Santubong Update

Did we have a nice day when Caroline & family and Jan & family took us out into the Kuching wopwops. The main goal was a traditional LONGHOUSE. And indeed it was traditional. No tourist do come out so far into the jungle. But Jan and Caroline have special links with this longhouse. Of course Marijke took great pictures...I'll try to get some soon. And yes it was close to the border with Indonesia...as our telephones said: Welcome to Indonesia. On the way home we also stopped at a "commercial" longhouse ( we had to pay an entree fee to see the place..and hence empty beer cans left and right...) This week we also went to see the Urang Utan Rehab Center. A MUST if you are in Kuching. These boys and girls are so comfy up there in the trees... And we did the Kuching Cat Museum. A MUST if you have Nori and Wakame. Now it is Friday, day 1 of the Rainforest Music Festival. We might end-up there for a few hours... Salute PS the Q1 update is still at the printer. Stories are done and a few pictures are uploaded. The Internet connection works by times okay and suddenly...poooffff..grgrgr

Santubong Blues

Alishan lies happily for (behind) anchor here at the river entrance in front of the small town of Santubong. Did you Google Earth the place? Now about 35 yachts are here, all more or less ready to gear up for that Rainforest Music Festival. Dolphins and even, a bit more upstream, crocodiles are good for some entertainment;-)) Great place for pictures, walks, hikes and runs. Marijke is shooting new species and Jaap is gone every morning with Asluag of sy Lady Ann...Running! BUT ALSO: the new Q update is "at the printers" and that dirty diesel problem is under full attack! A trip into Kuching town..... hmmm, that's a bit of a Day Job. It's a good 35 Km. and there are far and few buses. Oh well, can't have it all. Again we are not bored with our life style, and that is good! Salute

Jumped the Pond

Alishan arrived this morning in Santubong, on the outskirts of Kuching, Borneo. Position: 1 degree 42 N 110 degree 19 E Our departure from Danga Bay was delayed with a few extra days due to Jetty Party Times. Yes indeed we had so much fun with the our cruising family out there. And of course Nori and Wakame enjoyed their walks and close encounters with the dogs off 2 of the other boats. So, last week Saturday we finally left to Sail around Singapore. Hmm, but somehow somebody somewhat made a calculation error and we did have the tide against us the whole way. (okay it is not easy as Singapore Straits has 10 hours this way and 2 hours that way currents ;-). Guess!! By the end of the afternoon we were tired and decided to drop the anchor near the river to Sebana Cove, on the eastside of the S Strait ( we had stopped here once before). There we spent an extra day relaxing before taking off for Borneo. Monday morning "early up we rises, set some sail and motor around the corner".....you know that song... Hmm, but only 2 hours later we were back at starting-point as we noticed very dirty diesel fuel in the filter. Blahhh, what to do? Okay, we just cleaned the filter and fuel lines as good as possible, we would see, and off we went again. All went well across the busybusy shipping lane and the first miles into the South China Sea. But 6 hours later, with little wind, not good enough for plain-sailing so Yanmar had to help us again . That went not so good as there it was again: dirty fuel!. So from then on, after about every 6 hours of engine use the filter had to be cleaned... I got pretty fast at it! Yes we do have a tank problem, grgrgr. But the radar worked fine ;-)) Beside 1 afternoon and night with serious thunder+lightning, heavy rain and strong winds, it was a slow boat trip to Borneo. Anyway, we are happy to be here! Of course we'll have to take care of that fuel problem but in the mean time we gonna enjoy this place as well. Oh and did you know: the Rain Forest Festival is coming up soon...tell you more later. Salute

Almost done in DB

Well, the radar came home again. Too bad it was soo expensive ( of course only a small item was broken but the whole LCD unit had to be replaced, grgr). And too bad that even though the job was done by a Furuno(t-so-good) specialist..i have to take it apart again because he forgot to remove the plastic protection foil! In the mean time we had a great time here with Antonio and crew from sy Sora Alice (Italy) Old cruising buddy from 23 years ago. Oh yes we are getting older, but at least we do it ;-)) Marijke got a Digi Pics Processor, so work will start on the new Q update, once she masters her new toy... Gas and fuel tanks are full. Just need some fruit and veggies, 1 more trip into S town and then Alishan will be heading towards Borneo. Oh yes i should not forget to see harbor master, customs and immigration. Salute.

So that was Sentosa Island

One of the "must do" things in Singapore is a visit to Sentosa Island. Singapore's Dream-away Island where you can imagine you're on a far away, uninhabited and tropical island. Mind you, in whatever direction you look there are skyscrapers, oil refineries and biggg ships. And zillion other Robinsons. So we did Cafe del Mare (oops a bit much run-down place), walked the nature walk (30 min.) and zoefffed the Luge (twice). The "ski lift" up the hill was probably the best what we did. The radar repair is still in the Furuno Wait Mode. Anyway, there are more things on the to-do list for Singapore. Salute

We are waiting, we are waiting......

The LCD parts for the Furuno(t-so-good) should be on their way to Singapore by now. Nothing else (?) for us to do than waiting. Than again, it is not a bad place to do so. Yesterday we made an other trip into S Town and met up with Heyko and Rose (sy Bavaria, now semi locals) and they took us to Pepper Crab Heaven. Yummmmmy. The return trip to JB was a new record. Downtown S --> back on board Alishan in 1 hour and 15 minutes! In total the return fee for the both of us is about 5 Euro, so that can't stop us to go again ;-)) Zoo, Sentosa, museums, more shopping..... Salute.

Alishan in a Can