Ascension Island Landing - It's Character Building

While the open ocean anchorage sets the tone, going ashore here extends the challenge to visiting cruisers.  With no harbour or breakwater, the landing platform is an exposed concrete shelf on the end of the wharf, set just above the high tide level. As you can see above, the ocean surge can easily cover that with swirling water, on almost every wave cycle when the tide is high.

On our second day ashore the swell had really increased, so we tied the dinghy to an off-shore buoy and were ferried to the landing in a US Air Force safety boat that was monitoring barge loading at the same wharf.  Everything has to be timed "just so" - approach the wall on the high and as the swell drops the boat comes alongside the ledge and you step ashore quickly, to immediately run up the steps before the next swell engulfs you.  Meanwhile the boat driver is getting away from the wall before the next swell arrives.

We're getting good at it now, and our new Tohatsu 9.8hp engine has certainly worked hard getting the dinghy in and out rapidly between each wave cycle - one person or one bag ashore per wave is the best we can manage. When the swell is really big you simply cannot get off the boat - we have friends who were here last month and eventually departed without setting foot on shore.

Dry Feet This Time, Thanks To The USAF Safety Boat

Richards Bay To Durban - Music, Fish & Food

Planning to move south, hoping to spend Christmas in Cape Town, we wrapped up our final boat jobs in Richards Bay last week.

We found time for a little music and entertainment, playing blues and bluegrass at Tuzi Gazi marina with Chris Bright from the yacht Yindee Plus and Steve Poulson from the catamaran Emerald Sea.

A few days later we moved Crystal Blues to the very friendly Zululand Yacht Club, trying to avoid the ongoing disaster that afflicts the Tuzi Gazi Marina - I do commend Tuzi Gazi as a place to avoid if possible.

At Zululand YC, Chris and I found ourselves invited to play at the cruisers BBQ dinner, and subsequently at the yacht club bar after the Wednesday night races.

From that gig we received more requests to perform, but a weather window had opened for us and we needed to move south.

Eventually the mainsail was repaired and refitted and our new Tohatsu outboard motor delivered, tested and installed onboard.

Moving south is very difficult at the moment, with very short duration weather windows.  Smaller coastal lows are forming, collapsing and reforming quite frequently, and the weather prediction services are struggling to give reliable forecasts - in fact they often strangely contradict each other.  As a result many boats are lingering in port waiting for weather windows that sometimes appear and often disappear quite rapidly.

For the 80 nautical mile trip south to Durban we motored all the way, with little or no wind.

Ley set the high point for the day by hooking and landing a large Dorado (Mahi Mahi) that was silly enough to tackle her lure whilst she was asleep.  I can assure you that we were both very wide awake by the time that fish was on deck and concussed.  It did take half a liter of cheap rum to quieten it down.

That fish was a real fighter, refusing to be landed and eventually scattering blood and paint scratches all over the transom steps - a real mess.

Of course it also tasted very good, when Ley made up a batch of her fish sausages.  You can download the recipe for those right here.

Now in Durban Marina, we are hosted here by the Point Yacht Club and the Royal Natal Yacht Club.  Both clubs provide great support to visiting cruising boats.  Tonight we'll be at the bar at the Point Yacht Club, playing music again with Chris Bright.  I'd rather be sailing - but music and cold beer are a very welcome second choice.

With luck we'll move on to East London or Port Elizabeth sometime early next week.

Tohatsu Outboard Motors - Indian Ocean Cruisers Group Buy

Our beloved Tohatsu outboard motor has passed it's "use by" date.  Looking for another unit, we discovered that several other cruisers in the region are also wanting to buy new engines.  South Africa is also possibly the last chance we'll get to purchase a 2 stroke engine in the size we want, as Euro and US regulations have forced them off the market in those regions.

So we have arranged a group purchase through a vendor in South Africa, with a significant discount and shipping available to most ports.

So far we have six vessels in the group, but all boats traveling to South Africa are welcome to take advantage of this deal.  For further information please contact us by email, or by commenting on this post.

We have pricing on two models - the lightweight 5.0hp and 9.8hp 2 stroke units (short shaft), but others models including 4 stroke are available.

Things That Work For Us # 4 - Caribe C10x RIB Dinghy

Taking our Iban friends for a fast ride on Sungai Tulai, Sarawak

Explaining our cruising lifestyle to land lubbers, we say that we do own a "car", it just happens to travel on water!  We drive the dinghy to the shops, out for dinner and visiting friends.  With the Tohatsu 18hp engine we travel quite long distances, exploring rivers, coastline and small islands where we cannot take Crystal Blues.  Our first experience with inflatable boats was an almost-new PVC Zodiac that came with the boat. It self destructed quickly, slowly deflating daily.  At a boat show in Los Angeles we spotted the Caribe boats, built in Venezuela, and ordered one for delivery to Sydney in 1999.  It had proper Hypalon tubes and a double skin fibreglass hull.  We loved the dry and fast ride it gave us - fitted with lights and extra fuel tanks that boat covered thousands of miles.

Arriving For School On Sungai Tulai - Children From The Longhouse Rumah Lidam

 As my friend Jim Cate would say, it was always "ridden hard and put away wet", but it never complained.

On the rivers in Sarawak (Borneo) it worked incredibly hard for years, and I do remember 12 children (and more) being delivered to "school" on Crystal Blues on most days, for weeks on end.

We patched it when necessary, had canvas covers made in Thailand to protect the tubes, and it served us faithfully for 14 years.  Hats off and congratulations to Caribe.

This year it started to need more frequent care, and we found ourselves applying frequent patches - the Hypalon fabric was failing at last.  Contemplating a new dinghy was daunting.

How Time Flies

Christmas, New Year and now it is March.  What happened in between?

Holiday Time

Nai Harn Bay in Phuket is one of our favourite anchorages - many cruisers gather here to celebrate Christmas.  We partied at the beach-side cafe at Ao Sane Beach on Christmas Eve and sat down to a long and sumptuous lunch on the aft deck of MV Mandella 11 on Christmas day.  With us were the crews from SV Sandy, Catchastar and Sea Bunny and we enjoyed a fine traditional Christmas.  With strong trade winds and sunny skies we really felt like we were "cruising" again.

SV Sea Bunny and Crystal Blues motored away from the building trade winds to the quiet anchorage of Panwa Bali to see in the New Year.  Phuket really knows how to light up the sky on New Years Eve and we were blessed with a 240 degree panorama of fireworks.  We love watching the beautiful Thai lanterns that grace the sky and float on the wind over the colourful flashes and booms of the beach side fireworks.

Work Time

Neil at work

Neil's break was all too short as his clients, projects and the AV design team in India continued to work between Christmas and New Year.  Each day Neil would set up office in the cockpit, using Thailand's cheap, reliable internet access and tethering his laptop and iPad to the iPhone hotspot.  Conference calls, emails, budgets and design work carried on as usual, just in a very different setting.

Our Tohatsu outboard also chose this time to play up.  The engine was revving out and only put-putting around slowly.  Once we hoisted the engine up on our high tech work bench the problem was discovered.  The bush in the propeller was sheared and a replacement propeller was found in our spare parts stores and fitted.  No more put-putting, we were back to zooming!

Turtle Time

Photo from Phuket Gazette

In early December a sick turtle was seen at Yacht Haven Marina.  Concerned cruisers called the Phuket Marine Biological Centre and an ambulance arrived to catch and deliver the ill Green Sea Turtle to the Centre, see the full story here.

A few weeks later it was announced over the local radio that the turtle had made a full recovery.  It's illness resulted from digesting a plastic bag, mistaking it for a jelly fish.  Jelly fish are abundant in these warm tropical waters and are a major food source for  the turtles.


Really, only here in Thailand would they send a regular human ambulance, to rescue a stranded turtle !  Its great being back here.

The Tempting Tiomans

View from Crystal Blues in the channel between Pulau Aur and Pulau Dayang

Easter holidays offered us a few days away from Singapore, so we decided to explore the Tioman Island group.  After clearing out with Singapore Immigration at dusk we motored east through the busy Singapore Straits and then continued on north overnight.

Crystal Blues arrived at beautiful Pulau Aur just in time for breakfast. There are three low key dive resorts here and a small Malay village spread along the two sides of the channel.  The anchor dropped between the two islands and we went for a swim in clean, clear water.  The cooling breeze, the towering rock escarpments and swaying coconut palm vistas enthralled us.  Hard to believe that such pristine beauty can be found so close to Singapore. Early next morning our neighbours and friends from Singapore arrived on MV Saraburi, so the partying quickly began - oh we really miss the cruising life....

Sweet sailing - Photo by Rod Steel

Sunset Sailing

Next day we moved on to Pulau Tioman.  Flat seas and a steady beam breeze of 10 to 15 knots showed Crystal Blues off at her sweetest point of sail.  Lucky for us there were a few avid photographers on the top deck of Saraburi. It wasn't long before Crystal Blues was sailing off into the sunset, with the log reading 8.5 knots for the next few hours.



Pulau Tioman

Sailing under the dragon's horns of Pulau Tioman. Photo by Mel Dow

According to local legend a Chinese dragon princess flew over these pristine waters on her way to visit her prince in Singapore.  She stopped here for a rest, fell in love with the beauty of the area and took on the form of an island.  Her horns are the peaks rising up through the mist, her scales the luxurious, green, leafy foliage and her claws are the grey boulders scattered along the shoreline.  She also vowed to give shelter and comfort to passing travelers.

Like the magical Chinese dragon, we too were cast under the Tioman spell.  As always Malaysian check in and out procedures were quick and easy.  We anchored off the marina and dinghied into to have lunch and explore.  The main town is a sleepy village beside the (tiny) airport runway.  A host of small cafes and duty free shops were spread out down the single central road.  As we walked a passing motor bike with side car stopped and gave a lift to a Chinese cafe.  We decided to taste a few bottles of duty free wine with our lunch and the cafe owner freely brought a bucket of ice, glasses and a corkscrew to the table.  Malaysian hospitality is really hard to beat.   Dinner time saw a regrouping of the crews and we headed for a Chinese Seafood feast.  After a late start on Sunday morning we headed back to Singapore.  The wind was there for us again and after 18 hours we were back at One 15 Marina and soon fast asleep, dreaming of cruising.....

Births, Deaths & Marriages

This is our third year visiting our friends on the Tulai River, and we thought we'd seen it all....regular readers will already know about the marriage, however life here has a way of grabbing you by the throat and forcing you to face reality.

A few days after our Aussie visitors headed back to Australia we were relaxing in the cockpit when a local longboat approached ... "Uncle, can you help us ?" they asked. "Of course, what is the problem ?" we said. "My wife is having a baby" he said ... "When ?" I asked ..."Maybe now" he said !!!

Wow .. They needed a fast trip to the clinic, and our Caribe dinghy is the fastest boat on the river. Quickly I threw some clothes on, Ley checked the fuel tank and the wife and husband climbed aboard. The grandparents were left in the longboat to travel down stream at a slower, traditional pace. So off we went, with me busily thanking God that we'd serviced the Tohatsu outboard and there was good air pressure in the tubes.

Always the wise one, Ley had spotted the storm clouds in the distance and thrown in our largest umbrella. As the rain started I slowed the boat and set the umbrella up as a kind of dodger ... mother-to-be and father sheltered behind that and off we went again, flat out to Bintangor town. Dodging logs and flotsam at 20 knots in a rain storm proved kind of challenging, but we got there OK. The clinic put them in an ambulance to Sarikei Hospital, and a healthy baby girl was born about two hours later. Thank heavens ! That's Grandmother at left, in the photo above, with a nervous mother at right.

The following Sunday Ley set off to church early, and was immediately aware of a loud keening and wailing coming from the longhouse. On arrival she learned that our friend Lucy had passed away in the early morning ... suddenly everything had changed in the longhouse. Lucy was 60 years old, had eight children, the youngest being only 13. She was regal and proud, a beautiful woman. Unfortunately she had high blood pressure, as many Iban do, and suffered a stroke in the early hours. With no transport available, the family sat with her until she passed away around 6.00am.

Lucy was laid out in the public area of the longhouse for two days while visitors and family arrived from all over Sarawak and Malaysia. We sat with the family, next to Lucy, while friends and relatives arrived and completed there lifetime relationship with her. Each person was able to sit with her, to talk, to sing their memories and to hold her hand. The family never left her side, sang to her, burned candles constantly and still managed to look after the dozens of visitors.

Frankly I've never been so moved by a social process - the ability of these folk to deal with death and face it positively, actively combining Christian and traditional practices, was awe inspiring. After 48 hours so many people had gathered it felt like a party ... the locals erected a special kitchen just to cook for the visitors, who all slept in the public space of the longhouse.

For three days no one in the longhouse worked - no fishing, no agriculture, no hunting. Then Lucy was buried by the community and her family, who asked specially that we take the final photograph of her, as seen above. As a practicing Catholic her final resting was organised differently to traditional Iban practice, which would have seen her laid out on a platform above ground. For another two weeks, the children in the longhouse must now be careful - no running, no music, no television, no entertainment. Life will be quiet.

We departed the Tulai River last Wednesday, on the outgoing tide. Given our close relationship this was a very sad departure - many tears were shed for days before, yet on the day our friends were all there on the river bank, wishing us safe travel. We really do love this river, but we love the people even more - they're family now, and it is very hard to leave them.

Crystal Blues is now anchored on the Santubong River, near Kuching, and will depart for Singapore tomorrow morning. The passage should take three days. Our next six months will be spent in Phuket, Thailand, refitting and painting Crystal Blues. Our refit booking starts in September, so we need to get a move on ... we have to cover 1000 nautical miles (about 2000km) in the next 2 weeks.

Outboard Motor Security

Back in July last year we had our Tohatsu outboard motor stolen, despite the stainless steel strop and padlock securing it to the boat (original story here). The thieves had simply smashed off the alloy transom screw toggles, eliminating our supposedly secure fixings.

Some weeks later, our friends Joe & Janet of SV Tegan showed us a simple tube that can be padlocked over the transom screws, to eliminate the weak point. Whilst the tube can be purchased commercially, it sure wasn't available in Sarawak. So we had one made by a local stainless steel fabrication shop in Miri, from square section tube that is commonly used for legs on stainless steel kitchen furniture. The first one cost about $12 and worked really well, so we had a second one made for our smaller outboard. One slot, two holes, its really very simple. The slot was cut with a plasma cutter.

A lot of people have since asked for the dimensions and details, so here they are. A detailed drawing is available here as a .pdf download. Click on the photo's at right to enlarge the view.

The padlock is a stainless steel Abus Mariner, which we've found to be bomb proof in a saltwater environment, though we needed a slightly longer shackle to go through both the tube and the stainless strop. The installed photo is at right. The rubber surround on the padlock stops it rattling against the boat - nice.

Tohatsu Service With A Smile

Look at the life we lead, and its clear that we really depend on external support at many times. So when that support is outstanding, it deseves to be recognised. With that in mind we've decided to include occasional features on the people who make our cruising life easier - and here is the first.
You may be aware that our nearly new Tohatsu outboard motor developed very serious problems early in the year, when a seal failed on the bottom of the crankshaft (see the previous post entry).

Fortunately for us, Geron Ngo of Onomichi Marine Enterprises in Penang was not far away. Geron totally rebuilt our engine in 2 days flat, including the time needed to obtain parts. All the bearings, pins, numerous other bits and pieces to make it as-new. The really nice part was that we met his family, and then (incredibly) he offered to take us out to dinner .... service like this is most unusual.

The engine has worked very hard (and reliably) throughout our time in the Andaman Islands. Our sincere thanks to Geron and the warranty support team at Tohatsu East Malaysia.

Incredibly, we've received the same outstanding support and quality service from Tony Wee at Wee's Engineering in Sibu (Sarawak). It turns out that Tony (Sibu) and Geron (Penang) are old friends, and even did Yamaha service training together in Japan, where they rated 1st and 2nd in their class. Now they work a thousand kilometers apart - but if you need outboard motor work, you should literally walk over hot coals to get to them.

Traditional Wisdom

Our 18 year old Iban friend, Beretin, tells us that in traditional Iban culture it can be bad luck to talk about the future, because it may not happen. The Iban people won't discuss food (as in "whats for dinner tonight ?") when outside the longhouse - it could be bad luck - maybe no food. Traditional hunting parties won't discuss the hunting plans before departure - it might bring bad luck to the hunt. After 11 months in Sarawak, over the past two years, we now have a sense of what questions not to ask - because for the local people it might be bad luck to answer.

We found it specially difficult to know who would join us on board Crystal Blues, for a trip from the longhouse "Rumah Lidam" on the Tulai river to the city of Sibu, on the Rajang river. Not one commitment for many days before, yet on the morning of departure we had nine eager passengers waiting on the dock - this does take some getting used to. Right now, it seems to us that our Iban friends were really trying to tell us something .......

Christmas on Crystal Blues

Neil planned Christmas - and foolishly discussed it with friends. A quiet dinner at our favourite local seafood restaurant and then a Christmas Eve service in the oldest Church Of England church in Asia. Christmas Day he booked a buffet luncheon with Canadian cruising friends Terry and Janine at the classy, colonial Eastern & Oriental Hotel. Well all these plans went awry one hour after dinner, when Neil came down with a very violent attack of food poisoning. He remained ill for 2 days, but now can report that all normal body functions have been restored!

Stocking For Departure

We were planning to depart for the Andaman Islands this week, with a provisioning stop in Langkawi along the way, and of course we discussed this with many people. Langkawi has always been a favourite stop over for cruisers. Shops filled with food, chocolate and spirits, wine and beer are on every corner. Our plan was to clear in to this duty-free island, shop furiously for two days, then head north to Thailand to meet with friends on the yacht Tui Tai, before heading to the Andaman Islands together.

Our plans changed dramatically as soon as the new Tohatsu motor was lowered on to the dinghy. Neil tried to start it - nothing happened. The starter cord would not pull out. Removing the spark plugs told the story - glistening in rust and salt water spots. Our new outboard motor had seized up. We called Tony Wee, the Tohatsu supplier, in Sibu, where we bought the engine in September. He recommended that we take the engine to his friend Geron, who has a business back in Penang. Disappointed, we completed provisioning using our spare (2.5hp) egg beater.

Mechanical failures seemed to be our constant friend in 2007, with multiple genset failures and even an outboard motor stolen back in August. So we celebrated a quiet New Years with a group of international cruisers, and vowed that things had to improve now.

A Sailing New Year

Yesterday we raised anchor at 11 am and just 9 hours later we had covered the 65 nautical miles back to Penang. We had a great sail, with NE winds at 15 to 18 knots, averaging 7.5 knots of boat speed for the journey. Top speed was 9.1 knots. What a fantastic start to the year.

On the way Neil saw two large sail fish feeding on the surface. They appeared to be floating with their fin sailing and tail in the air, competing in a feeding frenzy with a school of diving birds. It is heartening to know that these magnificent creatures are surviving even though the local fishing fleets are out trawling, netting and fishing the coastal waters 24 hours a day.

Good News .... This morning we called Geron at Onomichi Marine Enterprise. Within 20 minutes he collected the seized engine and transported it to his workshop. They stripped it down, made a few phone calls and within minutes we received a call from the distributor back in Sarawak - don't worry he said, it will all be repaired under warranty. The lower seal had failed on the crank shaft, allowing water into the engine. The photograph shows a main crankshaft bearing after de-greasing and cleaning - quite a mess. The only sad news is that the parts have to come from Sibu, in Sarawak, but should be here in two days. So things are looking up.

So what happens now you ask ? You know, we really can't tell you - in Iban the words are "Jai Nasib", or bad luck. Our new traditional wisdom says that if we tell you it might not happen ! So we may be going somewhere, but then we may not. It may be in the Andaman Sea, but maybe not. It may be a group of islands, but maybe not. You get the idea - stay tuned.

Old Friends, & Older Gear Problems

Lat. 04deg 23.11 minutes north. Lon. 113deg. 58.33 minutes east.

Here in Miri we've been catching up with old friends, as boats gather for the annual Borneo Cup yachting event. Jon and Pam (SV Tweed), Joe and Janette (SV Tegan), Wally & Robyn (SV Annwn) and Bryce & Martha (SV Silver Fern) are among those who've helped maintain our sanity as we addressed a range of maintenance issues. The stolen Tohatsu outboard motor has been replaced - we rented a car and drove 400km on dodgy roads to pick up the new unit in Sibu - saw a lot of northern Borneo and spent time in Bintulu, a town new to us. Everywhere we go the people remain friendly and courteous - Sarawak is a delight.

Love It Or Hate It…. Can't Live Without It !

Many cruising sailors adopt the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) approach to boat preparation. With our techno past, Crystal Blues was never going to fit that category. She's a complex vessel that really needs her Onan AC genset, for at least a few hours each day, if we're to live the way we want (big freezer, cold beer, fans, music, computers etc).

Late in June the Onan had a major seizure (at 1400hrs), the flexible coupling broke and the drive pulley took out an oil drain line, as well as lots of the foam acoustic lining. The end result was a broken genset and black, greasy, foam particles spread everywhere in the back of the boat. We removed everything and washed down with warm soapy water, which took a whole day. Then Neil had to remove the fuel tank and covers to investigate. The failure was at the rear of the unit, only accessible by leaning over and working blind.

The broken bits were extracted and pondered over. Parts were sourced from the USA, albeit slowly, and the rebuilding began this week. It went back together surprisingly well over one and a half days. Neil pushed the starter and the genset roared to life, sounding much smoother and quieter than it had for a while.

Our good friend Jim Cate (who's familiar with our Onan issues) asked recently if we would ever deal with Onan again - on reflection I think they are a good company, but they simply weren't quick enough to pull what I believe is a lemon, off the market. Our original two year old unit was generously replaced free of charge (at 750hrs) when it proved to be a mess, and that was after Cummins had taken over Onan. However, all the good will in the world doesn't help when you replace one lemon with another…. Cummins have tried hard, but they didn't design or build this thing. They even extended the warranty, but the cooling system still requires way too much service. We average about 200 hours from a new impeller, and the seawater pump needed total replacement at 1170 hours - no rebuild kits available. So no Jim, sadly we wouldn't buy an Onan again.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells - Future Green Power

The flip side of this story is that we don't know any truly reliable small gensets. Right now we're "hanging tough" with the Onan, hoping that Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology will become reliable before this thing dies completely.

There are now two companies offering fuel cell products to the cruising yacht community, one version powered by methanol and one by LPG - see the Yachting World "Green Power" story in the Cruising Information section of our web site. Silent, low emissions and few moving parts - it sounds too good to be true. We'll wait and see.

Our Cruising Plans

Next month we'll participate in the Borneo Cup regatta, then do some more land travel in Sarawak, before heading back to the Rajang River and our Iban friends upstream at Sungai Tulai in October.

Storms, Grog, Thieves & Beauty Queens.

Lat. 04deg 23.11 minutes north. Lon. 113deg. 58.33 minutes east.

Crystal Blues is back in Miri, Sarawak, after a 12 day voyage that proved - well "interesting" is a good word.

We set out from Miri on Thursday July 19 and travelled overnight to Labuan Island. On board were our friends Barry Barber and Lesley Colley, ex SV Sea Dancer, who had flown from Adelaide to visit Sarawak and Sabah (see the story below for more info on their visit). The overnight sail was less than comfortable due to the large number of localized thunder storms, but by morning all was clear and we motored into Victoria Harbour, Labuan, in fine spirits. We stocked up on wine, beer and spirits and managed to depart by lunchtime the next day, headed for Brunei, all of 15 miles away.

That evening found us sipping duty free Gin around the pool at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club, and later dining with other cruisers in the club restaurant. We staggered off to bed way too late, locked everything and slept well. In the morning our outboard motor was gone (yes, the one that we'd just had serviced and were so happy with)! They tried to take the dinghy, but were prevented by the wire strop and padlocks - with the outboard they just smashed the transom screw toggles and left the padlock dangling on the strop - a lesson learned.

This of course led to a wasted day of police reports and teeth gnashing. Later that day we also found that the marina at our next port of call, Kota Kinabalu, was full. No vacancies for weeks ahead. As we need to repair our Onan genset (again), and we really don't want to sit at anchor running the main engine twice a day, we opted to head back to Miri. There we could organize the genset parts and obtain a new outboard motor, in a low cost marina. After two more days in Brunei and several more very energetic storms, Barry and Lesley flew on to Kota Kinabalu and we checked out.

The trip back was worse … waves from several directions and wind from everywhere. You know how it is - steep faced little waves that try to slam the boat to a standstill and then don't apologise. 20 hours later we arrived in Miri, determined to re-group and chill-out. That's when good things started to happen.

Local friend and businessman Bruce Chai invited us out to dinner that night, and we offered to provide a "sail boat ride" for 16 Chinese / Malay beauty queens. Next we found that an identical replacement outboard motor would cost half (yep half) what we paid six years ago in Australia. An 18hp 2 stroke Tohatsu for A$1200.00. Go figure. Also, the Aussie stock market recovered from its recent hissie fit. Great.

Then Neil spent a day repairing the battery charging system on the race boat next door (a DK46 owned by Aussie Ray Roberts), and the crew took us out for a fantastic sea food feast last night … things were looking up.

At 8.00am this morning 16 gorgeous ladies invaded the marina, with an entourage of hangers-on, two video crews and several still photographers. We made sure our hair was tidy, cleaned our teeth and put on the cleanest sailing clothes we could find (not easy). By 8.45 they were all on board and we set out to sea, into a dying slop that soon had the camera crews wet and the girls on the foredeck excited. After 15 minutes of this the first casualty came aft, pale and sick. Two more soon followed and we turned around. The balance of the cruise and the photo sessions took place on the flat water of the marina and canals of the adjacent residential estate. One girl managed to throw up whilst cruising the canal system - it surprised us, but the photographers showed no mercy and filmed everything.

Tonight we're invited to a celebration dinner with the beauty queens, and need to find clean clothes again. Neil might even shave. Things are looking up.

There are more photos in the Picassa album - click the link below :

http://picasaweb.google.com/svcrystalblues/BeautyQueensInMiri

To see the video on YouTube, produced by Curtin University, click this link : Beauty Queens In Miri

Off To Sibu - With The Family On Board

Lat. 02 deg 16.94 N, Lon. 111 deg 49.70 E.

After a month anchored in Sungai Tulai, we bid farewell to our Iban friends from Rumah Lidam and headed for Sibu last Sunday, a six hour transit upstream on the Rajang River, unfortunately against the current all the way. Nine of our longhouse friends joined us for the voyage, travelling back to the Tulai River via local bus that evening. We had a lot of fun on the way, and many tears were shed when the time came to say goodbye in Sibu, though we do plan to see them again in October.

The last week was delightful, including the close of the Gawai Dayak festival at one of the local longhouses. This was combined with the official opening of a new footbridge, with invited guests from Government including the District Officer and representatives of various departments. We were included in the official party and luncheon - all delicious Iban food. Ley and I had to do the traditional dance again, with Ley receiving lots of applause for her style - I think she's been practising !

The government guests came to visit Crystal Blues after the ceremonies, which prompted mass visiting by many of the women and children from adjacent longhouses. Things were very busy on board all afternoon - canoes arriving and departing, children swimming and diving off the boat, food and drinks to be served etc. We lost count at 50 visitors ......

Our "big" outboard engine did an awful lot of work here on the river. So in Sibu we've had both outboard motors serviced, plus loaded water and diesel. "Wee's Engineering Services "did the work. Our six year old Tohatsu 18hp engine was sure ready for some work - we gave it a complete service plus new main bearings, big end and little end con-rod bearings, water impeller, carby service, recoil starter re-furbished and full tune-up. It was all done in one day (!). Collected from the boat, stripped, repaired, tested and returned to us that afternoon. For less than $130.00 Australian. Its now starting and running better than it ever did - the guys here are amazing. We're delighted. Tomorrow Crystal Blues departs for Miri, though it will take a few days to travel downstream to the ocean, then an overnight transit to Miri.