01/11/11  The problems continue!  This morning when I put on the nuts of the flexible coupling, they jammed against the back of the gearbox and prevented the prop shaft from moving more than a quarter turn in either direction.  After struggling for some time, I decided it would have to come off and be inspected......but I couldn't turn it to get at the lower bolts!  Hours passed before I had the coupling in the cockpit, and thinking of when I fitted it in Langkawi with no problem made me realise that it must be I that had made some elementary mistake.  Close examination of the eight bolts revealed that four of the eight are fractionally shorter than the others, and two of the shorter ones had been interchanged with two of the longer causing the jamming.  Once I had got all the bolts in the right holes, the coupling went in and was tightened up with relative ease.  Tomorrow comes the contortionist act with the feeler gauges to check clearances on the coupling top, bottom and sides.....the difference between minimum and maximum gap has to be less than 0.25mm.

02/11/11  By about 2pm I had the engine as lined up as I was ever going to get it (difference 0.20mm) and bolted down the mountings.  After reconnecting the exhaust pipe, gearbox linkage and throttle cable it was time to give the engine a try and true to form......another problem raised it's ugly head.  On starting, the alternator warning light and buzzer remained on and the ammeter showed zero.  OK, I've dislodged a wire somewhere on the charging circuit and tomorrow I will find it.

03/11/11  Spent the whole day checking out the cable runs to and from the alternator.  I took down the nav berth wall and checked the master switch connections, the battery connections and anything else I could think of - but the problem persists.  I can now only think that the alternator itself has failed internally, but why would that happen while it was not in use?

04/11/11  I took off the alternator and Stefan ran me into Gadong to an alternator test shop.  A bench test showed it to be OK.....so that eliminates that!  Other yotties suggested the ammeter may be at fault, or the split diode on the charging system, so that's the next thing to do - bridge the terminals and see if that cures the problem.

05/11/11  Went over to Barry's boat (Fourth Dimension) to give him a hand with his mainsail halyard which had come adrift and was trapped at the top of the mast, but high winds and rain prevented us doing the job - so we had a few beers instead.

06/11/11  This morning I replaced the alternator but before stripping out the nav. berth again to get to the back of the ammeter, I decided to just start the engine and see what happens.  The fault had disappeared!!  Now I can only believe that the earth strap from the alternator to the engine block was somehow at fault - although it isn't very old.  Anyway, the engine doesn't seem to be giving out vibration as badly as it was, and the prop shaft speeds up when the revs are increased.  However, there isn't the normal 'wash' created at the stern when the engine is revved to 1500rpm.  It's probably due to barnacle growth on the propeller if the anchor chain is anything to go by.  I hauled up 10 metres of anchor chain and knocked off the barnacles with a welder's hammer.  Again went over to Barry's boat and this time was able to ascend the mast and free his halyard.  BBQ onboard Storm Dodger in the evening with Paul, Alison, Barry, Sue, Stefan, Lorna and others, slightly spoiled by high winds and rain.

07/11/11  A day of tidying up the boat, cleaning the log impeller and shower tray filters.  Rog came over to dive and clean off the barnacles on the propeller and we went over to the Customs, Harbourmaster and Immigration to check out for tomorrow.  Looking at my last November log shows a remarkable similarity to this log.......climbing other peoples mast, fitting shaft couplings and engine mountings!!

08/11/11  Helped Roger with his dinghy repairs and barnacle cleaning.  Lashed down the new jerry cans before going ashore again to meet up with Stefan and Lorna for a farewell drink.  I've now opened another page to show the gearbox change here. 

09/11/11  Our intended departure today has been postponed because of the additional jobs (Roger's dinghy and various other bits and pieces).  We WILL try and leave tomorrow!

10/11/11  Best laid plans and all that.  An unexpected squall arrived this morning, bringing 30 knot winds and heavy rain which lasted until mid-day - our intended departure time.  Thoughts of what lay outside the harbour made us decide to stay overnight and leave early in the morning.

So this would be our last Muara sunset!

11/11/11  Weighed anchor at 0630 and made my way down the harbour behind Storm Dodger, clearing the approach channel by 0800 (slowly against the flood tide).  The crossing to Labuan was fairly uneventful although I worried a lot about the stern gland and kept a close watch on any water drips from that area.  My speed impeller was not working despite being withdrawn and cleaned just the other day and although I cleaned and checked it a further twice during the trip, it was still showing zero knots on our arrival in Victoria Harbour.  It was easy to observe more than two minutes silence on this notable Remembrance Date prior to my arrival at the harbour entrance.  The harbour is renown for bad holding due to the amount of rubbish (plastic bags etc) on the seabed but I was lucky and the anchor dug in on the first attempt.  Shortly after we arrived, Barry on Fourth Dimension motored into the anchorage on his usual Friday expedition to Labuan and we later saw him in Murphy's Irish Bar before he headed off back to Muara.  We cleared in with Custom's but the Immigration and Harbourmaster were closed for lunch - and we missed their one hour of opening in the afternoon!  During the evening, a squall hit the anchorage and although the winds only got to 28 knots, the waves caused the boat to pitch like a wild horse for a couple of hours.  I turned on all instruments and ran the engine for an hour until the worst had passed and I was sure the anchor was holding firmly.

12/11/11  I again cleaned the speed impeller and left it withdrawn, I must remember to replace it just before leaving again!  I also decided to check the three stopcocks in the same bilge - the first (to the watermaker) was fine but the discharge and inlet (traditional Blakes valves) to the head were both seized so I would need to free them off.  I slackened the keeper plates and gingerly tapped the handles with a mallet until they both began to turn.  When I tightened the keeper plates, the inlet valve continued to leak water into the boat!  It really needed to be ground with carborundum paste but I would just have to re-grease it for now.  It's always a nerve jangling moment when you remove a valve and the water floods into the boat!  I bunged the hole with a wooden plug while I cleaned and greased the tapered valve, then replaced it in it's sleeve - temporary repair done.  I then went ashore to the Harbourmaster's office but again it was closed and will not re-open until Monday.

13/11/11  Happy Birthday David!   Remembrance Sunday......and the first time I've worn socks and shoes, with long trousers for a considerable time!  We went to the Labuan World War II Memorial at Jalan Tanjung Batu for the Remembrance Service, where 3,908 Allied soldiers, sailors and airmen are buried.  The service was attended by local dignitaries, the UK deputy commissioner for Labuan, serving RAF personnel, Malay Armed Forces and ex-service personnel from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and Malaysia.  As all were wearing their medals, it was a shame that mine are in the UK - in fact this was the first time I've had sight of the Pingat Jasa Malaysia medal (which I received only last year).  Click the image on the right for some photographs. On completion of the service, we made our way back into town and had some lunch in Murphy's Bar while watching the welterweight boxing championship before returning to the boats for another rolly evening!  The relief in taking off my shoes was immense for I now had burst blisters on my left foot which were killing me!

14/11/11  Into town again, this time to the Harbourmaster to check in and check out in readiness for leaving tomorrow, weather permitting.  Also did some shopping for essentials and had dinner in Murphy's.

15/11/11  I was up for a great deal of the night, coughing, sneezing and completely 'bunged up.'  I had felt a sore throat coming on for the last 24 hours and knew I would be coming down with the proverbial 'man flu.'  As Jordan on Storm Dodger was also suffering the same ailment, we decided to wait until tomorrow before sailing.

16/11/11  Weighed anchor at 0715 and made my way slowly out of the harbour while waiting for Roger to fix an electronic problem on his chartplotter.  We then set course for Pulau Tiga with a favourable, if gentle wind which allowed me to use the genoa for a while.  With the watermaker running, I put 90 litres into the tank and dhobied a few t-shirts en-route.  Storm Dodger caught a barracuda weighing 8kg and measuring a metre in length but I hadn't bothered to trail a line on this trip.  We arrived at the anchorage about 4pm and dropped the hook in five metres of water, laying out 30 metres of chain before going ashore to have a look around.  The island is more popularly known as 'Survivor Island' because it's the site used for filming the television reality series 'Survivor.'  There is a small resort of chalets but on our visit there were no guests!  Roger asked the chef if he would cook the barracuda for us, which he did and we all enjoyed huge plates of the fish done in batter and soy sauce......I hope none of us now have ciguatera poisoning!!  During the night, the anchorage was very rolly and electric storms could be seen all around us.

17/11/11  Our plan to leave this morning was again changed and we decided to trek over a kilometre inland, up a steep and slippery jungle path  to see the mud volcano, where we 'wallowed' for an hour.  It was impossible to sink into the bubbling, thick glutinous mud, even if you tried to push yourself down on the ropes strung over the pit.  When we got out, we found there was no way of washing off except for a very low rainwater supplied tap under which you had to crouch!  So, we trekked back down to the beach, slipping and sliding most of the way (flip-flops were not the ideal footwear!), and went straight into the sea to clean up a bit.  (some photo's)   Later on, Roger got his diving gear out and he and Astrid again cleaned both boat's bottoms as progress here had proved slow.

18/11/11  Weighed anchor at 0715 and made our way around the eastern end of the island before setting a course toward Mount Kinabalu, it's high summit visible in the distance.  Because of a fairly constant light breeze, this was one of the most enjoyable motor sails I have had in recent months - and I caught a nice 30 inch Spanish Mackerel!  But in the last five miles, things again started to go wrong  again, the engine started losing revs and giving more throttle didn't make any difference.  An inspection revealed that the water injection elbow on the exhaust system had been holed, probably as a result of chemical reaction between combustion products and sea water, and the engine bay was being sprayed with a fine mist of sea water.  I kept sail up as we passed through the narrow channel into the 'harbour' area of Kota Kinabalu and it was with some relief when I anchored in the river off the Wawasan area of town.  Roger, Jordan and I went ashore to have a look around for another battery for my laptop (mine only holds a charge for a few minutes now) but it seems that one would have to be ordered from mainland Malaysia.  Later, a frantic phone call from Astrid sent us hurrying back to the boats - mine was up against a fishing boat!  Thoughts that my anchor had dragged proved not to be the case, it was the fishing boats (three of them rafted together) that had swung wide on their rope rode and had smacked up against my port side.  Astrid had the presence of mind to go over to my boat and place fenders between the hulls which prevented any damage.  So, now, in the dark, we had to get my anchor up - and that was underneath the fishing boats - and re-anchor some distance away from them.  On completion, we had a few drinks onboard until it was time for bed.

19/11/11  With the engine now cool, I was able to take off the exhaust elbow.  We went around to Sutera Marina to find out where the engineering area of town was, and while Astrid and Jordan went shopping, Roger and I took a bus out to Inanam to find Jesselton Engineering.  The company has an extensive workshop, open air but sheltered with a large corrugated iron roof, and they firstly tried to weld up the hole (centre of photo) but as the casting is aluminium alloy, the hole just got bigger and proved impossible to weld.  A new one would have to be made from 304 stainless steel as 316 marine grade steel is almost impossible to get hold of.   We then heard the sound of heavy rain on the iron roof.......and we had a considerable walk to the bus stop ahead of us!  Kindly, one of the directors of the company said he would take us back to town in his car, and that he would phone me on Monday when he would have a price for a new exhaust elbow.  He warned us about our anchorage being unsafe because of the thieves in the area - a fact we already knew about.  Our intended one night stay had once again been extended through no fault of our own.

20/11/11  Ashore again at noon to meet up with Pete, Donna and kids (Orono) with whom Leah had been staying since our arrival.  After lunch together, they all went off to ten-pin bowling while I had a wander around the shops.  Some shopkeepers said I may be able to get a battery for my laptop at Karamunsing, but a later visit there proved fruitless - it would have to be ordered, with a delivery time of Wednesday or Thursday - and the bus conductor on the return journey was a rip-off merchant, overcharging greatly, which angered me immensely.  I don't like Kota Kinabalu!  There isn't even any mobile phone internet connection despite this being the capital of Sabah.

21/11/11  I went by bus to Inanam and spent an hour or so looking for the Toshiba Service Centre where I ordered a new laptop battery to be delivered from Kuala Lumpur

22/11/11  A boring day doing practically nothing except waiting around for parts!  Roger paid a visit to the Doctor's to get treatment for his painful foot - it seems he's been bitten by something and it has now become infected.  Henry joined Storm Dodger as crew for a week or so.   A late afternoon call from Sue in the Toshiba Service Centre told me that my battery had arrived in Inanam.  Now that was a quick service!

23/11/11  Roger, the kids and Henry went into town this morning while Astrid and I caught the bus to Inanam to collect my laptop battery.  We then returned to town and went to the Doctor's because of a recurring hearing problem I have in my right ear - he said I had a temperature and that the constriction of my throat was causing the ear canal to close down as well.  Anyway, I came away with a bunch of antibiotics to take for the next week (6 tablets a day......I'll rattle!)  We then caught another bus out to Karamunsing and wandered around the shops there until finally getting a call from Jesselton Engineering saying my exhaust pipe would not be ready until tomorrow.  We then returned to the boats.

24/11/11  Again caught the bus to Inanam and picked up my newly fabricated water injection exhaust elbow.  I don't know how long this will last but I will try to obtain another from the UK as soon as possible.  My main worry  now is similar to every car drivers problem - on a three section car exhaust, when you replace one section the next in line usually fails shortly afterward!  That for me would be a huge problem as the next sections would be totally inaccessible without first removing the engine, gearbox and propeller shaft from the boat.  Roger again went to the doctor about his foot which is getting no better, in fact it's getting worse, and he was referred to the hospital for further examination and treatment.

25/11/11  Roger's foot problem is a fungus with bacterial infection.....so the hospital say!  Anyway, he has more medication to take and potions to rub in.  Today was a bit of a rush,  I fitted the water injection elbow at 6am this morning, tested for leaks etc and then went ashore to do some shopping, get some dinghy glue and exchange money for Filipino Pesos before coming back to the boat, deflating and stowing the dinghy, putting shopping away and generally tidying the boat for sea.  We weighed anchor at 4pm and made the short trip out to Palau Gaya where Roger anchored on the leeward side for the night, and I rafted up alongside.

26/11/11  Cast off around 0830 and made our way around the western tip of the island before setting course in a north-easterly direction.  As the wind was either from the north or north east, it was mostly motor sailing again but I did get some pure sailing in as well, making reasonable progress in a later, rather lumpy sea.  The new exhaust elbow seems to be doing well, and as yet there are no signs of any leaks from it.  We arrived in the bay of Teluk Usucan at 1600 and anchored in about 7 metres.  It isn't a very picturesque bay, there is a lot of road construction going on in the small hamlet and only one other boat is anchored here.  BBQ onboard Storm Dodger in the evening.  The photo is looking in a general easterly direction over Pulau Sapangar toward Mount Nonohan in the distance. 

27/11/11  In the engine compartment early this morning to change the gearbox oil in accordance with the manual -change after the first 25 hours use (I've actually done 30 hours), then breakfast and weigh anchor at 0900, making my way out of the bay and again setting a course northward to White Rocks.  Later on, we changed our minds and altered course to go further out to sea and anchor in the Mantanani Islands.  Of course the wind backed northerly and was right on our nose!  Combined with a boisterous sea and 1.5 metre waves, the going was a little slow and it wasn't until 1445 that we anchored off Pulau Mantanini Besar.  Unfortunately, it's a rocky bottom and I hate that........the sound of anchor chain dragging across rocks all night!

28/11/11  As feared - an awful night of anchor chain noises, scraping and banging as it dragged across the rocky bottom, keeping me awake for the entire night.  I guess I got about an hour of sleep in total, made up of five or ten minute periods!  The morning didn't start off well either.....I weighed anchor at 0745, and that was a struggle to get up.  Then a few minutes later, as I hoisted the mainsail, three-quarters of the way up, it jammed!  The main halyard was twisted around an unused bracket close to the mast head, so I had to drop the sail again and circle downwind until it freed itself.  I then turned into wind again and hoisted the whole sail, only to then find that the shackle connecting the boom and mainsheet had parted, so I once again had to lower the sail.  After fitting a new shackle, I was finally able to hoist sail again and set my course northward.  Again the wind was on the nose (is this the Mediterranean?) so even though the engine was still running, I had to tack to make any forwards progress in the rough seas.  At 1500 I eventually dropped anchor again in the bay at Tiga Bangau - this time in mud, and although some swell comes into the bay causing fairly big surfing rollers on the beach, and the boat to roll somewhat, at least I would get a decent sleep.  When Storm Dodger anchored close by, Roger went to bed feeling unwell, his foot is getting no better.

29/11/11  Away again at 0730 and by 0900 we were rounding the lighthouse on Pulau Kalampunian which marks the northern tip of Borneo.  Once again the wind was dead ahead and I had to drop the sail and motor down the eastern coast to drop anchor in Murudo Bay, Kudat just after 1300.  The bay was, in the early 1800's, renown for pirate activities.  Here we said our goodbyes to Henry after his week of sailing with Roger and Astrid, as he was going off to explore more of Borneo.

30/11/11  Went over to Storm Dodger this morning to help Roger with a generator problem which involves removal of the pulley on the front of the crankshaft.  No matter what we did, neither of us could get the securing bolt to move, and we broke a torque wrench and bent a half inch steel bar in the trying.  We will have to make another, stronger tool to get the bolt undone.  Later went into town to draw money at the bank  (a right performance that was) and to get fresh bread and although I nagged him to seek out the hospital about his foot (the inflammation is spreading up his shin), we returned to the boats without doing so.     

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