Tioman/Singapore Part 2

Day 2 in Monkey Bay was lovely.  There was more work to be done on the sailboat before it could actually sail.  We lost a small piece that helped hoist the jib, and Matt did quite a few 20 meter dives trying to find it, but  he eventually gave up.  Luckily the piece was not vital and we raised the sail easily.  Most of the rest of the day was spent swimming and lounging (for me anyways.  Matt's the type that can't sit still for more than a few minutes unless he's got a beer in his hand).  That evening we both went snorkeling (I'd learned my lesson and wasn't getting in the water unless he was in it too).  I think I must be somewhat of a curiosity to the sharks because as soon as I was maybe 10 meters from him, I saw 4 sharks, two on either side of me, glide by.  I didn't panic quite so much this time, but I did locate Matt pretty quickly and start swimming back towards him.  He hadn't seen the sharks but was impressed that I had.    After reading about the blacktip coral sharks I'm now a little more comfortable with the idea of seeing them (they really are pretty harmless) but at the time I was still a less impressed than Matt.

On our way to Monkey Bay!

Dinner was the same thing as the night before... burgers, brews, endless stars.  We'd set up my hammock so I attempted to sleep in it.  I got a bit chilly around 3am though so ended the night back in the cabin.
Day 3 we went snorkeling for a while and Matt caught a fish that happened to run into a pointy thing.  We did a little more work on the boat and then weighed anchor and finally did a little sailing.  The wind was perfect, running south, which was back towards the marina.  We got back to Tekek that afternoon and cleaned and scrubbed down the boat.  That evening we went to a bbq place for dinner.  It was excellent!  We had fried rice, calamari in sambal (which was way hotter than I was expecting), and grilled snapper.  It made me wish we'd gone out to eat more often.  It's a lot easier to find good food when you go with someone who knows all the good places and what to order.  All the locals seemed to know Matt and greeted him where ever we went.  We ended the evening at the cabana with some drinks and good company.

Captain Matt (in Monkey Bay post swim)

It rained a little bit that night, which was the first rain we'd had all week.  The next day was cleanup, a swim, a shower, and then packing to leave.  I elected to fly out this time.  I'd had enough of ferries and buses.  I was really sad to leave, but all good things must end... or else they become common. 

View from the plane

So now I'm in Singapore getting ready for the journey home.  Maybe not quite the world traveler compared to some... but I'm working on it.

Time to pack up and head out.  Signing off.