Captain’s Log: Kota Kinabalu Sabah on Borneo

Sept 14-16

Hi All,

We did leave Labuan on Thursday Sept 14 around 8am as planned. We did the 38nm in record time…..had a 1-1.5kt favorable current with us the whole time and we had pretty close to trawler conditions….<10 kts and 2′ swell all on the aft port qtr …..sweet as!!!

We anchored in front of the Tiga Resort……some of you may remember that Tiga Island was the location for the first Survivor TV show…..the one Richard Hatch won…..whoa…..that makes 4-5 Survivor locations we have visited…..none are as remote as the show presents…..I mean, Jeff needs to stay somewhere comfortable:)))) However our time on the island was a bust. First, we had hoped to do some scuba diving but the Divemaster was away and the crew really did not know anything about the diving spots or conditions. The water was terrible……sometimes very muddy looking and other times an ugly green color…..we anchored in 18′ of water and could not see the bottom…..so much for the advertised crystal clear waters….ugh. We also wanted to meet Mark, the resort manager and a friend of Omar’s, the Miri guide, but he too was unavailable. So, we walked around a bit, had a beer, walked the beach with more logs than shells and then said ok, seen enough, back to Mystic.

Since Tiga was a bust, Kathy said lets go on to Kota Kinabalu and find some air-con….what a classic line!!! So that night we celebrated our last night of the 2017 cruising season with BBQ ribs and a great 2003 Consentino Syrah…yummers!!!

We were up and out by 7:30am…..actually we wanted a more leisurely morning but by 7:30am we were both drenched…..it was already >90*F in the cabin…..so we were underway by 7:45am. We did the 32 nm run in trawler like conditions and arrived at the Sutera marina around 11:45am…….they direct us to C-16 berth….gulp, it’s a double berth but a huge Cat is already there……we barely squeeze in…..TG for thrusters and no wind/current…..there must have been 6 guys all with fenders and holding lines making sure we didn’t scrape…..had about 1′ spare……now trying doing that when you can’s see the sides……and no this is not racing so we do not want to rub:))))) Did meet the owner of the Cat….Aussie’s……he said he’s not so sure he could have backed in like we did…he is going out in a few days but then coming back….we hope they give them another slip!!!

Kota Kinabalu is a modern Malaysia City…..capital of the state of Sabah. However, they still need to do something about all the plastic trash in the Bay…..as we came in the Bay was coated with empty plastic bottles and other plastic trash……such an eye sore and unnecessary….ugh!!!! The marina maybe the nicest marina we have stayed in since Australia……surrounded by 2, 5-star hotels….well, by Malaysia ratings…..and many restaurants…..hmmm, say Kathy do we need to provision….why would we, she responds….galley is closed:)))) And it is hot and more hot…..93*F and 107 heat index…yikes!!!!

So that is it for the 2017 cruising season…..from Phuket Thailand to Kota Kinabalu on Borneo. Final stats:

Distance traveled: 45,750 total; 1992nm this year….one of our shortest cruising distances in a few years!
Days cruising: 134 days; ~5 months, May 4-Sept 15, again one of our shorter seasons….just did too many road trips!!
Engine hours: 6509 total; 280 this year
GEN hours: 8335 total; 453 this year; yep a lot of air-con time!!
Watermaker: 3558 total; ~300 this year
Nights at Anchor: 84
Nights in Marinas: 50, of course 2 weeks for the hernia surgery, 10 marinas, very unusual that many marinas but hard to find good anchorages in the Malacca Straits and up some of these rivers!
Fishing: 3 days but nada:(((
Fuel: 1786 gal, ~$2.5/gal, ~1.4nmpg w/o GEN…..quite good…..ran slow for most of the time!!
Water in fuel: 134 ounces and still getting drabs when in rough water…..9 filters….ugh!!!!

The Plan: We have 2 land trips planned: first is a 4D3N trip to the Sukau Rainforest Lodge on the Kinabatangan River leaving next Tuesday, Sept 19. This is in East Borneo and hopefully we will get to see some of the world class wildlife available…..like the Orangutans, Pygmy elephants, Hornbills and the Proboscis Monkeys. Here is a link if you want more info:

https://www.sukau.com/tour-packages/orang-utan-search

We come back to Mystic for a few days and then go on a real vacation…..yes, no boat duties……we are going scuba diving for 12 days to the Wakatobi Indonesia region. There are several world class diving locations in Indonesia and maybe more once you get out to the remote areas like we did in Alor last year…….Komodo, we did last year, Wakatobi this year and hopefully Raja Ampat next year…..fly back from Alaska….maybe the best of all 3 although the locals like to debate between these three which is the best.

Home

Traveling there is a bit of a hassle….fly from KK to Kuala Lumpur…like going backwards, then to Bali, overnight, then go on a private charter to the Wakatobi Dive Resort…..dive for 8 or so days….then back to Bali for 3 nights……we want to spend more time in the Ubud area……then back to KK on Oct 12……then 13 days until we fly back to USA on Oct 25!!

On the days here in KK we will play a little but mainly work on boat projects, cleaning and starting to plan in detail our route to Alaska next year!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon
Kota Kinabalu Sabah Borneo!!