Cruising Malaysia and Thailand

The AIS picture crossing the Malacca Straits

Having checked out of Indonesia on the 4^th of October we departed Nongsa Point Marina in the early morning of the 5^th. The marina were very nervous that the immigration authorities would notice that we hadn't left on the 4^th, immediately after clearance; fortunately they didn't! Our aim was to make passage west and anchor in a bay on the north west side of the Indonesian island of Kepalajerih, some 26 miles from Nongsa, a point convenient for a crossing of the Malacca Straits to enter the western Johor Straits between Malaysia and Singapore. The passage was a motor all the way with no wind whatsoever hence the anchorage was calm and a pleasant final night was passed in Indonesia.

Approaching the new Western Johore bridge

Next day we motored, for lack of wind, across the crowded shipping lanes to enter the Johor Straits; destined to enter Malaysia at Puteri Harbour Marina, a government owned and operated marina in the midst of a large commercial development. The marina was in reasonable condition but it was obvious that it was underutilised; many of the boats there had not moved since before Covid and were suffering from long term neglect. In the surrounding commercial precinct it was also obvious that 50% of the available commercial premises had never been occupied and of those that had half of them had failed. A slightly depressing sight but one that was to be repeated in many areas of Malaysia.

Around Puteri Marina

By comparison with Indonesia the clearing in process was simplicity itself. The marina completed the necessary forms, we were escorted in a golf buggy to the adjacent ferry terminal where we were processed by Immigration and that was it! No costs and a 90 day visa..... After supper in a local “Bier kellar” we were set for an early night, or so we thought, not realising that the marina and the surrounding buildings were deemed to provide ideal acoustics by the local karaoke enthusiasts who turned up with their amplifiers and serenaded us for half of the night. Now, I have never been a fan of karaoke but this was painful in the extreme; sadly it was also repeated most nights we were there!

Departing Puteri Marina

Nine days later, after waiting for a spell of NW winds to pass, we set off northwards up the Malacca Straits. Our first stop was in the narrow passage between Pulau Kukup and mainland Malaysia. It is a narrow channel with a large population of fish farms and fishermen's houses on stilts on both sides. Our plan was to stay here two days but just before sunset on the second day we were visited by the local Marine Police who claimed that we were anchored in a restricted area! We pointed out that we were one of about 40 boats (all others were fishing boats) anchored in the area but that seemed not to matter (i.e. we were not local!). After a 15 minute debate we agreed to move, sunset was approaching and I preferred to move in daylight rather than prolong the argument. Their suggestion was that we should anchor out in the main Malacca channel along with the numerous tankers and freighters! We ignored this advice and chose a spot in the shallow waters just outside the souther end of the channel separating the island from the mainland, not ideal and it resulted in a rather uncomfortable, roly, night.

Pulau Kukup anchorage

The next day we sailed north to Pulau Pisang, only 15 miles away, and anchored on the south eastern side of the island. Although a quite pleasant anchorage we opted to spend only the one night here; the waters were still a muddy brown and somewhat uninviting to swim in and we were keen to get somewhere more like that seen in the tourist brochures! Early next morning we set off for an overnight sail to Muar the next sizeable town on this coast. Sailing by night is less risky than motoring and hence we made slow but steady progress in the light winds. Sailing you are much more likely to pass over the multitudinous fishing drift nets without problems, motoring risks getting them round the propeller. Many are lit with any variety of flashing, solar powered, LED lights of any colour from yellow and white through red, green, blue and purple but there are an equal number unlit! Even with those that are lit it is frequently impossible to distinguish which of the lights are attached to which nets. To compound our problems a thunderstorm caught us an hour before dawn, just as we closed the coast and approached the Muar landfall buoy. This resulted in us having to rapidly reef the genoa and a close call with a series of unlit/randomly lit fish traps. Fortunately we weathered the storm, passing the windward end of the fish traps, all without incident but it was an uncomfortable half hour!

Anchored near the bridge at Muar

We arrived off Muar almost exactly 24 hours after our departure from Pulau Pisang, a distance of 55 miles, slow going. The other reason for our reluctance to use the engine was a lack of fuel. We had taken sufficient before leaving Indonesia to get us to Malaysia without problem, knowing that diesel in Malaysia is about half the price it is in Indonesia. What we hadn't reckoned on was the fuel jetty at Puteri Harbour being out of commission and there being no vehicle petrol station anywhere in the area! Muar was to be our next opportunity to refuel but even sailing as we did we were very low on arrival.

Muar town

Muar is a tidally constrained estuary and hence we had to anchor and wait for the tide to rise before we could enter. What we did not know was that there was a large datum error (~250m) on the large scale chart of the area which almost put us aground in the approaches; fortunately we managed to find the channel despite the chart. At the entrance to the river there is a marina on the south bank but, as with so many of these grand projects in Malaysia, once constructed it failed to thrive. It had been abandoned almost immediately and left to silt up hence there were only a few local shallow draft boats (<1m) moored inside. We were aware of this before entry and had already decided to anchor just before the low the road bridge that connects the two halves of the town. The river mud was really good holding which was just as well as we were only 150m from the bridge, anchored in 10m of water, near the southern shore.

Floating island drifting past

Not only was there a strong tidal/river flow in and out but massive floating islands of vegetation came down river on every ebb tide, some returning on the flood a few hours later. Had we have picked up one of these I am not sure our anchor would have held. Muar proved to be a modern and interesting town with all facilities including an enormous shopping centre with large supermarket, ideal for re-victualling. It also had a fuel station only 100m from the Marine Police jetty and they were very happy for us to tie the dinghy up there. In fact before we departed we also went alongside their jetty, on the top of the tide, to replenish with water. They could not have been more accommodating.

Pulau Besar golf resort

After four days in Muar we made the short hop to Pulau Besar, a resort island only 15 miles to the NW. An early morning departure to catch the high tide meant that we arrived in our next anchorage before midday. Having anchored just SE of the main beach we settled down for a relaxing three days at anchor in cleaner, if not completely clear, waters. On going ashore it was obvious that the island was currently surviving on low level local tourism. It later became evident that Pulau Besar was another major project gone wrong. The entire centre of the island was dominated by a major 18 hole golf course, beautifully tended, but no golfers to be seen and there had obviously not been any for many years. On the north coast was a luxurious hotel complex, patently designed to accommodate wealthy golfers, but not a resident in sight, only security guards and maintenance workers. Signs at the back gates warned of “Armed Patrols” and the risk of being shot. I went in via the main entry road which had no such signs but was soon made to realise my presence was not welcome; I was escorted out again! All very strange and an extraordinary waste of government money.

Malaka city

From here it was another short hop to Pulau Upeh, another failed holiday complex on an island just off the town of Malaka (aka Malacca). Again there seemed to be maintenance staff ashore but nothing else and the condition of the buildings was such that they obviously had not been in use for many years. After 24 hours at anchor here we opted to try to get into the marina at Malaka, timing our entry for high tide. This is another abandoned marina but has some pontoons in place. Although we entered the marina, and probed gently for any suitable depths, it was soon evident that the marina was too heavily silted and the maximum depth at low water would be 1m or less; we need 2.1m minimum to match our draft. After a couple of fruitless attempts to find a more suitable depth near the river mouth, thus allowing us to get ashore, we were finally forced to opt for an anchorage well outside the river mouth near the major land reclamation work that is taking place to the north of the river; hardly a picturesque anchorage and hence we moved on again the next day never having set foot ashore.

Admiral Marina

Twenty eight miles later, after an enjoyable close reach, we were entering Admiral Marina, just short of Port Dickson. This is another part complete complex that is noticeably empty of residents. It boasts a luxurious country club with superb swimming pool, bar and restaurant but the two enormous accommodation complexes, one either side, appear almost deserted and the marina itself is in a parlous state having suffered severe damage in a storm a few years back. Some berths have power and water, many not, and several of the pontoons were barely attached to the base structure.

Alongside Admiral Marina

Overall it needs significant investment to bring it back to even a fair standard. That said we enjoyed our time here; we took full advantage of the pool/bar and the nearby town to sample Malaysian street food. After four days of “luxurious living” it was time to move on and we moved 5 miles up the coast to anchor off Port Dickson itself. Here the anchorage was well sheltered from all but the south and although Port Dickson didn't look tempting enough for us to bother blowing the dinghy up and going ashore we spent a pleasant 24 hours anchored here.

South Port, approaching Selangor.

Alongside RSYC

From Port Dickson it was an early morning, 0700, departure in order to reach the Royal Selangor Yacht Club in one day. As it turned out we had a brisk reach, 50 miles along the coast, and made the club easily by 1700 despite having to battle a foul tide through the Southport channel and Container Port on the way into Selangor. The club is delightful and very welcoming; the only downsides are that their pontoons look in need of a thorough refit (despite them being repainted bright yellow, along with out berthing warps, whilst we were there) and the tidal stream running past the pontoons is a vicious 5-6 knots (we used every fender we had onboard).

Tallest building in Malaysia

We had planned four days here in order to give us time to visit Kuala Lumpur which is a direct train journey away. Kuala Lumpur was impressive to say the least. Having seen so many failed projects in Malaysia it was a real pleasure to see a thriving and well maintained metropolis with some really spectacular buildings.

Impressive!

 

We did the very touristy thing of taking the circular bus tour in order to get our bearings and it was well worth it. We saw many aspects of the city we would not have visited otherwise.

 Whilst at the Royal Selangor we met up with Fabian, a Malaysian yacht owner that we had previously come across in the marina at Puteri Harbour. He was also about to embark on a circumnavigation and was keen to tap us as a source of experience. In return he provided us with extensive local knowledge and introduced us to the best street food so far!

With some not so modern!

We also looked into the possibility of hauling out at the RSYC, to re-antifoul, as Kurukulla had now been in the water 14 months since her last haul out at Sandringham Yacht Club, Melbourne, Australia. Unfortunately the trolley system at the RSYC was not available within out timescale but fortunately Fabian was able to recommended an alternative, at Pangkor Marina, only 90 miles further up the coast.

Sunset at Pangkor Island

Post polish and paint!

After an enjoyable sojourn at the RSYC we took our leave and set off northwards via the Northport channel (yet more container berths) and sailed through the night to the anchorage on the SW corner of Pangkor Island arriving at 1000 on the 8^th of November. A very pleasant anchorage with restaurants ashore and a very upmarket resort on stilts on the island of Pangkor Laut. It was here we sat for two days whilst we negotiated our berth in Pangkor Marina and the lift out for 4 days on their hardstanding. Unfortunately our 4 day lift out turned into a 12 day stay. The first few days were disrupted by torrential rain storms which prevented progress on the hull painting. This, combined with the fact that the slipway where we were recovered and launched was too short to allow a 2.1m draft vessel to be lifted during neap tides (i.e. tides with lower than average rise and fall), meant that our 4 day spell on the hardstanding became a 12 day one whilst we waited for the high tide level to reach that at which we could be relaunched.

Street food at it's best

All was not lost however at the paint job was excellent and I took the opportunity to have the hull polished whilst we were waiting. Kurukulla went back in the water looking like a new yacht!

From Pangkor Marina we went back to the anchorage inside Pangkor Laut for a couple of days of relaxation before heading north again to Penang. As we sailed north, past Pangkor Island we passed yet another “white elephant” government owned marina, abandoned and silted, on the west coast of the island, complete in every sense but now left to go derelict!

The new Penang Bridge

Pangkor to Penang is 80 miles but we did rather more than that as some of the voyage was to windward, in light airs. We departed Pangkor in the late afternoon and 24 hours later we were anchoring off the NE tip of Penang having passed through the strait separating the island of Penang from the mainland and under both bridges which connect one to the other. We were too late to enter Straits Quay marina that day (the approach it tidally constrained) hence we anchored overnight and negotiated a berth from mid day the next day. To my surprise the General Manager of the marina turned out to be John Ferguson, an RNSA member and Ex Commanding Officer of HMS Rothesay,

Straits Quay Marina

Needless to say we spent some time reminiscing over our past careers! The marina itself is small but very well supplied with local facilities in the form of restaurants, shopping centres and an impressive Lotus's supermarket (ex Tesco Asia). One problem that John described was that post Covid not only did he have many yachts waiting for their owners to return but he also had two yachts where the owners had died of Covid, all of which were blocking berths in his already crowded marina!

Part of our reason for planning a few days in Penang was to allow us to visit the Thai Consulate and get Visitors Visas that would allow us to stay in Thailand for more than the 30 days allowed to visiting yachtsmen on a “ship crew” shore pass stamp in your passport, which is all that is issued if you opt for a visa on arrival. We had heard many inconsistent reports on how this system was being administered and decided to play safe with a full visa at a cost of 160 Ringgit (~£32) a head plus a further 240Rgt in taxi fares, not to mention two days of queueing and shuttling to and fro to the Consulate! Eventually, with visas in our passports we set sail north again for our final visit in Malaysia at Langkawi. It was here in this Duty Free port that we intended to stock up for our planned Christmas in Phuket with my daughter, Vanessa.

Fijord anchorage inside Pulau Gabang Darat

We departed Penang at 0700 on the 1^st of December, partly to allow us to make Langkawi in daylight but more importantly to exit on the top of the tide. The sail northwards was pleasant and uneventful and we finally sailed onto the anchor in Ayer Taban bay at 1800. After a quiet night here we then motored through the “Fjord” between Pulau Gabang Darat and the main island of Pulau Dayang Bunting, stopping for lunch en route before anchoring again in the bay on the NE corner of Pulau Singa Besar. Again we stopped here one night before moving to the rather less quiet but commercially more alive anchorage at Pelangi Beach on the SW side of the main island of Pulau Langkawi.

Langkawi monuments!

After a brief call to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club we were set for a four day stay in their marina to allow us to stock up for Christmas and time our arrival in Thailand so that, if all went “Pear shaped”, we could leave before our 30 days expired; not that I was feeling pessimistic, although perhaps I should have been!

"Long tails" at Ko Lepe

On the 8^th of December we had cleared out of Malaysia and set off for Ko Lepe, the Thai island only 25 miles WNW of Langkawi and between which numerous ferries ply their trade. Ko Lepe is only a few square miles in total but it is a popular tourist island and has Customs and Immigration offices on the beach. It seemed the obvious place to clear into Thailand; we had been told they were very easygoing; hence, we decided to take the opportunity to formally enter here rather than be illegal entrants until we reached Ao Chalong in Phuket. This was a grave mistake! All appeared to be going swimmingly until I pointed out that we already had visas for entry in our passports; this did not compute! After several phone calls they explained that we could not enter on our visas as we were coming in as ships crew. No amount of explaining that we were sailing tourists would change their minds and they insisted on giving us a crew stamp in our passports rather than validating our visas for entry. (They very kindly suggested we could fly back and use the visas any time in the next 3 months!). The stamps were valid for maximum 30 days in Thailand! Eventually we were forced to accept the situation and I resolved to try to sort it out once we reached Phuket. During our stay in Phuket Yacht Haven Marina, some two weeks later, I queried our situation with the Marina Staff; they recommended a trip to the Immigration Office at Blue Tree, 15 miles (25 km) away, where they said the queues would be much smaller than at Ao Chalong. A 30 minute taxi ride later we were at the office and service was indeed relatively quick. It took them all of 5 minutes to decide it was not within their remit to change the situation, only Ko Lepe could amend their actions and what was worse still we would only be allowed to exit Thailand via Ko Lepe because, with a ship's crew stamp, you can only exit via your point of entry! This threw a complete “spanner in the works” as we were intending to leave via the Ao Chalong offices in Phuket once my daughter, Vanessa, had departed back to Australia after her Christmas/New Year visit. She was due to arrive on the 23^rd and fly back out on the 5^th of January, we now had to be out of Thailand by the 8^th!

We stayed one night in the southern bay at Ko Lepe, it being a sheltered bay but littered with moorings and with a wide fringing reef off the beach. This meant that you were forced to anchor well out beyond the moored boats/ferries etc., in 25m of water, not ideal for a good nights sleep. Next day we moved round to the anchorage to the NW of the island in the strait between Ko Lepe and the larger but almost deserted island of Ko Adang; a better anchorage but much further from civilisation.

Nai Harn Bay

After this slightly rocky start to our time in Thailand we headed north looking forward to our time in Phuket. After departing in the morning of the 9^th Dec we arrived in the bay at Nai Harn, on the SW tip of Phuket Island on the morning of the 10^th. Against our expectations the bay was almost empty, there was only one yacht on a mooring below the Royal Phuket Yacht Club clubhouse. We had the rest of the bay to ourselves! Later that same day, after a rest to recover from our overnight passage, we headed round to Ao Chalong on the SE side of Phuket island and, after a search for a suitable space between the hundreds of moorings, we anchored not too far from the Phuket Cruising Yacht Club, a small but welcoming organisation run by Brent and his wife Yai.

We spent two nights here at anchor to re-victual and in the process also enjoyed an excellent curry lunch at the club. We also met up with an Australian, John in his yacht Bojangles, whom we had met several times along the way here, most recently in the yard at Pangkor where he had also lifted his boat out to resolve a water leak caused by a crack in the hull. John, wisely, had sailed to Phuket before checking into Thailand and had been given a 45 day stamp in his passport extendable by 30 days at Ao Chalong; how to rub salt in a wound! Moral, only clear in at Ao Chalong even if the opportunity arises earlier!

Bangla Road, Patong (Sin city)

From Ao Chalong we sailed around to the infamous beach at Patong, home of the craziest nightlife on the island. After two nights enjoying the sights and sounds of the resort and meeting up with David, my crew from the Gippsland to Sydney leg, who happened to be attending a wedding in Thailand at the same time, I went down with Covid ….. Uughh. Within 24 hours it felt as though I had swallowed a hedgehog. Fortunately my crew, Yiorgos, managed to steer clear of it. We were both triple vaccinated, the most recent being received in Darwin before departure from Australia. After 6 days of lying low onboard I had recovered enough to sail us back round to Ao Chalong where we hurriedly embarked sufficient victuals for Christmas before heading off two days later for our planned Christmas stopover at the Phuket Yacht Haven Marina on the north east tip of the island. This was not our first choice marina due to it's remote position, the Boat Lagoon marina and the Royal Phuket Yacht Club marina were both higher on our preference list but getting either of them to respond to e-mails proved impossible; telephone calls fared no better. They obviously had more demand than they could cope with.

Phuket Yacht Haven Marina

That said the Haven Marina was a great marina with excellent on site bar/restaurant facilities, the problem was that it and it's associated resort were almost in the middle of nowhere! That said we enjoyed our Christmas there and made good friends with one of the local restaurant owners, The Wood Fired Grill Bar.

James Bond Island

Vanessa had arrived on Dec 23^rd , two days before Christmas, and came straight to the marina. We had debated getting her a room in the resort but she was convinced that having had Covid herself in the recent past she was not at risk of catching it again, from me. Fortunately, by the end of Christmas, although not fully recovered I was feeling much better; sufficiently recovered to take us off on Boxing Day to visit James Bond Island and do some of the tourist trail! We anchored for lunch in the shadow of James Bond Island (aka Ko Phing Kan) and made the mandatory trip to the beach in the dinghy. On discovering that they wanted to charge us the equivalent of £40 for landing from our inflatable we contented ourselves with a scenic dinghy ride, circumnavigating the island; which, on reflection, proved to be a better option than landing.

Later that afternoon we headed south again and anchored in the large but sheltered bay at Ao Son, on the west side of Ko Yao Yai. Wind that day had been in short supply hence we had motored for a large part of the trip. Next morning we had a leisurely swim in the bay before moving a few miles north to anchor between the small island of Ko Boi Yai and the larger Ko Yao Noi. The sand-spit at the eastern end of Ko Boi Yai provided a secure anchorage despite the strong tidal stream flowing between the two islands. From here we had intended to sail east between the islands of Ko Yao Noi and Ko Yao Yai but a quick calculation and reference to the chart showed that, even at high water, we were unlikely to find the necessary 2.1m plus to allow us through. Only at top spring tides would this be possible. Rather than risk a grounding we opted to retrace our steps and sail south down the west coast of Ko Yao Yai and across to Phi Phi island, the other “must do” on Vanessa's bucket list. It was on this leg that we managed, for the first time since leaving Turkey, to pick up a fishing net around the propeller, luckily 15 minutes later I had managed to cut it free and unravel the rope/net wound round the propeller; better by day than by night! For the first night we anchored in the hustle and bustle of Ton Sai Bay, adjacent to the main tourist town. Again the fringing reef and density of moorings resulted in us having to moor a long way from the beach but we managed to dinghy ashore for dinner in a local restaurant and a walk around the town. If we thought the southern shore bordering Ton Sai Bay was lively it was nothing compared with the other side of the isthmus separating Ton Sai from Ao Lohdalum bay. Although Ao Lohdalum is a much less viable anchorage, due to extensive coral heads and reef, it is decidedly the livelier part of the resort with deafening music from every bar and a very popular Ibiza Swimming complex that was heaving even at midnight! We were grateful to be anchored in Ton Sai despite the boat traffic.

Vanessa on NYE night out!

One day in Ton Sai was enough and the next day we headed up the east coast hoping to anchor off one of the resorts but an onshore wind (as forecast) prevented us from doing so and hence we rounded the northern tip of Phi Phi and anchored in the most north westerly bay, Ao Lanah. This was much more peaceful, less boat traffic, and the waters were clear blue, uncontaminated by stirred up sediment! After a night at anchor we then headed back to the main island of Phuket ready for the celebrations on New Year's Eve, anchoring off the beach at Ban Nit in the Ao Chalong bay. In the early part of the evening we took the dinghy ashore and booked a table at the local beach-front restaurant and enjoyed an evening of local food. After this we wandered along the beach and gatecrashed (well not quite; we did request entry which was granted provided we bought wine by the bottle! We bought several!) a very smart hotel who were holding their New Year's Eve party. By Midnight we were all very merry (I was taking it slightly carefully, still recovering from Covid) and I think we were amongst the last to leave the poolside bar at about 0130. A fun night was had by all!

Next day we opted for a quiet day at anchor; surprise, surprise! Later in the day we again meandered ashore, Vanessa opted for a massage near the beach and ultimately we all returned to the same restaurant to dine, just as the sun set. After a quiet night at anchor we set off for the anchorage at Ao Chalong itself in order to replenish our water stocks, which were running low, and to re-victual. After finding a suitable space between the moorings and anchoring we opted for a curry lunch at the Cruising Yacht Club before heading to the nearest supermarket where we bought the necessary. Our next task was water and the only suitable source at Ao Chalong is the fuelling jetty. Unfortunately this jetty is not designed for yachts or small craft, being constructed on vertical piles all of which are adorned with a vicious layer of large crustaceans. We were able to sneak in and go alongside a local boat, using him as a fender (fortunately they did not seem to mind and assisted us with the whole evolution). Fifteen minutes later we were away again having taken 220 litres of potable water.

Long tails anchored off Ko Lepe

From here it was a gentle motor back to our first anchorage in the Phuket area, at Nai Harn; this time it was much more heavily populated with boats! After 36 hours here we headed again to Patong. We couldn't let Vanessa leave without her seeing Bangla Road, the mecca of Phuket (aka Sin City!). After supper ashore and a few drinks we retired back onboard ready for Vanessa's departure the following day. Vanessa was due to depart in the late afternoon for a long flight back to Melbourne and hence we satisfied ourselves with a lazy day onboard, followed by an early supper ashore, before putting her in a taxi to the airport and Yiorgos and I returning to Kurukulla. The Thai visa saga meant that we to had to leave that night and sail overnight to reach Ko Lepe in time to log out of Thailand before our shore passes expired. I had decided that returning to Langkawi and departing from there for Sri Lanka was the best available option, thus it was that we anchored for two nights at Ko Lepe, checked out of Thailand just in time and then headed back to Langkawi anchoring just SE of Rebak Island, off the resort of the same name. The anchorage was sheltered and picturesque but slightly spoilt by the numerous ferry boats, storming past at high speed, taking passengers to and from the resort.

One of many deserted boats seen along the way

Next day we motored, in no wind, to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club to prepare for departure to Sri Lanka. We were going to be subject to further delay as that I was awaiting delivery of three credit/debit card replacements that had been posted from UK to Vanessa in Australia for her to bring to Thailand. Needless to say, despite being posted from UK on the 28^th of November they had not arrived in time for her departure for Thailand and indeed had not arrived by her return to Australia.

Langkawi Tower

Our plan now was to DFS them to the RLYC once they arrived. As I write this on the 21^st of January we are still waiting. Despite being marked Air Mail they must have been despatched by Sea Mail! Notwithstanding, we have set our departure for Sri Lanka for 22^nd of January latest allowing us to celebrate Chinese New Year before departure. The cards will simply have to catch up later! Delay beyond this date risks us losing the NE Monsoon before we reach Djibouti.

More when we are in Sri Lanka and the Maldives …......