Tioman-Seri Buat-Rawa-Tioman

When I left Relax Lah at the Tekek Marina in Tioman last October (2017), I had no idea that the next time I’d see it again would be nine months later.  The intention was to sit out the north east monsoon and reunite with her in March when the conditions would be right again. But as the saying goes…the best laid plans of mice and men often goes awry. March and April came and went. First I was too busy with work. Then Eddy got baby Seri. Finally as we were preparing to enjoy the long awaited sail in Tioman waters, I got news from the boat minder in Tioman that my outboard engine was held at the island’s police station due to a botched robbery. I’ll write more about that in a later post.

So here we were, Eddy and me in Aug ready to set sail. We prepped Relax Lah for a weekend’s sail. Put the sails up, put the inflatable in tow. The weather was sunny. Wind was blowing from the south – southeast direction at 8-10 knots. Where to go?

Weather Forecast for the weekend

In the southwest lies Pulau Seri Buat and surrounding islands close to Mersing about 29 nautical miles (nm) from Tioman. 17nm in the southwest lies Pulau Pemanggil. Both were not ideal destinations considering the wind direction.

We left with the rising tide. Out the marina and turned right, with the wind on our port beam (perpendicular to the side) we sailed southwest.

By 4pm we arrived at the narrow straits between Pulau Sembilang and Pulau Seri Buat. At its widest point, this body of water is about a mile wide. However, it is too shallow for Relax Lah or any boat with a keel to pass through. We looked for a mooring buoy to tie up for the night. There were a few available. I put on my snorkeling gear and jumped in. Three hours before low water (LW-3), the depth gauge on Relax Lah was showing a height of 5 meters. I reckon by LW, we will have about 0.5 meters clearance between our keel and the reef and big rocks underneath. (Incidentally, as I as looking under the water line, I saw a Ramora fish feeding off Relax Lah’s keel). Since wind was coming from the south-southwest at that time, we decided that these mooring buoys leave us exposed. Tying up on these buoys will mean a rocky sleepless night for us.

Late lunch between Pulau Seri Buat and Pulau Sembilang

So we motored clockwise around the Pulau Sembilang with the intention of finding a good mooring or anchoring spot that could shield us from winds from the south. As we went halfway up the western rocky cliffs of the island, it became apparent that the waves were getting bigger from wind coming from the north!  Therefore when we come around to the northern opening between Pulau Sembilang and Pulau Seri Buat about 6pm we found that it was exposed to a much stronger wind than the initial mooring spot we had in the south! We went as far into the straits as we could to see if we could get protection from the wind, meanwhile the depth reader went drastically from 6 meters to 3, 2, 1 meters. The north-northwest wind was still blowing strong on us. Then we touched bottom and immediately turned around. We came to the conclusion that the north side of the strait was also too exposed. We went back to the south side completing our circumnavigation of these two islands. By the time we found a good spot to anchor, it was already 9 pm. Although we were on the side of the island protected from the northwest wind, we still had a rough night. Maybe some of the wind coming through the straits is refracted to our location.

Pulau Rawa from our mooring buoy

At daybreak on Sunday we picked up anchor and sail South West towards the group of islands near Mersing.

With the wind on our port side beam, and the predictable track of 5 knots we rounded the southern end of Pulau Rawa and picked up a mooring buoy around lunchtime. For those who haven’t been, the beauty of Pulau Rawa cannot be described with words. I thought Pulau Tioman and Pulau Tulai were beautiful. But Rawa brought it to another level altogether.

We rowed the inflatable onshore and had lunch at the Pulau Rawa Resort and rested. I had promised Eddy a night sail so we waited for the sun to go down. As we waited, the eastern sky grew dark and we heard the sound of thunder getting louder and louder. Soon Pulau Rawa was overcome by the thunderstorm. When it subsided and we rowed back to Relax Lah. It was almost midnight when we put up sail. Tioman was about 20 miles away. With a good 10 knots wind on my starboard beam I was expecting to arrive in Tekek by dawn.

Thunderstorm approaches Pulau Rawa from the East (Mersing). Relax Lah on her mooring

It was almost 7 am when we reached Tekek. We picked up a mooring near the ferry jetty. Onshore winds were too strong to bring Relax Lah into her berth in the marina so we took the time  to clean up the boat. We left on the 2:30pm ferry to Tanjung Gemok that afternoon.

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