By the time we reached Tioman shores it was close to 9pm. We followed the shoreline westwards and once we got to the Cabana chalets we started looking for mooring spots. Three boats were already tied to the mooring buoys (or anchored) nearby. It was dark but we managed to find a bouy closest to the shore. Since it was already low tide and we had the required height clearance, there was no worry that we would be grounded. As soon as we could tidy up Relax-Lah from the mess created in the cabin and cockpit by the storm, we rowed to shore in the inflatable. It took us about 10 minutes before the inflatable touched bottom on the sandy beach.
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| Textbook Approach to a Mooring Bouy |
We had dinner at the Cabana cantina overlooking the Bay with the facade of Relax-Lah in the background, recognisable by the anchor lights we left on-board. Weary of the day's adventure, we retired to our chalets close to midnight.
I woke up close to 7am for my morning prayers. Looked out the window of my chalet and there she was, Relax-Lah basking in the sunrise looking as glorious as ever. The tide was coming in. As there was still some time before breakfast, I went back to sleep. I woke up at 9am, looked out the same window lo and behold, there was no Relax-Lah!
I did a quick scan of the horizon and could not see her. Inexplicably, I made my way to the Tekek Marina which was a 10-minutes walk away on the north end of the Bay, perhaps hoping that someone was playing a prank and have moved Relax Lah to her parking spot at the marina. Alas, that turned out to be pure wishful thinking. I ran back to Cabana. From the south end of the bay I saw a gleaming white silhouette. As I walked the half mile to get there, the emerging image put my worries to rest. It was the Relax Lay that was laying at the end of the Bay.
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| The distance Relax Lah drifted was close to a mile |
It seemed that the mooring line broke during high water around 9am. The mooring bouy and some part of the mooring line was still attached to the bow cleat on Relax Lah. She then drifted with the outgoing tide. I jumped on board and immediately put the engine into reverse. Nothing.
As it was already close to two hours past high tide when I found her, a quick look underwater showed that the keel was rested on the sand bottom. I let the boom out and hung out by the side. This should make her lean on one side and get her keel off the ground. When I put the engine in reverse, nothing happened.
Due to the receding water level, Relax Lah was now leaning slightly on its port side with its mast pointing towards the sand dunes on the shore side.
At this point I had a few considerations. By my estimation, the tide was already too low to hope for a tow or a push into deeper waters so I was resigned to mounting a rescue operation when the tide comes back in in about 10 hours around 9 pm. My main worry was firstly to prevent her from drifting towards shallower water than she already was. For this I took out the anchor and buried it as far as I could in deeper water. And my second worry was to avoid the mast getting crushed against the sand dunes or rocks on the beach when she lands on her side on the dry beach.
Meanwhile, help started to arrive. Asyrani my nephew came. Some people came from the nearby resort. A couple of inflatables also arrived from nearby anchored sailboats. Then two boats came from Cabana resort. It was decided to proceed with the tow.
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| The Odin crew's task was to tilt the boat by keeping tension on the halyard tied to the mast |
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| The two Cabana boats pulled on the tow lines |
This success overwhelmed me. I was and will forever be grateful that Relax Lah did not end up on the rocks or worse as a ghost ship floating somewhere between Tioman and China. I was touched by the unexpected help I got from all these strangers.
As always, there are lessons to be learned from this experience. The main one being never trust the moorings in Tioman!
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