WEEK 3 - Bernham River to Puteri Harbour Marina

Saturday 30 April – Bernham River to Port Klang
03°02.461N / 101°20.331E
We left at 7am. Braveheart called us up to say that they had been up since 1am as a big tree had lodged itself on their bridle (to their anchor) (Braveheart is a catamaran). They had to cut the bridle and put out a stern anchor so when the current changed at 3am and the boat turned the tree would drift out. Meanwhile they don’t know how much scratching they got on their lovely new paintwork. We followed our track out of the channel followed by four other boats. It was a still day and we motored till about 3pm when a fair wind came up and we were all finally able to sail – we were doing 6.5 knots. When we came out we could see a storm further out to sea so we tracked it on the radar and kept an eye on it and were able to clear it – just caught the edge with about 20 mins of light rain. As we were coming in to the channel towards Port Klang we were going to go between two big ships when one of them started its engine, pulled up anchor and went in front of us! It was late when we came into the river at Port Klang which is the biggest port in Malaysia with heaps of huge ships and infrastructure and wharves all along the bank on the other side of the river. We dropped anchor but it didn’t hold so pulled up to retry and found we had anchored on a plastic bag! We finally anchored at 6.30pm – it was a long day.
Miles: 64 TTT: 282

Sunday 1 May – Port Klang to Port Dixon
02°31.089N / 101°48.267E
We upanchored at 7am and motored for two hours up the river – there are wharves all the way along loading and unloading huge ships. Each ship has hundreds of containers and each container is brought in by truck. We were on the opposite side of the river but were in danger of being run down by an Indonesian boat – they don’t like to deviate from their course – so we shot across in front of three huge incoming ships and went out the opposite side changing course to avoid a net. Then the crew had to stand at the bow to guide us through a heap of floating rubbish. We motored with the sea like glass with no wind and the horizon blended in with the sea. We have seen some pretty nasty looking jellyfish with very long tentacles. We could see the ships in the shipping lane of the Malacca Strait. They go up the starboard side and down the port side and we can hear them talking on the radio discussing which side they are going to overtake on. The wind came up in the afternoon and we motored with all sails up against the current. We arrived at our anchorage at 5.20pm which was up a channel between an island and the mainland with some large barges and fishing boats on buoys. We passed two oil platforms on the way in and there was a large block of units – either unfinished or abandoned close on shore and huge resorts a lot further in on the beach. It is always stressful coming in to new places especially when the skipper says ‘cant turn left where is the spanner’. The crew doesn’t know where the spanner is and does circles to the right while the skipper locates the spanner and tightens the screw to the tiller. We had replaced the screw but over time with the self steerer it works loose and we had forgotten to check it since Thailand!!! We anchored beside a dirty great barge but the crew wasn’t happy so when Cilantro and Braveheart came in we moved further back. The skipper warned Sandra of a rope in the water and she thought he said rock and they did an impressive about turn! Through the night we heard someone calling Pacific Express on the radio so Peter answered and it was a cargo boat wanting to know our intentions. Peter said we are at anchor –He said you are at anchor?? Peter explained we are a yacht at anchor – he said sorry must have the wrong boat! We think there must be a cargo boat out there called Pacific Express – we think we must have confused them!! The water settled down and it was really calm until about 3am when the crew awoke the skipper to tie Bob (dinghy) down on the deck. Then the wind came up and the waves got big and we were rolling from side to side (shades of Hummocky!!!!) The radar showed a big storm just to the south of us – in fact exactly over the area where we had considered anchoring. It was very scary for a while and plates flew on the floor though they didn’t break. In fact it was terrifying until we realised it was not going to hit us and then we downgraded it to scary. The skipper sat anchor watch while the crew tried to stay in one place in bed. We then downgraded it to just really rolly about 4.30 and the skipper came back to bed but didn’t really sleep!
Miles: 57 TTT: 339

Monday 2 May – Port Dixon – Pulau Besar
02°07.254N / 102°19.902E
We got up at 7am after a fairly sleepless morning still rocking and rolling. We checked the radar for storms and upanchored at 7.15 accompanied by Cilantro. Braveheart are to go into the marina as they are having guests arrive tonight. It was a little bit rocky as we went along but it soon settled and we were able to get breakfast and clean up. There is lots of wood and debris in the water. We just avoided a big log which gave us a bump on the side. We can try to avoid what we can see but sometimes we miss it or there is something just under the surface so I guess there is a certain amount of luck to it too. Also avoiding fishing nets. Seeing oil refineries yesterday and today. We finally passed Malacca. We cant go in there as the marina has pretty much been blown away by the Sumatras (huge storms) experienced on this coast. We went to our previous anchorage on the Water Islands but the wind mysteriously had decided to come from the South which wasn’t good and Cilantro reported the northern anchorage was ok. As we came in we could see a yacht (who was the first yacht in) having discussions with a large catamaran who had anchored close to him. The yacht decided to move as the cat refused to. We anchored in the middle had dinner and I am now writing this by torchlight as we wait for the storm to hit. All the computers and radios have been put in the oven. Lightning and thunder and we think the cat is dragging. All in darkness. Peter thinks we are seeing a Sumatra form – sound of wind scary! The lightning was spectacular, the boat bucked we had all our chain out and we all held except for the cat who dragged towards Full Flight behind him. They not only had to contend with the storm but a huge cat bearing down on them who was not answering his radio. I guess this is what is called a Sumatra and Malacca is renowned for them. The crew stayed below looking out the companionway – there is such a thing as too much stress!!!! Anyway thunder, lightning moving off, just raining, seas calming. Will be glad to get off this coast – there are not too may bolt holes. A peaceful night anyway.
Miles: 63 TTT: 402

Tuesday 3 May – Pulau Besar – Pulau Pisang
01°27.930N / 103°16.455E
Happy Birthday May
We read an interesting fact today that the months of April and May have around 21 thunderstorms a month! We left at 6.30am in calm conditions for a very long day. We motored with the headsail out – we usually run the motor at 1800 revs but today we ran at 2000 revs to get as far as we can before the current turns against us. Seas were calm and we were quite close to the shipping lane. At one point we had to take a sharp turn to the left and motor about a mile to get around a very long net which had white floats all the way along it. The crew made muffins (remembered to get the instruments out of the oven first!) and knitted. During the afternoon we were able to get the main and the headsail out and pull back a bit on the revs. Once again we did the float around the island thing looking for a good anchorage. The sky was threatening and the wind was building but we couldn’t see anything on the radar. Harmonica was in the middle but was rolling quite badly. No one wanted to anchor near the cat which seemed to have pride of place. We came through a channel between two islands in 25 metres and when we turned in it went sharply to 17, 13, 10, 8, 5, 2.9m which is when we turned away!! The crew is having panic attacks in shallow depths! Horrible. Anyway we went around the cat but came back and anchored beside Full Flight at 6.15pm We dropped in 9m and went back to 17 which wasn’t ideal. When Cilantro came in we both went back through the channel around the little island which was so calm but in a storm it would have been a lee shore. So we came back around and the skipper brought us through the shallows – 2.9 – 4m while the crew didn’t look. In the end we went back to a spot which appeared to be between two currents between the islands – the currents ran either side and we were quite comfortable. We finally anchored at 7.15 on dark after an incredibly long and tiring day. We had an instant meal for dinner!! We could hear the cargo ships calling each other up. Then we heard one captain in a state of panic wanting to know the intentions of the other ship. After a bit of a conversation the second ship said tell him f.... him. I don’t think the panicked captain would have found it amusing but it sure made us laugh!!!!
Miles: 74 TTT: 476

Wednesday 4 May – Pulau Pisang to Peturi Harbour Marina
01°25.097N / 103°39.438E
At about 3am we were awoken by the alarm – only it wasn’t – it was the mobile phone going flat!! Anyway had a good night with no storms and left at 7.30am. Today is be kind to ourselves day so we are motoring very slowly beside Cilantro who actually looks a little sad at the moment with streaks of dirt all down her sides – looks like she is crying. We are getting the swell from the big ships and there are airforce jets flying overhead. We were going to stop at an island near Singapore just 12 miles away but then we read how busy and shallow it is and decided to go through to the marina so we put on the revs and headed around towards Singapore weaving our way through anchored ships. We went up to one which was huge – 22m draft – unladen its water line was towering way above us and you could even see part of its prop sticking out of the water. The skipper had tried to minimise the AIS by having it only recognise immediate danger targets but there are so many ships around it just couldn’t cope so the chart plotter was continually shutting down and restarting – it did this last time we were here too. So we turned it off and followed Cilantro then the skipper remembered the AIS goes through the VHF radio so we turned that off and used our handheld and then were able to turn the chartplotter back on. We went under the bridge and up the channel with Malaysia on the left and Singapore on the right. Singapore has police boats at intervals and the land is military and reputed to be a live firing range. Just as we got to the entrance to the marina it started pouring rain and windy from the back. Our cockpit was soaked before we realised if we turned up into it we wouldn’t get so wet! Cilantro went in and we followed about 5 minutes later. Staff were waiting to take our lines and we were tied up in the marina by 3pm. We are next to Present – a lovely Swiss couple we have met a few times. Kristie 1 is also on our arm. We had dinner at the restaurant with Cilantro and fell into bed.
Miles: 35 TTT: 511

Thursday 5 May – Peturi Harbour Marina
Had some mosquitoes through the night so put up the mosquito nets. Judy off Braveheart ingeniously suggested threading chain round the bottom to hold them down and it works a treat. Caught the marina bus at 11am to the shopping centre. Had a look around and KFC burgers for lunch! And then did the shopping and the bus collected us at 2pm. Spent the afternoon stowing supplies. Wave Sweeper came in so we all sat and had a chat then all went to the restaurant for dinner. Its interesting talking to other boats. Seems that those that left the day before us got slammed, we had a bit of a rough trip and those that left the day after us had a good trip. Luck of the draw!! Glad the Malacca Strait is behind us. It stood up to its reputation of strong currents and raging storms with long distances between anchorages with lots of rubbish, logs and nets on the way.

Friday 6 May – Peturi Harbour Marina
Put the jerry diesel into the tank and sent the jerries off to get refilled. It is very hot so have the big fan going and the cover up shading the boat. Peter has just been looking at our charts and it seems we still have some very long days in front of us. We are just having a quiet boat day and there is a welcome reception later for the official start of the rally.

Hope you are all well – missing you
Much love
Dell and Peter
By the way if you want to see where we are try the link at the side which says where we really are - you can also check on other boats.