Speedwell of Hong Kong

Serasan to Santubong and Kuching

Author: Shirlz

September, 2022

After leaving the channel through the reef at Serasan I turned East, sailing along the coast, to clear Pulau Perhantuan, a small outlying island nearby. There was a small fleet of local fishing boats working the area. These were the last boats that I was to see for the rest of the voyage to Santubong. An amazing contrast to the crowded seas that I had experienced on the way here. I had a lovely, relaxing sail. The moon was full, the winds gentle and the sea calm. It had been my plan to make a stop at the Tanjung Datu anchorage but a sudden on-shore squall changed my mind. It was another 35 miles to a better anchorage at Pulau Satang Besar, a small turtle reserve, close to the entrance to the Santubong river and I decided to head there instead.

Despite motoring for the last 5 miles it was dark when we got there. The Navionics chart of the area is pretty accurate and I was also checking the satellite picture on Offline Maps. As I got closer I could see a red and white strobe light flashing to mark the anchorage which was a big help. I dropped the anchor in a sheltered spot in 8m. A little roly, but safe.

The next morning I could see that it would have been better to have moved closer in. I’ll do that next time.

I waited for a favourable rising tide and then sailed the last leg of my passage to Sungai Santubong. The entrance to the river was comfortably deep, never less than 4m and the shallow mudbanks each side were easy to avoid. The tidal stream carried us rapidly along. The river water is muddy and it’s impossible to see the bottom. After a 90° turn to port I was soon able to spot the big concrete Marine Department Dock and a smaller floating dinghy dock nearby. I anchored within convenient rowing distance in 10m. We were the only cruising boat there. I was in Malaysia.

The anchorage is overlooked by the impressive peak of Mount Santubong. Believed to be the legendary remains of a warrior princess. It is surrounded by a nature reserve and there are some interesting hiking trails and waterfalls.

I took Sunday off and early Monday morning I braved the fierce tidal current and rowed ashore to see how I could get into Kuching, about 35km by road. The dinghy dock belongs to a sort of ‘marina’ with beautiful, well-tended gardens and a couple of interesting wooden chalets on stilts over the water. Even a fenced swimming pool surrounded by mosquito netting and locked. Pity. There was no one around, just a friendly pack of small dogs who came to investigate the intruder.

I walked through the grounds up to the road that runs to Kuching. A covered bus stop looked promising, but there was no information about when the next bus might be expected. I still had to get a new sim card for my phone, so no way of getting info. I tried sticking my thumb out and a Grab bike stopped for me and asked if I needed help. He offered to give me a ride to the nearest shopping centre where I could get cash from an ATM and a sim card. It was about half an hour away and I hung on bravely. The driver was worried as he didn’t have a helmet for me. Who says ocean sailing is dangerous?

Once I’d organised some cash and dealt with the phone the bike driver arranged for a MyCar taxi (similar to Uber) to take me the rest of the way to Kuching and the Port Authorities at the town marina. The officials were all very friendly and efficient and special thanks goes to Bohari who personally drove me around to the harder to reach Customs office and also sorted out a problem with the sim card purchase before driving me to the touristy part of town. Many thanks!

Clearing in to Malaysia was very straightforward and I have been given a 90-day visa with no charges and the boat is allowed to stay indefinitely. Very much simpler than Indonesia.

Once I had the precious documents and a stamp in my passport I wandered along the waterfront just enjoying the unusual surroundings. A very colourful market street with lots of small shops and some well-preserved historical buildings. I was really more interested in doing some re-provisioning before getting back to Speedwell, so decided to return another time for the sight-seeing and set off to find a supermarket. The afternoon thunderstorm was threatening and I had no umbrella. I managed to do my shopping during the cloudburst and a helpful shopkeeper called for a taxi to get me back to the anchorage. Why is everyone so friendly and kind? When I got back to the dinghy dock the wind had picked up and the tide was against me. It would have been a real struggle to row out to Speedwell, and it was starting to get dark. A local fisherman with a motor-boat gave me a ride and towed Bokkom. What can I say?

The river has been flowing rapidly with the tides as the moon has just passed full. The tidal range is about 3 meters and at low water extensive mudflats are exposed. Timing is critical when rowing ashore to avoid getting stuck in the mud. The water has zero visibility and there are warnings everywhere about man-eating crocodiles. Swimming is not an option. There is no shortage of rain water so I can keep my pressurized garden sprayer filled and have a luxurious cooling spritz whenever needed.

There is a small village a short walk away with a reasonably well stocked mini-market. A little further along, Google Maps shows the ‘Alfred Russell Wallace Centre’. Of course, I had to investigate as he is one of my long-time heroes. The building is brand new and well maintained but empty and locked up. Maybe it’s planned as a future museum.

I was feeling the need for some exercise and on Saturday I walked to the ‘Sarawak Traditional Village’ about 6kms down the road. Friday the 16^th September was a holiday celebrating Malaysia’s Independence Day and there were a lot of people with the same idea as me, although I was the only walker. The whole peninsula is a nature conservation area and I saw some monkeys crossing the road as I walked along. The ‘village’ itself was quite interesting with different styles of houses: a traditional long house, a tall house, a Malay house, a Chinese farm house, etc. All set in beautiful surroundings around a lotus lake. The highlight of the day was a surprisingly good show of traditional dancing. I felt it was a day well spent and after marching the 6kms back and achieving a grand total of 23,000 steps on my step-counter I got the required workout!

My plan is to spend some time exploring the Rajang River Delta. It’s possible to sail a long way inland and there are some interesting places to visit. Before leaving Santubong I needed to clear out with the Port Authorities in Kuching so I decided to combine this with some sight-seeing in the city.

These days there are no buses that go from Santubong to the city. I tried hitch-hiking but after nearly an hour in the brutal heat, admitted defeat and called for a Grab taxi. It’s a 45 minute drive and I wasn’t keen to cling to the back of a bike all that way. An air-conditioned car it would have to be. The driver was very helpful and got me to all the necessary bureaucratic places before dropping me off at the touristy waterfront.

I spent the rest of the day enjoying the city. Kuching means cat and there are cat statues all over. It seems the name is due to some early European pointing towards the town and asking what it was called and the person who answered thought he was pointing at a nearby cat.

There is a lovely pedestrian walk along the Sarawak River which runs through the city. Sampans constantly cross the river, ferrying people to the opposite side. The more energetic have the option of using a very futuristic footbridge. Naturally I had to try the bridge and it gave some magnificent views. There is an interesting mixture of traditional old shops and well preserved colonial buildings.

As I wandered further from the riverfront I was soon surrounded by the usual modern city shopping malls and traffic. I returned to the tree-shaded waterfront and treated myself to a nice lunch at the James Brooke Restaurant, named after the man who was granted governorship of the territory in 1842 by the Sultan of Brunei. The Brooke family became known as the White Rajahs and ruled Sarawak until 1946.

It’s rather a pity that the anchorage at Santubong is so far from the city with no cheap transport. The Kuching Marina is also not very conveniently placed and is in a state of partial ruin after flooding, not to mention a resident crocodile.

I made my way back to Santubong, did a bit more provisioning at the local mini-market and got things ready to leave for the Rajang Delta.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022 at 08:55 and is filed under Cruising, Indonesia, Malaysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.