About Me

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Alaska, United States
I am owned by Pauline and Mark Blasky. My hull was built at the Duncan Marine Yard in Taiwan and launched in Dec of 1980. It is a William Garden design based on the Pixie Design and called by Duncan Marine a Freedom 45. They are the fourth owners and have owned me the longest. They have done extensive refitting to me including replacing my entire deck structure and rig. My masts are roughly 10% taller than original and now are made of aluminium as opposed to the original wood ones, which, though pretty, were always problematic. You can read more about me under "MORE ABOUT SARI TIMUR"

June 26, 2011

We’re Diving Again!

Well after a couple of weeks off while we fixed the generator and sorted out some other issues we are finally diving again.  We started last night with a night dive on light house reef.  It was pretty, but not super spectacular.  Today’s dives on the other hand were awesome.  We do not have a camera that goes beyond 10 metres so any photos we post below will be ones we were able to beg from some of the other divers on this trip.
This dive was organised by yachties for yachties.  Everyone on this dive was a yachtie anchored right outside Sam’s tours.  The benefit of this is we were able to get a head start on the people that stay in the hotels.  We were pleased when we found out our dive guide was going to be Harse.  He was the one who managed to spot the mantas the last time we dove German Channel and that was going to be the first dive today.  Due to the early start we were the first on to the reef and we were briefed that the tide was going to change just after we got in.  We hit the bottom and almost immediately we saw a Manta Ray.  Cool but he was about 10 metres away.  After all the divers got situated he was spooked and we set out to find the next cleaning station.  On the way we stumbled across a half buried fan tail sting ray which we sat around and gawked at for a few minutes until in the distance we saw two large mantas heading our way.  We snucked quickly behind some rocks and the manta rays came right in amongst us.  It was like they were saying “come take my picture” and I am sure there are some great photos.  They played around with us for a little while before moving on.  We skirted on down the channel and then noticed the Mantas coming back for more, this time they had a third one with them (not sure if it was first one we saw or not).  But just the same seeing three mantas cruising right over your head while they are going through their cleaning process is pretty awesome.  Then to capitalize on it we witnessed a fourth smaller manta coming to join the fray.
The dive after lunch was to be Blue Corner which is one of Palau’s best sites.  As the current was going to be fairly strong we were told we were going to be hooking.  Since my mother reads this site, I'd better define hooking so she does not get the wrong idea.  On strong drift dives near a large attraction one uses a small hook and line.  You hook into a rock, inflate your BC (buoyancy compensator vest) and sit back and watch the show.  It is one of the best shows on earth as well.  We got loads of large fish swimming by.  It is especially nice to see the sharks and large schools going by.  But what also made the dive spectacular was the large number of Napoleon Wrasses checking out the strange shaped fish in their territory.  These fish are rather large and really aren’t afraid of much.  One was getting rather close to Pauline and when she finally saw what I was pointing at her eyes went wide as he seemed to be coming in to suck face (a very personal kiss for mom who needs descriptions).  Afterwards he ambled over to where I was hooked on.  Another diver who is folically challenged had one come up to the back of his head.  Thinking the stubble might be worth a taste.  After a while more divers arrived so we unhooked and continued around the corner.  On the way we saw lots more fish, a turtle, moray, lots of garden eels and just awesome coral formations, yawn ho hum!  No, really, there is just no way to describe how awesome diving in Palau is.

This manta ray came up close ...

.. then it 'flew' by ..

... and then it was gone.
a moray eel

he is one of the many sharks we had around us

trust me, this Napoleon Wrasse is big

June 20, 2011

We Did a Burgee Exchange with the Royal Belau Yacht Club

We did another Burgee exchange.  Trading one of Raffles most coveted for one from the Royal Belau Yacht Club in Palau.  We also gave away a Singapore flag that is now on display next to the Malaysian one there.  This one and the one from the Puerto Galera Yacht Club should be on display at Raffles as soon as we get our act together and get them shipped over to Rose and Francis.

June 15, 2011

The Generator Is Finally Working Again

Hey for those of you who have been following, our generator is finally working again.  The repair bill was rather high but the worst thing was it could all of been avoided.  It seems the installation was not quite right for a sailboat and we were also not briefed on what to do to it before heading into the rough seas.  And as you remember we had some of those in the Philippines!  Oh well at least we know now and will make one more modification before we head to Guam.

June 13, 2011

Close Encounters - The Palau Way


We have decided to split up the writing about Palau to make it a bit easier to read.  Pauline is taking the land experiences.   Mark will handle the diving and boat repair portions.
Palau or Belau, as known locally, is the western most territory in Micronesia and is part of the Carolines Islands.
Sari Timur at her anchorage
Palau consists of many islands and islets.  The biggest is Babeldaob.  South of it are Koror Island, where most of Palau’s downtown is located and Malakal Island, where the commercial port and the primary yacht anchorages are found.   Sari Timur is anchored in front of Sam’s Tours / The Royal Belau Yacht Club, which is the primary yacht anchorage for most cruisers.
Palau’s early history is still a mystery.  Why, how or when people arrived on the islands is unknown but scientists believe that Palau was inhabited as early as 1,000 BC. The original settlers are likely to have come from Indonesia or perhaps the southern Philippines, a blend of Melanesian and Polynesian stock appeared to have been mixed in over the centuries.
Foreign governance of the islands officially began with Spain in 1885.  At the end of the Spanish/American War, Spain sold Palau to Germany.  In 1899 Germany began a colonial administration in Palau.  In 1908 the Germans launched the Sudsee Expedition in Micronesia.  In 1914 the Japanese declared war on Germany and took control of Palau.  In 1919 the League of Nations officially assigned Palau to Japan at the close of WW1 as part of the South Sea Mandate.  By 1922 the Japanese had established a modern government on Palau.  In 1935 Japan withdrew from the League of Nations and began military buildup in Palau.  In July 1944 the Americans attacked Peleliu in one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War.  Following Japan’s defeat in WW2, the islands became United Nations Trust Territories under United States administration.  Palau adopted its own constitution in 1981 and began the road to independence, which happened on October 1, 1994.
The diving in Palau is in a word outstanding!  Many believe that Palau diving is the best in the world.  We are not sure about that as there are a few places we have not been diving and we have as of yet not seen everything Palau has to offer (nor are we likely to in such a short timeframe).  But from what we have seen we think they have a good reason for boasting.  It has certainly become our favourite diving place so far.
The islands of Palau are out at the western extreme of Micronesia.  They are below the theoretical typhoon area and have warm, clear water with light winds all year.  There is supposedly no off season for diving here.  Palau was also the scene of an intense WW2 battle so there are shipwrecks and plane wrecks to see.  Salvage companies have removed 66 wrecks from the harbour otherwise Palau would have a higher number of diveable wrecks than even Chuuk, which supposedly has the highest concentration of WW2 wrecks.  But Palau diving is probably more famous for their reefs, underwater wild life, and unique geographical features.  The names of some of the famous sites such as “Blue Corner”, “Blue Hole”, “Virgin Blue Hole”, “Coral Gardens”, “Zeke Fighter Plane”, “Jake’s Sea Plane Wreck”, “Sunken Bridge” and “Devilfish City” conjure up images to tempt you to dive them.  One hotel brochure lists over fifty dive sites and we hope to get in a good portion of them
So far we have dived two wrecks and they are in excellent shape and loaded with marine life.  The visibility is better than what we experienced in the Philippines but the wrecks are a bit further apart probably due to the above mentioned clearing.  This means that wreck diving is done as part of the daily dive agenda as either the first or second dive and is partnered up with one of the other sites in the area.  For instance a common agenda is to do a drift dive through the Ulong Channel as a morning dive and then after lunch head over and dive the tanker the Teshio Maru which is laying on its side in 14-24 metres of water. Also as there are so many sites close together you often combine two at the same time depending on currents etc.   We really enjoyed Siaes Tunnel which is an underwater cavern and then once we got out of there, we drifted out and around Siaes Corner to see the large number of sharks, barracuda, and trevally, we even had a close encounter with a turtle.  This was our first dive in Palau and we were hooked.  We loved the different coral formations on these dives as well.  One of the other favourite spots is the German Channel area which has several blue holes (submerged caverns) and the pelagic fish are almost always about.  But it is not just the pelagic fish that grab your attention; the multitude of reef fish with their fantastic colours or unique features are pretty special as well.  We saw our first leaf scorpion fish and crocodile fish in this area.  But probably what we will talk about most from this site was our first close encounters with manta rays.  There were also loads of sharks but these become almost mundane in Palau as there are so many of them.  Many years back Palau made its entire territorial waters a shark protected area.  Because of this they have a very healthy reef environment and a multitude of sharks.  Another dive we thoroughly enjoyed was the chambered nautilus dive.  This dive is a little artificial as they set a trap and catch the nautilus the night before a dive and then release them while the divers are there.  It allows us to get up close and personal with these rare creatures and allows the nautilus to get a free dinner.  Mandarin fish are also very prevalent in Palau and we have seen these about 20 feet from where we tie our dinghy up when we come ashore.  There a large schools of Moorish Idols.  Another close encounter we enjoyed was when we were watching two sharks working one of these idols away from the school.  While it was trying to seek shelter near the reef two interested morays left their caves to get in on the action.  Just as one of the morays grabbed him a huge Napoleon Wrasse swooped down from above and stole the Idol right out of the moray’s mouth.  The scene had played out over about five minutes but once the action started it was over lightning quick!
A chambered nautilus
Another view


A close up of its eye
Front view
Another thing unique to Palau is the Jellyfish lake.  This is a fresh water lake that has thousands of jellyfish in it.  But the unique thing is the jellyfish have no predators so they have no stingers.  This means that even though there are thousands of jellyfish in a fairly tight area we can snorkel right in the midst of them.  It might not sound like fun but it is really truly a unique experience and we have not found anyone yet who hasn’t said it was one of the cooler things they have done.

Jellyfish in the lake

close up of a jellyfish

more jellyfish

A handful
During our land travel, we visited a crocodile farm, which was not worth the time (or the fee).
inside of the Bai
We went to the Aimeliik Bai.  A bai is a meeting house for men only.
The Aimeliik Bai
Along the way, we also saw the prehistoric terraces. 
Mark and the guide having fun

Another view of the fall
The waterfall
We also visited the Ngardmau waterfall.   We had to trek down and then up some distance to get to the waterfall, which was very nice and well worth the mud and sweat.  The month after we visited the waterfall, they have started a kind of tram system to bring visitors to the falls so they don’t have to walk.

Some of the stone face monoliths
We drove to Ngarchelong at the northern end of Babeldaob Island, most noted for Palau’s archaeological site of Badrulchau.  Here you can see stone face monoliths over a 5-acre area with some dating back to 161 AD.  However the climate had taken a toll on these stone faces and they are eroding and unrecognizable.

a stone face

as tall as Mark

the stone monoliths
The mother and child stone
We also visited the “Mother and Child” stone, where legend has it that a woman was curious about what goes on in a men’s bai and went to have a look.  She took her child with her but as she was looking into the bai, she and her child turned into stone.   We don't see how the stone looked like a mother and her child but this is it.
The Capitol building


We also drove to Melekeok, where the new Capitol Building is located.  This building is huge, way to big for the small island and the population.

Ruins of a pineapple factory
We also saw the ruin of a pre-WW2 pineapple factory, operated by the Japanese.

close up of the vats

close up of the ruins
 We signed up for a day tour to Peleliu, an island at the southernmost end of Palau’s huge barrier reef.  This we went via a fast boat and were then met by a bus when we got to the island.  Peleliu was the location of some of the fiercest fighting during WW2’s Pacific War.  Underground forts and caves were sealed off when the Japanese soldiers refused to surrender.  Japanese and American memorials are found all over the island, plus old tanks, engines and other war debris rusting away.  We visited the landing strip, Bloody Nose Ridge, Orange Beach where the landing took place, the Japanese Military Headquarters, the Japanese Shrine, the WildCat monument, Japanese Peace Memorial Park, 81st Infantry Division memorial and 1,000 men cave.  It is called the 1,000 men cave because it was believed that 1,000 Japanese soldiers were inside the cave when the Americans sealed the caves.
Our pictures don’t really do justice to what we saw.
signboard to the sights

tank

entrance to the thousand men cave

inside one of the caves


the landing strip


the Japanese Peace Memorial
amphibious tank
Japanese shrine

June 5, 2011

Palau Open Ocean Swim (Or the things you say you will do after a few beers!)

6th Annual Palau Open Ocean Swim
Well, Friday night we were off to a friend's birthday party.  While we were there a few people started talking about an event they hold in Palau every year to help fund the Swimming Club and that is an open ocean swim competition.  They hosted a 5km swim, a 1.5 km swim, a 1km swim, a 500m swim and for the kids a 250 metre swim.  Did I say the kids were allowed to join in any competition and they did them all including the 5km swim, just to humiliate us old farts.  
But back to the story.  The party was going good, i.e. I was into my third beer when I was conned (or I mean talked) into taking part in the 1.5 km swim.  Now I really have not done any real exercise since climbing Mount Kinabalu 9 months ago.  I probably would have signed up for the 5 km swim otherwise (the power of beer persuasion) .  Luckily I was sober enough to realize that probably 1.5k was going to be my limit.  The next problem was that we would need to leave the party early as the registration would be at 7am the next day.

Mark doing the registration
We showed up at 7 and kept trying to psych myself up.  Pauline sensibly decided to remain as a fan.  Then we started looking for the people who had talked us into doing this, only to find that they didn’t show up until after 8.  Anyway we waited until almost all of the finishers of the 5km event were back (all but two) before we started at 9.30am.  The five km course was out and around a local island.  Luckily ours was 3 swims around a triangle course near shore and at the end of each triangle we had to stand up and show our number to the judges so they could verify that we did all 3 rounds.  The good news about this meant that if I felt like I was going to not make it I could just stop after any one of these triangles.  Anyway the two guys responsible for conning me into this finished 1st and 4th .  Oh and me, I made sure I came in last with a time of 41 minutes 27 seconds, a full 16 minutes after the leader.  But hey I finished and I had fun. 

Afterwards there was a nice spag lunch with lots of fresh water to rehydrate and a raffle before they handed out our certs and a commemorative towel.


Mark on his last lap

Mark running to the finish line

Mark with the little kids, who beat him

All the swimmers and helpers