11-14 Sep 05 Passage Kuala Terengganu to Kuantan Back to Malaysia East Coast Cruise 2005
11
Sep 05 Departed at 1045 bound P. Kapas which took 2 1/2 hrs (10.3 NM). On
departure the course of the newly dredged channel was, as best we could
determine, to be an east-west course. See image 'ENTRANCE TO KUALA TERENGGANU'
under Passage
from Perhentian Islands to Terengganu. At P. Kapas we spent
the rest of the afternoon getting the river 'crud' scrubbed off the topsides and
the waterline cleaned.
12 Sep 05 Departed at 0700 bound P.Tenggol. Had some current assisting in the morning but then had 1.5 knots of current against us all afternoon. Motor sailed in light winds hard on the nose. About three miles out of Tenggol went through a current line with lots of trash and picked up something around the prop. Could only run the engine at very low speed because of the vibration and it was too rough to go over the side so went very slow (1.5 knots) the rest of the way. The trip took 9.75 hrs (36.5NM). Picked up a mooring at Tenggol and found a large piece of plastic wrapped around the prop with the blades sticking through.
13-14 Sep 05 Awoke Tuesday morning to wind coming directly into the bay with short swell. Left at 0700 bound Chukai. When we cleared the bay and the island we discovered that the Southwest Monsoon had finally arrived. Had 15-18 knots of wind coming directly from Chukai to the southwest. Decided to try for an overnight sail to Tioman. Also had current against us so were only making 3.5 knots over the ground while doing 5 knots through the water. But then the wind began to veer to the south and then to the south-southeast so at 1400 we tacked back toward the mainland. Still had strong current against us so were down to a bit over three knots of boat speed. We could have laid the Kemaman River (Chukai) but would arrive very late at night and didn't want to chance the entry in the dark. So we set Kuantan as the new destination. The wind continued at 15 knots as we beat through the lumpy seas against the current. Around midnight I decided to call this trip the "IN-TU-DA" PASSAGE. We went 'intuda' wind, 'intuda' waves and 'intuda' current! At times we were down to 1.5 knots of speed over the ground but this gave us good timing for entry to the Kuantan River in daylight. We didn't lose the current until we passed the Kuantan New Port some 15NM north of the Kuantan River. We anchored in the river at 0900, 14 Sep. We had 'sailed' 81.5 NM in the 26 hours .. not impressive but I've done much worse in the past. Tacking against the wind added 13NM to the rhumb line route.