The North East Monsoon hits the East Coast of Malaysia hard between December and April every year. Winds can go up to 20-30 knots making waves up to 3-4 meters. Traditionally fishermen on the Malaysian East Cost avoid going to sea during this period, taking this down time to mend their boats and nets.
My plan was simple enough. Get a crew to help me catch the tail end of this monsoon to sail Relax Lah from Sebana Cove to Tioman. Meet up with the family and spend the school holidays snorkeling and sailing. Spend the week after on the boat with friends. And sail Relax Lah back to Sebana.
Being ‘in-between projects’, I have had time to plan this trip. I have readied the boat with new GPS, Radar Deflector, Solar Panel and even a new engine. I have looked at the charts countless times and worried about the weather forecast more than I care to remember.
It was never going to be easy. First it was impossible for me to gather a crew for the delivery to Tioman. The usual suspects all had usual excuses. I thought then it would be a perfect opportunity for me to do the delivery with my two girls, Qurrata Ain (17) and Rayhana (14).
We left Sebana at 4 am on the Tuesday. The first leg was supposed to be a 74 nm upwind sail from Sebana to Pulau Sibu. This part of the journey presents a unique challenge. Between Sebana and Pulau Sibu, there will be no protection against the North Easterly winds and waves. Only when we reach Pulau Sibu will we be sheltered from the elements. We would anchor for the night and resume the next morning with a beam reach for the remaining 30 nm from Pulau Sibu to Tioman.
About 10 in the morning we rounded Pulau Lima at the southern tip of Johore and entered the South China Sea heading North. With the sails up and the engine off, we were cruising between 5-6 kts, exactly as planned.
The next few hours were uneventful. We all had a good laugh when a fish flew off the water, hit the cabin roof and fell over the other side. Slowly but steadily we were moving north, leaving Punggai, Penawar and Kota Tinggi behind us. There were loads of fishing nets strung across these bays, marked by lines of bouys with flags.
By now, the tide has turned south. And white caps were slowly filling up the horizon, a sign that winds were picking up. I took a reef in, reducing the sail area in order to reduce heeling to the side. Soon after 2pm, the waves became bigger. The combination of tide, waves and wind coming from our bow meant that we were barely moving forward. To maintain progress, I put the engine on. Yet with engine and sail we were doing 2 knots on the ground.
Around 4 pm, about 10 miles from Jason Bay (Sedili), there was a loud crash coming from the transom. Lo and behold, the outboard engine, although still functioning was almost fully under water. Upon inspection we discovered that one of the brackets on the mount holding the engine gave way no doubt due to the battering of the waves. I lifted the engine and with the help of the girls managed to prop it up using what is remaining of the mount, and a steel chain. With this crippled engine, we were making no headway at all. We were getting pushed into the bay and closer to the shore where the waves were yet bigger. I put out the headsail and the main sail hoping to limp forward and find refuge from the wind and tide at Jason Bay.
Alas, after struggling for one hour to get some traction north or east it was apparent that the only direction we could move was south.
I made a decision and briefed the crew that we were heading back to Sebana. This would mean we would trace our tracks back to where we began that day. At this point, we have sailed twelve hours, and would have to continue twelve more.
Getting back to Sebana, with the wind, wave and tide behind us was a smooth ride. With the engine turned off and secured above water level with an iron chain, we were doing 8 knots very comfortably.
Still on sail, we rounded Pulau Lima slightly past sunset hugging the coast in order to avoid the heavy traffic into Singapore Port. Again we had fish jumping into the cockpit and this time it got stuck so I had to throw it back into the sea.
When we entered the anchorage area off Teluk Ramunia we dodged the parked ships using sail. By now we were sailing for almost 20 hours. The half moon, stars and those ships with their anchor light a spectacular sight by any measure escaped us, we were too exhausted.
Around 2 am we entered Sungai Santi. The 45 minutes in river ride, this time took us 2 hours with the crippled engine. We came into our berth in Sebana close to 4 am, drained. The whole family then took the 5 pm ferry to Tioman, from Mersing.
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