We Left Our Boat for This | Wild Borneo & The Kinabatagan River

Living on a boat full-time is intense — refits, family life, tight spaces, and constant jobs never really stop. But part of sailing around the world with our kids is wanting them to experience more than just anchorages. After spending a full year in Borneo — a place that will always be part of our story, as it’s where our baby Tao was born — we finally left the boat behind for a few days to explore one of the most iconic and wild places in Malaysian Borneo: the Kinabatangan River. With our boat safely left in Kota Kinabalu and Timo staying onboard to finish last-minute jobs before we set sail, we flew to Sandakan and travelled by boat deep into the Kinabatangan wetlands. This incredible river is one of the last remaining wildlife corridors in Borneo, home to orangutans, proboscis monkeys, pygmy elephants, hornbills, crocodiles, and so much more. We stayed at Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort, a remote jungle lodge only accessible by river, and spent our days exploring by boat, spotting wildlife, learning about conservation, and soaking up a world completely different from life at sea. Cruising life also means long stretches without seeing family, so sharing this adventure with my brother, his wife, and our kids made it even more special. This episode is a reminder that while boat life is an incredible adventure, sometimes you leave the boat to truly understand the place you’re sailing through. Thanks so much for watching — and if you enjoy sailing, refits, slow travel, and real family adventures, don’t forget to subscribe. 👉 Kinabatangan Wetlands Resort link below https://www.kwrsabah.com/ ⛵ We are Sailing NV We’re a sailing family refitting an ex-Vendée Globe Open 66 into our home on the ocean. We share life at anchor, big refit projects, ocean passages, and every breakdown along the way — because that’s boat life. ❤️ Support Our Journey If you'd like to help us keep sailing + filming, you can support us here: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SailingNV Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/sailingnv Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/sailingnv or if you'd like to help us buy something we need, you can check out our amazon wish list https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1G2NJ0EGJLKR0?ref_=wl_share Thank you so much #WildBorneo #KinabatanganRiver #SailingFamily