DRAGGING ANCHOR, SQUALLS AND SAIL DAMAGE

30 June 2024

I arrived at Kuching on a Friday afternoon, too late to start the clearing inwards process.  However, the Harbour Master’s office was advertised as being open on Saturday until noon.  As this is my check in port for Malaysia, I took a grab into town on Saturday morning the complete the formalities.  I arrived at ten in the morning and of course the office was shut.  The Immigration and Customs would not process me without the Harbour Masters paperwork being completed first.  Monday is a public holiday, it will be Tuesday before I can clear in.  The Immigration lady said I should stay on the boat until Tuesday, yeah, right, that’s OK.   

The anchorage at Santubong is in the river.  It’s a lovely anchorage with Mount Santubong as the backdrop.  However, the holding is notoriously poor in the river as I and other cruisers found out.  In the early hours (as usual) a squall came through and we started dragging.  I picked up the anchor and in the pouring rain and howling wind made two unsuccessful attempts at re-anchoring.  On the third attempt I anchored in the middle of the river and the anchor held.  Later in the morning I picked up the anchor and re-anchored close to the shore where the bottom seemed to be more mud than gravel.

Leaving the boat unattended in the river when going ashore is always a concern, I constantly keep one eye on the sky for signs of dark clouds. I really enjoyed looking around Kuching town.  It’s a nice clean place and reminds me of Singapore of many years ago.

One place to visit on my bucket list was the Cat Museum.  Kuching of course means cat in Bahasa.  So, Kuching is cat town or cat city.  There are various explanations for how Kuching got its name but none of them seemed really convincing. 

The cat museum is a quite bizarre place and really holds nothing of real interest for the non-cat lover, just hundreds of different cat displays, stuffed cats, plastic cats, plaster cats, glass cats, cat dinnerware, cat teapots, cat clothes, cat food, cat stamps, cat paintings, cat art, cat lights, famous cats, celebrity cats, famous people with cats and everything associated with cats.  A cat lover would love this place.  I found it made me thirsty. 

Shopping is good in Kuching, shops for just about everything and air conditioned shopping malls to cool off in. I found a Berger King and treated myself to a Whopper. First one this year and most likely the last, I seem to average one per year. The covered open air market was enjoyable. so well organised and nobody shouting ‘Hey Mister’ at you, trying to make a sale. This was no pressure and relaxed.

Truce and I departed the Santubong anchorage at Kuching early morning, taking advantage of the ebb tide to carry us out the long entrance channel into deeper water.  Our next stop is in Miri where there is a marina.  I need some marina time to catch up on maintenance in a secure environment as the engine will be disabled for a couple of days.

My plan was to day sail the couple of hundred miles to Miri and anchor overnight where possible.  There is oil and gas activity offshore plus numerous floating logs not to mention fishermen.  Day sailing is the safest option.  There are no sheltered anchorages along the coast and the water is shallow a long way out from the shore.  This generally means closing the coast late afternoon and when the depth is 4 meters stop and drop the anchor.  At this time of year the winds are generally light and anchoring off the coast is safe.

On departing Kuching there was no wind, we were under the wind shadow of Mount Santubong. After a couple of hours motoring the wind filled in from the east, not the direction it was supposed to be. But it was a good wind and we sailed close hauled on flat seas making great time for about three hours. By five in the afternoon the wind disappeared and we were becalmed, just bobbing around on a glassy sea. As the sun went down a light wind sprang up and we started sailing again.

The sky to the south was becoming darker and at ten in the evening we were hit with a violent squall, it was ferocious. Even as I watched it coming there was no real indication that it would be super strong. Unfortunately, I was unable to furl in the yankee fully before the wind hit, the sail clew flogged like a demented demon and I could clearly see there was some damage to the clew but it would have to wait until daylight for closer inspection. I struck the mainsail and we sailed on with just the staysail, Mickey doing the steering.

The squalls continued on and off through the night until eight in the morning. By midday the wind had reduced to six knots and shortly after we were becalmed again. The sea was still rough from the strong winds and we rocked and rolled fantastically. Later in the afternoon we motored in towards the shore to find an anchorage and were met with another fierce squall on the nose.  The wind was so strong I had to hand steer and forward progress was less than two knots.  We anchored in the dark just before eight in the evening in six meters of water with a strong current ripping past us and thunder and lightning all around.  I was tired, soaking wet and bedraggled.  Later that night, just before midnight yet another squall hit us. Wow, it has been a difficult trip overnight from Kuching and only 130 miles sailed. Both Truce and I are beaten up.

The following day we sailed and motored before anchoring for the night off the fairway at Mukah. It had been a couple of trying days but we managed a further 62 miles to Mukah, so there is progress. The following day all was calm with a strong current running against us down the coast. There was no point in trying to sail and the yankee is so badly damaged I cant use it. Motoring into a persistent current is miserable so I remained at anchor for the day and rested and enjoyed the settled weather.

The following day there was a light breeze against us. We motor-sailed, tacking up the coast in an annoying short and low NW swell. Late afternoon we anchored, the anchor didn’t hold. We tried anchoring again a couple of miles up the coast, this time the anchor held in mud. For the next four days we crept up the coast in contrary and variable winds, mostly motoring and only averaging about thirty five miles per day. The engine is still getting hot at higher rpm and I will investigate further when we get secured in the Marina at Miri.

The remaining trip up the coast to Miri was uneventful, mainly motoring in calm seas. We arrived in the Miri marina on Saturday morning. I have got an insect bite on my leg that I must have picked up in Kuching. It has been troubling me and has turned nasty with Cellulitis (I will spare you the photo). So, my first priority upon arrival in Miri was to find a doctor and medical treatment. A short walk up the road I found a clinic and the doctor had a look at my leg. She prescribed a cocktail of antibiotics and some magic cream to put under the dressing. She said that if it shows any sign of getting worse go directly to the hospital because it will be serious. Quite scary the way she said it, I am taking it seriously.

I am resting in the Marina. Until the infection in my leg shows signs of improvement I am not going anywhere and following doctors orders.

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