Never trust the moorings in Tioman

After a whole day of frolicking at Tulai Bay, the girls, Asyrani and myself left it at sunset only to face a storm coming from the West-Southwest direction.

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.

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.

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.

The Odin crew's task was to tilt the boat by keeping tension on the halyard tied to the mast

Two lines attached to the port and starboard bow cleats were thrown to the two Cabana boats. At the same time the halyard on the mast was handed to the inflatable from Odin to keep the boat heeling to the side as much as she could to lift the keel from the sand. The rest of the people exerted their weights on the port side of the boat, to aid the heeling. Slowly but surely, Relax Lah started to break free. It took a good 15 minutes and a few bumps on the rocks and she was free.

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!

Aur and Beyond

There is not that many places you can visit that boast to be the farthest* island from mainland peninsular Malaysia.

The route we took captured by the GPS

This trip brought Relax Lah and its crew to two of the most spectacular islands we have seen yet in the Tioman archipelago.  Pulau Aur is located 45 nautical miles Southeast of Tioman. Pulau Pemanggil lies midway between these two bigger islands.

 We left Tekek Marina, Tioman right after fajr on Sunday with the ebbing tide.  This gave us the opportunity to watch the spectacular sunrise over the eastern horizon as we left the Southern tip of Tioman. The Northeastern monsoon seemed to have died down and we motor-sailed with the aid of the Southerly-Southeastern wind.

We were helped by South-Southeastern winds

We reached  Kandor Bay on the east side of Pemanggil around noon. Since the settlements and resorts on Pemanggil are located in the West and Southwest side, we had the whole Eastern side to ourselves.

Some of the crew badly needed a refresher course on inflatable rowing

The sandbank in the middle of the Bay plus the gradual slope of the beach made it a challenge to anchor close to the beach. We secured Relax Lah at a mooring buoy further out in the South side of the Bay.
Then we took the inflatable and found a landing spot. The narrow beach was littered with huge granite rocks, some forming natural shelter. These rocks can be seen all the way up the hilly Eastern slope of Pemanggil.





We made camp and spent the afternoon snorkelling and enjoying the food we brought. At low tide we hiked up the rock ridden hills to explore the other side of the bay. We didn't get far. The hills are too steep and the rocks unaccessible, for us at least. Sunset saw us around the campfire.

After lunch siesta

Sunset by the campfire

Free diving at the wreck at Telok Kandor, Pemanggil

The next morning we explored a pre WW1 wreck* north side of the bay. At low water, the wreck was under less than 5m of water. This made it possible for us to explore it just by snorkelling and free diving.

The initial approach is shown here by the red arrow. X mark the spots that the engine died and had to be re-started. Yellow arrow shows the alternate route taken.

Batu Berhala, lords over the entrance to Dayang Straits

We left Pemanggil that morning and continued Southeast. By noon we reached Aur. From Pemanggil, the approach to the Jetty at the main village on Pulau Aur is straight line through the gap between Pulau Dayang and Pulau Lang. Batu Berhala, that sits on top of the Aur village looks over this gap like a hawk. We tried this route two times. In both instances the engine turned off when we reached the middle of the gap. It seemed that at that particular moment during the rising tide, water was flowing from the North of the Dayang channel southwards. Strong current was coming thru the gap Dayang-Lang gap and caused my  15hp engine to stall. In the third attempt, we rounded pulau Lang and came thru the back.

What awaited us at Aur

We spent the afternoon frolicking on Pulau Aur. Got lunch, had a good swim, got our supply of kretek cigarettes and before sundown we were on our way back to Tekek.

Island? What island? I don't see any island.

Footnote:

1. The distance between Pulau Aur and Pulau Jemaja in the Indonesian Anambas archipelago is 80 nautical miles. Interestingly, Indonesia staked a claim to Pulau Jemaju and the Anambas Islands only in 1956. Prior to that, it is documented that Jemaja had close relations to the British and the Johor Sultanate.

2. Nothing much was documented regarding the wreck. Some say the ship en route to Thailand with its cargo of maize and tamarind smashed onto the rocks in Kandor Bay and sank instantlyin 1966. Some say it is a pre-WW1 wreck.

3. Aur and Pemanggil have always been a stop over place for weary fishermen and merchant sailors. There are stories about these islands being used as a pirates' den. These are evident in the wrecks found in the waters off Pemanggil and Aur. It is also documented that the waters off Aur was witness to the encounter between the British East India fleet with the French Napoleonic fleet in Feb 1804.

Sticky Boat Bottoms

Last weekend, after a hiatus of five months we saw Relax Lah again. This was not the first time we left Relax Lah at the mercy of the elements in Tioman during the monsson season. Its the second. Things happen when you leave a boat. Parts come off, batteries go flat, decks get mouldy, engines stall, metals get rusty, plastics and wood get brittle and peel offs. A glance at the rudder and a quick dip underneath the boat showed a layer of shells and barnacles that need to be scrapped off. In addition to reducing the drag on the boat speed caused by them, it also avoids permanent damage on the body of the boat.

It has been two years that I moved the boat from Sebana Cove to Tioman. The difference between these two places is Sebana Cove is located upstream of the freshwater River Sebina whereas Tioman sits in the middle of the South China Seas. Its common knowledge that barnacles natural habitat is in saltwater and have a snowball's chance in hell to survive in fresh water.

Rahman got the ball rolling by clearing the rudder and the sides just beneath the waterline. Armed with a life vest and scraper, it took him a good part of Saturday afternoon to clear these areas of barnacles and shells.

Myself, I was trying to clear areas underneath the hull and the keel. Took my vest off and did a free dive down to have a look. The hull was relatively clear of growth, compared to to the rudder. But the keel was almost covered, especially the posterior surface. In order to chip away at the growth, I had to take a deep breath, jump in, take a few stabs at either at scraping or hammering at the buildup and come up to the surface for air. All these happened in a space of one and a half minutes. After doing this for what seems like an eternity and with little to show for it, I decided that this wasn't going to work.

Next day, I started afresh by renting a set of scuba diving equipment. That gave me a good hour underwater to complete the task (almost).

So here it is, a low down on barnacles and shells found in Malaysia and underneath Relax Lah!

Basically, there are three organisms that are found on hard surfaces. These are often mistaken for each other although they have distinct characteristics.


Barnacles
Teritip (Malay)

Barnacles don't move once they settle down as a tiny larvae on their chosen surface.
There is a hole at the top of the hard shell.
At low tide, the hole at the top of the shell is tightly closed by a pair of plates to reduce water loss






Limpets
Berangas (Malay)

Limpets can move around on their broad foot.
Some limpets have holes at the top of the hard shell, others do not. The hole is not closed by plates.
At low tide, they usually tightly clamp down against the surface and are difficult to dislodge.





Oysters
Tiram (Malay)

Oysters don't move once they settle down as a tiny larvae on their chosen surface.
Oysters have a two-part shell (i.e., two valves) like other clams. One valve is stuck to the rock. There is a gap between the valves.
At low tide, the valves are tightly shut to reduce water loss.

Tioman in History Books

There is this inexplicable awe that overcomes me every single time Tioman comes on the horizon. Be it in the window of the turbo prop plane decades ago, on the deck of the ferry or the bow Relax lah in my recent trips, I always feel that this majestic island in the middle of a great ocean has a story to tell. A story about all the ships that has passed by, their rich cargo and weary crew.

Maritime routes in southeast asia has not changed much with time

Located in the middle of the trade route in between China, Ryuku (Okinawa), Vietnam, Siam, Patani on one side and the Malay archipelago and west Asia on the other side, Tioman offers perfect shelter from the annual northeast monsoon winds and rain. In addition, it provides a stopover for weary sailors and a sure supply of water and wood essential for a boat after long voyages at sea.

Map showing location of Nipah, possiblly one of the earlier settlement on Tioman where significant ceramic find were made

The earliest recorded reference to the island is in the Arabic text "Akbar Al Sind Wal Hind" written sometime around 1000 AD that mentions "Then the ship travelled to a place called Betumah (Tioman) which has fresh water for anyone who desires it".

Early Chinese traders, who had a long history of trade with Nanhai, the term they used to denote the Southern Seas were also familiar with the island. In fact, Tioman was mentioned in Chinese 15th century charts used during the voyage of Admiral Zheng He, whose travel started from Beijing and reached as far West as Zanzibar and Mecca.

Ceramics collected in Nipah Bay have been identified to have origins in Korea, Sri Lanka and the coasts of Africa and America proving indeed that Tioman was for centuries actively involved in the maritime trade of Asia.

In the earliest charts published by western cartographers, Tioman appears prominently in names as such as Timao.

Chart made by Cornelius Claesz in 1595 showing Tioman (Timao) and its surrounding islands

When the Portuguese occupied Malacca in 1511, the Estado da India established a post on Tioman to look after movements of their trading vessels between Malacca and the other Portuguese colony in Macau. In a twist of irony, when the  Dutch East India company wanted to disrupt trade of Estado da India, their Portuguese rival during the decline of the latter the used Tioman as a spying post where a roaming squadron of warships would monitor trade movements between the mainland and the Malay peninsular and loot them.

Dutch phamphlet depicting the seize of Portuguese carrack Santa Catarina off Johore by Admiral Jacob Van Heemskerk who was laying in wait with his attack squadron in Tioman

In Feb 1603 Santa Catarina a Portuguese carrack loaded with riches from China, Ryuku and Macau was seized at the mouth of Johor River near nowaday Tanjung Pengelih. The Dutch squadron which intercepted Santa Catarina had been on watch a few days before in Tioman when a messenger came from Raja Kecil of Johor Lama informing them of the presence of Santa Catarina in the area.

In more recent history, Tioman and all islands to the south of it was presented by Tun Tahir of Pahang to the Temenggong of Johor for his support in the then ongoing civil war with his brother Tun Ahmad in 1862. However, in 1863, when Tun Ahmad later triumphed and became the Bendahara of Pahang, he refused to recognise this cessation. Only in 1866 Temenggong Abu Bakar of Johore agreed to cede Tioman and Seri Buat back to Pahang but the border dispute continued until 1897 when it was decided that the left bank of the Endau river belongs to Pahang and all islands north of a line drawn east from the Endau River belong to Pahang and anything in the south belong to Johore.

Tioman also saw early action in World War 2. When the Japanese landed in Songkla (Singora) Thailand on Dec 8, 1941 and continued to march south, one of the first response by the British Army was to send Force Z consisting HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse and four destroyers. These were intercepted by Japanese bombers and both ships were sunk on Dec 10, 1941 not far from Tioman with a total loss of 840 people.

Sources:
1. A ceramic legacy of Asia's Maritime trade on Tioman Island 
2. Prince of Pirates: The Temenggongs and the development of Johor and Singapore 1784 - 1885
3. Pahang Civil War - Wikipedia
4. Maritime Asia - Tioman Island

Parts of a Boat (English)

I guess it's about time for me to introduce readers to parts of a sailing boat. The above drawing, taken from the RYA Competent Crew textbook best represents what I want to share. I know it's overwhelming. Appreciate that each part of the boat has a specific name.

Two asides:
The very Malaysian terms gohed and gostan actually came from sailing lingo 'go ahead ie. go forward' and 'go astern ie. go towards the back'.

An old sea captain once told me that the terminology used for boat parts and seafaring activities reflect how far a civilisation has advanced.  For centuries, boatbuilding and seafaring activities has been at the forefront of cutting edge technology. Therefore, in his view the more exact terminology used, the more advanced a civilisation had progressed. He used this argument to promote the idea that since boating and seafaring terminology used in the West is more detailed and exacting as compared to East, Western civilisation is more advanced. Some flaws in his argument here. Firstly, having gone through a sampling of both Malay and Western literature on seafaring and boatbuilding, there is no clear distinction on which is the higher civilisation by just referring to to terminologies. In a future post, I will share the Malay terminology of boat parts and the reader would agree with me that it does not lack any details. What I find interesting is that while in general, the literature of the West is focussed on the physical aspects of the seamanship, Malay sailing literature puts emphasis on the non-physical aspects such as the relationship with natural phenomenas and the spiritual. I will elaborate more on this when  I complete my transliteration of a very old Malay manuscript on seamanship. Unfortunately, my language abilities limit my exposure to literature from other eastern civilisation.

The trip that almost never was

Moderate winds coming from Southeast

It was the long Malaysia day weekend. Edddy, Rahman and myself booked the Saturday 8am ferry from Tanjung Gemok to Tioman and the 2:30pm back on Monday. We left Bukit Antarabangsa around 1 am.

Two flat tires, a rescue operation and one missed ferry later we arrived at Tioman Island on Saturday around 5 pm. We quickly prepared Relax Lah to be sail ready for the next day.

We left Tekek Marina with the flooding tide after breakfast around 9am on Sunday. The sky was clear, the sea breeze not yet blowing. The intention was to have lunch at Pulau Tulai and proceed to Juara Beach. From there we would decide whether to spend the night or to come back to Tekek.

We motored until halfway through to Tulai, when we put up sails. At first the winds were confused. The prevailing wind was coming from the South-Southwest (SSW) direction, yet in the sheltered water of Tekek Bay pretty strong wind was coming from the North. As we ventured out, the SSW started to pick up. With 10-15 knots winds coming from our port quarter (left rear), we had speed over ground of 4 knots. From afar, we saw white caps coming.

Pulau Tulai and its white sands

We brought the sails down and motored into Pulau Tulai west Bay. (Yep, the same Bay that Relax Lah ran aground last year). We picked up a mooring line, jumped into the inflatable and rowed the 200 meters over crystal clear water to the white sandy beach of Tulai. By the time we had lunch and completed our Zuhr prayers it was 2 pm. Around 3 pm we made our way back to Relax Lah.

Relax Lah on a mooring bouy in Pulau Tulai East Bay

Just as we were leaving the sheltered area of Tulai with full main and headsail, the southerly wind hit us like a tonne of bricks. Relax Lah was heeling 30 degrees to its starboard side. It must be about F4-F5 gusts. We quickly reduced the headsail to a quarter, and put the main down by one reef.

With the wind on our back, we rode the high waves and reached the Northern-most tip of Tioman around 5:30 pm. I decided not to proceed to Juara. As always, winds were strong but came from the wrong direction. Proceeding to Juara by engine or zig zagging by sail would mean we will reach there past sunset. With Juara Bay exposed to the South-Southeast winds, anchoring in the bay would mean a rough night for us. The other option is to head South towards Tekek, and pick up a mooring bouy along the way that would be suitable for an overnight tie up.

At twilight we passed Salang Bay. It was busy, full of chalets and scuba diving schools. The few buoys available in the Bay were either occupied by scuba boats or local fishing vessels. Not sure whether it was a case of sour grapes but at that time I felt that Salang Bay is still exposed to the South-Southeast wind. Things would have very rocky over the night. We motored on.

Halfway to the next bay, Rahman stood up and said "Hey, where is the inflatable?". There was a moment of silence as we all looked back at the end of the towing line that held the inflatable to Relax Lah. I checked and found that due to the constant chaffing, the seasoned towing line gave way. Note to self: Get rid of old stuffs on the boat. These will give way at the least convenient moment. We spent about 20 minutes tracing back our track on the GPS. With the darkness setting in, the unfamiliar direction of current in that bay and the fact that the inflatable wasn't equipped with reflectors I would put the possibility of us finding the lost item much lower the the proverbial needle in a haystack. Yet, after about 15-20 minutes of re-tracing our route on the GPS, Rahman's torch landed on a distant floating object just outside an unlit bay. It was our inflatable!

Route back from Tulai

By the time we reached Air Batang Bay, it was already dark. The bay itself was well lit, but we could not see any mooring buoys.  Memories from last month's open water scuba dive is still fresh. I knew the Bay is sprinkled with coral life, so anchoring was out of the question.

Tekek Bay came next. We motored into the marina on the off chance that our berth would be available. As expected, it was occupied by a snorkeling boat from a different village. We came out and looked for mooring buoys nearby the ferry jetty.  A few buoys have already been taken. Some were available, but  were too close to what looked like a scuba boat doing a night dive. I decided to stay clear of the boat and asked Eddie and Rahman to throw the anchor overboard. It was an ebbing tide and we were at 4 meters depth. When the anchor settled (or so we thought), I asked the crew to lift it back onboard as I was not comfortable with the distance we had with the other boats.

It turns out that the anchor line was fouled! Try as we may, we could not get the anchor back on board. Since the boat wasn't going anywhere, we decided to call it a night and get some rest. I slept in the cabin while Eddy and Rahman chose to sleep in the cockpit underneath a clear sky.

We woke up early the next morning. In order to catch the 2:30pm ferry, we had to clean up the the boat and tie it up at the marina by noon. Then we would have to check out from our lodging, get some lunch and rush to the ferry jetty. But first the anchor. Around 9:30am, when the water level was at 4.5 meters on an ebbing tide, I jumped into the crystal clear water to find out what happened to the anchor line. It turns out that the line was fouled around a disused concrete base for a mooring bouy. It took me about half an hour and five attempts before I finally figured out that I needed to keep calm in order have enough time underwater to yank the chain out from underneath.

The fouled anchor line and chain around a mooring block

We quickly brought the boat back to Tekek Marina. Made it just in time for the ferry back to Tanjung
Gemok.

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.

Our Journey Tracker