Wednesday, 15 August 2012
lankaying island to SANDAKAN,SABAH 05082012
50 nm today,so early off ,with morning sailing,afternoon motorsailing.at one stage passed 35 strangelooking fish net bamboo structures in ocean,kilometers offshore.as we came into sandakan harbour,we rounded the high streaky rock cliffs of island at entrance.we went past several very poor looking stilt villages over water,large wooden ferries at anchor,the mosque,and dropped anchor in front of Sandakan Yacht Club.we took dinghy to syc jetty,paid 100 ringgits aa=nnual membership,plus 10rm per day to use facilitis=es, and received free syc shirt and cap.lovely club building and bar.no proper yachts.just small dinghies,plus boats for recreational fishing,with twin huge outboards.nice outlook over the swimming pool and gardens,and haven ,and 2 other yachts at abchor.
we went to supermarket and wet market to stock up for our river trip.
back to haven and notived a strange rope trailing underneath.it was wrapped a few times around propellor and shaft.must have just happened aas we stopped,.it was easily removed when I went under with mask.
we had drinks at dinner at yacht club.put dinghy and outboard back on Haven.in view of recent outboard theft here,we put 3 padlocks on outboard,plus 4 nav lights 2 flashig blue),plus left one interior light on all night,.
such a busy harbour-lots of small woodem=n feeries,fast passenger speed boats,big wooden fishing boats,boats of army,navy,maritime,polis,and some big cargo ships-so good lighting at night essential.
we went to supermarket and wet market to stock up for our river trip.
back to haven and notived a strange rope trailing underneath.it was wrapped a few times around propellor and shaft.must have just happened aas we stopped,.it was easily removed when I went under with mask.
we had drinks at dinner at yacht club.put dinghy and outboard back on Haven.in view of recent outboard theft here,we put 3 padlocks on outboard,plus 4 nav lights 2 flashig blue),plus left one interior light on all night,.
such a busy harbour-lots of small woodem=n feeries,fast passenger speed boats,big wooden fishing boats,boats of army,navy,maritime,polis,and some big cargo ships-so good lighting at night essential.
LANKAYAN Is-DIVING,&TURTLE HATCHING 4aug
we did 3 boat dives.the dives were average and visibility not great,but great to be underwater again,as we were a bit rusty ,and needed a tune-up for diving sipidan later.we have our own dive gear,but used their tanks as easier-the spare mouthpieces on both our regulators were not working properly-honarius,the senior dive instructor kindly fixed them while we did 1st dive.we saw nice coral,big cuttlefish,small orangutan crab-which looked more obvious on video after dive,nudibranche,and blue eel with yellow teeth;
after the diving we were lucky to seeturtles hatching.well you dont see them hatching out of buried egg,but see them emerging from sand.about 50-100 green,and also hawksbill turtles.they looked so cute all wriggling together in 2 plastic bowls,in fast motion,before release on sandy beach.then,with an adoring crowd of about 30 humans,they rapidly wriggled directly to sea,and swam off.
after the diving we were lucky to seeturtles hatching.well you dont see them hatching out of buried egg,but see them emerging from sand.about 50-100 green,and also hawksbill turtles.they looked so cute all wriggling together in 2 plastic bowls,in fast motion,before release on sandy beach.then,with an adoring crowd of about 30 humans,they rapidly wriggled directly to sea,and swam off.
tigabu to LANKAYING ISLAND 03aug2012
a contrast of islands today.
we had calm seas again with slight breeze,so motorsailed the 37nm to lankaying island.we picked up a mooring(which kerry had prebooked as we planned to go diving here),infront of a smallgreen island with pale beach surrounded by aquablue water,with a lovelt dark wood dive centre over water,chalets in the trees,and a huge resort building over water,with a long jetty.we walked to this building -very trendt interior,with so much wood.even glass panels in floor to see the sea.back past turtle conservation centre,and hatcheries.tuetles come ashore at night and lay eggs,which are then put in hatcheries,with date.they hatch 57 days later,and are released into sea.4arranged diving for tomorrow and then took dinghy for a snorkel.sunset sundowners,and dinner on haven,cheaper than resort,and we have a better view.
we had calm seas again with slight breeze,so motorsailed the 37nm to lankaying island.we picked up a mooring(which kerry had prebooked as we planned to go diving here),infront of a smallgreen island with pale beach surrounded by aquablue water,with a lovelt dark wood dive centre over water,chalets in the trees,and a huge resort building over water,with a long jetty.we walked to this building -very trendt interior,with so much wood.even glass panels in floor to see the sea.back past turtle conservation centre,and hatcheries.tuetles come ashore at night and lay eggs,which are then put in hatcheries,with date.they hatch 57 days later,and are released into sea.4arranged diving for tomorrow and then took dinghy for a snorkel.sunset sundowners,and dinner on haven,cheaper than resort,and we have a better view.
kudat to TIGABU island 02aug2012
early start on a fine day.lots of islands and reefs.motor sailing on calm seas = a good time for coffees,and doing laundry and ipad emailing in the cockpit.dropped anchor at 2pm at Palau Tigabu.we can see a row of stilt houses on the beach behind us,with palmtrees behind,below low yellowgreen hills.we can hear childrens voices calling welcome.reef on both edges of this small island,with huts built on stilts over the reef.several colourful fishing boats at anchor.a big navy ship steamed past-we are close to border with phillipines ,.we saw several polis and army boats today and there is a small army outpost on this island.we took dinghy to a jetty.once ashore we saw that the stilt houses were poor,but the people happy and friendly.there is a fuel depot selling diesel forA60 cents a litre.they get their water by hand from well in the sand-looks clear and clean.the children followed us on our walk,were laughing but shy and kept their distance.we saw fish drying on racks.their main source of food.no livestock.a few ducks and chickens.a surprising number of mangey dogs,who didnt bother us.offshore were extensive rectangles made by walls of coral rubble,most with a stily hut in middle.then the wind started coming up so we rushed back before storm.big waves getting off jetty onto dinghy ,with about 25 lov=cals being very helpful and enjoying the show.after sunset a big wind came,with no wind,lasted a short while,30-35 knots,maximum gust of 47knots.OK o/n.
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