Yachts heading north from Indonesia and Singapore pass through the infamous Malacca Straits. The infamy of this stretch of water is rooted in both historical events and folklore, and current day realities.

	Colonial buildings in Malacca

In the 19th century, boats using the Straits were subject to piracy on a grand scale. Cargoes of spices, silks, porcelain and opium were of great value and the pirates were highly skilled seamen who knew the local waters well. Piracy continued in the area until relatively recently, then the Malaysian and Indonesian governments instigated a campaign to eradicate it. Yachts are no longer subject to acts of piracy, but larger vessels still fall victim to organised crime.

Nevertheless the reputation of the Strait's pirates has left its mark. We spent the night in one very isolated anchorage and found it somewhat disconcerting to wake at 3am to the sound of two boat engines. Both were motoring directly toward us, and as we were not on any obvious route from A to B, we appeared to be their destination. They came quite close and, as we were by now on deck, we saw that the crew was quietly sitting on deck preparing fishing nets while the captains looked with interest at our boat, and on seeing us offered a friendly wave.

Lightning in the Malacca Straits

So much for pirates, but what about Sumatras? These vicious squalls spin off the coast of Sumatra and tear across the Malacca Straits, arriving at around midnight. They can generate 50 knots or more of wind, enough to get your heart rate up, before they sweep away. They are seasonal and occur 6 or 7 times a month at their peak and as few as one a month on average out of the main season. Even on those nights when there is no Sumatra, the lightning storms are spectacular, or terrifying depending upon your nervous disposition.

Now assuming you survive the pirates and the weather all you need to do is avoid the mass of fishing floats and trawlers. Just to make it especially hard they pair trawl in the Straits, so choosing to pass between two fishing boats is not the best decision to make. Nor is presuming that they will not lay fish traps or nets across channels, near navigation marks or in anchorages.

Alternatively you can join the shipping lanes, as that keeps you away from the fishing fleets, but then you have nose to tail supertankers to contend with.

And finally, the islands move. Well they don't of course, but large barges piled high with land fill waste look very like islands until you realise they are barges being towed by tugs in every conceivable direction.

	Chinese temple in Penang

The result of all this activity is that it is almost impossible to find a bit of water that does not have some form of debris floating on it. Hardly a yacht makes it up the Straits without getting something round the prop. Plastic bags and nets are bad enough but there are also huge logs waiting to do even more damage.

Whereas the Malacca Straits passages themselves are not the most relaxing we have ever encountered there are great places to visit. The town of Malacca is delightful; Kuala Lumpur is fun and a lovely mix of old colonial buildings, modern skyscrapers and traditional mosques, and our favourite, Penang.

Penang has retained all the tradition that Singapore has now lost and is a cornucopia of cultures. We anchored off the town and hailed a sampan when we wanted to go ashore.

North of Penang the Straits open out, the water becomes clearer and there is a change in topography. We were not sorry to say good-bye to the stresses and strains of the Malacca Straits but we were sorry to leave the vivid culture experiences of the coastal towns and islands behind.

NOTES:

Malacca Straits anchorages are generally not good. For example the anchorage off Malacca is an open roadstead.

Port Dickson has a modern marina and is a good base from which to visit Malacca and Kuala Lumpur.

Port Klang and Lamut have river anchorages, buoys and jetty berths.