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01/11/15  Decided to give Paul a hand taking 'Plu' a 53 foot power catamaran from Labuan to Johor Bahru in a few days time.

02/11/15  Spent the day with Paul on Plu, trying to fix a few problems with both the autopilot and the windlass.

03/11/15  A quick course on capacitors, courtesy of Mr Google before stripping down the windlass on Plu, which was 'clicking' but not doing much else.  Discovered the centrifugal switch had been arcing and was stuck in the open position.  Once we had fixed that, the windlass worked fine.

04/11/15  Ana arrived from KK and would come with Paul, Merissa and I on the delivery to Johor.

09/11/15  We did our last minute packing of things needed for the trip to JB and made our way over to C dock and 'Plu'.  With everything ready, we slipped the marina at 0700 and made our way toward Brunei, the port engine smoking somewhat and sounding a little rough but eventually settling down and running well.  Plans to enter Muara and stay overnight were abandoned and we motored down the coast toward Jerudong.  Thoughts of going into the harbour there to clean the props and waterline were also abandoned and we continued toward Miri, passing there about 7pm.  Now, whoever thought of putting tinted glass in the wheelhouse windows obviously never did any night sailing because visibility at night is almost nil, and our night watches would be up on the fly bridge in the open air.

11/011/15  An early morning noise disturbed my 'off watch' sleep, sounding like heavy rain pounding on the roof - this proved to be the bearing disintegrating on the stbd engine fresh water pump!  With the engine shut down, we made slow progress on the port engine alone, changing course toward Kuching and arriving off the river entrance about midnight, anchoring between island and mainland in the dark........not recommended with some unlit and unmarked hazards in the anchorage.

12/11/15  Up early to the realisation that we had dragged about a hundred metres during the night - probably my fault as unfamiliar with Plu's anchoring and not knowing how much chain had gone out!   Made our way upriver to Kuching marina, Paul and Merissa going ashore to seek out an engineering company capable of pressing impellers and bearings.  On their return around 8pm, the pump had new bearings and seals fitted.

13/11/15  Refitted the pump to stbd engine and tested it - all good.  Decided to stay in the marina another day and the four of us went into town and spend the day looking around.  I bought a new Dremel as a year of searching my boat has proved fruitless and I can only now assume that mine was stolen from the boat.

14/11/15  Slipped 4.30 and made our way down river, dawn breaking as we rounded the point and increased speed toward "turtle island".  The steering is awful on this boat, we have had no autopilot since leaving and the wheel has almost a full turn of 'dead ground' before it goes stiff and actually activates the rudders.  Maintaining a good course is all but impossible and needs constant attention.  Arrived at Pulau Telang Telang Besar about 1pm and dropped the pick in 6 metres.......this time dropping all of the chain!!  Paul went over the side and cleaned the props and a little of the waterline growth

15/11/15  Weighed anchor early and put to sea in the dark, setting course for Singapore and Johor Bahru.

17/11/15 We must have made up some time for we arrived in the Singapore shipping lanes about 4 hours earlier than anticipated......at 2am in the morning, and Murphy's Law kicked in by producing a vicious squall just when we did not need it!  Crossing the busy lanes in heavy rain and 30+ knots of wind with tinted windows was a nightmare and either I or Paul were continually going on deck on the fly bridge to check shipping and direction.  Eventually we were safely in Johor Straits and heading for Senibong Cove Marina on the Johor coast opposite Sembawang Shipyard.  The marina is new, someway out of town but clean, well provided and secure.

 

21/11/15  After a few days of shopping and wandering around Johor Bahru, Ana and I got a taxi to the centre and caught a bus to the airport for our flight back.  A short flight to Kuala Lumpur, 4 hours in the airport there and a connecting flight to Labuan, arriving back onboard Rhumb Do around 10.30 in the evening.

 

 

22/11/15  There are a couple of newly arrived boats in the marina, one being Freedom V........old friends Amelia and Gilles, so good to see them again!

24/11/15  I put my new Dremel to use!  Took down the saloon curtains and using the small grinder, ground away parts of the screw heads that had been jamming the curtain rail runners ever since Turkey!

27/11/15  Early morning trip to the market for veggies and chicken.  The boys from Brunei - Barry, Paul, Donald, Alizan, Precious and 3 others arrived on their weekly trip over from Serasa.  A blocked shower drain pipe caused a few problems today but managed to clear it eventually.

29/11/15  Ana and I went to ferry terminal at 0800 and (eventually) got a speedboat to Menumbok where we got the last two seats on the 1000 bus to KK.  We were going there to attend a birthday party tomorrow night.  On arrival in KK, we had something to eat and then went to her Gran's house where I started to feel unwell.........

30/11/115  Great!  2 nights in hotel and I am down with food poisoning, can't stop vomiting and paying numerous visits to the loo!!  It's hot and my body temperature is very high yet I am constantly shivering.  Oh well, can only get better!

 

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