Pulau Lalang is the little island paradise we have been looking for. Tourism development seems to have stopped at nearby (larger and more accessible) Pangkor island, leaving the nine Sembilan islands mostly untouched. The shore is rocky, but Lalang has a small stretch of nice beach with fine, white sand and emerald green water, framed by tropical jungle. We had the island to ourselves.

Time for a proper beach day, looking for washed up treasures, digging in the sand, and swimming in the clear water. Nyala caught a baby fish in her hands. Robin found a bamboo larger than himself. Niki shot his bow and arrow that we brought from Nikoi island.

After a lunch break on the boat we came back to the beach in the afternoon to build a camp fire. We baked potatoes and grilled sausages, and had marshmallows for dessert. Lazy island life, and what feels like our first break and much needed holiday since we came back from Sibu.

Our planned 6 a.m. departure turned into 7:15 due to lightning and pouring rain. We then left the fish farms of Pulau Ketam, passed the Angsa light house, and continued up the coast towards Sembilan. After the morning downpour the day turned sunny and hot, with a calm sea. Around 3 in the afternoon the wind picked up, almost from the front but not quite, allowing us to motor sail at 8 knots for a few hours. Our total route today covered 76 nautical miles.

We reached Pulau Lalang in the small Sembilan Archipelago in the last few minutes of daylight, enough to anchor and catch a glimpse of the beach, enticing us to explore in the morning.

Fish farms between the islands off Port Klang

Angsa light house

Pulau Lalang beach in the last few minutes of daylight

November 22nd was Niki’s 9th birthday. His biggest wish was to have unlimited internet so he could play Minecraft online with his friend Owen.

We arrived in Admiral Marina in Port Dickson the night before, and – hooray! – a few months ago they extended their WiFi from the club house out to the boat pontoons, so for once we have good WiFi. Unlimited 😀

The birthday started with home made waffles and some game time. Then we had to have a break to head into PD for the immigration procedure. With the usual Malaysian efficiency this meant lunch in town. Niki’s lucky day: they have a McDonald’s, so his second wish also came true. We upsized and had more fries than we needed… and then a friendly, elderly Chinese lady came to our table to offer us an additional portion that was too much for her. Fries unlimited!

We returned to the boat just in time for Owen and Minecraft. Then a short swim in the Marina pool. Back at the boat we had a wonderful surprise: the friendly marina staff, including the general manager, brought Niki a birthday cake and sang for him.

Dinner and cake rounded off the evening. A very happy birthday!

And a happy 9 year old Niki, sporting his new swimsuit and goggles.

We are off. The preparations as always took longer than expected and the last few days were hectic, but on 17 November we took off.

Maybe because we had spent so much time on preparation the actual departure was almost an anti-climax. When we were ready we just untied the lines and left Raffles Marina. Boom! Shouldn’t there be something big when you are leaving for your longest sailing trip yet, moving the new home, probably spending the next 2-4 months island hopping, leaving the comfort of Singapore? Our trip will see us go up the Malaysia coast via Melaka, Port Dickson, Penang, and for a longer break around Christmas in Langkawi. And then into Thailand in January.

Our first leg however has to be back along the Singapore Straits to Sentosa. The Western-most immigration is at Sister Islands, so we get one more day in the Southern Islands and passing by Raffles Lighthouse, before anchoring Saturday night at Lazarus island, then heading back the same way on Sunday morning (after immigration clearance) and into Malaysia. We are off!

We went to the sdc and saw a movie called dream big. It was all about what engineers can do if they use their imagination. We all thought it was really awesome. All the people in the movie did amazing things. It proves that,you can change the world with your imagination.

By Nyala

We are a big family, but Ute and I are still amazed at the amount of dirty laundry we can produce. Living on the equator where you get sweaty from lifting a finger does not help.

The last few months we washed our laundry either in the coin operated machines in the marina, or using the traditional sailor’s method: a bucket on the dock. The coin machines use a lot of coins, swish a little water over the clothes, and then claim they are done. The bucket makes for a better wash, with variable intensity depending on how much exercise I want to get. Neither method is satisfactory, so since September we knew that a washing machine on board was badly needed.

Fortunately the Leopard 45 is prepared for an optional washing machine, so back in Singapore I started researching for a model of the right size and ended up ordering a Beko Washer/Dryer combination. Yesterday was the big day, washing machine Monday!

On Sunday Ute emptied our bathroom cabinet and prepared the top half for the machine.

On Monday morning, Adelon and Carmela, a couple who live in the marina and maintain a number of boats here, came over with their tools and knowledge to help.

We pulled 6.5 meters of marine grade AWG 12 wire from the switch panel to the cabinet for 220V AC power. We can run the washer/dryer either while hooked up to shore power in a marina, or using the diesel generator when underway. We should be able to wash a cold load of laundry just using the inverter/house batteries, but I have to test that first.

The Leopard 45 design is not just great for comfort, but also for servicing: it is easy to remove wall panels and access all the wiring and water supply systems. We found an access hatch cut into the fiberglass under the cabinet floor board, so it took just three new holes to bring fresh water and electricity into the cabinet, and give the waste water hose an access out (for now hooked out of the bathroom window. Great view.)

We also had to tap into the pressurized fresh water system, inserting a T-fitting and connecting a new 5m hose to run down through the bilge and up the access hatch into the cabinet.

For our final preparation we had to learn how to remove the bathroom sliding door to have the full width of the door frame available. Time to bring on the machine!

It was a bit tricky to get the washing machine into the cabinet: the washer was 3mm taller than the opening. Adelon discovered how to take off the entire cabinet top, so then we could lift it in and hook it up.

It took us from 9:30 until about 17:30 to get everything done. A full day’s work, but a huge step forward: no more treks to the laundromat, a machine that actually cleans the laundry, and peace of mind that we won’t have to worry about getting laundry done.

Of course with a new consumer on board it is now time to start reading up on water makers.. our next big project!

Today Singapore observes Divali or Deepavali, the Indian festival of lights holiday.

The Rainbow Safari crew took the opportunity to go out for a yummy Prata dinner, about as Sindian as you can get 🙂

Wishing all our friends who celebrate a wonderful Divali with their families!

And Milo Dinosaur!

The Monthly Yacht-November 2018-181103

This is the newspaper. READ it.