After a few days of nearly-windless week, Saturday surprised us with the NE monsoon storm! The strongest & windiest I have seen in a while. It was all dark & cloudy, white caps all over the place, the trees being swayed around heavily, the sand flies off to your face, and nobody dares wearing a skirt.
Wind strength was approximately 25knots to blazing 30 knots! I went out earlier on a 7.4m, then sized down to 6.5m. Still, I was way overpowered, and can barely hold to the sail. The board just willingly take off whenever it hits the chop. In 30 knots, everything just seem not right! Good thing was I managed to nail the waterstart a few dozen times. Yippie!
There are only two windsurfers out that day, George & me. And there were also a few kitesurfers at Duta Village.
In the word of George Warren,
“So today it blew 25-30 knots for a few hours.
A typical Nov/Dec/Jan day with stormy skies and white caps everywhere.
The windiest day I’ve seen this monsoon. Epic.
The danglers rigged up enough kites to power a small tanker and then didnt know which one to use. They eventually settled on the smallest !
I used a 6.5 and was maxed out with a girly hairdressers board (all slim and young and so on) RS60.
So, only me and another lone sailor further North…….
Come to Kuantan before the fat lady sings !”
So there you have it children, NE Monsoon wind is still blowing and I’m positive to say, it’ll keep on blowing until the late of March. Plan out your journey and you may be well served!
Earlier that day…
14.03.2009
News
Totally revamped the website to make it look more attractive to the potential readers. I can’t even count how many copyright ownerships have been violated throughout the process. Oh well, the internet should be free, RIGHT?? 
Hope you like it!
13.03.2009
News
Penang was simply great!
I was there for the KFC/PSC International Regatta 2009.
I wish I had taken some nice pictures. Complicated story, but in short, NEVER EVER travel without your own transportation. Car pooling is cool, until you have so many places to go, yet having a no-go bugger behind the wheel. In a sentence, I ended up not visiting 90% of places I wish I could go while in Penang.
Still, with all the great experiences along the way, there’s no way to write it off just yet.. continue reading...
05.03.2009
Windsurfing
BWJ & crews will be leaving for Penang Regatta from tomorrow until Sunday, 1st of March. Therefore nobody will be at our place during this period so please be informed.
Best wishes.
BWJ
24.02.2009
News
The kite, the sea, the wind, the drinks & the babes. Khai Wee or better known as Andy, one of our fellow kitesurfers, the most passionate among the lot, talks about his experiences along the journey to Hua Hin, Thailand. All in the name of kitesurfing…
For those who are not familiar with the term “flashpacking”..it’s simply a more luxurious way of backpacking where your choice of accommodations are not limited only to hostels, chalets or guesthouses and you can afford to have a higher daily traveling budget 
. Actually I was supposed to go with my then girlfriend(ex-gf now)…quite obvious we broke up before the trip hence i go alone.
Having said that, I started my journey from Malaysia on the faithfull day of 9th January and back to Kuala Lumpur on 31st January 2009.To add salt to my wound..I was travelling with 2 of my best friends and their wife and girlfriend respectively. Well, the plan was that we travel as 3 couples…but shits happened sometimes
Come to think of it now…it was a blessing in disguise coz I would have to spend more for 2 persons.hahaha…the kiam siap(a chinese dialect slang which means stingy) side of me. continue reading...
24.02.2009
Kitesurfing
A boy died of drowning yesterday (Sunday) here in Balok at around 5pm. He was with his friends fishing on the main rock closest to the beach. They believed to have climbed the rock when it was low tide, but tried to swim back at high tide. Another friend of his was lucky enough to be rescued by our surfer, Boy. I wasn’t there when this happened. It was a windless day due to the rain.
Searching by local rescuers for the body failed. This morning, the body eventually resurfaced.
My deepest condolence goes to the family involved, I hope they’ll take it easy. Rest in peace brother.
A word of advice to anyone eager to swim to the rocks, or anywhere near the rocks. There are dangerous undercurrents within the proximity of the rocks. Undercurrents are known to be the main culprit to suck you down hard into the water. This is obviously not safe for anyone who does not know how to swim very well. If you have to climb on it anyway, please please please do not try to swim back when it’s high tide. This is the most dangerous time & condition to swim, even a good swimmer has high risk of not getting back to the beach easily because of the strong currents during high tide.
One tip you have to remember when you get into this situation, is to relax. Breathe air, not water. If you feel tired, get a deep breath, try to reach the bottom and jump back up. Do this until you have enough energy to swim back to beach or just let the current to wash you ashore.
23.02.2009
News
Here’s the truth. There is no single *reliable source for windsurfing gear in Malaysia.
Trust me. Been there, done that.
Singapore is the closest where you can find truly exceptional quality, bang for the buck windsurfing equipment. Gear in Singapore are generally cheaper than anywhere else in the world. There’s a few online windsurfing shops in Singapore. Now I’m not here to advertise anybody but rest assured, they are quite easy to find, so google is your friend.
For used market, there is no better place than the Bluefinz’s Marketplace. Keep watching and you’ll find what you’re looking for eventually. Prices are usually very reasonable too.
Lastly, contact this guy PJ. He owns Bluefinz Windsurfing Shop, very friendly and you can trust him for the quality.
Like every other purchase, study what you want to buy, study your seller ( see if he has any good/bad review before) and most importantly, don’t rush into anything.
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*not reliable in this context means an organization/person that has any of these issues;
- Long waiting time / bad communication ~ waiting for a whole week just for a price quote isn’t exactly what you’re looking for
- Potential to sell overpriced yet battered equipment ~ lack of sellers & availability means they can price it however they want to desperate & uninformed beginners.
- Potential of getting scammed ~ you should get what you paid for, not less than you paid for
- Other bad issues that are too general to mention
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UPDATE: (July 2010) You may also want to check Oxbold.com – These guys are official distributor for the famous brand Starboard in Malaysia.
23.02.2009
News, Windsurfing, Windsurfing Lesson
Seems like the NE is coming to its end.. NOT!
Simon and Eng from KL went down to Balok today. One thing about these guys, they’ve been spoiled over the years with shortboards and small sails, that they only go out when it’s really blowing.
Well I guess today’s their lucky day! It was around 15-18 knots from 2pm. A bit cloudy and a bit gusty but that won’t stop us windsurfers to go out. Some kiters were also spotted at the usual place, Duta Village.
As it was weekend, we had a great number of spectators. Nothing beats the cool feeling you have when having all these eyes on you as you walk with your gear to the beach! 
Be careful not to fall in front of them though. continue reading...
21.02.2009
News
Evolved Monkeys