We had been told that the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia was a very pleasant place to sail with clear, clean water, beautiful beaches and great snorkelling, so we were really looking forward to our trip up this coast and for the chance to jump into some nice water to cool off in. From Senibong Marina to the Perhentian Islands is approximately 500nm and we are keen to get up to them fairly quickly and then our intention is to take our time heading back south.
The islands along the way were just as we had been told, beautiful white beaches and clear blue water, the further north we went the better they got. We have also had some nice breezes to sail in, we even shook the mothballs out of the drifter, it’s been a long time since we used this sail.
We stopped at Tioman Island for a week and met up with our friends from Flying Ant days Mick & Janice Johnson on ZOA. They had been stuck here waiting on anchor winch parts. Tioman is a duty free island so a must as a stop over to stock up on some cheap beer & rum. We still had a good stock of rum from Langkawi but needed beer and Captain Kirks was happy to deliver beer & us back to the beach free of charge.
Large fruit bats nest here during the day and fly to the mainland each night in their hundreds. Off to a fruit plantation, I guess.
Tioman is quite a big island but most places are only accessible by boat. There is a walking track up and over the island to the other side, Juara Bay, winding its way through the forest.
We set off early one morning to do the walk, it was very hot and humid so we were glad to find a small waterfall to cool off in on the way.
The trees and palms are certainly very big here and there were lots of butterflies I noticed. The water for the island is piped down alongside the track, unfortunately it had quite a few leaks that need repair, but for now someone had attempted a temporary repair with a stick! This reminded us of a friend who left his wooden boat on a mooring at Lumut and when it sprung a leak the local man who was looking after the boat said “boat have leak but all ok I stuck chopstick in hole”!
Next stop was Tulai Is & Pahang Island. Both beautiful anchorages with no tourists and good snorkelling. Unfortunately I must admit I am a little bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to snorkelling, but if I can set off from the beach I am not to bad.
We entered the Kemaman River with fingers crossed we didn’t touch bottom. No port and starboard markers here but the info we had said if in doubt follow a Class C fishing boat in. Of course there is never one around when you would like it to be but we found our way in safely and then we saw plenty pass us by once we had dropped anchor anchor off Chukai town.
Chukai is famous for its stuffed baked crab we read, so first meal ashore we ordered 2 and were very disappointed. For a start they were very small, maybe even undersize by Australian standards. The filling was bulked up with finely chopped veg of some sort and not much taste of crab at all. Maybe on the way back down we will give the chilli crab a try. The market here was great and we were able to stock up on fruit & vegetables and we also bought some nice fresh fish too.
While I was shopping at the market Jerry was at the men's beauty stall having some magic potion poured into his ear to cure his deafness!! Well the bonus is that whatever it was it didn’t damage his ears any further and he still can hear me the same as before, not very well. They offered me drops for my eyes so I wouldn’t need glasses but I politey declined! The locals here were all very friendly and always smiled and wanted to know where we we were from.
Next stop was the beautiful island of Tenggol,we picked up a mooring here as it was too deep to anchor. As we did this a local boat headed over with a load of tourists all kitted out with snorkels and masks and some in dive gear. They stopped next to the boat and dropped the divers off and they soon disappeared under the TToo. Apparently our mooring was tied to a wreck, too deep for us to see thank goodness.
Next stop, the beautiful Kapas Is. I went snorkelling here as I couldn’t resist it. Just close to shore but it’s a start. Lots of colourful fish and clams to look at. The water was so clear I watched the anchor settle on the bottom when I dropped it and we could see the shadow of the boat on the ocean floor. Clean enough for us to have sea water showers and a quick rinse off with our precious fresh water. We are starting to spend more and more time in the water, it is just such a nice way to escape the heat.
We are now tied up in a small marina in Terengganu. We intended to stay a few days to get washing done, refuel and restock but Jerry was unhappy with engine “noises” and decided to take the gearbox off and have a look. Well looks like we will be here for more than a few days as we need to order a new drive plate. Ours is not looking very good and it is the cause of the engine”noise” that only Jerry can hear. Maybe those drops he had put in at the markets did do something? Fortunately Terengganu is quite a big town and has a lot of engineering shops here. So Jerry has been ashore and left the noisy plate with a very nice Chinese man who said he maybe able to get one for us from Kuala Lumpur overnight. If not we have sourced one in the UK which we can have sent out by DHL.
In the meantime we shall catch up on boat jobs and explore Terengganu. It’s a great town with huge markets which I love going to and there is a Chinese Peranakan Festival on here at the weekend. So it’s not a bad place to be stuck for a few extra days!
PS: 8/6/2015 Part on way from UK. It arrived in 2 days but has been in customs since Saturday, hopefully it will be delivered tomorrow, fingers crossed.
No comments:
Post a Comment