Nongsa Point to Port Dickson Oct 2015
Our trip up to Nongsa Point (Island of Batam in the Riau Group) meant that we crossed the equator, the first time for Morg. So at 1629 on the 20 Oct he had to undergo the traditional initiation ceremony to pass from a slimy pollywog to a trusty shellback . King Neptune appeared at the back of the boat and doused Morg with tomato sauce, jam, peanut butter and talcum powder. The peanut butter refused to come out of his hair and he smelt like a lunchbox for the next day or two. This was then followed by a gift of rum to King Neptune and then a message sent out on a boat Morgan had made out of a can of beer. He took it all in his stride, probably thought his parents had gone a bit mad…………..
We arrived at Nongsa Point in the afternoon and Alex and Iris from Alaeris walked passed so we had a few beers on board, went to the big resort pool for a swim (marina users are allowed access to the resort facilities, very nice) and Margaritas and then back to the boat for a few more wines and a bit of food. A two night passage can be knackering, in these waters you have to be very vigilant, particularly at night with all the unlit and strangely lit craft around. So after a bit to drink we were ready to pass out at 9pm. There weren’t a lot of boats at Nongsa, discouraged by the quite high fees charged for clearing out.
After a few months without any decent red meat to speak of, Iris and Alex invited us for a mouth watering piece of eye fillet -still from Australia. It was possibly the most I have enjoyed a steak. Cooked to perfection, nice wine and great company. We dined off it for a few nights after that.
The next night was the rugby world cup semi final between All Blacks and South Africa so we went to the bar and made sure they were screening it that night at 10:00pm. Put Morg asleep in a couple of chairs with his blanket while we watched the game. No other Kiwis there, so was only us two cheering them on, pretty lonely feeling actually. Kind of weird not having anyone to rejoice with.
It was also the first time we had been in a marina since Fremantle really, I wouldn’t really count Benoa (Bali) as a marina. So it was a nice change to be able to step onto the dock and access restaurants and pools, do washing in a machine, give the boat a good fresh water clean………..I’m not going to pretend I don’t like these sort of stops and all the trappings, a bit of luxury is really appreciated when you’ve been anchoring for a while. So we would spend the afternoons lounging around the pool drinking Margaritas and having the odd restaurant meal. A very different lifestyle compared to what we had been used to!
After 5 days at Nongsa, we left Indonesia bound for Malaysia, admittedly with a bit of a fuzzy head after a few wines and a late night watching the rugby. First step was to cross the Singapore Straits, one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. The shipping traffic was quite incredible, huge container ships, oil tankers, car freighters, every imaginable type of big transport ship was there, some up to 300m in length, all coming at you from different directions. There is a special crossing zone where you are allowed to cross the straits and we did what you have to do and played chicken crossing the shipping highway. Being amongst those behemoth vessels gave you a very real sense of how bloody small we are, and that if you got in the way of one of them there wouldn’t be much left. The amazing thing is that small 15-20 foot local fishing boats were quite happily fishing in the middle of these lanes, seemingly unconcerned by their location, just nonchalantly motoring out of the path of any oncoming ships. You do wonder how many fishermen don’t make it back home at times?? The AIS was great, again you could see every ship within a 10 mile radius which gave us a bit of comfort although nothing is better than your own eyeballs.
Once across we rounded Singapore then headed up the Straits of Malacca and headed straight for Port Dickson. The Straits are also one of the busiest shipping thoroughfares and you had to keep your wits about you, especially at night. We traveled just outside of the shipping lanes and far enough out from the coast to avoid fishing boats and devices. During the night you could make out the occasional silhouette of a ship and hear their horns blasting away. A surreal vision.
We also got called up by a Malaysian warship requesting identification and we had seen any suspicious activity (I’m sure we were on their AIS!!)