A Passage to Langkawi
18 November 2014 | Rebak Marina, Langkawi
David and Andrea
This blog is a bit technical and I apologise but it is full of important information for other cruisers, and not so much for those at home. We will do a more chatty blog at the next entry.
Diomedea stayed at One15 Marina on Sentosa island, which was excellent. Water on the dock was drinkable. Good electrical connection via adaptors. Diesel was S$1.60 (A$1.50) GST free and obtained from the very nice fuel wharf. To obtain GST free diesel you need to clear out FIRST and then get the diesel AND fill in the application for GST exemption form at the marina office whilst paying your bill.
To clear out, get the girls in the marina office to do it for you the day before you leave or you can go yourself and spend a few hours doing it. On the day of departure you will need to meet Customs at the Western Anchorage, Sister’s Island, where you met them on the way in. They spend 5-10 minutes with your documents and then you are on your way to Malaysia. Try and get the westward running tide of course. The Singapore Straits are very busy so pay attention. Aim for the Raffles light.
Diomedea went to Pulau Pisang for her first night anchorage at 01 27.825’N 103 16.194’E, which was 45 nm from Sentosa. We anchored in 5.0 metres, on the south side of the island. It was here we had a Sumatra about midnight and then severe rolling. A crap night, actually, and the worst of the trip. We had up to 1 kt of current in this part of the Malacca straits. The ebb tide sets northwest, the flood tide sets southeast.
From P. Pisang it was a 70nm leg to Pulau Besar a bit south of the city of Melaka. We anchored in 4.5m water at 02 07.518’N 102 19.324’E on the north side of the island in calm conditions and had a quiet night. Another yacht anchored on the south side of the island and had a good night as well. There is some sort of marina at Melaka but the Sail Malayasia Rally pilot argues against it.
From Besar it was 42nm to Port Dickson Admiral Marina at 02 28.590’N 101 50.742’E. We had booked a berth but there was really no pressure on space here. There was 3 kts of current running around the cape just south of the marina so try and get the ebb tide running north for this and all passages in fact. We took the inside channel from the cape along the beaches direct to the marina. We went in at low water with least depth 3.4m. The marina is very nice with excellent pool and a nice bar with good meal facilities. We cleared into Malaysia here and this entails a trip to town in a taxi which costs RM30 (A$10) one way and about half that on the way back if you use a local cab. The office at the marina will give you precise instructions and maps for this exercise. First stop is immigration which is a small office inside a ferry terminal. Then Customs, then Port Clearance. Nobody comes to your boat at any time. No dramas at any stage. No cost involved either. In Port Dickson, we obtained a Malaysian simcard from a Maxis telco shop on the main street. We bought 3GB of data for RM68 plus RM20 worth of calls for our two phones. Internet is up and down in speed and reliability. Good shopping at the large TF Value Supermarket. A few eateries are near the supermarket. We went to the Kenny Rogers Roasters which was quite good. The water is not drinkable from the marina taps. Diesel is available in jerry cans, either yours or theirs. It cost RM3.20 per litre delivered and poured into your tanks at the marina. The diesel appeared pristine. I thought that was pretty good value. We took a day tour to Melaka from Port Dickson and this was quite enjoyable. One could equally well go to KL from Port Dickson. As Malaysia is keen on port clearances, one has to go back to town to clear out of Port Dickson but this is very quick and again costs nothing more than the cab fare. You can leave the next day.
The next leg is really the crux of the whole trip and it is worth pushing to do the distance. We were keen to avoid night time passages due to the proliferation of fishing boats, nets etc and managed to achieve this aim. We were told by knowledgeable local sailors that the passage around the outside of the Port Klang islands was fraught with nasty seaway due to the extensive shoals and that it was much better to go the inside route right through Port Klang itself. We chose to heed this advice and were glad of it. We took the inside route past 10 miles of massive container terminals (82 cranes counted) with favourable current, doing about 8.3 kts. One can anchor at a commercial ship anchorage at 03 03.449’N 101 21.028’E but it is much better to keep going to Pulau Angsa, which we got to just after nightfall on the last of the north flowing current. We anchored at 04 10.902’N 101 13.293’E in 16m with good holding. Port Klang from both sides is very busy so expect to deal with shipping. It is 64 nm from Dickson to Angsa, and by doing this you make the leg to Pangkor achievable in the next day. We had an excellent quiet night at Angsa leaving again early the next morning.
Pulau Angsa to Pangkor Island is 75nm. We encountered truly massive trawler fleets of hundreds of boats. We were glad it was daytime. There is a marina on the mainland side of the channel opposite Pangkor but it was described as remarkably average by one yacht. There were two toilets with a shower head above each toilet bowl, as the only facilities. We chose to avoid the marina and anchored on the western side of Pangkor at a very pretty bay, at 04 13.944’N 100 32.381’E. Good holding in mud/sand outside a tourist resort. We were there on Saturday so lots of speed boats churning the bay up but otherwise just fine. The night was very quiet once the afternoon thunderstorm went through. Other anchorages are available in the area.
Pangkor to Penang was between 60 and 70nm depending on your final destination. We ran along the 15-20 metre depth contour to end up at the small P. Kendi on the SW tip of Penang, anchoring in 8 metres at 05 13.539’N 100 10.803’E. A fair weather anchorage only, we were joggled a bit by tide overnight. Not fantastic. Penang now has two massive bridges across the main channel with reported clearance of 25-28 metres on both. There is only one functioning marina at Penang, The Straits Quay marina. Sadly, this was completely full and we could not get in so we did not go up the strait between Penang and the main Malay peninsula. Apparently one can anchor off the marina and dinghy ashore but we have no experience of this.
Our penultimate leg was to Pulau Dayang Bunting in the Langkawi group. And finally we hit the NE trade winds. Yippee. Diomedea close reached the entire 60nm in 10-22 kts of breeze and remarkably lumpy seas at times. The Bunting area is stunning with vertiginous limestone cliffs, sea caves and dense jungle. The air is clear and one can see for many miles. This is an outstanding cruising destination. From this anchorage it was only 7 nm to Rebak marina. The marina is very well protected and its structure is good. There is NO diesel here but apparently is available at Telaga harbour nearby. Water on the dock is as usual “safe for drinking after boiling”. Good electricity supply. There are some basic, and I do mean basic, shipwrighting services here but not much else. The haulout yard looks good but it is mainly a DIY yard as there are no trades. The resort looks good. Free ferry ride to the main Langkawi island. The wifi internet is slow and patchy of course. A total of 422nm from Singapore.
There are really no intermediate anchorages in this trip. Thus, there is always that pressure to get to the next destination. Generally, there was little wind in the Malacca strait. We had the motor on all the way to Penang but got breeze north of 5ºN. We managed to motor sail from time to time as well. There were sporadic westerly seabreezes in the afternoons in the strait. Thunderstorms over the Malay peninsula occurred virtually every afternoon/evening, moving away to the SW. Early morning thunderstorm activity was intense over the nearby Sumatera island of Indonesia. We only had the one Sumatra squall as mentioned. Knowing what to expect with tidal flows was important. We used the Sail Malaysia rally pilot notes and these were very good. I enclose a copy with this article. We also used Total Tides software which was very accurate. Fishing boat activity is intense. Buoys with flags are very common but it appears that the nets are quite deep, as we sailed over a few of them without problem. Rubbish in the water is also quite prevalent, particularly in tide lines, but not as bad as Indonesia. Generally the fishermen skippers are much more sensible than their Indo counterparts and behave reasonably. Mostly the boats are lit. We stayed out of the sea lanes at all times. Initially we skimmed along the edges of the sealanes but even then there was no escape from the fishing activity. Mostly we tried to stay around the 30 metre depth contour. If we were doing it again, we would skip Pulaus Pisang and Besar, and overnight sail in the sealanes direct to Port Dickson. Alternatively you could just get out into the sealanes and stay there until Penang and do the section from Singapore in one go.