05:27.493N 100:19.163E

Thursday 23^rd November 2017

Distance run: 13nm

After passing under the First Bridge we continued to motor through the channel between Penang Island and the mainland.  It was very busy with boat traffic, so a keen lookout was needed, and we arrived at the anchorage outside Straits Quay Marina just before 10:00.  To say it was packed solid would be an understatement.  A race was beginning here today, and all the participating boats were waiting for the start at 13:00.  It took a while to find a spot where we didn’t end up too close to another boat, and eventually we had to settle for being too close and knowing we would have to keep watch until the race boats moved out.

Approaching the ferry terminal at Penang.                                                           The clan jetties.

Around 12:30 they started to leave, and as soon as we saw a good spot, we pulled up the anchor and moved.  It was rather an exposed anchorage, and we moved as close in as we could in the hope of getting some protection.  Just as well we only planned to stay a couple of days.

We had time to settle the boat before putting the dinghy in the water and going ashore for the Rally meeting in the marina.  There were a surprising number of people at the meeting, considering the poor turnout for the Parade of Sail earlier. After hearing about the rally schedule from Sazli, who admitted he was nowhere near the First Bridge at eight o’clock this morning, and then how wonderful Penang is for yachties from a couple of ladies who had sailed here goodness knows how many years ago and decided to stay, we went for a wander around the Straits Quay Mall and stopped for a coffee in a very pleasant air-conditioned coffee shop with wifi.  As we sat there, we could see the weather turn very wet and windy, and so were in no hurry to get back in the dinghy for the return trip to the boat.  Instead we settled down in the very comfy armchairs and ordered more coffee.

When calm returned, we headed back out to the boat, learning from some yachties on the way about the unpleasant couple of hours they had just spent in the anchorage while a nasty weather system passed through.  We decided the coffee shop had been a good choice!

From the anchorage, Straits Quay is the white building on the foreshore,

high rise hotels and offices and the misty hills beyond.