Wednesday 13th August
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| Top of the Mountain (Pula Gaya) |
We have another
day in Tawau, waiting for our sailing companion boat to get visas fixed. Mick,
from SV Keris, spent from 8am till 2pm in Immigration yesterday, patiently
filling in forms, and he will probably be doing the same again today. Our itinerary for going back up the coast
isn’t firmly fixed yet but no doubt all will be revealed…sooner or later…We
have to travel in convoy with them because we will have armed escort again as
far as Sandakan and it is much more logical to guard two boats close together
rather than lone rangers.
Speaking of our
armed escort…
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| Last dinner with Lyn and Janice... |
Last night we had
our farewell dinner at the end of the jetty overlooking the yachts. Delicious food, nice company, a bottle or two
of wine (thank you Emma.)
A few people made
jovial speeches, mercifully short. Lots
of our friends from Maritim Malaysai were there, and maybe the police and army
were also on the jetty and MAYBE on the water…
Towards the end of
the evening Pete realised it would be up to him to make a closing speech of
thanks to all concerned, especially to all of the armed forces which have been
protecting us. But…somebody (eagle-eyed
Chris from Out of the Blue II) happened
to notice something strange about the sail on their boat… He went out in the
dinghy and came back to say the boat had been burgled. Consternation all around… No more speeches,
just people rushing off in dinghies to check.
About six boats had been tampered with.
The thieves didn’t take large items, like generators. They took really annoying things useful shackles, ropes. Poor Patrick and Elizabeth (the kindest
people in the fleet if not in the whole world) had a large chunk cut out of
their furling line. Very hard to
replace, in this far-flung part of the world, and impossible to sail the boat
with it. Sigh sigh…And poor Patrick has
been delegated to make a report to the police this afternoon, on behalf of the
six burgled boats. This will be a complete
waste of his time but…it has to be done.
A sad and irritating end to a five month long rally…
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| An appropriate sign in the local shops... |
Emma and I were
discussing it this morning – the sheer nuisance value of this sort of
crime. She said her parents were burgled
recently and that the thieves took her mother’s jewellery but also…the remote
control for a very old TV set, which had to be replaced because they no longer
make that sort of remote control… ANNOYING!!
(Not sure when next we will be in internet range...)
(Not sure when next we will be in internet range...)
Oh no! Where were all the guards?
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