What a shocker of a day today! Got up and left the worst hotel in history, keen to get to the boat and get out of this dump. Finally found someone who could tell me which bus to get on and found my way to the yacht club, only to find the boat wasn’t there. Oh well, there was never a guarantee they would be there today. Bus back to once again, the world’s worst hotel. Checked in again and headed into town to send some emails and try to upload some pictures – that didn’t work to plan either.

Email from the owner was waiting for me with just about the worst possible news. They hit a squall on the way out of Singapore and the boat’s been dismasted. Just my luck!

They’re now safe in a harbour 150km south of Brunei, so I’m going to try to get a bus there and help repair it. They think at least 2 months of repairs are in order so looks like I won’t be going anywhere exciting. Probably head home much sooner than planned. Devistated. At least Singapore and Malaysia were fun.

Up early this morning and headed to KL Sentral then hopped on the bus to the airport. Arrived very early (better than slightly late!) so lots of time to wander around waiting for my flight to Brunei. Made it to Brunei, but with only one immigration officer on duty and two flights arriving, it took a long time to get through immigration. Then the complications started…

Everywhere else I’ve been has been pretty easy to get away with just speaking english. Most people speak it as a rule. Not in Brunei! First problem was trying to explain to someone, anyone, that I need to get to either the main town or better still, Royal Brunei Yacht Club. Eventually found internet access (after local prayer time was over) and found the address myself. Eventually found a taxi driver who was confident he knew where I wanted to go, despite there being 2 sites for RBYC. After explaining many times I wanted to go to the sailing clubhouse, not the river branch…he proceeded to take me to the river branch. Anyway, all part of the adventure. Back to town to find out the Youth Hostel is fully booked for the next month, checked into another hotel for the night.

Next morning, up early and headed into town to hop on a bus to (I hope) was the right site for the Yacht Club. Lots of sign language, maps and written addresses later, I found my way there only to find the boat still hadn’t arrived. Back to town for another night and check for any progress reports via email. Hopefully the boat arrives soon!

Seems I’ve somehow made it to Kuala Lumpur overnight. Always concerning when all meals are cancelled on the flight because it’s too rough for the crew to move around the cabin, but arrived in once piece.

Busy day today! Got up early and walked from my hotel to Petronas Twin Towers. Grabbed some internet time and uploaded a few photos from Singapore then got a taxi to KL Sentral Markets and China Town for a bit of souvenir shopping and to check out the sights. Next up was the KL Bird Park to take way too many photos of various exotic birds. From here I headed back to KL Tower (telecommunication tower) to check out the view just before the sun set. Walked back to Petronas Towers for dinner and to see the towers by night before heading back to the hotel around 9pm for a repack of my bags, a welcome shower, sleep and most importantly…air conditioning! Onto Brunei tomorrow.

Well I’ve made it to my first overseas stop, Singapore, via Darwin. I managed to take just about every possible wrong turn finding my hotel, but got there in the end. Way too exhausted to do anything tonight aside from skull as much water as I could find. I’ll head out tomorrow and see what Singapore has to offer for my very limited stop. Kuala Lumpur tomorrow night!

SimonYachting is joining the fight against prostate cancer and men’s depression! I’ll be growing a Mo to change the face of men’s health. Please donate as much or as little as you can to the cause, via our team, ‘The Seedy Partial Growths’ (O.K, so we’re not naturally hairy men, but we’re trying!).

Follow the link to donate.

https://www.movember.com/au/donate/your-details/team_id/148746

Today I spent the morning checking out the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival at the Australian National Maritime Museum and surrounding waterfront. Some beautiful boats on display as well as plenty of other displays and entertainment. It was blowing 30 knots from the South in Sydney this morning so probably a more sensible way to spend the day than hitting the water.

I was lucky enough to be invited onboard the classic 12 metre yacht Gretel II, of 1970 America’s Cup fame! Racing yachts have sure changed in 40 years, but possibly lost some of their charm. GRP just doesn’t have the same character as a well built wooden yacht. Sadly I couldn’t convince them to untie her and take me for a sail…maybe one day!

- Simon