Anchorages Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan, Sabah.

There are many other anchorages besides ours to choose from. There are also many beautiful sand cays to explore. The fishermen anchor behind some of these.

We were cruising around here in October/November, 2007 and of course, had NE/E winds going there and W/NW coming back! Generally, we had good weather during the day but SW squalls at night – only to around 20knots for short bursts. The offshore anchorages have good NE protection, but not from the SW – not that we found anyway. This is the main reason why we chose to come back along the coast.

Palau Gaya: T. Melohom

Anchorage was in 9m sand. Reef that is marked on the chart close to this has been bombed and is more rubble than anything else. Good protection in SW monsoon and perhaps NE monsoon as there is a substantial reef running out from the nearby point. A new resort was being built on the western side of the bay and there is a small village in the opposite corner.

06 00.696 N 116 03 451 E

Usukan Bay

South of Usukan Bay there are numerous other bays that perhaps are worthy of exploring, some of which appear to be excellent sheltered anchorages. Usukan Bay has a significant harbour for rig tenders picking up workers. Excellent protection in both monsoons.

SW monsoon: 06 22.00 N 116 19.993 E (12m)

NE monsoon: 06 22.884 N 116 20.128 E (11m)

P. Kalambok

Excellent protection in NE Monsoon. Apparently there is a development happening here. We have seen the aerial shots of the brochure and for some reason reality is a little different!! The other side of the small island may provide protection in SW monsoon.

06 59.094N 116 43.184E (9m)

Kudat (pond near haulout)

We experienced good holding. Be aware of plastic bags on bottom though.

06 53.449N 116 51.495E

Although we did not have the time to explore Marudu Bay, one yacht we spoke to said there are many beautiful bays and beaches to find, which are very quiet and remote.


P. Banggi

There are many anchorages around P. Banggi. We chose to anchor around the corner of Karakit town, in 8m of water. This is very well protected anchorage from all directions; quiet and peaceful. The town has a few supplies and some basic restaurants on the pier. Around a reef that is marked by a few sticks is Mitford Harbour, which is an extremely well protected anchorage with a few entrances that are narrow, but clear. We explored this in the dinghy. In the NE monsoon the winds funnel down the harbour. It appeared to us that the reef systems marked on the charts corresponded to what we could see and the electronic charts were quite accurate. We would be happy to go in at night now that we have explored the area.

There is a significant reef to the east of the anchorage with a house in the middle of it.

07 07.6 N 117 05.6 E (8m)

On the way to Sandakan we mostly followed the recommended route between the islands and reefs, which is well buoyed. As we had good weather during the day, good light and visibility, we followed the coast back. We had a good visual on all the reefs and rocks. There is a strong police/military presence in the areas due to smuggling. Often the police boat would come out to identify us and tell us we were ok. We found all our anchorages to be good holding.

P. Tigabu

Good protection from the NE. Exposed to SW. Anchored in 12m sand.

06 52.874 N 117 28.362 E


P. Lankayan (marine park/turtle hatchery). Protection from NW wind.

There is only 1 mooring buoy in front of the jetty. Can anchor away from the reef but it is very deep. We did not explore the other side of the island/reef for any anchorages with SW protection as it all looked very deep. There was no charge for the mooring buoy and it was very substantial. We had no wind when we were there.

The island welcomes yachties. In the Marine Park office there is a good display of marine parks in the area and the officer was keen to chat with us. You are welcome to join in the release of the baby turtles at night.

06 30 29 N 117 54.8 E

P. Gulisaan

There are many anchorages around the ‘Turtle Islands’ to choose from. Baoan (Booan) Island is conspicuous as you approach the Turtle Islands. It is a Philippine island; an extinct mud volcano. The Philippine border runs between P. Bakkungaan Kechil and P. Bakkungaan Besar. Our choice of anchorage was purely in consideration of the night squalls!

06 09 404 N 118 03 303 E (5m mud) It was late when we got in but we did notice a few reefy patches closer in to the main reef.

Sandakan

The anchorage in front of the yacht club is interesting. The yacht club has a pool, cheap beer, wifi and very welcoming. We had a prolonged squall there on our return from the Kinabatangan River, which eventually came from the south east, putting us on a lee shore! We moved across the other side of the bay.

05 50.4 N 118 07.4 E

Kinabatangan River

Sandakan Yacht Club has a CD left by Lifeline with waypoints to get into the southern entrance via the Mamuyon River. As you go in on Lifeline’s track, there is deeper water to your starboard side. This entrance has a wide flat bar. Going in with any swell running would be hazardous. We entered on a 0.5 m tide but we only draw 1.2m. Minimum amount of water under our keel was little over a metre. We found that the electronic charts were not accurate at the river mouth.

We anchored at the small village, on your port side as you enter, just past the police jetty.

05 48.181 N 118 19.576 E

Abai Village

05 41 N 118 23 E

outside Damau Pitas (oxbow lake)

05 40.209 N 118 23 257 E (5m)


Sakau

Just before the power lines, opposite the cemetery. We could not get underneath. Our mast height above DWL is 16.9m.

Approx 05 30 N 118 17 E

On our way back to Kota Kinabalu:

P. Gullisaan

Anchored on sand, which proved to be good holding in the night SW squalls.

06 08.731 N 118 03.303 E (7.6m)

Near P. Tegapil

Behind reef approx 1.0 nm from shore. The reef provided good protection from the two different wind directions we were experiencing. Anchorage is open to the east. Further north, other yachts found a good anchorage at P. Billean. These two islands are marine parks.

On leaving this anchorage there is a semi marked channel to get through the reef. Good visibility enabled us to see the entire reef. We went close to the reef and drove in and out of some of the reef to see if the electronic charts were accurate. They were!

06 30.078 N 117 40.739 E

T.Agasan

This anchorage is between the mainland and a substantial reef in 5m of sand/mud. Very quiet. Although we did not experience NE winds, the reef is high enough to perhaps offer good protection from this direction as well.

06 53.017 N 117 16.145 E

We are now back on our track to Kota Kinabalu. We actually got a bit of a hammering for a few hours north of Usukan Bay and ran back to P. Matanani to see if there was shelter in a SW blow. Forget it!! Far too rolly for us. We pushed on to Usukan Bay which we knew we could easily get into at night. We found a spot in between the rig tenders and fishing boats. We were all huddled in the corner!

Interpreting Gradient Level Wind Analysis Charts for tropical areas.

The following information is from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. They also have a section on interpreting MSLP charts. It is the gradient wind shown in streamline charts that offers a more accurate anlysis of the weather situaiton for tropical areas.

http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/nt/rsmc/glw.shtml

The Gradient Level Wind Analysis is a snapshot of the airflow near the surface of the earth. The arrowed lines are called streamlines and represent the direction of the wind. The dashed lines are called isotachs, and connect points of equal wind speed. The standard isotach intervals are 15 and 30 knots (28 km/h and 56 km/h) - knots is the preferred unit for these charts as they complement the Bureau's marine services.Current Gradient Level Wind Analysis
Asian Region Gradient Level Wind [00 12 UTC]

The above Gradient Level Wind chart has been reduced significantly to fit on to the web page.
A more detailed view can be obtained by looking at Region A or Region B below.

Asian Region Gradient Level Wind - Region A (Indian Ocean) [ 00 12 UTC]
Asian Region Gradient Level Wind - Region B (Pacific Ocean) [ 00 12 UTC] Current MSLP
Asian Region MSLP [ 00UTC]

The gradient level lies about 1000 metres above the earth's surface, and is the level most representative of the air flow in the lower atmosphere immediately above the layer affected by surface friction. This level is free of local wind and topographic effects (such as sea breezes, downslope winds etc).

Streamline charts are much more useful than isobaric pressure (MSLP) charts for showing the weather patterns over tropical areas. While & MSLP charts are good for estimating wind direction and strength over mid and high latitudes, in the tropics pressure gradients are weak and often don't give a good indication of the prevailing winds. Meteorologists overcome this difficulty by drawing charts of the actual wind flow. The surface wind may be estimated by decreasing the gradient level wind speed by approximately 20% over the ocean, 40% over land and assuming a direction deviation of about 10-30 degrees. If looking along the direction of the wind, the deviation is to the right if low pressure is on your right (or if high pressure is on your left).

On streamline charts, low pressure systems (including tropical cyclones) appear as inflowing circulations - clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere. High pressure systems appear as outflowing circulations, with direction of rotation opposite to that of the lows. Near the equator, when the wind changes direction as it flows from one hemisphere into the other, closed eddies may appear; these are indicated by an "E" and are not associated with high or low pressure (and are often associated with clear weather).
Lows are indicated by an L symbol, highs by H , accompanied with the value of central pressure in hectoPascals. Tropical cyclones are particularly intense low pressure systems, identified by the cyclone symbol, together with information on the name, maximum wind speed (knots) , central pressure (hPa) and current direction of movement (speed in knots). In the northwest Pacific, tropical cyclones are called Tropical Storms , and the more intense systems are called Typhoons . In Australia, these systems are called Tropical Cyclones and Severe Tropical Cyclones .

The broad streams of air flowing toward the equator from the midlatitude highs are called the trade winds: southeast winds in the southern hemisphere and northeast winds in the north; these wind streams tend to be strongest in the winter hemisphere when high pressure systems are more intense.

In the summer hemisphere, persistent winds tend to flow into the near-equatorial area from the opposite hemisphere, and are frequently associated with widespread cloudiness and heavy rain. These winds are referred to as the northwest monsoon in the southern hemisphere (December-March) and the southwest monsoon in the northern hemisphere (June-September). The monsoon flow is on the equatorward side of an area of low pressure called the monsoon trough, and tropical cyclones often develop from lows located in this trough.
Other Weather Maps available are:

Australian Region MSLP
[ 00 06 12 18 UTC ]
Pacific Region MSLP
[ 00 12 UTC ]
Indian Ocean Region MSLP
[ 00 12 UTC ]

Archives:
Browse Archive of Weather Maps

Other Explanatory Information:
Interpreting the MSLP Weather Map
About the Weather Charts

Philippines Fax Frequencies Dec 2007

Fax Frequencies for Philippines 2007

ALL times (UTC)

VMC (Charleville) (BOM Australia)

Frequency... Time

2626............ 0900-1900

5100............ 0000-2400

11030 ..........0000-2400

13920.......... 0000-2400

20469......... 1900-0900

VMW (Wiluna) (BOM Australia)

Frequency... Time

5755 .............1100-2100

7535............. 0000-2400

10555........... 0000-2400

15615............ 0000-2400

18060............ 2100-1100

Tokyo Frequencies

JMH 3622.5
JMH2 7795
JMH4 13988.5

NB Program HF radio 1.8/1.9 kHz below advertised frequency

0020............ Japan 96HR surface pressure, precip progs

0040............ Japan 120HR surface pressure, precip progs

0110/1310.. Japan Sat picture (MSAT)

0150/1350..Japan Tropical cyclone forecast (1)

0240/1440 ..Japan Surface Analysis (shows wind barbs)

0623-0645.. AUS Asian (Part B) Gradient Level Wind Anal

0710/1910... Japan Sat picture (MSAT)

0750/1950... Japan Tropical cyclone forecast (1)

0820.............. Japan 48HR surface pressure

1000/2200... Japan 48HR/72HR surface pressure, precipitation prog

1823-1845..... AUS Asian (Part B) Gradient Level Wind Analysis


NB http://www.typhoon2000.com/ provides information on the current weather prognosis for the Philippines and west Pacific. Click on the link to Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and you can obtain the same synoptic chart as you receive via fax.

For more information about weather fax scheds from BOM Australia:

http://www.bom.gov.au/nmoc/rad_sch/