From Kota Kinabalu to Puerto Princesa

We finally set out north towards Palawan in the Philippines on the 30^th of November.  The plan was to set out early.  But all the best laid plans sometimes go astray.  As we began our final check on everything at sunrise, we noticed the auto pilot was completely dead.  This is not a show stopper but it is also linked to our rudder angle indicator and that is always nice to have when backing out of a marina.  So we began a troubleshooting sequence.  After all we had just checked it 3 days prior and all was fine.  We traced all of the wires etc and could not find anything wrong.  Anyways, we decided there was nothing more we were going to achieve with it before departure so we put everything back in place and went around saying our goodbyes and pulled out at 08:30.  We had been watching the weather for several weeks.  Our original plans were to leave mid November in the hopes that we would still have a bit of south west monsoon.  Of course we didn’t leave when planned and the NE Monsoon kicked in a couple of days before our departure.  That meant once we rounded Pulau Gaya, the large island that shelters KK Harbour, we had it on our nose.  Just as we rounded Gaya we had a small problem with the engine so while Mark got that fixed we basically drifted backward 2 miles.  That was faster than we were going forward before the engine blew a hose!  Anyway with the hose repaired and back under power we bashed into it and decided on shortening our first day’s course to head for Usukan Bay.

Usukan Bay with Mt Kinabalu

This is only about thirty miles but it was straight into a pretty short sea and the wind was blowing 25 knots on the nose.  Usukan Bay is supposedly Sabah’s largest deepwater bay.  It didn’t seem that large but it was very pretty and it sure was nice getting out of the swell.  We decided to hang here for two nights and hope the weather would die down a bit as well as give us a chance to look more thoroughly at the auto pilot. 

We got the autopilot working again and after giving the wind the fake delay it decided to die down for our next leg up to an anchorage just south of Tanjong Tambuluran.  The winds again picked up after lunch so we were happy that we had another sort of short leg to do.  This wind pattern of strong winds from the NNE in the afternoon seemed to be a trend so for the rest of our trip we decided to make all the passages into small legs.  This worked out well because each anchorage that we found had something nice to offer.  Tanjong Tambuluran is just across the peninsula from Kudat and not far from Kota Belud where Pauline and the gang had a good visit to see the cowboys of Sabah.  This coast is really spectacular when viewed from the sea.  Mount Kinabalu stands proud and dominates in the background and it is thrilling to watch it from the various angles as you sail up the coast.  Sabah’s coast is definitely one of the most dramatic places in the world.

Pulau Balambangan, Malaysia

Pulau Banggi, Malaysia

From Tg Tambuluran we rounded the top of Borneo right into a line squall.  45 knots and lots of rain.  But after punching through it for a little over an hour the weather abated and we continued at a nice pace for our next anchorage off of Pulau Balambangan.  This island is just in the lee of Pulau Bangi (Malaysia’s largest island) and it offered a very nice stop.  We watched a couple of monkeys on the beach as we were anchoring and felt quite secure, however the busted hull of some other large boat laying on the beach just a few meters away from us was a bit disconcerting.  This was our last stop in Malaysia and we managed to get a little bit of internet via a radio tower on the top of Bangi.  The signal was poor but at least we could download some mails and check the weather and news.

Clarendon Bay, Philippines

The Spanish light and the modern light

The next leg of the trip was to cross the Balabac Straits.  Here we had been told to watch for floating debris, fisherman, strong currents and high speed smugglers.  Instead we had the best sail of the trip.  The wind had backed around just east enough that we did the entire crossing with the engine off until just before entering Clarendon Bay in the Philippines.  That slightly more east wind did make Clarendon Bay a little rolly but still a great stop.  There is an old Spanish light on the hill overlooking the straits that can be seen from inside the bay as well.  The light still looks neat but has been replaced by a modern light a few metres away.

Candaraman Island, Philippines

Just off the top of Balabac Island is a small island called Candaraman and we had been told this anchorage is a gem and one of the nicest to see in the southern Philippines.  We decided it sounded too good to miss so we headed there the next day.  If you imagined a pretty beach with loads of coconut trees, very clear water with loads of fish and turtles you are right.  We decided there was no hurry to leave this place and so we played here for a couple of days.

Iglesia Point, Philippines

From Candaraman, we worked our way to Palawan Island and took refuge the first night behind Iglesia Point.  There are a couple of anchorages here, we chose the one just behind the point.  There is another up the Rio Tuba.  There is also a large commercial jetty in the same harbour but there are shallows between the top and the commercial jetty harbour.

James Brooke Point, Philippines

From Iglasia Point we headed north to James Brooke Point.  This has a pretty little town with the backdrop of some mountains.  The anchorage is very well protected behind a combination of a break water and commercial jetty.  It is a bit shallow but good holding and calm.

James Brooke Point - the jetty and the breakwater

After James Brooke Point we got some weird weather with waves breaking from the south east in bands of a few hundred metres with long periods of flat water in between.  We could not figure out what was causing this as there was really no consistency to timing, height etc.  At one time we even wondered if it was a tsunami.  Later a storm came up from the south and we guessed it was caused by a wind generated swell fighting out the traditional swell from the north east.  The bad thing with this is our next anchorage was Rasa Island and we were extremely exposed to the south.  The new southerly storm generated a very uncomfortable anchorage.  We have been told this is a great anchorage during a north east but we can attest it is very lousy from the other direction.  During the night the wind died down and came back from the north but the swell continued from the south enough that at first light we were pulling the anchor with very little sleep.

Abanico Yacht Club, Puerto Princesa

Puerto Princesa was the next stop and is the end of this journey for a couple of weeks.  This is a great stop; the Abanico Yacht Club is very friendly to visiting yachts and has a wonderful bar/restaurant with a gorgeous view and very reasonable prices.