by Judy Handley | Dec 13, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 52, Year 4: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Date: Saturday, December 14, 2008
Weather: Yet Another Beautiful, Hot, Sunny Day
Location: Kuah, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia
Imagine that it is 8 o’clock in the evening. You are on a tropical island in Malaysia. Most of the population is Muslim with a few Chinese Buddhists thrown into the mix. You walk into town to get the eggs that you had forgotten to buy during the day. It is Saturday night and the streets are jam-packed with families shopping and eating in the street-side cafes. You are the only woman not wearing a head scarf, but that is no problem. Everyone is friendly. When you reach the main street, you
hear music playing. What do you think that music would be? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Here Comes Santa Claus would not have been my guess. But bizarre as it might sound, that is what was playing in the streets of Kuah tonight. Something just didn’t seem right about this picture. But there you have it.
We spent a crazy day running all over the island today in a rental car. Patrick and Margaret of Aqua Magic went with us as we went to the veggie market, another place to buy frozen ground beef and chicken, a Chinese hardware store where we spent a small fortune on locks and wire rope to secure our new dinghy motor and dinghy and a host of other small goodies, a Chinese restaurant to buy frozen pork chops and a pork tenderloin roast, the marine store that orders from West Marine, and then back to
the yacht club to put the first load in the dinghy and take it back to the boat. We then took off again to the Rebak Marina ferry dock so Patrick and Margaret could visit Rebak before moving their boat there in a couple of days. While they did that, Mark and I did more food shopping. Then we headed back to Kuah for even more food shopping. Just how much food can one sailboat hold? Actually quite a bit, but it sounds so complicated because each thing you want to buy is in a different store and
the stores are spread all over this island.
But by evening, we had completed most of the shopping and only needed bananas and eggs. There is a night open-air market in Kuah on Saturday night not far from where we are anchored, so we went there to get the bananas and then across the bridge to get the eggs. That’s when we ran into Rudolph!
Tomorrow morning we will wind things up here and sail/motor around the island to Telaga Bay. There is a marina there where we will fuel up and it is also the easiest place to check out of the country. Hopefully all of that will be done by day’s end and we will be headed to Ko Tarutau in Thailand to rendezvous with Kevin and Claire. We thought Langkawi was going to be turquoise waters and white sand beaches. Actually those things are here but only on the north side of the island where we have
not gone. But we are assured that crystal clear water and white sand beaches await us in southern Thailand.
by Judy Handley | Dec 12, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 51, Year 4: Meeting Up with Old Friends
Date: Friday, December 12, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful, Hot, Sunny Day
Location: Kuah, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia
We didn’t get all of our shopping done today, but we did reconnect with a few friends that we haven’t seen for some time. We worked on the boat until noon and then went to shore and met up with Steve of Oz, Margaret and Patrick of Aqua Magic, and Rosemary and Mike of Jemimah. We all had lunch at the Asia Restaurant close to where we take our dinghies to shore, and then we headed into town to shop. Since Oz, Aqua Magic, and Jemimah had all just arrived, we helped them get oriented, went to the
ATM to get more money, and then started our searches. We walked far across town for the second day in a row trying to find Epithanes varnish thinner, but on both days the store has been closed for lunch-a very long lunch. I think we might have to give up on that one, but we did go back to a fabric shop that we had visited yesterday to get mosquito netting. I had seen some Songkat woven fabrics that I just had to have, but didn’t have the cash yesterday. When we walked back to town we met up with
Jean and Ken of Renaissance 2000. We haven’t seen them since way before Bali, so we had a good time catching up. Our final task for today was to do a little Christmas shopping. On Friday, most of the Muslim businesses are closed but the banks and Chinese shops are open. We walked the back streets and found just the things we were looking for, so we called it a successful day and headed back to Windbird.
Shortly after we returned, the folks from Oz and Aqua Magic came over and we all piled in our dinghy with its brand new motor to go to the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. Mark and I needed to meet up with Ben, the canvas guy, to give him a deposit on making a new sail cover (stack pack) when we come back in February. He has to order the materials and that requires a deposit. Oz and Aqua Magic were just interested in seeing the yacht club and checking out the facilities and services. We stopped for
sundowners in the yacht club bar and then came back out to the anchorage.
Tomorrow we have a full day of shopping. We need to provision for the ten day trip from here to Phuket, Thailand, so we will need to go to the wet market for veggies, the fruit market for fruit, the frozen food outlet for meat, and the supermarket for all the other stuff. It is not a one-stop shop, especially since none of these things are close together. And then we will have to stop in town for beer and soft drinks in the duty-free stores. We need to have enough drinks to last us until we return
here in February as the cost of drinks quadruples in Thailand. So it will be a shop ’til you drop day, and then we are out of here!
by Judy Handley | Dec 11, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 50, Year 4: An Early Christmas Present for Mark
Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful, Hot, Sunny Day
Latitude: 16 degrees 18.632 minutes N
Longitude: 099 degrees 50.904 minutes E
Location: Kuah, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia
We left Rebak Marina around 9 am and arrived back here in Kuah before noon. Our list of “to do’s” was long, and not everything got done, but we did manage to take our two old dinghy motors in to Nauti Bits to be sold on consignment and we bought a big, new, shiny Yamaha Enduro 15 hp engine for our dinghy. Mark has wanted this since Panama, so he is a happy cruiser this evening. On Christmas morning, I will decorate the motor with red ribbons as this is most definitely his one and only Christmas
present for this year and maybe next! So Merry Christmas to Mark. And we think we have to name this motor “Aunt Ethel.” My Aunt Ethel is in her nineties and going strong, and when we were on our way to shore today we saw a sailboat named “Aunt Ethel.” If our new dinghy motor has the stamina of my Aunt Ethel, we will be very happy. So “Aunt Ethel” she is.
After being out on Rebak island for more than two weeks, we are all of sudden back to “civilization.” The mosque blares prayers, the ferries come in and out, duty-free stores are everywhere, and tonight the shore is lit brightly with lights. But even with all that, it is very peaceful here. We will spend another day or two here and then head to Telaga Harbor to check out of the country. We’ll be back here in Langkawi in early February, so this will not be an emotional departure. There are still
so many things we want to see and do here, as well as many beautiful anchorages that we have not had a chance to visit. But we will be back to do these things later..
The really fantastic news of the day is that transmission does indeed appear to be working just fine. Another motor from here to Telaga on Saturday or Sunday should give us more confidence that all is well, but so far so good.
by Judy Handley | Dec 10, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 49, Year 4: Ready to Roll
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful, Hot, Sunny Day
Location: Rebak Marina on Pulau Rebak Besar, Langkawi, Malaysia
Hurrah! The transmission is reinstalled. But before I tell that story, I have to start with a little description of last night. We sent the log and then stepped off Windbird to head up to the Hard Dock Cafe for dinner and to hear the band. We could hear the music as soon as we came up into the cockpit and they were playing my song, John Denver’s “Almost Heaven, West Virginia.” I think the real title is “Country Roads” but I prefer the longer version. So now I have heard this song every place we have visited this year. Unbelievable. When we got to the Hard Dock, the place was packed and the man and woman providing the music were great. We learned that they play on the resort side of the island every night at the fancier restaurant but people listen quietly. When they come to the yachties side of the island those over 55 years of age seem to regress into their younger years and start dancing on the tables. It was great fun.
The great thing about today is that the Zainol returned with our transmission and within two hours it was reinstalled. He did some really nice work on the coupling that had given them such a hard time when trying to remove the transmission. We ran the engine and all seems to be fine, but we will have a better idea after we motor to Kuah tomorrow. We’ll wait until after that trial to celebrate, but all indications are that our mechanic did a great job. And since he is about the only mechanic in Langkawi who works on sailboats, we’re very thankful that he does such meticulous work.
Mark put the finishing touches on the deck while I put the final coat of paint on my various paint jobs – including the toilet lids and seats! Yes, I have painted the toilet seats. When our neighbor, Steve, saw them newly painted on a piece of plastic sheeting held in place by our diesel jerry jugs on the dock he said it looked like an art gallery – the “loo-ve.” (“Loo” is the British term for toilet!)
So, yes, we are leaving Rebak tomorrow morning, going to Kuah for a couple of days, then to Telaga Harbor to check out of Malaysia, and finally on to Ko Tarutao in Thailand to meet our friends Kevin and Claire next Tuesday. And Christmas is coming! So we are getting excited.
by Judy Handley | Dec 9, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 48, Year 4: More Work in Paradise
Date: Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Weather: Beautiful, Hot, Sunny Day
Location: Rebak Marina on Pulau Rebak Besar, Langkawi, Malaysia
Be careful what you wish for. We have been wishing for sunshine and we got it today big time. It is beautiful, but with the sunshine comes the heat. However, we persisted and Mark has all of the “holes” in our teak deck filled and pegged and removed some of the caulking between the teak boards and replaced that. So he had a successful day. I continued inside cleaning and inside and outside painting. And I had a successful day. With just one more coat of paint on the toilet seats and lids, those will be done. And I finished painting the shower stall and the dinghy motor mount on the aft rail. I also did laundry. I just had to put that beautiful sunshine to some good use other than making me hot. In today’s sunshine, the laundry dried very quickly.
So to celebrate a good day of work, we walked over to the resort side of the island and went swimming in the pool. It was just the right time of day to see the loud but beautiful hornbills coming in to roost for the evening. Earlier in the day, we went for a walk among the boats on the hard. Arial, the boat that was being painted by the crew here, is now completed and she is beautiful. The owner is very happy with the job, so I think we will have Windbird painted here in February. While we were there talking, Brahminy Kites were soaring overhead. These birds are a type of eagle. They are brown with white heads and I just love to watch them. It is so nice to be in a marina with wildlife. We are on an island with nothing other than the marina and resort, so the animals have lots of space. We are now headed to the Hard Dock Cafe for dinner where we will commune with the other wildlife here, our fellow cruisers. We heard on the marina radio net this morning that there will be a live band tonight. That could be good or bad, so we shall see.
Tomorrow we are expecting the mechanic and crew with our transmission. Zainol promised that he will be here, so we trust that he will and that the reinstallation will go much smoother than the two-day removal process. Wish us luck on this one!
by Judy Handley | Dec 8, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 47, Year 4: Happy Birthday to Jed!
Date: Monday, December 8, 2008
Weather: Another Rainy Day
Location: Rebak Marina on Pulau Rebak Besar, Langkawi, Malaysia
Today is our son-in-law’s 37th birthday. As he reads this he is finding out that his birthday present this year will be a Thai cooking class when he, Heather, and Sam visit us in Thailand. So Happy Birthday, Jed! We can’t wait to see you in Thailand in January.
Today was certainly better than yesterday, and we are learning to live with the rain. Since we are trying to plug the teak deck and do some painting, rain is not helpful, but we are getting there. Things are enough in control that I have started my annual inside boat cleaning. I usually do this right before we come home each year, but since we are not exactly sure when we will come home (sometime before April), I’ve decided it is best to do it now.
Neighbors who have the kind of dinghy motor that Mark really wants to buy, the Yamaha Enduro 15 horsepower, loaned us their outboard this morning. It is heavier than our current motors, so I was particularly anxious to see how hard or easy it would be to get it onboard Windbird, and I also wanted to see how the dinghy would ride with it. Hauling it up and down was really no different than our current Suzuki and the dinghy handled the extra weight with no problem. And my, oh my, it does go fast.
So this was a successful experiment and we are thinking more and more that we will probably buy a new Yamaha before we leave Malaysia.
We heard from Kevin and Claire today, our friends that will arrive in Bangkok next Monday. The Bangkok airport is open now and it looks like all systems are a go. We are really looking forward to their visit. It will give us the excuse we need to stop working and get out there and have some fun. We also heard from our daughter Heather this morning. She, Jed, and Sam had a Norman Rockwell experience yesterday. They woke up on a Sunday morning with freezing rain that eventually turned to snow,
so they took Sam to get their Christmas tree. The place where they bought their tree was serving hot apple cider and the picture she painted made us long for just a moment for cold weather and snow. It sounded so beautiful. They got home with the little balsam fir and put the lights on it which has Sam absolutely spellbound. He says “wow” every time he passes by the tree. We haven’t heard from Justin and Jo for a few days, but I know they are furiously getting ready for their trip to England.
Jo has not been home for two years, so both she and Justin and her family in England are really looking forward to this visit.
We will work furiously tomorrow to get everything shipshape and hope for the arrival of our mechanic with our transmission with new seals on Wednesday morning. If all goes well, and as always “if” is the important word here, we will be ready to leave Rebak on Thursday morning. We’ll head back to Kuah to take our two old dinghy motors to a place that will sell them on consignment and we’ll buy a new Yamaha Enduro for Windbird’s dinghy. Then we’ll head to Telaga Harbor where we will check out of
Malaysia and head for Ko Tarutao in Thailand where we will meet Kevin and Claire on Tuesday mid-day. So that’s the plan. Let’s hope we can stick to it.
