Nearly a month since we'd left Bali, and we were without our third set of eyes....Graham having left from Nongsa the morning previously.
It was an exciting day, and the complex task ahead had been preying on my mind for more than a week. We'd planned a fairly lengthy run across the Singapore Strait and then up the skinny Johor Strait and into Puteri Marina, on the Malaysian side. (Singapore's marina prices are hideously expensive!)
Easy to begin with, under sunny skies, albeit with a couple of ominous thunderheads on the horizon. Very light wind, of course...we toodled along in parallel with the big ships...missed the first of the squalls which exploded somewhere off our beam, and continued on, carefully avoiding the barge traffic which goes in all directions outside of the major shipping channel.
But then, the other squall which had looked a bit threatening, looked even more threatening, and then hit us like a ton of bricks.... 
Total loss of visibility, 15 knots of wind on the nose, we turned on our nav lights and hoped that the tug and barge that we knew was crossing in front of us somewhere, was watching his AIS screen. Not that he could've manouvred around us anyway. And as if that wasn't stressful enough, WHAM! and a bolt of lightning thundered directly down into the water a hundred metres in front of us. I let go the stainless steel steering wheel in awe! Things could only get better from there, and it wasn't too long before we were back in calm water, with a gloomy grey but neutral sky for the rest of the day.
We zoomed across the Eastbound shipping lane and made our way through the dividing anchorage strip in the middle, keeping eagle eyes out for big ships starting to move. All good, and then came the Westbound lane, where we sat waiting for a gap in the traffic for 20 minutes or so before galloping across....and then we were done!
We motored through the ships' parking area at the entrance to the Johor Strait, and then proceeded up the channel, and finally into the marina at Puteri.

Culture Shock! We'd finally become accustomed to the somewhat rough edges of Indonesia, and it's undeniably third world sensibility, when we found ourselves in a marina surrounded by a modern, western-style shopping mall, complete with bars, chain restaurants, and security guards who blew their whistles if they spotted somebody standing on a wall for a selfie. The place was busy, and the bustling crowd were glued to their cellphones, engrossed in their Pokemon Go pursuits. We were like fish out of water, but were welcomed into the office and our entire "checking in" procedure to Malaysia took barely a minute or so. More culture shock!
Over the next couple of days, the marina started filling up with other cruisers, from both rallies, and we were made welcome, and felt very comfortable indeed.

Many of the boats which had come in from Indonesia virtually limped in to the marina, desperate for spare parts and TLC. We were much better off, but were pleased to be able to have a mechanic come and change our engine oil for us, and we brought a cleanup crew on board to give the outside of the boat a good clean and polish all of the stainless steel. So we had a good-lookin' cat again!
We taxied into Singapore for a few days, lapping up the luxury, and staying at a plush hotel near Orchard Road. We had a slap-up Peking Duck birthday dinner, with friends Bruce and Deb from the yacht "Matilda", visited the chandleries and yacht supply houses, shopped for stuff, ate a lot and spent a load of money just cruising about the place.

After a few days sampling the delights of Singapore, Malaysia felt relaxed and comfortable, and to think that just a few days earlier we'd been blown away with how fast and glitzy it had all seemed.
We agreed to join the "Sail Malaysia" yacht rally, which gave us all sorts of benefits on the trip north through the Straits of Malacca to Langkawi, where we'd planned on leaving the boat.
​So, it was a few more days of festivities, meetings and socialising, before we headed out once again.
​Anchorages along the way north to Port Dickson looked a bit average, so we decided on another overnighter, despite the worry of travelling along one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and also a  notorious pirate zone. What could possibly go wrong? 

Well, nothing went wrong really. It was an interesting trip, with an ever-changing seascape of all kinds of ship traffic, and during the day we spent a fair bit of time taking evasive action with tugs, barges and fishing vessels. By the time night fell, we were into the rhythm of it all, and crept along on the edge of the northbound shipping channel. The most spectacular sight was the massive cruise ship "Costa Luminosa" which glowed luminously indeed, but I didn't snap a pic.

Throughout the night, we had a big, violent thunderstorm ahead of us for some of the time, but it must have been travelling north, too, at around the same speed as us....we didn't bump into it anyway. By midnight it had dissipated and we cruised along in bright moonlight.
All too easy, and at around 0730 we pulled into the marina at Port Dickson. We'd been advised that they weren't accepting advance bookings and that we should radio in just before entry. Which we did, but nobody answered. And we tried again, and then, the phone, but still no answer. So we just rocked in anyway, spotted an empty berth, pulled into it and tied up. Done!
Another resort-style marina with all of the comforts, and not long afterwards, the office opened, the rate was negotiated, and we were official. (We heard from others at the marina about the savage storm that'd blown through overnight...the one I'd been watching, that we luckily missed.)
We had drinks that night with Keith and Lea Pennicot, my former neighbours (and dockmaster) from Tipperary Waters Marina in Darwin, and Keith drove us into town the next day in his rental car.
Another week or so in Port Dickson, with lots of socialising and a rally day trip to Melaka, which was great fun once we'd slipped away from the tour guide and rendezvoused at the pub. 

I had actually been feeling a little ill for a few days, my first sickness on the whole trip so far, so for the next couple of weeks I didn't have much energy. But, we had to keep moving, so once again dropped the mooring lines and headed off towards Port Klang, Kuala Lumpur's seaport. We anchored overnight in the river, with strong tidal currents dragging islands of weed and plastic past us....we'd get very familiar with those in the next few weeks, too. 

Up-anchor again in the morning, and an all-day motor/sail to the island of Pangkor, and its' marina. Again, we had been told that the marina was full, and bookings weren't being accepted. But we'd no sooner radioed in, than Marina Manager James Khoo was alongside us in a launch to guide us into a berth....for free, courtesy of our rally participation. Terriffic. 
James turned on plenty of entertainment for the week, and we had lots of social activity (such as drinks and party games aboard "Wirraway") so Mary represented the team while I was a bit of a wet blanket with the strange, debilitating bug I'd picked up.
Anyway, Pangkor is a great marina, James is a great manager, and there's good hardstand facilities when work needs to be done.
I was feeling a bit better by the time we finally left Pangkor, and we anchored off Pulau Talang ("Monkey Island") on our way through to Penang. 

The "Sail Malaysia" team had asked us to anchor inside Jerijak Island when we arrived in Penang, which is what we did, along with a growing fleet of cruisers, all ready for an early start and official "sail-under-the-bridge" event the next morning. So it was up early and all off together.
There was some interesting argy-bargy on the VHF radio...firstly about a dog that needed rescuing....which was met with a "I'm not rescuing no dog, I'll get rabies" response, and then, a more compassionate response. It seems that there was a dog clinging to a floating island of weed and garbage. One of the crew from the French boat "Lazy Jack" actually jumped into the water to untangle the dog...a beautiful German shorthaired critter...from the mess that she was in, and the animal was taken aboard the Australian catamaran "Endless Summer", where she promptly curled up on the deck to sleep.
Meanwhile, there was more silliness on the radio, with an irate American, with a possibly Naval background, demanding to know why the fleet wasn't in disciplined formation at the notified speed. The fleet graciously ignored him, and while it was tempting to take the bait, we all just motored on at varying speeds, waving at each other, while he grew ever angrier. 
We all made our way through the strait, and anchored outside the Penang Marina to once again enjoy the luxuries of a big Western shopping mall, with it's bars and restaurants.
For a predominantly tropical, Muslim nation, Malaysia does a good job of making the place look like Christmas....even if it's just to sell more stuff in the shopping malls. 
And as Christmas WAS creeping up, we had a big buffet, pre-Christmas Sunday roast with some of the usual suspects, at the grandest pub in town, the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, a beautifully maintained colonial edifice.

We had some good days in Penang, wandering around not only the fancy malls, but also the tiny, bustling streets of Georgetown, the funky old-city tourist zone. We had a tourist-bus excursion courtesy of the Rally, visiting Pen Marine's shipyards for an indoctrination, had a tour of a fish-processing plant, ate at the street food markets, and generally had a good time. But we weren't long at anchor off Straits Quay Marina before the weather turned nasty and the anchorage deteriorated into a washing machine ride. Off back to Jerijak Island again....

We were tempted to spend more time in Penang, but the weather was crap and we were getting toey to get on to Langkawi, our planned last stop on this journey, and the boat's new home for the forseeable future. It was an awkward departure from Penang, with a short, sharp chop on the nose and we were dodging the daily Casino cruise ships as we buffeted our way through the strait. By the time we'd cleared the island of Penang, it was much easier and nice to be sailing again.
We dropped the anchor for the night at little Bunting Island and I actually had a swim off the back of the boat, which, as it turned out, was my last ocean swim of the trip....we'd heard that as we were heading north, box jellyfish were a genuine threat, and besides, it was murky water anyway. 

And so it was off to Langkawi. The last day's sail was a bit grey and blustery , but the wind dropped out and the sun poked through as we passed some of Langkawi's outlying islands, where we could see a few yachts tucked in and at anchor amongst the spectacular cliffs. But we kept on, and cruised into a berth at the marina, which is completely hidden from view from the sea.
Out came the fold-up bike which we'd carried on the deck all the way from Australia...($90 special at Aldi!) and we started settling into the boat's new home. 
The Rebak Island Marina is a part of a 5-star Taj Hotel resort, so all of the facilities are at our disposal. It's a free, ten minute ferry ride to the main island of Langkawi, and there's space for up to 190 yachts, mostly foreign-registered, and many with their crews living aboard.
I have heard it described as "The World's Best Retirement Village" which is fair comment.
Social life at the marina is healthy, with live music jam sessions a couple of times a week, a swim up bar in the pool, Happy Hour cocktails and the Hard Dock cafe which is reserved just for boaties....hotel guests not allowed.

It was easy to settle in.... We rented an air conditioner to make life a bit more comfortable, started to learn where things were in Langkawi, like the supermarkets and hardware stores and did a few runs into the capital, Kuah, finding our way around in general. And socialised a lot....

Number One daughter, India (well, we only have one daughter...) flew in for a visit, and on her first day off the plane we made the journey up the mountains to the spectacular Skycab and Skybridge. Which was wonderful, until she sprained her ankle on the hike to the mid-station, and was just a bit embarrassed when the Ranger offered to have her stretchered out.
She opted to hobble....for most of the week unfortunately.

A couple of days' sailing to the outer islands was next on the agenda, along with a bit more socialising on the beach while we were at anchor, and then a quick flight back down to Penang....and then came Christmas.
​It was a good little break to be in Penang without having the boat and an untenable anchorage to worry about. And it's only a 35 minute flight.

We stayed in a little boutique hotel, the "D'Nice", in the heart of Georgetown and did some more wandering about, more eating, and even caught the bus across the island to Batu Ferringhi, the once hip and groovy beach which seems to have been forgotten. (Well, it was hip and groovy when I first visited Penang in 1974....)

Christmas Lunch was a spectacular buffet feed in the Hotel restaurant along with dozens of other yacht crews, and while it wasnt the same as Christmas at home, it was still pretty good. The hotel staff, predominantly Muslim or Hindu, went to huge lengths to make us all feel comfortable and welcome....there was even a Brown Santa! 
Once Christmas was done, India was bundled off back to the airport and we readied for the next job...hauling big "El Gato" out of the water and up onto the hard stand for storage. Which was easier than anticipated...the local staff was brilliant. Slick, professional and sensitive to our needs. In no time, the hull had been pressure washed, and the boat was placed solidly on it's stands, and we started the storage/mothballing process in earnest.

Which brings us to the end of the story for the moment....it's been quite a trip, and the sense of satisfaction that we've both felt in making our way all the way to northern Malaysia is real. The boat's been wonderful, the company of other cruisers wonderful, and the help from locals along the way has made it all too easy.
So, what's next? A quick little round-Australia trek by caravan, for starters, before coming back to Malaysia later in the year....I guess I'll have to keep the blog going.....

Finally equipped with bright new visa stamps in our passports, and with extra crew member Graham Symonds aboard, it was time to weigh anchor and wave Bye Bye to Bali. We'd spent more than enough time lounging by the pool at the nearby hotel, and most of the fleet had already headed off, either to Borneo or just westwards, as we were planning to do ourselves.
The weather had started to turn on us....frequent electrical storms and winds from the north, pushing short, uncomfortable swell into the anchorage, making it difficult to land the dinghy on the normally calm beach, and just as difficult to climb on or off when docking to "El Gato".

We gave Graham a night to settle in, and then, on the 3rd. October finally headed off in the early morning in a light NW breeze and annoying, short period swell, bound for Bawean. As the day progressed the water calmed and we motored along, into the Java Sea past Madura and the island of Sapudi in the late afternoon. A northerly breeze, no stronger than 6 knots set the tone for the next month or so....and Graham thought he was coming on a sailing trip!
Highlights of the trip were a whale sighting, and lots of fishing boats and "Fish Attracting Devices" which crop up everywhere. But more on them later.
It was a lengthy overnighter, and at a little after 2.00 P.M. we finally dropped anchor in the picturesque northern anchorage on Pulau Bawean. 

Graham and I dinghied into the village, which was spoiled a little by a rude mob of kids with their hands out for money or anything else they could get. It took awhile to shake them off, but our faith in good-natured Indonesians was restored when I started negotiating with a vendor for a bunch of bananas. Once the deal was done we started to stroll away, when we were called back and had another whole bunch of bananas pressed onto us, for free. So that was pretty nice and made up for the annoying kids, who had lost interest in us by then anyway.
We upped anchor after a peaceful night's sleep and had a leisurely start in the morning, heading for Karimunjawa.

We finally managed to unfurl the headsail....the big Gennaker in fact....at one stage in the morning, but it was only for an hour or so and we soon had it put away and the engine running again. Another overnighter, dodging fishing boats, calm seas, and it was a comfortable cruise. We dropped anchor at the touristy Karimunjawa by 0730 in the morning, and organised to have our fuel Jerrycans filled, topping up with diesel.
We had a social dinner with some of our fellow cruisers, not having seen anyone for a few days. Crews from "Kereru", "Serica", "Coomera", "Manatee" and "Incognita" all happily tucked into the welcome luxury of pizza, cold beer and ice cream at the best restaurant in town.

The next day was bright and sunny and we dinghied across to an outlying resort island with a fascinating fringing reef. We had a great snorkel, slowly making our way around the reef. Some really beautiful patches of colour, plenty of fish and an entrancing glide through the bombies. I love my snorkel!
The bright and sunny business didn't last long though and we had a rough old night on the anchor, tracking down Hasim The Local Fixer in the rain, to pick up our laundry in the morning. (Hasim not only organises the laundry, he guided us in through the channel, directed us where to anchor, arranges fuel deliveries, sorts out mechanical repairs and I'm sure could offer fish and souvenirs as well.) The laundry wasn't dry of course, so we didn't leave the anchorage until late in the afternoon, this time looking at a lengthy 260 mile run to the island of Belitung.

It was a wet, wild and woolly start to the trip and we bravely set off with all sail up in 10-15 knots of wind. Which managed to last well into the night. It had calmed a bit by 2200 hrs and we dropped the mainsail, to travel under jib and one engine.
During Mary's watch, at 2.00 a.m., things blew up again and we were rolling around quite a bit with a reef in the jib. Not comfortable.

(And for those who are curious...we have a 4-hour watch system for the three of us...I'm normally on from 8.00 p.m. to midnight, Mary's on from Midnight to 4.00 a.m., and lucky Graham gets the sunrise watch from 4.00 a.m. to 8.oo a.m. We're pretty casual during the day though...) 

The rain continued all through the next day, and it wasn't until 4.00  in the afternoon that it finally stopped.
Another night, and things were easier as the wind backed. Lots of fishing boats, and we passed "Kereru" some time ​in the evening.

Laying in bed in the early morning, I was conscious that we were motoring along in flat water....which felt a bit odd, because it had been a bit rugged when I'd fallen asleep. Poking my nose up on deck just on sunrise, was an eery experience. It was the flattest, glassiest sea that I've seen, and the horizon was virtually invisible. The big Praying Mantis squid boats looked like they were flying.

So gradually, the sun came out and we burbled along, with "Kereru" ghosting us a few miles to port, until finally pulling into the anchorage at Belitung, another touristy island with funky beachfront restaurants. Into the beach and a relaxing lunch and a few beers on the beach with other cruisers, and we're all happy to be on the anchor. 

After the big crossing we were happy to have a day off, and we snorkled around the granite outcrops at the end of the beach, and, of course, had another nice lunch. Transferred some fuel from the cans into the tanks, slept in the afternoon and readied ourselves for a 2.oo a.m. departure the next morning for the next stop at Parai Beach in Bangka.
It was an interesting trip.
I had the first watch and for a couple of hours worked my way through an absolute labrynth of fishing craft, dodging hundreds of lights that flickered on and off when we came too close. I had the spotlight out and spied boats without lights, big boats, small boats, anything that would float. Even things that didn't float, the ubiquitous F.A.D.'s. 
​Big, bright white "El Gato" was quite visible to all and probably an impressive sight.
On Graham's watch there were cargo ships to avoid, and then, in the late morning we copped a 20 knot rainsquall on the nose and ploughed through it, with the occasional lightning bolt to keep us awake.

We were all feeling a bit weary by the time the storm had passed, and would've headed to the wrong anchorage if Adam, the skipper of "Serica", who was slightly ahead of us, hadn't speared off the route. The anchorage had been incorrectly marked in our Rally guide book, but we just followed big "Serica" and found ourselves outside a western-style resort where we claimed a spot amongst several other boats who had been travelling with the "other rally". (The "Sail Indonesia" rally, which had set off from Darwin as distinct from Cairns, where we'd left from with the "Sail2Indonesia" rally.)
​Parai Beach was the rendezvous spot for yet another round of Visa renewals, for both rallies, and the first time so far that we'd all come together.

So we dutifully handed in our passports to Raymond of Rally Control, and knew that it would be a long wait while we were held virtually captive at the probably once-plush resort. Needless to say, we had the menu down pat as the week dragged on, the weather deteriorated and the anchorage went from cosy, to rolly, to downright awful.
I felt genuinely sorry for those mono-hull sailors who straggled in as the days passed, many of whom had endured a rough few anchor-dragging nights in Borneo. Quite a few booked hotel rooms for a night or two, just to escape the rolling around at anchor.
​But finally, after our quite strange formal ceremonies and dinner at Government House, passports were returned with new visas, and we were free to escape once again.

We quickly skedaddled 30 miles up the coast to North Bangka, happy to be away from the Rolly Resort and enjoyed a calm overnight spell. But not for long. After a snorkel around the boat and a dinghy ride to the tiny beach, we were off again, this time to the tiny island of Pekacang, and an anchorage on the north side.
We found what we thought was a sandy spot over a rock shelf that extends out a fair way from the island, and, as is our custom, let out a generous amount of chain when we dropped the anchor, and had a sound, secure sleep.
Which was fine, until the morning. 
When we discovered that our chain was wrapped around a bombie or three, and we spent an hour or so doing backwards and forwards  manouvres and opposite direction loops around the place until we could finally get the anchor up. Still, no damage, and we then headed for a lovely calm anchorage at South Lingga. Which was an interesting sail, because we picked up a couple of friendly hitchhikers. It had blown up quite ​ a bit and we had the sails up, when a pair of swallows moved aboard......

The weather had blown up a lot, and we had everything reefed down dramatically for the two storms we endured that day. After the first storm had passed, we had pure glassy conditions for an hour or so, then were pounded by another session of 20 knots on the nose, and the odd lightning bolt. My rain-smudged log entry says "Crikey! Serious storm and rain. Visibility poor. Lost sight of..."  

So after the anchor chain episode and two "proper" squalls, we were all quite happy to join others aboard "Serica" for sundowners that evening, which stretched into the night. Good practice for the Equator Party we were anticipating in the next couple of days...
In the morning, it was off to the wonderful stilt-village island of Kongca Besar, with another couple of storms to keep us amused.

Within an hour of taking the two pics above, we were in the dinghy and cruising around the outside of the village in the sun. Aaaah, the wonderful tropics!

And next, we had Equator Day! We'd all been looking forward to that. From Kongka we set off, bound for the island of Kentar, but halfway there, we'd be sailing across the Equator. We were in company with a few other boats...Matilda, Kereru, and Incognita....and all dropped anchor together in some 10 metres of water, in the middle of nowhere.

After we'd done all of our On-Site festivities at the Equator itself, it was a quick run into the anchorage at Kentar, where we partied on "Serica" with lots of old friends, and new ones from "The Other Rally" who'd also done the crossing in the past few days.
The following day, our next stop was the island of  Benan, and the local village had planned festivities in our honour, which we all happily attended.
These were at the end of their pier, and involved all kinds of fun games, races, dancing, music and general jollity. It was a great afternoon. And not a storm in sight.

And onwards again. The official Rally Plan was to head for the city of Tanjung Penang for even more festivities, and to clear out of Indonesia from there. But with Graham's booked flight home sneaking up on us, we planned to skip that excursion and head straight for the marina at Nongsa Point, on the edge of the Singapore Strait. 
It was an easy run, we had a brief encounter with an Indonesian Navy patrol boat, and then headed into a luxury, western-style marina at Nongsa. (I think the only one in all of Indonesia.)
And the icing on the cake was being invited to a free celebratory dinner for the mostly-Singaporean yacht race crews who'd just been participating in some local event.
The next day, Graham had to head for the Singapore ferry and the airport, while we fuelled up, did all of our Customs formalities, plotted our Singapore Strait crossing and generally lapped up the facilities.
Happy hour drinks with new friends Mick and Beth from "Site" and old friends Helen and Mark from "Coomera", and we're all ready to head out in the morning....but that'll be in the next blog post. And meanwhile, here's the route through the Java Sea that you've just read about...