Subject: Sulu Sea
8 42N 118 04E midnight. Under power going NE up the eastern side of
Palawan. 10 kts of wind on the nose witch is no suprise as we are in the NE
monsoon.. Last night we stopped short of the Balabac Strait and pulled into
cozy cove. Balabec Straits are the 3rd most noted area for pirates after the
coast of Yemen and the Malaca Straits. So I chickened out and went through
this morning in daylight. Pretty night. Lightning ashore lites up some tall
mountains. Passed an entire large palm tree with many of its fronds sticking
out of the water. Southern Cross still high in the sky. ETA for Puerto
Princessa is 1100 today (18th). We will clear in there and spend a few days
exploring
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Captain Scott's Log ~ Sunday, April 13th 2008
Subject: P Dream Kinabalu
The last of the NE monsoon kicked in again and we sailed hard on the wind
through giant oil platforms. Truly amazing structures over ten stories tall
dedicated to deep drilling. We sailed very close by rail down with the stars
and stripes flying to waves and cheers from the rig workers. Sutera Marina
is in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah--now part of Malysia--on the north Borneo coast.
We entered slowly in the pitch black Just before dawn using radar and GPS
chart plotter. Here is an upscale resort with 2 hotels, 3 pools, 9 restaurants
and 1 golf course. The harbor came alive at first light with a constant
stream of small ferries taking hotel guests out to the marine park. And a
large fishing tournament ends today. I couldn’t get a room in either hotel as
both were/are filled. Bill and Donna have my cabin forward. This is such a
great find that we are staying a few days. Kinabalu National Park is a World
Heritage Site. It's 14000ft mt peak is the highest non volcanic mt this side
of the Himalayas. Sabah has its own flag witch is flown from all yachts. My
newest country courtsey flag, the first of 08, and number 116. China will be
the next one. Dinner in town last night where the menu was hundreds of
aquariums filled with every variety of fish, crustian, etc we selected a
large grouper that more than fed the 5 of us. Our waiter about lost his hand
getting it out of the tank.
The last of the NE monsoon kicked in again and we sailed hard on the wind
through giant oil platforms. Truly amazing structures over ten stories tall
dedicated to deep drilling. We sailed very close by rail down with the stars
and stripes flying to waves and cheers from the rig workers. Sutera Marina
is in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah--now part of Malysia--on the north Borneo coast.
We entered slowly in the pitch black Just before dawn using radar and GPS
chart plotter. Here is an upscale resort with 2 hotels, 3 pools, 9 restaurants
and 1 golf course. The harbor came alive at first light with a constant
stream of small ferries taking hotel guests out to the marine park. And a
large fishing tournament ends today. I couldn’t get a room in either hotel as
both were/are filled. Bill and Donna have my cabin forward. This is such a
great find that we are staying a few days. Kinabalu National Park is a World
Heritage Site. It's 14000ft mt peak is the highest non volcanic mt this side
of the Himalayas. Sabah has its own flag witch is flown from all yachts. My
newest country courtsey flag, the first of 08, and number 116. China will be
the next one. Dinner in town last night where the menu was hundreds of
aquariums filled with every variety of fish, crustian, etc we selected a
large grouper that more than fed the 5 of us. Our waiter about lost his hand
getting it out of the tank.
Captain Scott & Jeff's Log ~Friday, April 11th, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008 South China Sea 4 42.840N 112 36.229E
Jeff's Log
We are finally under sail! Yesterday, a squall came up and gave us 25 knots of wind. It began about a half hour into my watch. We had been motor sailing, and had to roll up half of the jib, and reef the main. The autopilot still does not work on starboard tack when the wind is up, so I had to drive. I am not complaining, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It blew hard for about an hour and a half, and then moderated. Donna took over the helm, and after a short time, the wind had gotten fairly light again, so we switched back to autopilot and shook out the sails again. The night became clear and beautiful and we were able to motor sail most of the time.
Today was a bright sunny day with moderate breezes. Just before sunset, we got enough wind to shut the engine off and sail. Mark did some chicken on the Barbie. And we had a nice dinner without the engine running for the first time since leaving Singapore. Tonight my watch starts at 4AM, so after writing this I will turn in for hopefully a nice, engine free sleep.
One thing that we all got a chuckle from happened when Donna got off watch. She went to lay down for a nap and opened up the hatches in the forward cabin over the bed. There was left over waves from the squall, and we caught one and it washed into the hatch, right onto Donna. She came out rather embarrassed and looked like a drowned rat. I am sure that we’ll be teasing her about that for the rest of the trip.
We are now sailing by some huge gas wells. Each one looks like a small city with the amount of lighting that is present. According to the chart, they pipe the gas to shore. Shore is about 80 miles away.Pipe Dream continues to behave herself and is working very well. I do have a nasty job to do tomorrow. I have to take the aft head apart and replace pump seals.Sometimes being the engineer on a yacht is a crappy job!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Captain Scott's LogSubject: P Dream Sarawak
FRI Now 4 days out and all under engine. We are 75nm off the Coast of
Sarawak and under easy sail at last, flat water with some current behind--a
dream sail. We are passing through the Central Luconia Gas Field with some
major platforms nearby. Our grill is lit for barbeque dinner. The chart says
beware of fire hazard and loss of bouyancy with pipe line rupture. Yesterday
we sailed for the first time when hit with a squall. 25kts of wind and we
were off with a part rolled up jib and a reef. Donna was slow to close her
cabin and rewarded with a bucket of water through the hatch. You know what a
drowned rat looks like--right! Life is easy if you like suntan, reading,
sleeping in, the gurgle of water slipping by and the next port 36 hours away
Jeff's Log
We are finally under sail! Yesterday, a squall came up and gave us 25 knots of wind. It began about a half hour into my watch. We had been motor sailing, and had to roll up half of the jib, and reef the main. The autopilot still does not work on starboard tack when the wind is up, so I had to drive. I am not complaining, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It blew hard for about an hour and a half, and then moderated. Donna took over the helm, and after a short time, the wind had gotten fairly light again, so we switched back to autopilot and shook out the sails again. The night became clear and beautiful and we were able to motor sail most of the time.
Today was a bright sunny day with moderate breezes. Just before sunset, we got enough wind to shut the engine off and sail. Mark did some chicken on the Barbie. And we had a nice dinner without the engine running for the first time since leaving Singapore. Tonight my watch starts at 4AM, so after writing this I will turn in for hopefully a nice, engine free sleep.
One thing that we all got a chuckle from happened when Donna got off watch. She went to lay down for a nap and opened up the hatches in the forward cabin over the bed. There was left over waves from the squall, and we caught one and it washed into the hatch, right onto Donna. She came out rather embarrassed and looked like a drowned rat. I am sure that we’ll be teasing her about that for the rest of the trip.
We are now sailing by some huge gas wells. Each one looks like a small city with the amount of lighting that is present. According to the chart, they pipe the gas to shore. Shore is about 80 miles away.Pipe Dream continues to behave herself and is working very well. I do have a nasty job to do tomorrow. I have to take the aft head apart and replace pump seals.Sometimes being the engineer on a yacht is a crappy job!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Captain Scott's LogSubject: P Dream Sarawak
FRI Now 4 days out and all under engine. We are 75nm off the Coast of
Sarawak and under easy sail at last, flat water with some current behind--a
dream sail. We are passing through the Central Luconia Gas Field with some
major platforms nearby. Our grill is lit for barbeque dinner. The chart says
beware of fire hazard and loss of bouyancy with pipe line rupture. Yesterday
we sailed for the first time when hit with a squall. 25kts of wind and we
were off with a part rolled up jib and a reef. Donna was slow to close her
cabin and rewarded with a bucket of water through the hatch. You know what a
drowned rat looks like--right! Life is easy if you like suntan, reading,
sleeping in, the gurgle of water slipping by and the next port 36 hours away
Jeff's Log ~ Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008 31 16.248N 108 49.267E
We are motoring in very light breeze on the nose, and calm seas. That has been the story since leaving Singapore. The night before last, I saw the Southern Cross for the first time. We are on Scott’s famous five man watch system that works 4 on 4 off, 4 on 8 off. The eight hours off go very quickly, and there are always a couple of short naps that make everything ok. The Southern Cross is a relatively small constellation, but impressive to see just the same. As it rises and sets, the cross always points south, so it moves in a very small part of the sky.
There are shrimp and squid fishermen scattered about, and their bright lights look like small cities when they are just over the horizon. Last night, about 2 AM, we passed within a mile of one, and the boat was lit like daylight. The boats are small, low, and made of wood, so they do not leave a radar signature until they are within three miles. About six or seven miles to starboard (that’s off to the right) seems to be the major shipping lanes, and there is pretty much always a freighter or two in sight. At night, that makes the time on watch go by fairly quickly. I like to be the first to notice the range lights in the distance.
The new stabilized binoculars work very well and make it easier to sort out which way a vessel is going when there are confusing lighting arrays. We also have a night vision scope on board that I use frequently when on watch to check for floating debris. It is also cool to look through when dolphins are around at night, because of the phosphorescent trails that they leave. With the night vision, it is very similar to the streamers from a jet fighter’s wing that you see during the air show. If there is a large enough pod of dolphins, it is quite the light show.
Scott’s guests, Bill and Donna are just great to have on board. They both have a great sense of humor, and we all spend a good deal of time chuckling at the jokes and stories that we share. They also seem to really appreciate what Mark and I do for them and the boat, and they are always offering to help with the chores.
Yesterday, Scott and I were on watch the 4 to 8Am shift, and at around 7:30 or so, I spotted a fairly large sea snake just ahead of us. Scott kicked off the autopilot and turned the boat around. I dashed below and got my camera. We were treated to the snake, which appeared to be about five feet long, swimming right up to the boat before it turned and dove down. I got some really excellent photos of it on the surface. When it dove, we marveled at the clarity of the water, as we could see it clearly for about 30 or 40 feet down.
We are all hoping for some sailing breeze right now. This boat under engine alone is just plain boring. Last night we had a favorable breeze for a little while, and Scott and I hustled to take the awning down and set the main. After a short motor-sail, the wind lightened and clocked back to the nose, so we dropped the Main and became a motor boat once again. In Singapore, I did manage to put new bearings in the main halyard turning block at the base of the mast. This was the first time the main has been used since, and it went up and down much smoother and quieter than it was. Little things like that make me feel proud, and they also make Scott smile, and that’s important too. Things are always better when the boss is happy.
We are motoring in very light breeze on the nose, and calm seas. That has been the story since leaving Singapore. The night before last, I saw the Southern Cross for the first time. We are on Scott’s famous five man watch system that works 4 on 4 off, 4 on 8 off. The eight hours off go very quickly, and there are always a couple of short naps that make everything ok. The Southern Cross is a relatively small constellation, but impressive to see just the same. As it rises and sets, the cross always points south, so it moves in a very small part of the sky.
There are shrimp and squid fishermen scattered about, and their bright lights look like small cities when they are just over the horizon. Last night, about 2 AM, we passed within a mile of one, and the boat was lit like daylight. The boats are small, low, and made of wood, so they do not leave a radar signature until they are within three miles. About six or seven miles to starboard (that’s off to the right) seems to be the major shipping lanes, and there is pretty much always a freighter or two in sight. At night, that makes the time on watch go by fairly quickly. I like to be the first to notice the range lights in the distance.
The new stabilized binoculars work very well and make it easier to sort out which way a vessel is going when there are confusing lighting arrays. We also have a night vision scope on board that I use frequently when on watch to check for floating debris. It is also cool to look through when dolphins are around at night, because of the phosphorescent trails that they leave. With the night vision, it is very similar to the streamers from a jet fighter’s wing that you see during the air show. If there is a large enough pod of dolphins, it is quite the light show.
Scott’s guests, Bill and Donna are just great to have on board. They both have a great sense of humor, and we all spend a good deal of time chuckling at the jokes and stories that we share. They also seem to really appreciate what Mark and I do for them and the boat, and they are always offering to help with the chores.
Yesterday, Scott and I were on watch the 4 to 8Am shift, and at around 7:30 or so, I spotted a fairly large sea snake just ahead of us. Scott kicked off the autopilot and turned the boat around. I dashed below and got my camera. We were treated to the snake, which appeared to be about five feet long, swimming right up to the boat before it turned and dove down. I got some really excellent photos of it on the surface. When it dove, we marveled at the clarity of the water, as we could see it clearly for about 30 or 40 feet down.
We are all hoping for some sailing breeze right now. This boat under engine alone is just plain boring. Last night we had a favorable breeze for a little while, and Scott and I hustled to take the awning down and set the main. After a short motor-sail, the wind lightened and clocked back to the nose, so we dropped the Main and became a motor boat once again. In Singapore, I did manage to put new bearings in the main halyard turning block at the base of the mast. This was the first time the main has been used since, and it went up and down much smoother and quieter than it was. Little things like that make me feel proud, and they also make Scott smile, and that’s important too. Things are always better when the boss is happy.
Captain Scott ~ April 9th 2008
Subject: Pipe Dream becalmed
36 hours out of Singapore and all under engine in calm wind and mirror flat
sea. Several local sailors said we were crazy to go to Brunei as there was
little there and this Muslim country had imposed a strict prohibition on
alcohol. Boats are inspected on arrival and all stores are confiscated. So
we originally set out to go all the way to the Philippines but it’s apparent
that we will run out of gas before then. Borneo does not have a lot of
alternatives but we are headed for Kota Kinabalu. You know where that is,
right? Its 810nm from Singapore in Sabah on the northern coast of Borneo.
Its got a 14000 ft mountain Just inland. So far it’s been boring, it’s been
hot but at least flat and easy. The only sport is hunting sea snakes. We
have seen 8 so far swimming on the surface. They are twice as venomous as
King Cobras. Now grilling steaks on deck in a very pretty sunset
36 hours out of Singapore and all under engine in calm wind and mirror flat
sea. Several local sailors said we were crazy to go to Brunei as there was
little there and this Muslim country had imposed a strict prohibition on
alcohol. Boats are inspected on arrival and all stores are confiscated. So
we originally set out to go all the way to the Philippines but it’s apparent
that we will run out of gas before then. Borneo does not have a lot of
alternatives but we are headed for Kota Kinabalu. You know where that is,
right? Its 810nm from Singapore in Sabah on the northern coast of Borneo.
Its got a 14000 ft mountain Just inland. So far it’s been boring, it’s been
hot but at least flat and easy. The only sport is hunting sea snakes. We
have seen 8 so far swimming on the surface. They are twice as venomous as
King Cobras. Now grilling steaks on deck in a very pretty sunset
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