Checking in to Malaysia!

Current Position in Danga Bay Malaysia: North 01*28'272 East 103*43'442

After a successful trip up to Batam Island we pulled into Nongsa Point Marina on the north western tip to enjoy once again being tied up to a dock. This time however instead of the docks falling apart it was a first class resort with a beautiful marina and most importantly a huge swimming pool. We had little time to enjoy it though as we were there to get fuel, water and groceries and then check out of Indonesia. It was sad to be leaving a country we've enjoyed so much but we were also excited to be going somewhere completely new. The formalities went extremely smoothly, very different from our check-in in Kupang, and everyone seemed honestly sad to see us go!

At 8:30 yesterday morning after the final clearance from customs was given we headed out of Batam and into the crazy Singapore Straights! This is one of the busiest shipping areas in the world and we had to sail from South to North across the main shipping lanes running from East to West. Imagine playing the game frogger but instead of logs they were giant tankers and instead of a frog it was Blue Moon. We had to pick a time with the biggest gap between ships and just push as hard as we could to the other side without getting run down. It would be impossible for the ships to stop as they all run at 12 minute intervals and if one slows down there would be some major accidents. So we pushed our way across without any hiccups and were very happy to slow the engine down and just enjoy the sights and sounds of the Singapore skyline. There was one small incident, however, when we decided to take a short cut through some islands on the Singapore side and were approached by the coast guard who asked us to move as quickly as possible out of the live firing range and did we check our charts you stupid people because we could very easily have be hit!...better navigation next time!!

Our final destination was Tanjung Puteri on the Malaysian side of Western Singapore, there's a relatively narrow channel that runs between Malaysia and Singapore which is joined at the top by a Causeway and we headed up the western side to anchor off a newly developed marina which was supposed to be finished by next month. On arrival we realized that the project was way behind schedule and so we had to anchor for the night in a muddy work site! This obviously wasn't the place to be so this morning we picked up anchor and carried on up the channel to where we are now in Danga Bay. This is a much nicer anchorage in a wide bay with good holding and forest on one side and the town of Jahor Baru on the other. We were met this morning by the supervisor of the unfinished marina who took us to complete our clearance into Malaysia and even gave us a free tour of the area. So now we are now officially checked into Malaysia for no cost at all and a great start to a new country!

Underway from Kumai to Batam...just crossed the equator back into the Northern Hemisphere!

Current Position: North 00*13'547 East 105*11'643

Sorry for the wait but for some reason I've been really slow at doing any up dates lately, it could be because of the intense heat that we're getting at the moment which makes sitting down at the computer dripping in sweat a pretty uncomfortable experience - but here goes...

Our trip up the river to visit the Orangutans in Tanjung Putting national Park was once again one of the best experiences I've ever had. We stayed on a large 'Klotok' (wooden river boat) along with Ingvil & Gunnar off s/v Helen Kate - Astrid, Jasper and their 2 year old son Marijn off s/v Antares - and Pete & Cathy off s/v Wave runner. It was a fantastic two day trip and we couldn't have asked for more, the Orangutans are absolutely beautiful and we were lucky enough to see many of them at all three camps...I won't write any more about it here but keep an eye out on the main blog page and I'll give you all the juicy details!

For now though we are underway and have been for five days from Kumai to Batam island which is just 20 miles south of Singapore. Batam will be our final stop in Indonesia where we'll catch a ferry over to Singapore for the day and then check out and head on to Malaysia. This trip has been extremely frustrating so far as our wind died out after the first 24 hours and so we've been motoring a lot only turning the engine off when we get hit by a thunder storm which brings way too much wind and plenty of rain! The rest of the time the boat is like an oven reaching up to 37*C and the seas are flat calm like a mirror... we found that pegging up towels and sarongs around the cockpit to block out the sun drops the temperature just enough to be bearable. Our usual cooling off system of dumping a bucket full of sea water over our heads is also useless as the water temperature here is about the same as our bodies so we just get wet!!

The big excitement today however was that at 10 am we crossed back over the equator and are now in the Northern Hemisphere once again. It's a strange feeling as we both feel a lot closer to home all of a sudden like we've crossed an invisible barrier back into own part of the world. It certainly feels like we're at the equator though with eerily calm conditions much the same as we experienced over a year ago when we crossed into the southern hemisphere on our way from Panama to the Galapagos! There were very little celebrations this time though as it's just too hot and we're keeping a constant eye on the thunder storms around us just hoping they'll head the other way.

We have roughly 100 nautical miles to go to get to Batam and fingers crossed we should arrive at Nongsa Point Marina before dark tomorrow night...we're all very excited about the large swimming pool at the hotel so finally we can cool off!

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Kumai, Kalimantan - Southern Borneo!

Position at anchor up the Teluk Kumai River - South 02*44'267 East 111*44'037

After not such a nice two day motor sail from Bawean Island, due to being hit by a heavy storm and then loosing all our wind and having to motor for 24hrs, we arrived at the Kumai river in South Kalimantan last night just as night was falling. We had to navigate the last 10 miles up river in the dark which was a little worrying but not a problem with the help of our Radar and Way points. Kalimantan is the southern part of Borneo Island belonging to Indonesia and the reason we're here is to see the 'man of the forest' otherwise known as Orangutans! We're anchored off the town of Kumai and tomorrow we'll be picked up by a boat that will take us up river and deep into the jungle of Tanjung Putting National Park the home to the well known Camp Leaky. We'll be gone for two days and one night sleeping under the stars on the deck of the boat so I'll let you know how it goes as soon as we're back.

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Bawean Island.

Current position: South 05*43'940 East 112*40'143

After almost three weeks being tied up to the marina in Bali we finally slipped our mooring lines four days ago and are now anchored off the beautiful island of Bawean 240 nautical miles North West of Bali. I think we can honestly say that we really loved our time in Bali, for one thing it was great not having to worry about the boat dragging anchor or being boarded by 'uninvited guests' while we were ashore but also being just a 10 minute taxi ride from the town of Kuta made us feel like 'normal' land dwellers again. The Balinese people like all the indonesians we've met so far are extremely friendly and happy people and the feeling completely rubs of on you everywhere you go. We probably only cooked on the boat two times since we arrived in Bali as for less than $2 you can buy a great meal in just about any restaurant! The shopping is fantastic and us girls enjoyed many days out bargaining for ridiculously cheap prices in all the different streets packed with shops. Of course no hard days haggling was complete without a five dollar full hour of blissful Balinese massage...what more can you ask for? The guys were more than happy to spend the time sitting in a bar drinking huge bottles of Bintang beer for just $1.50 a pop...Perfect!

It wasn't all fun and games however as being in a marina always means more work, with endless amounts of water available on tap we have to make the most of it and scrub the whole boat down inside and out. Everything on board gets washed including carpets, cockpit cushions and every damp piece of clothing that hasn't seen the light of day for a while. It's basically a spring clean for the boat and a great feeling to reset everything until we hit a marina again...which may be some time.

So after delaying our departure again and again (it was hard to drag ourselves away) we finally headed out on friday and motor sailed up the coast to the North eastern tip of the island. We had to hug the coast extremely close to pick up the counter current running north and were at times only 20 ft away from the surf breaking on beach, it was a long day and we dropped anchor just before the sun set behind the huge volcano overlooking the bay. The next morning we headed out early and took 48 hours to get to where we are now on Bawean island. The passage was good and we were able to sail most of the way but we had to keep a really good look out for fishing boats and huge bamboo fish traps which line the waters as soon as you get close to any land which makes it hard to have a relaxing sail!

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