Penang

We had the usual fun with fishing vessels and ships on our passage to Penang. We knew that the island is joined to the mainland by a bridge of over 13km. The photograph shows us approaching the centre arch where there was sufficient clearance for our mast. We also knew that a new, even longer bridge was being built further south and all we had to do was follow the buoys. First we had to motor in and out of the maze of fishing boats and drift nets. Then we identified some red buoys and kept them to port. To starboard we could see hundreds of pairs of pillars sticking up from the water and disappearing into the mist. Much closer, there were cranes, barges and a Blackpool Tower lookalike which was the pile driver. There was nothing marking the passage
through so we had to guess. We passed between two barges and left the construction site behind us. Soon we were anchored off Pulau Jerejak, near a fishing village, some local restaurants and a dual carriageway. We spent 3 nights here. At first there were no other yachts. We ate ashore and visited the expensive but interesting War Museum located in a British built fort. We had
plenty of time. Having caught up with the rally in Pangkor, we had a week before the scheduled events in Penang. It made sense to move further north towards the main town of Georgetown and have a look at this UNESCO World Heritage city. We had no problems passing under the bridge and anchored in the Junk anchorage off the town. After an hour and three attempts the anchor finally held. We had motored up with a catamaran called Wind Pony. Their depth
sounder was broken so they followed us into the anchorage and anchored with no problems.....until a few hours later. We'd chatted to Nick and Jan on the motor vessel Yarwarra II when we were in Pangkor. They were in the Junk anchorage so we let them know we were going ashore. When we returned Wind Pony had dragged while Dick and Lynne were ashore and had hit Yarwarra II very hard on both sides. The maritime police were called and their boat hit Wind Pony but by then Dick and Lynne had returned. We were relieved that SD stayed put although all the boats in the anchorage were moving around in wind over tide conditions. Our turn came the third night we were there. We woke to find ourselves uncomfortably close to a large motor cruiser. We had dragged in the night but not collided with anything. We re-anchored, Jeremy checked the engine and saw that the fresh water pump had broken. Fortunately, he had a spare and spent several hot, sweaty hours in the engine compartment fitting the spare. We motored 4 miles to Straits Quay Marina and had no more dramas.