusion that I don’t need to make any big decision about the future, that I am OK with the changes in our lives however they turn out as long as Judy and I are together. I don’t need to feel anxious. I can be relaxed. The worry about what we need to do with our lives fell away as I was swimming under the Frangi Pangi tree. I realized it doesn’t matter.

As we walked back after our swim to the other side of the island in the long afternoon shadows, toward the setting sun, Judy and I talked and we shared that peace and our love for each other and we felt happy.

Life can’t get much better than that.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi, Malaysia

August 10, 2010-A Quiet Place to Sort Things Out (Revision)

I decided I didn't like the tone of this posting as I originally wrote it. This is a revised version.

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Telaga Harbor, Langkawi

We needed a quiet place and some time to begin to sort things out. The realization that we had to stop crossing oceans, that joint decision that came out of nowhere and put all of our plans and dreams to rest with the suddenness and finality of lightning strike, left us lost with no solid footing or direction, somewhat despondent and perplexed as to what new path forward we would find.

We needed a new star to steer by. The westward star, which was our true guide, suddenly blinked out… and, well, when that rug was pulled we just needed a place where we could think about things and move pieces of the puzzle around until some sort of picture started to appear.

That quiet place is Langkawi, Malaysia. We’ve been here a week and there is no sound but the birds and nothing moves here; even the cows haven’t looked up from their green grass to see what is going on because even they realize that nothing is.

Perfect for thinking about things.

We are not alone here; at Rebak Marina there are others in this limbo where we can’t go ahead and we don’t know how to go back and we’re all thinking about what we want to do. Some of these folks were the same people who were here in January, still living here on their boats and not saying much about their plans. We might have fallen in with this group. In fact we did for a while.

But, it’s all a bit too depressing so we know we need to get out of this space and out of this place.

We know that if the ocean can’t be crossed there must be other options and we’ve got a few figured out, such as shipping the boat to the USA and then going to Mexico to live on it there. There are some other options too. They aren’t all bad.

The positive attitude is sneaking back and new dreams are starting to materialize out of the funk.

The quiet time is starting to bore us. That is a good sign.

Stay tuned.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi, Malaysia

Click here for other pictures from Langkawi

July 1,2010-Visa Run to Kuala Lumpor

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Waiting in Malaysia for the Fast Train to KL


"You must leave the country".

The immigration man was pleasant but firm: there was no way for us to extend our tourist visa's for another month, we had to leave Thailand the very next day!

"What flights do you have tomorrow?" we asked at the Air Asia counter.

"Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia."

"OK, two round trip tickets to Kuala Lumpor please.

And the next morning we flew out at 07:30 to KL, came back at 10:00 PM that night with new tourist visas.

Click here for some photos of our whirlwind trip.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket Thailand

Feb. 10, 2010-Reaching to Rebak

Wings stood out from Tanjung Heads into a fresh NE breeze on a crisp Thursday morning and spread full sail to the following wind.

Shortly after the main filled they hoisted the asymmetrical kite which opened with a crack and they bore off to the west on a blue ocean under a clear sky leaving a straight white wake to the east behind them.

The port jibe would take them into the north shore of Langkawi so they sailed on starboard toward Thailand’s Taratao Island, watching over their left shoulder for the proper time to jibe on a good line back to clear Chinchin, the NW cape of Langkawi.

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Reaching for Rebak

When they drew close to Taratao and were a mile off and it appeared that they would soon be calling unannounced into Thailand they jibed the kite and turned back toward Malaysia and still needing to sail lower they set and pulled back the pole.

The wind built and a swell rolled in from behind. A puff hit and the boat threatened to round up. The helmsman pulled hard on the tiller and the boat slid down the face of the wave and surged forward.

The knotmeter showed low nines; it was fun.

They sailed around the leeward side of Langkawi, staying off by 2 and a half miles, and kept their wind while boats in closer to the island would have been stalled, if there were any, which there were not; they were sailing alone.

As expected the wind then came around the island from the other side of the mountain and it went forward. Dropping the kite and setting the #2 they sheeted in on port tack for Rebak Island and sailed close to the wind.

At the Rebak harbor entrance they dropped the sails and motored into the channel. Wings had sped over the 24 miles from Tanjung Ruh to Rebak in a short time and pulled into port before lunch; a good run.

Click here to see the other shots of our sail back to Rebak.

Click here to see the log book pages of our sailing trips in Febuary 2010

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawai

Feb 09, 2010-Bird Watching

We went up the river from Tanjung Ruh to see the eagles; brown eagles and white bellied eagles, which are both very common in the Langkawi area.

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Sea Eagle

Click here to see more eagle shots.

Click here to see the log book pages of our sailing trips in Febuary 2010


Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

Feb. 08, 2010-Tanjung Ruh

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The Sentinels, Tanjung Ruh

Once in a while you stumble into an out-of-the way place which stuns you with its enchanting beauty, protection, and peace. Maybe that is why we often venture off the beaten path; to search for that treasure of a place that maybe nobody knows about.

Tanjung Ruh on Langkawi Island is not exactly a secret; tourists come here by the boatload, but it is not in the guide book and there is no chart of it. However Trevor from Been a Long told us about it and said it was good. His wife Joan gave us a bit of a mud map that they’d made. On that basis we decided to take a look but neither of us were convinced we would either find a way into Tanjung Ruh or that we’d find anything we liked once we got inside.

We did both.

Arriving in the afternoon in a light westerly we anchored Wings in the deep water at the entrance to Tanjung Ruh, a beautiful spot in its own right and we’d have been happy to spend the night there, but, being adventurous, we piled into the Zodiac, took the hand-held GPS, a lead line and a notebook and set out to find a channel. After an hour of tossing the lead and yelling “Mark Twain” over and over we finally found a path which thought we could follow with the big boat. It zigged and zagged across the flats and the depths went from 40ft to 11ft and back a few times but it seemed passable. We entered it into the charting system on Wings’ navigation computer and weighed anchor.

The adventure began: motoring slowly we dared to enter into Tanjung Ruh. Judy was on the charting system calling the turns and I was on the helm nosing Wings ever forward. It was touch and go (however we did not actually touch, but it was close and we did go). Once we got inside and passed between a sand spit on the right and the rock on the left with the words “SLOW” painted on it in white block letters, we were in. A new world opened up for us.

Tanjung Ruh, is a perfect shelter and even with a number of tour boats going too and fro it is a quiet basin of peace and protection; a calm lake surrounded by a protecting ring of mountains which in the day are simply green hills but at night the tall escarpments stand up against the starry sky like dark sentinels. As we sat in our deck chairs that night and looked at the stars and the silhouettes of those nearby mountains we felt safe and protected here; nothing can reach us.

Here we can sleep in peace.

Click here to see more photos of Tanjung Ruh

Click here to see the chart we made.

Click here to see the log book pages of our sailing trips in Febuary 2010

SV Wings, Tanjung Ruh, Langkawi, Malaysia

Feb. 05, 2010-Hermit Crab Beach

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Going Exploring

The seashells were walking!

We explored an isolated beach near Datai Bay in the Zodiac and we were surprised to see that all the seashells on the sands ahead of us were scurrying away from us; hundreds of them.

When we got close to one it simply plopped down on the sand and remained motionless, looking like any ordinary seashell.

I picked one up and it looked like a snail. I dropped it back onto the sand, perplexed. It just lay there.

Then another one caught my eye as it moved with surprising speed and then just as suddenly stopped.

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Crab INSIDE!

I picked it up too and saw legs tucked in on the bottom side. I saw that it was not a snail but a crab inside a snail’s shell. A Hermit Crab! This whole place was overrun by Hermit Crabs.

We named this place Hermit Crab Beach, and we had fun looking at these creatures. One got so flustered that I had picked him up that he crawled right out of his house and jumped off my hand into the water and ran away abandoning his home. Judy picked up two others with pretty houses and introduced them to each other. She though she would like to keep at least one of the shells and maybe she could entice these two to move in together but instead they got into a bit if a scuffle and neither was rash enough to flee without his house.

Both were returned to the beach.

Watching the Hermit Crabs made this little day trip in the dingy into a real treat, and a surprising one at that but we should not have been too surprised; You never know what to expect when you land on an empty beach in a remote place.

Click here for more shots from Hermit Crab Beach

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

February 2, 2010-Five Stars for Datai Bay

By Febuary 2 we were ready to go sailing and departed Rebak Marina in a nice morning breeze. It was really good to get the sails up.

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Dropping the Anchor

Click here to see sailing pictures from this trip.

We stopped at Datai Bay on the northern side of Langkawi. It is a gorgeous spot with calm waters for anchoring a boat (in the right season, in settled weather) surrounded by high mountains carpeted in virgin timber and with a mile long beach of white sand for walking or sunbathing. Datai Bay is on the edge of a Malaysian National Forest.

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Andaman Hotel

There are two 5-star resorts at Datai Bay, the Datai and the Andaman. We went ashore and walked through both and thought it would be nice to stay there, but at $500 to $900 a night for the cheapest rooms, we decided not to make a booking.

But we did have a few meals ashore while at Datai Bay and drank some fine wine and we took a walk through the National Forest on which they border and on the beach. We saw tracks of wild boar, large otters, Monitor Lizards, and other wild life. From our boat we saw dolphins and many eagles but mostly what we saw in Datai Bay were pampered hotel guests enjoying some peace and quiet in a very nice location.

So we pampered ourselves and stayed three days. We liked it. We give the whole place 5 stars.

Click here for more photos from Datai Bay

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

January 30, 2010-Medical Tourism

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Judy's Medical Team

Cruising sailors visiting countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, which have become popular destinations for medical tourism, may take advantage of the excellent facilities and low cost of basic medical care, elective surgical procedures and emergency care which are available there.

When Judy needed back surgery we visited Putra Medical Center in Kedah Province, Malaysia and we were impressed by the clean and modern facility with its state-of-the-art MRI and CAT-Scan diagnostic equipment, the obvious competence and efficiency of the staff, and, more than anything, the confidence exuded by of the surgeon who examined Judy and who would later perform the operation.

Judy chose to have her surgery there was admitted two days later. Her operation was very successful and it was about one eighth the cost of a comparable procedure in the USA. What was more important to us was the attention and personal care she received; we were very impressed with Putra medical Center.

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Putra Medical Center

During Judy’s hospital stay at Putra we talked with Dato Dr. Lim Kim Huat, the founder and owner of Putra Medical Center, and his wife, Dato Lee Gaik Cheng, who is CEO.
Both Dr. Lim and his wife grew up in Alor Star and they are committed to providing the best, most cost effective, care they can for the people of this area. Dr. Lim, while a medical student, once had to take his mother on a long and rough motorbike trip to Penang to obtain the medical care she needed because no facilities were then available in Alor Star. That was when he made a promise to himself to someday build a hospital in his home town; a promise which, with the support and encouragement of his wife, he has kept.

Dato Dr. Lim Kim Huat, and Dato Lee Gaik Cheng told us that the 14-year-old, 230 bed, Putra Medical Center had 13 resident specialists, a total staff of 375, eight operating theaters, and is part of the comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics, which provides care to Malaysians and foreigners as well.

Malaysian medical tourism annually attracts over 300,000 foreign patients and brings in approximately USD80 million in revenue to Malaysia.

It’s not fun to be sick, but with places like Putra Medical Center at least you feel like you are getting good care.

Click here for more photos of Putra Medical Center

Click here for photos of Alor Star, the capital of Kedah, Malaysia

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Malaysia

January 19, 2010-Convalescent Cruise

Since Judy's back operation we have been resting up at Rebak Island Marina in Langkawi, Malaysia. We were starting to get cabin fever and decided to go out of the marina for a short cruise. We couldn't sail yet; sailing is too much for a recovering back, but we could motor around.

Friday morning we went to the veggie truck for one last of bit shopping and we were ready except...
Party at Rebak
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on Friday night the resort threw a party for the cruisers: free drinks, free food, and great music; who could resist? Of course we didn't dance (in consideration for Judy's convalescing back) but we enjoyed it just the same.

Next day we left the marina on Wings looking for a quiet place to anchor and spend some time.

Wings at Ketapang
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We found it at Ketapang Bay on one of Langkawi's western Islands.

For four days we lazed around watching trees grow.

It was great relaxation.

If you can't dance, and can't sail, there is still...cruising.

Click here for more photos from our Convalescent Cruise

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

Dec 30, 2009-Langkawi Circumnavigation with Mike

We stayed well off the coast trying to avoid the puffs and lulls of the gusty winds sweeping around Langkawi’s tall forested peaks but even a couple of miles out we had shifty conditions and we had trouble keeping moving. Ahead the 47’ Herreshof Tradition was dealing with similar breeze and they looked to be stopped for a while. We hoped to get past them going outside but they got the wind first and shot out ahead with filled sails and a bone in their teeth and we couldn’t catch up. As we rounded the NW cape we got steadier wind and we waved goodbye to Tradition heading on northward as we hardened up and beat eastward toward Thailand’s Taratao Island.

It was good sailing. We’d been at the dock too long and when we pulled out of Rebak Marina with Mike Lim onboard as a guest and willing crew member for five days of cruising with fresh NE breezes in the beautiful Langkawi surroundings and it gave us the sailing fix we needed.



The day before Christmas we sailed up to Telaga for fuel, took a side trip to the cable car, and came home under spinnaker. It was fun sail up and back but Mike suffered a serious rope burn trying to douse the kite which was my fault for giving bad instructions but Mike didn’t complain even when Nurse Judy spread alcohol antiseptic all over the raw fingers; tough guy.

“Try these gloves next time Mike.” It was the least we could do.

We spent Christmas back at Rebak.

On Boxing Day, after sleeping off our Christmas meal and the effects of the night’s party, we headed north again from Rebak with the #4 up chasing Tradition and after rounding Cape Chinchin we crossed over into Thailand to investigate an open hong on Koh Belitong that we’d spotted on Google Earth. The hong was beautiful but was too shallow for Wings and we stayed the night half a mile away tucked behind Koh Panan. There were at least a dozen fishing boats also sheltering there but in the morning when we came on deck with our coffee for a look around they were gone.

Weighing the next morning the windlass groaned to a sudden halt, not moving in or out. It was jammed! The dingy was tied down on the foredeck and looking under it we found that the windlass had swallowed a loose rope which jammed up everything and broke the chain stripper. We got the anchor up with a bit of trouble and then motored out.

I asked Judy, “Can you just drive us for a while so Mike and I can look at this mess?”

“Sure”, then she asked, “Should we go back to the Marina to fix it?”

“No, I think I can get it working again.”

Mike and I spent most the day on the foredeck repairing it while Judy conned us to Hole in the Wall. It was another day with a nice wind and we could have sailed but keeping tools and parts in place on the foredeck with Wings heeled over seemed like more trouble then it was worth so we motored the whole way while Mike and I kept our heads down engineering new windlass parts which we completed successfully before the windlass was needed at Hole in the Wall anchorage.

The Hole in the Wall was a bit busy with tour boats running around but beautiful and after the tourists were all gone we picked some fish from the live tank at Hole in the Wall Resaurant and had a quiet and wonderful dinner at that floating restaurant. Later we sat out in Wings’ cockpit looking at stars and drinking rum and pineapple punches.

In a light easterly Monday morning we set the kite for the 22 mile downwind leg past the east side and around the south end of Langkawi to the fjord behind Palua Gubang Darat but the wind didn’t hold. Plodding along jibing for shifts which never materialized we overstood the southern cape in the strong ebb and finally motored the last couple of miles but it was worth it when we reached the fjord and dropped the hook in a truly magical place. In still, deep, waters we were surrounded by tall, thickly forested, cliffs reaching all the way to the sky. Eagles watched us as they soared above us and we listened to the splashes of fish jumping nearby.

A dingy ride to explore the island and one of the caves then to a nearby beach for a swim left us ready for dinner and more rum punches. Mike fished off Wings’ stern but I guess he didn’t have the right bait and no fishes were landed.

On the final day of this cruise we worked our way out of the islands and sailed up the west side of Langkawi in a nice, solid, #2 breeze, the best sail of the week, with blue water and blue skies, chasing another boat, which we didn’t catch, and too soon we were back in Rebak, the trip over.

All in all it was a great 65 mile circumnavigation of Langkawi and each of us will fondly remember the sailing and warm companionship we had aboard Wings that week.

Click here for more images from Langkawi

Click here to see the log book pages of our sailing trips in December 2009

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

Dec 5, 2009-Sailing to Telaga

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Kite reaching on the way home

It looked light to me when I stuck my head out the hatch on Saturday morning but outside of Rebak Marina we found a bucket of wind. The #2 jib was left in the bag on deck and we pulled the #4 out the hatch for the hoist. Even under this reduced sail the boat heeled right over and we started sailing fast on a close reach to the North, first Sherry then Judy steering, on our way to Telaga Harbor.

Soon the wind was up further and I saw that the #2, on the leeward side of the foredeck, was getting wet. I went forward to throw it below and got a face full of salt water for my trouble. Not wanting to get any wetter I dragged the sail up to weather and refolded it in the bag enough to toss it down the hatch. Boy were we steaming along by this point! It was real sailing for a change and it felt good.

Shortly after that a wave came on board along the leeward deck and washed the Avon a foot or so along the side where the next wave caught it and threatened to carry it away. In fact it was half way over the side and we’d have lost it for sure but for the rope by which it was tied to the jib track and by Judy’s fast action on the helm. She bore off immediately, or did as soon as I responded to her order to dump the main, and then I had a level deck to work on. Down the hatch too went the Avon.

Then the printer and some other gear fell off the computer shelf and caused quite a clatter from below and we had to go collect all of that off the cabin sole, now showing a big new dent, but once we were settled down and squared away we had a good sail the rest of the way to Telaga and arrived at the landing float at noon.

I have to say that Sherry handled the sailing well, steering for a while and she took her turn on the winches and halyards but when I tried to send her forward to hand the jib she drew the line and wouldn’t budge however she even did that on the return trip. Judy was magnificent! She hopped around the boat like the sailor she is and, with her knee pads on, turned to at every task with gusto and I love her for it. We both knew her back would pay the price the next day but it didn’t stop her.

After docking at Telaga our plan was to visit the Geo-Pak and ride the cable car to the top of the mountain behind Telaga and we were soon off on that excursion. The morning breeze had blown in some haze but we still enjoyed the view and cool air at the top of the mountain and hiked around until our legs wore out.

Coming home from Telaga the wind was lighter and we set the A-3 kite, had a nice reach, hit 8 knots when the wind piped up a bit and we were back in our slip at Rebak before dark.

So, all in all, it was a very good day.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi Thailand

Click here to see some more photos of the sailing and the cable car ride.

Dec 2, 2009-LIMA Marine & Air Show-Langkawi

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Malaysian Customs Coming On Fast

There is a big airshow and military exhibition in Langkawi and I attended as a photographer this year.

If you like pictures of patrol boats and airplanes, here are links to some I took over four days at LIMA

Click here to see the marine exhibition.

Click here to see images from the LIMA Ehibition Center.

Click here to see some of the aircraft

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Sukoi SU30 Fighter

Click here to see more of the SU30

Click here for shots from the Conference on Piracy

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

Nov. 22, 2009-Arrival In Malaysia

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Laundry Day

On Sunday, November 22, after a brief stop at Telaga Harbor to check into Malaysia, we reached Rebak Marina in Langkawi.

Rebak Marina! How long we've heard about this place from other cruisers. It is quiet and peaceful here and lots of other sailors to chat with around the Pool Bar. Here we can do small projects and relax a bit. Sherry will come here to visit, and also Mike, both from Singapore.

Going to town involves taking a small ferry boat to Langkasuka Pier and then a 20 minute drive into the bustling town of Kuah. We like Kuah Town. Wine is cheaper here than Thailand because Langkawi is a duty free port. Here in Langkawi we will await some equipment to be shipped in from overseas also duty free which is better than the 15% which must be paid for anything shipped into Thailand.

We are also going through a whole pile of laundry, mostly clothing left for three years in the storage room at Yacht Haven. Whew! It stinks. We gave away some of it but still have a pile and everything except the stuff sealed in airproof bags needs washing. The clothes washer at the marina is cheap but the dryer is slow so we hang our wash on the line. So do the neighbors.

Cruising again.

Click here for more photos from Rebak Marina

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Langkawi

May 12, 2006-Beat to Labuan

Tacking Action

It is 66 miles down the Borneo coastline from Kota Kinabalu to Labuan Island. We plan to make the trip in two days, with a stop at Tiga Island, 30 miles down the line.

The Previous Day

The morning of the second day, after an easy genoa reach down from KK the day before, we are surprised to wake up in our Tiga island anchorage to a fresh southeasterly breeze instead of the normal morning calm we've seen each day preceding the sea breeze which usually fills in at 11:00 AM. Don't know what it means, but it could be interesting.

We weigh anchor at 08:45 and sailing out of the anchorage on the main we consider whether to use the genoa or the number 4. Reaching the point of the island the conditions dictate it for us. This is definitely a number 4 wind, and it is out of the SW, not the SE. Our 36 mile leg this day will be a beat dead to weather. Not our choosing, but there it is. There is nothing for us to do but get going.

We set the number 4, sheet home both sails, and start to beat south. We've got 15 knots of wind and we're making 6.2 knots, pretty close to our numbers, 38 degrees off the wind. It looks like a good sail. We calculate our ETA to Labuan. At 4.5 knots VMG we'll get there in eight hours; 17:00. We put on the windvane and relax, enjoying the day.

Sailing past the south side of Tiga we see two yachts anchored in the cove there, on a lee shore, and pitching badly in the chop which is rolling into that side of the island. We wonder why they stayed there; it must be mighty uncomfortable, and with a nasty coral reef just behind them; if it was us we'd leave ASAP. We wonder if they are northbound or southbound. We watch them through the binoculars for an hour but they don't make a move.

The wind is building and at 18 knots we flatten the sails and load everything up for a stiff breeze. We have Wings in point mode but we're still going fast; this is our wind. Sunny day; put on sun screen. Sit on the high side with my feet over. Move the genoa to the high side, hike the boat. The boat works through the waves like it knows how. We take a little spray, but not too much, and once I get a real splash, but it is OK; I love it. This is sailing.

I sit on the rail and watch the water sweep by past my feet. I start to daydream. I wonder how far below me is the surface of the water, I'm high up on the high side. How high? I guess eight feet. The time passes. Judy checks the chart a couple of times. There are some reefs around which we need to get past as we work our way south, but right now we're doing fine.

Fred enjoys the day.

At 11:30 we are shocked out of our reveries by a loud bang from the rig. We look aloft for loose things hanging, half expecting to see a mast coming down on our heads. It looks fine. We look around the boat. Judy sees a pool of blood red hydraulic fluid spreading on the cockpit floor. We've lost hydraulic pressure on the backstay! We crack the release valve and drop the pressure and I tighten a fitting which was dripping. It stops. We put some pressure back on, but not as much. The leak stops. We clean up. Now it's time to look where we we've got to while we had our heads down. Uh, no problem, we're still OK. Back to sailing, only this time I'm thinking about what I've got to do to fix the backstay line once we get to Labuan.

At 1:30 the wind drops, a lot. It also shifts to the left, and we are way out to the right side, where we went to get around a patch of reefs. Tactically this is bad. I feel like a dummy for not staying closer to the rhumb line. We change to the genoa and tack. Problem number two occurs: The tack which looked like 95 degrees on the compass turns out to be more like 129 degrees on the chart. Whoa, what is going on?

We quickly assess our situation. The actual VMG is more like 3.3, and that, combined with what we see on the tacking angles, tells us that we have a big current against us. It must be about 1.2 knots.

Now we realize we have our work cut out for us to reach Labuan that day. Actually, getting there in daylight is out. Best we can expect is 21:00 or so.

We check out the harbor chart closely. Can we go in after dark? I judge that we can.

Now we've got to get the boat cranked up to make even that.

I take off the wind vane and start to steer. I've got to get a feel for how she's doing in the 8-9 knots of wind we're getting. We adjust the sheet leads and fiddle with just about everything. We can get it up to about 5 knots and pointing pretty high, but the current, which we decide is a strong ebb tide, is holding us back. It is knocking 15 degrees off our course on each tack. Motoring wouldn't help that much, and we don't want to motor for six hours anyhow. Once we have the boat sailing its best we put the wind vane back on.

We sail on.

We get a few good shifts and we arrive on Labuan Harbor at 21:30.

It is good to get the hook down. We have a beer.

It has been a long hard day of sailing, but it has been a good day too. We like sailing.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings. Borneo

Note on the mechanical problem: After arriving in Labuan we checked out the hydraulic system, and we found that, under pressure over 2500 psi, the backstay fitting leaks, even after I tightened it. Something in there broke and that was the "bang" we heard. Now I know that, I can work on it, maybe replace a "T" fitting or a connector. Anyhow, we'll solve this one easily

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May 13, 2006-Calling in the Faithful

Labuan Shipyard

From our anchorage in Labuan's Victoria Harbor, in Sabah, Borneo, we can hear the mullahs calling the faithful to prayers at mosques on both sides of the harbor, even behind the shipyard. At 18:30 we can hear four of them competing with each other for the faithful.

Judy says we should catch a photo of the water village nearest us with the mosque's minaret and dome poking up above the stilt houses. I think we should go visit the village and see what it looks like up close. Anyhow, they have a good PA system; their mullah is loud and clear.

Labuan: a place of contrasts. We see water villages and mosques. We also see shipyards and oil rig tender vessels. We see ferry docks for fast ferries which arrive every half hour from places unknown, and we see water taxi's speeding past in every direction, it is a busy place.

Ashore it is not so busy.

There we find a quiet central business district with cobble stone streets and veiled women. There are the normal shops, and there are the "duty free" stores for which people come to Labuan. Liquor here is minus the heavy taxes found elsewhere in Malaysia and that's where a lot of the business is in Labuan. People come here by ferries to stock up. We came by boat. This place definitely does not adhere to a strict Moslem rule, despite the many mosques and loud mullahs.

The harbor and Lubuan town are interesting, but we won't stay long. We're here to buy some liquor, check out of Malaysia with the authorities and head to Brunei.

Duty Free Stock Up

Click here for more Labuan Images

and here for more shipyard images.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Labuan

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May 9, 2006-Pretty Good Day in KK

Girls at the Mosque

These girls have nothing to do with the story below, but I liked the shot, and a lot of the other ones I've taken in Kota Kinabalu, so I'm putting it in. Also the one of the mosque where I photographed them (at the bottom of this story)

I'm having a happy day.

Judy says the reason I like everything tonight is the scotch I'm drinking, “It's just the alcohol.” She said. It’s true, the scotch Andy brought me has got my head spinning a little, but never mind that, today has been a really good day.

First of all we got the bloody leaking water tank out of the boat without any drama. That in itself is cause for celebration, although having a leaking tank, a new one at that, is not. Anyhow, this water tank has broken for a second time and that sucks. But we found a guy here in KK who will fix it, no problem (have you heard that one before?) and today we took it out of the boat so the welder could pick it up and take it to his shop…in two hours flat. BANG! Beat that! And neither of us hurt ourselves. Terrific!

Then we went to town for our regular shopping trip and scored some really cheap wine. Not just cheap, but good. Australian good. Now, that might not be cause for celebration to most of you, but to us here in Muslim Malaysia, it is a true score. Islamic countries don’t feature too many sales on wine, but on Wings, not a dry ship, we need it, so finding some is a major deal. Now…we’re fixed.

Then, the fish we bought at the market turned out perfectly when we grilled it. Together with that wine we spoke of just previously, it made for a great dinner.

Finally, I have been reviewing the photos we got here, and we have some really good ones. So, I am happy, really happy.

I invite you to link to our photo site, here,
here,
here,
and here,

or just go to the month of May on the Images site, and browse Wingssail Images.blogspot.com-May 2006, and take a look at Kota Kinabalu.

Sabah State Mosque



Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Kota Kinabalu

May 7, 2006-Sabah Fest

We Stumbled onto a Treasure in Kota Kinabalu

Malay Girl

It’s just one of those things: “We fell up out of a hole”, as Jim Watson would say.

It happened like this:

Judy was over at the hotel next door on Friday to check out some craft exhibits and she saw a sign about a presentation that night that included some dance groups. So she mentioned it to me.

“OK, I’m up for it, whatever it is, let’s go.” We had a bite aboard Wings and I grabbed my camera and off we went to the Magellan Hotel.

Good move.

When we arrived there was some sort of a queue forming up and people herded us into it. Turns out it was for the local dignitaries and we were mistaken of being part of that group. They rolled out the red carpet for us dignitaries. There were a few hundred kids in local get-up lined up for us on each side of the grand stairwell as we walked down to the grand ball room. (Is this us, or what?)

Once seated in the ballroom we were able to watch the annual Festival of Sabah; and we didn’t even know it was going to happen that night. Yeah, there were some speeches, but soon a dozen or so dance groups got on stage and stunned us with their well rehearsed performances: we enjoyed every minute of it.

Grand Finale

Click here for more images from Sabah Fest

and here, to see more crafts

So how do we get so lucky? I don’t know, but is it good. Maybe all cruisers get their share of these things, I know we do.


Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Kota Kinabalu

May 1, 2006-Kota Kinabalu & The Mountain in the Clouds

Kota Kinabalu

We are still in Borneo, in KK (Kota Kinabalu), the booming capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah. We last wrote to you from Kudat, also in Sabah.

We left Kudat one morning, headed for KK.

It is calm, no wind, and we are motoring north to the “Tip of Borneo” where we can turn south towards KK. Just before we arrive there the wind comes up, a nice NE breeze of 15 knots. The sky is blue and the water sparkles. This is going to be a nice day of sailing.

The “Tip of Borneo” is not one of the world’s great capes, but it is a scenic landmark never the less. We want to sail past. We hoist the main and cut the engine, and head for a gap between the cape and an off lying island, intending to round inside the island, close to the surge and swell breaking on the point. The wind is blowing and we’re sailing fast. It is exciting, and maybe a little dangerous. At first there appears to be breaking waves and shallows stretching across the whole gap, but the chart shows deep water. As we get closer the passage opens up, just like the chart said it would.

We fly through and jibe to the south.

With a good following breeze we are making great time down the coast but too soon the breeze starts to falter. There are still whitecaps behind us and more whitecaps farther out, but where we are there are none. We are almost becalmed.

We jibe back and try to head out. Soon we have more wind and are moving again, but the breeze proves to be elusive.

For the rest of the day we chase the wind and sailing becomes hard work. We head out, then back in trying to find some pressure, trying to keep our speed up. The wind stays steady for couple of hours once and we are hopeful, only to watch it die again. Always we can see stronger wind behind us and we think maybe it will reach us, but instead the trend is lighter and lighter. We consider setting the spinnaker, but we suspect it would just have to come down right away if the wind quits altogether.

At about 17:00 we are approaching to the bay we have selected as a likely anchoring spot, and just then the wind switches to the west and fills in, making our chosen anchorage, which is open to the ocean, into a lee shore.

With a little disappointment we decide that we must carry on towards Kota Kinabalu. There are few anchorages with protection from the west along this coast, and it will soon be dark. We can’t go into any place on this coast in the dark.

So we sail on through the night, the westerly breeze holding, past several anchorages we might have stopped in other conditions, but don’t because of the wind direction and darkness. This is OK; we are now looking forward to getting to KK in the morning with its promise of civilization, not the least of which is a berth in a nice new marina and a swimming pool.


We arrive in KK at noon the next day, and soon are tied to the dock and hooked up to electrical power. We head off to the pool for a dip and a cool drink.

Fellow cruisers in KK party on WINGS


The Mountain in the Clouds:

Mount Kinabalu

Andy and Nita have flown down from Hong Kong for a short holiday. It is great to have good friends visit. We rent a car and head off to tropical rain forest and Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain here in Borneo, and a World Heritage Site.

We leave the humid coastal plain and head up the winding roads into jungle and rain. The air becomes cool. We catch occasional glimpses of the base of Mount Kinabalu, but the top remains shrouded in clouds. We arrive at Mesilau Nature Reserve base camp, where big boned, healthy looking men in slickers and hiking boots are staging their two day ascents to the top. Andy studies the trail map carefully but the peak is more than 7000 feet above the 6000’ level of our base camp and Judy and I know we don’t have the time or physique for this climb. We check into a lodge for the night, settling for the hope of a better view of Mount Kinabalu in the morning.

Mesilau Forest Santuary

We have some time before dinner so we drive down into the valley to Poring Hot Springs for a soak in the sulfur water. Starting back up the mountain it is dark and raining; we can’t see a thing. To add to our misery, fog sets in. Big trucks are coming down hill and their fog lights appear out of the gloom and temporarily blind us. The drive is slow and nerve wracking. We get lost; our navigation on land isn’t much better than it is at sea. The drive turns into something like a night passage on Wings, or a bad dream.

Finally we arrive back at Mesilau just in time for a drink before dinner. Outside our lodge the rain continues to pour down and a stream thunders somewhere nearby in the forest. It is cold up here in the mountains and we pile on the blankets before going to sleep.

Rain Forest


Dining at Mesilau

In the morning the sky clears briefly. I catch a glimpse of the granite peak glowing in the morning sun. I grab my camera, but the mountain is gone back into the clouds. No matter, it is a nice stay in the rain forest for us anyhow. We take some walks and enjoy the wilderness setting.

Driving down that day we discover that this area is a big farming region, and we find fruit and vegetable stands filled with local produce. Also some craft shops. By the time we get back to Kota Kinabalu we have a trunk filled with purchases from the Mountain in the Clouds.

Fruit Market

Andy and Nita return to Hong Kong and the other cruising boats in the marina have started to start leave as well, heading south, but Judy and I like the modern and bustling town of Kota Kinabalu, and we decide we will hang around here for a few more days… or maybe weeks.

Cruising lets you do that.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Kota Kinabalu

April 10, 2006-Night Sail to Kudat.

In The Basin
Wings is rocking gently in the remnants of ocean waves which roll around the point and into the small basin where we are anchored in Kudat, Malaysia. We are close to the ocean, only a few hundred yards, and the wind blows over the land between us and the sea, and we can hear the low roar of the waves outside this basin, but here we are secure. We like this anchorage place, it is safe and protected, yet we can hear and feel the wild ocean so nearby.

Kudat Resort

In the pool, Aaron & Sarah


There is a resort here, and a pool. We hang out and the two American crew members from Willow are there and they hold their breaths on the bottom of the pool.

Kudat is in Sabah, in the Malaysian part of the Island of Borneo.

Malaysia is a new country for us, and the first time in a Muslim land, but it is good. The people are friendly and helpful, and so sorry when their Muslim traditions cause us some inconvenience, like when we ask if we can have wine or beer with dinner in the hotel where we are having our meal, and "No, I am so sorry sir, we have no alcohol in this restaurant." They have coffee. We drink coffee.

Kudat Town


People ask where we are from, and we answer, "America." or "USA’, and they say, "Oh, America", or, "Oh, USA." Maybe a little wonderment in their voices but no one says it in a disdainful way or in any way which would indicate dislike, Mostly they simply start to tell us about some other American they know, or a relative who lives in Chicago or Florida, or some where else in land of the Great Satan.

Actually, they pretty much ignore us; they are used to tourists here. We walk unmolested through the shops and into the restaurants to check out the menus, and on the road back to the marina people stop to give us a ride.

We sailed to Kudat from the Philippines in a two-day passage, which also means two nights.

It was the night sailing which made an impression on me.

There was good sailing on those two nights, and some mysterious happenings as well.

Leaving Ulagan Bay on Palawan, we round Northwest Point and, under power, we head for the deep water off the Palawan shelf. The wind is light Nor’Easterly, but it soon rises to 9 knots and we set sail. With the big jib poled out on the port side and the main held in place with a preventer on the starboard, we make steady progress, wing on wing, through the day, It is thirty seven miles until the last of the shallows are behind us and the soundings disappear, but we are there before nightfall, and we turn south.

I drop the pole and shift the jib to the same side as the main and the wind is now up to eleven knots I set the windvane and we are soon sailing in the sixes.

The sun goes down and there is a bright moon already high in the sky. The stars come our. Judy and I take turns on watch. Life is good.

On my midnight to three I am sitting in the cockpit in my deck chair, which is possible only when, like tonight, the sea is flat and the deck steady, and I cannot see the compass, so I am steering, like the ancient ones, by the Southern Cross, which I watch over my left shoulder, next to the port shroud. I can also see Orion, the Big Dipper, and the Pole star, and a million others, but only the Southern Cross is in the right place to steer by, and it is my friend.

By 01:00 the moon has set and it is now totally dark. The wind picks up and shifts slightly to the southeast now coming from 100 degrees. We are sailing faster, into the darkness. Something bothers me, but I don’t know what. Maybe it is that the stars now come and go behind unseen clouds. I’ve just lost the Southern Cross! No, there it is, right where I looked a second ago and it was not there.

Suddenly a wave rocks the boat violently and throws me out of my deck chair. The sails fly back and forth across the boat and crack the air. Then it is still again Judy sticks her head up, out of the hatch, to see what the commotion is all about, I shrug; I am baffled.. The boat resumes sailing. Judy returns to her bunk.

What was that? It unsettles me.

I have other issues to attend to. The wind begins swinging to new a new direction. Soon it is blowing from 130 degrees. I adjust the windvane and the sails. Then a further shift occurs. Now it is 148 degrees. I adjust again. But the wind continues to move around the compass and I can’t keep up, it keeps turning us; we are constantly off our course. I stay busy making all the corrections.

Within an hour and a half the wind has shifted to 182 degrees and we have to be close hauled, or nearly so, to make good our course of 230.

Because there is no moon I cannot see the sky and I wonder what is up there. Is it a storm coming? But the sea is still flat.

I know that off to my right is a large area of the ocean filled with reefs and shoals called the Dangerous Ground. It may be miles away, but I cannot see in the darkness, and I don’t like the fact that we keep turning towards it.

Judy’s watch, I go below, but I cannot sleep. Before dawn I am back on deck, napping in a corner of the cockpit, but we are both tense, waiting for something to happen. We are wondering what is going on with the weather and we are both wishing for sun to rise. There have been a couple other sudden wave strikes, but for her entire watch the wind has remained steady, thankfully.

The sun comes up and the sky is non-threatening, There are no angry clouds on the horizon; the ocean is serene. Whatever malevolent presence which might have been there during the night has slipped away with the darkness. The wind even returns to the east. We ease the sheets.

The day passes uneventfully except that, once, in the bright sunlight and clear air we spot breaking waves up to weather. With binoculars we can see a brown rock sticking up with white surf around it. The chart shows shoals there, but no island. So there are dangers on both sides.

On the second night we experience a repeat of the previous night with the rapid shift of the wind to the south, only this time the wind rises and the seas become choppy. We change to the jib, and we reef the main. The speeds are up in the sevens.

We hit our turning point off the Balabac Islands and now we have to sail close hauled, hard on the wind, and still, since the turning mark, we are not able to make our new course. Only a few degrees off, we hold on and hope for a favorable shift in the morning.

Nice Day to Sail

Dawn comes on the third day and the sky is clear, the sea blue and occasional whitecaps show themselves. We sail towards Borneo as best we can, but the wind stays out of the south. We will have to beat to get to Kudat. With long port tacks and short hitches to starboard we make our way into Maruda Bay. This place was a notorious hideout for pirates 200 years ago, but now it is home only to fishermen and a few smugglers.

We know we are in Malaysia, if for no other reason than that the fishing boats are not bancas; they do not have the narrow hulls and wide outriggers that are universal to vessels in the Philippines. They have their own characteristic shape: Malaysian.

The town of Kudat comes into view, and the gold dome of a mosque. We hoist our Malasian courtesy flag, and our own national ensign, the stars and stripes, flies from our backstay.

We enter a new country, and a new adventure.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Kudat
06deg 53.5 N, 116deg 51.5E