Pangkor Island Marina Lat. 4 degrees 12.7' north Long. 100 degrees 36.1' east

Hi again,
We arrived at Pangkor after a very long passage yesterday - over 70 miles. We had been going to break the journey a little way south but decided to keep going the extra 15 miles so that we were closer this morning.
We left Pulau Angsa just north of Port Klang at first light (around 0700) and headed north into the haze - which we're now told comes from illegal forest burnoffs on Sumatra. Apparently it hasn't been as bad as this for some 4 years - just our luck to strike it now.
About 5 miles north in the middle of fishing trawlers all dragging nets around there was a loud "clunk" and vibration. On looking astern we saw a large piece of wood bobbing in our wake but the vibration continued and there was definitely a loss of motive power. So we stopped the engine after some debate and dropped the sails as well. Then Jim put on a safety harness and was tied to the boat before going down the ladder into the 100' deep murky water. At least the water was warm - not like the Kerikeri River a few years ago with a similar problem of rope around the prop. We are now officially in the Bay of Bengal so it was Jim's first swim there!! Sure enough there was a birds nest of rope entangling the prop so it was a matter of cutting it all free with a serrated diver's knife we have. The piece of wood had severely grazed the leading edge of the rudder so it's just as well we're hauling out soon as it will otherwise be a source of entry for the dreaded Teredo Worm.
Soon had the prop clear and we continued on our merry way motorsailing with a small amount of help from the tide and all the while dodging fishing boats of all sizes. The haze as we've said before certainly didn't help with that. We were going to stop at the Sembilan Islands about 15 miles south of Pangkor but still had some daylight so pressed on to Pulau Pangkor Laut where we anchored off a very swanky resort in a very calm anchorage. We were only a mile off before we could see the island which is a high mountainous island, such is the thickness of the haze. Just what we needed after a very long day. Sat in the cockpit finishing off the last of the Scotch and then had a very nourishing bowl of soup each with a bottle of French wine before collapsing into bed exhausted!
Today (Sunday) we rang the marina (4 miles away) and then proceeded to the waypoint just before high tide. Some marina staff came out in a dinghy to meet us and guide us in because the approach is quite shallow and in the haze the marina entrance was invisible. On the way in we had only 5 feet of water under the keel at times. But all went well and we were soon berthed - right next to our German friends, Georg and Manuela, on "Sternchen". It was great to see them again and no doubt there will be much catching up! The marina itself seems to have good infrastructure and every one is super friendly. It's a pity that James Khoo (the manager who we first met in Darwin) isn't here at the moment. He's in Thailand to deliver a boat back here and won't be back for a week so we'll probably miss him. He has been very helpful with information whenever we've had occasion to ask.
We heard from Georg and Manuela the news about the Malaysian Airways 777 which had disappeared on the way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. For such an aircraft to have vanished so quickly without even a distress call certainly suggests some sort of violent midair catastrophe and of course the immediate thing that comes to mind is a terrorist act (bomb). It seems as though they came down in the sea just short of the Vietnamese coast and one can only feel for the people.
Right now sitting in the airconditioned marina office where there is wifi internet. Will send this and then back to the boat and a cold beer!! Such is life!
Cheers and lotsaluv from us,
Jean and Jim
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Pangkor Island Marina
Lumut
Malaysia.
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com

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