[password] kudzuu1114
[position] 01 50.795n 102 37.083
[weather] 1012.9 sunshine, occasional sumatras in the afternoon
[speed] 8.2
[heading] 297T
[status]Singapore is in the rearview mirror now and stopping there for two weeks was a marvelous choice! It's a not-to-be-missed destination and we marvel at the gutsy architecture, the kindness of the people, the cleanliness of every square in of their country, and the rampant consumerism that exceeds even that of the United States. How a country of only 5.6 million people - even adding in the tourists - can support so many multi-storey high end retail malls, each only six blocks from the next, is incomprehensible to us.

We're motoring up the Malacca Strait this afternoon on our way to Port Dickson Malaysia and are accompanied by twenty or thirty tugs, barges, cargo ships, tankers and cruise ships, with an occasional small fishing boat thrown in for good measure, all in sight of Mersoleil. Busy traffic, not as busy as the Singapore Strait, but there's lots of standing right at the helm going on during watch today. We rarely use radar during daylight except to watch the weather, but it's on now just to catch the vessels that don't send an AIS image. A few vessels appear on neither radar nor AIS, and they alone are enough to make interesting the task of figuring our who's anchored, who's coming straight at us or crossing our bow, and who's traveling in the same direction as Mersoleil.

I've begun researching the currents, weather and geography that will take us around the Cape of Good Hope and up through the Atlantic Ocean. So far, I've learned, I think, that the time to jump off for this journey seems to be December, so it looks like we'll have twelve months to enjoy more of SE Asia. Malaysia is a great base for land travel and we may leave Mersoleil in Langkawi while we fly to other Asian destinations. They'll never be closer than they are now!

Lisa and Fabio, you'll be very happy with Keppel Marina. New, attractive, well located, staff is very helpful. Diesel was S$0.79/L, the lowest price we've paid anywhere, equivalent to US$ 2.12/Gal.

Don't miss Singapore! Two weeks at Raffles Marina costs no more than two nights in a hotel in the Singapore CBD. And that was worth every penny! Bev.
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