Malaysia New Year

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How adventurous, years ago, “First Night” celebrations were in Boston and again in Providence….well below freezing weather drove most people indoors to a bar or restaurant rather than revel with the outdoor events with frozen fingers and feet. But at Straits Quay, in Penang, Malaysia, there was little room for the crowds to move along the waterfront. All of us cruisers tied to the docks had the best seats and easy access to our boats to refill our glasses with ice and whatever. It was a free show of dancers, pop singers, light twirlers, etc. Incredible the high decibel announcer and music. All night Rebecca and I had our ear plugs securely screwed in. This all lead up to the midnight fireworks.

 

These were presented as “Brazilian” dancers. Without their masks, they were clearly Chinese heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rather than twirling burning sticks, now they twirl LED sticks. When twirled at the right speed they can spell out or picture nearly anything.

 

 

I think these two are well known in Malaysia. They did fine and had a wide range of pop music. Certainly a lot of the crowd lost some decibels of hearing.

Opposite the stage over the water, the crowd continued around in both directions to form a big horseshoe around the marina. There were large screens on the sides showing the performances.

Behind Brick House. Nope, nothing caught on fire. The stage would be 4 boats to our left in this picture.

Intense fireworks for about 10 minutes. Good show on a nice warm night!                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

BIOT/Chagos Permit Application Information (Reprinted from my Facebook post)

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We applied for our BIOT permit for Chagos at the end of 2017, for a visit in May 2018. We were permit #1 for 2018. Here are some things learned along the way about that process

Zoe,  who now answers all the questions and handles the permits is very helpful and professional. I was issued the permit within 12 hours of application. It was easy and completely painless once I got my ducks in a row for everything needed before applying.

The details are here :
BIOT Chagos Permit

First, I purchased insurance that would satisfy BIOT application. I searched for 6 months previously for one that would work and not break the bank. I contacted BIOT for what amounts were needed for the insurance coverages but all they could provide was that it “must be of an adequate amount that your boat could be removed from the Reef in this remote location”

There are likely a number of ways to do it right. This is just what I had success with.

Here is where I got my required third party insurance, specifically to satisfy BIOT requirements:

Christophe GEORGE
Senior insurance consultant – marine & aviation branch

Poe-ma Underwriting & Management Asia Ltd (PUMA) – Poe-ma insurances group
+66(0)92 542 0505
E mail: christophe.g@poe-ma.com

It was 394 Euros per year and covers SE Asia to S Africa…Get their map for your own route but it definitely covers Chagos as long as you get the REUNION ISLAND clause in it, and Mauritius, ReUnion, Madagascar and Mozambique Channel to S Africa. I don’t think it goes very far north of Madagascar, and not much west of Maldives. This price seems to be the same for all boats.

But there needed to be 3-4 amendments to the policy for it be accepted by BIOT office. Poe Ma was happy to make these amendments with no additional premium, as long as it is done prior to inception.

First, you must ask for 500,000 of Wreck Insurance.
Second, if you want this to serve as general 3rd party insurance for Malaysia too, you must ask for THAILAND CLAUSE, AND REUNION CLAUSE. Two areas of coverage. Third, ask them to remove the part about it only covering 20 or 25% of the value of the boat for the wreck/salvage. Lastly, have them remove the part about oil pollution being excluded. If anyone wants a copy of my policy to be sure you get it correct, just ask them to do it just like BRICK HOUSE policy, or ask me, I will send mine to you. This is the wording

Page 1
ADDITIONAL CLAUSES
Cruising limit As per clause 5 & 3 below
COVERAGE
Third party Liability – article 1 amended according to our warranty page 2
Including salvage – article 1.1 amended
Including wreck removal – article 1.1 amended
Including defence – article 2

Page 2
WARRANTY
1) Warranted private pleasure only
2) Warranted two experenced people on board during all sailing on the blue waters
3) It is noted and agreed that the point 4 of the article 1.2 is deleted
It is noted and agreed that the limits indicated on the points 2 and 3 of the article 1.1 are deleted

Payment was painful but if you do not have an American bank it may be less painful for you. You are paying a company in New Caledonia!

Next, be sure you have renewed your DAN membership to cover when you are applying for the permit for, and send a copy of the online page with your membership on it, when you send the application and Insurance copy.

For the BIOT application…

Purpose of Visit Transit
Call Sign WDA6641
Gross Registered Tonnage 14
Net Registered Tonnage 13
Length 40 feet
Beam 12.5 feet
Draught 6 feet
Colourings / Markings White Hull with large green whale stripe, green dodger and canvas
Dive Equipment on Board? YES Are you aware of BIOT laws regarding diving? YES Cargo Nil
Animals Domestic spayed cat who stays on board
Firearms NO If yes, BIOT firearms licence required

CREW / PASSENGERS

ARRIVAL / DEPARTURE INFORMATION

Arriving From Trincolamee, Sri Lanka
Date of Intended Arrival (dd/mm/yy) 01/05/2018
Permitted Mooring site(s) to be Visited Salomon Islands, Peros Banhos
Departing To Mauritius
Date of Intended Departure (dd/mm/yy) 28/05/2018

The email address to forward everything to is on the application.

When the application is approved, and you send them a copy of your bank saying it has been sent, they send the invoice for payment.

Hope to see many of you there and that it’s a good year for approvals for Chagos! Time is flying…soon it will be time to go!

WARNING She did mention they are coming up with some new information in a few months. I don’t know if that means hurry and do it now, or wait and see and maybe it is going to be cheaper? Easier? More expensive? More or less requirements, or what. Not sure if it is regarding the application or the restrictions while there. But changes are coming towards the end of this year…for what that information is worth.

 

What Worked, What Didn’t, After 11 years…on Bluewater Cruising Sailboat Brick House

Haulout, Langkawi, Malaysia

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It has been 2 years since our last haulout in Kudat, on the north end of Borneo. Here in Langkawi, Malaysia, our worker, Norhan is bear strong. He ran the heavy, 6”, random orbit sander continuously for 2.5 days prepping the bottom for new antifouling. Norhan is a school teacher who had 2 weeks off and his wife was not going to allow him to sit around the house, so she answered Rebecca’s internet advert for a boat yard worker. Simply rolling paint on the hull was a luxury compared to the dusty sanding work. Two layers of blue, then 3 layers of red and Brick House will be ready to launch. That will keep us for another 2-3 years. While paint work was being done, I cut and installed a faring block to hold a new, Raymarine, high resolution sonar transducer. My old fish finder is cool electronics which shows color graphics of the ocean bottom including blips where the fish are. That powerful machine can reach down to 4,000 feet on a gray scale and around 2,000 feet in color. The new sonar is high definition which will show the same thing, down to 900 feet, but more like a picture. That could have helped our anchoring in Indonesia where 3 times a week I had to put on the SCUBA tank and untangle our anchor in 100 feet of water. I also installed our new grade 5 titanium bow roller assembly. The old stainless assembly was 41 years old and shiny, but for stainless steel, that shine can be hiding near failure. Grade 5 titanium weighs half as much as 316 stainless yet is 3.5 times stronger. And on the Kiwiprop I am testing Propspeed which is not antifouling but an antiadhesion to resist marine growth from grabbing hold, which also makes the little buggers easy to brush off. No worries heading out to the Indian Ocean in February with this gear.