Doubling Up For Ten Years

I guess we're used to doubling up on important dates. Sharing the same birthday is one (June 13 if you don't remember!) But we also share our wedding anniversary with Valentine's Day. This arose as a delightful accident 10 years ago, being the only Saturday in February that was available for our wedding celebrations at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown.

So this year we celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary at Les Anges, providing fine gourmet dining at Royal Phuket Marina, Thailand. Love By Chocolate was the theme of the evening. Roses, candle light, romantic music and a fantastic eight course chocolate cuisine set the stage for a very enjoyable evening.

Peter and his team at Les Anges personalised one of our desserts with a chocolate message. They also presented us with a wonderful cake, chocolate of course, coated in chocolate and decorated with chocolate and strawberries. We took it home to the boat and shared it with our friends over the next few days.

If you're interested in how each course was themed with chocolate, just click on the menu at left to enlarge it - but try not to dribble on the keyboard....

An Island Holiday With Tui Tai, Plus Rickie & Steve Of Course ...

January 26 is Australia Day back home. Here in the Andaman Islands it is most definitely Indian Independence Day. However even that very important day is somewhat masked by the most important event of all - the Australia Day Cricket Test ! The Andaman people are Indian to the core, and cricket is their second religion. Ancient radios oozed cricket commentaries in every little market stall. People eat, sleep, gamble and live cricket. They absolutely worship Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. For the first time in my life I regretted not playing more cricket at school .... no, I couldn't discuss the batting performance of the various team members, the speed of fast bowlers, the results of the first test or anything else truly cricket. Which of course confused the locals - wasn't I an Aussie ? So we pretended to know more than we did, and watched local folks playing on parched wickets, with village teams in perfect whites, but only one bat between them all. Welcome to India.

Cruising In Company

We joined sailing buddies, Jon and Sandra Stonham, with their children Alex and Niki, on SV Tui Tai for our Andaman adventure. The two boats are well matched performance wise, and with flat seas and a 15 knot breeze just forward of the beam, we covered the 392 nm in two and a half days. The moonless nights were brightly lit by star light and the bio-luminescence in the sea.
The only down side of this passage was the failure of our water maker, which blew a seal. Cruising without a plentiful water supply was a new experience for us - fortunately Tui Tai was able to make enough for us all.

Paper Work and Procedures

Port Blair, the Andaman Islands capital, is steeped in British tradition, and the clearance procedures are a lengthy experience. Customs, Immigration, Coast Guard, Harbour Master and the Forestry Department all require written requests before providing formal written approvals. Detailed itineraries need to be planned and submitted, and twice daily radio check-ins ensure that the authorities know where we are at all times. It took us two days to clear in, including arranging with the Harbour Master to take on water at the commercial dock. Port Blair water is not potable, but is fine for washing and showering. Clearance requires lots of paperwork - we will add the full range of forms to the down-load section of this website over coming days.

Samosas, Saris and Shopping

Transport on the island is by local bus, taxi or the more popular three wheel, motor powered tri-shaws. Horns tooting, Indian music, overtaking and threading your way through the wandering herds of cows and goats, buses and cars, motorbikes and pedestrians, makes for an exciting ride. The brilliant colours and sounds of Indian life surprise you at every turn. Women in beautiful saris gracefully parade by. Smiling faces, friendly welcomes, and well stocked markets made provisioning a fun experience. The food is sensational, and Port Blair is hard to leave.

On the sail over we (Crystal Blues) lost two beautiful Mahi Mahi right off the stern - lack of practice on our part ! Fortunately for us, Jon Stonham, aka the Man with the Golden Rod, managed to bring home a wonderful selection of reef fish. We dined high on the bountiful sea.
We caught squid when at anchor, getting ink all over us and the boat. Crystal Blues seemed to specialise in catching large fish that were poor eating - Dog Tooth Tuna and Barracuda. Jon caught Polkadot Cod, Barracuda, Coral Trout, Rainbow Runner, Yellow Fin Tuna and King Trevally.

Our Favourite Andaman Anchorages

Isolation, drift diving over coral gardens, fishing at sunset, sandy beaches, gin-clear waters, friendly villages, cool nights, good sailing winds, water temperature 28deg - what more could a cruiser ask for?

We specially enjoyed isolated Rutland Island latitude 11deg 21N, longitude 92deg 39E. Most mornings we discovered fresh turtle tracks on the beach, for it was egg laying season. Each evening we'd be out in the dinghy trawling along the reef for dinner. We made day sails from here to isolated reefs where we swam with schools of large Double Headed Parrot fish, Moray Eels, crayfish hiding in rocks and millions of beautiful reef fish.

Havelock Island, beach #7, latitude 11deg 58N, longitude 92deg 57E was also a favourite. Three elephants walk briskly along the white sandy beach most days, the females occasionally splashing in the shallows, then head into the trees for their daily watering. The bull elephant stopped at the local spa and was fondly bathed by his two faithful mahouts. Ashore we discovered a great Italian restaurant. We have never seen so many hippies, some young, some not so young, but all fairly affluent. Fortunately tourism here is low key, back-packer based and easy on the pocket. The local market town on Havelock Island is a delightful experience. We brought dozens of ginger spiced samosas, enjoyed a glass of chai and stocked up on freshly grown produce picked at local market gardens that afternoon. Ley visited a local primary school, accompanied by a gaggle of dark-eyed giggling girls. She left a welcoming message on the chalk board for the teacher, who was at lunch ...

There Are Some Challenges

Havelock #7 beach often has great waves, just perfect for boogie boarding and body surfing. We swam most days, catching a few waves and chilling out before the late afternoon fishing. However arriving by dinghy on this beach was often challenging. Stripping off to minimum clothes became the norm, pull the dinghy up above the high tide mark, get dressed, spray on lotion to ward off the sand flies and only then relax! It is still our favourite anchorage.

At Inglis Island you can anchor in a stunning passage between two islands, inspect the reef by dinghy, trawling a lure as you go, catch a Polkadot Cod, oohing and ahing over the underwater delights. We were all looking forward to a beach walk and drift dive the next day. And then we spy a crocodile! Inglis Island, latitude 12deg 08n, longitude 93deg 06E, so beautiful, so dangerous.

The biggest challenge is dragging yourself away... unfortunately, visitors to the Andamans are only allowed 30 days. We had a fabulous time exploring with the Stonham family. It was a real holiday among gracious people, and we hope to return some time.

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.

Singapore Sojourn

Lat. 1 degree 14 minutes North, Long. 103 degrees 50 minutes East.

Our passage from Kuching to Singapore was mostly uneventful, with almost no wind and a lot of motoring. The South China Sea was kind to us, and the only scary moment was when our radar failed mid passage. Entering the busy shipping channels of Singapore without radar was not a happy thought. Fortunately it came back to life, we only experienced one storm and made our way into One degree 15 Marina on Sentosa Island at midnight on Friday, November 16.

This is our fifth visit to Singapore aboard Crystal Blues and the marina has graduated from basic docks to full resort facilities in two years. Swimming pool, gym, restaurants, meeting rooms, bars, cruisers' room, laundry, dock boys and free buses to Harbour Front make this a very pleasant place to hang out - specially when you're head down and bum up with a screwdriver in your hand...

The Work Begins

Exotic Singapore is the home of can-do and can-get - we always plan to do maintenance here. Our list was not that long- fixing the radar and rebuilding the drive train on the Onan genset ( not again I hear you say!) were our main priorities.

New parts for the genset were waiting for us, but as they were exactly the same parts that failed last time, we hesitated to re-install them. With many emails and phone calls to and from Australia, we hope we have now solved the drive train problem. We did have to use our initiative and have some lathe work done on one part, only time will tell how this works out.

We were not looking forward to replacing our six year old 48 mile Raymarine Radar. Ley hauled Neil up the mast and the lid was removed, to reveal water inside ! Very gently the unit was dismantled and lowered down. Condensation had formed within the scanner casing and had not drained, despite the drain hole being clear. The result was water creep across the main circuit board and corrosion on the power supply connectors. Our good friend Barry Middleton (BJM Trading in Queensland) suggested that we should try to carefully clean up the surface mess. So we dried out all the parts and used a corrosion busting pen (fibre glass brush) to clean the parts, which then revealed no substantial damage. The unit was then reassembled and installed back on the mast, this time with additional packing under the forward bracket to aid the self draining process. We were pretty relieved when it powered up OK, as sailing without radar is just not an option for us. Our Caribe dinghy had also sprung it's first leak, at 7 years of age, so that area plus a few more wear points were patched with hypalon fabric and SC2000 glue.

Retail Therapy

Shopping in Singapore is hard to resist. With whole buildings devoted to electronic technology, Neil was in shopping heaven. We walked the floors of Sim Lim Tower and Square, checking out new technologies and products, sourcing a few bits and pieces. SITEX, the annual computer show also beckoned us. Our old, tired HP three in one printer was replaced with a new model, and we installed a weatherproof (outdoor) wi-fi antenna on the stern rail. The Sony video camera was given a new life with the replacement of the old mould effected lens and many boat spares were sourced.

Catching Up

Robert and Elaine, our long time Singapore friends met us soon after we arrived with the news that they had finally bought a cruising yacht, SV Sunrise. The marina has many international cruising visitors, so we've enjoyed the usual round of barbecues, shopping, sundowners and eating out.

Whats Next?

We hope to leave Singapore sometime this week, heading for Penang. Langkawi and Thailand are also in our plans before the end of the year. In January we plan to sail to the Andaman Islands for a month, before returning to Thailand. Obtaining our Indian Visas (for the Andamans) gave us our first introduction to Indian bureaucracy. We're both looking forward to cruising in clear waters, swimming, snorkeling, fishing and exploring a different culture in a land thats new to us and well off the beaten track.

Whale's Revenge Our aussie friend Ian Scott sent us the link below. Whale's Revenge is an international effort to collect and submit a huge petition, to support a ban on whaling. Please go to the site and sign the petition ..... http://www.whalesrevenge.com

NEWS FLASH!!!!! We're about to become auntie and uncle again. Peter and Maria Langford have proudly announced to the world that they are expecting their first child in late May 2008. Wonders never cease - what wonderful Christmas news !

We wish you all a very safe, peaceful and joyful Christmas season.

Hard To Say Goodbye

Lat. 01deg. 42.90 North, Lon. 110deg 19.6 East.

Crystal Blues departed the Tulai River at 06.30am last Friday, bound for Kuching. At 06.00am that morning three of our best friends came aboard (by canoe) to say goodbye. It was a very sad departure. Despite the early hour there were lots of people on the shore to wave us farewell. Our connection to these families is so very strong, and we didn't really want to leave ... but the world beckons. We heard later that they stayed by the river for 30 minutes after we departed - it was sad to leave, and we are blessed to know these folk.

Over the past few weeks we've been very well looked after - both Jampie and Graman delivered fresh (live) river prawns (huge!) and the supply of local rice, vegetables and Tuak was constant. Many nights we had dinner in the longhouse, guests of the extended family, enjoying local produce, fish and delicacies. One day we planted about 1.5 acres of rice (padi) with Jampi and his extended family, up to our ankles and knees in mud all day. I thought I was doing well until one woman passed me planting more than three for every one I managed ... and then young Jabu (13 years) passed me going at a similar rate. Very frustrating... and my lower back still hasn't recovered.

As usual, Ley has hosted school onboard from 3.00pm each day, with varying numbers of students across a wide range of ages. English comprehension and spoken English were the main topics, with mathematics a close second.

Last Sunday we hosted our closest family friends to an "Aussie BBQ" on board Crystal Blues. We roasted local pork and emptied our freezer of sausages and Australian beef. Lots of salads, focaccia, ice cold beer etc - you get the picture, Ley cooked up a storm ! Despite the lack of rice (these folks eat lots at every meal) the party went well. The deck was littered with bodies, and true to Aussie form around 3.00pm the kids hit the river for some serious swimming. We built a monster "Tarzan" swing using the spinnaker pole and some long line ... the kids swung, splashed and swam all afternoon.

The Iban people have many traditional crafts, and they've been generous to us with many locally made gifts. During our last visit we realised how good they were with flat strands of napa palm, bamboo and other fibers. For this visit we brought reels of coloured ribbon for them to use. Almost immediately the longhouse women went into serious production mode. On Thursday morning we were invaded by a party of 12 women, who stayed all morning. They platted and weaved miriad trinkets and decorations - animals, gifts, abstract forms, crabs, chickens, incredible shapes and colours. A pangolin tail in green ribbon ... a rooster in red ribbon, a multi-coloured Kriss ... all wonderful parting gifts for us.

The tides in the river have been quite big, up to 5.0 metres, with the padi fields along the river flooded to a depth of about 250mm. at the highest tides. All of that water needs to go somewhere, so the river flow is very fast on the outgoing tide. One day our stern anchor let go mid-tide, and we were carried downstream into the trees on the edge of the river. No damage, but it took a while to extricate ourselves, and the deck had completely disappeared under a carpet of leaves, branches, insects, beetles, ants and miscellaneous creatures. Did I mention the ants ? The tree we invaded must have contained a nest - it took two full cans of spray to stop the deck from crawling, and another two cans of surface spray over the next 24 hours to complete the pacification. Six hours to clean the deck up - even the bimini top was camouflaged with branches. We were asleep when the anchor started to drag, but were fortunately woken by our friends on the river bank, calling the Australian "Coooeee" that we'd taught them on our first visit. By the time we got the engine going we were in the trees. When we did finally retrieve the stern anchor I discovered that we had not laid out enough scope on the line - my own fault entirely. Won't make that mistake again.

Those big tides really empty the river out, leaving sloped banks of soft oozy mud under a canopy of trees. To our surprise the local boys have learned to "hang ten" on old planks, literally surfing the mud slopes on any piece of timber large enough to hold them. Is it surfing or skiing ? The rides are short and the wipe-outs are messy, but they have a lot of fun.

Our friends Judy & Brian Scott from Brisbane flew into Kuching on Saturday evening, and we were able to spend a couple of days with them enjoying the sights and fantastic tastes of Kuching. We'll be here for another few days before clearing customs and immigration, bound for Singapore.

Seven Rivers In One Day

Lat. 02deg 10.53min North, Lon. 111deg 40.90 East

The Rajang Delta, Sarawak

Crystal Blues entered the river delta at 1.00pm on October 11, crossing the outer bar on the Paloh River. We'd planned an entry just 2 hours after low water, to take advantage of the tidal inflow, which in this case is significant. Heading upstream the tidal assistance grew to a maximum of four knots, and we managed to cover 58 nautical miles before dropping anchor in the Tulai River just before 8:25pm that evening (you can click on the image at left for a detailed view). This is a trip that normally takes two days, working the tides to cross the shallow sections - using the Paloh, Seredeng, Lobah Semah, Leba-An, Rajang, Binatang and Tulai Rivers. The last five miles were in total darkness, with no moon and no stars (Ramadan was about to happen). Ley stood watch on the bow with a spotlight as we motored very slowly upstream. Our motoring light cast a shadow of the mast on the water and the jungle, which we could use to judge position in the stream. On the Tulai River our Iban friend Sap was waiting with a flash light and a smile, to guide us home. It was very good to be back.

Tulai River Anchorage

Here on the Tulai we've an anchor down both fore and aft, with about 50 metres of scope on each. This keeps us moored mid-stream, in depths that range from 5 metres to 9.5 metres, subject to tides. Even though we're over 100km upstream, the river still flows backwards twice a day.

By 9.00am the next morning we had visitors on board, and life with the people of longhouse Rumah Lidam began again. The next day our friends Jampie, Dungert, Dayang and Jabu went into the jungle in the afternoon to pick Miding, the local fern that we love to eat. Beautiful river prawns, local rice, tuak, vegetables and other gifts have arrived on board. In return we've delivered many more English language books for the longhouse library.

Last night Ley and I travelled downstream with Jampie in his canoe, with Sap in the bow, to visit the last longhouse on this river. We'd been there once before, back in June for the Gawai festival. It was a very beautiful experience, being paddled peacefully through the jungle under a new moon. The folks at longhouse Rumah Surin are delightful, and we had a fine time, with lots of tuak.

Tomorrow we're off to plant padi (rice) with Jampie and his family. We plan to stay another two weeks here, before heading to Kuching.

Maintenance Update - Many Links In A Chain

For those who've been following our work stories, we're pleased to say that the Onan genset is running fine. The new Honda portable also works well - we've put two tanks of gas through it, and it will run our big freezer and battery charger together.

In our last news we reported on the re-galvanising of our chain in Miri. What we didn't know then was that many of the links had large drips or bulges of zinc on one end. Here on the Tulai we experienced a couple of jams when anchoring, so we inspected the chain. The drips and bulges were causing jams in the hawse pipe, and had to be removed.

Every single link in 120 metres of chain was inspected, and more than half required work with the angle grinder. At 34 links per metre thats over 4000 links....it took two days of very dirty, noisy and tiring work. There was a LOT of extra zinc on that chain - we left as much as we could on the chain of course, but the mess in the forward hold still took another day to clean up. Maintenance in exotic places again.

Maintenance In Paradise Again

Lat. 04deg 23.11 North Lon. 113deg 58.33 East

A surprise visit to Australia last month let us join Shaun and Sarah for their engagement party in Melbourne. It also allowed us to stock up on the bits and pieces we needed for the forthcoming cruising season. Back in Miri (Sarawak) we dived into some serious boat maintenance. In between the inevitable dock parties and cruiser dinners we've put a solid three weeks into maintenance, repair and refit work. Payback time.

First off the block was the Onan genset, which needed to be stripped down to isolate a fault (again) in the drive train. This time round we attacked it with advice and support from the technical team at Cummins (who now own Onan) and we believe we eventually found the culprit - a dodgy bearing in the idler pulley of the auto belt tensioner. No Onan parts within a thousand miles or so, so we headed for town and managed to have a replacement bearing pressed in for the grand total of 20 ringit. About $8.00 Australian. We hope it lasts until we hit Singapore in November, where we'll fit a complete new self tensioner. Not having complete faith in the little Onan devil, we also bought a compact Honda petrol genset, as a get-out-of-gaol device. It's stowed in the lazarette and we hope we won't need it for a long while.

This is definitely the month when the maintenance bugs bit hard .... a new pressure vessel was fitted to the fresh water circuit, and a new over-pressure relief valve to the hot water service. A rusty spot on one chain plate has been repaired and re-painted, along with paint touch-ups around the aft steps. A new forward navigation light, plus a repair to the stern nav. light. A full service (1500hrs) on the Cummins engine. Adjusted steering cables, greased rudder bearing, new protective coating on shaft. Repaired the hose on the dinghy foot pump, backwashed the watermaker, cleaned both sea strainers. New leather boots on the aft lower chain plates. New hand controller on the anchor windlass. New engine start batteries (the old units died at seven years of age). Re-installed repaired water bladder in aft tank, touched up paint areas inside the tank. Bow anchor and chain re-galvanised and re-installed. I think that's it, thank heavens !

The last of the jobs was completed yesterday, today we tidied the boat and made ready to go to sea. Our next destination is the Lasa River, then on to the Rajang and our Iban friends at the longhouse "Rumah Lidam" on Sungai Tulai. In November we'll cross to Singapore and move north to Penang and Langkawi. Departure will be on the high tide after midnight tonight, and we should enter the Lassa about 36 hours later.

Another Race

48 hours after winning our class in the passage race from Labuan to Miri, we left Crystal Blues in Miri Marina and secretly flew back home to Melbourne.

We walked into son Shaun's engagement party on the Saturday, giving him a big surprise. His fiancé Sarah had kept our travel plans a secret. Sarah's parents, Bill and Margaret Cooper, introduced us to many of their relatives and Shaun's mates kept us entertained with a variety of party tricks.

Over the next week we ticked off the items on our shopping list - mainly boat spares - and generally emptied our bank accounts. Neil's old window seat in Tiamo Restaurant, in Lygon Street Carlton, was also visited a few times. The coffee, food and the friendly staff always draw us back.

A final weekend in Sydney was a social and culinary whirl. On Saturday we drove to Pittwater, our old haunt, to catch up with SV Ulumulu and Captain Arrifin (aka Fin). Fin has been supervising the refit of Ulumulu as she is prepared for his solo circumnavigation. Staying at Hotel SpaceAge on Saturday evening, we wandered across the road to Puntino Restaurant, and had a fabulous meal cooked by Tony Fabia. We didn't have to order - Tony knew we wanted his mussels and rocket salad. After being regulars for more than six years, he knows our tastes.

Sunday brunch was enjoyed with Mike and Tracey, SV Seadrive, right on the waters edge under Sydney Harbour Bridge. Boy, are we out of touch - the parking meter in Sydney cost more than a meal for two in Malaysia...! Another delightful visit on Sunday evening with Graham and Lesley, SV Wow, rounded out our time in Sydney.

Departing on Monday morning, with 20kg of baggage over the limit was a challange. We departed at 12.30pm and were back on board in Sarawak by 9.30pm. A whirlwind trip!

Racing Through Borneo & The Green Marina

Lat. 04deg 24.11min North, Lon. 113deg 58.33min East

Crystal Blues has won the 130 nautical mile passage race from Labuan to Miri for the second year in a row. Ley and Neil sailed the boat for 24 hours straight to win on corrected time by well over an hour. We managed to pass some of the IRC race boats on the way, which made us pretty happy. For 12 hours we match raced with an 80 foot superyacht, a massive sloop run by professional crew, and we were never more than 1/2 a mile apart - this was the most exiting racing we'd ever done.

The first 18 hours were hard on the wind all the way, before the breeze went light and variable and we started chasing storm fronts to give us the wind we needed. By morning it died almost completely and we were down to an agonising 2 knots of boat speed for several hours, then managed to sail a slight sea breeze to the finish line off Miri mid-morning.

Unfortunately we were not able to sail the whole race series, as once we arrived in Miri we were on an aircraft quick smart and flew back to Australia for the engagement party of Shaun (Ley's oldest son) and Sarah. We missed the final two round-the-buoys races, but made it to the engagement party in Melbourne, where we'll be for the next week.

The Green Marina ...

Over the past months we've spent a lot of time in Miri, and have been able to implement a recycling program at the marina. The local Miri council provided the bins, which sit at the top of the dock ramp. They are emptied twice a week by staff from the Sunflower Centre, a non-profit day care centre for special needs children and teenagers. The kids sort the material and prepare it for sale, and al the funds go to the Sunflower Centre, which is part of the Miri Red Crescent (Red Cross) organisation. The program was launched this week, to coincide with the annual yachting challenge. So Miri Marina is now a Green Marina.

We'll return to Miri on Monday the 17th, and still hope to do some more land travels in Borneo before heading up the Rajang River to see our Iban friends on Sungai Tulai in October.

4th Borneo International Yachting Challenge

Lat. 05deg 16.22 North, Lon. 115deg 14.92 East.

Labuan Harbour is host to almost 30 sailing boats, and we're here to celebrate with the other crews. Only 3 IRC "real racing" boats, the rest are cruisers like ourselves. We'll race around the harbour tomorrow, and the following day we set of to Miri on a 120 nautical mile passage race, overnight.

The race organisers do a great job of looking after us, with free hotel rooms here in Labuan and in Miri, a cash payment for entering the event and a whole series of dinners and parties. Its too good to miss. The weather doesn't look great - not a lot of wind - but we're sure it will be fun.

The cruisers have been preparing for the race, practicing spinnaker sets and even cleaning hulls. Our friends Janet and Joe on Tegan 1 shipped a new mainsail in for the event, and the crew of Morning Cloud had fun cleaning the hull.

In Miri we have another "round the cans" race before the final party. The Chief Minister of Sarawak is coming, along with a tribe of other VIP's. The Malaysian Maritime Department is providing security. There are lots of our cruising friends here, so the social life is sure to be intense.

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