A very big fast forward...

To make a long year short...
From Penang up to Phuket via Langkawi and islands in between. Lots of new gear and improvements in Langkawi, both on the way up and on the way down on our way to the Philippines. Phuket sucks, Langkawi is much better. Relatives visit and like the boat very much. Another stop in Sebana Cove, then up to Tioman and cross again to Miri where we see old friends from Hamamas. We participate in the Borneo International Yacht Challenge. In spite of motoring a lot we still manage to get a prize and are treated to complimentary 5 star hotels and plenty of other perks. We get to sail with old salts and have a great day out in KK. Slowly but surely we arrive back in Cebu, planning to go back into the Pacific via Palau, PNG and on. Crew arrives we set off around xmas time. We have an horrid time getting out of San Bernardino strait, then head out to Palau but the weather gets quite shitty, the steering box disintegrates. We turn back beaten for repairs in Cebu, the return to the Pacific isn't happening.
One month in the sewer that is Cebu harbor getting new hydraulic steering installed, we also decide to remove all teak from the deck...instead a coat of epoxy and then paint makes the boat look much fresher and cleaner. Down we go back to Bombonon to visit Bruce (I tell you what!), then straight across to Kudat. A strange vibration from the shaft: haul out, change cutlass bearing, packing, straighten shaft, new antifouling. We get to hang out with some old friends from Philippines and meet the Norwegians guys of Berserk: lots of fun evenings, these guys are cool.
Hoppity hop we are back in Miri, see Hamamas, Tom rid of his malaria fevers, so we get to do the crossing together once again...like in the old days of Micronesia...
We both get to Tioman on a beautiful but scorching day. After a few days resting and restocking there we set off north for the season (east coast). There are some awesome islands on the way, some very touristy (Perhentian, Redang), some nearly deserted (I won't advertise them) with incredible coral gardens and visibility. Slowly but surely we arrive in Ko Samui in order to pick up the first Italians in nearly four years of taking crew...in the meantime we get to be a little more social and mundane than usual, enjoying the bars in Bo Phut beach and going this weekend 29/5 to the full moon party in Ko Phangan. Lots of details, happenings, situations, memories were left behind in this summary but at least I am finally up to date. From now on this Log will take a more "scrapbook" shape with less literary descriptions but hopefully more up to date recount of events.

May 2009

A couple weeks go by, relaxing in still waters, enjoying plentiful fresh water, a restaurant, free access to a swimming pool and tennis courts. The boat needs quite a cleanup, and the overheating problem disappears, someone suggests we exchange the temperature gauge, will do so in Singapore. We attend one birthday on the dock, as usual being just about the very few people below 70 y.o. treating us like we just flew in from the office and have never seen open water before, not to mention sailboats. Sometimes such people came from Australia on one of the many "rallies" which means being like sheep in a herd with everything arranged for them. Often they haven't seen the outside of the marina for six or more months...A sure sign of another stuck yachtie is the satellite TV and air conditioner, things that inexorably seals their fate of never being able to detach themselves from the dock ever again.
By the time we leave the marina, we are very happy of doing so, but for the time being only in order to go to Singapore. We check in through Changi general purpose anchorage. The arrangement for such a busy nation-state is smart and yet baffling considered the reputation Singapore has for a control-freaked state. We hail immigration on Channel 74, the immigration drops by and we drop all the documents in a basket they stretch to us. A few minutes later and few questions over a loudspeaker and the documents are returned via the same basket. We could have tons of illegal immigrants or drugs and nobody would ever notice!
Singapore is quite interesting, a bit expensive, very clean and efficient, everyone is extremely polite. Kind of a Switzerland surrounded by much more chaotic and messy neighbors. The marine supplies are extensive, though often catering more to huge tankers and oil rigs rather than small yachts. We do lots of “window shopping” and price research on various items. One thing we find out mostly, is that Singapore is no longer very competitive on electronics. We bought a good Nikon D-60 in a little family shop in Kota Kinabalu, and found out that nowhere in Singapore they could give us a better price!
Careful especially of Sim Lim Square, do your research on marine electronics, but for consumer electronics it’s just a big sham. Everything seems to be of the same price at first, it's baffling, and then the Chinese sellers will act like one is vampirizing them while charging you the highest price in town! Malaysia is still much better, one can rest assured the price written there is always final and truthful. The only exception is Mustafa’s, run by Hindus. As we say, there you can find from the pin to the hand grenade. I even found my favorite style of bathing suit, a nearly extinct design.
Naturally with all the shopping, the restaurants, Cold Storage supermarket, and the very nice assistance by Changi Sailing Club we ended up spending in Singapore more time than anticipated, so we scoot off in a hurry when done with it all. A full day of motoring through hundreds of cargoes, carriers, LPG ships, horrible black oily sludge that is considered water etc. and we anchor to rest by Pulau Pisang. The day after another long motor to Pulau Langka, south of Melaka. We endure the first of many night squalls, with incredible winds and rain while the sea all frothy and shaky thanks to the strong currents opposing the wind etc.. I was out in the cockpit but all I could see was a nasty windswept blackness where everything seemed twirling and frothing, like an Alice in wonderland time warp.
Onwards north, stop at good old Sembilans getting polluted and overfished thanks to the Fisheries department, we've seen them putting fish guts IN plastic bags before chucking them in the water...how civilized! The arrival of a mega yacht with jet skis gets me to leave late afternoon thinking of a quick motoring to Lumut, but the engine, surprise, overheats again in spite of the expensive new temperature gage and we lose precious time, we stop at Pulau Pangkor, by the (used to be) backpacker town on the NW side. A turn of the weather sees us quickly out of there, just to take shelter in Lumut, at its old Yacht Club, where, bad weather persisting, we almost get wiped out by a dragging dismissed navy crusader in the middle of the night. Though we were supposed to enter Malaysia in Penang, the days go by and big festivities approach Lumut, so we decide to stay awhile and relax.
When satisfied of quaint little Lumut we move on to Penang, the big city. Penang is the only city I've seen so far in Asia with true flavour and own mystique. Most backpackers barely stop while the place is a deep pool of alleys, drinking dens, chinese theaters, hindu shrines, sleazy corners where deals are casually winked in motion.