Thailand, December 2010, Phuket.

Beginning of December, we went to the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok to organize Pui’s visa to join me mid of May in Switzerland. Then we went to Pakchong say hallo to the Family and bring the Christmas gifts.

I will be leaving Thailand December 29 2010 on a yacht heading to the Mediterranean crossing the Indian Ocean, then up the Red Sea. We are planning to arrive second half of April.

Pui will stay on the yacht in Boat Lagoon until she joins me. While we are away the yacht will undergo a warranty job and have the deck repainted.


Pui joins me to wish you all a happy and healthy new year.


Bye for now!

On the way to Thailand, November 2010.

We left Langkawi from Télaga November 25 and made our way to O Chalong. We stopped South of Ko Bitsi the first night.

Next stop was Ko Rok Nok.

We picked up a Mooring close to the beach, as the tide was going out just before dark we left the mooring and anchored in deeper waters.

For the third night, we picked up a mooring in the bay of Ko Phiphile.

The place is crowded with speed boats, little ferries and long tails.

Luckily at dark they are all gone.


We were thinking to stay one day there, but by 11 o’clock we had to leave the place as huge ferries were mooring on the boy next to us. They would have touched us if the wind had changed

.We left the place at the same time than a Marakuja (aluminum center board yacht), just using the Genoa for propulsion. We arrived at the same time at Ko Mai Thon. We were rounding the island North and he rounding the Island South.


At dark a fishing boat anchored too close to us, but left to re anchor.



November 29, we anchored on O Chalong and cleared in just before lunch time. The tourist visa (2 month +1) worked well.

November 30, we made our way to the entrance of Boat Lagoon Pos 7°58.66N, 098°25.00E and arrived by five o clock in the afternoon in Royal Phuket Marina. In 3 years RPM increased his prices by 50%.

We had to wait to get a berth in Boat Lagoon. Their prices stayed almost the same. We moved in Boat Lagoon December 17.

Malaysia, November 2010, Langkawi.

To get to Kuah, we stopped overnight at Pulau Paya. There are moorings you can pickup but we had a strong SW swell so we anchored at the NE point of the Island. They have now a coral farm. It was too late to go to have a visit to the farm.

Next day and 16 miles later we were in the Bay of Kuah and dropped 40 m of chain in 5 m of water because the holding is very poor and it’s a saying: “don’t become the eagle’s eggs.

Some boats ended there in strong SW gales.

With the dingy to can make landfall the ferry terminal that never operates. Bobo’s Café has been taken over by locals and doesn’t serve any alcohol.

A new complex close to the ferry terminal is now open, but there are not many shops open yet.

The night market is still at the same place. In town nothing has moved much.

From Kuah we moved to Telaga and anchored behind the little islands at the entrance of the marina.

It was nice to come across old friends, Geronimo, SacréG2, and Proteus.


Together with Pompon and Isabelle from Seakedelic, we visited the Island.

We went to Batik Art Village of ATMA ALAM. A small workshop show’s you what the Batik Art consist of but you are not allowed to take pictures.


Of course you are invited to look thru the place where every thing is for sell.

As next, we visited Taman Agro Technologi Stesen Mardi Langkawi, the place grows fruit.
On a little shuttle, the guide brings us thru the plantation. It was not the best time of the year to enjoy all the variety of fruits, but still we could taste some of them.

After that we stopped at the Komplex craft Langkawi.

The place is big and this time I didn’t hesitate to picture Batik Art, it’s beautiful.

There was also a glassblower shop.

Just before living Malaysia we wanted to take the cable car. But it was closed because of mechanical problems.

Malaysia, November 2010, Penang.

From Pulau Pangkor we made again an overnight sail of 71 miles to head to Penang. They are building a new bridge between the Souths of the Island of Penang to the continent.

Further North, we past under the bridge and made our way to Tanjong City Marina in George Town just after the ferry terminal. Tanjong City Marina operates on VHF CH 68.

The place looks nice, but as you get in you realize that half the marina is gone, and from what is left, half is in the mud at low tide.

After one night you know why every body tells you the place is hatful. A terrible swell bounces your yacht, one night it broke three of my mooring lines not at the same time luckily. I had to buy new ones.

We stayed one week there to give the chain and anchor to re-galvanize. Seakedelic left after 3 days.

Amandine left the boat to make her way back home for the skiing season; she works in a winter resort.

Walking in the streets you make funny encounters like the pushbikes carrying tourists.

Traditional Hi-Tech bike (was not for sale), the Guinness Buddha, and strange perspectives.

George Town is a colorful city with many food courts. It’s inexpensive, good and the choice is huge.

For those who like, they are lots of activities going on after sunset. The streets are crowded with people enjoying loud music coming out of the discos.

Mid of November we made our way to Langkawi.

Malaysia, November 2010, Pulau Pangkor

We left Admiral Marina November 2, and made an overnight sail to drop the anchor at Pasir Bogak at the SW corner of Pulau Pangkor. Seakedelic joined us, and together we went for an Island tour.
We first walked from Pasir Bogak to Teluk Nipah. On the way we pictured monkeys, a dragon and an empty marina falling apart. We also pictured a wonderful beach. We had a lunch at Nipah, and then we hired a taxi that drove us around the Island.

We stopped at the Foo Lin Kong temple. There is a mini version from the famous Great Wall of China to see, and many other stoning things.

Next stop was Teluk Gredong at the Dutch Fort. It was built in 1670. Despite frequent visits, the Dutch were kept away by hostile locals and were unable to maintain the site and rebuilt it until 1743. Only 5 years later they abandoned it for good after local warrior chiefs repeatedly attacked them.

As the day was going on it was time to get back to the yachts. Some wind built up during the day and it was quite a challenge to row back. I first brought Pui back to Salulami and then went back to help Pompom Isabelle and Amandine to get back to Seakedelic.

Malaysia, October 2010, Kuala Lumpur (KL) day 2.

The second day we went to Chinatown and made the walk recommended in the LP. It starts at the Masijid Jamek LRT station. First you see the old shop houses in Lebuh Ampang.

We stopped at the Sin Sze Si Ya temple founded in 1864 by Kapitan Yap Ah Loy. It is dedicated to patron deities of Sin Sze Ya and Si Sze Ya. The deities have guided Kapitan Yap Ah Loy to defeat the enemies and defend Kuala Lumpur during civil war (1879 – 1873).

The temple has witnessed the birth and growth of Kuala Lumpur.


We past a stoning herbal tea shop with big sparkling Copper jars.

We tried one cup of tea of each jar, it was so bitter that with no doubt it has healing abilities.

We made our way further down to Petaling Street were businesses of all kinds offers you what ever you can think about to unbeatable prices of course.

 

On the way to the Maharajaleta MRT station we stopped at the ancestral ornate Chan See Shu Yuen Temple. The figurines are of high details.

Then It was time to make our way to the Hang Tuah Bus terminal to get back to Port Dixon.

We had a double deck bus for the first part of the trip, and from Seremban a classic bus to Port Dixon.

From Port Dixon to the marina we were too late to take a bus and drove home in a taxi. The taxi was 2 MYR more expensive than the total bus fare for one person from KL to PD.

Malaysia, October 2010, Kuala Lumpur (KL) day 1.

October 26, together with the 3 angels we made our way to KL. From the marina we took a bus to Port Dixon.

At Port Dixon we asked the price for a taxi to take us to KL. Because we were 5 and taxis are allowed to take only 4 people they were asking us first 2 times MYR 150.-, then one big taxi agreed to take us al for MYR 260.- We went for the bus option.

A first bus brought us to Seremban and another one to KL. It cost us MYR 8.- per head. We arrived around 13h00 at the Hang Tuah Bus terminal. From there we had a 15 minutes walk to the Time square hotel where the Angels had an appointment with friends of them.


We split there and made our way to Jln Changkat Bukit Bintang in the Golden Triangle and KLCC Kuala Lumpur Complex Center. We found a place for the night.

They had different rooms to different prices. They charged us a standard room to the price of a business one.

As we had to make a deposit higher than the cost of the room, next day when I claimed, it was another person at the desk pretending we had booked the right room, as pictures of these rooms at the entrance of the hotel were showing wrong. You can’t win . . .

And what is MYR 10.- for your peace in mind?

We had a late lunch and made our way to the Petronas Towers. In KL apart the buses that can explode in the middle of the traffic, they have the LRT (Light Rail Transportation) and the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit).

The MRT is made of a solid concrete rail supporting the train. It’s very quite, sits in the air, not spoiling too much the landscape, what is landscape in a city?

The MRT brought us to Bukit Nanas, and from there we walked up Jln Ampang to the Petrons Twin Towers.

On the way up as I was picturing Pui suddenly a UFO appeared over her. . . What to do?

No panic!



It’s the Menara Lualumpur Tower. It was opened to the public in May 1996. For MYR 20.- each you can take the elevator who brings you to the observation deck to have the sight over the city from a height of 288m. This communication tower is 461 m high, the fifth highest in the world.

As you walk on the street, you start to see the PTT, reflecting in the glassed building. When finally you stay in front of them it severely kinks your neck.

These towers are huge!

The Kuala Lumpur City Center (KLCC) development is spread out on a 40 hectare site. It is a well integrated and complete city center in its own right, where people can work, live, visit, shop and enjoy leisure cultural activities in a convenient and pleasant environment.

KLCC thrives with all the characteristics of a city within a city, they say. . .

The towers are 452m high, each building has 88 storeys. The sky bridge is located at levels 41 and 42, is 59m long and 170m above street level.

The 20 hectare Park surrounding the buildings is a unique work of art which has been designed to showcase a heritage of tropical greenery by integrating human’s creation with nature and offers a calm and harmonious environment in the middle of a busy and dynamic city, they say. . .

We walked around and inside the building. You can buy the towers made out of LEGO’S.

In the late afternoon me made our way back to the hotel and went out for dinner. I was looking for an appetizer and we found a bar serving 75 different whiskeys.

I asked the waiter if they had others drinks to offer. He gave me the carte were I found an absinthe called “La Clandestine” coming from Couvet in the state of Neuchâtel in Switzerland to order.

Absinthe was long time prohibited and largely produced in the “Val de Travers”, because you could get mad from drinking it (see Van Gogh).

Today they could find out witch element is causing the madness and suppressed the plant involved from the recipe and its legal today to buy and drink it.

But, the illegal one is still produced because his taste is not the same regarding the connoisseurs.

I asked for a fork, a piece of sugar and fresh water to show them how we make the drink. You want to know?

Ok! You put the fork (originally they have a special teaspoon with holes in it) over the glass filled with the absinthe, you put the piece of sugar over the fork and you poor slowly the water to dissolve it. Ones the sugar disappeared the drink is ready. Santé!

Malaysia, October 2010. Malacca Strait.

We synchronized our motor sailing with the tide currents and daylight. So we were almost at anchor every night.

We made the trip together with a French steel yacht Seakedelic with captain Pompon (Charlie) and his crew (the three Angels) Isabelle Amandine and Melanie.

First day we made 41 miles and stopped for the night at Pulau Pisang.

Next day we made 42 miles to Tg Tohor and anchored in open waters for the night in quite conditions.

The third day me made 28 miles only and stopped at Pulau Besar. We went ashore expecting to have a cold beer to drink. We got informed that on this island no alcohol is served. SIG!

For the fourth day after 42 miles motoring, we arrived in Port Dixon at the Admiral Marina and enjoyed the swimming pool.


We stayed few days there and organized a trip to Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia, October 2010, Danga Bay Marina.

The working Channel is VHF74. Captain Ron will welcome you. At the time we arrived they where working hard to extend the berth capacity (+100 berths) for the Sail Malaysia event 2010.

Ron told us that we can stay as long he doesn’t need our place for a yacht coming from Sail Indonesia expected to arrive October 25.

That was fine for us.

There is a hip of place to anchor in a good holing mud/clay in front of the marina.

The berth had no facilities at the time we arrived. As it was cost free nothing to complain. We used the dingy to go to the “main berth” to get ashore and pick up water.

Danga Bay is well located close to ATM’s, market, super market and all what you need.

As we didn’t clear in and out in Indonesia, we were a little bit worried about to clear in Malaysia. I went to the marina office, explained my situation.

Captain Sabi drove us to the immigration at the Zone place, made us wait at the entrance of the office and came out 5 minutes later with our passports stamped.

What a relieve!

In fact they where happy with our exit stamp from New Caledonia, and didn’t worry too much about the time we spent to arrive in Johor Baru.

October 3rd we went to Singapore at the Swiss Embassy to take my portrait and finger prints.

We met Marianne who helped me efficiently to apply for the new passport.

Together we had lunch at the Swiss Club, stoning place in Singapore.

Marianne wrote a letter allowing the Malaysian and Singapore Immigration officers to use the page number 40 of my passport as it contains only general information.


That would have been useful in New Caledonia to stitch the Indonesian cultural visa. Gasp!




Next day we went to the Malaysian Embassy to organize a 3 month visa for Pui. We filled the form, as usual, went to counter number one, as usual, now! This time they ask for a sponsor’s letter showing me a sample issued from Danga Bay Marina.

I told the man that I’m not in the marina, took a crew list that I filled and on the back I wrote a text me as Captain in charge of my yacht sponsor my crew and wife.

The officer looked at the letter and exclaimed “but its hand written!” and me to answer smoothly “what’s wrong with hand writing?”

He went to see his supervisor and came back smiling “everything is ok!”


Unfortunately Pui got a single entry visa only, so to pick up my passport I had to go by my self.

One week later the new passport arrived and we had to wait another week for the ID card. October 19 I went to Singapore to pick up my new identities.

No one wanted to use page 40 to put the stamps.

They looked for gaps in the pages to put their stamps with reference of the page where the other one is.

I shit myself laughing.


We met  Dingo shortly arriving from Indonesia and left Danga Bay October 21 as Sail Indonesia was arriving and Ron getting nervous.

Singapore, October 1 2010, the cargo park of Singapore.

For the first of October we had the currents with us up to 3 knots at maximum from 05h00 to 15h00.

We started at 06h30 as the sun was showing up the horizon, in a foggy surrounding.

As you pass the South Eastern corner of Singapore, don’t come too close to the military base. If you enter their security zone marked by yellow boys, they will board you coming out from the base full power on a big rubber dingy.

Usually they enjoy the exercise but they must stay serious because you transgressed the law. You just tell them that you won’t let your passport go out of your eyes site, and they will transmit your details thru VHF. It takes a while.

What can you expect crossing the parking? Well all kind of floating devices.

Other exiting things are this one. This Italian registered cargo has definitely met the pirates. He put razor wire all around he’s cargo. Good idea, but not really nice around a yacht.

What about this one! Where is the hull gone? When you look at the water line, it looks like he can sink the cargo, then move under any floating device and lift it up. Is it a ship carrier?

After the cargo park we went up the west side of Singapore looking to stay away from the Singaporean border. They mean it very seriously.

Police boats are on 24 hour patrol.

We rounded Singapore in 9 hours and arrived at Danga Bay marina at 15h30, and just mist immigration. No problem, on Monday afternoon, the marina shuttle takes us to the officials for the clearance.

Indonesia, September 21 2010, Thru the Java Sea.

We left Lovina in the afternoon with a NE wind turning East. The two next Days we had E-ESE winds up to 10 knots and then it failed. So we had to motor most of the way up.

At the beginning we had to watch for the fishing houses not always light at night. Later, we had the fishing boats around us, but most of them were at anchor.


We also had to watch for the cargos.

There was some lightening around us but luckily far away. September 29, we stopped at Pulau Pangil pos: 0°49.31N 104°21.12 to wait for the North going tide between Batam and Bintan Besar.



Next day, we had the current with us from 08h30 and of we went to cross the cargo highway. At 13h30 we were crossing the cargo channel with a strong Westerly wind to find shelter in the cargo park East from Singapore.



It’s quite exiting to see on your port side the huge bow of a cargo approaching while you are pointing the stern of a cargo on you starboard side coming the other way to avoid a collision course.

We were already doing 6 knots and just wishing to go twice that fast. All went well and we almost hit a cargo coming out of the park.



We found a place to anchor for the night on the Malaysian side of Singapore, south of Pengeran at pos: 01°20.94N; 104°05.74E, again to wait for the current to go westwards to pass the south of Singapore and head to Danga Bay Marina.



At this point we made 896 miles in 8.5 days and motored 64% of the time.