Southeast Asia Cruising Guide Vol II

This is the second volume of two covering Southeast Asia. It deals with Indonesia, East Timor, Singapore, West Peninsular Malaysia, West Thailand, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Palau. Palau, Thailand and Malaysia will be covered completely in Volume 1 and Singapore is in both.
In this revised edition our aims have been to update information on the area while concentrating on the most common cruiser through routes. Palau has been added because it is has been something of an orphan in the past and Papua New Guinea has moved to the back of the book reflecting its position both culturally and ethnologically outside SE Asia.
Most cruising boats in the region are on the 'through' route, headed for Europe, the N Pacific or the S Indian Ocean. The weather is generally benign, with nothing worse than calms, squalls and thunderstorms either side of the equator. Nevertheless, the number of cruising boats is relatively small, partly because bureaucracy, relatively undeveloped yachting facilities, the risk of typhoons and rumours of piracy.
More marinas have been built or completed since the book was first published but if you are headed W from Australia, you won't find many developed world style marinas until you are close to Singapore but from there to Phuket you'll find plenty, with lots more on the drawing board.
Hydrographic surveys of these waters are more dated than of those in Volume 1, though coverage of the busiest commercial waters is quite good. Where nav aids are concerned, much of the region faces the usual hurdles of comparative poverty and remoteness. The installation and maintenance of aids to navigation is a low budgetary priority. Only in the rich, high-growth areas are things different. There, the pace of change defies even the Admiralty's Notices to Mariners to keep up with changes.
A cruise through this region will expose you to the enormous disparities between the haves and the have-nots. At one extreme there is the first world hi-tech environment of Singapore, at the other the Stone Age peoples of the interiors of New Guinea and Borneo. Scattered over the rest of the region are people at almost every other point of development in between, warts and all.
There are many uncertainties left from the past and new uncertainties have emerged in the present. Radical Islam, often manipulated by the powerful few to their own political and economic advantage, offers those who fear and may suffer from rapid modernisation, an apparent refuge. It creates more problems than it solves. Headlong globalisation is erratically, and occasionally damagingly, completing the utter transformation of society, economy, polity and the environment. The periodical natural disaster in this chronically seismically hyperactive region adds further pressure.
Nevertheless, economic growth will continue, the more extreme regional differences will begin to disappear, spreading affluence and more employment. Consumerism will change Southeast Asia faster than ever before. Catch it now while it is still on the wing.

Contents
Preface
Key to abbreviations, positions and symbols
Acknowledgments
PLANNING GUIDE
Routes
Main routes westward & eastward, N/S & S/N
Weather
Monsoons
Typhoons
Weather by zone
Zone 1 Papua New Guinea
Zone 2 E, S & Central Indonesia & Palau
Zone 3 Sumatra, Singapore, W Peninsular Malaysia & W Thailand
Weather forecasts
Navigation & seamanship
GPS
Buoyage and lights
Charts and other sources
Radar & Loran
Traditional and reef navigation
Shipping
Seas, currents and tides
Swell, waves and tsunamis
 Temperature, salinity and bioluminescence
Currents
 Tides

CRUISING GUIDE INDONESIA
Formalities
 Culture
Through Routes
Area 1 Eastern Indonesia
Routes in Area 1
Western New Guinea
Harbours: Jayapura, Biak, Manokwari, Sorong, Fakfak Merauke
Cruising Western New Guinea
 Maluku Province
Harbours: Saumlaki, Ambon, Ternate
Cruising the Malukus
Area 2 Central Indonesia
Routes in Area 2
E Nusa Tenggara
Harbours: Kupang, Komodo & Rinca
Cruising E Nusa Tenggara
 W Nusa Tenggara
Harbours: Lembar, Benoa, Probolinggo, Surubaya
Cruising W Nusa Tenggara and E Java
Sulawesi &c Kalimantan
Harbours: Makassar, Bitung, Menado, Kumai
Cruising Sulawesi & Kalimantan
Area 3 Western & Northwestern Indonesia
Routes in Area 3
 Java
Harbours: Semarang, Cirebon, Jakarta, Cilacap
Cruising Java
Riau Is
Harbours: Nongsa, Sekupang,
Marina Cove Resort, Tanjung Pinang
Cruising Riau, Banka & Lingga Is
Sumatra
Harbours: Belawan, Sabang, Padang
Cruising Sumatra

SOUTHEAST ASIA CRUISING GUIDE VOLUME II
Contents

EAST TIMOR,
Formalities
Culture
Anchorage
SINGAPORE
Formalities
 Culture
 Routes
Port of Singapore
Marinas
Other facilities
 Cruising
WEST PENINSULAR MALAYSIA (For East Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, see Volume 1)
 Formalities
Culture
 Routes
Harbours: Johor Bahru, Sebana Cove, Water Is & Malacca, Port Dickson, Port Klang, Lumut, Penang, Langkawi
Cruising West Peninsular Malaysia
WEST THAILAND (For Gulf of Thailand, see Volume 1)
Formalities
Culture
Routes
Harbours: Satun, Kantang, Trang, Phuket, Krabi
 Cruising West Thailand
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Formalities
 Culture
 Routes
Area 1: Southeast
Harbours: Samarai, Alotau, Lae
 Cruising SE Papua New Guinea
Area 2: Central
Harbours: Rabaul, Kimbe, Madang
 Cruising Central Papua New Guinea
Area 3: North West
Harbours: Wewak, Vanimo, Lorengau
 Cruising NW Papua New Guinea
Area 4: East
Harbour: Kavieng
Cruising E Papua New Guinea
Area 5: South West
Harbour: Port Moresby
Thursday Island
Cruising SW Papua New Guinea
PALAU
Formalities
 Culture
 Malakal Harbour
PREPARATIONS, PROVISIONS AND PROVISOS
Equipment
Radio
Email
EPIRB
GMDSS
Phones
Ground tackle
Awnings
Lightning protection
Antifouling
Fuel and oil
Environment and trade
Marine life
Traditional craft
Fishing
Volcanoes & earthquakes
Oil, gas, logging and mining
 Flora and fauna
Pollution
Boat garbage
History, politics and crime
History
Politics and problems
Piracy and theft: attitude and reaction
Smuggling
Corruption
Health, food and people
Risks, medical services and information sources
Water
 Food
Alcohol
People
Bartering & trading
Courtesy & kindness
Begging
Surat Keterangan (Introductory letter for photocopying)
Index