7 Days in PIRATE Waters | Borneo, Malaysia

Today we are setting out on a 7-day sailing trip through pirate territory. For the past two months, we have been sailing through the Philippines, and as we have approached the southern limits of the country we have debated where we should go next. In essence, we had two routes to choose from. Route 1 was to head west out of the Sulu Sea south towards Jakarta while hugging the western side of Borneo. And route 2 was to head southeast passing through Sulu and Sabah, and onwards to Indonesia. There were a couple of once-in-a-lifetime attractions we would only be able to see if we took route 2 - The critically endangered wild Bornean Orangutans, and Komodo Island - the only natural habitat of the Komodo dragons. The problem however was how dangerous route 2 could potentially be.  In the southern portion of the Sulu Sea, there is a controversy zone on the border of the Philippines and Malaysia where there has been a history of piracy and crimes carried out by the “Sultans of Sulu”. This Islamist extremist group inhabits the remote Sulu Islands and has gained a scary reputation for its acts of kidnapping, theft, piracy, and killings. In recent years the Malaysian and Filipino governments have put much effort and manpower towards securing the waters, and now there are strict protocols for passing through. As we did more research and started planning our route we realized just how strictly the waters are patrolled and started to open up more to the idea of taking route 2. Interestingly, right as we were about to set sail we noticed that Sailing La vagabonde had just posted a new video about sailing through these exact waters we were about to enter. We watched their video and were surprised to see that they had sailed into the conflict zone without following any of the protocols or precautions. It was rather shocking to see, but the crew and I felt fortunate to get a glimpse of what we may encounter in the coming days. We felt confident knowing that we had taken the proper steps in preparation for the sail, yet there was still a sense of apprehension amongst the crew… ------------------------------------------ SUBSCRIBE to support our mission to GIVE BACK: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5yQtWj1R--f7TCDpzZ5iXg?sub_confirmation=1 ------------------------------------------ EXCLUSIVE CONTENT!!: https://www.patreon.com/sailingrippleeffect ------------------------------------------ Watch Season 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afaTfAmnuMs&list=PLEz8PmTM4lWDK2c2YW8rr55wjvf74934g Watch Season 6: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-1Jkl4rCMY&list=PLEz8PmTM4lWDu_xLN0JFnx-YX5lSgzXq3&index=1&t=57s Watch Season 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7IrEwJVnHI&list=PLEz8PmTM4lWDG7tstlqR3O1M2fkQQT8-A Watch Season 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nsvIT8jNl8&t=131s Watch Season 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt7prknxHOA Watch Season 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z1OuEPXG-w ------------------------------------------ Follow Mara: https://www.instagram.com/mararipple/ Follow Doc: https://www.instagram.com/docgastone/ Follow Kay: https://www.instagram.com/kaylessgo/ Follow Natalia: https://www.instagram.com/nat.stef4nowsk1/ Follow Monica: https://www.instagram.com/genuinelyblue/ #pirates #philippines #malaysia