David J.Bowers » Asia

The Boat and Malaysia – Feb/March 2011

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:52:38 +0000

Below are some pictures from my first sailing trip on Manoescal (Soon to be named Susan), As we went from Langkawi to Penang within Malaysia to get her to the yard for haul out. The trip turned into a bit of a nightmare, since the prop shaft had an issue leaving us with sail only, to add to this there was no wind for most of the trip…

So what was meant to take about 18 hours led on to almost 3 days! Plus adding salt to injury! We were caught in a nasty storm just off Penang and due to never sailing these waters before, no engine, high winds and no moon (poor visibility) we had to ride the storm out all night…

The boat took a beating and so did the crew! But we made it to George town where Manoescal is berthed for now…

Bali – March 2011

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:55:53 +0000

Below are pictures from my Holiday in Bali, with my father (Roger Bowers) and his girl friend Yvonne. We went from the Volcano peak to the beaches of Sanur and out to Lombangon island for some snorkeling and water fun!

Haul out! and Sail!

admin — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:41:36 +0000

Me and my friend C.Y.Wong will sail Susan from Langkawi to Penang (approx 80Nm) within Malaysia…

There she will be hauled out and the top side and bottom side paint work will be redone and the prop shaft/engine brought online (As well as a few other bits to install and check!!

This is the last major phase before Susan (Who will be officially be renamed from Manoescal once out!), will be ready for action!

Arghh, Shiver my timbers! I am almost there!

Dave

Susan – June 2010 (Almost there!)

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:40:12 +0000

Hello!

Below is the latest pictures of my Yachts refit, All that is left now in the hull paint, Anti-foul, prop shaft and some small jobs inside!

“Susan” At 90% Interior and 90% Exterior

admin — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:53:07 +0000

Here are some pictures on my nearly refitted interior and deck. Next month the yacht will be lifted for the final contractor phase and the last phase beofre the boat can be sailed and motored. It has been almost a year since I bought the boat and I am very anxious to see the project finish!

The Yacht at 33%

admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:06:30 +0000

The Yacht – Before Refit (May 2009)

admin — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:20:53 +0000

Manoescal

Below are some pictures on my newly bought 39′ Constant and Sindon Yacht, with a high grade Marine Plywood and fibreglass hull. It is now about to go through a refit to get it up to live aboard and charter standards. I hope to complete the project by Ocotober 2009.

The first 10 pictures are from the yachts past, while the remaining is of its current condition which looks poor due to being left unattended for almost 3 year! But structurally she is sound and a good sailing boat!

Expected Completion dates:

Critical Systems and Exterior: July 09

Interior: October 09

Specs

Description:	SHE NEEDS TLC AND DECKS REPAINTED – TOPSIDES NEED CUT-BACK AND POLISHING; her interior needs TLC and new upholstery – she was Strongly built in France, in high grade marine plywood, completely epoxied over, this vessel, MANOESCAL, was designed by Constant & Sindon, she has desirable layout with three sleeping cabins, two aft and one forward; spacious cockpit and she boasts excellent sailing performance. Owner says SELL! We will submit all bonefide offers. Family and business necessitates sale.
Location:	Langkawi
Country:	Malaysia
Year:	1987
Designer:	Constant & Sindon
Length:	39′ – 11.88m
Beam:	3.6m
Draft:	1.65m
Hull Material:	Fibreglass over 15.5mm marine high grade plywood
Engine:	Lombardini 27 hp
Accomodation:	4 cabins, 1 Double f’ward; 2 aft cabins; convertible dinette to double berth.
Galley:	2 BURNER LPG WITH OVEN S/S SINK Ample storage
Refrigeration:	12V/220V REFRIGERATION
Shower:	Yes, enclosed with head
Ground Tackle:	ANCHORS X 250M CHAIN 100M WARP ELECTRIC ANCHOR WINCH – needs service
Safety Gear:	LIFE JACKETS X 6 LIFERAFT – PLASTIMO – Last SERVICED 2001 EPIRB; DANBUOY; LIFERING; LIFE SLING
Electrics:	12V – 2 BATTERIES FOR HOUSE; 1 FOR STARTING SOLAR PANELS X 4 – 2 X 50AMP; 2 X 55AMP
Electronics Navigation:	AUTOPILOT x 2 – ST 4000 and ST2000 GPS – Furuno VHF EME Seacom DEPTH SOUNDER LOG/SPEED WATERMAKER (2003)
Sail Inventory:	MAIN X 2 GENOA X 2; REACHER X 1; STORM JIB
Mast / Rigging:	Alloy spars; S/S rigging (Norseman terminals)
Deck Gear:	Winches: 8 TOTAL – LEWMARS GOIOT, LEWMAR AND VETUS HATCHES
Remarks:	With family and business commitments ashore, this sweet yacht now needs love and attention. Available for inspection from August in Langkawi, Malaysia.

Malaysia Holiday – January 2009

admin — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:35:03 +0000

Sipadan and Sea adventures

My Holiday began with 3 days with Sea adventure, living on board a tired rig platform now converted into a diving Platform not far from Sipadan. In my time there with friends Ivy and Sylvia we conducted 7 brilliant dives and saw a great range of fish from swarms of Barracudas to colourful Lion fish! Not forgetting the giant turtles and sharks about!

I took a underwater 35mm camera with me and will post here the resulting pictures as soon as I can get my hands on the developed film!

Taman Nagara

Next part of my holiday was to catch up with my father (Roger) and his girl friend Yve in Kuala Lumpur and head north by dug out canoes to Taman Nagara!

It was a great boat trip up and allowed us to see some breeds of lizards and birds on the way up. Our engine also got tangled in a fishing line and we ended up bumping off the the river bank for a few moments till we where going again!

Once we got to our destination we where surprised to see a small river on the opposite side of our jungle home, the water currents where strong and there where floating restaurants and water taxis!

Once we where off the boat we where surprised to see what looked like a holiday resort in the jungle! We where expecting allot more simple wooden huts and tents for our jungle adventure!

The camp was very well layout and we all sorts of animals wondering around, including wild boars near and during the night time.

We where lucky to get a very good tour guide, who pointed out allot of animals and plants to us along the way. He also explained what uses the jungle life can bring to people surviving there in forms of medicines, hunting equipment and soap! Not only did he tell us what they can be used for, but he also showed us!

After a very interesting long trek (and Night jungle trek the night before) we got to the famous canopy walkways which comprise of 9 rope bridges and platforms high up. This was good fun, but there was so many tourists and the platforms proved noisy making any chance of seeing wildlife a rare chance!

Nice Views from above!

After a hard day of trekking, we where then taken further up river by motorised canoes in baby rapids (which was allot of fun to I got soaked in a splashed!) to a quiet part of the river where we could go for a swim and cool down!

Tmana Nagara is a fantastic place and great for the family, those more die hard backpackers can also arrange long treks to big waterfalls and sleep out in caves!

LangKawi Malaysia

The final 3 days of my trip where spent in Langkawi where I stayed in the Barjaya. I felt right at home here since it was positioned beside the jungle, half buried in it and by the beach (my dream location!), So I got to see lots of my relatives swinging around and climbing all over my hut! Waking me up in the morning, we all big monkies after all! Where did I put that Banana?

Nice beaches. Beach Chess anyone?

Next we headed up to Oriental village (very touristy but pritty) and from there proceeded up to the top of Langkawi by cable car!

Up top was some nice big observation platforms and steel canopy walk which was great. There where some fantastic views, but it was slightly misty when I was there and my long distant pictures didn’t look so great.

We loved it up here but after a couple of hours staring out, we had to head back down and catch up with Stardust!

Here is Stardust! We booked an evening sunset cruise on her for the evening and found the trip to be far more fun than we expected!

Free drinks, BBQ and a big net to catch you when you jump off the bow! (If you don’t know what a bow is, well its the frront of the boat!), so we jumped off the bow and hanged around in the net for a while before chilling out back on deck! It was a good day!

We then the next day did some boat and marina inspections! Since I am dying to get my own boat out here to do some serious sailing. If you gone through my website you probably of guessed I am seriously mad on sailing! Plus since except for a few odd trips it been over 6 months since i done some real cruising so I am developing a nervous twitch and driving friends and family up and down the wall about it all the time!

Sun falling on Lankawi I am coming back!

Singapore

Coming soon! I need to collect the images from my father when back to UK!

Malaysia Visits – 2002/2007

admin — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:42:43 +0000

The Holiday and Wedding!

Below are some photos from my time in Malaysia, my first trip was in 2002 to attend my friends marriage. At the same time my dear friend Andrew, his wife Kelly and their families showed me around Malaysia! I must say thank you to them for the brilliant trip and I look forward to seeing them and Malaysia soon!

Malaysia

Andrew and Kelly in Kulua Lumpur

Ipoh

Penang

Genting Island

Pangkor

These photos are of my third trip to Malaysia in 2007 and when I explored the beautiful island on Pangkor!

Singapore and Indonesia Trip – Nov 2006

admin — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 20:32:07 +0000

Working in Asia!

Below is a collection of my photos from my travels to both Singapore and Balikpapan in Indonesia (Borneo). Luckly through work time and my own upon request me and my work mates got to see allot of Singapore and the beautiful town of Balikpapan!

Singapore

The city at night!

Ruby (in the middle) with friends.

The City

Indonesia

Airport

Lunch!

The ILI Team!

These pictures are of a fantastic tree top platform a few hours in land and into the the jungle from Balikpapan!

Going to work!

The talking bird! But it speaks Malay not English!

Will looking happy after a hard days work?