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Published: November 16th 2014
After a successful trip to Tesco and Aeon for stocking up on food, I went to settle the marina bill so we could leave that afternoon but the receptionist said the paperwork had been taken away by her boss and it came out we could stay another night for no extra cost. Unlike most marinas they charge by the day not the night, so if you leave before the day starts at 9am you don’t get charged. I found this out the hard way when I queried my bill calculation and a language miscommunication led to the boss double checking the bill and it ending up being more expensive - me and my big mouth!
As it turned out there was a huge rainfall that afternoon so good that we avoided it.
The weather here, we are informed, reliably has light winds until rain storms sometimes come in the afternoon. For us leaving the next morning, we had drizzle! we waited for it to stop before we left at about 8:30 but this was a fortunate delay as those that left before us got hit by squalls. Motored down the channel, under the 2nd Link Bridge and
into the maze of tankers in the shipping anchorage. As we got out passed these the wind grew to 20 knots - right on the nose, which against the current going with us made for choppy seas.
We pounded straight into this but found more comfort by tacking into it (still with the engine running) and came around the headland (the southern most tip of continental Asia) and after a few miles several of us took protection behind Kukup Island (the 2nd largest uninhabited mangrove island in the world apparently). We dropped anchor between 2 fishing boats just down the channel from the stilt village. It would be more accurate to call it a stilt ‘town’ - this place surpassing anything we had seen before - a whole town over the water on concrete pylons, surrounded by countless fish farms (many protected by barking dogs).
Alex & I took a dinghy ride over for a closer look and amongst the usual shacks found some nicely built homes here - it was like a mini Venice, with space for driving around on scooters. Drove by the large yellow ferry terminal and at least one hotel and a
Kukupcouple of restaurants and then stopped by our friends on SV Beau Soleil for a drink.
We were all off early the next day to ride the current going north. It was a day of half sailing and half motor-sailing into mild chop made by 8-12 knot headwinds, running alongside with the tankers in the shipping lane when the current is going your way, dodging fishing boats and coming in closer to the plain low coastline when the tide turns against you. We pulled over at about 5 pm near a small bump of a headland that gave no protection really but it didn’t matter as the wind dropped to nothing. There was an occasional roll which must have come from the wake of the nearby tankers.
The next day was similar, but with more nets to avoid, but the motor never went off as we had 47 miles to knock off to reach Pulau Besar - the only bit of protection on this stretch of coast. I had read how beautiful this island and its three resorts are, but on our way there as I flicked through tourist brochures I found I had
been reading about a different Pulau Besar on the east coast of Malaysia! Again about 5 pm we dropped anchor off the SE corner of this low lying tree covered plop of land - but it did have some rocks and not bad looking beaches which is a novelty here. We sat back with a drink and watched the gargantuan storm clouds strike lightening and rain out to sea, as a few other boats dropped anchor in the same bay.
In the background behind the island are the high rises of the town of Melacca which is only 7 miles away. We are well and truly in the Melacca Straits- notorious for its pirates and “Sumatras” (storms) in the transition season which we are currently in. So far it had been a breeze. (The pirating really only happens on the commercial vessels - mostly nearer Singapore itself or the Indonesia side- and isn’t the usual violent affair that occurs off the coast of Africa. We haven’t hit a storm here but apparently you can usually just drop anchor and sit them out as the water is generally shallow).
Should be a shorter day tomorrow
and then into Admiral Marina (Port Dickson) for more rally stuff.
Luke
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Steve
non-member comment
Hi guys, I am enjoying very much your stories, what an adventure. If only I had started my sailing a decade or 2 earlier! Luke here is a bit of medical news for you. At the end of October I had a haemorrhagic stroke brought on by super high blood pressure. After a week in hospital I am now on the road to recovery. I had a miracle because I have no permanent deficits, I am expected to make a full recovery. I am having a problem reading (at one stage couldn't read at all!) spelling and recognising some things but I am getting better each day. So now your blog is part of my therapy so don't stop! Only a week ago I would not have been able to write this message, so I am very very lucky. Have fun, stay safe and well, Steve.