Now K'Gari is in Sabah.
Family visit immediately. Unfortunately time is limited due to school holidays still ruling the time table.
The obliging delivery crew, have also had to flee. Life has demands on everyone.
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| look out "duties" |
Whilst family are with me , we do a couple of day sails to the very near by islands that make up the Abdul Rahman National Park, which lies just off the coast of Kota Kinabalu.
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| Hmmm! still looking out at the end of a busy day. Mt Kinabalu in the background. |
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| https://youtu.be/oP7NqCs3_bc |
The obligatory tourist escapades to see some baby orphaned Orangutans at Rasa Ria Resort, and a road trip to Kudat, which is the very NE tip of Borneo. Beyond there, within easy sight is the southern Philippines and unfortunately, real day 'pirates'.
The politics and history of the region , you can look up for yourself, but 'pirates' do still operate and this is a known haunt.
Each year, a sailing rally sails from mainland Malaysia across to Borneo , with many stops in between. For the last two years, the sector between Kudat and Tawau ,the last port in Malaysia, on the East coast of Borneo ,before entering Indonesian waters , has been done under the escort of the Malaysian Navy and Security forces. There is an on going night time curfew. It is a real and ever unfolding situation.
However my reason for travelling to Kudat, is twofold. One reason, to get to the Tip of Borneo,
and the second is to check out the facilities at a ship yard , as K'Gari will need her first haul out of the water soon.
Each year, a sailing rally sails from mainland Malaysia across to Borneo , with many stops in between. For the last two years, the sector between Kudat and Tawau ,the last port in Malaysia, on the East coast of Borneo ,before entering Indonesian waters , has been done under the escort of the Malaysian Navy and Security forces. There is an on going night time curfew. It is a real and ever unfolding situation.
However my reason for travelling to Kudat, is twofold. One reason, to get to the Tip of Borneo,
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| Yes, self evidently, The Tip of Borneo |
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| Reminds me a lot of Noosa B.D. (before developers) |
A visit (return for me, having been there several year ago with my dedicated mono friends, when I had come to visit them in KK) was made to the far less well known, but very worthwhile visiting, Kundasang War Memorial.
This memorial has a fascinating history. It exists to honour and commemorate those Australians and British and (unofficial) New Zealand soldiers, (as well as the local Borneo people who also suffered in helping those that they could) ,who died enduring those terrible, terrible death marches from Sandakan (on the east coast of Sabah) to Ranau. The memorial is not actually located in Ranau , but close by to the location of the last camp on the way- which so very, very few made it to. Six survived, all Australians, of the almost 1000 POWs forced to march.
Immediately upon entering this second time, I couldn't help but notice the change. Cracks in the walls that make up the four commemorative gardens, and the portico which leads to the honour boards , upon which the name of every soldier known to have died is listed.
a few metres from the height of the nearby Mt Kinabalu.
So moved was I, that I wrote to the war graves commission to ask for funding to assist in the repairs. They replied that they were indeed soon to send someone to inspect the damage.
I hope they did and I hope that some of my tax dollars were spent on this moving and worthwhile tribute to such a truly hideous chapter of our history.
Back on board, after tourist activities are finished, there is still much to do, useful gear that hadn't made the cut in the 90kgs taken initially to Nha Trang, needs to be sourced.
My sister brings with her from Australia, that all important and totally, (apparently), unobtainable in Vietnam, oil vacuum pump.
That was never on the list! Didn't even know such things existed , nor that it was a pre-requisite, that apparently doesn't come with new engines!
Not only is it necessary evil, but before my crew go home, I'm given a lesson, in how to give a Yanmar diesel, an enema!
More technically, this is known as an oil change!
There are many, many things, of which I was happily oblivious, before setting out, on this course of my life.
Although fully aware that K'Gari was a sailing catamaran, which came with engines, (yes, plural, which hopefully should mean there will be at least one working, is perhaps one way of looking at it, from a non technical aspect), I was very much aware that one of the subjects,I should have paid far more attention to, some 36 summers ago, was possibly, marine engineering. At the time, it was just a subject I needed to pass and there would be at least three or four, if not more, real engineers on board anything I was on. Not only that, real electricians as well! And so it was, for all my working life. Now however, I was wishing that perhaps a little more of the basic stuff had sunk in.
Understanding my considerable limitations , the precaution had been taken of enrolling in a basic diesel course, but that had not yet come to pass, as course dates and my work commitments had so far clashed.
Amongst the multitude of things I could easily have listed in the " haven't got a clue" category, before we sailed from Vietnam were:
The inner mysteries of a diesel engine. Until now my experience was that , it either works, or you call someone who knows how to make it work.
A diesel engine only needs a few things to make it work. It needs air , a cooling system and fuel. If it doesn't work, these are likely places to start looking. Apparently though, there are many sub texts and other potential problem parts ,hidden within those simple elements. Filters, pumps, drive belts ,heat exchangers, impellers to name but a few mystery parts. Throw into that mix, the little bit shaky knowledge area of batteries, luckily these are sealed units and no hygrometer readings required weekly, and the total area of the black magic of electricity and what you ask, could possibly go wrong?
Ahem! Might have forgotten to mention, that attached to the engine, is the propeller. Another necessary evil. It can either be shaft driven, eg a long shaft that runs through the hull from the engine to outside the boat , or as in K'Gari's case, saildrives. Best way to describe these, is they look like an outboard motor leg, which is permanently afixed to the hull, under the water.
So what secrets do saildrives hold. Well apparently they have oil in them, 2.2litres to be precise, which needs changing every 100 hours. Simple, well not quite. To change the oil, the boat needs to be high and dry. This is either achieved by beaching deliberately, somewhat of an anathema to me , or hauling out at a marina, which is costly.
The manual which comes with the saildrive, is slightly confusing as it talks about two different models, one you can do in the water and the other, (K'Gari's), you can't .This is not entirely clear until you commence the operation and then realise the very 'clear' page that pertains to the SD20, is the single page that says - "do it out of the water", and the other 8 pages, showing you the nifty pumps that can be used and the methods required, are for the other model altogether.!! What a learning curve this is turning out to be.
Not to be forgotten are the sacrificial anodes, that a boat, floating in water, needs to prevent valuable useful parts, like the saildrive and propellers, from being consumed by galvanic action.
"galvanic action results when two dissimilar metals are submerged in a conductive solution, such as saltwater" . Excellent! Something else to worry about!
Additionally, "boats connected to shore power ( ie when in a marina) require additional protection to prevent destructive low voltage galvanic currents from passing through the shore power ground wire".
Goodness, this boating is a lark, isn't it?
So with a completely non existent engineering and electrical skill set at my disposal ,now is as good a time as any, for the first oil change.
Well that was a breeze, literally. I was positioned in the draught, videoing the procedure for future reference, whilst my tutor is cramped in the rather warmish engine space.
"Yep, got that, all done and dusted"!
So moved was I, that I wrote to the war graves commission to ask for funding to assist in the repairs. They replied that they were indeed soon to send someone to inspect the damage.I hope they did and I hope that some of my tax dollars were spent on this moving and worthwhile tribute to such a truly hideous chapter of our history.
Back on board, after tourist activities are finished, there is still much to do, useful gear that hadn't made the cut in the 90kgs taken initially to Nha Trang, needs to be sourced.
 |
| The "unobtainable" oil vacuum pump has arrived! Hmm looks interesting! |
That was never on the list! Didn't even know such things existed , nor that it was a pre-requisite, that apparently doesn't come with new engines!
Not only is it necessary evil, but before my crew go home, I'm given a lesson, in how to give a Yanmar diesel, an enema!
More technically, this is known as an oil change!
There are many, many things, of which I was happily oblivious, before setting out, on this course of my life.
Although fully aware that K'Gari was a sailing catamaran, which came with engines, (yes, plural, which hopefully should mean there will be at least one working, is perhaps one way of looking at it, from a non technical aspect), I was very much aware that one of the subjects,I should have paid far more attention to, some 36 summers ago, was possibly, marine engineering. At the time, it was just a subject I needed to pass and there would be at least three or four, if not more, real engineers on board anything I was on. Not only that, real electricians as well! And so it was, for all my working life. Now however, I was wishing that perhaps a little more of the basic stuff had sunk in.
Understanding my considerable limitations , the precaution had been taken of enrolling in a basic diesel course, but that had not yet come to pass, as course dates and my work commitments had so far clashed.
Amongst the multitude of things I could easily have listed in the " haven't got a clue" category, before we sailed from Vietnam were:
The inner mysteries of a diesel engine. Until now my experience was that , it either works, or you call someone who knows how to make it work.
A diesel engine only needs a few things to make it work. It needs air , a cooling system and fuel. If it doesn't work, these are likely places to start looking. Apparently though, there are many sub texts and other potential problem parts ,hidden within those simple elements. Filters, pumps, drive belts ,heat exchangers, impellers to name but a few mystery parts. Throw into that mix, the little bit shaky knowledge area of batteries, luckily these are sealed units and no hygrometer readings required weekly, and the total area of the black magic of electricity and what you ask, could possibly go wrong?
Ahem! Might have forgotten to mention, that attached to the engine, is the propeller. Another necessary evil. It can either be shaft driven, eg a long shaft that runs through the hull from the engine to outside the boat , or as in K'Gari's case, saildrives. Best way to describe these, is they look like an outboard motor leg, which is permanently afixed to the hull, under the water.
So what secrets do saildrives hold. Well apparently they have oil in them, 2.2litres to be precise, which needs changing every 100 hours. Simple, well not quite. To change the oil, the boat needs to be high and dry. This is either achieved by beaching deliberately, somewhat of an anathema to me , or hauling out at a marina, which is costly.
The manual which comes with the saildrive, is slightly confusing as it talks about two different models, one you can do in the water and the other, (K'Gari's), you can't .This is not entirely clear until you commence the operation and then realise the very 'clear' page that pertains to the SD20, is the single page that says - "do it out of the water", and the other 8 pages, showing you the nifty pumps that can be used and the methods required, are for the other model altogether.!! What a learning curve this is turning out to be.
 |
| Sail drive leg showing prop almost folded .The "crusty" rings are the anodes doing their thing |
Not to be forgotten are the sacrificial anodes, that a boat, floating in water, needs to prevent valuable useful parts, like the saildrive and propellers, from being consumed by galvanic action.
"galvanic action results when two dissimilar metals are submerged in a conductive solution, such as saltwater" . Excellent! Something else to worry about!
Additionally, "boats connected to shore power ( ie when in a marina) require additional protection to prevent destructive low voltage galvanic currents from passing through the shore power ground wire".
Goodness, this boating is a lark, isn't it?
So with a completely non existent engineering and electrical skill set at my disposal ,now is as good a time as any, for the first oil change.
 |
| https://youtu.be/67tztk4VtaU |
"Yep, got that, all done and dusted"!
"Pardon? - You think ......I should probably do the other engine, just to make sure I understood it all"
Whoopsie spoke to soon!
Mission accomplished!
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