New Year Eve: The water of the marina had been reverberating for days with sound system checks being carried out for the New Year Eve extravaganza that had been planned by Sutera Harbour. A temporary stage had been erected on the foreshore of one of the two 5 star hotels that surround the marina, the Singapore Beatles tribute band was going to be the star attraction, as well as the fireworks at midnight.
So no point in trying to sleep until after midnight, and this was obviously going to be one of the very few New Year's , that I had actually voluntarily been awake for. The fireworks were great,despite my overall mindset, that they are such a waste of money- my marina fees well spent!
With my friends being much more practised at being boaties, than myself, next day it was off to the shops to stock up with what would be required for four, for a week or so. 'Nibbles' , not one of my strong points, "culinary requirements in the new world of 'sundowners'", were purchased, and a great selection , so that we had plenty of variation over the next week -and not a mung bean in sight. Yes, it certainly is something I need to practise, Still on that learning curve , obviously, but now have 'the provision of suitable nibbles', ticked off.
We headed off to Tiga Island 30nm away. Best known as being "Survivor Island". Having never watched any of the "Survivor" series, it didn't mean that much to us. The sail down was good, set the MPS when the seabreeze finally kicked in and away we went.
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| Cold volcanic mud pools, best left to true survivors in m y opinion |
There is no way to remove the mud until you get back to the beach, by which time, in the prevailing heat, it would probably leave you feeling a little similar to a living, walking , "human en croute", I imagine. However to each their own, in the way of amusement.
We had a snorkel over the nearest reef after the exploration to the mud pools
Next morning it was on to Labuan, a small Malaysian island territory sitting just off the coast, very close to the border of Brunei, and an easy 35nm from Tiga. There are a few dive wrecks listed here, as well as another War Grave Cemetery. A well known attraction called 'the chimney'- which nobody has any idea why it exists, but it certainly is there, on the NE of the island.
For yachties, the main claim to fame for Labuan is that it, like Langkawi, has duty free status. There are also real marine supplies available here, as it is a major port for laid up oil rig tenders and ocean going towing tugs.
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| Any one need a rig tender- might be able to find one here? |
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| Some of the rig tenders at anchor off Labuan Marina |
We stayed a day and a half before heading off to "explore" the nearby Klias River.
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| Navigating through the anchored rig tenders as we depart Labuan |
I had three sets of waypoints for getting into the Klias, so split the difference and used 'mark one eyeball' , when we weren't entirely sure.The beauty of a catamaran is the shallow draft. The downside is that is fiberglass, so only during the dry season is this trip worth attempting, as the logs that can be encountered in the river systems would probably preclude such a safe transit in the floods of the wet season.
We anchored about 22 miles up the Klias from the entrance at Menumbok, with about an hour of daylight left. From there we took to the dinghy and zipped another 5 to 6 nm up the river looking for the fairly elusive proboscis monkeys.
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| Anchor position.We went on further in the dinghy |
On the way up the river, whilst still on K'Gari, two fairly large mature ones sitting close to the water, on an over hanging branch had been spotted. By the time we turned K'Gari and went back, they decided to scarper.They were actually the closest two that we saw. The few other ones that we managed to spot, were too high up in the trees, along with the ubiquitous macaques.
We returned at a more sedate pace in the dinghy, in the hope of seeing some more monkeys, but still wanting to be back on board before dark. Being the only boat within earshot, ( or 20 odd miles) we decided that evening to entertain the proboscis monkeys with some quality music. They are undoubtedly, probably still wondering, what it was all about! A quiet and sedate evening on board K'Gari.
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| Monkeys to the left, monkeys to the right , we just couldn't see them. I doubt they had any trouble hearing us though. |
Exiting the Klias system the next afternoon we motored to Tiga , as the wind was on the nose when it finally picked up in the afternoon. Made our way back to KK the following morning.
A very pleasant 207nm round trip, with excellent company.
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| Near the entrance just beyond Menumbok |
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| about 5 miles in |
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| About 15 miles in |
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| Just beyond these trees are acres of palm oil plantations, not visible from the river , but they stretch for miles |
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