Harmonie - An Unplanned Overnighter - Admiral Marina, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan State, Malaysia

An Unplanned Overnighter - Admiral Marina, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan State, Malaysia

Harmonie

Don and Anne Myers

Mon 22 Nov 2010 02:27

02:28.585N 101:50.719E

On the fifth day of Bryan and Michele's excellent adventure (November 4), we set off from Danga Bay, retraced our steps back through the Johor Strait, rounded the southern tip of Malaysia and started north up the Melaka Strait (relatively narrow body of muddy water separating Malaysia from the Indonesian island of Sumatra), staying just a few miles off the west coast of Malaysia, and just to the east of the northbound shipping lane. This was supposed to be an easy 41 mile motor to a group of small islands where we planned to anchor overnight. It was an easy 41 mile motor. So easy that when we arrived at the designated island anchorage early that afternoon, the captain called an audible suggesting we keep going through the night in order to reach Admiral Marina in Port Dickson the next morning.

The water in the Melaka Strait is brown (less brown than the Johor and Singapore Straits, but brown none-the-less), so skipping a ho-hum anchorage and pursuing our 'real' destination through the night seemed like a good idea to me. We hadn't planned on doing any night sailing/motoring in the Melaka Strait because of the heavy ship traffic and hazards associated with fishing boats and nets, but we decided if we stayed just to the east of the northbound shipping lane to avoid the ships, and far enough west of the coast of Malaysia to avoid the fishing boats, all we would have to worry about were poorly lit tugs traveling in the opposite direction towing unlit barges. As Don likes to say, "piece of baklava!" Bryan and Michele weren't entirely sure about this new plan having never done an overnight boat trip before, but they seemed to warm up to the exotic notion of eating dinner on the run and motoring up the Melaka Strait in the dark within a mile of a steady stream of giant ships while simultaneously dodging tugs and barges. So, off we went.

The overnight trip went fine. There wasn't much of a moon, but the lights from the crowded ship highway to our port side kept the horizon lit well enough. It was a very crowded ship highway. We had time to count the number of AIS ship 'targets' on the chart, and the grand total was 165 - some as close as 0.15 miles from us, and others as far away as 80. After crossing the Pacific Ocean and sometimes not seeing a single ship for days, motoring up the Melaka Strait within range of 165 ships was a surreal experience. The ships were very well behaved though, and stayed in their designated lanes. This made for relatively easy navigation for us. There were a few of those poorly lit tugs towing unlit barges, but we could see them well enough on radar to adjust our course as necessary. The only glitch in the whole process came when Don went down into the engine room just before dark to ensure that all things mechanical were okey dokey. I don't remember it exactly, but Bryan and Michele say the conversation went something like this:

Don: I'm going to do an engine check since it's been running for over 12 hours.

Anne: Ok

- pause -

A very long five minutes go by.

Anne from the galley to Bryan in the cockpit: Is Don still in the engine room?

Bryan: Yes.

Anne in the cockpit to Don in the engine room: Is everything ok?

Don: No.

Anne: What's wrong?

Don: We've got an oil leak.

Anne: How much?

Don: About a quart.

Anne: Is that a lot?

Don: Enough that I'm concerned.

- pause -

Bryan and Michele exchange looks of concern.

Anne: Is it fixable??

Don: - sigh - Yeah I can fix it.

Anne: Ok.

Anne returns unconcerned to the galley to fix dinner while Don returns concerned to the engine room to fix the oil leak.

Bryan and Michele raise their respective eyebrows and exchange looks of concern mixed with a hint of amusement.

Don fixed the oil leak as well as he could, then later that night discovered what the real problem was. One of the engine room cooling blowers had quit, causing the temperature in the engine room to rise high enough such that a few hoses became soft, allowing oil to seep from places it normally wouldn't. He also discovered the amount of oil on the floor of the engine room was less than he originally thought (half a quart versus a whole). Regardless, it was at this point that we secretly started to harbor doubts about the kind of luck Bryan and Michele brought with them.

We arrived at the rather lovely Admiral Marina at 9am the next morning and while Bryan and Michele explored the rather unlovely town of Port Dickson, Don fixed the blower problem. The next morning we hired a taxi to take us to the historic city of Melaka for the day.

Michele enjoying a rare breeze as we motored out of the Johor Strait and briefly into the Singapore Strait with all its anchored ships, before turning north and entering the Melaka Strait.

This is the rather lovely Admiral Marina. In keeping with the almost-but-not-quite Malaysian theme, Admiral Marina has a nice pool, good restaurants (well, mostly good as you'll find out later), nice bathrooms, a laundry service (one Bryan became intimately familiar with, which is another story for another time), but the surrounding large complex of condominiums is nearly deserted and starting to show signs of neglect, and the nearby town of Port Dickson is decidedly unlovely. But who can complain when the cost of a berth is only $20/night?

The fateful lunch. While Don fixed the blower in the engine room, Michele and Bryan had lunch at one of Admiral Marina's restaurants. Note that Bryan's glass of ice water is less full than Michele's untouched glass. Keep this in mind when you read the next blog entry.

This is Melaka's city center. Many of the buildings built by the Dutch in the 1600's and 1700's still stand, including all the red buildings you see in this photo. The British took over in the 1800's and for a while, the Melaka port was as important a trading center as Penang to the north and Singapore to the south. Now Melaka is less a trading center and more a tourist magnet. We found it to be a fun and interesting place to visit with its Dutch colonial architecture, Chinese temples, bicycle rickshaws, and zillions of unique shops and restaurants.

A local band playing near Melaka's city center. Prettier to look at than to listen to unless you enjoy singing that sounds slightly Arabic and borders on a cross between a whine and a screech.

The bicycle rickshaws of Melaka - lined up and ready to serve. Or mostly ready to serve, as soon as this guy wakes up from his snooze. Can't blame him for snoozing - it can't be easy to peddle 300 pounds of sweating tourists around the teeming streets of Melaka in 92 degrees and 95% humidity.

Python anyone? Ten ringit (~$3.30) will buy you the opportunity to hold this beauty while your friends take pictures.

One of the more elaborate Melaka Chinese temples.

You've got to love the fact that beaded sandals are still beaded by hand in Melaka as this gentleman is demonstrating. He draws the design on the cloth and then meticulously sews the tiny colored beads on one at a time to create his unique designs. Michele and I both bought a pair of sandals. How could we resist for only $60? For anyone that's wondering, this purchase brought Michele's usable non-bejeweled shoe count back up to seven.

This painter is demonstrating the art of Batik painting. The design is first penciled on silk, then each object is outlined in wax so that when color is applied, it won't run together. When the painting is finished, the wax is removed with a solvent.

We stayed two nights at Admiral Marina before embarking on another 24 hour motorsail to Pangkor Island 145 miles further north up the Melaka Strait.

Anne