Diving with Bavarians

 

With the window job finally completed, the feta made,  4kg of smoked pork (a great recipe from sv Braveheart), and our new crew Max and Nadine we upped anchor for the last time in KK and headed out to Gaya to introduce our crew to hookah diving. What better place to start then scrubbing the hull.

With a few dives under our belts and a covert mission to the canopy walk behind the resort followed by a swim in the pool at the royal villa we began the trip to Sandakan with a stiff following breeze.

 

Our arrival in Kudat brought with it the usual jobs, fuel, gas, and ships stores. We did however manage to fit in a legal swim at the resort and catch up with Sarazan the golf caddy from last year while taking Sloop for an early morning stroll through the sand bunkers. Max and Nadine trying to escape the heat from in the boat slept on deck much to the delight of the resident mosquitoes.

Pulau Silk looked good on the chart and was chosen as the next stop. The residents of a water village were also the lucky recipients of some second hand cloths Max and Nadine had brought with them to give away

Tibakkan a sand cay on the way to Tigabu made a great afternoon stop. My lips are sealed…  We were also pleasantly surprised by the recovery of the reef. Snorkeling here was like swimming in a huge aquarium.

Amanda had printed some good photos from last year featuring the local fisherman who took us under his wing and showed us around. We gave them to a passing boat and an hour latter had a visit from a very impressed local clutching his photos. Unfortunately he was on his way out fishing so we only caught up briefly.

A snorkel in the area where Amanda had previously been sprayed with squid ink turned up a huge turtle scratching its back on a lump of coral.

We’re off southwards in the hope of finding turtles laying at Tegapil in the coming days.