Weird and wonderful days at the Andaman Islands - Delos

I first visited the Andaman Islands 25 years ago. It was a fascinating place that time had forgotten. I sailed there onboard a Naval LST (ex American Landing Ship Tank)  The main attraction at the town Port Blair was the old city Jail. There was a sight & sound presentation that was worth a visit. I just couldn't fathom it to be the main tourist attraction. The Andaman Islands is part of India and it shows. I revisited the Islands again in early 2000. Nothing much has changed in the way of progress. recently the infamous Sailing Yacht Delos sailed there and had quite an adventure. I found their video entertaining and educational. Port Blair has changed very little the last 25 years. Thank goodness.

      

A super cool Tuna Sports Fishing Boat

I really should have been born in the USA. My spirits just got lifted watching this video. What an awesome boat. Wow!!! Well though of for serious tuna game fishing. Truly fitting for an old salt.

Just being onboard this boat alongside a dock will give me immense pleasure.....

Tioman in Early May

The seas en-route to Tioman from Singapore is no longer predictably calm in mid March. Early April may also bring periodic rough seas & strong winds for a few days. Come early April to mid May, the weather usually calms down predictably when the winds change from North-Easterly to Easterly to a Southerly direction. By this time it has lost all its velocity and reduces to a mere 2-3 knots of breeze. The wind only picks up when its rains, usually from Convection clouds that build up over the South China Sea and relief clouds hovering over the many Islands south of and including Pulau Tioman. Nothing much has changed physically in these seas. The locals still fish usually traditional wooden boats and enterprising locals cater to the tourism industry offered by these tranquil Islands and beautiful crystal clear waters. I must commend the local authorities for having done a good job of preserving this natural habitat and restoring the corals & marine life back to health. We had a wonderful dive at the Northern tip of Pulau Tulai. The corals & fish life was amazing. Only thing missing were the large schools of Trevally and Barracuda.

Tioman on the morning of 8th May 2016

Customs & Immigration Clearance at Sisters Island. Channel 74: Western Immigration  

Triple 350 Yamaha Outboards. Comfortable Cursing Speed: 29 knots. Top Speed: 43 knots

Edmund Lee owner & Captain of the Pursuit 385 Express Cruiser

Fred Chua, my boating kaki the past 26 yrs

Washing down the gears after a dive off Pulau Tulai, Tioman

Direction to Tioman. Pulau Tinggi is the Island in the background

First Stop; Pulau Yu. A popular fishing spot for locals and a sanctuary for sea birds. A pleasant half-way stop to Tioman 

Pu Yu

Dinner Choice; Ikan bakar at the Malay Restaurant or Chinese Seafood, both 3 mins walk from Cheers Chalet.

WF with Hasnol the CIQ agent and Zan the fishing pawang

All calm alongside Tioman Marina

CHEERS Chalet where we usually stay

Fred Chua, our  Dive Master buddy

WF relaxing on the way back to Pulau Yu

We took a short ride to Berjaya Resort to check out the place. I'm glad we stayed at CHEERS

     

Safety at Sea Fire & Breach in the Vessel

This video is a good example of responsible boating. The experienced crew of the Sailing Vessel Delos, briefing the new crew on emergency procedures onboard. This time the topic is Fire and Hull breach. You never want to have a fire onboard any vessel. Its dangerous and will certainly sink the boat if not attended to immediately. Any small fire must be extinguished immediately and the alarm raised. Watch the video:

Singapore Yacht Show 2016

I make it a point to always visit the annual Boat/Yacht Show. I didn't go this year. I cruised to Tioman, Aur and Pulau Yu instead. The seas were calm after a 3 & a half month North East Monsoon that usually starts in late November. Waves maxed at 0.3m (1 foot) making a very comfortable ride onboard a Meridian 341 (36 footer) Flybridge Cabin Cruiser. Crusing on an average 20 knots, we made the journey to Tioman in about 6hrs not including stops along he way. Although the fuel capacity of 960 Litres is sufficient to make the 125 nm journey from RSYC (Republic of Singapore Yacht Club) to Tioman Marina at Tekek, we decided to stop at the SAF Yacht Club at Changi to top up about 160 Litres of diesel fuel before moving on again through the Lima Channel passage.

     We stayed at Tioman on Friday night after clearing Customs & Immigration. I would always advice boaters to use a clearing Agent. I usually use the services of Pak Darus (Hp: +60139333033) The total cost of clearing 5 Passports and 1 night berthing at Tioman Marina was RM410. We were happy to pay as it saved us the hassle of wasting time and headaches of having to anchor outside Tekek Bay had Pak Darus not been able to get us a berth at the packed Marina. I was told the original Marina was supposed to be four times larger but the developers had to scale it down to its present size after receiving overwhelming protests from Green Movements. That's a real shame, because the present Marina is way too small to accommodate visiting boats. Most of the berths are already taken up by small dive and fishing charter boats, large Mersing Ferries and Customs and police boats. Even the local fishing vessels make it a routine to dock there probably to pick up supplies or rest between trips.

Albert Khoo and enthusiastic boater attended my Coaster Skipper Course 20 yrs ago joined us to Tioma

Chui Lee, a new boater owns the Meridian 341. She captained the Yacht throughout the cruise

Refuelling from a friendly Yacht on the way back to Singapore

Pulau Pemanggil. Still desolate and Prestine

Richard, great company to have onboard these extended trips. Many hands make light work

   To check the weather before going there, I use use the information publish at windguru.cz
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=6344 and select under Desaru - Malaysia. The aps is easy to use and so far, pretty accurate.

The Meridian 341 was a comfortable ride to Tioman in these seas at 20 knots.. It was smooth sailing all the way with the generators and air-conditioning running 3 days non stop. Anchoring her was a breeze.  

 Perhaps the next trip we will explore the waters off Riau or make a slow passage to Phuket at an average speed of 8 knots. The options with a reliable Cabin Cruiser are plenty.

The Adventures of Sailing Vessel Delos

This is one of my most favorite videos on You Tube. The amazing voyage of the free spirited crew onboard the Sailing Vessel Delos. They started from the US to South America, Australia and New Zealand to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and now a video of their next destination; Port Blair (India). I should be heading that way again in November, so this feature has immediate relevance for me in 2016.

How to remove Fish Hooks from your flesh

This angler has an unbelievably high tolerance to pain. I certainly wouldn't do this demo for $10K. Anyway watch the video and learn if you ever get punctured by a fish hook.