30th August - Kudat

Saturday 30^th August

A pretty bit of coastline, off Sandakan

Yesterday we completed all of our tasks – the last of the fuel carted onto the boat and poured into the tanks, plus check-out from Harbour Master, Immigration, Customs.  We just have to buy a bit of food and we will be ready to go go go!

All day yesterday there was a big knees-up at the Yacht Club.  I was quite secluded in my nice computer room, but I could see, and hear.  They seemed to be having seminars on Climate Change, Fisheries, employment possibilities.  Plus…a big talent quest.  When I heard someone singing very like Céline Dion (with a bit of trouble on the high notes…) I had to go out and see.  And the singer was….

The boy in the red t-shirt!

Last night we ate local scallops (19 ringgits a kilo…$2.30.)  There was quite a lot of wastage because they had a lot of yucky membrane, poo, intestine to peel away, but they were delicious, and very cheap after all.  Some of our friends came for a drink.

Ingrid, Michael, Rob

Michael and Ingrid (SV Sailabout, Austria,) had already eaten so they couldn’t be tempted.  They will be following us to Palawan (Philippines) in a week or so; nice people, we will be happy to see them there.

Pete, Gary

Gary (SV Inca II, Sydney,) had mung beans and rice soaking and waiting for him so he wasn’t tempted either.  (Why not??)  He told us a dreadful crocodile story… Years ago he was on his yacht in the river at Port Douglas, with his beloved German Shepherd.  One night she was asleep on deck in the cool breeze and a large hungry crocodile jumped up and grabbed her from the boat.  AAGGHH!

Rob (SV Jolie Brise, Melbourne) did stay to eat with us.  He also was persuaded to learn to play Oh Hell…Not sure if he enjoyed the game but he did enjoy the meal, and the company.

I am feeling not-so-cheery today (NO reason, it just happens, once in a blue moon – pun intended,) so I am putting up a joke Twyla sent me on Facebook.

29th August - Kudat - fuel

Friday 29^th August

Fruit juice at the market - cheery girls!

Another busy Kudat day.  Well busy for Pete – he is rushing hither and yon, filling the fuel tanks.  This is not as easy as cruising up to a bowser and pressing a lever on the nozzle. 

Light relief - flowers on the Kinabatangan River

First he has to ride his bike about five kilometres away, along the highway then up a leafy country road.  I went with him yesterday - it was all very picturesque.  But frustrating, because once one has arrived at the required office, there are many forms to fill out.  To buy more than 20 litres of fuel at a time is strictly prohibited, unless…many forms have been filled out at this little offshoot of the tax office.  I couldn’t bear to stay listening to poor Pete, patiently explaining that yes he wanted ANOTHER 200 litres.  Please.  And another one tomorrow as well. The same as yesterday.  Blink, blink.  So, Mr Robert William, you want fuel?  Well yes…Pete does want fuel, yesterday today and tomorrow.  And he is not Mr Robert William – that is our friend Robert Snashall, another person, another boat, altogether.  He is Mr Peter James.  And the registration number of the taxi is the same, yesterday today and tomorrow.  Blink, blink… furrowed brows… Maybe you could fill in this form, Mr Robert William?  I couldn’t stand it… Pete is much more patient than I am.

After the form filling is done and dusted (for the day…) Pete has to ride back to the marina, gather up the jerrycans, and get into a car with Peter the Taxi Driver, who takes him to the nearby Petronas station to fill up with the allowed 200 litres for the day.  I went with them yesterday.  Peter the Taxi Driver is full of life, full of opinions.  He says life in Kudat is MUCH better since the white man came.  (I actually thought the white man had come to Borneo further back in the dim distant past…I THINK he means the yachties…) More money for him!  He is very robust in his views on the government, the constant call to prayers of the Muslims, the voracious nature of the police, the ghastliness of the government..  Half of what he says we can’t understand at all so we make soothing humming sounds.  Bu we did get the message when we saw a police car up ahead and he snarled, Crocodile police!  Or police crocodile, not sure which it was, but we understood that he is still deeply wounded at having received a 100 ringgit fine for not wearing his seat belt.

I loved the Petronas girl..I snuck a photo of her, gazing dreamily into the middle distance, chewing gum...

And then…can I be bothered carrying on with the saga?  The jerrycans have to be lugged out to the boat, onto the boat, and then poured, carefully, into the tanks.  This is not too bad – I can actually help, because there is dainty little wheelbarrow.  It is all very much easier now we are on the marina.  When we were anchored out in the duckpond poor Pete had to load the jerrycans into and out of the dinghy – MUCH harder and more fraught with possibility of disaster and loss.

Pete is very happy because he has met another Tilley Hat Wearer – Gary, from Inca II, (Sydney.)  Inca II is built for speed – she has done a few Sydney-Hobart Yacht Races, and a lot of racing in Hawaii.  And now Gary is cruising peacefully around Malaysia, where there is hardly any wind…

Another kindly face at the Kudat market

28th August - is this a scam on Yahoo?? - Kudat - marina

Thursday 28^th August

A dear little house in the backblocks of Kudat

This is the message I am receiving daily from Yahoo.  Nearly identical to the one which got me into so much trouble with my gmail account, when iI, like a foolish bunny, obeyed the request and emailed them my password.  What could possibly go wrong if I do it again???  I feel like sending them a message saying I don’t think so!!   But…best to ignore altogether???

 Dear Subscriber,

Your Yahoo account has been compromised.You must update it immediately or your account will be closed.

Click here to update

Sincerely, 

Yahoo Online Security Team

Our bikes didn’t get very far yesterday… We parked them neatly outside the yacht club and went inside to get some things organised.  And then the skies opened… A great deluge!  We would have been very wet and miserable had we been halfway to town, with no shelter coming or going…

They spent all day out the front of the building, unlocked, unguarded.  In the early evening we tucked them away under the café, with their friends, all attached to a long secure chain.  And this morning – both of our bikes have a big bite taken out of the chain guard – someone obviously decided to have a good old try at stealing them.  (They still work, little Trojans that they are.)

Yesterday I must have spent too much time in the computer room, happily internetting, and plotting anchorages on my iPad navionics… When I came out at one stage, the café manager, Haikal, looked at me with great concern and asked me if I was lonely in there.  Well, no… Maybe I would like a game of darts?  Or jenga?  So kind of him; I hope I managed to persuade him that I was perfectly happy, with Pete off getting fuel and doing things on the boat.

Haikal

We are getting very attached to the new dinghy.  It is now so stable and seaworthy we think it is actually better than a whizzbang new inflatable would be!  Last night Pete even did a bit of Good Samaritan work with it.  We could see a dinghy full of people (5 of them) making its way very slowly to the wharf, with one lone rower doing a valiant job.  Pete darted off and towed them to their destination; they were very grateful, and gave him a can of beer. 

They had been planning on leaving in a day or two but…they have to put their yacht up on the hard stand because – oh no – they crashed into a reef and did some serious damage…We are SO lucky 2XS is so strong and solid, made of tough aluminium!

The good news is – we are now in the marina!  (You can tell which one is XS because of the big yellow stain on the hull…This is a legacy of our time in Terengganu – we still haven’t managed to find a product which will get rid of this disfiguring stain, and are open to suggestions?)  Being in the marina makes it much easier to do everything we need to do - provisioning the boat, getting fuel, filling up with water.  We can stay in our spot until Tuesday, which is good - Tuesday is when we wanted to set off again anyway, heading towards Palawan in the Philippines.