Sailing Langkawi - Singapore Jan-Feb

[Gone2long]

Folks,

You are probably tired of hearing from me by now, but, (keep your fingers crossed) it looks like I might finally buy a boat in Langkawi and will be sailing it south to Singapore in January or February.

My take is that the NE monsoon should still be relatively strong during this period and that I would have a reasonable point of sail heading south, south-east to Singapore.

Wondering if anyone has done this trip at this time of the year? Any tips on currents, etc ? Will check the usual sources on this, but any first hand knowledge would be appreciated.

Thanks,

G2L

[drunknsailor]

Yes, the NE monsoon will be in force. That being said, the Malacca Strait is notoriously wind less. I would plan on motoring most of the way. That way you will be pleasantly surprised if you get to sail.

Congrats on your new boat.

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by drunknsailor

Yes, the NE monsoon will be in force. That being said, the Malacca Strait is notoriously wind less. I would plan on motoring most of the way. That way you will be pleasantly surprised if you get to sail.

Congrats on your new boat.

Hey drunkn,

Yeah, the pilot charts show numerous calm days and no more than 2 on the Beaufort scale. But, heck, that might be OK for a relatively drunkn first time skipper like me.

Done some serious crewing over the years, but, if a purchase actually materializes, running my own boat will definitely pose it's challenges.

And Singapore is merely the first stop.

By the way ... Ya wouldn't have an extra diesel layin around for sale, would ya? : )

Thanks for your input,

G2L

[msponer]

Originally Posted by drunknsailor

Yes, the NE monsoon will be in force. That being said, the Malacca Strait is notoriously wind less. I would plan on motoring most of the way. That way you will be pleasantly surprised if you get to sail.

Hi, yes, this is also my experience. I don't think we sailed very much at all.

Also, there are a lot of places to stop along the way with little fuss. It almost felt like pulling off on the side of the road and going to sleep-- little deserted islands, and etc, to just drop the hook and go to sleep.

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by msponer

Hi, yes, this is also my experience. I don't think we sailed very much at all.

Also, there are a lot of places to stop along the way with little fuss. It almost felt like pulling off on the side of the road and going to sleep-- little deserted islands, and etc, to just drop the hook and go to sleep.

Hi,

Thanks for your response. Good to hear about those little islets. Just what I need.

Also, I will need to do some work via my laptop computer along the way. Any problem staying 5 miles out or so and working via a wireless internet connection while at sea?

This is an important issue for me, so all serious responses would be greatly appreciated.

Regards again to all,

G2L

[msponer]

Originally Posted by Gone2long

Also, I will need to do some work via my laptop computer along the way. Any problem staying 5 miles out or so and working via a wireless internet connection while at sea?

You could get a local cellular data card, but the coast of Malaysia seems pretty rural. I would be surprised if you could get continuous coverage. Someone else would know better. Penang is about halfway, maybe you could stop there and catch up on work at an Internet cafe (and Indian food).

There is an awful lot of shipping traffic. We gravitated towards the coast to stay out of the way. At some points we could see twenty container ships. Staying 5nm off the coast would probably put you more in the flow of traffic. It's probably less important if you have a boat that can 'keep up' with the flow better, maybe go 12-15 knots. But in our boat, going about 7-8 knots, it felt more like playing frogger.

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by msponer

You could get a local cellular data card, but the coast of Malaysia seems pretty rural. I would be surprised if you could get continuous coverage. Someone else would know better. Penang is about halfway, maybe you could stop there and catch up on work at an Internet cafe (and Indian food).

There is an awful lot of shipping traffic. We gravitated towards the coast to stay out of the way. At some points we could see twenty container ships. Staying 5nm off the coast would probably put you more in the flow of traffic. It's probably less important if you have a boat that can 'keep up' with the flow better, maybe go 12-15 knots. But in our boat, going about 7-8 knots, it felt more like playing frogger.

That's interesting to hear. Thanks for the report.

I've heard that the shipping lanes are actually more like 20 nm off shore, but I guess that is up near Langkawi where the straits are more like a small sea. Will check all that out when I get my hands on some charts.

My thought is that there might be some benefit to moving as close to the shipping lanes as possible, in order to catch a breeze, if one is heading SSE. Seems like the mountains, especially up north, might be very likely to block any wind that does hit the straits during the NE monsoon.

Also, from one guy based up in Langkawi, I have heard that cell phones are good til about 5nm off the coast anywhere along the western Malay penninsula. We will see.

Thanks again for the added info.

Regards,

AB