We both upped our anchors just about 0800 and set off on the next leg of our trip to Kudat. Tonight, we will be staying out in the middle of no where along the north coast of Borneo. About 35 miles east of Sandakan. We'll be stopping in there for probably a couple of days to relax and see the town. With over 450,000 people in the town, it will be big enough for some reprovisioning and some fun. We do have to check in with the Harbor Master and Customs when we arrive. We should be in by late in the afternoon on Sunday so Monday will be checkin day. At least we don't have to check in with Immigration. We got that over in Tawau a couple of weeks ago.

Last night, we anchored off a small island with a good reef to give us some protection from the incoming Northeast swells that we've had for a while. Still have them today along with a more Northerly wind about 7-8 knots. Sure wish we had our Genoa sail to give us some power. We still have to run the engine to keep any kind of speed. I'm going up the mast while we are in Sandakan to see of I can do some repairs. I think I have figured out a way to get it working again. The top aluminum tube of the roller furled is split about 9 inches down. If I cut it off, I might be about to still have enough length to the unit that it can still hold the sail and let us use it. I already have a replacement set of the plastic(of course) bearings that go in the top of the tube. We miss the power.

I've tried to call and email the yard we are going to in Kudat so we can get parts on order but so far, they haven't returned my calls nor my emails. I'll be trying again when we get to Sandakan. If I can get the parts on order now, we won't have to wait so long in Kudat and can continue on to Brunei.

It's a beautiful sunny day with deep blue skies and just a few puffy clouds. Tracy just served up dinner(we eat it at lunch time) of sliced beef, onion, small potatoes(sliced thin), garlic and sliced carrots done in a ancho chili sauce. It was great. A nice cold coke went down with it.

I'll let you know were we end up for the night. Maybe we will have internet though I doubt it as we will be away from towns.

We approached the designated stopping point for the night about 1430. Not bad but totally unprotected from the swell. Richard made the suggestion that we continue on another 20 miles where we might get some coverage from the swells. It was going to be close with the Sun going down but we had good winds(sure wish we had the genoa working)so off we went. We had our main and forestaysail up and with the winds in the 10 knot range, we added in the motor and we were doing about 6.5 knots. We would need it go get where we were going by 1750 when the Sun went down. As we approached the anchorage, we were greeted by numerous fishermen dragging nets and a tug pulling a barge. It was not going to be a straight forward entrance where we needed to go. We dodged several fisherman and their nets and headed into where we thought we might get the protection we needed(05 52.085N 118 18.399E for all you Google Earth fans). At least 20 fishing boats were all around us. Some as close a couple hundred yards. We were on a delta from a local river and we found that the depths the charts we had were VERY inaccurate. They both said we should be in 15-20 feet deep water. Not so. We only had about 5 feet under our keel when we dropped the anchor. The Sun was just setting as we did so. Being a muddy bottom(you could still see the mud flowing past us in the water from the river), we knew the anchor would bite fast and it did pulling the bow straight out ahead of us. Azizah had been behind us most of the day and they had the same fishing boats to deal with. They pulled in about 45 minutes after we did and have anchored off our port side in even shallower water. Yikes! We ended up doing 57 miles yesterday. A long push not having started till 0900, but we are anchored safe and sound and now Sandakan is only 20 miles ahead of us. An easy 4 hour trip(motoring since there is again no wind).

Zephyr is slowing rocking from side to side as the swells come in and hit us broadside. There isn't enough of a breeze to over power the incoming tide so we are stuck in this position as we have been through most of the night. It started raining about 0700 and just let up(now 0830). We expect to be on our way again in about 30 minutes. Internet is spotty at best out here so I'll post this when we get into port.

OK, we made it into Sandakan about 1230 and dropped the hook right in front of the Sandakan Yacht Club. Samia called us a few minutes later on the VHF radio and asked if we want to go ashore and have lunch at the yacht club. Not to turn down a free ride to shore, we said yes and I quickly took a shower to get the sweat off me. We made sure to chain the dinghy to the dock just in case. Richard and Samia had the lamb curry while I had Chicken Curry. Tracy opted for Sweet and Sour Chicken. All of us enjoyed our meals and none of us had to cook anything. Richard returned to their yacht and took a nap while the three of us headed for the big fruit and veggie market in town. We were all out of fresh anything after two weeks. We then crossed the street to the huge shopping mall. It's huge!! Four stories of just about nothing. Most of the shops slots are empty. It's either too new and has never been fully booked or it's too expensive but each floor has it's own type of goods available. One for clothes, one for food,etc. We did find a McDonalds!!! Yea!!! Good old American grease. A Big Mac Meal comes in at under $3.00US!!!! They even have specials from 1700 to 2100 where the food is cheaper!!
We came back and have settled in for the night. Tomorrow, off to the Harbor Master and Customs to get rechecked back into Malaysia. Lots of things to see and do while here so we will just have to see what there is to do. We'll let you know what we find.