While waiting for the spare gearbox parts we spent a pleasant couple of weeks at Terenggnu and we were lucky to be there for the Chinese Peranakan Festival. We spent a couple of evenings ashore wandering Chinatown and enjoying the entertainment and colourful sights and food.
Once the gearbox was fixed we headed over to Redang Island for a few days where we swam and snorkeled with turtles and enjoyed happy hour ashore with 3 other Australian yachts and found that all 4 ladies were members of WWSA (Women Who Sail Australia). Not often this happens up in this part of the world.
Peter joined us back at Terengganu to enjoy a holiday sailing back down the east coast. Famous last words! It was now Ramadan, a month of fasting for the locals. No eating or drinking (of any sort), between sunrise and sunset. So this means a lot of sleepy people especially towards the end of the month. We visited the Ramadan night market which was jam packed with people buying takeaway food to eat once the sunset. Families set up picnics everywhere waiting for the magic hour. No photos though as I thought it would be a bit rude! We bought a selection of local food and went back to the boat to eat ours.
We had planned to visit a few islands along the way and do some more relaxing but the weather put a stop to that. Getting up here was a piece of cake, getting back down in the “wrong”season was not so easy.
Most of the trip we had strong SE’ly winds along with 2 knots of current and a short choppy swell all against us. It was by far the worse trip we have done in a long time. We explored ways of getting down, should we go out to sea & back in, should we stick close to shore and maybe out of the current, should we night sail, should we day sail? No matter what we did it wasn’t easy and we were very grateful to have Peter. Not only was the extra manpower very useful, we did more tacking in that 2 weeks than we have done in all our sailing, Peter’s extrovert character made light of what would have been a dreary old trip.
We headed out to Kapas Island just 10 nm form Terengganu and stayed for 2 nights.
Leaving Kapas Island one night at 00.30 and arrived at Tenggol Island at 5pm having travelled a total of 35nm. That’s an average of 2.12 kn per hour. Very slow, very tiring, very frustrating. The following day was much the same Tenggol to Chukai, 35nm in 14hrs motorsailing and tacking the whole way. We entered the Kemaman River at night time, something we normally avoid doing but we had to seek a calm anchorage and wait for this weather to change and Chukai town anchorage offered us this.
We stayed a few days in Chukai, its a pleasant town and we tried the stuffed crabs again at 2 different restaurants but still I don’t think they are as good as the travel guides tell you. Jerry changed all the fuel filters on the boat as he knew that the rough trip would stir up the gunk that settles in the bottom of the diesel tanks and soon start to clog the filters up. He also found that we have fungus in the fuel but it has been treated with biocide so it is under control, we hope.
So after a few days rest the weather looked good and out we went again. Decision had been made to hug the coast all the way down forgetting any stopovers that were not necessary. Chukai to Endau was not so bad but we still tick tacked our way down the coast.
That night we watched the radar with trepidation as we headed towards quite a severe storm cell but luckily we just caught the edge of it or so we thought. It was not long before it turned and came back at us in full force with the most horrific lightening, loud thunder and torrential rain. We hove to and left Jerry in the cockpit while Peter and I sheltered below with storm boards in to stop the rain coming down below it was that bad. By the time the storm passed Jerry was freezing cold and in need of a jumper and hot soup to warm up.
Endau was a peaceful anchorage and the next day we continued tacking close to shore anchoring at Jasons Bay. This was a great anchorage on the way up but not so this time. We rolled and rolled all night making it hard to sleep unless you splayed yourself out like a starfish on the bunk.
The next day saw us rounding the bottom of the Peninsular and actually enjoying a nice sail, but that was short lived as a safety boat approached us and asked to move further out from the coast forcing us to head dead into the wind once again. It was because a ship was about to manoeuvre. Welcome back to the busy Singapore Straits.
As we turned up into the calm waters of Pengelih Point and dropped the anchor I breathed a big sigh of relief. Memo to oneself, once again, is do not try and sail against the wind.
Tied up now in a great marina we have purchased a secondhand airconditioner for $100 and are in absolute heaven inside the boat. It is so hot and humid that we gave in and decided that a bit of comfort while in a marina is well worth it. Like little meerkats we stay below only popping up our heads when absolutely necessary. I can now cook without causing the boat to heat up like a furnace, we sleep like babies and awake refreshed, my swollen feet are no longer swollen and jobs are easier to tackle as we can duck down below for a cool off when it all gets too much. The hectic sail had played havoc with Jerry’s hair and he was soon at the hairdressers getting it fixed up.
As usual we always have a list of jobs to do. So first thing we hired a car and with the help of our crew now chauffeur, Peter, could chase around town getting things organized. With Ramadan coming to an end and Hari Raya fast approaching we needed to act quickly as shops would close down for a long weekend holiday.
We are taking time out from the yacht for a few months and flying to Paris on Aug 3rd. It was Jerry’s wish for his 60th birthday at the end of August to do something special. So we have 4 weeks in a house just outside of Toulouse, courtesy of a friend in Perth, 2 weeks cycling the canals, 2 weeks in Tuscany with Cheryl and Mark, Jerry’ sister and a few weeks back in UK with his Dad. I intend to keep the blog going so you can read all about it right here.
When we return towards the end of October we shall be looking at a trip back to Perth to meet our first Grandchild, a baby boy due on Nov 13th. Very exciting news and I imagine this little bundle of joy will make a great impression on our chosen lifestyle.
2015 is turning out to be a big year in more ways than one!
