The Browns - Goood Luck or Bad? - Tanjong City Marina, Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 24 Nov 2010 06:21
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05:24.833N 100:20.662E
Let's see....there was that two hour sail from Singapore to
Danga Bay in the very beginning of the Browns visit - that was
good. But then there was the oil leak and the failed engine room
blower - that was bad. Before that, Don found cracks in one of the engine
heat exchanger end caps. He found this problem when we were safely docked
at Raffles Marina in Singapore before Bryan and Michele arrived. However,
had he not found the problem, the faulty end cap probably would have blown,
overheating the engine, and leaving us engine-less - that would have been
bad. While it's true that technically the end cap cracked before their
arrival, it's possible bad luck preceded the
Browns like a big blast of wind precedes a bad
squall.
And then...
During the ugly 30 hour motorsail slog from Admiral Marina to
Pangkor Island, while Bryan was making his way from his temporary
bed in the cockpit to the head and back 6,000 times, we blew out our
mainsail - that was bad. There was no storm, no heavy wind, just a light
puff and we heard the back edge of the sail fluttering more than it should
have. After ducking out from under the sun cover to take a look, the
cause of the problem became obvious - two smallish holes had formed near
the back edge of the sail. Two seconds later we had the sail furled.
It stayed that way throughout the rest of the motorslog until we arrived at
Pangkor Island and could take a closer look. Upon inspection we found
two holes and two soon-to-be holes. Don performed surgery with sail tape
and all was mostly well, but we were still left to
wonder about the Browns and what they might have brought down upon
us.
Oh, and just when the motorsail slog to Pangkor started to get
ugly, Don and I remembered that we had forgotten to put the pin back in the bow
thruster after leaving Admiral Marina. If the bow thruster is not secured
in its full and upright position, seawater will leak into the forward
bilge. I went down to check out the situation and found the
forward bilge filled nearly to the brim with seawater - that was bad. The
half hour it took me to bail out the bilge while balancing on my hands and knees
as the bow bounced in an increasingly uncomfortable fashion did
nothing for my seasick-prone stomach - that was also bad.
And when we got to Tanjong City Marina in Penang on November
10th...
We had the worst marina experience ever - that was really
bad. The Tanjong City Marina is another example one of those classic
Malaysian almost-but-not-quite development projects. The marina is
perfectly placed near downtown Georgetown on the island of Penang. Like
Melaka, only double or triple the size, Georgetown is steeped in
colonial history and filled with old buildings, temples, mosques, mansions
and lots of good places to eat and shop. The marina is perfectly placed to
take advantage of all Georgetown has to offer. It also has a very
nice (and air conditioned!) boaters lounge, and wifi, good bathrooms and
several good restaurants. It's only missing one critical thing -
a break wall.
We planned to spend three nights in Georgetown, but spent only
two, and couldn't get out of there fast enough after the second night. We
had been warned by other boaters about the 'dodgy' nature of Tanjong City
Marina, but when we were placed in a double berth without a boat next to
us, we thought we could handle the surge and swell coming in from the
channel between Penang Island and the mainland by tying a few extra lines from
our boat to the dock on the opposite side of the double berth. Nope, not
that simple. At about 3am on the second night, swell from the
northwest started to roll south down the Penang channel and directly into
the dodgy marina. Don and I woke up to find the boat surging wildly 3 to 5
feet forward and back alongside the dock. All our dock lines were
straining like they'd never done before - the 3/4" lines
stretched like rubber bands as the momentum of our boat's 18 tons
rocketed back and forth with the incoming swell. A violent
backward surge bashed the stern of our boat into the dock ripping our
polyurethane foam bumper off three of the four bolts attaching
it to the stern. On top of that, another particularly
violent surge caused one of our five stern lines to snap. It broke clean
through and sounded like a gunshot when it let loose. At that point, if we
could have untied the boat and left safely, we would have gladly done so even
though it was 3:30am. Unfortunately, there was no way we could untie the
boat and get free of the dock without bashing into it or losing a person
overboard. So we persevered. We added every dock line in our
inventory to try and keep the boat safe. In the end we had 18 (18!) lines
securing us to two side fingers and the main dock behind us. Don and
I stayed up the rest of the night holding our breath every time the boat surged
particularly violently. Well, mostly holding our breath. There
might have been a few "Jesus!" and "F*#%" and "Holy S {CHANGE TO AT} ^%" exclamations here
and there. We've done lots of anchor watches before, but never a dock
watch. We're hoping that's the last dock watch we'll have to do for a
while.
Bryan slept through this entire ordeal. Michele, on the
other hand, laid awake listening to the sound of our feet pounding the deck as
we trotted back and forth securing lines and hissing curses. Regardless of
whether they brought the bad luck or not, they weathered all the
consequences remarkably well and nary a complaint was heard throughout
their visit.
You might think this was the end of our
bad luck streak and that all was well after our stop in Penang. Not
so. On the way to Langkawi at least one calamity occurred, followed
by several others after our arrival there. The
strange thing is that nothing has gone wrong since Bryan and Michele left us
nearly a week ago. That doesn't bode well for the Browns,
now does it? Although the evidence says they were most
likely the source of our bad luck, we have elected to ignore the
evidence and have invited them back for another round on Harmonie when
their schedules permit. Are we gluttons for punishment? Maybe, but
what's a collection of broken parts, a ripped sail and a bashed bumper
among friends??
Our stay in Penang may sound dreadful and depressing, but
really except for that one nasty night in the marina, we had a good time.
We at least had one day to see the sights and eat lunch at the best Indian
restaurant in town, so all was definitely not lost.
 It was hard to remember we were in Malaysia with this
Victorian-era clock tower bonging the hour within sight (and hearing) of
the almost-but-not-quite dodgy marina with no break wall.
 One of Georgetown's mosques.
 Michele was disappointed to find this restaurant closed as she
was really looking forward to sampling the fish head curry.
 Georgetown City Hall (now the headquarters of the Penang
Island Municipal Council), built in 1903.
 Dinner out. Our last hurrah in Georgetown before
the dock-smashing incident.
 Harmonie's stern minus the back bumper and the bolts that hold
it in place. At least the stern itself is still intact.
 Don holding the stern line that
snapped. He has become very attached to our dock lines over
the years and is still mourning the loss of this one.
 Our mainsail after sail tape surgery. It's hard to see,
but Don repaired four holes and soon-to-be holes - two with extra strength
Kevlar tape (the yellow stuff), and two with normal industrial strength sail
tape (white). Given that there is little or no wind around these parts,
we're hoping the mainsail will last one more season.
Next up: our last leg with the Browns (and last leg of
Season 3) to the Langkawi island group in Malaysia.
Anne
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