Ko Lipe Island, Thailand 06.29N 99.18E

We have been delinquent in not updating our Blog since arrival Singapore. We seem to be forever on the go but also must admit we have chilled out a bit following the pace we moved through Indonesia.

Today we sailed from Malaysian waters into Thai waters and have dropped the pick at Ko Lipe Is in a nice anchorage off a white sand beach and just finished sundowners on deck to celebrate the arrival into our 10th country on the voyage.

To move back to where we left off in Singapore....we had an up and down month in bustling, booming, noisy Singapore with the crowds and traffic getting under our skin not to mention the humid tropical weather with heavy rain and thunder storms and lightning every day. B also had a temporary dental route canal done here too (but more work is needed in Phuket).

The shopping, food selection at supermarkets, the restaurants and entertainment in Singapore are of course tops. Christmas decorations arrived en masse whilst we were there and we also heard about the use of continuous, repetitive high volume music by the US military with political detainees......well the same thing was going on in all Singapore malls. We do not want to hear reworked Frank Sinatra (especially "White Christmas") or Dean Martin ever again.

We used our bikes to go shopping through the fantastic parks and cycle tracks that encircle the island. Whilst not everyones cup of tea you have to admire the industriousness of the Singaporeans on their Lake Taupo sized island.  The success that is Singapore is everywhere to be seen. The enormous Marina Development on reclaimed land which will have Singapores first casinos has to be among the largest construction projects underway on the planet. In November they opened the Barrage Reservoir with locks into the sea, designed and built by how apprpriately the masters of dykes, a Dutch consortium. It provides a huge lagoon right in the city which serves as their backup water source and also a recreational facility.

The highlight of our stay was probably the super sophisticated Republic of Singapore Yacht Club where we moored for the duration. The facilities were superb with good wifi access, a great library with chart section for route planning, the best pool, gym etc etc. We also gave the sunset deck restaurant good custom. Almost forgot, they had a yachties bar that served discounted drinks (thank goodness). Downside was the huge rocking and rolling caused by wake from boats picking up and dropping off workers on the anchored ships in the bay. However we soon got used to that, just like being at sea!.

After Indo, Singapore was 'instant first world' again with prices to match. On the political front their single party democracy is an interesting take on how to run a country in the 21st century. Unlikely to get past the post in NZ.  Reminds us, YES we voted at the plush NZ High Comm off Orchard Road....those Dipos know how to spend our tax dollars.

The day we departed Singapore we motored passed hundreds of ships in the western anchorage which meshed into the Johor Bahru anchorage on the Malaysian side. Ports of Singapore are reclaiming hundreds of acres for new installations and much of this reclamation is just sitting consolidating before construction
commences. Our electronic charts were only 12 months old but already out of date with reclamation. We can understand why this reclamation is taking place because Singapore is seeking to increase its population from 4 to 6 million.

Singapore / Port Dickson Malaysia
This was an overnight sail 150 miles up the west coast of Malaysia in the Straits of Malacca which are an extension of the Straits of Singapore with nearly as much sea going traffic. Our 3hrs on 3hrs off watch system went so fast as we had ships in front, beside and behind all an average 3 minutes apart night and day. They moving at 25knots plus and us plonking along very happily at 6/7 knots. We took a berth at Admirals Marina Port Dickson

Relaxed in the hot sunny weather (in direct contrast to cloudy polluted Singapore) for three days before moving further north. As an aside we subsequently regretted not stopping en route at Malacca the ancient Chinese trading port reputedly developed by them in the 14th century. Will have to stop on the victory lap. P is currently reading '1421 The Year China Discovered the World' (see website) http://www.1421.tv/

Port Dickson / Lumut
A gutsy sail another 150 miles north passing Port Klang the seaport for Kuala Lumpur to reach Lumut which is the base for the Malaysian Navy. Here we sailed up a river to anchor off the town and participate in some hospitality provided by the local government including a tour of local highlights.
Pulau Pangkor

On leaving Lumut we moved to an adjacent island Pulau Pangkor which is the nearest holiday island to KL so very popular. Too touristy but we hired a scooter all the same and rode around the island checking out the local culture, industry and wildlife of which superb stands of big timber and cheeky monkeys were highlights.

Lumut / GeorgeTown Penang
An easy day sail north to the tourist hub of the west coast islands with Malaysia's electronics and computer software industry seemingly based here. This island is all about history and indeed it has just gained Unesco recognition for its heritage sites which hopefully will be bankrolled toward restoration. The old Georgetown architecture is worth saving as are the trishaw riders even if they are masters of deceit with gullible tourists.
The beaches though are no longer worthy of patronage as the rubbish and water quality is bad bad bad. Cruise liners anchor off GeorgeTown every second day discharging a never ending stream of tourists which is great for the local economy. We had good times here walking around the streets taking in the ambiance of the multicultural town it being Chinese, Indian and Malaya with each religion prominent. You can buy anything in the shops here but the word from other yachties was, 'don't trust the workmanship of the trades people'. 

Anniversary and Abrupt Wake Up

A highlight for us was a wedding anniversary dinner at the grand old circa 1890's Eastern and Oriental Hotel built by the same developers that then built Raffles Hotel in Singapore. A top but late night which was rudely interrupted at 6am the next morning by a yacht hitting Musketelles stern as it was trying to depart an adjacent berth in the Penang marina. A strong ebb tide was running and it got control of the departing yacht and pinned it sideways across our stern and that of our neighbour. We finally got him disengaged after 30 minutes with luckily no damage to us but some to him plus loss of face. We both returned to the bunk as we were still very tired from our late night. Can you believe an hour later another bloody yacht did exactly the same thing albeit this time he lost his engine power and the tide wacked him into our stern with a thud, annoyingly damaging our gelcoat.
We were doubly unimpressed particularly as he took 90 minutes to get off by which time sun was up and so were we. So ended our little anniversary celebration.

GeorgeTown / Langkawi
Another short but gutsy night sail further north to the jewel in the crown...the mountainous jungle clad island of Langkawi, off the extreme northern eastern corner of the country. This island is a top destination and in preceding times large sums have been invested in a superior road network around the island. We hired a car for a few days and were well rewarded. The island is a World Heritage geopark.

A must see is the 40degree  incline Gondola ride up to the second highest peak (700 metres above sea level). Another attraction is that Langkawi is a duty free destination for electronics, cigarettes, liquor and chocolate which appeared to be the prime reason most Malaysians had jetted in with the touristic highlights a side event. We tend to agree that many Malay's have black belts in shopping.

From a sailing point of view there are 5 major islands with numerous good anchorages and we could have spent a good few weeks here.

Langkawi / Ko Lipe Is Thailand
We are now full circle up to date. Its 3 days before Christmas and we want to wish all readers of our ramblings a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our plan is to sail north to have Christmas wherever the good ship Musketelle gets us to over the next few days and find a little beachside restaurant for some
Christmas faire.

We contemplate what the coming year will produce for us and where we will be this time next year.
Believe it or not the wind has just come up from the north east and we are about to go topsides to tie a few things down and put out a bit more anchor chain for a peaceful night. This is most unlike the tropics...but then we are now in the northern hemisphere and its winter somewhere north of here !!!

Peter and Barbara.....all at sea, but loving it !! 

 

01.17N 103.45E Republic of Singapore Yacht Club

Raising the Singapore flags - Singapore, NZ, Q for Quarantine and numbers 2 and 5 (from memory!) to show we have crew on board, no passengers.

Musketelle crossed the Equator in the South China Sea on Friday 24 October 2008 at 0900 (local time UTC +7) at position 0* 00.00 104* 46.0 E. A milestone in anyones book. Poor B was unfortunately laid low with a severe cold but was able to helm Musketelle at the relevant moment. The sky was overcast and although in less than 20 metres of water we could not see the line running across the bottom!!.

B had to be on the helm because P had decided to swim over........he dived in to the sloppy seas about 0020 south and swam to 0030 north before clambering back aboard.
We made up a King Neptune outfit for the skipper (second surface crossing) to bless the (first surface crossing)  crew, but B was not up to the obligatory obnoxious imbibing drink and celebration so that was a shame for her first crossing.

That night we anchored at Pulau Mesanak at 0* 24.20N 104* 32.600E.  Then next morning we headed for the the top of the Indonesian island of Batam anchoring off Nongsa Point for the night to prepare to cross the Singapore Straits in the daylight. The evening was fine and clear giving us a great light show from industrial Batam on the Indonesian side to our south and the impressive skyline of Singapore to our north with an endless stream of ships and aircraft in between.
We lay on the foredeck and immersed ourselves in the scene which was in striking contrast to the remote and undeveloped parts we had been in for the last 3 months.

Another milestone was achieved in the life of SY Musketelle and her two crew when we crossed the busy Singapore Straits from Nongsa Point, Indonesia to Singapore last Sunday in perfect conditions. It took us 4 hours from the Nongsa Point anchorage until we berthed at Singapore - traversing one of the worlds
busiest shipping lanes with an endless stream of ships (2 minutes apart each way) in a traffic separation system of two lanes each about a mile wide.
Visualise ships of every size and type from the fully laden mammoth super tankers sailing eastward to China and Japan to small smoking tramp cargo ships, cruise vessels, gas tankers, container ships, tugs and barges, naval ships, armed security patrol boats and even an oil rig being towed. The super tankers travelling westbound were high in the water having discharged loads and heading back to the Gulf to refill. It was like a motorway out there, and to put it in perspective we plonk along at 5/8 knots whilst the fastest of these big ships literally roar through the water at 25+ knots. However we had no problems at all with the crossing.

Singapore is a welcome change but maybe not for long. Its busy, fast, crowded and expensive. All previous visits by the crew have been by air through the front door whereas this was through the back door at the busy and not so pristine Port of Singapore. We had booked a berth at the RSYC whilst in Indonesia and the promo material looked great but on arrival we find the marina is right beside the busy working port and it is rocky and rolly with support service craft rushing around the inner harbour day and night. The club itself
though is impressive with the most modern (circa 2000) clubhouse comprising huge pool, bars, restaurants, library, gym, sauna and free wifi and the staff very helpful. The local MRT train is 10 mins walk away and then only 30 mins to Raffles Place in the CBD.

We have already been shopping and achieved success on that front with a new Raymarine VHF that will allow dual station communication between the helm and the downstairs nav (when we get the handpiece which was not in stock). Also picked up a new Icom Portable VHF. We are on the lookout for a new computer. Consensus is Singapore is nowhere near as cheap as it once was in part due to the value of its dollar 1NZD =.81c SID.

We were also planning to do a bit of boat work here but may now do this in Malaysia at Langkawi. Current plan is to stay in Singapore and then move around to Danga Bay Malaysia which is where the Sail Malaysia Rally departs from on 14th November.

We do feel like many other travellers that have gone before that we are at a real crossroad here in Singapore. Notable because among other things we will now be moving around this one huge landmass all the way from Asia to India, the Middle East and Europe and not leave it until we cross the Atlantic way out in the future! Its challenging, global economic meltdown notwithstanding.
Where will we be in a year from now ?

Photos - Equator to Singapore

Photos show King Neptune, our position crossing the Equator on the chartplotter and lowering of the Indonesian flag.

Photos of the Singapore Straits

Crossing the Straits - and apparently this was not a busy day!

Photos - more photos of Singapore Straits crossing

Crossing the Strait

02.33S 107.40E Belitung Island

Kumai - Charging up the river in Geteks - note the fumes!

Since our last posting we have had the most exciting time in Kalimantan, Borneo visiting some of our early ancestors. We reached the south coast of Borneo at the mouth of a large river system and made our way upstream with dense tropical jungle on both sides. Ten miles upstream we reached the grubby little but very
busy port town of Kumai. There is ribbon development along one side of the river at Kumai with all manner of craft tied up to slap dash wharves and piles. Buildings are generally low rise with the unusual exception of a handful of 4 storey high buildings without windows but just small openings.  On enquiry these are swallows nest houses where thousands of swallows come to deposit saliva on nests to make the delicacy "birds nest soup" so sought after by Asians and Chinese.

Once again this is a rigid Islamic settlement with huge mosques everywhere and the habitual supersonic sound systems. So fundamentalist we could not even buy Bintang !!! The local Regent put on a day tour of the region followed by a formal dinner at a rebuilt Sultans Palace in the nearby regional town of Pankalanban. The highlight of the tour was a charge up the river in the local longboats (labelled Getek Wisata or Tourist Boats) powered by Chinese diesel engines with long direct drive shafts. They laid on 50 boats, all led by
local Polisi boats and the sound and mayhem was a sight to behold as the local river dwellers came out in their thousands to gork at these 'long noses' (thats what they call us ) disrupting their life. Interestingly the traditional inhabitants in this area are Dayaks, a tribe renowned renowned for their small stature and their head hunting prowess (in the past) plus use of blowdarts for hunting (still in use).

Next day we boarded our Klotok (traditional river boat) with two other couples from Moon Mist and Double Dutch for our three day cruise to visit the famous Gorillas in the Mist....the Orangutans. The Klotok took us up a tributary of the main river about 40 miles deep into the rain forest to Camp Leakey where a
research and rehabilitation station for Orangutans has been operating for over 30 years. En route we traversed a series of croc infested waterways to finally get up to the camp and on arrival at the camp wharf we were immediately greeted by a middle aged female Orangutan called Seiswee. (look at pics with B) 

It was just a sensational welcoming experience but there was much better to come. That first afternoon we came face to face with many adults and infants andfound ourselves clicking furiously away with the digital cameras to get some special pix. This is where digitals come into their own as you can click away happily knowing you can discard the duffed shots. That evening we went downstream to anchor and have sunset drinks and a spontaneous poetry recital by our resident poet laureate Rob from Moon Mist who had written a special verse on the Orangutan visit worthy of publication. We had a traditional Indo dinner (noodles and thumbnail sized bits of meat - one piece each) before retiring to sleep on mattresses on the top deck in the open under mozzy nets. The food, ablutions and accommodation were very basic but hey you are in the tropics and this is the real thing. We felt we were with Livingstone going up the Nile.

Next day we went back to Camp Leakey and took in more 'up close and personal' viewing with a variety of young and old orangutans including as luck would have it the oldest Alpha male in the area, a big chap called Kassarsi, a 49 year old who up until 3 years ago was the king of the jungle until being toppled in a series of full on physical fights with one of his sons, Tom.
Poor old Kassarsi being Alpha male #1 for 25 years used to have all the females at his disposal, indeed queuing for his attention but alas now Tom is 'the man'. Kassarsi is still a huge specimen but he has the saddest face in the tribe, all scarred and battle tired with the look of a human in an old folks home.

We also sighted at close range a variety of monkeys in their natural habitat playing like monkeys do including some mammoth jumps between trees and more than a few misses, hitting the lower shrubbery from great heights.

We have spent the last few days at Belitung Island 200 miles to the Northwest of Kumai and a few nights back we had the farewell dinner with our fellow cruisers and the next day cleared Customs and Immigration to exit Indonesia. Today Sunday we commenced sailing north to Singapore, island hopping the 330 miles
until we reach the busy Singapore Straits where an East and West traffic separation system operates as this is among the busiest shipping lanes on the planet. We will accordingly schedule our transit of the Straits for daylight hours. Until next blog.
Regards P and B

Kassarsi, the former alpha male, now old age pensioner. Still an amazing chap.

Peter and his new friend. Notice the firm grip on ankle and knee!!

Peter admiring Mrs Orangutan and baby.

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Photos of our great experience visiting our Orangutan ancestors in Borneo.

More Orangutan photos!

Cruising on the Klotok.

River ride in Geteks at Kumai. Great fun!!

Photo Update

Kumai Town - market and river.