Sailing Asia

I finished work in April of 2007 and decided to pack up my belongings and move to Asia. I initially spent 3 months in the Philippines before moving on to Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong I met an English Lawyer Andrew who had been living there for the past 10 years. He has a Tayana 55' named Sirius that was presently located in the Philippines. He was planning on sailing it to Langkawi in Malaysia. We agreed that I would join them in Boracay, Philippines and spend 1 month with them. Just 2 days prior to arriving in Boracay a bad typhoon (Typhoon Fengshen or Frank) hit the Philippines and sunk a ferry (Princess of the Stars) carrying more than 800 passengers. This was less than 40 NM from Boracay. My concerns for Andrew and his family were relieved when I received an email from him and they had found shelter in Coron Bay.

It wasn't hard to put up with Boracay while waiting for Sirius to arrive.

When they arrived we reloaded the pantry, water, diesel and set sail. We sailed across to Palawan, going via Busuanga, Coron, Culion and eventually to Puerto Princessa. The sailing and the waters around northern Palawan and particularly Coron and Culion were magical. I loved this place. It is a sailors paradise.

Andrew and I enjoying celebratory coconut milk on arriving in Culion. We added a little of the local Tanduay Rum to improve the flavour.

We made a few stops along the way, but usually only for a day. In Puerta Princessa we stayed for 3 or 4 days and enjoyed the hospitality of the Abanico Yacht Club there.

Sirius at anchor

Me enjoying some shade while sailing under spinnaker

From Puerta Princessa we sailed on down to the tip of Borneo, Malaysia. We went around to Kudat and spent a few more days there than expected because a storm blew up and prevented us from sailing south from the tip of Borneo. We tried but were making no headway into strong headwinds so turned back to Kudat. When we eventually got around the tip and made our way towards Kota Kinabalu we hit the worst storm I have suffered at sea. Luckilly we had offloaded Carolyn and the children in Kudat. On board were Andrew and myself, and also Jane, an English girl who had joined us in Puerta Princessa. During the storm, Jane spent her time violently ill while Andrew and I managed to ride the storm. We were so thankful to eventually sail into a small bay and get some relief, however the entrance seemed to never end as were being knocked about by heavy rolling waves in the pitch black of the night. We couldnt have done it without the aid of the radar and the chart plotter. We were all exhausted when we finally anchored. We stayed there the next day to recover.

Mount Kinabalu in the background as we approach Kota Kinabalu.

View of the Marina from Sutera Harbour.

We arrived in Kota Kinabalu 2 days later. We spent almost a week there at Sutera Harbour, the most beautiful Marina I have seen. Actually the boat and Andrew and Carolyn (Carolyn had arrived by road a few days earlier) stayed in Kota Kinabalu while Jane flew off to do some diving on the other side of the peninsula and I flew to Sandakan to visit one of my friends from the Philippines who happened to be working there.

When we arrived back a few days later we set sail again for Kuching in Sarawak, Malaysia. I spent a day or two in Kuching itself while the rest stayed on board Sirius. When we set sail for Singapore, Carolyn and the children decided to fly as it was a long hop across the south China Sea. We had an uneventful trip across to Singapore except for the last night was a little stormy as we entered the very busy waters of the Singapore Straight. It was a great feeling to get to Singapore and we moored in the One 15 Marina in Sentosa Cove, also a very beautiful Marina. This is where I left Sirius, Andrew and Carolyn and Jane. I had been aboard 2 months and 1 week. It was a fantastic experience and one I will never forget. Thanks so much to Carolyn and Andrew for inviting me.

One of the resorts near Kuching


I returned to Hong Kong and spent another month or so there waiting on God to lead me. Through my church in Hong Kong (ICA, International Christian Assembly) I heard about a School in China urgently seeking an English Teacher. I was to be employed by a group of Chinese Christians from Hong Kong to teach at the school which is about 7 hours by bus from Hong Kong. I would be teaching English and also sharing my Christian faith.

I am now living about 40 klm from Mei Zhou Shi, Guangdong Province, China and teaching English. It is a new experience and despite the cold, I love it. Another Blog to come soon.