Was it worth doing the rally? This was questioned a few times when problems occurred but the overall answer must be yes. When the skippers of six boats were detained by the coastguard for anchoring off Sibu island and taken to the mainland for questioning. Sazli and James were able to intervene at high level and the problem was solved without loss of face although I believe a small amount of money was needed to smooth the way. We were actually heading for that anchorage when the problem started so quickly changed our minds and headed well past. The bridge at Terengganu was opened for us to sail into the harbour, a rare occurrence. We swam with turtles at Pulau Redang and snorkelled in some top spots in the coral triangle including at Sipadan, one of the top dive spots in the world with very restricted access. ESSCOM, Eastern Sabah Security Command, gave us protection as we sailed from Kudat to Tawau. This is an area where Filipino extremists have taken hostages, though not too recently. It is still a sensitive area and FCO recommend that you don’t go there so our travel insurance would have been invalid while we were there. We travelled 50 miles inland up the Kinabatangan river but didn’t manage to see any pigmy elephants. We then had to make a hasty retreat due to flood water bringing lots of timber down the river and causing damage to a few boats. We were entertained at various points with dinners, displays of traditional martial art and dancing and taken on tours. The social interaction between the boats has been great and this is what really makes the rally.
We have now left Malaysia and entered Indonesia where we will be for some weeks sailing south then west again. 

So here are some photos from the last four months, not in any particular order.