2.29N 101.51E

26^th January, 2012

Long time since our last blog mostly because of laziness but also Internet problems which I have spent weeks trying to resolve. If you get this then I have.

Arrived in Puteri Harbour a week ago which is very nice but virtually dead. Restaurant shut at 17:00 and has no beer anyway. Very, very hot and humid.

We left for an island 35nm away but when we arrived it offered little shelter and our anchored dragged twice (a record). C was not impressed when I preferred a 100 nm overnight trip to a lovely place called Admiral Marina near to Port Dickson. She has not complained too much since we arrived, so I must have got something right.

Where we are is excellent, the local food is OK and they will serve beer. We had a wonderful 2 days in Melaka (I still don’t how they actually spell it and nor do they), but C will describe it much better then I.

Not too much on the breakages front but these pesky barnacles keep living in our engine cooling water intake. This meant serious overheating at more than 2000rpm but hopefully a diver has sorted it for now.

K

The Malacca strait has always been famous for pirates but apparently nowadays they only go for large merchant ships. The crew all get paid in Singapore so there is lots of cash on board. All we saw were fishing boats and nets and huge ships in the shipping lanes. We saw one waterspout when we were in Singapore but none since.

We took a taxi to Melaka and stayed in a lovely hotel right beside the old town . Chinese New Year so packed with Chinese and Malay tourists with lots of impeccably dressed children.

We had a fun ride in a trishaw…decorated with flowers and flashing lights and blaring out loud music and saw a dragon dance in the hotel lobby when we arrived

Setting off further North in a day or so

C