Celebrating Life, Boats & Women

13 Roses

Valentines Day and our wedding anniversary

Valentines Day and our thirteenth wedding anniversary was celebrated Singapore style this year.

Neil arrived at the boat with a beautiful bouquet of 13 roses and after dark we celebrated at a seafood restaurant that is famous for its live crab and fish.  We were joined by Steven Shaw, who was Best Man at our wedding, and his wife Carol, along with several other local and international crab lovers.

The beer was from Singapore and the live crabs were from Sri Lanka.  Those crabs, plus a large Grouper fish, were selected from huge glass tanks, scooped out and dispatched to the kitchen.  We patiently sat and waited for the feast to begin, and we were not disappointed.

Mumbai Boat Show

Just what we need - an on water couch!

Last Saturday we happened to be in Mumbai and so we just had to visit the 5th International Mumbai Boat Show.

Although India has a long maritime history, recreational boating is a fairly new concept there, so the show was low key.  It was focused mainly on new power boat owners, boats available for charter, a few stalls with marine bits and bobs and two marina design and construction companies.

There are many marinas planned for India, but until a few more are built India will be hard pressed to grow a pleasure boating industry.  We did chat with the builders of the Cochin Marina.  This new marina has proved extremely popular this year as a stop over for cruisers heading towards the Red Sea and the Maldives.  With at least three sailing rallies using Cochin as their Indian base, this marina is planned to double in size as soon as the paperwork and permits are granted. With the recent unfortunate turn of events in the Gulf of Aden, their planned extension may be lacking in visiting International sailors until the Somali pirate issues are contained.

Women Working In India

Our most recent trip to India included both Mumbai and Hyderabad.  With two major AV projects underway for Space Matrix, Neil's time was spent on building sites, co-ordinating services and AV installations.  Both of these projects are fascinating in their scope, budgets and expectations.  Being on-site is like being in the middle of preparations for an Indian wedding - or the Delhi Olympic Games - with its "it will be alright on the night" attitudes.  However the headaches along the way are of migraine proportions!

How do all the building supplies get delivered  - on women's heads, up the back stairs of course!    Such a contrast to the mega$$ high tech video wall that Neil is building.

Of course the biggest headaches are probably felt by the women on site, like those in this picture, who carry all the building supplies and construction materials up the stairs (all day long) on their heads.  The women in this image had never had their photo taken - ever! Seems appropriate to view the James Bond video here, in support of International Women's Day.

A Story With A Sting

MV Saraburi, photo by Brendan Pollard

 Our favourite weekend anchorage is St John's island, a short 15 minute journey from One Degree 15 Marina in Singapore.  Most weekends you'll find MV Blue Steel, MV Saraburi and SV Crystal Blues anchored in this bay.

Late Saturday afternoon, two weeks ago, our friends Rod and Angie, (Blue Steel) and Al and Mel, (Saraburi) decided to go ashore in their tender, planning to swim and walk the beach at St Johns Island.

They had just got out of the tenders for a swim when Al unfortunately stepped on something in the shallows that sent an immediate searing pain from his second smallest toe up his leg.  He hobbled to the beach, expecting to see a major laceration to his foot.  Mel and Angie could only find the tiniest puncture wound in his toe.

Al's swollen leg, 3 days later

Because of the intense pain they immediately sped back to the marina and soaked Al's foot in hot water whilst preparing for the drive to A&E at Raffles Hospital.  Al tells us that by now the pain was excruciating and all he could do was hold his leg up on the dashboard, squeezing his leg to halt the advancing pain.

Stonefish Envonomation

Very quickly he was admitted and the doctors diagnosed Stonefish envomation.   After 3 pethidine injections the pain started to subside - all the while he was soaking his foot in hot water to break down the protein in the venom.  Al's foot was x-rayed and then he went under a general anaesthetic as the doctor wanted to lance the puncture site and thoroughly clean out the wound.  Laden with antibiotics, antihistamines, pain killers, a very swollen leg and a hefty bill, he was discharged the following morning.

Mean Looking and Dangerous Too !

Google Images / Peter Verhas

The Stonefish is from the family Scorpaenidae, which includes a large variety of fish characterized by the ability to envenomate with various types of specialized spines.  LionFish, Zebrafish, Butterfly Cod, Scorpionfish are also in this family. Stonefish are well camouflaged bottom dwellers and like to live near rock, seaweed and coral.

A quick search on the Web revealed a recent study conducted by Singapore General Hospital on Stonefish stings in Singapore.  Its a common problem here it seems.   For a detailed treatment regime for either a Stonefish or LionFish envonomation see the link here.

Two weeks later Al is still in pain, and his leg is still puffy from a single puncture wound.  We'll all be more careful on the beaches around Singapore from now on.

Fun and Games

Mussel Man

Nephew Brendan's Awesome Visit

Neil's nephew, Brendan Pollard, came to Singapore for 10 days in early January.  We shopped, partied, cooked, listened to good music and were completely zoo'd out during this time.  We were also able to listen to Brendan practicing on his saxophone most days  -  a private sax player in the anchorage.

Widening Brendan's horizons was fun - he can now make mean Margaritas and Mojitos, and he applied himself to other cooking skills.  He baked bread and then moved onto scrambled eggs.  In return Brendan cooked his fabulous French Toast.

Neil and Brendan spent a lot of "geek" time together, shopping and eating in Sim Lim Square- the Singapore temple of all things electronic.

But the most interesting thing we shared was our mutual love of mussels...just how many kilos did he eat?

Sailing In Singapore

Akhil Paul and Jason enjoying the sail.

Last Sunday eight of us set sail for a Sunday picnic at St John's Island.  Five were novice sailors from the Bangalore and Singapore offices of Space Matrix. With a good breeze and friend Rod Steel at the helm we enjoyed a few hours of sailing before anchoring for lunch.  Akhil Paul and Jason Aung (both complete boating novices) spent most of their time at the bow, reveling in the salty sailing. 
After a very cosmopolitan lunch including two traditional and delicious Burmese salads, most of us opted for a swim.  For once the water was cool and refreshing. With our visitors eventually free of inhibitions, Neil and Akhil were last seen jumping off the bow of Crystal Blues.

Strange but True

A few years back a large silvery white fish jumped out of the ocean and danced along our foredeck.  It skidded into the side of the open hatch over our bed, but didn't go through, leaving a trail of silver scales along the deck before flipping back into the sea.  On Sunday a similar fish leaped from the water at midships and whacked into Ley's calves.  We heard the whack and the splash but did not really "see" our fishy visitor, just the scales in the gunnel and Ley rubbing the bruise on her calf.

A work in progress!

Crimping Again

Our refit in Thailand wasn't quite complete when we departed there last year. So last week Neil started work on the new 12 volt control system for our refrigeration system.
For the first time in many months we had the tools out and the boat looking like an electronic workshop.  With the Eliwell controllers, plus many switches, diodes and Blue Seas terminal blocks, there has been a lot of soldering and crimping.  This is all being fitted to a custom stainless steel panel that was cut and engraved in Australia.  A work in progress to be completed....soon.

Christmas Cheer

Even though Neil was in between hospital visits over the festive season, we did manage to celebrate Christmas together with good friends.

On Christmas Day Crystal Blues and MV Saraburi  rafted together at St John's Island, Singapore.  Our friends Richard and Susan, SV Sea Bunny joined  Al and Mel on Saraburi and their friends Maria and Nick, for a shared feast. 

Christmas Day on MV Saraburi, photo courtesy of Richard Kidd

Our grandson's first Christmas! Photo courtesy of Sarah Gatter.

We spoke with both our families on Christmas Day over Skype. As the phone was passed around the tables in Melbourne, we managed to share in the Christmas cheer.   Looks like grandson Harrison also enjoyed his first Christmas!

Incredible India

Bolgatty Marina, Cochin

Although Neil has spent a long time in India this year, very little has been spent relaxing.  So early in December we flew to Cochin in the state of Kerala, "God's Own Country".  Located on the south west coast of India, we explored the ancient town of Fort Cochin and the marina at Bolgatty Island.  We were not disappointed in the food, the friendliness and the wonderful sights.  We stayed at the Fort House Hotel with a wonderful view of the extensive waterways leading into Cochin's backwaters and lake system.

Ouch!

Three days prior to this Neil was working in Hyderabad.  He was bitten by an insect whilst in a car on the way to see a client.  The bite instantly became red and angry.  By the weekend in Cochin the bite area was infected.  Neil started on a course of antibiotics and after a few more days he contacted the company's International Travel Assistance Service.  New antibiotics were prescribed but the relief was only temporary, the bite site began swelling and in a few days was the size of a half a golf ball.  Neil immediately flew back to Singapore and was at Singapore General Hospital an hour after landing and admitted for surgery later in the afternoon.

Cleaning the wound site - not much fun.

One more scar added

The surgeon excised the infected area, leaving a 3 cm by 1cm wide and 1cm deep hole in his arm (only click here if you want to see the wound). He was immediately put on a course of intravenous antibiotics. The wound site was kept open and cleaned and packed daily for the four days Neil was in hospital.

Visiting Boat Nurse

On discharge a nursing service was organised to come visit Neil on board and continue with cleaning and repacking the wound.  Gradually the new grainy tissue and blood vessels began to fill in this hole.

Excellent visiting nurse service

After Neil visited his surgeon for a followup visit, Ley took over the cleaning and wound packing.  With a week off between Christmas and New Year we planned to relax and hopefully find time to finish off the 12 volt control side of our refrigeration, still not completed from our refit.  But this was not meant to be....

One more time....

Happy New Year!

A few days later Neil was back in hospital.  Another infection had flared up, this time in his nasal and sinus area.  More blood tests, more IV antibiotics and bed rest at Singapore General Hospital.  The infection appears to be retreating and Neil no longer looks like Rudolf's brother!  But the bad news is that he will be seeing in the New Year from his hospital bed.

Wishing all our family and friends a very healthy, happy and peaceful 2011.

A Month Of Challenges

Neil continues with his "other" life, working mostly in India, with ongoing AV projects in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.  He had quite a few health issues over the last 2 months, but he seems to be on top of it now.  But not even a red-eye flight from India to Singapore was going to deter him from his latest challenge.

Getting Knotted

Bowlines.....up the burrow, around the tree, down the burrow, back to me!

Close friend Carol Shaw is "den mother" to a group of Cub Scouts here in Singapore.  The pack, 120 plus boys, were having a camp-out in a National Park and one of the planned experiences was knot tying.  Being an "old boy scout" in Australia, and a sailor, pre-qualified Neil for the teaching task.  But he still had to pass an online test to permit him to instruct a scouting group.

With his new certificate and a basic out line of available equipment and expectations, off Neil went to the Singapore camp out.  Both the parents and the boys had a fine time learning how to tie knots, coil line and the understanding of which knot to use when and where.

Kris and David departing from One15 Marina.

Hello....& Farewell

In early Novemeber our friends Kris and David on SV Taipan docked here at One Degree 15 Marina, Singapore, just two berths away from us.  Wow  - "real" cruisers to do real boating things with !  David, Kris and Ley shopped till they dropped, chasing boat bits, including webbing, alternator parts, and batteries.  A little food, clothes and shoe shopping happened as well.

We enjoyed  many great meals and good wines, until they finally cast off their dock lines, heading for Sarawak (our favourite Asian destination).  They are slowly heading northwards and our paths may not cross for many years to come, leaving us the challenge of saying farewell and safe sailing to great friends.

Continuing the Tradition

When we were based in Sydney we celebrated Thanksgiving with our American friends, Steve and Carol Shaw.  After the annual Saturday feast we usually loaded all the leftovers and more friends aboard Crystal Blues for a peaceful picnic on Pittwater.  We're pleased to say that this year we continued with our Thanksgiving tradition, celebrating again with the Shaw family and friends.  True to form, Sunday saw us sailing with delicious leftovers, plus a bunch of hangovers.  Crystal Blues sailed to St John's island, a challenging journey of at least 2 kilometers.  Our taste buds and waist lines were again challenged with turkey, mounds of stuffing, plates of vegetables and Carol's fabulous pumpkin and sweet potato pies.

Allen and Neil enjoying Thanksgiving!

Steven Shaw carving the turkey.

A Little Bit Of History

Trader Boat, August, 1997

Last month marked the 13th year of our guardianship of Crystal Blues.  From the moment we saw her advertised in the August 1997 addition of Trader Boat we fell in love.  Owners John and Jenny invited us to Townsville for the weekend, to stay aboard and go out for a test sail (motor really - there was no wind...somethings never change.)  She passed our inspection and then the surveyor's, with flying colours and a month later she was ours.

A lot of water has flowed under the keel since then and for both of us it has been 13 years of fun packed adventure.  Crystal Blues was advertised with "every electronic gadget imaginable" - though we don't think the previous owners imagined Neil's passion for technology! 

Fortunately we both enjoy working with our hands and don't mind get dirty.  We continue to enhance and titivate Crystal Blues.  The worst job we have tackled on Crystal Blues was sandblasting in the forward locker  and the scariest was catching and removing a banded sea snake from the machinery area, in New Caledonia. We have enjoyed sensational sailing, beautiful anchorages. Continuing to do boat jobs in exotic places is still high on our agenda!

Three blades broken.....

Something Old

Just for something different we replaced the raw water pump impeller again on our Onan Genset (AKA the Insatiable Beast).  Two hours and 35 minutes of running is an all time record for such undistinguished lack of service. 

Something New

Life's Good  - LG 1055LDP

Our electrolux washing machine died whilst we were at Boat Lagoon last year. It was 5 years old.  Unfortunately Electrolux did not support this machine in Asia and the cost of importing new parts from Australia was prohibitive.  David and Kris from SV Taipan discovered a compact LG washing machine in Singapore, an LG 1055LDP. 

Yesterday we installed our new washer and the lazerette is again fully populated with machinery.  Even though the machine came with Singaporean plumbing and electrical fittings we had enough changeover parts to make good and within a few hours Ley was happily watching the first wash.

Keeping Busy

Boat jobs in exotic places......

Work

In 2004 we installed an electric macerator to our marine head in order to comply with Australian boating standards.  After much research and talking to other cruisers, we purchased the Jabsco Quiet Flush Conversion system.  We also fitted a Y valve between the fresh and salt water supply and mainly run the system on freshwater, when it is plentiful.

For just over 6 years the toilet has been maintenance free.  It has happily flushed and macerated its way around Australia and Asia.  A few months ago we noticed that the pump was making unusual sounds - time to source a new one.  A replacement Jabsco macerator pump and seal kit was supplied by Jessie at MarineTech in Singapore for 1/3rd of the price that was quoted to us in Australia (how can there be such a huge price difference?)

The whole change over took less than an hour and the system is working perfectly again.  Six years maintenance free, for a marine head rates to us as exceptional service - given that we have been living aboard all that time!

More Work!

Wow another long weekend!  We quickly made a plan to go back to Telok Sengat, on the Johore River in Malaysia, so we could relax and tick off a few more boat jobs.  There are still quite a few incomplete projects from our 2009 refit and we planned to tackle  the control side of our refrigerator and freezer system.  Running the 12 volt power cables over and under and through the boat was fairly painless and we are much closer now to completing this project.

Another impeller bites the dust!

Closing the valve on the salt water inlet manifold.

Unfortunately our genset demanded our attention, by shutting down as it devoured yet another water pump impeller. Okay, it was time for an oil change, so we stripped down the genset, lavished TLC in the form of new oil and a fresh impeller.  The genest ran for just over two hours on Sunday and when we started it this morning it ran for a whole 2 minutes - yep chewed up and spat out another impeller.  We spend way more money and time on maintaining this genset than any other piece of machinery or equipment on the boat.  Although Onan were extremely generous and helpful to us initially ( they took away our first lemon and gave us a new genset for free after 2 years of continual problems.)  Yet here we are still pandering to an insatiable beast!


and Play

Good food, friends and fun in Penang

Ley's high school girlfriend Judi Scott, decided to have a pre 60th birthday bash in Penang, Malaysia last week.  Neil had work plans to be in India so Ley flew north for a few days.  Luckily for us there was a wonderful Indian festival happening so between temple visits, partying in the street in Little India and fine dinning at the local cafes, we all had a ball. Here is a link to some of our favourite eating places in Georgetown.

Happy Birthday Judi!

New Crew for Crystal Blues

Nana Ley and Harrison

Harrison leaving the hospital, 4 days old.

Sarah, Harrison, Chloe and Shaun

Harrison Oliver Gatter was born on September 7, weighing 8lb 2 oz.  Shaun, Sarah and Harrison are having a wonderful time getting to know each other.  Luckily for me, I spent 2 weeks back in Australia, enjoying lots of cuddle time.  We all agree that Harrison is the "spitting image" of Shaun.  Our grandson is a pretty good sleeper, though he still likes to party between 1.00am and 3.00am most mornings!

What a joy it is to be a grandparent.

In India, Getting Lost Is Half The Fun

Let them eat cake...!

Last Sunday we went for a drive out of Bangalore.  We were headed for the vineyards we had heard about North of the city.  Ley downloaded directions from Google Maps, and with the camera, books, map and  iPhone, we drove off.  But this was no ordinary Sunday drive....

After studying the map and Google directions we took what we thought was the correct road, but five minutes later we were lost and only a few kilometres from our hotel.  Neil back-tracked and took another road, but no, we were lost again.  So we continued on, Ley scanning the street scape for sign posts, business addresses - anything that would pin point our position on the map.  We took some interesting roads, crossed under the train tracks a few times, saw some fascinating sights but an hour later we were still hopelessly lost!

Boy Scout Technology

Not knowing the direction we were traveling, Neil opened his iPhone and turned on the compass/GPS app.  Where we wanted to go was NNW, where we were heading was due west. Compass to the rescue, we then headed north.

After spotting a road sign and matching it with the map we finally coordinated our position with the printed Google Map, and after 3.6 km the next turn was down a tiny lane and through a small village. It didn't feel right so this time we booted up the computer, plugged in the 3G cellular modem and logged on to Google earth.  Technology is amazing, we zoomed in on the map and all was revealed in larger scale.  So then we really knew where we were.....

Drinking chai while waiting to hear about the tow truck.

But road conditions changed and the bitumen morphed into a red earth track.  Then WHAM - we hit the only rock on the road.  The oil sump was pierced and oil dribbled out.  We were a long way from anywhere, so we quickly turned around and headed back towards civilization.  Once back on the bitumen road we came to a stop near an International school and a block of shop houses in a small village.

The oil continued to drain out as Ley walked up to the shops and asked if any one could help us.  One of the shop keepers called directory assistance and then arranged for a tow truck to come.  All we had to do was wait, and then wait some more.

Free Entertainment

Luckily for us one of the shops was a bakery.  As we hadn't had lunch we dined on curry puffs, sweet pastries and cups of chai.  We sat at the rickety plastic table on two wobbly chairs, ate our meal and read our books.  The bakery had many customers that afternoon - not sure if it was the sight of us sitting there for three hours, or the cakes and chai being the main attraction.

Karma

Vineyard in Bangalore

Across the road from the bakery was a vineyard - not the one we were looking for, but luckily for us the grapes were being picked.  The vines were trussed up above our heads and were supported by 4 x 4 granite posts.  We tasted the grapes and chatted to the sari clad workers, noting that the picking style was very different to when we picked grapes at Hankin Vineyard in Victoria.

Three hours later our tow van arrived, complete with 10 feet of chain.  A connection was made and off we went, back into town.  We arrived back after dark, it wasn't the Sunday drive we had planned on, but what an adventure!

To see more images of our Sunday afternoon drive and our travel and work time in India click here.

Finding The Balance

Neil with Tony Spence, David Seaman and Bas Huibers

Singapore Sailing Visitors

We've been delighted to have visitors from home during the last few months.  Neil's brother Peter and "a few mates" flew in for a shopping fix and get together.  All being members of the Royal Yacht Club Of Victoria, they were keen to see Singapore from the water.  Included in the group was Michael McLean, talented Para Olympics sailor.

We stowed Michael's wheel chair in the dock box, cast off the dock lines, and motored out for a barbeque and swim off St John's Island.  After lunch the wind picked up and the Royal's crew were getting a bit jittery - so up went the sails, and with Michael at the helm we had great afternoon with 10 to twelve knots of breeze- unusually good for Singapore !  Our good friend Cas Bukor also visited us for a week.  Whilst the weather was hot and wet, we all managed to have a good time.  Cas learned how to make Crystal Blues bread, and also did some quick graphic design work for Neil from the floating office.

Neil and Prasana in the Bangalore Office

 At The Coal Face

Neil has been working with the Space Matrix team for 5 months now.  He's hired four new staff to build the team in India and Singapore, and is constantly interviewing for more.

Multimedia projects and business growth in India are taking up most of his time, plus supporting and enhancing the Space Matrix regional IT networks.   Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad are his second homes now, and he's in India more than 2 weeks of every month.  He's gradually discovering the delights of India, including a vibrant live music scene - lots of rock and blues, but disappointingly little jazz.

His multimedia team are designing projects valued at more than 5 million US dollars, with clients including Wells Fargo, Axis Bank, Gartner Research, Shell and Symantec.  Space Matrix is growing rapidly, so on the IT side he's also planning for upgraded IT networks plus new offices in China and Dubai.

Sailing home from Johore.  Photo taken by Gordon Fraser

A Long Weekend!

Australians love a long weekend and Singapore National Day gave us a great opportunity to escape from the marina and go sailing, exploring up the Johor River in Malaysia.  We were invited to join a small group of seven local yachts on sail-away to Teluk Sengat. By sundown on Saturday afternoon all the yachts had cleared-in to Malaysia and were anchored in a beautiful bay at Teluk Sengat.  Dinghies ferried the crews into the Blue Dolphin restaurant (highly recommended) for a Chinese seafood banquet. The food and the company was great and the restaurant was re-booked for the following night.  Sunday offered a lazy start with roti canai for breakfast and a stroll around Teluk Sengat.  Sun-downers were held on Crystal Blues and this gave us a chance to get to know our fellow sailors.

A squall hit the fleet early on Monday morning and canceled our roti breakfast.  Sails went up, anchors were retrieved and we sailed down river to clear Malaysian Customs and Immigration.  After that we had a fantastic sail almost all the way back to the marina in Singapore. Can't wait for the next long weekend to sail away again.

A Month In Borneo

I Must Be Dreaming

Birthday surprise.

Crystal Blues is anchored on the very peaceful Sungai Tulai, and the sun is just peeping through the open hatches.  I'm still sleeping when I hear a choir of sweet young voices singing (very quietly) "Happy Birthday."  Of course I think I'm dreaming, so I lay in bed, sleeping, drifting off.  Then the choir starts up again, a little louder, and through the fog I realise - this is for real ! The singing is coming from the cockpit !  I stumble out of bed and through sleepy eyes I see nine children, a stack of gifts and a beautiful cake with candles burning.  After blowing out the candles, and opening the gifts, the children paddle home in their canoes.  What a fantastic way to start our birthday !

Then I turn on the computer.  As soon as Skype loads birthday messages and calls come flooding in.  Gary and Sue on SV Yaringa made a quick video call from Japan, just before they depart on passage to Alaska.  Our Seirra Wireless modem and the Celcom data card is provividng excellent service up here in the jungle. I quickly emailed some of the birthday images to Neil, who is still in Singapore.  Our birthdays will be spent apart, as Neil flew back to India and Singapore for a week of work.

Jungle Barbecue

Kikki and Betty preparing the middin fern

Jabu and Chanda suggested a barbecue in the jungle one afternoon and invited all the cruisers.  A children's committee was formed, menu and costings were calculated.  Coconut rice in bamboo, hot dogs, marinated chicken wings, fish bits, sausages and midden fern were on the menu.  I added an Aussie touch with potatoes in foil, cooked in the coals.  Next morning we speed off in the dinghy to purchase the supplies and others prepared the barbecue area and cut down the bamboo for the rice.
  

Two fires were prepared, one for the grill, one for the bamboo rice and potatoes.  While the food was cooking Jabu, Beretin and Dominic took the cruisers to explore the jungle.  The boys showed us large Nepenthes, (insect eating Pitcher plants), hanging orchids, birds nest ferns and many tall native fruit trees.  We arrived back as the food was being served on large green leaves.  Everyone agreed that it was a great adventure.

New reading glasses and big smiles!

Reading Glasses R Us

Kikii from SV Endelig and we on Crystal Blues had been collecting reading glasses and sun glasses.  One evening whilst visiting the long house we asked for a book and distributed the glasses.  Then we sat back as glasses were tested.  Eventually all those who needed new reading glasses found a suitable pair.  Our Iban friends will often "go without" with no complaints, but are happy to accept when the spirit is right.

Rubber Tapping Iban Style 

   

Jampie collecting the latex

Although this was our fifth visit to the longhouse, we had never visited a rubber plantation.  This year our good friend Jampie asked us if we would like to go and watch him tap and collect the white, silky latex.  Robert and Elaine (SV Sunrise) joined Ley and the kids early one morning to watch Jampie.  We saw the simple tool that is used to just skim open the the bark each morning.  He carefully poured the collected latex into a bottle and then turned over each cup so that the mosquitoes could not breed in them.     

Jentang and Asat rolling out the rubber.

The latex is then taken back to the long house and mixed with a coagulating chemical (an acid), left to firm up and then pressed out into rubber slabs.  These are then dried and sold off to the traders in town. Even after four years of visiting Rumah Lidam, we are still amazed by their culture and life skills.

Borneo River Action

Our Caribe "car" with a load of Iban visitors

We always think of our inflatable dinghy as our "car".  Here in Borneo, on the river Sungai Tulai, it is the quickest way for us to get to town, and really the only way to move around - visiting the long houses or bringing visitors to our boat.  Built by Caribe in Venezuela, it's now ten years old and still going strong.  On our last visit here the Caribe carried a mother in labour to hospital - and that child was named after Ley.  Last week it carried a badly injured young man to the same hospital, after he was involved in an accident in the longhouse.  Bleeding badly, he was carried from the longhouse in a woven sling under a stout pole and loaded onto the floor.  We hear that he survived, but may not have use of his fingers.

Local Boats 

Our Iban friend Jampie made his own boat 5 years ago.  He went into the jungle, cut the tree down and then cut the timber into long planks.  These were left to dry out and then he built his boat.  That tradition continues, though this year we were surprised to see new styles emerging - boats clearly built for speed.  This year, the young men are building small racing boats, practicing for a competitive regatta to be held on the river in July.  Though the designs are new, they're assembled with the same skills used by their fathers.  

 Each boat uses a small (standard) chinese manufactured petrol engine, air cooled with a single cylinder. Propeller selection and hull shape seems to be up to the builder.  Every day this week they've been carried down to the river and tested, sometimes with dramatic results. Iban boats are usually steered by a single paddle, held over the side.  These new boats have rudimentary rudders with a basic rope steering system.  These afternoon practice sessions are great entertainment for the locals - big and small, old and young, the community crowds the dock, offering words of encouragement and helpful suggestions. There is always alot of laughter. Neil uses our dinghy as the "crash" boat.  He has towed a few boats back to the dock and was instrumental in one rescue where the driver flew out of his boat whilst turning too sharply.  The boat sped off into the jungle along the riverbank.  It was totally hidden in the undergrowth and a machete was called for to hack a path into it.  All the time the engine was roaring away - no safety cut out switches here. 

Glamour For The Girls

There are three yachts now visiting the longhouses here on Sungai Tulai for the Gawai festival.  Yesterday afternoon the three cruising women decided to add a bit of glamour for the local girls.  They gathered up nail files, polish, polish remover and a splash of perfume, and headed into the long house.                                                                        

Ley gave a quick talk on  manicure and nail polishing techniques.  Nails were cleaned and filed, cuticles pushed down and then the painting began. One coat of clear base, two coats of colour and then two top protective coats - all in fairly rapid succession.  Extreme speed nail painting followed, but we all had a great time and many beautifully manicured hands were seen in the long house that evening. Many thanks to Kikki from SV Endelig and Christina from SV Roxy for helping hands and the perfume.

Sarawak Update

Crystal Blues anchored in the Santubong River

After a three day passage from Singapore, we dropped anchor in the Santubong River, where we're surrounded by peace and serenity.  Mt Santubong towered overhead, attracting a crown of clouds, whilst from it's slopes a chorus of jungle birds called.  Malay fishermen were quietly hauling in their nets and the ever shy Irrawaddy Dolphins were quietly surfacing around us.  It was a great welcome back for our 4th visit to Borneo.

Dollar and Pende, caretakers of Datu Linggi's house and dock here, were on hand to greet us.  They confirmed that cruisers are still welcome to tie their dinghy to the dock and that fresh, potable water is available.  A new development this year is the "No Berthing" sign - sadly some boats have abused the privilege of Datu Linggi's kindness, and have not only tied to the dock, but when asked to move on, they refused to do so.  This is not leaving a clean wake for others!

Ian and Mona, the owners of the Kuching registered SV Kumang, confirmed that there is still a sunken fishing boat immediately off the large Jabatan Laut dock.  Anchoring there, or too close to the fish farms, has caused problems for cruisers in the past.  Employing a diver to untangle your anchor is expensive in these crocodile infested waters.  And yes - we saw our first croc in the anchorage this visit! 

Reviewing the Rajang River charts with the Cartographers

Ian has kindly supplied a detailed Google Map of where to check in.  We also visited the Cartography Office of the Jabatan Laut, Sarawak Marine Department (Lot 683, Section 66, Jalan Utama, Tanak Puteh, Kuching) and purchased three recently updated charts for the Rajang River.  Charts required are SAR 1440, 1441 and 15.

We visited the new marina on the Kuching River and were advised that they have onshore facilities and there is water and power to some of the slips.  It is located some distance from Kuching adjacent to the new Convention Centre, before the bridge and barrage, but has none of the beauty of the Santubong anchorage.  It really is in the middle of an industrial waste land, though when the convention centre is finished it should all be different.

Three Days To Gawai!

Crystal Blues is now anchored on Sungai Tulai, in front of Rumah Lidam long house.  We have been blessed with wonderful friendships with these Iban families over the last 4 years, and have been warmly welcomed back into their homes and lives.  Last night we were invited into the long house for a jam session with the band.  Neil was given a few rhythm lessons by Jambar then the fun began.  We also shared a few glasses of tuak, yumai Iban home made rice wine.

We carefully walked down the boardwalk to the dinghy dock only to find our dinghy beached in knee high sloppy mud.  Neil waded in, pushed and pulled and finally the dinghy was freed - then we had to deal with mud caked legs, clothes and bags.  A refreshing midnight swim in the river cleaned us up.  Dealing with 5 metre tides makes for interesting times up river.

Back To Work

Neil at work

We stunned quite a few friends with this decision, whilst others thought we had sailed off the edge of the world. We just see it as part of the adventure.

Late last year Neil was offered a position with Space Matrix Design Consultants in Singapore, to establish a new multi-media business similar to our previous enterprise in Australia.  The new operation would be part of the turn key solutions that Space Martix wanted to offer to their clients.  Space Matrix is one of the fastest growing architectural and interior design firms in Asia.  It is Singapore based, with offices in India, Bangkok and Sydney.  Our good friend (and best man) Steven Shaw is the Regional Design Director, hence the arm twisting offer.

A few weeks into work Neil added another hat to his Multi-Media role, by taking on the management of Space Matrix's IT teams. As most of Space Marix's offices and his AV and IT staff are based in India, there will be a lot of travelling involved.

So we have based ourselves and Crystal Blues at OneDegree 15 Marina in Singapore and are enjoying the change of life.  Neil's wardrobe has been expanded with new work clothes, whilst Ley has taken on the care and maintenance of Crystal Blues (and Neil).

Neil started work in early March, after our shake down cruise to the Andaman islands.  We still manage to cast off the dock lines every other weekend, drop the anchor and chill out with friends.  One weekend our godson, Ethan Shaw and his younger brother stayed onboard, so the boat and the systems are still getting a good work out.

Najat ( dancing) at Gawai

9 Days To Gawai Festival

Our younger Iban friends have been bombarding us with text and Facebook messages, plus emails with questions and countdowns for Gawai. Neil telephoned our friend Jampie in the longhouse on Sungai Tulai, Sarawak, this week and told him that we would be there this year to share in the celebrations.  For the dayak peoples of Borneo, the Gawai festival is like Christmas, New Year & Thanks Giving all rolled into one.

We don't know who is the most excited, as we have really missed all our friends at the longhouse Rumah Lidam, on the Tulai River.  It will be only a short visit, due to work commitments, but we'll party hard, hopefully celebrating with lots of music and dancing.