Firstly, if you wish to go to Singapore you must by law have an AIS (Automatic Identification System) fitted to your boat. It has to be able to receive signals of all the boats around you and also transmit your position, simultaneously. A problem for us as we only had one that receives signals - so we were not allowed into Singapore waters. But that was alright as we didn't want to go there.
Secondly, the Malacca Strait is one of the busiest waterways in the World. However crossing the strait, with or without an AIS, is not for the faint hearted and takes a great deal of coordination. It is like playing dodgem cars with huge tankers, but of course you are supposed to miss. We decided to cross in the busiest part of one of the busiest shipping lanes in the World. Why? Are you crazy? I hear you ask. Nope, it has a traffic separation zone with an anchorage/waiting area in the middle. Bizarre, but thankfully true. That way we could give all our concentration to the one-way traffic, each time.
We also crossed west to east with Peter, Melila and their three kids on Per Ardau because we pretended to be a larger vessel together and also they had an AIS. So we both motored north on the Indonesian side, (the on-ramp) along the shipping lane boundary. Then when the AIS showed a break in cargo traffic and visually we couldn't see any stray boats we both quickly gunned it across the one-way south bound lane. A very fast boat doing 18 knots came within striking distance but he was alerted to pass behind us by Peter and Melila. Thankfully it worked and the tanker deviated course. We breathed a sigh of relief on reaching the traffic island and then quickly followed the same procedure crossing the one-way north bound shipping lane. Finally we had crossed into the Johor Strait and breathed a big sigh of relief. Also being now in Malaysian waters we quickly took down the Indonesian flag and replaced it with the Malaysian one.
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| Mid Strait housing development. |
We thought we were home and hosed at last, but no. Getting through the cargo traffic in the Johor Strait at anchor or piled up in a line waiting to enter the shipping lane, was even worse. Here there was open movement, no lanes and basically pandemonium. Just remember if they are bigger than you - give way.
There were cargo ships, tankers, tug boats, barges, police boats, pilot boats, speed boats, ferries, fishing boats, pleasure motor boats, sailing boats, jet skis, partially floating flotsam and jetsam, and even houses on stilts in the middle of the strait. Trying to get our sails down in all of this before the storm hit, was nerve racking to say the least, but we did it.
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| We wll fit - yes we made it. |
Finally the traffic petered out and we motored up the strait and under the 25m Singapore and Malaysian link bridge, and into Puteri Harbour marina.
We were now at 1 degree north, the Northern Hemisphere, and into another weather pattern altogether. In Indonesia it hadn't rained for 3 months, just like in Darwin it was the end of the dry season. Cross the Malacca Strait and into Malaysia on the 1st day of November and there were regular quick violent storms, so it rains every day or sometimes several times a day. Welcome to the end of the wet season.
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| The Mosque, Johor Bahru State Parliment. |
Wow - all the mod-cons of the 21st century were back with a bang. Immigration, customs, quarantine and port clearance took about 10 minutes at a one stop shop and it was done, for free. They never came to the boat.
Most boats that did the Sail Indonesia rally (from Darwin) and the Sail2Indonesia rally (from Cairns) congregated at the marina for the start of the Sail Malaysia West Coast rally. Puteri Harbour marina certainly has all the facilities one needs and it also has a large pond where you can anchor for much less than a berth. The downside - there is no air-con at anchor. Another issue is the pond is filled with plastic bags, so during one storm our un-manned boat came adrift. Luckily it was picked up and secured by Per Ardau (thank you) until we returned. On resetting our anchor, two plastic bags had wrapped themselves, one on the anchor, and the other on the chain. The upside of being here? It was nice to eat at fancy restaurants, catch buses/taxis into town to shop at a Tesco, or just pop over to Singapore for a techno fix. Heaven.
So that is what we did for the one week down time, we reprovisioned with all those luxuries and goods we could not get in Indonesia and ate at some lovely restaurants in the evening. A special night was sharing my birthday dinner with our friends from the Sail Indonesia rally.
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| The difference between eastern and western raised children. |
Before we knew it the Sail Malaysian rally was underway. We had a lovely day visiting some of the sights of Johor state. Our guides for the day introduced themselves as the faces of Malaysia. A Malay (Moslem) gentleman and two lovely ladies, one Indian (Hindu) and one Chinese (Buddhist). They really impressed upon us the tolerance that is Malaysia. That different people from different religious backgrounds can co-exist peacefully.
We visited State Parliament, a traditional Malay style house, an inter-tidal region National Park and a village home-stay, where the local children danced for us and we learnt how to weave, cook or play a traditional board game. The food was yummy, the people very friendly and we even had a police escort.
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| Stunning costumes and dancing. |
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| Sazli and James. |
Then the official welcome dinner with our hosts Sazli, from Sail Malaysia; and James, a sponsor and owner of Pangkor Marina. The welcome featured superb dancing and great food.
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| The parking lot. |
On the 10 November we left Puteri Harbour marina and motored back down the Johor Strait to the west coast. We wanted to miss the end part of the busy shipping area so we cut north west through the 'parking lot' of all the anchored cargo ships, and we soon out of all the mayhem.
It is really important to know where to sail/motor, when travelling north or south in the Malacca Strait. You do not wish to travel within the busy shipping lane as you have to compete with the huge tankers and cargo ships. Nor do you want to travel between the shipping lane and the shore as it is very shallow and infested with fishing boats, nets and traps. What you have to do is guide your boat exactly along the boundary line between these two areas. Then you have deep water with no one in your way.
The next major destination was Port Dickson so the first night most of the fleet stayed at Pisang Island, even when a short intense storm blew up we still managed good holding. Then there were no islands around for shelter after this. The lower two thirds of the west Malaysian coast is not that spectacular and has few sheltered anchorages, like islands, but it does have strategically placed marinas. It is mostly very shallow mud flats.
So if you don't want to go into a marina you just nudge up along the coast into your favoured depth and drop the anchor. The anchor usually holds very well throughout even the most intense storm, as it is mud. Unless of course you anchor in a spoil area. These are the result of major dredging of channels, river systems and marinas. The spoil is just 'distributed' along the coast and the positions of the patches are a mystery as they are not charted. So the first you know about it is when a storm blows up sometime during the night and you are cast adrift. Totally black, raining, windy and you have to locate your position, pull up the anchor asap and motor away from the coast into deeper water and reset your anchor. Not pleasant at four in the morning, as it happened to us and Ocean Jaywalker.
The next day we chose to motor over to the Water Islands and then stay an extra day and it was well worth it but by the time we arrived at the Port Dickson Admiral Marina for the festivities, it was totally full. We stayed for the night outside the marina and then left early before the rest of the fleet headed for the next major destination - Pangkor Island marina. The downside was that we missed the dinner and the tour of the old town of Malacca. We decided we would go into Port Dickson marina and go to Malacca on the way back down.
The upside of leaving early - we got a berth at the small Pangkor Marina and had a break before the rest of the fleet arrived. Luckily for us that we did. Seven boats could not get in and had to anchor outside. Normally anchoring outside would not concern us and is preferred, but James from Pangkor Marina was offering five nights free and that was too enticing to pass up. The Malaysian coast improves in scenery just south of Pangkor Island and the upper third of the coast, with its islands, is stunning.
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| Part of the Naval fleet. |
We past the Malaysian Naval fleet - 24 naval ships, a submarine and several naval planes overhead, as we entered the channel between Pangkor and Marina Island. Apparently a farewell for a long serving Admiral. Why not???
Strictly adhering to the directions on the website for entry into Pangkor marina we were shocked to find ourselves in very low water even at high tide. We had turned out of the channel of 24m and went about 200 metres and were suddenly in 4 metres. Quickly deviating our course to line up with the markers suggested by the marina staff and we were back in a rising level of water immediately. So a big warning to all entering Pangkor marina - follow the directions given by the marina staff on the radio and not what is published on their webpage.
Pangkor Island marina festivities started with a bang and first up was a trip to Pangkor Island. The marina is based on the small islet of Marina Island, which sits between Pankgor Island and the mainland.
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| The temple for Health and Wealth. |
We were taken over Pangkor Island for a day tour which included the remains of an old Dutch Fort, a traditional wooden boat building shipyard and an elaborate Chinese Buddhist temple. The temple was for wealth and health and all of us put in a lot of prayers here.
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| No - it's not a torpedo. |
Carp or coy are revered by the Chinese and the temple lake housed some of the largest carp we have ever seen. One large specimen was about 1.2 m (4 feet) in length. It was a monster.
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| Suzie, Sarah and Paul relaxing after lunch. |
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| West Pangkor Island. |
The next day it was a trip to the historic town of Ipoh. The geological origin of this part of Malaysia is limestone and entering Ipoh by road is really stunning with its limestone peaks and numerous caves. We visited a local Buddhist temple which was housed in a limestone cave with many stalactites and stalagmites which gave a surreal feel to the temple. 
But the real treasure of the temple, the gardens, was out the back. This garden was maintained to a very high standard and every tree, shrub and blade of grass had been manicured to an inch of its life. Together with the man-made lake, animals and limestone hills you could feel the stress just dripping off you.
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| A place to truely reflect. |
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| Ipoh Town Hall. |
After the temple visit we went into the city of Ipoh. A walking tour was just what was needed as living on a boat you don't get to do much of that. It was also an ideal way to take in the highlights of the city.
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| Concubine Lane. |
Ipoh has a lot of interesting landmarks; turn of the century architecture, ancient alleyways with a seedy past and lots of murals painted by acclaimed artist - Kareem.
Truly, Ipoh is a very interesting town and one worth more of a visit. Maybe when we come back down to Pangkor Marina?
Lastly on the agenda was the farewell dinner at Pangkor Marina. This was definitely a highlight of the trip for us. Personally we had so much fun. There was just some tables set up under the white tarps but the food was sensational and the beverages flowed. The scheduled entertainment was the excellent contemporary band that played for us at Puteri Marina. The singer and particularly the guitar player were outstanding and they got huge applause for all the numbers, but the standout was Hotel California. We closed our eyes and could swear it was Joe Walsh and Don Felder playing the guitar.
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| A small section of the huge conga line that snaked its way around tables. |
In between band breaks the rally members got a bit creative and we all ended up becoming the entertainment. The team from Per Ardua put on stellar display of Irish dancing. Peter played and sang a traditional Irish tune while his two daughters, Isla and Erin, performed an Irish dance for us. Sensational. Then it was everyone's turn and we formed a huge conga line that went on and on into the night. It was a fabulous time and we all let our hair down.
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