Recap: Driving cross country solo!

Hey, I missed updating my pictorial diary. Finally have some time to reflect on my doings in the past 9 months.

Loaded Golf

June of 2018, after I left my job in upstate NY, the next thing to do was to pack up and head home to Port Townsend, WA. So I have been well compensated for ditching the work and I was so needing a good adventure on my own, I decided on a solo drive from Saratoga Springs, NY to home in Port Townsend, WA, in my little Golf.

Fully loaded

… and yes 7 boxes of stuff were shipped by BusFreighter.com, which is the agent for Greyhound shipping. They were the most inexpensive by far, and yes only things that can be packed into boxes that can be loaded into buses are accepted, and yes their reputation is good or super bad, meaning so mixed in the extremes that it was hard to trust them or not…. but I tried them out since I am shipping things that are not too difficult to replace if I had too. All other stuff are loaded into my little Golf…. or onto….

So fully loaded is the little Golf that there is no view thru the rearview mirror and I could barely use the right side mirror. I manage to squeeze the 6 ft couch base above the passenger seats, such that when in the driver seat I could just rest my head on it. Yep, real comfy 😉

Most people say I am crazy…. I dun care.

Setting out late afternoon in the mid of July, perfect weather for such an adventure, I expect to be on the roads for 4, maybe 5 days. Would I be staying at hotels along the day, everyday? I dunno, not really in the plan and not really out of question. I mean staying in a room for the night is nice, but I will be worried about things taken off Scootz while I snooze… I am not keen on that, but I do need a break sometimes, so we will see.

Scootz hanging out with the big boys…

Night 1, still fresh out of the apartment, I continued driving thru the night with only 1 stop at the Kanona, NY rest stop. This was a major rest stop and lots of people were using the facilities even at 2am. The word is rest stops are really dangerous, but thats not how I felt about this one. And lots of cars were there with people snoozing in them too, and they are not at all junky beaten up cars, some are really expensive continental SUVs. So I joined the car group and snoozed right in front of a CCTV for 2 hours.

Day 2 started at 4am, on HWY 86 bound Erie, PY, where I will turn south bound for Akron, OH and visit a friend. A small detour, but should be fun. Hung out for an hour and off again.

Sure I made stops every 3 hrs, sometimes I rest, sometimes just to get gas or coffee or food. A good stopping place is wherever there is a Walmart. Clean enuf bathroom and great selection of driving food…. food that is not messy and can be handled while driving. And I take time to have fun too… like I couldnt resist placing Scootz with the big rigs for this fun picture…

See Scootz?

Well well… Scootz could handle the stares and I can handle the cute little comments that some people have made walking by.

Obviously, I was following Google maps direction. At every stop, I kinda search for my next rest stop and head for it. No, I could not remember all the stops that I made and the times when Google led me into some corn maze. But hey, thats adventure right.

Took a little afternoon snooze on Day 2 and back on the road by evening. I feel like a truck driver 😉 driving thru the night…. making 20hrs drive days. At this rate I will be back to PT faster than I think.

Check out this windmill wing that is being transported.

Day 3 begin after a long (3hrs) snooze stop. By now we (Scootz and I) are in North Dakota. Havent quite decided if I will visit the Yellowstone National park, thot I will decide when I get to Billings. Made it there late morning, and just didnt feel like it paying $80 entrance. Did a free drive around Big Horn national forest instead.

Back on I-90 before sundown. Now I am feeling kinda tired, but still not wanting to stay at a hotel. Rest stop facilities have been working out so well. Its so easy to park, get a few shower things, in and out with 20 minutes…. and free! Did just that and pamper myself with a highly reviewed on the road takeout food…. not as good as I thot… oh well, but it put me in a good snoozing mood. Did a long one at rest stop in Missoula, MT.

Going home

Day 4, driving in the dark from Missoula to Spokane, WA. This is the wee hours… and I just couldnt stay awake. Too many days of not enuf rest. Found a quiet rest stop just before Spokane. Too quiet for my liking. No facilities and no lights… Not eerie, but scary. Was too tired, so I parked and snoozed with half a ear and eye awake. Is that really possible? Well, got 1 hour out of it and back on the road. Nothing bad to report.

By 8 am, we were past Spokane and stopped at Moses Lake. I decided on a good country breakfast in a small town breakfast joint. Feels good to be back in WA! And home by the end of the end! But not before I drive around those huge farms and look at those crops.

And I did get home to Doug and PT before sun down, just as I planned. So while I made some detours, I still made good time on the journey. In fact I drove an average of 18 hours each day and wasted no time checking in and out of hotels. So proud of myself that I did just fine and had fun!

 

 

Preparing to go cross country

Foamed up pipe and 1×4 boards

Actually I am packing up and going home, which means driving across America in my little Scootz, carrying furniture, appliances, clothes…. lots of stuff. What ever I cant pack, I will have to ship.

Taped up pool noodle and anti skid.

It will be costly to ship that kayak of mine, so what are my options? 😉  Scootz has no rails and rack. Last time I loaded Yeli on the roof with kayak foam padding, strapping it down hard compresses the roof. So we didn’t strap down as hard as we like. On the highway, there was some shifting, so we had to go slow. But I cant go slow on a 3000mile trip. It’ll take me forever.

Home made roof rails and rack.

Well, I am going to try build a roof rack…. Not buying one because Scootz is a leased car and I don’t want to give away $400 rack to the next owner.

Securing the rack

Went to Home Depot and got a 10ft 1/2″ PVC pipe $2.50. Got 2″ pipe insulation $3. Jumbo pool noodle $3. Contact adhesive glue $4. Straps and ropes $20. So for about $35 of new materials, and using what I already have in 1×4, I be building.

Securing the forward and back crossbars with 1 strap.

Here’s the plan. 1st, cut PVC pipe to 2 x 4′, cut 2 x 4′ length of 2″ pipe insulation. I decided on 4′ length by measuring the distance between the front and back handles in Scootz + 6″ on each end. Use adhesive suitable for foam and plastic, spread on pipe. Insert pipe into insulation. Wait for adhesive to cure, 24hrs.

Metal tie down hooks on each side behind back passenger seat.

2) Then cut 8 x 6″ pieces of Jumbo pool noodle, split 1 edge and wrap end points of the pipe and insulation.

3) Cut 1″ x 4″ to 5.5′ . 2 pieces.

4) Place foamed up pipe along window ridges, place the 1×4 on the pipe. Line up 1×4 to the front and back handles on each side. I decided that I want more overhang on the right side, where the kayak will be on. I think that this will make loading a little bit easier, but its really a personal thing, no big deal. Mark where the screws should be on the 1×4. Take down everything to a comfortable working height and fasten 1×4 to pipe with 1″ screws. Use at least 2 screws in each joint to make sure it doesn’t rack, 3 is definitely better.

Heavy duty plastic hooks with flat bungee straps tie down on back

5) Wrap more pieces of pool noodle on the inside of 1×4 boards to make the whole setup stiffer. Then wrap all pieces of pool noodle with tape to close up the sliced open foam. Finally add anti skid, secure with more tape.

Front of rack tie down to frame.

Now its time to try out the contraption. Make sure you have lots of straps and rope. Every vehicle has different strong tie down places. I am really happy with what I found available in Scootz 😉 The hooks in the back are in perfect location.

Strapping down the front is a bit more tricky, but hey I am well versed in knots for such application. Now all I have to worry about is chaff…. hope this white rope hold up for 3200miles…. Guess we will know… but in any case, I will inspect every strap every day. Definitely carry more straps and be ready to replace them whenever.

There you have it. Scootz is ready for kayak test…. coming up soon…

Friday Harbor to Cortes Island

We’ve been warned, by the helpful sailing community online, that thou shalt not bring fresh vegetables and fruits into Canada… and get all the diesel you can carry from the US! We are not smokers or drinkers, so tobacco and alcohol are not a problem for us.

Customs dock Bedwell Harbor. Many boats are checking in in this Sat aft.

Ok, sure it was painful for us that we don’t  have fresh leafy salad or that breakfast banana that Doug needs… Just to be on the safe side, we cooked all the meats in a huge pot of fried rice, so that the fridgie is all canned sodas.

13th Jun (I must emphasize that its a SATURDAY!)…. Cos we are not leaving port on a Friday, especially if its 13th! Cant believe Doug is so stuck on that… but its not a problem for me, so we keep that habit going. 0900hrs, have our full load of diesel in jugs from the fuel dock at Friday Harbor and underway. Its about 15 miles to Bedwell, with current going mostly with us, made it at 1300hrs. On approaching Bedwell, Doug run us in a course close to the southern tip of South Pender, where we encounter a strong riptide current that reduced our SOG to 1.5kn! After passing the entrance, current picked up and we moved along at 6kns. Just a note that riptides does a lot in this area.

Just us and 2 others in the last cove in Annette. Lots of room.

It was quite challenging bringing Calliste to the customs dock tie up. Quite a number of boats were already in there for customs clearing. With the wind gusting thru the crack in the hills, and current pushing us around, we had to try tie up on the outside face. It was rather difficult to bring Calliste alongside, success on the 2nd try. Phew.

Captain Doug heads up to the customs office with our docs and Crew Lang stays within 5 ft of Calliste… The crew on the boat next to us was ticked off for walking up the gangway, by the customs officer that was combing his boat. Says its trespassing! Yup, they are strict. And I watch them take out the seat cushions, opened all the cabinets, and separately interview the crew and captain… overheard that they found something that was not declared, and its time to own up what else they did not declare, else if more stuff found, it will be really serious police case… Wow…!

Pin stripped dancing water. Its mesmerizing.

Doug is back in about 20 mins. … And no search for Calliste. We are cleared to go… my jaw dropped… a mere 5 ft away was a boat in customs distress and here we are clear just like that….

1330hrs, Calliste heads out, bound Annette Inlet on Prevost Island… where I read is a gorgeous small anchorage. Just 10 miles from Bedwell, so we motored up in 2 hrs. Its a good thing that we have good digital navigation equipment that gives us small scale positioning on a chart. There are underwater rocks on both sides of the entrance to Annette and inside is shallow everywhere. We had readings of 8ft going in where the charts showed that would be that shallow. If not for the charts, we would have turned around and head out. So we trusted the charts, went in further and anchored in 20ft in the last cove.

Bed of oysters, just there, right behind our stern.

1600hrs, anchored. Its so flat calm in here and quiet… I sat in the cockpit and was mesmerized but the moving dark grey pinstripes on the emerald green water. It was beautiful! Was so happy we made it here… with no customs problem no less. 🙂

14th Jun 0800hrs, woke up to see a bed of oysters by our stern. My 1st sighting of a whole bed of beach oysters… I can only drool…. So tempted to harvest a couple… but I dun wanna be caught illegal harvesting with no license..

Overnight, we decided we like it here so much that we are staying for another night … 🙂 … And I took out my drawing kit and sketched! That’s a sign that I am really at peace and kinda inspired by the area.

Single file only in Dodd Narrows. Traffic flows in 1 direction at a time.

15th Jun 1000hrs, underway. We have to make Dodd narrows 1645hrs, and its a slow motoring distance away. Sailboats around shamed us into raising our sails … yup as soon as we did, the gusty puffs went away. .. Kept sails up for 6 hrs, sailed for 2hrs, motor sailed 4hrs.

It was critical that we make it thru Dodd narrows by 1645hrs. Traffic flows in 1 direction each time and that’s determined by the current flow. At peak current, it could be as much as 7kns, whirlpools are expected, making it possibly dangerous. All guides recommend going at 30 mins before the current change to the other direction.

1630hrs, made it to Dodd narrows just in time for the slack tide… we were the last 2nd boat making it thru… phew! Now to slog our way to Nanaimo. Only 5 miles, but it took almost 1.5 hrs.

The waterfront at city of Nanaimo.

1830hrs, anchor down among the many anchored boats outside Mark’s Bay. Now we have gone 3 days without fresh food and internet, we are desperate to get something. 1900hrs, thank God for long days, kayaks launched and headed to the Port of Nanaimo marina. There is a free 3 hrs tie up, 2 times a week. Being this late, we just tied up to what we thought was the dinghy dock… but nope, we have to tie up to “C” dock next time. .. at least this one was not on the record so we get 2 more tie up. Walked 5 minutes to Thrifty foods. Was impressed by the selection 🙂 . We grabbed what we can carry and head back to Calliste for the night.

16th Jun morn, paddle up to the Newcastle Island provincial park. Wagoner recommends a shower here. $1 for 2 mins water… that’s pricy… but its warm and clean. Doug enjoyed his $2 shower and I got by with $1.

Aft, out to discover Nanaimo in 3 hrs. Found internet was available at the marina, on the docks only. So that’s something. Consider buying mobile internet, but for $30/Gb?… well…. maybe not. Did a long walk, found the chart store… its closing down (..:( ..) , found the chandlery, surprisingly well stocked and has cheaper ropes :). More provisioning at Thrifty before heading back… all in 3.5hrs…. opps… kayaks still there and not chained up… phew!

17th Jun aft, laundry at marina and internet games for me 🙂 … got directions to Asian market and headed that way. Less than 5 mins walk, if you knew the streets to get there… Was surprised by the selection of Myojo noodles and brand names from Singapore! Of course I wouldn’t afford 5pk Mee Goreng for C$5! … but maybe some other people would… Nevertheless, I can drool …. got relatively cheap stuff, like garlic, ginger and chili padi!

18th Jun 1100hrs, motor over to dock at the park. Daytime tie up is free, overnight parking is C$20… Anyway, we just need to dump a bit of garbage and get 2 jugs water…. and Doug got another C$2 shower…

1200hrs, underway, 25 miles to our next anchorage in Bull Passage. There is a military exercise area marked on our charts, so we watch what the tugs are doing and follow their lead. We were at the edge of the zone and did see frigates and military aircrafts… 1800hrs, we are into Bull Passage, next to find a anchoring spot… 1st cove was too deep, next 2 coves had boats in them already… 1930hrs, in waning daylight, anchor down in the 4th cove in 30ft. Not our favorite place to find anchoring spot.

The narrow entrance to Cortes Bay.

19th Jun 0700hrs, moving out with current going our way. 45 miles to Cortes Island = 9 hrs motoring at 5kns avg. Passage between Bulls passage and Cortes is boring Texada Island. …

1400hrs, at the lower end of Cortes Island, going up the small passage in the bay of Cortes. Carefully checking our position on our trusty Standard Horizon Cmap chartplotter. There are rocks! Waiting for the unwary navigator.

1500hrs, did a pass around the bay before anchoring in the middle. Its 30ft everywhere, perfect anchoring depth for us. Kayaks launched, off to find Jonathans’ and the Mcqueens’ dock. .. and internet! … Hey we made it! We be staying around here for a while.

A new exploration and shore boat for me

Elie Coast 100. 10ft, 31″ width.

Before we can head off into our 2015 adventure, I need to have a personal shore boat .. as I left HPV Yakuni back in SG. So I really need a new one for rock gawking and boat to shore shopping trips…

Elie Coast 120

So what is it going to be? A SOT (sit on top) or a sit in kayak? Doug thinks we should go kayak trying at the NW paddling festival… just about the time when the weather is getting conducive for summer sporting getaways, is when the people start preparing for the season and retailers work to get our money, thus the reason for on water trials. I guess there is enough consumers to justify this marketing event eh.

Doug thinks this is the one for me…

Setting my budget at $1000, we went to the NW paddling festival to try out the line up of kayaks and paddles that were on display at Lake Sammamish. Pay $10 for state park parking and $7 for on water trials per person.

Elie Strait 120. Sit in kayak.

I have seen the Elie Coast 100 (Red SOT) on display at REI Silverdale and was one that I think is most suitable for me. Doug thinks the Elie Coast 120 (Yellow SOT) will be a better choice for the length will carry me faster thru the water. .. I like the yellow better anyway. Was happy to see that Elie distributor brought both lengths and a few sit in kayaks to the show…

So I tried the 100 and 120 1st. Yep, the 120 felt a lot more stable and cruise easier, but the 100 was probably easier to turn around in tight corners and among rocks. I am used to a short kayak, but the speed and stability of a longer kayak is addictive too…. so which is it going to be? Maybe I should try other brands and literally sit on it for a while… 🙂

I feel like I am sitting in a bathtub…

And I tried a few sit in Elie kayaks, just to satisfy this nagging thought that maybe a sit in kayak might be more suitable… well… after trying 3 sit ins… I can truly say I didn’t enjoy climbing into the cockpit, beaching it and having it turn on the side as the waters receded from the beach and trying to climb out at a funny angle. Its only when I tried, I can truly understand why a flat bottom SOT suits me better.

How do I look in blue?

Just for fun I tried this ugly looking green tubby kayak… it feels like I am paddling in a bathtub… sluggish… but surprisingly comfortable seat and knee rest.

This blue kayak by Eddyline is actually fast and quite comfy… but I don’t think the blue suits my image and the price is way up there… Could get both Elie SOT for the price of 1 blue kayak.

… At the end of the day, I am convinced that the Elie Coast 120 is the boat for me. .. and I like that Lavika paddle with a notch at the base, seems like that stopped drips more effectively than the highly acclaimed Werner paddles… but Werner paddles are easily available and a discount is coming up at REI… So Werner it is to be.

Me on launching day. I am color coordinated!

We waited for the REI sale… but happen to go to West Marine 3 days before the sale and the store manager agreed to match REI sale price 🙂 So got it on order and will receive it right here in PT. For that convenience, it is better for us, altho we will still be going to that REI sale over the weekend. Yup, $500 is all I paid for that Elie Coast 120.

This picture is worth $1000… literally…

At the REI sale, got the yellow Werner Skagit paddle at $110, neoprene pants at $90, quick dry T-shirt, shorts, dry bag and hat at $120. Got a yellow ONYX life vest $45 from Sportsmen Warehouse. All set for $865… Yup, got everything I wanted, color coordinated and stayed well within my budget… that was a surprise.

Kayak received and launched on the 21st May… I am all kitted out and ready for adventure… now we need a name for this new addition to our fleet. …

24th May, a paddling trip from Port Hadlock to Chimicum creek, a 4 mile round trip… ah…. HPV Yelli it is.

We couldn’t resist going to El Nido.

It seemed to take forever to pass from North tip of East Malaysia to west coast Palawan. The nasty Balabac straits was as rolly as we remembered heading into Kudat. Right after that we got into unbelievable calm waters and light winds off the beautiful west coast beaches off Palawan. We motor-sailed close to shore to stay out of the South flowing current, and we did pretty good time averaging 4 kns. We kept the engine rpm at 1600… because there are some strange sounds above that… something about that plastic bag, probably damaged cutlass bearing…  trying to make it to port without further damage to the hull. Anyway, it was nice weather and the scenery was great, so we enjoyed the trip up.

Entering Biscuit Bay at sunrise.

We are rock gawkers, and we seen pictures and heard much about the spectacular rock islands at El Nido. We have to see this for ourselves and especially since its on our way, plus a chance to get some fuel and fresh food… and internet… 🙂

Spectacular rocks and sunrise at Biscuit Bay

We were at the pass into El Nido at the best time of the day. It was a beautiful day and sunrise was spectacular. We motored slowly and watched the mountainous island turn from dark shadow to green and grey. We gawked! This is, IMO, more beautiful than Phang Na bay or Pulau Aur. If we were cruisers with plenty of time, we could spend months kayaking and rock gawking… but we need to get to Japan before the typhoon season…

Final approach to El Nido

Lucky us, someone in the Navionics app community shared a note to give direction to a good anchoring spot off the El Nido village at 5m. It was a small sandy patch surrounded by corals that was a easy 5 minute paddle to the village, and holding was good. Paddled over to the large cat that was to be our neighbour. Tim was most helpful, gave me much info on the village, getting internet and where to buy stuff, got me started before I even touch down.

Didn’t have any trouble landing on the beach and parking the kayak in front of a dive shop/lounge. Family that ran the dive shop was most friendly and helpful too.

Sketchy map of El Nido

Following Tim’s recommendation, I changed USD to Pesos at Palawan Pawnshop. Decent business and rates were okay. Sure, maybe rates are much better in Singapore… but hey, its alright. Went around town trying to get SIM card for internet, but go nowhere until I found Art Café. The sold gift and arrange tours… and had Globe SIM cards and prepaid top up cards available… This is the better service to buy than the cheaper alternatives. I got Globe and something else that was impossible to read and understand how it works. Setting up for Globe was difficult too… needed help from gal at Art Café and she had to dial Globe support centre … long story, finally got it working tho.

Going to town with extras.

We decided to refuel the small amount that we used since leaving Kudat. Only 80L, ie 4 jugs. This is me ferrying our empty jugs to shore. Then I hired a motor-sidecar taxi to ferry me and jugs to the Fuel station, turn out it really wasnt far at all. So I decided to also go to the market…. maybe that was not such a good idea… the 125cc “taxi” struggled up the hill with 80L of diesel and me.

Some of the things we do as cruisers in places with no walk on pontoons.

I was happy to get quite a few veg from the market. Avocados, relatively ok tomatoes, watermelon, bananas, apples. The greenies didnt look good… sigh…

For all that moving around, Nandos ask only 100 pesos (US$2.75), and he looked a little sheepish to ask for that much (going rate was 30 pesos), but I was happy to give. .. would happily give 100 pesos if someone would bring the jugs from shore to Calliste, but no takers… well, so I load kayak with 2 jugs, leaving 2 on shore (hopefully nobody needs diesel or jugs), paddle out to Calliste, unloaded them, and Doug paddle out to get the other 2. …

They will never understand how irritated we are with them coming close to check us out.

We rested for 2 nights at anchor, it was hot in the day but cools down nicely at night. Had alot of touristy boats passing close to us… like we were some “by the way”, “happen to be there” attraction. We have had many pictures taken, and we take pictures of them in return… 🙂

Our main complain about being at such a touristy place is…. it is horribly noisy at night. Phillipinos are great live band performers and it seems every beach bar had a band going till 2am. Was loud! and just our luck, had a election rally speaker shouting above that din. I guess most tourist like that nightlife thingy, but we are just too old for that.

Short boating guide to Kudat

We were not intending to stop there, but we were low on fuel and were going head on into strange currents so much that we may will not have enough to head up to El Nido where we hoped to fuel up. Before leaving SG, we read and printed MV Solito’s account of their Palawan cruise, and read that they checked into Malaysia at Kudat. Seems easy and it was just 120nm SE from where we were… much easier than 250nm NE to El Nido.

Sketchy map of Kudat. Did this on my iP4d.

Well, we didn’t know that Balabac strait was always choppy and it was rough. Not much wind, just waves from 3 directions. It was same going in as was going out. A few hours of inconvenience, but we were happy that Kudat turned out ok… not really, we picked up a reinforced plastic bag on our prop and had so much difficulty with it for the rest of our trip. Now a rather expensive repair too.

We got what we needed though, 300l of diesel and some water. Some dinner, some fresh food, some internet. Put up a sketchy map of Kudat town here.

We arrive just before sunset and anchored off the seawall near to the PETRONAS station. After 10 days at sea, I was eager to go ashore and get immigration checkin and dinner! For going ashore, we took out the 3 piece kayak from the quarter berth and assembled it on our foredeck.

Calliste is at the fuel station, note not fuel dock.

1830hrs, still a bit of daylight left. Lang paddled over to say hi to MV Tonka, a cruising neighbour sharing the same anchorage. They warned me about the difficulty getting ashore at low tide, which happens to be right then when I was really looking forward to a nice shore side take out dinner. I absolutely have to try climbing up the pier… so I paddled to the fish farms rafting area and watched the locals. They developed a system of floating rafts with overhead ropes to pull themselves to/fro the pier to their farms, and they climb from the rafts onto the pier… maybe I can try that…

1900hrs, Lang has a plan. Asked the guy on the raft if I could tie up kayak to the pier and use the raft… sure its ok, but its nicer to ask. Getting on the raft makes all the difference for being able to climb the pier or not. Raft is riding higher and alot more stable than the kayak…. so I was able to get up on the pier afterall! YES! Next stop, walk over to the Petronas to ask about getting fuel, they are ready to sell me 320l diesel as soon as I bring my jugs over…. 16 jugs of 20l each, how are we going to manage that transfer tho? On our kayak, climbing up and down that pier? That would be such a nightmare… have to sleep on that… Got a take out Satay dinner from the hawker right there on the waterfront, would like to have a Chinese stir fry dinner too, but they were too busy and I was not willing to wait… Climbing back down to raft, then kayak and back to Calliste. Satay and rice was great! We both enjoyed!

Calliste at Kudat, pointing to the floating fish farm and restaurant.

Next morning, Doug observed some local skiffs motoring right up to the rock wall by Petronas, tied up to the rocks, got fuel in jugs and supplies. 0700hrs, I paddled up to one of the boats and worked out something with a nice family. 1 of the girls understood some English enuf to get by. So we had 3 men from the family to haul our fuel and water jugs to us in their skiff. I dunno whats the going rate for such services, but I was happy to have fuel and gladly gave each one RM50… I believe they were very happy with the 1 hrs work.

Later in the day, I walk further into town. I did get to top up my Hotlink SIM card at the shop outside Millenia supermarket. And got fresh fruits and eggs, rest of stuff were horrible looking. And then a take out KFC dinner for us underway.

Only spend 24hrs at Kudat and left. We didn’t need anything else more than to get going again.

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…

Whats at Northwest side of Tioman? Part 1

Map of NW Tioman and our kayaking route

To us yachties at the Tioman Marina on the west side of Tioman, there is a walk up North and there is a walk down South. This year, I want to explore as far out away from the marina as possible and to do so by walking or by kayaking.

Last year, we went with Terry and Ana, walking cross country to Paya village.. but we couldnt make it back on foot… we got a ride on the water taxi back. Last month, I walked over the mountain to Juara on the East side…. and I couldnt make it back either.. Did I bite off more than I could chew… 🙂 well.. okay, lets try the easier walk north. Its mostly paved from the marina up to the Marine Park and only a small hill to climb over to ABC beach that is a concreted trail.

Low tide on ABC beach, looking over at the last resort in this bay

 

0645hrs, we are off, on foot…. to see how far we could go on foot, before it gets to daunting… we know already that a trail leads all the way to Salang, but some of it maybe to much jungle for me… or it may be too much uphill for Doug.. so we’ll see.

0725hrs, we are just passing the Marine Park pier now. Up to this point, its all a walk on the beach front paved pathway which is used by walkers, motor riders, cars and trucks. Since we start really early this am, traffic of any kind was not bad at all. .. phew! We hate it when those 2 strokes loud tinny sounding motors go by.. Those buggers have no idea how terribly irritating that it… or maybe they do and they get some joy out of irritating the tourist!

Low tide at ABC beach, looking over to the marina

0735hrs, its only a small uphill from the Marine park trail and down to ABC beach. 10 mins of light trekking, small hurdle… then we are out in the open beach walkway again. Now looking for breakfast.. The 1st place on this beach is Nazri’s place chalets and restaurant. Nice view and quite a successful setup. Prices are a little on the high side.

0810hrs, we are at the end of ABC beach and looking up at the jungle trail over another hill to the other side… hmm… maybe our footfeets are tired, or we are hungry and dun wanna walk away into the unknown forest… so we settled to have breakfast at the last eating place on ABC. Little eating places litter all over the beachfront from end to end, but they all serve the same food… mostly sama sama anyway.. btw, I didnt enjoy my breakfast pancake with bananas… but the view was beautiful and the feeling was wonderful. I would do this again!

Refraction of morning light in clear waters over pebbles at ABC beach

0900hrs, spending some time at the pebbly beach of ABC. Its really low tide and rocks exposed. Look at all those rock marked coves of skiff parking!

Check out the refraction of warm morning light into very clear waters and over the pebbles! … early risers are out and about now, and a local family were clamming! And they got some! Oh wow! I am jealous! I dunno about locals, maybe they dun like pictures… and warning, tourist and non-locals are not to fish, clam or trap in this marine park… something about fines or bribes, either way its money and vacation spoiler.

1000hrs, okie, we are outta here. 1100hrs, we are back on board! Thank God for A/C!

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…