Its time to head back.

Time flies… Calliste has been in Tioman for 10 weeks now.. not quite so much of me in Tioman, just as much as my work will allow me time off, but it was good and we both enjoyed it very much…

Citilink bus at JB customs

We had 1 of our 3 batteries gone bad on us. Its a 3year old made in Malaysia Yuasa 75D31R lead acid maintenance free battery. Any battery lasting a respectable 3 years is definately a good battery… we have less confidence in the other 2 made in Thailand batteries, there are some signs… that its not charging up… well, so we need at least 1 new battery to get back safely. Thats my mission, bring a new battery over to Doug in Tioman and then head out on Calliste.

New bus, bright and cheery and not so many people on board

5th Jul ’12 0830hrs: On MRT heading towards Kranji, change over to bus 170 towards Causeway. 0920hrs: Cleared SG customs, got on Causeway link towards Larkin, bought ticket from driver at S$1.70. 0930hrs, got off bus, cleared JB customs, got back on bus and flashing the ticket that I bought earlier, its good till Larkin. .. Just my very good luck, I got onto a very new bus and apparently I got the timing right so it was a very comfy ride to Larkin.

I never travel light… do I?

0950hrs: At Larkin, checking for buses to Kota Tinggi. There is a car battery shop in KT that we are very familiar with, thats where the last good battery came from. Bus to KT leaves at 1100hrs and only 4RM. What a unbelieveable price… That leaves me an hour to wonder around Larkin… get snack and drinks…

1110hrs: Bus leaves. 1200hrs: Bus arrives at KT. Its a short walk from the bus and cab terminal to Lau Brothers car tyre and battery shop. 1245hrs, battery loaded onto my little trolley and back to terminal. Next bus to KT at 1400hrs, so decided to get a cab at RM80. Was worry about being kidnapped, but seeing the cabbies and the police checking on them at the terminal… I think I wont be the one to disappear without a trace, and besides I broadcast the license plate to Doug and friends before getting in.

1400hrs: Taking a cab turn out to be a great decision. Made it at Mersing in time for lunch and the 1500hrs ferry. Phew! Seas are just abit unsettled and we bump along. 1700hrs, arrive at Tekek ferry terminal… Doug is waiting for me.. so far, everything turned out better than planned.

Passing one of Sibu’s kelong resort

6th July 0900hrs: Went up to do the paperwork and payment to the marina for 10wks berthing and utilities… then customs and immigration… then ordering a big load of booze.. and provisioning for the trip back.. Then back to prepare Calliste for the trip. Take down awnings, secure stuff on deck and below in the cabin, leaving the aircon on till the last.

The weather this past 2 months werent that great, but we left at the best possible time. Normally, we would have chosen to stay in port for a week, waiting for better weather, but this was not an option this time… and its nothing Calliste cant handle, so here we go.

Mid way stop at Sibu…

7th July 0100hrs: We are underway… have a nice moon over us, so its not so much of a dark night out.. As soon as we get outside the lee of Tioman, we were bumped about quite abit.

There was hardly any flat glossy seas and we never had the tide running with us. It was rugged, rolly and slow… This time, we choose a closer to the main land route which reduces the swells quite abit, but still not too comfy.

Going into the lagoon at the small Sibu island

For the past few days, we note that a rainstorm comes around in the late afternoon. We are quite anxious for a hiddy hole to rest and wait out the storm. So since we havent been to Sibu islands but have heard quite abit about it .. and the Google map shows a enticing little breakwater lagoon on the smaller Sibu island.. we decided to give it a try.

Breakwater at Sibu, watch out for the rocks in the discoloured patch of water.

1100hrs: Motoring along the west coast of Sibu island and coming up close to the kelong resorts… Its always nice to have something to gawk at.. 🙂 .. while we keep eyes on the depth sounder. According to our iNavx charts, we be going thru patches of 3m and some rocks… so we want to be really careful around here.

1200hrs: We have successfully navigated the shallows, just passing thru the breakwater now.. There is a submerged spot on the breakwater that we have to watch for…

Flat calm in the Sibu lagoon

1215hrs: There are bouys available to tie up if we want to, but Doug likes to use the anchor and be further out from the pier. That was a good decision, cos there was some team building event at the resort and that was loud.

So we are here and resting.. I manage to read quite abit of a book.. not so tired in the midday. We really like this spot, it was flat calm and naturally cool by the breeze going thru. As expected, the 1hr storm made it at around 1400hrs and we were all nice and cozy in the lagoon.

1945hrs: Just before it gets too dark, we are underway again and following our coming in tracks very closely. Its now low tide and the depths got down to a heart beat stopping 2.4m.. We get grounded at 1.8m, so thats too close to comfort… but we made it.

Its a very dark night out, and its hard to be out at sea when its so pitched black. Somehow, morales are affected. Moon rise about 0100hrs and made the remaining of the night friendlier..

Thats me captaining in Singapore port limit.

7th Jul 0800hrs: A whole night of struggle against the currents.. sigh.. we are now at North Rocks… Just 2hrs later than I thought we would be .. but we have plenty of daylight to see our way thru these treacherous waters.. and yes, we are following our previous tracks on the GPS diligently. This is the most boisterous we have seen around here. I think theres 2 currents around here and the wind is blowing quite abit, making a really confused sea. Well, nothing Calliste cant handle… infact, Eleanor would have done well too. I am beginning to wonder about the rumors that we hear about this area…

1200hrs: Now entering the Singapore port waters and my phone is working again. Called Keppel to let them know we are coming, ETA 1800hrs. SMS a bunch of people… 🙂 Chat abit with some others.. 🙂

17oohrs: As expected, we are at Western Anchorage immigration. As planned, we are docked at 1805hrs… now to re setup Calliste for life at the docks.. 🙂

A visiting friend at Tioman

Monique is visiting us at Tioman and staying only 2 nights. Too short I think, but thats all the time she has, so make the best of it. .. besides our little boat is a bit crowded for 3 ..

Day of arrival by flight from SG, walk to Calliste and hide away in the AC comfort. The heat was unbearable… Crawl out from the hole just before sunset, temperature is just right and got to watch the beautiful sunset. Walk to the Village for dinner at the Malay restaurant that is next to the Chinese. Will try the Chinese restaurant the next day.. Food was okay, but reasonable prices.

At Nazri’s place on ABC beach. Notice the hunk?

Next day, before dawn, we walked up North to breakfast at the little corner shop. We been there before and we like the people there. Friendly and honest, not at all touristy like the place we had dinner. I turn back to Calliste to “work from home” while Doug and Monique go play at the Marine park. Well… thats life, I still have to work…

After the conference call, did a 30min fast walk to the Marine park. Got them and walk over the little hill to ABC for lunch. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a fabulous break for all three of us. I got a pretty good meal, she got her eyes on the hunk and Doug got his fill of girls in bikini… a little something for each of us.. 🙂

Us, lounging at Berjaya beachbar

Then its the long walk back to Calliste and we just couldnt wait to jump right into AC and snooze away. Those 2 are worn out by the snorkelling around the marine park already. 

Dinner at the Chinese restaurant as planned… and guess what, these people tried to con us! We challenge their bill of RM$99, like I did the maths and it just didnt add up right. They ran the calculator, which did a good job to prove that I have more brains than them add together… tsk tsk… lousy tricks get them nowhere. Word is out, these guys are looking for bimbos and suckers.

The “Berjaya Rock”.. thats what we call it.

Next stop, drinks at Berjaya! Only place in Tioman to have live Philipino band and drinks were great. Quite expensive tho, but hey, we are on vacation right. We had a good night out afterall.. 🙂 .. we barely crawl our way back to Calliste..

Part of Berjaya resorts. Looks nice.

Then its another early morning out for me and Monique. Doug is too pooped to join us this time. We head out towards Berjaya to see it by day. Turned out pretty good too..

Berjaya beach, golden sand, black sand and dead coral bits

The Berjaya resorts is the biggest resort on Tioman and most well kept around here. Monique is impressed enuf, so next time shes here, this is where she’ll be staying… 🙂 Phew! we can all relax now..

I prefer to hang out by the pool…

… altho we would like the sand to be whiter… but the pool overlooking the edge into the sea is just beautiful. Great feel! I like it.

I think our friend really did enjoy herself…

She prefer to soak…

1050hrs… we are still at Berjaya and shes is draggin her feet.. and now to rush her back to get on the 1230hrs flight back to SG. .. double quick step back to Calliste and scoot! Off to airport, made it just in time to check in.. at 1150hrs… cutting it close!

Thats her, the last passenger boarding…

Finally shes off, and we are to ourselves again… phew.. now we can relax and enjoy at our pace…

ABC shaved ice and spring rolls

How about a nice shaved ice ABC concoction and fried spring rolls… 🙂 … yum… and brr… cold… 🙂

We highly recommend the Riverside cafe thats just a dozen steps away from the airport.. Open for late breakfast till about 6.. slow service, but the view is great and the ice is really cold… just what we need, as its usually very hot at Tioman…

Whats on the NW side of Tioman – Part 2

Since we found that the walk over from ABC beach to Salang beach is going to be rough and cross country… our next adventure is to try make it by paddling our kayaks. The gds route says it will be 4.5nm one way.. so it will be quite a reach. Follow our route, shown on map in part 1, with the going out red dashes and home coming blue dashes..

We try to go with the tide rolling with us, but it seems we are not so lucky this time.. infact I totally misread the tides. I had no idea if we really had the tide or not… but I think not… it was too tough to think that we help any help at all.

Starting out early morning with lots of energy, we made a beeline for the 2nd light point that marks Monkey beach… somewhere past the 1st light marking the ABC beach, we begin to struggle… I guess our fitness is not that great… Doug is bogged by the open water paddling.. I guess thats because one cant actually see the progress of each stroke, not like up closer to objects, one feels encouraged by the feeling of progress.

Beached at Monkey Bay

I probably have more drive and endurance.. My arms keep pace and just moving smoothly… but the blisters are getting to me ..

The wind was up and it was quite choppy out there. We decided to take a break at the Monkey beach… and there we beached.. there was a abandoned kampong… hmm… We had hope to find someone making a tall iced lemonade or something.. so disappointed. Ate our own chips and then gone again…

I knew that we were so close, and we have come so far… I was wanting to push a little further… but was persuaded by Doug to turn back… We really had no way to tell how much more to go… until we got back to Calliste and check Google maps, that we were just 0.5nm away! After 4nm of paddling out, could we have done 0.5nm more? Certainly! I think so anyway.. If it were me, on my own, I would have push myself onward further… just like I did across that walk over to Juara… well 🙂

The jetty loaded with supplies and sidecar motorbikes waiting

Alright, so we head back… and in search of food and cold drink. Lets get something out of this trip, how about stopping over at one of the restaurants at ABC! Thats like between Monkey Beach and the Marina. We did, stopped at Nazri’s place and the food turned out to be great! I liked it very much, altho the service is slow and not so great..

Heading back into the marina.

On our way back, we saw the village supply ship leaving the ferry jetty. Supplies are on the jetty and probably alot of sorting out who ordered what.. look at the vehicles waiting to be loaded with new supplies! These motorcycles with sidecars are just so well used around here.

Okie… we are back. Phew! Altho it was not as tough as walking to Juara, my arms are really tired and back is a little sore from all that sitting down in the kayak. Our whole trip was like 6hrs…