View of Jerejak island, then named Pulo Jeraja, from Penang Hill in 1817. Jerejak is the heavily shaded island at the lower centre of this map of Penang in 1884.

Wiki says: Francis Light, the founder of Penang, was said to have arrived in Jerejak Island in early 1786 before heading on to Penang. In 1797, Colonel Arthur Wellesley had proposed Jerejak as the possible site for Fort Cornwallis. His idea of establishing a military post in Jerejak was to offer protection to a new township called Jamestown, which was to be set up in present-day Bayan Lepas. Earlier in 1794, there had been an outbreak of malaria caused most likely by the clearing of the jungle to establish George Town, claiming many lives, including Francis Light himself. Thus, Wellesley was not in favour of the site for Fort Cornwallis to be on Penang island.

This plan did not materialise as George Town was starting to become a profitable port and it soon became unnecessary to establish Jamestown or have a military facility in that location.

As a result of Francis Light's earlier ruling whereby immigrants were allowed to claim whatever land they could clear, Penang became flooded with immigrants. As a precautionary step, these immigrants were sent to Jerejak's health inspection centre before they were allowed to proceed to Penang.

In 1868, a leper asylum was completed but only in used in 1871. The cost of construction was supported by the local community. In 1880, it was expanded becoming the collection centre of leprosy (leprosarium) for the Straits Settlements until the 1930’s.The leprosarium was closed in 1960’s and the inmates were transferred to Sungai Buloh Leper Settlement/Leprosarium. Part of the island was made a health quarantine centre for immigrants in 1875 at the eastern and northern parts of the island.

A memorial is located in the island dedicated to two crew members of the Imperial Russian Navy who died when their cruiser Zhemchug was sunk by the cruiser SMS Emden of the Kaiserliche Marine in the Battle of Penang on the 28th of October 1914. This is one of the few incidences of action which took place in Malaysian territory during World War I.

After World War II, there was an increase in the number of tuberculosis patients and a sanatorium was set up in Jerejak for victims. On the 12th of June 1969, the Jerejak Rehabilitation Centre was set as a maximum security prison, hence earning the island the moniker, the Alcatraz of Malaysia. The centre was eventually closed in August 1993.

Current Developments: Plans were made to redevelop Jerejak into a resort in 2000 and this resulted in the closure of the more "unsavoury" institutions in the island like the sanatorium and prison. In January 2004, the Jerejak Resort & Spa was opened for business. The resort was built over the area once occupied by the leprosarium. This development remains somewhat controversial with concerns about the systematic removal of the island's historical remains and heritage and the impact on Jerejak's fragile eco-system.

We did pass what looked like a ‘shipyard in progress’ and something that required water to be expelled under high pressure.

Time to concentrate on fishing nets and wiggling around them.

Unbelievable to us, is the fact that fishermen lay their nets right across the main channel.

We wiggle, this working girl just ploughs on through......

Heading to Penang Bridge, E36, is a 13.5 kilometre dual carriageway, toll bridge and controlled access highway in the state of Penang.

Going under First Bridge. We have had a giggle listening to others who have panicked in this situation. The wife laying flat on her back on deck trying to gauge whether they will snap their mast, to slowing down to a crawl “just in case”. We are not cocky but have simply done so many on the East Coast of America to trust the height marker and the height of our mast.

The bridge connects was the first and, until 2014, the only road bridge connection between the peninsula and the island. The bridge is the second longest after the bridge we came under yesterday – the Second Bridge, and the fifth longest in Southeast Asia, with a length over the water of 8.4 kilometres. The bridge opened on the 3rd of August 1985 by the Prime Minister who drove across in a Proton Saga – the national car and the first traffic passed over the bridge in September.

After the bridge we carried on up the coast of Penang, George Town, the capital city coming into view.

To our right a really happy coloured working girl, a ferry.

Then we passed an Indonesian Research/Survey vessel called Elsa Regent. She weighs in at 92.5 metres in length, 20 metres wide with a draught of 5.8 metres. She trots along at 12 knots and has a gross tonnage of 6,398 and is off to Singapore soon.

If you cannot fit a lettuce leaf in your roll, simply wrap it around. A new one on me.........

...........and who said there was no place for an umbrella on a boat ???

Just love this picture, a couple of lads pulling in their net with MOL Empire behind them. One vessel 3 metres the other 294 metres in length. MOL Empire was trotting along at 9.1 knots and was due in to Penang half an hour ago.

After a wiggle around a shallow, we pulled into the anchorage, the sky becoming very grey.

ALL IN ALL A SHORT LITTLE HOP

                     ANOTHER BRIDGE, ANOTHER DAY