Tioman to Singapore by public transport

Strictly speaking, there are 2 ways to travel between Tioman and Singapore. The direct air route operated by Berjaya Air or the ferry to Mersing and then land route to Singapore.

At this time of writing, one way trip via the air route cost around S$120. Price is reasonable, for me it is anyway. Problem is that its not always available, like fully booked or not on those days that you must travel. Its a once a day flight service from Changi and max passengers is 48 on this Dash 8 aircraft…

The one with stripes down the side is the one to Mersing

Taking the ferry and land route is the most assured way to get back, but I found that it will take 8 or more hours. Altho it cost only S$24, I think its not worth the time and hassle. Well, I had to try it to know it..

There alot of power in that body of water today

I couldnt get a flight out on the day before I have to go back to work… alright, so I try the land route. .. hoping for the best.. and it turned out to be the worst. See, the conditions were bad right from the beginning. Strong winds and heavy swells, ferries were having difficulty just coming along the pier. So, the 0930hrs ferry was late and we left at 1000hrs.

The marina is not too disturbed by the troubled waters

I was the last to board but still there were plenty of seats… but its stinky already… lots of people, kids especially were already throwing out.. well, the beginning of a roller coaster ride… and the ferry stops at several other piers on the island before heading for Mersing. There were some folks at the last pier that couldnt get on board. Ferry is full and they will have to wait 3hrs for the next one. The 1.5 hrs ride took us 2hrs today.

Here we are, at Mersing. Lots of boats are in today

Therefore, I didnt make it for the 1100hrs bus at Mersing. Had lunch and waited for the 1300hrs, which was also late. Departed Mersing 1330hrs and arrived JB Larkin 1600hrs. There were confusion among the passengers, me included, on why this bus doesnt go to Singapore, when our tickets says it does. Of course, the bus driver could not properly communicate the directions on what we should do next. Typically Malaysia, very dissappointing. Naturally, we all got it wrong and boarded the SBS 170 instead and paying more money for that crossing. Lucky me, I have the Singapore EZlink card, not so for the rest who didnt have any loose change SGD. It was all just so unnecessarily confusing, plus touts where everywhere pushing cab rides to SG.

Berthed work boats, a sign of the weather outside this protected harbour

Ok, so the idea is this, get on SBS bus 170 from Larkin and it will go direct to the Causeway immigration at JB. Get off when everybody does, follow the crowd and dont worry, there is always somebody to follow in this very busy exchange. Get to the counter, get stamped out of Malaysia. Follow the crowd again and look for escalator down to the SBS bay, its on the left. Most other buses are on the right. Jump onto bus again and enjoy the ride across the historic causeway. At Singapore immigration, get off and follow the crowd, get stamped in and clear customs. Follow the directions, get back down to the SBS bus bay and off you go.

Heading to SG, look for this bus

I made it across quite easily, having done this before about 20yrs ago… Things have definately been improved. The transfer system is so much more efficient now. A/C immigration buildings and brightly lighted paths, the environment is so much better. No more long queue in dark humid lines standing infront of the immigration officer. Thing of the past, good riddance.

Get off bus 170 at Kranji MRT station. Switch to NS line towards Bishan, switch to Circle line heading towards Serangoon. Made it home 1715hrs. Its like a day at work, from 0830 to 1715hrs, but its also like being in many strange places during that time… I hope not to do this again..

Hike over the mountain at Tioman

We had really wanted to see Juara which is on the other side of Tioman, as in its across the mountain to the east of the marina. If not for the wind and swells recently, we would have gone and try anchor Calliste off the beach for a day. Seems like it would be too uncomfortable to stay onboard in these conditions, so I thought the way to see Juara is to be berthed at the marina and walk over…

At beginning of a long windy uphill.

I mean, I do enjoy long distance walking… but the uphill part is abit daunting.. and not knowing much about the mountain road.  Nobody gives a good description of this walk, like how far, how much time would a average person take to hike over. Its completely unknown, except that people have done it to and fro in a day…

Alright, so I am going to go until I cant continue anymore… and I am not carrying any water nor food… travelling light with not even a backpack. Just a phone, RM90 and no ID… … really, I am not a very smart traveller, just the silly ones with the can-do attitude…

Midway, an opening in the forest to look out over the marina and seas.

And I am doing this alone. Me, by myself, up the lonely road across Tioman. Look, no way Doug is gonna make it across… he is just gonna talk me out of it, every step of the way… so if it is to be, it is up to me. And so, here we go.

I am not kidding, this is really tough. Only just turning in at the 1st bend and I am so winded already. Okay, need more mental strength here… talked myself into making the 2nd bend, maybe it wont be so steep after that… opps 3rd bend is just as bad… too early to give up, lets try another 100 steps… gotta rest… really sat down on the alu railings for 2 mins… found that my posture while facing up is not comfy at all, turn around face downhill and stretch legs out front. .. arhhh……

Think zen, deep breaths… now slow down the breaths… ok heart rate under control now… feel better now, ok move on.. Its a beautiful day for a walk, make good use of it. .. and I keep telling myself that I have come to far to give up.. Nope, I didnt think that I made much distance at all, just trying to push myself over the slope, and the next one, and the next one…

First signs of human dwelling on this lonely road

So I started at 0845hrs. The SuperCats (Phil, Gina and Felicity) pass me on their motorbikes at 945hrs. Just about time I was seriously thinking about giving up… I listened for the sound of engine as they disappear around a corner further up, trying to gauge how much more incline there is beyond them.. Hmm… I think its quite close now.. PUSH ON! Even if I have to sit on the ground and rest every 20steps, I am going for it!

Bananas! 20ft of tall grass separates me from that fruit!

I am certainly doing better than those monks doing the 3 steps and flat on belly walk! At least I am making better progress… Another reason to push on. … 1030hrs, finally! A long flat! Ok, it should be easy now. The worst is over! So I thought!

Made it! At last!

Coming up next, steep downhill.. what goes up, must come down. If it was hard going up, you can tell that it be just as hard coming down… This time, my problem was my toes. They hurt from being squished in by the pointy down pressure from the steepness of slopes.. so much so that I had to walk backwards to relieve the pressure… I am at the point, where I will do whatever necessary to finish on the Juara side. I’ll roll if I must, I’ll be there! Keep telling myself that…

1130hrs, finally, signs of human habitats! and human activities… did I tell ya I was so dumb and had no water… These green bananas actually looked really good to me then! .. for the record, it took me almost 3hrs to cross… hit the beach food shacks and drink like theres no tomoro… I was drowning myself with coke!

Phils at Juara

Well, the real attraction for me at Juara is Phils’ new getaway house. And so here I am, refreshed and trekking over the beach pathway to Phils’… there is no road, this is THE way…

A Malay style beachfront chalet

And look, a pretty Malay beachfront chalet. Isnt that cute. Its really small, but has a toilet and 2 double deck bunk beds… no A/C, so I wont bother to ask.

Felicity in her soon to be furnished loft room

Lucky me, low tide. .. so I didnt have to get too wet walking over to Phils. They are now putting in cabinets and furniture. Soon they be ready to party! And nobody throws a party like Phil and family…. so looking forward… to seeing it finished… and the party of course.

I can imagine that sun rise over Juara would be so pretty. This house is so perfectly situated to watch sun rise happening in the shade of the rocks and trees. Felicity has the best view, I am jealous

The smaller gardeners quarters

Even the workers that will be hired to maintain this property have a nice hut and a great view. This would be so perfect for me, but I am not one for the service industry …

 Nope, I am going to try get a cab back. Bump into John and Wilma. They walked too, and they were also there to visit with Phil. So we shared the cab fare and it all work out well.. RM90 for 3 of us in a 30 min ride. The driver is going to eat well tonight.

So, at the end of the day…. I got to see Juara, visit Phil and family… and Doug happily settled for the comfort of just seeing the pictures and hearing my story… We shall both be contented.

2012 Sailing Adventure – SG to Aur to Tioman

Foyer of our flat: Collecting stuff that are going with us.

It seems like we have a pattern that is influenced by the prevailing S. China sea climate. Every year, about end April, we go on a boat and head out to Tioman. We’ve done that in 2009, 2011 and now 2012! .. I almost made it in 2010 in Eleanor.. I took off, but didnt complete it tho.. Well..,  we are probably doing it 2013… pretty sure .. on route to Japan… possibly, cant be 100% sure, but its a good chance that we be doing that.

Kayaks loaded, fuel loaded, ready to go

This year, I am taking time off work between Labour day and Vesak day to make this a 10 day sailing adventure on board S/V Calliste. Didnt feel too good about leaving 2 cats to the care of 2 teenages in my partially renovated flat.. hope they’ll be alright…

27 Apr 2000hrs: We moved onboard with fresh groceries. Put things away and put kayaks in their places, took awnings down…. At about 2359hrs, we were too pooped to continue and nah… we are not leaving at 0400hrs.

28 Apr 1400hrs: We are finally underway. Yeah! While in Singapore waters, we continue to enjoy mobile broadband and that was fun… Hopefully, we get Maxis broadband to work just as well… I had to make arrangements to get the Maxis Sim card ahead of our departure, and sign up for the monthly prepaid broadband for RM68. Thats not bad, but only 3G of data and wonder how good is the transfer rate.

At about 2000hrs, it was just beginning to get really dark, and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me… there was a strip of very black water ahead of us…. hmm…. seems to be getting bigger… WHOA! Throttle back engine way down, change course 90′ Port! That was just reflex action and good thing too. We were less than 10meters away from running into some really dense fishing stakes that ran a long ways down to somewhere that I cant see the end. Almost a heart attack… anyway, we got around it by going inshore and passed it in 6meters depth. This end was lighted by some very small blinking red light… I was like, WHOA! Damn crazy garbage people put up this unmarked trap! Yeah right! What blinking light! Damn! #$!%#*@. This is, btw, off Tanjong Ayam.

Approaching Aur. Our favorite island in South China Sea

2200hrs, going thru the narrow passage among the rocks off Rumunia. Good timing, we had a slack tide and passed the dangerous North rocks easily. It was very dark and we relied totally on my 7 yr old Garmin GPSMAP76C and 2005 Bluecharts. I have done this route 3 times before, going up to Tioman, so I was pretty sure that if the old guy(GPS) is working, we would be okay.

Here we are. Moored on the Duyong side of the channel.

29 Apr 0100hrs: My watch. Lots of lights out there to our Starboard. Could be anything, fishing skiffs, big ships… looks like something is closing in on us, I am starting to see some bright red, green and white lights… must be some SG power boats going the same way… hearing their engines now… WHOA! Look at that … how many are there…? They look exactly the same… size, height and lights, and seems to be quite large… 60 to 70 ft perhaps… Changing course 20′ to Port, wanting some distance from this convoy… On closer look, they are military vessels and 7 of them. WHOA! And every one of them checked us out with their on board spot light! I think we have our picture taken 7 times tonight… hmm… are these Malaysian Navy? I didnt think they keep their vessels so up and running… everything seem to be in good working condition…

Calliste at Aur mooring

0400hrs, my watch again. Looks like another big vessel is coming up on our starboard. Couldnt tell where he is going, but its coming a little to close for comfort. 20′ to Port, looks like a very black hull passing us about 50meters on starboard… got beamed again.! They definately saw us…. and bully us into giving way altho it would be nice of them, being the big boys to show a little class and alter course to pass behind us. Since they never did alter course, we did… We know not to expect better of them working vessels in Asia already.

We really love the rocks at Aur and Duyong. See, how pretty.

0630hrs, my watch again… we do like 2hrs on and 2hrs off. Seems to work pretty well. I got this sunrise shift, which is exactly what I wanted. Hoping to catch a glimpse of jumping fishes at the instant sunlight touches down on the water. That was a experience that I had last year and it was so natural and left me with a desire to see it again. I decided that when we are out to sea, I reserve all sunrise watches… I bully Doug into it anyway … Well, this time, I am not so lucky. No jumping fishes, but some consolation, the rising sun was really round. Most of the other sunrises or sunsets that I have seen, usually the sun is partially obscured by clouds.

and Aur waters are beautiful! As usual

0930hrs, off the SW corner of Aur. We are looking for anchoring spots and discovering other parts of Aur that we havent seen last year. See, we really like Aur… more than Tioman really, but its too rustic and we cant be very comfy staying around here. We miss A/C and fresh foods… no, we dun fish and we dun put jumping prawns into a pot of boiling water and cover up quick.

1 happy kayaker among rocks at Aur

1130hrs, everywhere around Aur are pretty rocks or sandy beaches. We pick up a mooring on the Duyong side this time, as it seems to be a busy weekend for the dive operators on the Aur side.

Now time to cook a little something for brunch, and then time to relax and catch up on sleep… Yes, the midday heat almost killed us.

1 laid back kayaker in the cool shade among rocks at Aur

1600hrs, time to crawl out of the cabin and go for a little exploration. Things are starting to cool down around here and there’s even a little sailing breeze if we are going anywhere.

We found this little inlet among the rocks at Duyong. This is so serene.

1800hrs, done with rock grocking. Very pleased with ourselves for having done that. Its like 1 thing off our list. On the paddle back to Calliste, I went around to the other 2 sailboats moored off the resort. Socializing… sun down happy hour. Everyone’s bound for Tioman in a day or two.

30Apr 0330hrs, we left the mooring. Nobody came up to collect for our mooring… guess we were lucky once again. One of the sailboats paid RM20.

It was a very dark night. The moon had set and other than a few little lights for the various boats in the channel, we could see nothing… and then there were some flashes in the sky and we could make out the edges of the islands. We relied on my trusty old GPS and our tracks to help us get out of the channel.

Reosrts at Tioman… yawn… havent we seen that before…

0400hrs, we are out of the lee of Duyong and I wondered if we should turn back. Seems to be heavy weather brewing out there. Doug thinks it wont be too severe and nothing that Calliste couldnt handle. Ya, I know, but… ok… prepare for a boisterous ride over to Tioman. Here we go… Choppy 2 -3 meters wave coming in from starboard. Wind against current… so we got a good boost from the current and even tho we are bashing into the waves, we make good speed. Overall 3+ knots, sometimes 4… until we crash into a biggie wave, then we drop down to 1+ knots and slowly build back up.

Leaving Doug to helm the most boisterous bit with his stronger stomach, I went down to get the 1st snooze… Lying flat in the cabin while Calliste is being knocked around… wasnt too bad for me. Nah, I wasnt feeling queasy at all… but standing up and bracing in the cabin for a few minutes, I start feeling my stomach turned upside down…

0600hrs, my watch now. Doug was so nice, he got me up when we entered the lee of Permangol island. We have shelter from the island for about 1hr as we travel north. Well, its my favorite sunrise watch again, but it probably would be dissapointing because of the weather… kinda sleep drunk and a little drudging it… but got to be fair eh…

Yep, here we are. Snug as a bug in a rug at Tioman marina

0800hrs, Tioman insight and the seas are a little less boisterous now. Looks like the storm blew itself out and we didnt get any rain that we thot we might… yes, I was right about the disappointing sunrise… off watch, head straight for the bunk.

1000hrs, finally up again… and now have some energy. Now we can gawk at Tioman and resorts as we pass them. The seas are not quite settled yet, residue from the storm.. but I am surprise, we still have the current going with us… interesting…

1300hrs, we arrived and tied up temporarily inside the marina. Now to take care of the paperwork and be formally cleared into Malaysia. 1600hrs, we moved into a more permanent slip. 1800hrs, off to a cold beer with the gang at Captain Kerks. Yes! We have arrived!

Passing by the beautiful Pulau Aur

We departed Tioman 0015hrs for a cool overnight passage back to Singapore via P.Aur. We didnt actually plan to visit Aur in this trip, but it was highly recommended that we do so… we hear such raving reports on how beautiful Aur is, we just have to see it for ourselves.

It was a very windless night, the seas were very calm… We couldnt sail in this condition, but we did have a current in our favor. Motoring at 1800rpm, we made an easy 4-5kns, we got there in just 8hrs.

Entering the slot between Aur(right) and Dayong(left)

0700hrs, daybreak on the S China sea, we are about 5nm to Aur. At the moment when the sun broke thru the clouds and horizon, there were a flurry of jumping fish activity all around us. These are big mackeral like fishes jumping all around on our port side. I did wonder if they were dolphins, but nah, we could see the shapes of the jumping fishes very clearly.. .. then I wondered if they do this morning exercise daily..? The feeling of being there amongst them and watching them is quite undescribeable.. it was AWESOME!

Fishes swimming by our boat...

0830hrs, entering the gap between Dayong and Lang and then Aur. The rocks on Dayong and Aur are really quite spectacular.. and the waters are unbelieveably clear! We start seeing the bottom very clearly at 20ft.

Limited charting of Aur.

The top island is Dayong, the big island is Aur and the little one left of Aur is Lang… There are 3 resorts in the gap between Dayong and Aur. Resort 1 is nearest tot the jetty, where ferries brings holiday makers from the mainland to Aur. Resort 2 is on P. Dayong, directly opposite Resort 1. Resort 3 is further into the gap. It doesnt show on the map, but depth in the middle of the gap is 25meters at least. It shallows quite rapidly nearer to shore, so we do really have to keep an eye on the depth sounder.

Sunset on Calliste at Aur

We dont have good charts of this area.. using our very basic Bluecharts, depth sounder and common sense, we manage to find a small patch of sand to anchor in among coral heads.. not a ideal situation for anchoring… really should have pickuped a mooring.. but lets wait and see how it goes.

Another pretty picture of Calliste at Aur

1000hrs, Doug needs a rest.. and I need to stretch my paddling arms.. am too excited in this beautiful anchorage to get any sleep. Launched Yakuni and out to play on my own… only a short 3 mins paddle to the shallow waters near the beach around the 3rd resort, next flow with the current down towards the 1st resort and gawk at all those beautiful rocks, marine life, beaches and coconut trees.

Oh wow, that was so fun. Now, whats over at the 2nd resort? Crossed the gap in just 10 mins, paddled up and then back down towards Calliste.. check out the restaurant and chalets… looks like quite a resort, but its Friday noon and nobody is around… all so quiet in all 3 resorts, a skeleton crew goes about preparing for the busy weekend.

Tiny snails on a rock

Looks like there are plenty of moorings around and available for us.. Can see the huge blocks and chains at the bottom, a reassuring sight.. yes, we really should move to a mooring. … saw a beige colored mooring ball with a haysack color thingy attached to .. just about 10meters from it… the mooring moved… ! and slowly glided away and into the water! What was that!!! ?? Was it a Dugong? … Oh WOW! That was so cool!!

Shallow waters near to the resorts on Aur

1300hrs, back to Calliste. Sun is getting too hot now, time for lunch anyway. We were just hanging out in back and having lunch.. a nice breezy day, feels alot less hot and stuffy than in Tioman.. I really do have many reasons to like Aur better.. really!

Sea cucumbers hanging out in the shallows of Aur..

.. something large is moving in the water .. about 20 meters on our starboard.. I point out to Doug… its like a dark shadow just under the water surface.. we watch and watch and… out pops a head! Its a TURTLE!! Then it dive away… no time for a pix… DRATS!! At least, this time, its a positive identification and we both saw it.. but I think the beigy thing that I saw earlier is different…

Looking out at resort 3 on Aur

 

1600hrs, we are pointing in a rather usual position… a sign that our anchor chain is fouled around some coral heads… time to shop around for a better anchoring spot.. Doug prefer anchoring to picking up a mooring… After 2hrs of moving up and down, left and right between the 3 resorts… no luck. So back to the same old place and this time, we are picking up a mooring. Always better to ask the locals for which is available for us… if you dont want to upset anybody. We were pointed to the new blue mooring near to the dive tank refill platform… we saw them putting it in earlier in the day… well, it’ll be fine. We are not expecting any bad blow in the next 24hrs… fingers crossed.

Postcard perfect picture!

Day 2 0830hrs, launched both kayaks. I kept talking about my solo expedition whole of the night, and I bugged Doug all night to go paddle with me the next day… .. I am sure he’ll enjoy it too.. 1st stop, short paddle to the rocks near the 3rd resort. Thats where the sea cumbers hangout.. and snails too.

Early morning daylight is great for postcard pictures! Look at the gentle blue sky, lush green palm trees, weathered grey rocks and shades of teal green waters.

Rocks on the left and rocks on the right...

Next stop, to the passage thru the rocks! I could hang out here all day!!

Currents run quite strongly between these islands, that makes the hydraulic actions very interesting among these rocks. Its undescribeable interesting to sit in a kayak and wait to see where the waters will bring you.

Thats Calliste! Shes so small among the rocks!

We had so much fun around the rocks! Seeing Calliste thru a pair of small rocks… and in 10secs of waiting… viola! A different view of Calliste … and the dive platform appears out of nowhere…. ! Optical illusions!

The crab are almost as big as Calliste!

Check out how big the crabs look! Oh wow!

Looks like Calliste is sitting unprotected from the NE… but for the time that we were there, it was not really too uncomfortable.. it surprised us.. really.

Alright, just 1 more picture of the beautiful waters of Aur…

Crystal clear emerald waters of Aur!

1600hrs, we left the mooring. We exited thru the narrow part of the gap, going for a circumnavigation of Dayong.. We see dive boats do that all the time, so we think we be fine… do as the locals… but follow the big boats, not the sampans…

Once out to the open, we started picking up a little wind, 2-10kns. Made it around Dayong to Lang in just 1hr. Alright, now for the long haul down to Singapore! Its gonna be a long night…

Last 2 days in Tioman

Day 5 0700hrs, join Terry and Anna at the ramp. We are going for short easy walk thru Berjaya to Paya, so says our friends… We didnt know how long a walk it was going to be… well, we are in for a surprise…

A very "feng shui" picture! Berjaya resorts.

Its only a short walk to the Berjaya resorts, the only difficulty being the 500m steep uphill walk.

The Berjaya resorts is about golf, beach, water sports… anything and everything that makes a great island resort experience is available here.

The more exquisite of Berjaya offerings, Shahzan Villas.

Check out this very feng shui picture! All 5 elements are here!

The whole property is very well situated in Tioman. Flats, hills, beaches, cliffs and a small waterfall, they have the opportunity to make the best use out of it. Using the natural slope and rocks, here on this hill is the very exquisite Shahzan villas. Access to the suites is by verticular, ..something like a cross between a cable car and a train. The blue thing on the right of this picture is the verticular…

Tat turtle santuary stone marker! So cute!

Anyway, being on the hill offers a spectacular view off the Tioman coastline. .. I imagine… cos I wish.. but I dun get to ride up and check it out for myself… wonder how much it cost for a weekend in a villa… hmm.. ?

Turtle recreation home.. but they are not home right now

A short walk thru the golf course brought us to the TAT turtle Sanctuary… I thot the stone marker is so old fashion and charming… cute!

And then the little hut.. was hoping to catch a turtle hanging out on a beach car .. but nobody is in at the moment.. turtles are not expected till Aug…

Paya resort chalets..

From this point, the walking becomes more challenging. We had to walk on the sandfly infested beach, cross a stream on a plank, trek uphill and downhill thru a dense forestation and rocks trail. This stretch is about 1hr of some difficulty.. quite tiring…

Our taxi back to Tekek

Then we emerge into daylight again, pass a little village, walk over 2 more bridges and viola, we are at Paya. We would never make it.. if not for our guides Terry and Ana… ..

… but we are not in good shape to retrace our track back to Tekek… we opted for the easy way out.. we 2 only, Terry and Ana is gonna walk back and enjoy the games room at the Berjaya…

Paya village... not the resort

So we ordered the taxi and then they start fixing it to take us back… not a very comforting sight… life in Tioman… The ride is 30rm per pax, and they did the trip for just 2 of us.. thats not bad. 

The idyllic Paya village.

BTW, Paya resort is pretty nice too. No golf, but lots of beach and watersports. .. and its next to the Paya village, a tiny little community but people seems to be nicer than those at Tekek… and no squeeching motorbikes and horns! Its much quieter and so much more relaxing around here.

Anyway, we had to wait… so I got us some T-shirt souveneirs, fried bananas aka “goreng pisang”, lemonade aka “limau ais”. Its a really pleasant little village.. nice…

Our ride back is only 15mins.. very fast and surprisingly not too wet. .. so we are back to our very warm boat.. 1300hrs.. time for afternoon siesta. .. zzz.. and we are too pooped for anything else… no partying tonight for sure..

A good looking sail in the marina

Day 6, we are getting ready to leave this evening. I found that cooking underway is not so fun. Much better to be prepared ahead of time, if possible. Spent the morning preparing food that we be eating underway. Ginger fried rice is one of the best 1st sea meals.

A pretty tanbark sail raised in the marina, a sure invitation for pictures. They are going nowhere, just airing out the sails..

Thats Calliste at Tioman marina

Day 6 aft, spent 2hrs running around, looking for the harbour master, customs and immigrations. Pooped already! but at least thats done. Last minute shopping for dinner, next day lunch, eggs and more beer.

We are planning a late evening departure. If we leave 2300hrs, we should make it to Aur around 0800hrs next day at just 4.5kns. .. Okay, we overslept a little bit.. and we actually left 0015hrs…

Day 3 and 4 around Tekek, Tioman

Day 3 0900, opps the day kinda started late and its almost too warm to start walking… it took abit more energy to get us started on the walking thing, but I am glad we did go.

Flight into Tioman

We are walking North towards the marine park, checking out the villages along the way. We were walking along the airstrip when the Berjaya flight into Tioman was coming in. Got this pretty good picture of the plane.. and then my trusty Nikon L20 died… sigh… we’ll count on Dougs’ L21 from now.

Map of tioman

Newly constructed waterfront walkway.. a sign of the village getting more touristy. Modern homes were being constructed and lots of sewerage systems and piping were laying around… not so rustic anymore eh..

Lots of trees line the waterfront. We try to walk under shade where we can. .. So we got to the marine park and its free entry and free to swim. Life jacket and snorkels are for rent but hanging out with the fishes is free. Okay we are coming back tomoro with our own gear.

Gina preparing for party on Supercat

Back to Calliste for lunch and nap. Its too hot for anything else. Snooze up and be ready for the next party at Supercat.

Day 3 1900hrs, we are on board supercat and were introduced to the 14 very fun Filipino employees of Berjaya Resort. The party has began! Once again, Phil and Gina, spoiling us with great food, drinks and entertainment. This was a Filipino themed Easter Monday night. The Berjaya crew had to work on Sunday, so party had to be on Monday… but hey, this is island life! Anyday can be party day!

Dawn at the marine park..

We retire to Calliste at about midnight… the party is still on, the band is still singing and the girls are still dancing… but we were pooped!

Day 4 0720hrs, we are out and on our way to the Marine park. This time, Doug is going snorkeling and I will be snacking and lazing around. Its only a 2km walk, which should take only 24mins at normal walking pace.

Snorkel and fins on

We were there at 0800. Its dawn at the marine park, the sun is behind the mountains and its nice and cool. The fishes are just waking up to welcome us. We like it that we have the whole place to ourselves.

That strange big fish in the aquarium

I am not a water person… really.. I try not to get wet… I am sure Doug will enjoy swimming in the aquarium… and I will enjoy watching the strange “big fish”..

Crabbie

So while I was there… check out the other creatures around here. A good looking crab with pinches still intact.

Oyster wall art

A wall of oysters! Look at the purple lip. .. its only at the edges of the shell.

After 1hr of soaking, I got Doug out.. before he gets too pruny… and yes yes, I had a earful of whats going on down below..

The day was still cool, so we walked over to Air Batang.. just over the hill from the Marine park. A short 10 min trail and viola, we’re there. A nice little resort and restaurant. Just looking around. A little more rustic than Tekek, a little more relaxed around here.

Sunsets are usually quite nice after warm days

1200hrs, we’re back on Calliste. Another flak out hot afternoon, save for some cooking for our small dinner party tonight.

17o0hrs, time for a little stroll around town. Visit captain Kirk and his table of beer downing friends. Ordered our booze. To be delivered on Thurs.. our last day in Tioman. ..

1900hrs, time for our private little dinner party on board Calliste. Our long time friends from Sebana, now here at Tioman. A simple Chinese home fare kinda meal. We have so much to catch up on. .. and so we yakyakyak.

<… continue… again later..>

6 solid days in Tioman

Day 1: Tying up to docks, asking around about moving into a better berth if possible, clearing in at the customs, immigrations and harbourmaster office. Getting a worthless dinner at one of the Chinese restaurants… There went a day.

Kayaking is fun amongst rocks!

Day 2 AM: Am determined to have a day of fun.. 1st thing this beautiful morning, we are going kayaking! .. and I am looking for clams … brought my tiny little plastic shovel, but alas no clams to be found on the 2 beaches north of the marina..

Sitting back, coasting along on a kayak

Oh well, just relax and enjoy the beatiful aquarium. .. I mean, sitting so low on the water that is so clear that the bottom can be seen, and the fishes that are just going about their business, this really feels like I am kayaking on a aquarium. I feel so connected to the sea and marine life. Of course, the next step is to join them with dive or snorkel gear… but count me out on that.. I really do prefer seeing from the top.

Lots of fishes in this aquarium

Kayaking around the pier at the marine park. Look at all these fishes. They just swim up to you.

Danger! Patch of sea urchins

And this black patch is ….. urchins! A whole colony of them. There are many patches around, so swimmers beware. I thought they must be worth a bunch… wonder why nobody harvest them..?

Urchins. Look at the dots!

I am surprised to see that they have iridescent white, blue and orange spots.. and they crawl! They clean (eat) the algae along the path, so you can even see their tracks.

Waters of Tioman

This is the water around Tetek. Its definately clean and clear. The bottom is whitish rock and sand, with good amount of daylight that penetrates the clear water, the result is a abstract beigey tint picture of the rocky bottom. There are 2 surfaces that are visual here, the water surface and the rocky bottom. I am fascinated by reflection and refraction effects of the water medium, which makes looking at the rocky bottom similar to looking thru a kelaidoscope.

Day 2 PM: Quite a number of Singapore Easter rally boats left… as usual. They are so predictable. This Good Friday – Easter rally kinda an yearly event that is organized by somebody at One15. Participants are always powerboats. They zoom over in like 10hrs on Friday, and then zoom back on Sunday.

Gathering of cruising boaters at Nona's

So anyway, they made it before us, so they took up all the places in the marina. Now that they are gone…. hee hee, we get to pick the spots. Its very tight manuvering in there, almost impossible to turn around without hitting somebody. Good old boy Doug did it and we got ourselves a berth..

We were then overcome by heat and fatique, simply collapsed into our warm bunks and snoozed. It was really terribly warm! We should have brought the aircon! We will! Next time!

Good thing it cools down quite abit as soon as the sun sets. Now we are ready for the partying! 1st stop, gathering at Nona’s. On the pontoon, there is just enuf space to set up a picnic table and bring your own stools. Finger food contribution welcomed, definately BYOB!

2nd party stop, the doctors’ birthday party on Eastwind II finger. It was late night pizzas, lots of cold beer and plenty of drinks. A real party!!! The doctor is in a most generous mood….

<… to be continued..>

Sailing to Tioman 2011

Its here, finally! A shake down testsail for Calliste and a dream vacation for Doug and me. This will be the 1st test of the new mast that was installed just last month… will it work? we hope so.

Sunrise off the East Coast of Singapore

Our intended departure was 21st Apr 2300hrs… yeah right! Why leave at almost midnight!? .. Dougs old sailors’ myth, its bad luck to leave port on Friday. .. so Thursday just before midnight it is, and thats stated on our port clearance.

Port side is where Yakuni is stowed.

Doug spent the whole week prepping for this trip, so that we could untie the lines and leave at the expected time… Yeah right! By the time we remove the aircon and some boxes of bulky not-gonna-use equipment, it was already 2300hrs and we were to exhausted to leave.

Stowing the un-named white Kayak on the starboard

Alright, so whats plan B? The weather is perfect for this trip on Fri and early part of Sat, but is expected to build and turn nasty on Sun. That means we leave Fri, or else we’ll have to wait till the system work itself out. … At least, on paper (port clearance), we left port on Thu… and you know what, its Good Friday! So its not going to be bad luck, I’m sure!… and I did manage to persuade Doug to go.. altho reluctly.. I was never a believer of that myth anyway.

Main sail and stay sail hoisted

0445hrs 22 Apr Good Friday, Calliste is underway, a short motoring to the Sisters Islands for Singapore immigration departure clearance…

0530hrs, nobody else is trying to get clearance at this .. er… ungodly hour… which is good for us, as we got immediate attention from them and the whole process was completed in 15mins.

Watch for bobbies and booby traps!

0600hrs, Calliste turn around the bottom corner of St Johns Island and bound beeline for Telok Rumunia, where we will have to navigate her carefully thru the North Rocks and then we can relax for the long straight northerly path to Tioman… altho we will still be on constant watch for fishing boats and traps.

Land HO! Tioman

1000hrs, past North Rocks in slack tide and very light wind. Ideal conditions for making around this treacherous stretch of rocks and reefs. As we expected, once we turn north, we went head on into the dominantly south flowing current, making only 4kns with engine running at 2400rpm. A very light NEasterly is filling in. .. Doug merrily raised full main and staysail, they went up alright! and gave us a precious 1/2 kn in our long crawl up to Tioman.

Opps, we are out of gas... luckily, we have a spare tank

1800hrs, we are offshore quite abit and dont see land no more… but from the GPS, we know that we are just passing Desaru on the Malaysian East Coast. Winds around here build in the afternoon and around this time it gets to be much more than we started. Double reefed main and staysail working very well in this condition and we would expect to leave them on thru the night, unless the wind falls off completely later.

Bread, bacon and tomato sandwich

0400hrs 23Apr, Land HO! Its still dark, but I can make out the tall hilly island. 0700hrs, approaching the marina, decided to have breakfast and washup before going in. .. opps, we are out of gas… but we have a spare.

Tiller dance by Doug

0830hrs, entering the marina. Tiller underfoot, Doug doing the tiller dance.

The marina is full! Lots of big power boaters from Singapore! Drats! They made it before us. Sure, they must have used zillion gallons of fuel to get there this fast! Ok, so we will stay at the incoming berth for the day and move to the inner berths when they leave the next day.

Calliste at the "incoming" berth.

Cruising tip: I dun like to cook within 24hrs after leaving port. This is the time that I need to acclimatise myself to the new environment and plus, we can get take out food and keep them edible for a day rather easily. Our 1st seaward meal was paper wrapped fried carrot cake for breakfast and the 2nd was paper wrapped fried kway teow. Paper wrapping is much better for keeping the original flavor of the food without adding the plastic taste to it. The thin PP sheet that line the paper keeps the oil in and is in itself tasteless, unlike the styrofoam which have a strong plastic taste. These foods were purchased on the evening of our intended departure, from Seah Im street hawker that is about 15mins walk from our berth. For this type of cooked food, I dont refrigerate them if I expect to eat them within 12hrs. It will be alright to just keep them cool, and reheat before eating. 

For meals between 12hrs to 24hrs, I like it prepared on the day of departure, while still in port. Usually, I cook a pot of rice, allow to cool and then put into tupperware and refrigerate. Tupperwares allow neat stacking and is the best way to use the very small refrigeration space in our little Engel.  Hard boiled eggs are very good “tide me overs”, we always cook 1/2 dozen and refrigerate. Also high on my list, pickled veggies, canned olives and tuna. Anything that doesnt need cooking and will add good flavor to my rice is good to have on board.

Bread, Spam and tomatoes makes a great sandwich that is easy to prepare. Hot choc, tea and coffee are must haves rations. Biscuits, chips and nuts for snacks… We find ourselves, that we really do eat quite well while sailing… that comes only with good provisioning and pre trip food prep makes life easy for the 1st 24hrs out there.

<… trip blog to be continued>

An adventure, not quite complete

I asked God to give me a sign, that I should go on this trip… and he did! So I went ahead, got myself ready, Eleanor ready and went…. Despite not being in the best of condition(health wise), despite Eleanor not looking her best and despite being delayed on departure date and time.

Eleanor sitting in a pool of crude

27 May 1100hrs, Lang is not yet ready to go. Decided to delay departure to 0500hrs next morning.

Its all around inside the breakwater walls

28 May 0600hrs, arrived at SAFYC Changi and found Eleanor sitting in crude mud pool! Yucks! Not a good sign for departure…

Passing thru the walls of SAFYC

0730hrs, current movements inside the marina opened up a path around Eleanor.. just enough clear water for me to start the engine going without sucking up too much oil into my trusty Suzuki. Eleanor left her berth at SAFYC Changi. This is 10hrs later than originally planned… recognized immediately that I will be fighting current all the way up to Telok Rumunia, but I will get slack tide around North Rocks which should make my passage thru it comfortable.. and if I got my tides right, I should get a current boost going up to Jason Bay.

Out into clear water.. just motoring.

0900hrs, Eleanor cleared out Singapore immigration at South Angler and head out East into some rather choppy waters around the point of Pengelih. This is where the inflow of current was the strongest… I try to stay dry and only making 3kns cutting thru some short choppy peaky waters. For those of you who are wondering how does short choppy peaky waters look like, I am sorry that you have to rely on your imagination, because I refuse to take out my non-waterproof camera in these conditions.

Look at how smooth this water is ..

1000hrs, we pass Pengerang… the chops flattened out into silky smooth waters. A very light breeze, now making 4 -4.5kns with mainsail and motor at low trottle only, motor-sailing at 15′ off the wind. This is Eleanor’s normal speed going against current. Very comfortable ride to Telok Rumunia… albeit slow…

1100hrs, was puzzled by the puddles of crude that we had to circumvent, all the way up to just off Sg Rengit… Hey! Isnt that the tanker with the gaping hole!! It was anchored off Sg Rengit! No wonder! All the broadcasted reports of containment are just rubbish!

Tanker with 10m wide hole anchored of Sg Rengit.

12oohrs, passing the point of Telok Rumunia. SE wind picked up to 5kns. Raise jib. Motor-sailing at 40′ to the wind, slack tide, making 5kns. Small chops, quite comfy really.. tho slow and passing this point later than I had hope. Will have to catch up later…

A little more breeze, a little more chops. Islands off Telok Rumunia

1300hrs, passing the North Rocks. E wind picked up to 15kns, 1m waves coming from South.. large chops and mild peaks with some white caps. Cut motor, just sailing. Making a decent 4.5 to 5kns… was surprised that tide was not with me…? Couldnt make the 6kns that I was hoping for to make up for the lost 2hrs. … but it was a really comfy ride on Eleanor in this condition. Yahoo! This is Eleanor making it out to the S. China sea for the 1st time! And she is doing so well!

1400hrs… we are somewhere near Point Penawar… E wind 10kns, current picked up pace against me. Now making only 3kns sailing. Time to make a decision. My options. 1) To continue North, non-stop to Tioman. A trip of 28hrs, then turn around for another 28hrs back. 2) To continue North and hope to anchor in Jason Bay for the night and then turn back next morning? 3) To turn back now and ride the current back home, but beating against the wind and waves.

This is how I spent 14hrs 01min on the 28th May!

… well, I choose 3. My biggest realization is that Eleanor would have made it, if the captain had more time…

1410hrs, down sails completely and head South. Wind and waves makes heading SE uncomfy and wet. Strategy, head S and turn E whenever there is a chance.

1600hrs, passing the point of Telok Rumunia again. Back into calmer conditions, and time for catnaps. Motor at low speed and we are making 5kns. Foot on tiller as I winked away. Found that I get about 30′ off course every 5mins… ;P

1700hrs, passing Sg Rengit again, and now in silky smooth waters again. Felt like reading… passing smoothly and reading till sundown…

1830hrs, lights on. Getting into the chops at Pengelih again.

1930hrs, at South Angler… called ICA on channel 74. Dark, dont see them… was told to look for blinking yellow light … Arhhh! They are 1.5nm off they usual location!

2030hrs, cleared SG immigration again… starting to drizzle.. warm air. interesting combo… 2100hrs, pushing against large peaky chops off Naval Base. 2130hrs, finally made it back to SAFYC. Tied up to fuel dock for the night, as berth is boomed off.

So happy to see Doug again… 14hrs 01mins after leaving in the morning….

In short, I went sailing in the right season, but the worst of time. … and so, I never made it… but hey, I went with the attitude that as long as I tried and made it on my own around the rocky bend into the S. China sea, I would celebrate and praise God for helping me make it that far.

Preparing for my adventure of the year

I have been so involved in our moving away from our last berthing … and almost had to let go of my plans to sail this year to Tioman. .. I think I am not so ready to go, but hey, I have to try… maybe I can get myself ready in the next 10 days or so…

Taking the motor apart, getting to the gear shift knob

1st off, make a list of must do actions, then a list of must haves on this trip…. then actually going out and work on those actions.

bad corrosion on the aluminium shift rod, not too bad elsewhere.

This is the time of the season that wind may be slight… I be counting on my motor to get me there, maybe a slight breeze in the afternoon but usually windless nights.

I had been struggling with the frozen gear shift lever for my last 2 trips, this will be the 1st item to fix. For this trip in this season, no motor means no going!

Gearshift knob is being pushed out from the inside.

We worked all morning on the gearshift.. until we were so pooped! The knob that wont shift, wont come out either! We had to engineer a way to make it come out, using a system of bolts and nuts, pushing it thread by thread! Finally! And the conclusion is…. O-ring failure causing corrosion on the aluminium that was holding the knob in place, resulting in the expansion of the aluminium surface that gripped onto the black plastic material that is between the 2 O-rings.

Chipped O-ring! Thats why!

Well, we clean up the aluminium with a mini wire brush run on a Dremel and apply plenty of that “Never seize” compound. Seems to work for now…

Even I am hoping not to anchor… I better be prepared with my anchors. Old ropes deteriorated much by the UV, needs replacing. Am bringing 3 anchors… a bruce, a danforth and a little fold up one (my little good luck anchor )

Okay, whats next? Sails (checked), motor(checked), anchors(checked), life jackets(checked), flares(expired but hope 1 out of 6 works).. .. hmm… oh yes! The gadgets! Charge batteries for my little VHF, GPS and nav light. And yes, am going to buy some of those chemical reaction light sticks… emergency use and maybe decorative use…

The essential shopping trip! Provisioning is a major subject in going cruising.. Always overstock on water, then food, then snacks.

… hmm… ok, am I ready to go..? I guess so…