17th April, 2009

We had a lovely time in Penang with Janine and Garth and each night we went out for dinner which cost no more than $NZ6 for both of us. As alcohol is very expensive in Malaysia, other than Langkawi (duty free) we very rarely have an alcoholic drink ashore, generally have a drink on board before going ashore for dinner.

On the Tuesday (7th) Janine, Garth and us took a bus out to the Penang National Park to have a walk through. Just as we got there, there was a heavy downpour so decided to have lunch while that was on before going for our walk. We walked several kilometers which was mostly along the edge of the coast in native bush and back again to the head quarters. While sitting at the head quarters having a rest we met another couple who were NZers. Their names were Cam & Sarah Collier from Eltham. They were over here to watch their son, Ben play hockey for NZ in a tournament in Ipoh. Looking on the web he has 78 caps for NZ. They of course knew my uncle, Brick Mathieson, related to the Colliers in Taihape and Cam's mother is a good friend of Katherine & Noel Frazer who are in Greenwood Park Village with Mum. They are the first NZ tourists we have met in Malaysia outside the yachting fraternity.

We finally got back to Georgetown at 5pm and it was just pouring with rain - it is a long time since I have seen rain like it and it did not seem to want to let up. We had hoped to go back to our boats before dinner but decided we did not want to get wet twice so made a dash for it to a place for dinner. By the time we had had a drink and dinner the rain had abated but we had about 8 inches of water in the bottom of the dinghy.

Next morning we were up early again and went to the Chowrasta market where we treated ourselves to some king prawns and bought some nice pork and chicken, plus the usual fruit and vegetables.

Thursday morning was raining quite heavily so we waited until it was over and Tonic, Solan and us headed for Rimau Island which we motor sailed the 12 miles to. Next morning we had a 3am start to sail the 71 miles down to Pangkor Island. We had a mixture of sailing and motor sailing and we were able to have the spinnaker up for a couple of hours. However a few miles from Pangkor while motoring I heard an awful clunck from the motor and gave Dave a yell (he never hears all these odd noises) and he turned the motor off but gathered we had a plastic bag around our propeller. For awhile we were able to have a nice sail and then at the bottom of Pangkor we got caught with no wind and we ended up going around in circles. Tonic & Solan were already anchored so Doug & Craig decided they would come out in the dinghy to give us a hand but in the meantime Dave decided to put on his snorkel and mask and dive down to remove the plastic which was in fact a huge fiberglass table cloth like the Indonesians use. Once off we were able to motor around to the anchorage and picked up Craig and Doug on the way. Finally dropped the pick at 7pm - a long day!

Were up and away the next morning at 7am and did a 50 mile leg and managed to have a 3 hour spinnaker run which was nice. Just before arriving at the intended anchorage a storm was brewing and the wind picked up so we quickly downed the spinnaker and the main only to find that we were about to go over a fishing net lying on top of the water. The fisherman was heading straight for us to let us know but was a bit late and we only just managed to turn in time to avoid it. If we had still had the spinnaker up we would have been in all sorts of bother. Had not long anchored and the storm arrived with rain, thunder and lightening the closest we have been with one lot of lightening coming down only a few metres from Solan. When we have storms like this the computer goes in the oven and the aerials are all disconnected from the SSB and VHF radios. They generally only last an hour or two but they are not nice.

Up and away again the next morning (12th) at 7am for another 40 miler into Port Klang - we had a great spinnaker run for all but the last 1 ½ hours and we anchored in the main river channel before the rain and thunderstorm started. Tonic and Solan took the outer route as they wanted to be in Port Dickson Marina the next day. We had a lovely calm anchorage for the night as the previous night was a bit roly, particularly after the storm. On Monday morning we moved further up the river and took a berth on the Royal Selangor Yacht Club's pontoon for $NZ10 per night. This part of the Klang river is pretty filthy and we would not leave our boat there for more than a few days, although plenty do because it is so cheap. The contrast between one side of this part of the river - a distance of 150 metres is amazing. One side is a very poor, untidy, filthy fishing village and the other side is the fabulous looking yacht club which is the oldest Yacht club in Malaysia. We could use all the yacht club's facilities but in the end didn't other than their boatman who will ferry you back and forth across the river on an hourly basis as the pontoons are nearer the other side of the river.

In the afternoon we did our check in at the yacht club and then on down to the port to check into the Harbour Master as they like to know where abouts you are. The harbour master bit was no trouble but then we were supposed to go to customs. Two guys were standing outside, looked at our papers and took them in to the office (we were told to wait outside) came back telling us we had to go to the ferry terminal to check in there. All very odd but off we go and then we are sent to Immigration. Well this is really weird as we are already in the country but were absolutely amazed when the girl stamped our passports again, in effect giving us another 3 month visa without even leaving the country!! After consulting with another officer it was soon decided that that was all wrong and so they revoked it but then were told we had to come back when we were leaving. All in all rather confusing and we still don't think we have the right paper work but we made sure our next stop to report to the harbour master etc. is not until Sebana Cove. We had originally put Port Dickson when we left Kuah but have since decided that we are not going there so that is why we did it at Port Klang. All in all this saga took 2 hours.

Tuesday morning we got the boatmans first trip ashore at 8am and caught the 8.40am train to Kuala Lumpur - the fare being all of $NZ2.20 for the 45km trip in a nice air conditioned train. The trip took just over an hour with all the stops and once at Sentral Station we then caught a light rail train to the Petronas twin towers - formerly the world's tallest skyscraper until Taipei 101 took over the title in 2004. They serve as the headquarters of the national petroleum company. The steel and glass monument weaves together traditional Islamic symbolism with modern sophistication. One can get tickets for visiting the 41st floor skybridge that connects the two towers but one has to be early as they only issue 1600 odd tickets a day and getting there at 11am all tickets were gone and they only take a few people at a time every 15 minutes so you might get a ticket but it could be 5.30pm before you go. The first few floors are all shops and what a fabulous shopping plaza - absolutely huge and all the most expensive brands - Harrods, Prada, Burberry etc. certainly not for the likes of us on a cruising budget. I would have liked to have had more of a look around but no such luck with Dave with me. From there we caught another train to Central Market in Chinatown which was an interesting place selling the usual Malaysian crafts and art. Was intrigued to find people putting their feet in a fish pond having a foot massage so I had one too. An amazing feeling but probably not so good for people who are very ticklish. The fish nibble at all the dead skin. It all caused quite a bit of laughter and the lady who ran it was not short of customers for a 10 minute massage for $NZ2.50 (5RM). Had lunch at the market but were not too impressed with the surcharge added on and the cost of iced lemon tea which turned out to be nearly as dear as our meal, still cheap by NZ standards though.

We then caught a bus from Chinatown to Bukit Bintang as we needed to go to a computer shop and we managed to get all that we wanted plus a wireless sensor alarm to have in the cockpit when we are anchored in an isolated place. We do have an alarm inside the boat but it is no good putting it on when we are in it at night with getting up and down. Bukit Bintang has a street lined with food stalls and open air restaurants and we ended up having a very cheap Indian meal - beef rending. Unfortunately that day my left knee had a bad attack of arthritis so walking was a bit painful. From Bukit Bintang we caught the monorail back to Sentral station - it was just jam packed with people and we could not get in the first one that came along and one could only stand.

We had a bit of a walk to the Komuter train station but had a kind lady take us in the right direction and we ended up letting a few trains go before getting on one to Port Klang as they were all so full. Even when we did eventually get on we were crammed in like sardines and standing for half the trip. Finally arrived back on board at 9.30pm pretty exhausted.

We took the bikes ashore on Wednesday and cycled around Port Klang township, stocking up on fruit and vegetables and a couple of things at the supermarket. It is certainly no upmarket place but the sort of place Dave likes poking around in as you never know what you will find.

Mid morning yesterday we checked out of the yacht club and went down to Immigration to do our so called bit there and they put a slip of paper in a sealed envelope for someone at Sebana Cove but whether it is the right piece of paper we do not know. Will let Sebana Cove worry about it when we get there. We moved off the pontoon at 3pm yesterday and headed nine miles down the Klang river for the night and we left there this morning to head south in the Malacca Straits for as far as we can go in daylight hours which with the wind on the nose and the current against us is not making for a fast trip when we are only doing 3.8kts, without burning up a whole lot of diesel. We will probably end up anchoring for the night just south of Port Dickson on the coast.

We have booked into Puteri Harbour Marina for our trip up to the Cameron Highlands and we will probably get in there on Tuesday. It is a new marina which has just opened and for this year are giving a 50% discount and is by far the cheapest around at present at just under $14 a day for us. Even in NZ a casual marina rate was $20 per day 2 years ago.