Having left the spectacular group of Tioman islands with their fantastic, fringing reefs surrounding almost every island, sloping from sixty metres depth in the surrounding seas to twenty metres around the islands and generally rising rapidly to the shallow coral beds and the occasional sandy bay, we set sail on the twenty two nautical mile journey, south east to the Babi Besar island group. The first island we encountered was Palau Tingi. A once volcanic island with the peak at six hundred and fifty metres plus, now exstinct, towers over the rest in this region. Its reminiscent of a clip from King Kong, with boulders encrusting the outer rim and the occasional white sandy beach with an unoccupied government building and just off to the south and a new resort being built on stilts , just above the water, around two hundred metres from the shore. (An eyesore) We also spotted a few huts and a couple of nicer houses at the end of a hand built, rickety wooden pier. We decided to crack on to the islands of Palau Sibu and Palau Sibu Tengah, apparently known as The Islands of Perilous Passage due to them once being a pirate haunt and anchor up for the night. Again, some beautiful beaches but too shallow for us to drop anchor. Running low on fuel now as wed been fighting the current and wind all day therefore, burning fuel in the process, we made the decision to head directly to a nearby ferry port called Tanjung Lehman to try to refuel. We ran aground (hit the bottom) as we entered the narrow jetty channel and had to reverse out. This is due to our boat having a 2.7metre keel. ( A long metal structure that runs along the centreline of the vessels hull) Still not knowing if we can refuel there and with the map book not giving the relevant information that we needed such as depth, tide changes and commodities, though it does say that there is a KFC!!! This book is made in Thailand. After running aground, we reversed out, (thankfully) then Callum and Dustin ( The self-proclaimed Ghostbusters ) kayaked in to inquire about fuel. Regrettably, the nearest fuel station was a forty minute drive away, in fact, the nearest town was forty minutes away. On the plus side, they met some men finishing work on the jetty, who were kind enough to offer to take them. Unfortunately, there was no ATM and we only had Thai baht. Again, the men offered to take them there after sunset, when they have eaten.(Ramadan). The nearest ATM was forty minutes in the opposite direction. It didnt take foreign cards, so another half an hour to the foreign bank then back. They were also kind enough to lend us the eight oil drums we needed to carry the fuel. Three hours later they arrived back to find me in KFC as they were trying to lock up and kick me out. We brought Lorraine (our dingy) into land to help load up the two hundred and fifty litres wed acquired and the lads towed the boat the mile back, with the kayak, as I bailed out the prevailing water from our poor, sinking Lorraine. Losing around twenty litres of diesel, due to cracked oil drums, we arrived back, safe and sound. Niki and Charlotte offered to return, the empty drums, back to shore. Quickly being taken off course by the current, then curving their way to shore. After half an hour, we heard on the radio, Bubbles to squeak (the girls named the two radios...) We have arrived safe and sound................and are immediately regretting this decision!...........but we smashed it!!! We all had a giggle, then hit the sack.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 02:26:44 +0000
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