Yesterday we crossed the infamous Singapore Straits. We left the Indonesian island of Batam where we hugged the coastline until we came to a ninety degree cut (the best way to avoid a collision) across one of the biggest shipping lanes in the world. With our trusty AIS radar system (pictured above) we could see our closest point of approach and the time we had to make a dash in front of a huge fast moving ship or to back off. Luckily we had no close calls although the entire trip was hugely stressful. The biggest ship we passed was 1096 feet long - that's 3.5 soccer fields!!

We are now in Johor Baru in Malaysia in a marina called Puteri Harbour. The marina is very modern and they are building a hotel around the marina as we speak. Coming from Indonesia a definite third world country - Malaysia is well and truly first world. The clubhouse facilities here are first rate (they even have a library) and all for appoximatley $12 australian dollars a day. Tomorrow they will take us to a night market and Thursday they will take us to the nearest town which is complete with three hypermarkets (including Tescos from the UK) and a huge cinema complex. We will also catch a bus into Singapore for a day trip next week.

We have joined the Sail Malaysia rally (http://www.sailmalaysia.net) which will depart on November 8 and meander up the Malaysian coastline to Langkawi. This rally is a doddle in comparison to the Sail Indonesia rally which had distance issues coupled with time (visa) constraints. So from here on we are hoping we can kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labours thus far.