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01/01/25 Weds.
03/01/25 Fri. We've had a couple of days of weak sunshine - it's still hot though and a little battery power has been added. We didn't do anything special for NYE, watched the Sydney Harbour fireworks and then the local ones here (3 hours later) and then the London ones the next morning.
06/01/25 The cruise ship MS Noordam is back in for the day, this time on a 28 day round trip from Singapore - Philippines - PNG - Cairns - Singapore.
08/01/25 Weds. Had a haircut this morning on the aft deck and while returning to the cockpit I somehow took a chunk out of my forearm! I only realised when the cockpit seat was covered in blood and I never felt anything and have no idea how I did it - no sense, no feeling!. It's a perfectly round piece of skin and flesh about 1.5cm in diameter and looked like an opened can of food.
12/01/25 Sun. Another cruise ship in today, this time the AidaStella on a 21 day round trip from Bangkok and return. Had one of the local boys clean the underwater area of the hull this morning in preparation for leaving but somehow I think we are going to have to extend my visa again as the weather isn't looking good. According to the Windy App we have increasing winds each day (currently 25-30 knts) and 2-3 metre seas, so I don't fancy a rough ride down to Kudat. We will have to see how it goes over the next few days.
13/01/25 Mon. Still no change to the weather forecast, looks very much like our planned Wednesday departure will have to be put on hold.
16/01/25 Thurs. The cruise ship Norwegian Sky came in for the day. The weather is getting better and we decided that we could sail on Saturday or Sunday morning, and with that in mind we went off to the Immigration to start the procedure for check out. Plans came unravelled in the office because I have to get an exit visa (police check) which takes 3 working days and wouldn't be done until next Tuesday. Anyway, nothing can be done about that, so I gave them 3 mug shots and inked my fingerprints to start the process. We will go to Quarantine on Monday and get that done and Tuesday we can go to Immigration again and get Customs to come to the boat.
20/01/25 Mon. Went to Quarantine with Kel, Diane and Stuart and we all checked out there, Ana and I cannot do anymore until tomorrow but the others got Customs out and cleared out.
21/01/25 Tues. This morning we went to Immigration and cleared out, Customs came to the boat about 3pm, so the plan is to leave tomorrow morning and head to Rasa Island. The other two boats, Hotspot and Angel Witch have already left.
22/01/25 Weds. We were to leave at 0630 but I discovered two broken wires at the front of the engine, One was for the glow plugs and the other for the temperature sender. That took an hour to fix and it was 0730 before we cast off the mooring lines. On clearing the channel, we experienced 25-30 knt winds and 3 metre seas with 5 second intervals ........so much for the forecast of 7 knts and 0.6 metre seas! As we are only a small boat of 35 feet and 8 tons, we were tossed around like a cork in a washing machine and decided to abandon the plans to reach Rasa Island. At 1330 we anchored in the lee of Malanao Island, I was covered in bruises and minor cuts from standing at the wheel the whole trip as the wheel pilot could not handle such rough conditions.
23/01/25 Thurs. Not much change in the weather this morning so we decided to remain at anchor for the day.
24/01/25 Fri. The weather was a little better this morning so we weighed anchor at 0730 and made our way to Rasa Island where we once again anchored in the lee of the island at 1100.
25/01/25 Sat. Weighed anchor at in F2 winds and made our way to San Antonio Bay. The swell was 0.7 metres so it wasn't too bad a trip today and we anchored at 1830. Unknowingly, we passed Hotspot and Angel Witch at Brookes Point, they obviously do not have their AIS turned on as they never showed up on ours.
26/01/25 Sun. Off again at 0630 in moderate winds and swell. Close to Balabac, I was toying with the idea of continuing through the night across the Straits to Balambangan as the weather looks as if it will get worse over the next few days, and I don't relish the thought of being trapped in Balabac. However, Ana wanted to stop, so we entered the bay and anchored at 1630. We are sheltered from the winds but not the sea, so it was a rolly night!
27/01/25 Mon. According to the Windy App, which I now take with a pinch of salt, today is the last chance for us to cross the Straits, so we pulled up the anchor at 0645 and motored out of the bay. Outside it was blowing northerly F5 which obviously gave us a somewhat bouncy passage as I hugged the coast as far south as possible before cutting across the shipping lanes and setting course for Balambangan. It wasn't too bad once in the Straits although we didn't see any dolphins on this occasion. We anchored in Balambangan, still with F5 blowing, at 1530. The island is low lying and therefore there is no protection from the winds but good shelter from the seas which is good for a fairly peaceful night.
28/01/25 Tues. A later start than usual as we were watching the weather. Weighed anchor at 0830 and immediately ran into F5 winds. Once clear of the southern ends of the islands, the wind went to F6 and the rain started! It isn't too far to Kudat, so we continued rolling along and entered the pond at Kudat at 1330 where we rafted up to Shelley once more. I think both Ana and I are glad this particular trip from PP is over!
31/01/25 Fri We've been ashore with Craig and Josephine a couple of times, doing laundry and getting shopping etc. It has been, or is, the middle of the Chinese New Year celebrations so all government offices are closed and we will be unable to check in until Monday.
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