"It wouldn't be so bad if the pirates just killed you,. . . " |
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Neill 12/1/99
November 30, 1999 Malacca Strait We are motoring
up the strait hopping from port to port in Malaysia on the way to
Thailand. Southeast Asia has been pretty good so far. We left Australia
early October, first stop Indonesia. This was not an easy time for family
peace of mind. We have been anxious about the Strait of Malacca, due to
the high incidence of piracy here, since deciding to continue around the
world, and with all of the recent turmoil in Indonesia, that only added to
the stress of the decision. To fuel the fire a little, I ran into an
older, rather reactionary in retrospect, man in a chart shop in Australia
who basically said that if I was taking my family up through Indonesia and
Malaysia then I was as good as selling them off to sex camps. "It
wouldn't be so bad if the pirates just killed you,. . . " The truth is
that piracy is a big issue here, and what's more, documented cases are on
the increase, seven fold since the late 80's. The good news, for us, is
that it is directed at commercial ships that have to have lots of cash on
hand. After first doing my own reactionary dance, returning to the boat
with an authoritative "Indonesia is definitely off," S and I did a lot of
phoning and eventually I found a number for the piracy center in Malaysia
that tracks events. They assured me that it was OK and that there were no
reported cases of violence against yachts. ("How could they report the
cases from the sex camps?" I heard the man say.) Well, we have traveled
over 2,000 miles since leaving OZ and the biggest worries have been
1)getting run down by a freighter and 2)getting tangled in a fishing net.
Last night I drove through a fleet of trawlers that must have numbered
close to 50. Various styles for lights, nothing I recognized. They do
not show up well on radar and in the heavy rain can be a real challenge.
There is no question that the fishing trawlers or nets (always out,
sometimes at night they have one end marked with a floating lamp, very
tough to see the floats in between) are the lesser of two evils when
compared to the 1000' + tanker traffic in the main lanes of the strait.
As I write this, we are between two 500'+ tankers that are on the "off
ramp" headed for Port Klang. At night they are pretty easy to see and
dodge, as you can read their heading from their lights (red on the left
side, green on the right, red and green means they are coming straight at
you). Overall this part of the world is pleasant cruising. The wind has
been light, lots of motoring, but no big storms to contend with. We do
get a thunderstorm every afternoon, which can be pretty intimidating.
Lots of stories of yachts being hit and loosing all electrical gear. A
nightmare to replace, even if you are insured. There have been plenty of
places to stop off. No passages more than a few days since arriving in
Indonesia. We spent the last two days at a real luxury marina/hotel for
Emma's 10th birthday. A new complex with a great pool for about $10 US a
night. Next stop is probably Georgetown and then Langkawi. Then Thailand
and Phuket from where we go home for the holidays.
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