Singapore to Penang
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Mon 10 Dec 2012 01:13
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We left Keppel Marina after a two week stay in
Singapore---the architecture made us think we had had one
too many!
 Nick and Christine Gore joined us in Singapore for
the sail up the west coast of Malyasia. Christine was soon hard at work
 whilst Nick grappled with the helm
 We motor/sailed through the Singapore Straits
before turning North up the Malacca Straits to Admiral Marina, Port Dickson
  We went into Port Dickson to clear into into
Malaysia where we all had our finger prints
taken
 The following day we took a taxi to
Malacca
   and revisited Nancy's Kitchen for a delicious
lunch----we went there with Henry and Livie about 4 years ago.
 We then motor/sailed to Port Klang. Nick spotted
that we had left our pratique flag up
 Port Klang is the gateway to Kuala Lumpur which is
about 20 miles inland. Port Klang is a vast container port but
unfortunately also acts as a sewer for KL. The Royal Selangor Yacht Club
had gone the way of so many yacht clubs---grand in name and style but with a
declining membership it has become all rather sad.
 When the tide turned the debris and smell
arrived
  vast quantities of everything from vegetation,
timber, plastic, pallets and anything else that might get wrapped
round the rudder and propeller. In the 2 to 3 knot tide the volume of flotsam
and jetsam that collected around the boat was immense
 at one stage we had so much weight of debris on the
stern of the boat we feared the rudder and prop would be damaged so we set about
freeing it all, finally removing a bamboo pole that was lodged acoss the stern
---- a beaver could not have done a better job. The following morning a pig
arrived----luckily it altered course at the last moment as we thought it might
explode if prodded with a boat hook
 At this point Nick and Christine departed
! We sailed soon after for Penang.
Again it was motor sailing with a thunderstorm at
night---these show up on the radar so a certain amount of dodging can be
done
 We arrived at the Straits Quay Marina which was
somewhat different to the Royal Selangor. A vast shopping mall and flats built
around a small marina all on reclaimed land. We were welcomed by the sight of
Sea Witch of Penzance a little fishing boat owned by
Rodney!
 The Marina is run by John Ferguson, a retired
Commander (Royal Navy). It was all very festive with many of the ground
floor retail units being restaurants looking over the marina
  In the cool of the early evening, but still
84 degrees, we listened to ''We are dreaming of a white Christmas''. They even
had a live band singing although that was a bit close for comfort (Marita in
background!)
  and to make us feel at home there was even a Tesco
three minutes walk away
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