Well, what to do after our rough night in Ardasier? The next morning the weather still did not look good and although Dallas reef, where we had planned to make our last dive, was only 6M away it was straight into the wind and waves. I suggested to sail back to KK but Eric and Kevin were not quite ready to accept the inevitable....
However, nothing is more changeable than the weather in the South China Sea and later in the morning the conditions improved enough to head for Dallas! Once we arrived there the weather had calmed down more and after we 'hit' the reef edge with the sonar we could easily follow the contour to find a good dive location. While breakers were scourging the S side of the reef, the water on the N side was calm and we dropped the hook on the reef top in 6m while ALK swung right above a steep drop off.
Anxious as they were, Kevin and Eric made the first dive and they were not disappointed. The wall was nicely overgrown with small seafans and soft corals and showed no signs of bleaching or bomb damage. I enjoyed a dive alone in good visibility and took time to take pictures at my leisure.
Eric was quite eager to catch some fish for the pot or to take back home but we did not see any big stuff and the bluefin trevallies were too small. Anyway our departure time had arrived. We had 165M to sail to KK and weather permitting, that would take us two nights and a day. While Rachel and I got things ready inside, Kevin and Eric transformed the deck from a diving live-aboard into a sailing boat and well before the sun went down we motored away from Dallas reef.
The predominant wind this time of the year is SW but we have not encountered wind from this direction very often and today there was a light breeze from the SE, right on the nose but nothing to worry about.
Later in the night the wind increased and changed to the E which allowed us to set the mainsail for stability. Early morning it increased further and it was time to set all the sails. Soon after we set the jib we could stop the engine and were sailing at 4-5 knots. Beating against wind and waves was not exactly comfortable. The English saying goes that 'gentlemen do not sail to weather', but for die-hard divers other rules apply! Rachel had troubles preparing food for the boys in the uncomfortable conditions but she did manage to make a simple and wholesome pasta which satisfied the stomachs. During the second night the wind slowly died as we got closer to KK, our appetites returned but by now most of our supplies were finished! However the harbour was in sight. Everybody started packing his gear, pictures were copied to various computers and hard drives and there was a lot of SMS traffic coming from ALK once we were in cell phone range!
When we entered Sutera Harbour the marina office was still closed and we slipped into an empty berth. Soon somebody showed up and told us we could not stay. But when I explained that we only needed a berth for a day he figured that would be okay. We set about rinsing all our dive gear, camera's, deck and sails which were covered with a thick layer of salt. An hour later a very excited woman from the marina office stopped by to tell us that we could absolutely not stay any longer. The marina was full and did not accept any reservations, we needed insurance, a dirty water tank and landing the dinghy in the marina would cost us a hefty fee of € 7 per day! Obviously we were not welcome, even for a day! We quickly made a new plan. Most of our stuff was already unloaded and Eric's wife was underway with the car to pick us up. Kevin needed to check into a hotel and Rachel had to find a backpackers lodge. Our extra dive bottles and heavy cases with camera and diving gear had to come along and I had to see Immigration on the other side of town to clear into Sabah. After the first water tank was filled, Kevin and I cast off the lines and sailed out of the marina to drop the anchor nearby. In two hours we managed to do what we planned to do in a day and the manager was happy to see us move. Once ALK was anchored securely we took the dinghy back in the marina (no fee yet!) where Eric was waiting with all the luggage.
Eric's wife had brought some roti to satisfy our hungry stomachs which we devoured right out of the plastic bags sitting in the parking lot of the most luxurious marina of Malaysia! You might be confused to think that we were in Monaco!
One car was not enough for the four of us with all our gear but when Eric had found a taxi we could all go our own way. Kevin and Rachel went to their hotels and Eric and I went to Immigration. Rachel was heading for the Philippines in two days to go for her Padi diving license, Kevin was flying back to Beijing the next day and Eric was off to the East of Sabah soon for a new assignment. After we had become such a close and good team, the parking lot was not the place to say goodbye, so I invited all for dinner in the evening. A friendly Italian restaurant in KK was the appropriate setting for our farewell dinner and to celebrate the safe end of a very special diving adventure!
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