Thursday 21st August
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| Coming in to Sandakan |
We left Sandakan
yesterday at midday, hoping to have a few days at the Turtle Islands – a bit of
beach, a bit of swimming, a bit of relaxation seemed in order for our
guests. (And for us…)
What is the old
Jewish saying? Man plans, God laughs?
Not far out of
Sandakan the charts suddenly were…all wrong… And before we knew it, bang crash,
we had bumped into several very large rocks in very shallow water, and we were
marooned overnight on an unexpected reef.
Emma and Lindsay
went out to test the waters with the boat hook – visibility was very poor. And they discovered that yes, the water was
very very shallow…
We got into the water with our snorkels to inspect the damage and the possibilities for extraction but there was no question – we had to wait till morning.
Pete and Lindsay spent a long time diving down to the anchor – they wanted to pick it up and carry it past the largest obstructing rock. I was not thrilled with this plan. Too much exertion, too fraught with difficulty. But OF COURSE Pete just had to do it; he never ever gives up.
So…the Turtle
Islands were postponed until this morning.
We got off the reef early, with a lot of depth and no problem, and
arrived at the Pulau Libarran at about 11am.
Oh joy; a proper tropical island, with a lovely beach. And with big waves and drizzling rain…They
couldn’t even really see the big turtle tracks.
I took some
fetching photos of Pete, Lindsay and Emma going towards the island, so that the
full glory of the new dinghy can be revealed – three jaunty new fenders on each
side, properly screwed onto the body of the boat. It will NEVER sink, or even think of tipping
up! McGuyver Headlam strikes again!
But…God is
laughing, yet again. Does it look nice,
on Pulau Libarran? No, not really. The waves are big, the sky is dark, the rain
is…raining. Pete enquired at the ranger
station and it may or may not have been possible for us to have lunch, or
dinner, in the little café. Nobody would really know until 5pm.
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| Lindsay at the helm |
Time to give up
and move on to beautiful glorious Lankayan… Some of us took turns at the helm.
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| Pete in Sleepyboboland |
Others snoozed…
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| Emma in Sleepyboboland |
We are on one of
the three resort moorings, which makes for a nice, safe night or three for 2XS
after the battering and pounding it received last night. Emma is looking very optimistic and happy at
the thought of being able to stay at this beautiful tropical island resort but…
(STOP laughing, God!) It is raining quite heavily…. Not proper monsoonal rain,
which pelts down and just stops, but proper soft English rain, which goes on
and on and on…
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| Pulau Lankayan in the rain |
This is what I
wanted it to be like… Jacqui and Dave (SV Jackster) forwarded me this lovely
photo of Pete (and others…) playing beach cricket in the sunset on gorgeous
Pulau Kapas.
Tomorrow is
another day…surely the sun will shine and it will be scorchingly hot again??
Friday 22nd August
All is well
The sun is
shining; the rain has stopped.
Lindsay’s and
Emma’s room is beautiful, large, cool, and they are right on the beautiful
beach.
Pete has stayed on
board for the day, ostensibly to work on his accounts etc but, I very much
hope, to have a few much-needed snoozes on the couch, after all of the stress
of our unwanted time bashing away on the reef…
I have spent the
day battling with the internet…blogspot wouldn’t let me “in” because my gmail
password is incorrect. Well YES because
I no longer have a gmail account… Other than that all is LOVELY. I have snorkeled, and have seen many glorious
fish. And I have had a beautiful lunch,
with Lindsay and Emma.
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| Lankayan resort - dining area |
Saturday 23rd August
Not only did I
have a beautiful lunch, but when I got back to the boat at 6pm. Captain Pete had
prepared a most fabulous meal – marinade prawns, cooked on the BBQ with potato
salad. It could hardly have been a more
scrumptious and appropriate meal! Now I
am back at the resort, gently arguing with the internet…
From
Misty (SV Tamoure, Scotland,) re rodents on boats)
A
dead rat 'somewhere' beats a live and hungry one any day. Friends of ours
from rally 2010 had one for a while and said it would take just a nibble or 2
from........... well, whatever it fancied - including wine boxes [red of
course!] - and then move on to the next tasty mouthful. Another big
catamaran from same rally left their boat in Pangkor for months and came back
to a huge rewiring job, and having to replace their upholstery.........
So a smelly dead 'un beats a hungry live one every time. Fingers crossed
your trap will fix him. We left Gulf Harbour NZ for Opua many years ago
with a small mouse. Mrs CC has sharper ears than Mr Peter John and every
time we switched the engine off I'd hear a scampering rustling sound from
behind the starboard lockers. Bought a trap at first shop we came to,
took a few goes but eventually wee mousey met his Maker, with a surprised
expression on his face and a mouthful of cheese. Good luck with your
battle - the enterprising Mr Peter James will win, I know.
(Mrs
CC is Misty – Mrs CleverClogs; Mr Peter John is her husband, known to doctors
in Asia as Mr Peter John; Pete Headlam is similarly known to Asian doctors as
Mr Peter James.)
Sunday 24th August
My last day
fighting with the Lankayan internet…
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| Emma and Lindsays' number #10 |
I think we will
leave tomorrow, heading towards Kudat, and decisions re the next few weeks
before our return to Australia. (WHERE to leave the boat is the big
question…) Lindsay and Emma have a few
more days here in this beautiful resort.
They can swim, sleep, lie in the sun before returning to their VERY busy
London lives.
We have had some
fabulous swims, out on the reef. Emma has never really snorkeled before and she
is just a bit frightened of the deep blue sea (too many scary TV programs…) but
she has come way out with us, very gamely, and she has seen much coral, many
fish.
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| Pete eating a weird little green cake in the beautiful dining area |
No photos mum, I'd love to see them so please try again!
ReplyDeleteThat hotel room is divine!
ReplyDelete