Port Klang Views #12 - A Man & His Boat In The Rain - Part II

This series of photos complete the scene from where the fisherman took his ship out for a spin in pouring rain and back to the jetty again. Under driving rain, he stood erect as he surveyed and estimated the distance of his ship from the bank.

The river is not very wide just several length of his ship. When he judged the distance near enough for him to start to work on the turn, he used both hands and leg to turn the rudder to turn it.

After successfully making the turn, he headed towards our direction again. As the ship slowly moved and turned under the misty curtain of rain, it was like a dream sequence.

When he neared the jetty, he once again bended to his task to move the ship to coax it into safe harbour between the two concrete pillars of the jetty.

He gently guided the ship in.

As he leaned forward to get a better view through the rain lashing at his eyes, he relied on his legs to do the steering.

It was amazing to watch his display of skill as he handled the ship alone without anyone to help him. It was only 10 minutes or so from the time he took the ship out till he docked it again. I was so glad I was there at the right moment and for the rain to give it that dreamy look for my shots. It was my lucky day and this series will always remained as one of my favorite shots especially as I may never be able to duplicate the exact sequence no matter how long I waited. It was indeed a gift of rain from heaven.

Port Klang Views #11 - A Man & His Boat In The Rain - Part I

As we waited out the rain under the small hut while fierce winds blew and the rain came down in sheets, I noticed a man taking his large boat out parked between the remaining pillars of the former concrete jetty.

This next series of pictures will show him handling the whole big boat or a small ship by himself using his hands or legs whichever more effective to take it for a wash in the rain.

Single-handedly he spun the ship round the swollen river by himself and brought it back again to rest in its original position.

He not only "washed" the ship but also washed himself in the process.

The driving rain, the fading light, the swollen river, the swaying trees at the bank all combined to make this series of pictures quite picturesque and romantic.

I was glad to be here at that precise moment to take the pictures.

It was a gift of the rain...

Port Klang Views #8 - South Port, Port Klang - II

I asked Kurau to make a map of our journey that day when we took the boatride round South Port, to Bagan Hailam, the Yacth Club, back to South Port, Restaurant Perlama and then on to West Port, back from West Port we cut through Pulau Indah to come out of Laguna Park and then round Pulau Indah from the other end back to South Port again. Pretty ineffective explaining all these without a map isn't it?


But that Kurau just won't make me a map. One day after coming back Digital mall in PJ, he took me to his house and gave me a 5 minutes lesson on how to make a map myself. That man!! Anyway, below is the result. Please excuse the very crude effort as this is my FIRST map and I'm still proud of it despite its defect. This is the journey I've traveled with you so far - that is back to South Port. You can now visualize our journey better.


The journey will continue from this point later -

This is the map Kurau later did which showed the whole journey we took to supplement the one I made.

This is another view of FFM Berhad that produce all your wheat flour. Notice the bottom of the wharf. Crazy Ikan wanted to take us under them.

We passed by this crane lifting what appeared to be a pipe. Socoil factory is just behind this scene and they and other companies probably used this pipe to pump palm oil to bulk ship.

Passed by this brightly colored vessel. Its construction is different from the other ships. Not sure what type of vessel it was.

This ship was still loading or unloading cargoes. Was surprised that they are still doing it when rain threatened to pour any minute now. Usually, when rain is so eminent, the captain will stop any activities because he is responsible for the cargoes.

We had by now sailed to the end of the wharf. You can see the railway bridge ahead. It was already raining in some areas by now. The dark streaks coming down from the sky were rains.

We went under this bridge first.

Then we turned the boat around and aimed for the narrow hole that looked too narrow to accommodate the boat. We asked Kurau if he was sure. He laughed which did not put us at ease at all.

We drove straight for the hole accompanied by the hideous laughter of our insane captain...

Tune in for the next episode of the mad captain of high sea...

Port Klang Views #7 - South Port, Port Klang.

These boats sat like a pair of Mandarin Ducks in the open sea affectionately close disregarding the rest of the traffic, floating and bopping on the water.

We took a loop and headed back to South Port wharf. You can see the storm clouds being blown towards the direction we were heading. "Hope it doesn't rain". Out in the water, we can only hope can we? There is no shelter in the open sea or is there?

The tall building in the background is the old building of Federal Flour Mills. It has now been shifted to Pulau Indah. The tall round concrete structures are silos used to store grains. It was sad to see the sorry state of the building after it has been vacated. Some of the side paneling has been torn down (probably stolen) leaving ugly gaps. That end visible to us is the Feed Mill and the Flour Mill is blocked by it and the silo. This is one of the most successful and largest food company in Malaysia and their products goes into most of the food you eat everyday be it roti chanai, noodles, bread, cakes, cookies, biscuits, steam buns, etc. Their two most famous brands are "Blue Key" and "Anchor".

This ship is an ugly rusty bucket.

Contrast it against this grand old dame. There is a beauty in wooden ship that iron ship just cannot match. Though it is unpainted and undecorated, it possessed a natural beauty that is a delight to behold.

The front end of the ship. Not sure if it the cargo was waiting to be loaded on or had just finished been unloaded.

Just a simple ship - so simple that it looked almost like an enlarged toy.

Up on the wharf was this worker in his bicycle tapping away short messages on his handphone. Notice the pillars holding up the wharf. We will go hunting for things beneath it soon.

Further down was a security officer recording some information in his notebook. Maybe he is noting down Kurau's particular as "suspicious sightings".

We looked under the wharf as directed by Kurau, not knowing what to find. And there we have them. Two men on the bank fishing - this would not be permitted area for fishing. Kurau knows all the spots because he had fished in all of them before.

To be continued...