26th May, 2009

On the night of 16th May we did not get to Sebana Cove so anchored off Tanjung Pengelih on the south east corner of Malaysia on the Singapore side for the night and then did the six miles up the river to Sebana Cove marina the next morning (Sunday) arriving at 10.30am and Sue & Ian from Icy Red were there to grab our lines to tie up. We ended up spending the rest of the day catching up with friends that we hadn't seen for months and then went over to Maggie & Ray's apartment for dinner and had a lovely evening.

Over the next couple of days more of the rally boats started arriving in and on the Tuesday night we had Linda & Chris (Gitano) plus a friend of theirs who was on board for dinner. We had a bit of catching up to do as they had been back in England for 6 months.

On the Wednesday (20th) there was an organized rally tour but as we had done some of it in November and Ray & Maggie wanted to take us sightseeing we went with them for the day. Went to Kota Tinggi and then visited an old fort which is the remains from the 1500's and the museum which is at the fort and very well done in a typical Malaysian type house. From there we went to Johor Bahru for lunch and I did a last time stock up for the boat at Jusco's. Maggie introduced me to some local vegetables for us to try as well. We arrived back in plenty of time for High Tea at the marina which was put on by the Johor Tourism Board with a lovely selection of nibbles etc.

We intended to set off late afternoon for the six miles downriver and spend the night but were held up by an electrical storm for an hour or so, so did not leave the marina until 5.45pm but we were anchored by 7.15pm and next morning left at 6.30am for our start up the East Coast of Malaysia and did a 48 mile run to Jason's Bay. We motor sailed for 8 hours of the trip but did have a nice spinnaker run for 3 ½ hours which was very pleasant. We were both very hot by the time we got there and as we were in reasonably clear, clean water we had decided on a swim. Dave dived in and then I heard him yelling, (thought he must still have his hearing aid in) and he was struggling to get out of the water as quick as possible, but he had not pulled the ladder down. He had been stung by jelly fish around his stomach, back and the inside of his arms and was in agony. Put plenty of vinegar on to try and relieve the pain etc. and he had a very unpleasant night, although after we had gone to bed I suddenly realized that an anti histamine might help so gave him that, which it did. He still has the rash and is a bit tender but by next morning he was no longer in pain. We did go over to Katani 11 (57ft catamaran) for sundowners along with Dave & Barbara from "Baker Street".

On Saturday we did a 24 mile sail to the top of Sibu Island and we only ran the motor for 2 ½ hours, had the spinnaker up for 1 ½ hours and then it suddenly dropped in the water with a huge tear in it. It lost a bit of wind and then got caught on the radar reflector which we discovered has lost the little protectors on the corners. It has two big tears but I think I can fix it as I have the old faithful bernina sewing machine on board. We arrived at Sibu just after 3pm and what a beautiful spot. There were 12 of the rally boats in there for the night and a group of us had sundowners on the beach. There was also a resort in the bay which looked nice and blended in well with the environment.

Next morning we motored 5 miles over to Tinggi Island to another lovely spot and were joined by 3 other rally boats, had a walk ashore and also Dave and I went snorkeling on the reef in the afternoon. Katani 11 & Almathea ended up coming aboard for impromptu sundowners on our boat with most of us being kiwis. We have quite a few kiwis on the rally and some of the Aussies are married to kiwis so there is quite a contingency of us.

Yesterday (Mon) we did a 14 mile sail up to Pulau Babi Besar, another beautiful spot and as the day wore on more yachts arrived with 12 of us in the anchorage for the night with sundowners on the beach but was called short as we all rushed back to or boats before the electrical storm hit. We had plenty of wind, thunder and lightning but no rain. We did go for a snorkel in the afternoon.

The east coast of Malaysia is certainly lovely, with some lovely white sandy beaches and lovely clear blue water. Plenty of islands but we haven't time to see them all so maybe next year we will come back up here again and do it at our leasure.

This morning we left Pulau Baba Besar at 9.30am to Tioman Island and have had the wind in all directions which has incorporated some good sailing, motor sailing and just plain motoring the last few miles with the wind on the nose. The good sailing was when we had an electrical storm for an hour or so but no rain with it. The water here is absolutely beautiful, probably the best we have seen and is also a National and Marine Park area. We arrived at Teluk Tekek, Tioman Is. at 3.30pm. Had to re anchor after half an hour as we are in the midst of another blow. The activities at Tioman start tomorrow at 5pm.

We have now booked flights home to NZ, but the cheapest option for us is to fly to Australia and then on to NZ. So we fly from Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne on 1st October, will spend the weekend with Leith & Hannah and then fly on to Auckland with Air NZ on Monday 5th October. We struck a special with Air Asia from KL to Melbourne and with paying for meals and 20kg luggage our flight was $NZ180 each. Needless to add the Melbourne - NZ leg was dearer and ¼ of the distance. We are not expecting to get as cheap a fare coming back though and as yet haven't booked.