Kota Kinabalu

July 28: 7pm

Sutera Harbor Marina, Kota Kinabalu

Hi Everyone,

I seem to be confusing everyone with my "catch up emails" from our passage and anchorages from Puerto Galera, to Kota Kinabalu so I will introduce everything by where we are when I am typing. I still want to show some photos of Romblon Island and the marble works there and also our stops at Coron. Our Subic Bay friend Audrey is building a web page for us and I might just wait and put them in a photo section that you can just browse. The web page won't be ready for a bit, but when it is I will let you know. There will be maps too so it will be easier for you to follow us. Audrey and Bob do this for work along with lots of other things. They are giving us a very "kind" contract made time while they were here figuring out what we would like. I can't wait to see it. Darlene at the Roanoke County Public Library has done a heroic job of posting my journal and photos. But Randal and I want a permanent site that will always be ours. And one day Darlene might just run away to the South Seas herself so we think owning our own site might be best for us. And with so much going on at the Roanoke County Public Library, she and Marino the computer guy just have way too much to do as it is. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime http://www.doramac.blogspot.com/ looks great.

This photo is the small swimming beach created by the Magellan Sutera Hotel in the complex with the marina. Looks lovely doesn't it.

However, the reality are the slippery rocks, jelly fish, sharp coral and long spined sea urchins. I look like I'm holding on to the Caution C. They didn't mention the fairly large waves too. No one was in the water here or at the Pacific Sutera hotel beach either. There are lots of huge beautiful swimming pools and I might just have to see if I can swim the length of the Olympic pool they have here.

Randal's favorite restaurant. It is on a corner just across the road from the wet market. For 9 ringgits Randal and I can each order 2 items plus a ton of rice, and a drink; that's $3. And not only is the food cheap, it's good too and the staff helpful and courteous. They bring us extra small bowls of soup and different condiments to try. My favorite is the chicken noodle soup. Randal gets the fried chicken you can see piled in front. It is an Indian restaurant; not sure if it is Muslim or Hindu, though I don't think there are any pork dishes. None of the menu is written in anything I recognize.

Randal walking down the street towards the Indonesian Consulate where we went to pick up our passports and papers for the Indonesia Rally. Notice his long pants. Shorts aren't allowed in the Indonesia consulate though he did wear them the first day we went. He had his pants in his backpack; but the gate guard let it slide for that one time. We are much more comfortable in shorts especially in the heat and haven't worn long anything for years. (Except when I was home in the winter.)

We actually just went through the gate and into a long waiting area with some service windows. We never actually went into the building. The lady at the service window was really friendly and helpful, smiling and just being nice. People around the world we have met seem to have positive reactions to our being Americans. And most of the time we respect their customs and feelings ( Randal did wear pants the second visit.)

We will join the Indonesia Rally the first week in September. Between then and now we need to finish boat work and get ourselves 1000+ miles. We may do several overnight passages to save time and because some places don't have great anchorages so it's actually easier to just go all night with not much to run into in the middle of the ocean. We came the 4 days from Hong Kong to Subic without stopping. There were 5 of us on the boat, so more to do watch. Randal and I will have to do it alone but that's ok.

Go Sox!!! Good baseball day.