Tuesday 22 October Farewell Indonesia, Hi Singapore, Hello Malaysia

Another day and another country, our 36th to date. Today we sailed the waters of three countries in 8 hours; Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
From an anchorage on the south side of the Singapore Straits we crossed one of the busiest shipping channels (I believe the English channel is no. 1).  We crossed the 2 mile wide traffic separation scheme under motor and sail at 7.5 knots sneaking behind one tanker and by chance finding ourselves a long gap in the north lane to slip through.
Once across which you have to do at right angles to the ships using the lane, we turned hard left to find ourselves in the biggest anchorage (in terms of size and size of ships) which we had to pass through.  There are 100s of cargo ships and tankers anchored, a few of them coming in or leaving, tugs, pilot boats, ferries, local fishing boats moving through too, barges being towed, islands with an oil terminal and a cargo port.  Plenty to keep us busy and the AIS occupied.
It took three hours to navigate through and all with the backdrop of Singapore city and stormy skies, but with no close calls there was no requirement for fresh underwear.
The biggest drama of the day was the Singapore Red Arrows practising manoeuvres above and around us for he Singapore Police Coast Guard with us all the way ensuring we did not stop in Singapore waters or stray into danger (I'd like to think).  They were with us  until we turned left at the top of the Johnny Straits into Malaysian waters.

fly past salute of aerobatics team

We discovered Singapore like to protect their borders.  Along the length of the Johor Strait there is a barbed wire fence along the length of the foreshore and notices warning to stay 75m away or risk being in danger of ammunition practice.   The Malays are more laid back, or have less to fear from illegal landings and their border is wide open.  No Coast guard boats patrolling either.
Just on high water we arrived at Danga Bay marina which is all the way at the top of Johor Straits, three miles west of Johor Bahru.
What a treat to be in a marina and on shore power!  Two words. Air & conditioning.  Put them together and you have an easy night's sleep in 33C and 80% humidity.   Danga Bay is a small marina, not as luxurious as Raffles Marina in Singapore which we passed on the way here but nowhere near as costly and just as convenient for access to downtown Singapore.
We're planning to be here for three weeks until we leave with Sail Malaysia Rally mid 10 November.  In theory this should give us enough time to sort out our dirty fuel issue which involves emptying the tank and polishing 400 litres of diesel, various boat jobs, time to explore locally, time to visit Singapore and see our friends Rachel and Derek who live there and enough time for retail therapy and eating out.  That's the theory. In practise we'll find more to do than time to do it in.  We are never heard to say 'I'm bored'.  After all, it is a boat.