16th May, 2009

We are currently motoring/motor sailing from Puteri Harbour Marina to Sebana Cove on the other side of Singapore having left Puteri at 6.40 this morning - a 52 mile trip. Started off with a good current behind us but has gradually slackened off and with no wind we are not getting anywhere fast and what with dodging and avoiding the hundreds of cargo ships that are either anchored or moving in the Singapore Strait one has to be really on your metal.

The few days in Puteri Marina before heading to Danga Bay was quite busy and we did a big stock up on the Monday at Jusco's, and then that night had a nice meal on board Mary Eliza with Jackie & Rob, who we have known since 2004 in Samoa. Tuesday night we did the night market and on Wednesday 6th we were taken to the bus depot to by marina staff to catch the bus across the 2nd link causeway to Singapore. First stop was to go to a Perkins Agent which was supposedly in Tractor Road to get a raw water pump kit. After busing and some walking we found the outfit was no longer there and a marine place over the road very kindly rang and found out where the Perkins Agent was and gave us their details. However as it was quite a long way away, gave up on that idea. We then went back to Boon Lay where we had a look in a mall, had lunch and got a few odd little things and then bused and trained back into Malaysia. When we presented ourselves back at Immigration in Malaysia and produced our NZ passports we were whisked off into an Office before we could say a word, had our temperatures taken and had to fill out a couple of forms. They were all wearing masks to protect themselves from the swine fever and we tried to tell them that we had not been in NZ since February 2008 but they were not listening. This off course resulted in us missing our bus so had to wait and catch the next one to the local bus station. Rang the marina for someone to pick us up but there seemed to be a bit of a miscommunication and after over an hour of waiting rang again and someone came and picked us up. Got back to the marina and Anne from Pewter met us coming down the pier and asked if we had, had dinner and as we hadn't she very kindly gave us dinner.

Thursday morning we headed upstream 6 miles to Danga Bay in readiness for the start of the rally. Since being there in November last year they have now put in a small marina and as it is not finished berthing there is free, including power and water for a year so that was a bonus. We had a 100m plus super yacht from Sweden beside us and a couple of days after we arrived the boat had a visit from one of the local government ministers (we had thought it was the Sultan, but he wasn't) so there were a lot of police along with an entourage and the visit lasted 10 minutes!!
While in Danga Bay Dave and I did a bit of cycling to get various bits and pieces we needed along with 200 litres of diesel with Dave doing 5 trips with 2x20 litre containers on the bike.

Gradually over the weekend more rally boats arrived in and on Sunday afternoon at 4pm we had registration and then a High tea was put on for us. This was held outside on the promenade and a man was hired to pray for no rain. The fee was 1000RM (approximately $NZ500) but was to be only paid if there was no rain. It remained fine and he received payment!

Monday morning we did the Harbour Master bit and the afternoon was spent doing bits and pieces on the boat. Unbeknown to us a solo Australian sailor who was just along and opposite us in the marina was found dead in his boat in the afternoon when a friend came to visit him. He had hung himself. His wife had apparently died a couple of years ago from cancer. Everybody on their boats was asked to leave the pier by the Police but we never heard anyone come to the boat and were at the end of the pontoon so were quite oblivious of all the goings on.

Monday night we had the first of many rally dinners which was put on by various local authorities and we had a lovely meal and all in all a good night. We ended up on another boat for coffee and got to bed at 2am!

Tuesday we had a tour of Johor Bahru where we visited the mosque and government building (we had seen these in November) and then to the Sultan's Palace which is now a museum but is still used for important functions although the Sultan now lives in another Palace. The Palace was beautiful and it was all most interesting but unfortunately we did not have long enough there. The Sultan's first wife was English, but he divorced her and she is still alive in England, but the eldest son from that marriage will be the next Sultan. Muslim law is that a man can have up to four wives and the Sultan at 84 currently has two wives and the first one of these two is the Sultanate.

From the Palace Museum we then had an hour and a quarter's drive to a Kite Museum where there were kites displayed from all around the world, which was really quite interesting. They have an International Kite festival and competition in Johor every year and even NZ has entries in it. We also watched a guy making the designs for a kite and there is a real art to it.

Had an hour in a shopping mall to have a late lunch and a look around before heading back to the marina. We were fortunate to be sitting in the front seat of the bus so were able to question the driver about Muslim law etc. It is not compulsory for the women to wear the veil and a lot of the younger ones choose not to, but once married it is mainly the husband's wish that they wear the veil. Under Muslim law it is easy for women to get a divorce. If she lives in a village and her husband goes away for whatever reason for more than 120 days the wife can go to the headman in the village, and if she has a good enough reason can ask for a divorce. It does not need to be discussed with the husband but a notice is put in the paper announcing the dissolution of the marriage. The head man, if he sees fit, can then take her under his wing and she can become one of his wives!! I asked if it was only the very wealthy who had more than one wife and he said no, so obviously it is common practice even amongst the general population.

Wednesday lunchtime we left Danga Bay and headed back down the 6 miles to Puteri Harbour Marina. We went back into the same berth and this time it was free for the rally and only having to pay for power and water used. At 4pm we had traditional games for an hour or so then High tea. Thursday morning some of us went to the mall in the marina mini bus and others participated in water games with the locals and then at night we had a big rally dinner with about 50 official guests which included the Chief Minister of Johor. The dinner was in a lovely marquee with all the tables done up like a wedding with fresh flower arrangements on every table. We had a nice meal if you got in early enough but unfortunately when the food ran out they took a long time to replace the dishes. The guest of honor tables had all their food brought to them and I was rather amused to see that dessert often came before some of the main course. After all the speeches etc. dinner did not start until after 9pm. There were also traditional dances and towards the end of the evening, after the official guests left we were asked to go outside and watch the horse dance which went on for about 2 hours with some of the participants going into a trance and then collapsing. We didn't stay until the end as it became a bit boring and most of us were not impressed by it.

Yesterday morning school children visited the boats and then there was a promotion put on by Langkawi International Yacht Registry. Later on in the afternoon the marina staff put on a surprise for us. It turned out to be a mock traditional Malaysian wedding with two of the staff as bride and groom. For quite some time we actually thought it was for real. They then asked for two of the yachties to be the bride and groom so Doug & Margaret from Tonic played the part. It was all great fun, but we had already seen what happens at a traditional wedding so knew the procedure but we were all given the artificial flowers with the hardboiled egg attached (the egg represents fertility) and a little plastic container containing food. They went to a lot of trouble and the bride and groom were in traditional wedding dress.

At 1650hrs we had a bit of excitement - we were off Changi (Eastern coastline of Singapore) and were 100 metres inside a yellow marker buoy which we thought was just a fairway buoy and we hear this loud siren going, wondered what it was for and then suddenly this security boat arrives up beside us and asks us to stop. Dave pulls in the genoa and puts the engine in neutral and they tell us we are in a prohibited naval area and to head back out past the yellow buoy. They were very nice about it but said to remember next time we are in the area. We saw another yacht going in the opposite direction to us and thought they must be in the wrong place as well, and next thing they are approaching them..

It has been a slow trip, with not much wind and current against us so are anchored off on the Malaysian side of the entrance to the river to Sebana Cove and will do the last 6 miles in the morning as we didn't want to be arriving there in the dark.

Going through the Singapore Strait today we were amazed at the hundreds of ships lying at anchor empty with nowhere to go, far more than there were 6 months ago when we passed through. With AIS (Automatic Identification System) it told us all the information about the ships and when their ETA was in Singapore and many of them had been there since last year. Development seems to be keeping on going in Malaysia and Singapore but guess it is all oil or gas money. Nusajaya at Puteri harbour is a huge development of over 600 acres - simply mind blowing.