Five Year Report, the Voyage

This past year found us in new and exciting places and some old familiar ones. We left Indonesia in the early Fall and headed back up the east coast of Borneo. We stayed a while in one of our “homes” Kota Kinabalu, where we celebrated my birthday and Thanksgiving with old friends. I hauled the boat out at Kudat, a remote primitive yard at the far tip of Borneo, man the tip of Borneo is the end of the world! The yard was fantastic and we repacked one leaky stabilizer fin and got a great bottom paint job. Labor here is very good and very cheap.

We left KK on December 1 and headed to the Philippines, first stop Puerto Princesia. Check in are resupplied we followed the rugged Palawan coastline northeast and crossed to Coron. Here we made great new friends and did some of the best wreck diving i have ever done.

We ventured up to Subic Bay where i got new batteries and visited an old Seattle friend and headed back to Coron.

My weather information was not accurate and i thought one should leave the Philippines by April, turns out that is when things really get good. We also really wanted to be back in Thailand for Sangren, mid April. We began the long trek back to Singapore and up to Thailand, a familiar path. I picked up an extra crew in Miri Marina on Borneo, Jean is a cruiser and did the Sail Indonesia Rally with us, she joined us for the passage to Singapore. Sadly that is the last time i shall see my good friend as she passed shortly after our voyage. Jean lived life on her terms and will always be remembered fondly.

We arrived in Phuket just in time for Sangren, the Water Festival. if you ever want to go somewhere for one day of absolute fun and folly go to Sangren! it is the biggest water fight in the world, the entire country. I have never had so much fun.

Back in Phuket we did some boat work and then i moved the boat back to Malaysia, visa run, and flew back to the states for two months for a grand cross country trip. That saga is well covered in my blog, but short story, it was the time of my life, joining the Merry Pranksters on the original Furthur Bus to cross the country.

I bid good by to the US after cleansing myself of all possessions back home. Back in Malaysia and then back up to Phuket where we are doing more boat projects, playing music and getting ready for the next big Furthur Adventure.