We finally set out north towards Palawan in the Philippines on the 30th 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 .
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.
Usukan Bay with Mt Kinabalu |
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 |
Clarendon Bay, Philippines |
The Spanish light and the modern light |
Candaraman Island, Philippines |
Iglesia Point, Philippines |
James Brooke Point, Philippines |
James Brooke Point - the jetty and the breakwater |
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