21 April 2016 Pulau Bunting to Jerejak Island, Penang
After a night of hell, the morning was very pleasant with a 10 knot off-shore breeze. Our strategy of stuffing towels behind the curtains of the leaking windows seems to have contained the rainwater.
We had variable wind for the 40 mile passage to Penang and managed to sail for three hours out of the nine hour trip. On the way, while we were in deeper, cleaner water, we ran the water maker for a couple of hours to fill up our water tanks.
Instead of anchoring off the Jerejak Resort, we carried on a little further and anchored at Jerejak North at 05°19.68N 100°18.84E in 10 metres of water. It’s a pleasant spot. When we look ashore to the island, there’s thick jungle coming down to several small beaches, with about a dozen White-bellied Sea Eagles flying about and Long-tailed Macaques strolling around on the beaches.
However, the mainland of Penang is only half a mile away, so when we look to the west, all we can see is huge blocks of flats, a big shopping mall and cars hurrying along the busy shore road. There’s a constant drone of traffic and occasional passenger jets roaring overhead, which all adds to the feeling that we’re in one of Malaysia’s big cities.
22 April 2016 Jerejak Island to Jabatan Laut, Penang
It was a fabulously peaceful night - no nets, no waves and no thunderstorms. After breakfast, we motored over to the mainland and anchored off the Jabatan Laut Marina at 05°21.25N 100°19.03E in 6 metres of water. The anchorage is only 350 metres from the huge bridge connecting Penang Island to the mainland and is overlooked by big apartment towers - it reminds me of being in the Intra-coastal water way in Florida.
We dinghied ashore and had a long chat with Jon and Sue from “Ocelot”, who we haven’t seen for six months. The marina is owned by the Jabatan Laut, who are the people who look after the navigation buoyage in Malaysia. It’s very run down, but very cheap - unfortunately, it’s very shallow and not very good for us.
We walked to shopping mall, which was a good mile in the beating sun. The shopping mall is a typical flashy place packed with designer clothes and mobile phone shops - no interest to me at all.
Penang is a very multi-cultural place with Muslims, Chinese Buddhists, Indian Hindus and Christians, but surprisingly the supermarket was all Halal apart from one small bordered-off section where they sold alcohol and pork products. We bought some vacuum wrapped ham and pork fillets and didn’t think about it until we got to the check-out counter. The Muslim check-out girl refused to even touch the packages, so I had to lift them up so that she could scan the barcodes. I’m sure that we broke some taboos by even placing the vacuum packed pork on the conveyor belt.
We invited “Ocelot over for dinner.
23 April 2016 Jabatan Laut, Penang
In the morning, we went into the marina to visit “Per Ardua”. They’ve run out of cruising funds and have taken jobs as teachers in local schools on two year contracts to build up their cash again. Peter, Melia and their three children have been living on-board their 38 foot mono-hull in the marina for two months, which has been a challenge in this heat - they’re looking forward to moving into an air-conditioned apartment in the next couple of days.
Quite a few boats have been getting their anchor chains re-galvanised here in Penang. Our chain was re-galvanised 2 ½ years ago in Ecuador and is just starting to show rust spots. So, as we’ll be here for at least a week, I’ve arranged for it to be picked up on Monday afternoon. It’s going to cost us 5.90 Ringgits per kilo to get it double dipped, so our 62 metres of chain should cost about £175, which is about 25% of the cost of new chain.
We had a lazy afternoon, with no motivation to do anything in the oppressive heat. In the evening, we met up with “Per Ardua” and they gave us a lift into Georgetown to the annual Sikh Vaisakhi Festival. It was very colourful with Indian ladies walking around in their saris and Sikh men strutting around in their bright, ceremonial costumes. The Sikhs laid on some free food and were careful to announce that the food was Halal and that their Muslim friends could eat without any concerns - we had nice chapatis and dall.
24 April 2016 Jabatan Laut, Penang
I spent most of the day getting the anchor chain ready to go for galvanising. Before I could touch the anchor, I had to sort out a rope to replace the chain. I’ve been using a ¾” thick, 8 plaid braid rope as a secondary anchor warp, but the eye on the end was looking decidedly dodgy, so my first job was to re-splice an eye. The rope is old and has stiffened up with age, so I struggled for an hour and eventually gave up because as I was tucking the strands in, the weave of the rope was getting tighter and tighter, to a point where it was impossible to budge.
I went to plan B and pulled out another rope that was newer. It already had a small eye on it, so I used that. We pulled up the anchor and while Glenys motored around, I swapped the anchor from our main chain onto a short length of 5/16” chain, then onto the rope warp. We put the anchor down with the rope warp and dug it in okay.
Unfortunately, the tidal current is very strong in this area, so with the wind against the tide, we were swanning about all over the place. There was nothing that we could do about it, so we decided that it was okay and I pulled the chain out of the anchor locker onto the deck ready to take it ashore in the dinghy tomorrow.
25 April 2016 Jabatan Laut to Straits Quay Marina, Penang
We woke thinking that the traffic on the bridge was particularly loud this morning. Popping my head out of the hatch, I could see why - we’d dragged 300 metres overnight and were now only 50 metres from the bridge. We were lucky that we weren’t pinned against the bridge…
After re-anchoring, we decided that we didn’t want to spend four nights anchored on a bit of string, so I rang Straits Quay marina and was able to reserve a berth for four nights. I then rang Mr Goh, at the galvanisers and arranged for him to pick up the chain from the marina in the afternoon.
We slowly motored back north under the bridge and navigated through a lot of long, 2 foot diameter inflated yellow tubes which are something to do with dredging. It was a little worrying but we had over 8 metres of water as we went around them.
Straits Quay Marina is at 05°27.46N 100°18.89E and the approach is on a south-westerly bearing lining up with two posts with triangular marks. The entrance is next to a large tower and involves turning 120 degrees to starboard about 15 metres from the end of the breakwater - it’s very hard to see the entrance, so it’s a little fraught. The entrance is also very, very shallow - 0m at chart datum, but with a 2.6 metre tide at 15:36, we should be okay with our approach at 14:00. The depth slowly decreased as we approached and dropped to 2.2 metres as we rounded the breakwater - very scary.
Once in the marina, the depth increased to over 2.5 metres and we had 3.2 metres in our berth. When the tide dropped overnight, the minimum depth was 1.7 metres, so we were slightly in the mud. Mr Goh arrived more or less on time and whisked our chain away. He says that he’ll deliver it back on the 28th .
The marina is very posh surrounded by apartments and there’s even a shopping mall with dozens of restaurants. We had a few beers with Dave and Jacqui on Jackster and then went out for meal at a local restaurant for fish & chips.
26 April 2016 Straits Quay Marina, Penang
With the air-conditioning blasting away, it was very difficult to go outside in to the heat, so I spent most of the day pottering about doing some admin and small jobs. There’s only a three weeks before we fly back to the UK, so I checked our diving gear and ordered a spare set of regulators to be delivered to our son Craig’s house.
Glenys was much more dynamic and did a load of washing in the marina’s laundry. She then spent a couple of hours in the beating sun, painting waterproofing onto the bimini, which has been leaking slightly in the recent downpours.
27 April 2016 Straits Quay Marina, Penang
Our iPad is not very well - the display is faulty and half of the screen has gone dark. This is not good news because it’s become our primary navigation plotter, so we caught a taxi to the nearby Gurney Plaza shopping mall to get it fixed. The technician thought that it was a faulty LCD display, so we left the iPad with him to get it replaced.
After catching another taxi into the centre of Georgetown, we wandered the streets of Little India and Chinatown, being tourists for a few hours. It’s a lovely town with a huge variety of architecture. We walked past European colonial buildings, Chinese clan houses, Mosques, Hindu temples and Buddhist temples. Little India is a riot of colours, smells and sounds with Bollywood music blaring away as sari-clad women stroll around the shops.
After a very filling Indian curry for lunch, we caught another taxi (which are cheap here). Glenys went to see a dentist and I continued back to the Shopping Mall where I discovered that the problem is not the LCD display, instead there’s something wrong with the motherboard - bummer. I took the iPad back and surprisingly there was no charge because they hadn’t fixed it - good service. I’ll take it to the UK and get it fixed there.
Glenys arrived back at the boat soon after me and the dentist has recommended that she have a root canal procedure - she’s booked into see a specialist tomorrow. The problem tooth has a crown and they might have to remove the crown to do the work, which might mean that we have to stay here longer than we thought. We’re supposed to leave the marina tomorrow, so I went to the office and they’ve managed to find a place for us in the very busy marina for a few more days.
28 April 2016 Straits Quay Marina, Penang
Glenys went off to see the dentist and I stayed behind to do some admin. I spent most of the day doing research into our planned trip up the east coast of the Malaysian Peninsula. I still have a bee in my bonnet about visiting the Anambas Islands, but again I’m finding it impossible to get any information about this area.
I found a “Tourist” web site, but it’s a work-in-progress and I can’t even get in touch with any of the small hotels there. It’s very strange, it’s like an information black hole.
Glenys returned after having a 2½ hour session in the dentist chair. She’s had the crown removed and the dentist has done the root canal procedure. However, she now has to go back next week and have a peg put in before she can get a new crown. It looks like we’re going to be here until the 11th May and will then have to rush 240 miles south to get to Admiral Bay Marina before our flight leaves for the on the 18th May.
Teeth are definitely the most costly medical issue when cruising. Just as they did in the 1920s, I really should have had all Glenys’s teeth removed before I married her.
29 April 2016 Straits Quay Marina, Penang
We had another day pottering about on the boat. I continued with my research into the Anambas islands and made a little headway. I’ve discovered a few anchorages that a couple of yachts have visited, but not much more. I’ve made email contact with a couple of people who might be able to supply a bit more information, but it looks like we’ll just have to go there and explore.
The chain arrived back from the galvanisers - it looks okay, but the coating is uneven with some parts shiny and some dull. Also there are quite a few “drips” of solid zinc on the links, so it’s not the best job that I’ve seen. However, it’s much, much better than the chain corroding away.
30 April 2016 Straits Quay Marina, Penang
We had yet another day hanging about. Glenys went for a walk to the nearby Tesco Mall, while I played my guitar and some more research on the east coast of Malaysia. It looks like there’s very good diving in the Tioman and Perhentian Islands. Even better, it only costs between £15-20 to do a dive with a commercial operator, so I guess we’ll be doing a lot of diving.
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