To Singapore and Beyond

As much as I loved hanging around Penang island, Malaysia, it was time to leave and head back south through the Malacca Straits down to Singapore. We had three months to enjoy Penang, but by the end of our stay it was getting ridiculously hot and humid. There's no a/c on the boat and sleeping at night was almost impossible. It did cross my mind to sleep in the marina's shower room. 

It makes sense now, why cruisers don't tend to hang around in the Malacca Straits around this time of year. 

That's ok, we find these things out as we go. 

The trip down to Singapore was -mostly-  uneventful. Lack of wind and loads of garbage seems to be the norm between Penang and Singapore. Exploring that island with the abandoned resort was fun though. 

I hardly sleep when we anchor for the night in the Malacca Straits. Apparently Malacca has taken the crown from Somalia and is now the new piracy Capital Of The World - GREAT! 

But I have been told there's nothing to worry about, because they are only after the big, slow tankers that carry oil. That doesn't stop me from popping up like a Meerkat all night long with any strange (or not so strange) sounds.

Pirates are after the ships and the ships are after us! The second worst way I've woken up since living on the boat - 

being blasted by a ship's horn (someone was up at the time), The Captain of this container ship (above) in the Singapore shipping lane wanted us to move but didn't radio to tell us his course. We ended up doing a 360 to the stern of the ship - because being chased down by a ship is not as fun as you'd think.

So I give Malacca Straits a five poop emoji rating. 💩💩💩💩💩

We made it to Singapore, picked up Skipper's mum 'Mazzie', then sailed/ motor sailed around the peninsular to 

the East Coast of Malaysia. We had a small-ish drama (again) as we traveled in the shipping lane...I steered bow first into some large oncoming waves created by a ship so we wouldn't be hit by the waves side on. The waves were

really sharp and steep and the 'sea' saw action catapulted the kids sailing dinghy, (the one they built) out of the inflatable dinghy into the shipping lane. Luckily, there was a break in the stream of ship traffic (especially since I was on the helm), and we circled several times to pluck the sailing dinghy and bits - the rudder and centreboard from the sea.

A couple of days later, we spotted Tioman Island through the mist. It felt like we were sailing to an island in prehistoric times. 

The water was so still and glassy we stopped and drifted a few nautical miles off Tioman to jump off the bow and have a swim. I'm still not 100% free from 'sharky terrors' even though I'd probably have a better chance of spotting a Plesiosaur than a real shark in these waters. 

Back in Australia, Brisbane I used to be quite terrified of sharks... we have an array of sharks that are well known to chew on people.

When we sailed north along the Queensland coast, around Cape York and across the Gulf to Darwin, the amount of large Salt Water Crocodiles I saw on that trip cured me of my fear of sharks... For a bit.

Not only can you NOT swim, but you're not guaranteed you're not going to get snatched while standing on the beach. Many people get eaten by Crocs every year. Just google 'The NT News' the newspaper that covers all things croc related and Local Bogan antics. 

But there are no crocs around here and hardly any sharks due to overfishing in South East Asia - so I have to think of something else to be afraid of...

...Rat Jaws!? 

As far as Mazzie was concerned, 'Rat-Jaws' does indeed exist! 

Meet Pie-Rat. We made him our boat pet after he crawled aboard when we arrived in Indonesia... 

Not really - we bought him at a pet shop in Darwin. He came with a 'Black Plague free' certificate and nut removal. 

Time to reelaaaax. I'm not saying my life is super stressful, but it can be hectic and tiring. Plus, the heat that we've had to live with for the last three months sucks the life out of you. And makes me cranky. Popping migraine medication like they're candy is probably not good for my liver either. 

So it was very blissful floating about Tioman Island for a while. 

Not always chillaxing - I still had cartoon and animation jobs to deliver, not a bad office though eh? 

Syd and Indi making the river crossing on a jungle walk to a waterfall. They insisted they try to cross on their own... it was entertaining to watch.

The waterfall at the end of jungle trek was a dream come true after walking uphill in humid jungle the whole way. 

Syd and Indi had fun sliding down the rocks.

I loved the sea - so clear and turquoise, I spent a lot of time in the water bobing about with hundreds of colourful fish.

It was nice to see a lot of fish for a change. There seemed to be a lot more tourist boats than fishing boats, so maybe they are safe from the dinner plate around the tourist islands. It was also a lot cleaner, not as much plastic in the sea or washed up on the beaches.

There were many beach fires... one of my MOST favourite things in the world. 

I could have stayed up there for a month, dazed by the mild weather, but we had to head back to Singapore to drop Mazzie off as she had to fly home. Plus, we had more visitors arriving - Mia, Steve and Savannah Tapsal from Brisbane, Australia. 

Pity their son Jack couldn't come, Indi would have enjoyed having another boy around, but Jack was at Space Camp in the U.S.

Squids reunion. Sydney and Indi were extremely excited to see Savannah, they have been friends since they were in nappies.

We took them to Lego Land then on a road trip to our second favourite city in Malaysia - the old section of Malacca city. 

Road rage at the Lego Land driving school.

We saw many massive monitor lizards swimming about in Malacca's canals. They're almost as big as Komodo Dragons. 

Plenty of beer, good food...and foot massages. We had a fantastic time. 

Next post: The untouched paradise that we just had to touch - The Amazing Anambas Islands (see map above). China wants it, find out why next time. 

Fair winds,

Sarah Steenland 

Penang - Not Just a Tasty Dish

 

Munchin' on the World Heritage Listed George Town, Penang. What? You can't do that to a WHL site? 

We got to have a small taste of Penang Island, Malaysia on our way to Thailand December, 2015. We loved the vibrant mix of cultures from immigrants settling from all over Asia. That meant there was a variety of food choices that had to be sampled. 

 

Playing with the street art in George Town, Penang.

Exploring the street art of George Town's crumbling British Empire buildings and the almost too perfect 'Bollywood set' looking streets of Little India, was so interesting, We decided we had to live here for a few months to let it soak in. We had to head to Thailand for Christmas and the overland trip to Cambodia that we planned a while back to catch up with friends, so long term stay in Penang had to wait until Chinese New Year. 

 

Chinese New Year - year of the Monkey. Penang put on a spectacular show, thousands of lanterns all over the city, random dragon dancing. Fireworks scareing away demons and household pets and the eyeball blowing Kek Lok Si, with its gazillion Christmas lights and lanterns. I'd hate to be the one who has to take those down.

 

We met up with another cruising family - Tucker, Vic and their two squids Ruby & Miles. They shared their Penang discoveries with us, the most fun was 'The Safe Room Cafe'. The Safe Room's signature was to liquid nitrogen the f*%k out of all the food. The best was the liquid nitrogenised 'Dragon Popcorn' that makes you breathe out a stream of smoke....like a dragon. 

See the giant Lego robber climbing the wall? 

 

During our 4 month stay in Penang, the boat was hauled out at PEN Marine boat yard for anti-fouling (we all needed a bit of anti-fouling) and some modifications. There was no way I was going to live on the boat in the stinking hot boat yard, so we rented an apartment with a kickass pool(s) and a/c. I used the time to be productive with my cartooning work. I was lucky to have landed a short animation job for Johnson & Johnson, so it was perfect timing to be land based. I would wake up, do some yoga, make breakfast, work a few hours, go for a swim, lunch, work till Captain and the squids got back from the boat yard, go out for a bite then back to tooning till around 2am. 

 

Making animals of ourselves at the local 'Hawker Stands'. Indian, Korean, Japanese, Local dishes even pizza, all on offer and cost so little. All four of us can eat and drink for under $10 in total. Cooking in the apartment was not an option.

 

Boaty being hauled back into the water. All the work done and extremely happy with the price and work done by PEN Marine - Especially since we need to watch our pennies as the four of us live off my modest cartoonist wage.

 Now Time to leave and meet our friends from the sail boat 'Conrad' and make a quick run up to Thailand for a few days.

Sipping a 'Singapore Sling' on my Doof bag, getting drunk enough that I can't see just how septic the Malacca Strait's waters are.

 

Drinking is also effective in calming the nerves as you sail the Malacca Strait.  There have been a few stories going around about cruisers having fishermen set their illegal drift nets onto anchored boats and demand to be paid for damage done to the net that's wrapped around the sail boat. One guy said he had a machete waved at him. A few dozen cans of pepper spray on board sounds like a great idea. There's also still piracy along the Strait, but they seem to have their eyes on the Tankers, to hijack and then siphon off the oil to sell on the black market.

 

Sydney making her 'Wallace' face - from Wallace and Grommit. A mostly chilled out trip to Singapore so far.. The new beanbags are getting a real workout. 

 

One of the highlights was exploring a deserted resort on an island just off the the coast of Malacca. It was a thriving resort with a massive golf course 20 years ago, but not sure why it shut down....Heh, funny, none of us noticed that before - sign warning that trespassers will have their heads blown off? We did run into the security guard before returning to the boat. I think he was happy he had someone around to talk to. We just smiled and nodded as he chatted away in Malay. 

 

Stay 'tooned' as I sail into the sunset Bound for Singapore. Ps. If you go sailing, I highly recommend keeping a flowing cape stashed away for afternoons like these. 

Sarah Steenland

Penang - Not Just a Tasty Dish

 

Munchin' on the World Heritage Listed George Town, Penang. What? You can't do that to a WHL site? 

We got to have a small taste of Penang Island, Malaysia on our way to Thailand December, 2015. We loved the vibrant mix of cultures from immigrants settling from all over Asia. That meant there was a variety of food choices that had to be sampled. 

 

Playing with the street art in George Town, Penang.

Exploring the street art of George Town's crumbling British Empire buildings and the almost too perfect 'Bollywood set' looking streets of Little India, was so interesting, We decided we had to live here for a few months to let it soak in. We had to head to Thailand for Christmas and the overland trip to Cambodia that we planned a while back to catch up with friends, so long term stay in Penang had to wait until Chinese New Year. 

 

Chinese New Year - year of the Monkey. Penang put on a spectacular show, thousands of lanterns all over the city, random dragon dancing. Fireworks scareing away demons and household pets and the eyeball blowing Kek Lok Si, with its gazillion Christmas lights and lanterns. I'd hate to be the one who has to take those down.

 

We met up with another cruising family - Tucker, Vic and their two squids Ruby & Miles. They shared their Penang discoveries with us, the most fun was 'The Safe Room Cafe'. The Safe Room's signature was to liquid nitrogen the f*%k out of all the food. The best was the liquid nitrogenised 'Dragon Popcorn' that makes you breathe out a stream of smoke....like a dragon. 

See the giant Lego robber climbing the wall? 

 

During our 4 month stay in Penang, the boat was hauled out at PEN Marine boat yard for anti-fouling (we all needed a bit of anti-fouling) and some modifications. There was no way I was going to live on the boat in the stinking hot boat yard, so we rented an apartment with a kickass pool(s) and a/c. I used the time to be productive with my cartooning work. I was lucky to have landed a short animation job for Johnson & Johnson, so it was perfect timing to be land based. I would wake up, do some yoga, make breakfast, work a few hours, go for a swim, lunch, work till Captain and the squids got back from the boat yard, go out for a bite then back to tooning till around 2am. 

 

Making animals of ourselves at the local 'Hawker Stands'. Indian, Korean, Japanese and Local dishes on offer and cost so little money. All four of us can eat and drink for under $10 in total. Cooking in the apartment was not an option.

 

Boaty being hauled back into the water. All the work done and extremely happy with the price and work done by PEN Marine - Especially since we need to watch our pennies as the four of us live off my modest cartoonist wage.

 Now Time to leave and meet our friends from the sail boat 'Conrad' and make a quick run up to Thailand for a few days.

Sipping a 'Singapore Sling' on my Doof bag, getting drunk enough that I can't see just how septic the Malacca Strait's waters are.

 

Drinking is also effective in calming the nerves as you sail the Malacca Strait.  There have been a few stories going around about cruisers having fishermen set their illegal drift nets onto anchored boats and demand to be paid for damage done to the net that's wrapped around the sail boat. One guy said he had a machete waved at him. A few dozen cans of pepper spray on board sounds like a great idea. There's also still piracy along the Strait, but they seem to have their eyes on the Tankers, to hijack and then siphon off the oil to sell on the black market.

 

Sydney making her 'Wallace' face - from Wallace and Grommit. A mostly chilled out trip to Singapore so far.. The new beanbags are getting a real workout. 

 

One of the highlights was exploring a deserted resort on an island just off the the coast of Malacca. It was a thriving resort with a massive golf course 20 years ago, but not sure why it shut down....Heh, funny, none of us noticed that before - sign warning that trespassers will have their heads blown off? We did run into the security guard before returning to the boat. I think he was happy he had someone around to talk to. We just smiled and nodded as he chatted away in Malay. 

 

Stay 'tooned' as I sail into the sunset Bound for Singapore. Ps. If you go sailing, I highly recommend keeping a flowing cape stashed away for afternoons like these. 

Sarah Steenland

Soft Shell Blog

I've been such a big baby about this blogging stuff. I've attempted to create a 'normal' blog several times since I sailed away from Australia, but it usually went like this:

Type, type, typey, type, type, type, type, type, typey.

SELECT ALL - DELETE.

Type, type, typey, type, type, type, type, type, typey.

SELECT ALL - DELETE.

Type, type, typey, type, type, type, type, type, typey.

SELECT ALL - DELETE.

And then I'd let myself off the hook till next time I had the itch to write about my sailing/ travel adventures.

But the problem with creating my scroll comics is that they take me AGES to create.
I would only get one done every six months or so.

It's a time consuming process that I try to fit in when I'm not working on my paid cartoon jobs.

I hand write and draw out the story on long panels using my wacom graphic tablet and the apple app 'Sketchbook pro'. Then load them all up on my site or via 'medium' to create one really long comic.

So long that someone had commented on my Digital Nomadness scroll comic - "It was a bit long." - Anonymous.

So the beginnings of this blog is like a vulnerable soft shell crab.

I definitely plan to hone my storytelling and improve on my sloppy grammar.

Who knows, I may actually start to enjoy blogging?

Before I push publish, I need to draw a line in the sand to protect my fragile ego....