Singapore and Malaysia

In mid October 2011, we went home from Singapore for the semis and finals of the Rugby World Cup, and more importantly, Nick and Kate’s wedding on which was on 4 November in Gisborne. What a great day that was. We had left Salanjo at the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club which was on the West side of Singapore not too far from “downtown” which was where Anna wanted to be...for obvious reasons!! The marina was great in many respects. Nice pool, restaurants and reading rooms, bars and gym, but it was adjacent to the West Coast ferry terminal and from before 7 am until well after dark the jet engines of the commercial ferries just roared all day. There was seldom a quiet moment. Ok if you are away as we were, but on returning 10th November we felt it bad, and were keen for Trish Brown to arrive so we could clear customs and immigration and head off up the Straits of Malacca and see Malaysia.

Anna and trish en joying some 5 Star hospitality!

Trish arrived, we provisioned up and late in the afternoon of the 12th November, we dropped lines and headed out for an evening trip up the busy Straits of Singapore. Nothing too dramatic happened. There was little breeze so we motored until a land breeze picked up at dawn and lasted a few hours. We arrived at Port Dickson marina late in the morning of the 14th. We went into town to clear customs and immigration and arrange a taxi for the next day to take us to Malacca. The old port of Malacca has long since silted up so it’s now easier to lay at Port Dickson, and drive the 40 odd miles back to the famous old town of Malacca.

Trish having fish spa!!

We loved Malacca and stayed two nights there at a beautiful little hotel. We toured on bikes and went to the museum of the Chinese 1241 World Discovery Fleets. We found the old town charming and very interesting. Well worth visiting.
The next day we left Port Dickson and headed north towards Port Clang. The Raja Muda yacht race was starting the next day so we were lucky to find a spot to tie alongside at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club which was hosting the regatta. We met a few kiwi sailors we knew. We met up with David Ross with his new 40 foot racing machine which I was contemplating joining for the king’s Cup later in Thailand, but for reasons that will come out later, that was not to be!
Port Klang was horrible. There was so much rubbish floating on the river, it was incredible. They said that the rubbish dump had broken its side and all the rubbish fell into the river, but whatever it was, we were not staying any longer than necessary. At first light we left Port Clang for the sail to Pankor Island. We arrived just after sundown and headed for a bunch of lights that looked pretty interesting! We went ashore and found the restaurant to be immediately surrounded by a group of men in uniforms, all smiling but with guns at their sides!! We sis as we were told!! Eventually they allowed us to stay for dinner then provided transport for us back to the dinghy where they stood to ensure our departure. It was an eventful evening at the flash resort on the private island of Pankor Laut!!
The next morning we proceeded over to Pankor Island to join the race boats who had arrived during the night. Not much to say about here. We had a look around and lunch and left for Panang.
We pulled into the Town marina which seems to have been wrecked by the currents running here, and went ashore. Loved the place. Really cute. We met the cruising vessel Sirius with Simon Morris and his crew. We had a good evening out with them. The next day after a further explore, we headed out for Langkawi, 150 miles away. We experienced light winds in the afternoon, but during the night the breeze got up and we had over 20 knots for the last half of the trip with the wind freshening in the channel as we got closer to the island. We spent the first night at the tourist lake called Princess Lake on the south side of the Langkawi group of islands. Next morning after a quick look at the princess Lake, we entered and motored up Bass Harbour to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and a look around down town Lankawi..not too much! It was raining though, so maybe that was a contributing factor to us thinking it was all a bit dreary!
The next day we headed down to the most beautiful beach of Pantai Senang beach with all its bars and restaurants. Here we swam and dinned and stayed the night. Later the next day after a quick look to confirm there was no room for us at Rebak Marina, we headed around to the marina in Telaga Harbour where our mate Greg Sutherland had organised us a berth.
We enjoyed Langkawi. Rented a car and had a good look around..the beaches, the resorts and an evening trip back to Rebak marina for a night with many of our Indonesian Rally friends who were moored there.
Then on the 26th November, we said “good-bye” to Trica and Anna and I cleared Customs and Immigration and headed off around the corner and a few miles north to the wonderful Malaysian Island, of Butang. We had a lovely barbeque fish dinner on the beach, and an interesting evening wandering the path of stalls observing the simplicity of it all, and noting the large numbers of tourists and speciality stalls and dive stalls. Next morning the 30th November, Anna and I sailed the, 125 miles through to Phuket, early evening arriving at Ao Yon in time for a meal at a local beach-side reataurant. Next day we motored over to Ao Chalong and cleared Customs and Immigration at the one-stop-shop at the end of the wharf. Pretty painless!