December 16,
2014 Tuesday
At 0730 hrs,
we departed Admiral Marina at Port Dickson for Port Klang: 58 nm to the North. Using the Tidal Streams, we were able to make
this distance in 9.5 hrs. The North
going Tidal Stream runs for about 15 hrs and then changes to the SE and runs
about nine hours. The currents are
stronger near shore so there is an advantage to staying close inshore. This ancient waterway has been used by Arab
and Indian traders since, at least, the
2nd century AD and perhaps longer.
The two monsoonal seasons were used for sailing from distant shores to
SE Asia: SW monsoon from Arabia and
India and return on the NE monsoon. A
short history of the area seems to indicate that Ptolemy, the Greek geographer,
labeled it ‘Aurea Chersonesus’ (Golden
Chersonese). It is the waterway to and
from the Spice Islands which include Indonesia and Malaysia.
It was the Indian traders that brought Hinduism, Islam, and the system
of Sultans and Rajas to the area.
Later on, the Portugese, Dutch and English would enter the scene in a long drawn out rivalry
of alliances and betrayals. The area
remains the preeminent spice capital of the world. The Singapore and Malacca Straits are the
busiest waterways in the world. It is
awesome to see the number of ships sailing and anchored off its many ports.
Malaysia
appears to have more of an Islamic influence than many parts of Indonesia. We observe small children, young girls and
women wearing the traditional “habji” (head scarf). This was not as common in many parts of
Indonesia. With this concession to Islam
and customs, the young girls and women wear modern jeans and all the other
designer clothing. Malaysia is a very
modern country with a great wealth in timber, oil refineries, minerals, and
gems. It rivals our own western
countries. There is ample employment and
many foreigners come here to work. The
medical and dental facilities are, reputedly, excellent and cheap.
The trip to
Port Klang was uneventful other than seeing more cranes lifting containers off
ships that we have ever seen before. We
counted 82 gigantic gantry cranes in the
Port Klang river. This port serves Kuala
Lumpur which is the political and commercial capital of Malaysia. We anchored on the western bank of the river
in 32’water depth with 165’ chain out (03-02.400’ N x 101-20.453’ E) good
holding on a muddy bottom.
December 17,
2014 Wednesday
Heaved up
anchor at 0746 hrs and got underway for Pangkor Marina which is about 67 nm
North of Port Klang. We had a little wind
and were able to motor sail at times but most of it was motoring. It became obvious that we couldn’t make
Pangkor in daylight so we decided to anchor at Sungei Bernham (Bernham River). The river bar is a little shallow and narrow
but has adequate depth to bring in a 6-7’ draft sailboat. We dropped anchor off a small fishing village
in 18’ water depth with 110’ chain out (03-50.835’ N x 100-49.751’ E). There were several ferries serving the
area. It is a well protected anchorage.
December 18,
2014
At 0748.
heaved up anchor and motored out of
Sungei Burnham. There is a spit
of land called Tanjung Lombalomba but I never did get the name of the small
village that was serviced by the ferries.
It’s a good stop between Port Klang and Pangkor.
We’re starting
to get short periods of the NE winds where we can set the main and jib. They seem to happen in the early morning and
die off in the afternoon. At least it’s
encouraging after having motored for so many miles in a windless area. The Volvo Penta engine is running well but has
a small exhaust leak coming out of the #2 injector – nothing serious at this
point in time but we can hear and smell the exhaust gas.
We arrived
at Pangkor Marina (04-12.690’ N x 100-36.115’ E) at 1448 hrs and made fast at
one of the berth at #2 pier. Originally,
I had not planned to stop at this marina so I didn’t do the necessary research
and planning to enter it. We were
travelling with a trimaran called “En Pointe” and he had the waypoints. We made a safe but circuitous entry into the
marina. This is a relatively new
marina. It has good haul out facilities
and we found mayn DIY (do-it-yourselfers) here.
It reminded me of the old days when most long distance voyagers made a
stop somewhere along the line to haul out and make necessary repairs. This is a great place to do that. There are many French DIY yachties here so I
figure it’s cheap. The other facilities
were “bare bones” but adequate. The city
of Lumut is a 15 minute taxi ride away and has another yacht club facility on
the Dindings River. My original
intention was to anchor off this yacht club and be closer to the city but it
would have necessitated launching the dinghy.
It’s always easier to step off a marina berth onto the dock. Anyway, Lumut seems to have everything a
cruiser would need. The great thing
about Malaysia is that all spare parts for yachts come in “duty free”. Additionally, they have machine shops that
can make up anything not available.
December 20,
2014 Saturday
We departed
Pangkor Marina at 0830 hours enroute to Penang: 70 nm distant. It was obvious that we would not make it in
daylight so I chose a well protected anchorage to the south of Penang Is called
Pulau Rimau (05-15.255’ N x 100-16.643’ E).
The biggest problem when sailing at night is fish traps nets, and fishing boats. Radar can pick up some of fish traps but, if
they are made of bamboo stakes, not all.
To pick up a net in the propeller means an overboard dive to cut it out.
Our radar and charting programs are in
the cabin below. I monitor the radar and
positions and give helm orders to Phyllis.
She does all the manual helming of the yacht in close quarters when we
aren’t using the auto-pilot.
On this
voyage, we had very little wind so it was motoring. We started to get light rain about 20 nm from
Penang and this stayed with us right into the anchorage. The Sun sets here around 1930 hrs and we
dropped anchor at Pulau Rimau at 2048 hrs in 26’ water depth with 130’ chain
out (05-15.255’ N x 100-16.643’ E). It
rained all night long but the anchorage was comfortable and safe.
December 21,
2014 Sunday
Penang
is one of the great cities of the world
but, for yachts, there is very little good anchorage to be found and dinghy
access becomes even more difficult.
There is only one small marina left that is located at the northwestern
side of the island (05-27.5’ N x 100-18.9’ E) Straits Quay Marina. It has accommodations for 40 boats which are
permanently moored there and space becomes available only when one of them
decides to leave for awhile. I had
emailed and talked to the marina manager, John Ferguson, and he told me that I
could anchor off the marina and dinghy into it and use all the facilities. He thought that a berth would become
available on December 24th.
We accepted this offer and heaved up anchor at Pulau Rimau and motored
13 nm to the Straits Quay Marina. It was
still raining. At 1700 hrs, we dropped
anchor off the Straits Quay Marina in 20’ water depth with 130’ chain out
(05-27.695’ N x 100-19.158’ E). This
anchorage is wide open to wind and sea but during the NE Monsoon it is
tenable. We stayed anchored there until
December 24th and then got a berth at the marina. We were all secured at Berth E-1 (05-27.529’
N x 100-18.866’ E) Straits Quay Marina
at 1215 hrs – still raining. It was a
good Christmas present to be safe and secure.
The Straits Quay Complex is a Five Star Resort and Condominium with all
the chic shops including Starbucks and a fabulous grocery store. The marina part is small and insignificant
but adds charm for the rich and famous.
Everything here is Five Star luxury at affordable prices. Malaysia has everything that Singapore boasts
with affordable prices. Much of their
tourism comes from Singapore!
It rained for
four days and, finally, let off just enough for the Sun to come out and reveal
the magnificence of Penang.
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