Landlubber tourist things , getting the lay of the land

Our  voyage, from Port Dickson to Phuket, covering some 485nm , of admittedly mainly motoring rather than sailing ,had just one teeny tiny shift to do,as we changed berths along the same finger the following morning.

To ensure it was memorable - it was chucking it down, for the duration of the shift.

Thus concluded the voyage part of the adventure, so it was now time to organize the visit of the shipwright and to try to organize those dinghy tube covers as well as have a squizz at Phuket. Lynne has been here before. I haven't.

First things first. Although this marina is far from the "madding crowd" of the popular tourist spots, from my point of view, it will be fine.
A quick exploration revealed that there are three small local restaurants on the waters edge, ten minutes stroll from the boat, two open for breakfast. One we sampled - apparently the iced  coffee was forgettable, but no denying they were catering for yachties with their "western brekky choices". Not sure about the salad  with the egg 'benny'- sans 'benny' sauce as it turns out.The world's crispiest bacon and potato rosti- that's not a mix n match, that's just how it comes. The "big breakfast" was just that- huge!

Nea Dad Deaw

Above the marina, in the other direction- we are nestled under a cliff, is  a small village. Banana roti , available there - yummy. Also minimal green vegies, if I need them, can be purchased there.
The marina itself does food all day,and very nice it is to.
A very luscious "french toast with a twist"- which I thoroughly recommend- as long as you don't intend eating, for the rest of the day! The twist being bacon,banana and maple syrup.

My favorite new snack in the afternoon, with an aperitif is Nea Dad Deaw, Thai fried sun dried beef, or Moo Dad Deaw which is pork. Beats peanuts or chippies hands down.The kaffir lime leaves are fried as well and they are just a taste sensation.


So I'm not going to starve to death. There are two mini markets here as well, for emergency essentials. Three car hire places ,so transport wont be an issue.They do the ubiquitous motor scooters as well, but think I will start with a car, until at least a) i get the hang of the traffic, b) know where I'm going so I'm not tying to listen to a phone app. Probably wont bother with a scooter, as if I go on a shopping expedition, I will need a car to return with the goods anyway.

Got the tube covers organized and the dinghy was picked up and whizzed to the other end of the island (Ao Chalong Bay, as it turns out). the shipwright turned up the next morning and after he had been, we were away on a tour of the island.

Lynne navigating, me driving. The driving didn't seem too bad. The lanes and their markings do tend to do odd merges here and there. The speed limit signs appear to have been placed only as part of  a "jobs and growth strategy"- nobody pays any attention to them. It does however, pay when turning left, to check that there aren't  any "contraflow" bikes or scooters coming your way .

We did a trial run for location and timing to the airport, and then we continued on to the nearest major shopping centre at Thalang, half way down the island and apparently the original main town , until things moved a little further south to Phuket Town.
The road layout is fairly obvious.It's an island , you can go north or south , or east and west (but not everywhere due to the mountain range in the middle of the island) ,and then of course  around the edges, to the famous beaches on the west coast. The major roads are clearly denoted with a number , which I can read and their  names ,which I can't read , but finding 402 will get me home.

Also discovered  pretty quickly that you need to plan your shopping expedition, according to your direction of travel. Tescos is on left side going south from here. As is Boat Lagoon Marina,and multitude of boat workshops and tradesmen, then Royal Phuket Marina- very pleased, apart from the ridiculous cost, that I'm not there. It is a marina located up a creek, TOTALLY surrounded by condos apart from the narrow entrance. It would be like living in a sauna- no breeze would ever make it in there.Bet the electricty charges wont be cheap either!
Coming north is a fabulous hardware store for general  stuff,a  bit like the multinational one we have , but this is a Thai one, heaps of staff everywhere , but so far, unless I can find it myself ,the usual answer is, 'sorry no have' with a beaming smile. None the less, its huge and its just a matter of digging around until I find what I want. Then there is Macro- great vegies, frozen food cabinets to die  for , cheese and dairy , ditto and TONIC water and COFFEE BEANS.
If you miss your destination, it can be several kilometers before you can execute a U turn, and then you have just as many extra kilometers in the other direction, before you can execute your second U turn.
Easy when you know , where the shop is that you want, and which side of the 402 its located.

Our tour took us not quite into Phuket Town and then towards Patong beach, a glimpse of the heaving masses on the beach being enough for me, so we headed north back towards Yacht Haven, via a very twisty (4030) road.
The obvious marks of the 2004 Tsunami are still evident in places, but there has been massive rebuilding as well.
 The next morning we checked out the Sarasin bridges (the old one, now a pedestrian bridge only) which connect the island to mainland Thailand.These bridges only two or so nautical miles from the marina, unfortunately have  bridge span clearance heights  of  only 12.3m high, so I can't exit to the Similan Islands that way, and will have to do a grand, almost circumnavigation to get- all bar 2nm , back to almost where I am, to jump off towards the Similans.

Looking east towards marina

Looking West to the open sea

Dropped Lynne at the airport after a fairly full on three weeks or so,but we achieved the mission plan and arrived safe and sound. Thanks Lynne , it was fun.- and don't forget you are one of the very few who have been here when a fish was caught. Maybe I should get some shirts made "I was on K'Gari when a fish accidentally ran into the lure"

Now I await my next crew, and we will explore Phang Nga Bay and the Similans
Another episode  of the adventure ended.

Phuket Yacht Haven Marina

Returning to K'Gari after officially checking into Thailand,I found to my delight that Phuket Yacht Haven Marina, on the NE end of  Phuket, not only had a berth for K'Gari but  pleasantly, was reasonably priced as well!

Lynne then also  expressed her pleasure at this revelation ,as I had decided to forgo the pleasure of a $100 a day marina berth and was contemplating just hanging about on the anchor in Ao Chalong Bay, awaiting my next crew, as Lynne has to return to Oz. She wasn't happy at the thought of  leaving me at anchor and prefered to see K'Gari snugged up in  marina somewhere before she had to leave, as did I!

We set off for the other end of the island about 0730 the following morning.

Just for the record- we didn't bother to even set the main sunshade!

Our courses took us through the anchorage for the deep sea port and onwards to the southern extremity of the famous Phang Nga Bay region. Yes you have seen the photos- even if you don't know  it, they were taken in Phang Nga Bay. The towering rock formations projecting from the sea- that's Phang Nga Bay.

We passed several islands with anchorages that may prove interesting later, but the advice we had received suggested the best time for entry to our allotted berth would be 1330- slack water.

That went seamlessly well, and yes I now understand why slack water is a good idea, as to get to our allotted berth, we passed through a very narrow entrance, which is absolutely at 90 degrees to the tidal flow.

Checked in at the office and made arrangements there and then to move a couple of spaces further inwards down the finger , away from the very narrow entrance, the next morning.

Checking into Thailand :Ao Chalong , a onestop shop

The check in at Ao Chalong is great.
A one stop shop. Everyone you need to see, the Port Master, Immigration, Customs and Quarantine, all in one building. They are very patient- there are a huge number of forms, all stamped with red ink. Inept yachties like moi , who have never checked into Thailand, are led through the process- they even provide free photocopying for all the copies of stuff they want. I must admit that over the last 17 months, having basically only dealt with the Malaysian authorities , I no longer carried multiple copies of everything, as they don't really seem to want them.  Thailand does.

I stumbled at the first gate- seems I had left my glasses on board- they certainly weren't around my neck. So Lynne did the paper work and I just signed everywhere that the various officials pointed to. The lack of glasses, apart from the stupidity factor , was not all that important as most of the forms were in Thai , with tiny English bits, in places.

All checked in  and legal, we returned to the dinghy , where sure enough my glasses were lying in the bilge.Think they must have come adrift, when I started the outboard.

 I mean who would go ashore  to fill in official forms without their specs- how stupid would that be??

Now I could read the forms, I'm legal until 02 Jan 2017. K'Gari for some bizarre reason, is allowed to stay until May.
Then the small print- should I for some reason, wish to leave Thailand , without K'Gari, I have to post a bond for myself as the skipper ( and forewarned) , the only crew member on board.
When we had checked out of Malaysia, Lynne was listed as passenger, so that when we checked into Thailand she was also a passenger. She was granted a 30 day visa on arrival, and as a passenger was free to leave by plane, or foot or vehicle, as any other tourist is.

I on the other hand was listed as the  entire crew complement- whoever said, women can't do anything they want....

I have the opportunity to extend my  2 month,  tourist visa in advance, (obtained in Brisbane) by another 30 days, which will be early February, if I choose to do  that. This will be easier than posting a bond, flying somewhere and coming back and then trying to retrieve the bond money, I suspect.

Apparently, I have temporarily imported K'Gari into Thailand- one of the many signatures I had scribbled away, sans spectacles! Should I forget (unlikely as that is) to export it again before 2nd May 2017, I apparently, (sans spectacles) have agreed to give the government of Thailand, the measly sum of 13 million nine hundred and ten thousand baht- and assumedly they want the boat as well!

So family and friends of the sailing variety, take it on notice  that there is a rather nice  boat here, which needs to leave before the 02 May 2017, should anything happen to me. You know where the key is!!!

Phi Phi Don- once will definitely be enough.

We arrived at Ton Sai Bay, on  Phi Phi Don about 1530.
Even managed to get two nice hours of a sail in today!
Everything I had read about this place did not make it sound attractive- except that we hoped would be able ashore and get cash and sim cards and a meal. It's a backpackers heaven apparently- guess I'm officially beyond the age of backpacking!
With the prevailing Northerly wind , the alternative bay to the north was probably not going to be a viable option.

Unique bouyage system in TonSinBay. Which is the original the starboard lateral or the safe water- who knows. 

Info said to anchor as close in as possible, on the western side -staying away from the ferry terminal.
So we did! Nestled in amongst the multitude of mooring buoys, for the tourist fleet and dive boats, and obviously in the direct traffic route to somewhere for the longtails.

Spot the odd one out!

Found a spot that I thought would have adequate swinging room and even then only put out the minimum 4;1 ratio of anchor chain.
Went ashore in daylight and obtained both cash and a means of communication with the world again.
Back on board to make good use of the sim cards and then ashore, just on dark, for a meal.

Dive boat moorings ? Where?

Returned to the boat to find a tourist boat had picked up a near by mooring.It was a power boat with not much draft, so would swing more with any breeze than tide. Not happy , we shifted anchor about 30 meters, in the dark and of course by now, the rain!
,
The longtails did I suppose stop at some point during the night. Then there was the dinghy load of loud drunk French speaking charter boat yachties returning at 0200. High pitched shrieks emanating from the beach, would indicate that perhaps at least one of them probably fell in , whilst trying to get into the dinghy. Then the less than sotto voce  whispering, that drunks apparently do, as they wove their way through the anchorage. As they approached us I helped them out with a spot of "lighthouse" torch , to indicate both my presence and vigilance! They altered course!

https://youtu.be/P5_0Qc4s-zA

   We left at 0600, decided to head for Phuket itself, Ao Chalong Bay, to do the check in formalities, which are free of cost , during the working week but incur a fee over the weekend. It being Friday, we decided today was the go.

The video is a tiny sample of what one longtail sounds like. Imagine dozens of them passing by, REALLY close,  at night when you cant see them, just hear them.


K'Gari needs a couple of things looked at and Seawind had asked me to make for Boat Lagoon , where a shipwright could come to have a look.
 Once in range of Phuket and the phone system, I started calling marinas. Boat Lagoon- no room in the inn. They suggested I try Royal Phuket , next door. Yes they could for $100aud  a day- sucking of breath on that one !
Tried to contact the shipwright - yes, he could come tomorrow afternoon at the anchorage at Ao Chalong Bay. Making small progress here at last.

Typically as we approached the last 100m before anchoring we had a "whiteout" rain storm. So a bit wet and bedraggled we anchored, gathered all the required bits and pieces of papers, waited till lunch hour had passed and went ashore- between showers!

Rok Noi

After the hunter gather exercise had concluded, with MM's  successful release, we arrived at the beautiful Rok Noi.

Next decision on the agenda was, pick up a mooring- supplied by the NP, or anchor?
Pros and cons for both. How good is the mooring line? When was it last checked/renewed?
As for the anchor, what was I likely to snag it on? There were several moorings supplied , so I guess they would prefer you to use the mooring rather than destroy the coral.
From the information I had, it appeared that all the moorings were in at least 5m of water, so I opted for a mooring...with anchor standby alternative. Always got to have a back up plan, or just be indecisive!

Lynne stationed up forward as we approached, suddenly started asking what the depth was.
"30m plus, 25m ,20m, 15m, 7m"
"Was I sure?"
"yep"
"Really sure, I can see the coral clearly, really, really clearly"

Depth sounder down to 1.5m and we retreated. The advantage of a sedate approach speed. I too looked over the side- goodness it was clear wasn't it? By now we were in 10m again. Decided to approach another mooring instead.
This one turned out to be in 24m- it was only about 60 m diagonally from the first one we had approached.
I assume that in fact all the moorings would be in adequate water, or they wouldn't waste their time laying them. I also think without any further investigation on the subject, that perhaps it was just our direct  approach to the mooring that had had us passing over such a shallow depth, but that coral is crunch stuff, not to be trifled with , so retreat was the order of the day.

We settled on the mooring for the night.
Just before sunset we watched a boat with 5 Thais, wearing fatigues, going from boat to boat.Sure enough they approached us and in very broken English we figured the were telling us they were Marine Parks, and would like some money. I had read about the NP fees in the info I had ,but that info had said  the fee was charged if you went ashore, where there was ranger hut. As we hadn't officially arrived in Thailand,(done the paperwork bit),  we hadn't been ashore. So after explaining we haven't arrived yet, they said "ok and you pay next time when you come back". Still don't know if it was a shake down or if they were legit. The very small amount of baht I had already obtained was for any fees at immigration that might be imposed. Happy to go ashore when southbound, if we stop there again.

Next morning in the first clear water for months I  thought I would check out the state of play beneath the water line.
What had appeared in the relative murk of Port Dickson and Pangkor  to be fuzz, turned out to be a veritable pasture of growth, when I  could actually see it!

Took me just on an hour to give the hull the best clean off it's had so far.
Tried with a light swipe of a scourer pad but decided that, that was actually wiping off too much of my ablative antifoul.
When I got her , K'Gari had had two different colour layers of antifoul. The top one being black, the second one being blue. That way you can tell how quickly the antifoul is wearing away. Not wanting to wipe off any that was still working well, I tried with a plastic scraper for  the fuzz/pasture and the metal scraper on the more recalcitrant barnacles that didn't come off with the fuzz.

All the while that I was removing the verdent undergrowth,and perhaps the odd bit of Altex #5, I was keeping an eye on the increasing number and size of the fish, enjoying a free breakfast. They started out teeny weeny and by the time I had finished were definitley approaching plate size.Plate size is fine, just so long as nothing bigger than plate size was likely to arrive as well!

Managed to drop the metal scraper right towards the end of the job. I had 4 implements tied together with a loop around my wrist. Trusty knot came undone, and metal scraper decided not to float! Despite the water being crystal clear, and despite the fact that the scraper had a fluro bright orange bit on the handle. I couldn't see it on the bottom anywhere.Doubt I could make it down 24m on one breath anyway!

One thing I have found with my forays under the hull is, that either it's much saltier water than I'm used to ,or perhaps my posterior has become more bouyant as I age! I need 2kgs on a weight belt every time I'm in the water under the hull and even then it's no effort swimming, without fins, on the surface.

Oh look, its suicidal fish number 2

Destination for the day was Rok Noi, some 50 odd miles north.
Hmmm motor or sail? If only!
We left at 0600 and a soon as we cleared the northern tip of Koh Tarutao, the water was BLUE!

NE tip of Koh Tarutao

 Looking back from our anchorage the night before, we could for the first time in days, see the top of the chairlift at Langkawi- some 35 miles to the south. Oh well, another time!

We  rechristened 20 miles of the sea after passing Tarutao- the "sea of flags". Beautiful as the day was, there was no time to kick back and read a book - there were a gazillion fishing flags and nets in this stretch of the sea.Most of them, but not all, had nice orange fluro flags which actually meant we could spot them, but that did involve actually looking instead of lounging.

The breeze finally  kicked in, in the afternoon- a real sail at last.

We have passed many FAD's (fish attracting devices) but today's was one of the best. It may, in hindsight actually have been more of a fish pen/holding area. It was enormous and would not be something pleasant to run into at night. It at first appeared to resemble a floating inverted pandanus tree. As we passed close by- completely failing to take a photograph, (which I will put down to it being a shot directly into the sun)- it actually appeared to be a huge floating basket, the circumference being an estimated 2m. It looked as though it had been woven from palm tree fronds. The bit above the water we could see, being woven from  the part of the frond closest to the tree. Each frond  end was probably about 30cm across. We could see about 1.5m above the water, so assuming the iceberg theory holds good, it was going to be a substantial mass beneath.

Then the excitement of the day occurred - a fish, suicidal, obviously, decide to catch a ride.
Oddly that very morning,Lynne had asked what we were going to do, if we ever actually caught a fish- the likelihood of which being  so  rare, that altho I now have a gaff, I never even bother to get it out in readiness .

So the plan:

• Find a suicidal fish
• Identify that it has accidentally hooked itself.
• Slow the boat down, which to date would mean reducing the revs, but of course we were actually sailing at a pleasant 5 kts on this occassion.

Whilst I haul in the captive, she was to get ready;

• The gaff
• The wooden chopping board ( and tie a handy bit of rope to it, in case it slips off the aft step in the excitement of the moment) 
• Something to despatch the captive with, fishing knife or a handily heavy wooden (or the metal one), pestle, bought as multipuposes devices for 'pestling' things, or as  fish concousing implements.
• If there was time, a piece of non skid matting for under the chopping board- again to prevent the whole lot disappearing off the step, where the deed would be done.

The plan swung into action and here it is- fish number 2

For all the anti blood sporters amongst the 'vast' readership, you will be pleased to know that within seconds of this photo, beautiful gleaming golden/green fish was released.Not kissed and released , just released!

In my mind, I was pretty sure this was a Mahi Mahi, one of my all time favourite eating fish.Also known as a dolphin fish.

This was only a junior-despite being the perfect size for two of us. 

Also in my mind ,was that one of  natures tricks is that quite often, everything that glistens is not, in fact, gold. Bright colours often mean danger- toadstools for instance come to mind! 

As my Mahi Mahi to date, has always been obtained at a fishmongers in steak/fillet size, skinless portions, there was enough uncertainty to make us decide that , a prudent sailor , who wasn't actually dying of scurvy or malnutrition, might be wiser to return the bounty, from whence it came.

Total stats on the hunter gather tally now stand at :

• 1 lost lure
• 1 fish - mackeral, caught and consumed
• several snags of detritus
• 1 (now positively identified) released Mahi Mahi
• for 3589 nm covered.

Now that is fish stock sustainability!

1st November 2016: Thailand

Crossed into Thailand at 1553 (Malaysian time) , so 1453 Thai time, on 1st November.
Another country , and my first time in Thailand. I am really looking forward to finding some clear water.That's what it's famous for - well amongst other things , but it's what I'm looking for.

We sailed, figuratively, from Royal Langkawi at 0953/01 Nov. It wasn't raining, however no wind either, so a motoring  we did go.
The best comparison of the NE coast of  Langkawi, geologically is about as close to SW Tasmania as  I have seen  ( minus the temperature extremes of course). Rugged, jagged  towering mountains.

We never did get up the chairlift this time as each day we were in Langkawi, rain ,and or low cloud had rendered a visit, a pointless exercise.

Trolling line out as there seemed to be a few different drop offs in depths that we were going to pass over.
Passed a rather nice looking 4 masted "Brittannia Blue" super yacht enroute.

Hooked a bit of tree on the troll - not exactly edible, but another catch to add to my appalling hunter gatherer record.

Suddenly realised that domestic duties were called for, as I had to put some tails on the Thai flag, so it could be attached suitably to the shroud.
This folks, is as domestic as it gets. This rare shot shows a study in concentration, with needle and thread- and no, its not actually still life!

Perpetual furling and unfuling of the jib persisted- well it breaks up the day, if nothing else.

The first closest and biggest island is Koh Tarutao. That is where were aiming for.
We anchored for the night off a huge rock outcrop near the old peir which was used for for prisoner transit, when the island was used a s a political prison back in 1938.It was selected apparently as it wasrelatively  remote and infested with crocodiles.Fair enough! As the water hadn't yet reached the sapphire blue hue  I was looking for, a shower would be just fine!

Most of the islands appear to be part of national park system.There are 52 islands included in this particular NP, the Hat Chao May NP.

Anticipated courses from  Tarutao to Phuket

Langkawi Tour -Take 3: October 2016

By the time the tube covers /no  tubes covers issue had been taken care of, cloud had descended over  the top of the cable car. No drama, we would continue around the island, and simply return when the cloud lifted.

A tour of Langkawi is not complete without a stop at Komplex Kraf Langkawi. I think they are beginning to wonder if I should be  on the payroll at the batik centre.Jas still turning out magnificent pieces of work.
Lynne also purchased one to take home!

Ascended Gunung Raya, the second highest of the two mountains on Langkawi, on the way home. The sign at the bottom indicates there is a viewing area at the top, but also warns about "unnecessary use of the road due to landslips". Deciding that to be able to see the view, obviously didn't constitute   an unnecessary use of the road, we went to have a look. From memory I think the twisting turning road was some 15 km long. The view  I'm  sure would have been spectacular, but it was shrouded 2/3rds of the way around , in the same cloud as the chairlift, by the time we reached the summit. We did however have a clear view to the South. Just no view to the north, of Thailand from here.

Next day again the chairlift was a no go, so we resupplied and stocked up on various beverages. As it turned out, only just in the nick of time.

The K'Gari wonder diet- all categories covered fruit and veg, chocolate, chippies , wine ,beer.Note the TONIC WATER

The two territories Labuan,and Langkawi, as well as the Tioman Islands, which I have yet to visit , were to lose their duty free status on the 1st of November.
I have since heard that the plethora of alcohol vendors have not been shut down, but each and everyone of them has two officials now located within the individual premises, taking passport details/id document details, and everyone is now limited to 5 litres of wines or spirits A MONTH!
Obviously its a "jobs and growth strategy".Our current  Prime Minister  must have sold the patent! It will in the not so very long run, backfire I suspect. The multitude of yachties passing through ,will not linger long, if goods and services no longer attract the duty free bonus.Not to mention the ferry loads of Malay  and Thai Nationals who travel to those locations on  a very, very regular basis. The ferry terminal will become much quieter now I suspect. Thailand will become even more attractive to yachties, despite the 7% sales tax,Thailand is far better geared to serving the sailing industry.

I was on the hunt for a cruising guide for Thailand, which details anchorages , approaches , good diving, snorkelling  sites, and other bits of incredibly useful information. Found a very obliging chandler, who was able to provide me with the information I was after, but alas was not able to sell me the book in question, as he was waiting for the 2016 edition and only had his single shopcopy of the previous edition. I thanked him for his absolute honesty in advising me to wait. If he had had  the new edition, I would have bought it from him.I did however leave, with enough information , in my 'photographic' memory to safely get me through the next anchorages, and beyond if necessary.

The next day it was still raining , so it being both Halloween and an auspicious occasion  for Lynne, we cancelled sailing for the day.Always put off until tomorrow whatever you can, when its raining!

We had in fact completed the formalities of checking  out of Langkawi and therefore Malaysia the day before , but in doing so I had given the date of departure as the 1st, just in case, the weather hadn't cleared.


The saloon was duly decorated for Halloween, as Lynne had come prepared , much to the intrigue of a couple of American, new to Seawind, owners , who came to visit.

 Dinner that night at Royal Langkawi Yacht Club in honour of the occasion. The cancelled sailing plan  also allowed another opportunity to make sure that K'Gari's draft was a little deeper than the day before, as it still wasn't the 1st of November!

The saga of the dinghy tube covers

Ever since I have had K'Gari- in fact even before she was mine, I wanted the dinghy to have canvas covers on the hypalon floatation  tubes.

Ian, who had been on board last January for the trip up the Klias River, had told me about them when I was still in the ordering stage. I had asked for them to be supplied, but either it was forgotten or not understood, despite my explanation.

The result being that for some 17 months the hypalon has been exposed to the ravages of the equatorial sun. Looking at how quickly the sail ties deteriorated and the originally supplied fender ropes, it's a pretty savage sun.

The first time I left to go home I covered the dinghy with an all encompassing light weight cover that came with it. The result was not brilliant, as I failed completely with my first attempt to support the cover, to prevent it becoming, as it quickly did that very first night - an inbuilt swimming pool!

before the rain

after the first shower -instant swimming pool

How it should be done.

https://youtu.be/YVa-H7lID_c

Things improved after adding a supporting span underneath the cover to allow it to shed the water.

 When I had been in Langkawi in June, I had  made  tentative arrangements to get the tube covers I was after, commissioned next time I was in the area. There had not been enough guaranteed time to get it done on the first occasion. Late October , early November, I was assured would be fine. The company which came with the best recommendation for the work was located in Telega Harbour. So that was our destination the next morning, when we departed "the Fjord".

Arriving and anchoring outside, went ashore for a coffee and some pastries for brekky, at a cafe located conveniently close near by my ultimate destination.

 Of course the boss man "not in" , when we arrived , but an offsider thought it might be possible, but no guarantee and the boss would call me back when he got back in to the office. Oh sure! Of course they would need the dinghy for a few days to do the job.....understandable. Originally I had been told they had a substitute dinghy, I could borrow, so no problems there. It still meant we could go anchor around the islands if we wanted to.

Next stop was the marina at Telega , which would be the most convenient place to stop, if the work could be done. "No room in the inn".

Next plan. Fuel up at Telega, find out if Royal Langkawi had room- they did. Shift to Royal Langkawi!

By the time we had fuelled up it was close to 4pm, so we decided to stay the night at anchor. No phone call, needless to say.

Next morning relocated to Royal Langkawi. Organised a car for three days.

Following day, set out on our circuit exploration of the island. The first destination being the cable car at Telega. A quick stop over to  see if the boss had in fact returned, confirmed that no the covers weren't going to be possible, as" they were really pretty busy, and rather than say yes and let me down"..........So that was taken care of.

Just can't buy any decent wind.

We departed Penang at 0500 and arrived at 1635 in "the fjord" anchorage.
Being an optimist ,possibly sometimes, heaven forbid, being wrongly interpreted as "pig headed", we persevere with  the daily exercise of setting the sails.

However I just can't seem to buy any wind from the right direction.

At least the wind had now decreased to light Northerlys which , despite being on the nose again/still, at least keeps us cool.It was also pleasantly  overcast all day, with a low Northerly swell rolling through.
The jib is furled and unfurled several times a day depending on how much the wind swings.Most of it to be honest is "apparent wind", just caused by us motoring. The exercise however should help, (perhaps) - its good resistance training I'm sure, winding that winch handle.I definitely feel it in my stomach muscles, each time I return on board.

Snug as a bug in the anchorage, we lowered the dinghy and went for what is officially described as "fang", Checked out a few nearby potential anchorages, for other occasions and wind conditions.

In the meantime 'Lumbaz' had arrived - the family I mentioned before.This time I visited them, to find out their success or otherwise, at getting ashore from the Junk Anchorage at Penang.

The solution, which apparently worked,  was  sending a child ahead, to ask permission from the elderly Chinese man she encountered, to tie up the dinghy whilst the family went ashore to eat. Simple, perhaps I joked, all I need to do, is find a spare child! However perhaps, the child is not really necessary, I shall try it myself when K'Gari passes south again.

Penang. But how do you get ashore?

The next morning we heaved up anchor and set off for an anchorage in Penang harbour.

The weather gods were still not playing as they should.

This was extremely evident as we picked our way through hundreds of flags marking out the fishing nets of the local fishermen. Last time I had been in Penang on K'Gari, the fishermen were all at the northern end of the island, but the prevailing Northerly wind, had them all down the southern end now. South of the "new bridge". It was glassy calm and we motored, picking our way through as best we could, throwing the engine into neutral each time we passed over where we thought the net actually was , just in case! The trouble was finding the" pair" for the flag that you can identify as being at least one end of the net.
The fishermen seemed to be waving us through and no net, nor outraged fisherman followed us , so it was obviously successful.

On my previous transit north through Penang, I had missed the entrance to an anchorage off Jerejak Island. It's immediately after transiting under the new Bridge that I needed to alter course.

We did so and motored all the way to the very small Jabatan Laut Marina just south of the old bridge. It was obvious that there was "no room in the inn".
We had checked out the newly refurbished shore line on Penang Island on the way .Looks great , but no access.The bits where you may have been able to access - ie a sandy bit could be seen, then seemed to be fenced off from the 6 lanes of traffic , just the other side of the fence.

As both of us had been to Penang before , we weren't desperate (apart from the tonic crisis) to try a "break in". It would have been nice , but not essential. An afternoon nap seemed far more sensible.
We picked our way back through the half dozen dredges anchored between Jerejak and Penang Islands - obviously they were, or had been employed in the dredging /refurbishment that had occurred along the foreshore. All appeared to be Chinese registered. We saw none of them actually working whilst we were there, but at least three departed, so perhaps the job is done- although there is still a lot of dredging occurring at the north end of the island.

Back past the gigantic, but to us, inaccessible, Queensbay Mall shopping centre- undoubtedly fully airconditioned, but we will never know!
Anchored just off a  resort which is now on Jerejak Island. The reports I had read  say the holding is not good, but we had no problems, even when the evening squalls came through.
Jerejak's "European"  history is that of ,Quarantine Station,  prison island and a leper colony.
Now it seems to have a resort nestled on it on the Western side. The eastern side there is a ship building facility and many fish farms.
We were in fact anchored about half a mile upwind of fishfarm in our anchorage location.

Weather report meant we weren't going anywhere for a day or two,as the wind was increasing again from the North, so we spent the day, and until midday the next day, anchored off Jerejak.
Much to Lynne's continued amusement , I was still steadfastly working on the theory that the tidal run actually  changes three hours  either side of the tabulated times for  high or low water. So,  perhaps sometimes, it hasn't seemed quite an exact science, but that's nature!
Waiting until midday for the tide to be running to the north, ( and yes hooray , it actually was....) we then shifted to the Junk Anchorage- just off the main town. This anchoarge is where the Chinese trading junks used to anchor.It is just off the "clan jetties". Still very much inhabited by the famous Chinese  clans of long ago. Also anchored here are many small bunker barges, small coastal traders  and similar vessels.

Georgetown from the Junk Anchorage

We found a spot I was happy with and anchored. I noticed a German yacht nearby, despatch their dinghy towards the jetty and return with an extra body aboard, so launched our dinghy and rowed over to see if this was the way ashore?  The answer was sort of half promising , but I still wasnt convinced that this was where I could safely leave the dinghy- nor were they, which is why only one had gone ashore and the other had stayed on board.

Hmmm- still no tonic refurbishment!

Later that evening just on dusk another catamaran arrived and we had visitors for a short time,We had  meet before in Port Dickson, and they came across to enquire "how to get ashore"?
Having no answer for them, they set off in the dark , interestingly we didn't see them return. Great family, 4 children , 3 girls and the youngest, a boy. I had been really impressed with the kids in Port Dickson. Simple things ,such as when the rode their scooters down the wharf , they stopped and lifted the scooter over my electrical cable,  which due to the layout of the wharf I had no option but to run  across the jetty finger. The girls were all multi lingual ( several european languages), I think from memory the youngest daughter  had 7?, and I struggle with English!  

Superstar Libra- destination "High Seas" so must be currently  on the gambling run .
One of the two  constantly crossing ferries across to Butterworth on the mainland, is the blue thing.

Lynne ,checking the weather,looking for a recipe,or FBing ??

The weather report had improved and we left the next morning at 0500- yes, the tide, the tide !

As it turns out all three of the yachts left, making their way to Langkawi.

Lynne and I have made a great  team , at this getting underway in the dark routine. It just happens. Made  far easier now  by the fact that we now have small UHF radios , which I brought up from Oz. We don't have to shout, thus not really worrying about waking up anyone else around us, as Lynne relays to me the position and amount of anchor chain heaved up.
Would have been handy up the forestay when I was aloft too. Just need to find another couple of hands, for hanging on, doing the job and using the radio to relay the hoist or lower message!

Midnight waterfall feature- goodness me, this boat has it all.

Anchored as we were off Rimau Island, yet another location from where, one of the never ending spectator sports , is watching  the approaching planes coming in to land at Penang, it being time to turn I checked the cockpit over to make sure that all was secure.The winch handles inside , the safety wires in place at the top of either access from the water, just the routine stuff, especially as there had been another fishing boat, just drifting around, as we had arrived.
We had even dined with the red "mood" lights on, in the cockpit and in the saloon, just because it makes it that little bit harder to identify who and possibly how many people may be on board, if anyone is really that interested.

General rule of thumb on the boat is, if you open a hatch (window) you are responsible for closing it. At night, when I'm on board alone, the other side is completely locked down, as is my side, other than actually in my cabin.  When somebody else is occupying the other side, they are looking after their own side.

Final words before turning in, were  that in the circumstances, just make sure the hatches are in fact locked. Especially the one above the stove which opens out from the side of the hull.The ones into the galley and cabins are located in the  deck head . We checked the big windows in the saloon were shut, and various snapping sounds were the other locks being activated.

At some stage during the night an almighty thunderstorm ,with rain and lightning and wind moved through, from the SW. This left us a tad exposed on a lee shore. I was up to check if we were dragging, and could hear water. It sounded like a water fall.

It was a waterfall!
The deck head galley hatch was open to the heavens.
Lynne had realised as well, and was in the process of securing the hatch. All in all, no damage done, Just water to be mopped away. The galley deck need a wash any way - just not in the middle of the night!

That's the second deluge we have copped during the night on K'Gari, to add to the christening washdown I experienced enroute from Nha Trang in my cabin.

Lucky its a boat, but the water is supposed to stay on the outside!

We now have a voyage theme song, with no apologies to Willie Nelson- "On the nose again, wind'll be on the nose again"

Having failed to secure replenished tonic water supplies, it was back on board.
We decided to wait until just before dusk to secure the dinghy back on the davits, as there was a bit more swell pushing through the bay than earlier and there were still a multitude of jet skiers and tourist boats passing by , at close distance, because they can I guess ,combined with the usual human natured inquisitiveness .

As the passing tourist traffic began to dwindle, we waited for the sea to drop down at dusk, when the breeze would drop off- supposedly.

Right on dusk we decided to move anchorage to tuck a little further inside a projecting outcrop of headland.
Nothing like a last minute change of location. Apparently it's not the first time in Lynne's long boating experience.

So we shifted about half a mile, re-anchored, secured the dinghy in far less choppy conditions, and settled down for the evening.

Next morning it seemed pretty calm, the forecast was still for 15 kt Northerlys but allegedly, increasing further in a couple of days. It was another 60 odd mile hop to the southern end of Penang.The worst case scenario being, it would take a long time to get there, if the weather really did kick in.
So in the calm of an 0500 anchor heave, we decided to 'give it a go' and wait out the next blow around Penang, if need be.
At sunrise it was looking good enough to set the sails. Even I can't call them sunshades when the sun is only just rising from behind the Cameron Highlands.
That worked until 0900, when , yep , the breeze was plumb on the nose.

The theme song  for the trip has rapidly become "On the nose again,  wind will be on the nose again",  to the tune of a vaguely similarly named song  by Willie Nelson.

Wind did actually increase throughout the afternoon and admittedly it wasn't the fastest or most comfortable passage to cover the 60 odd miles, but by 1930 -just after dark we anchored in a small bay on the southern side of Rimau Island under the lighthouse. It was flat calm in there- for a while! The anchorage I had wanted to go to, was occupied by a fishing boat when we arrived, so I took the next best option, which was perfect in the northerly wind- which didn't last!

Away we go- but alas the revelation of what we forgot to get when provisioning, becomes clear......

An easy 'motor' sail to the anchorage outside Port Klang.
It was a tad lumpy upon our immediate exit from Admiral Marina, but that quickly settled down. Hoisted both the sunshades,  the main and the jib, and settled down.

Routines develop pretty quickly, especially when everyone has  a grasp of what's going on.
The first and most important routine decision is, who is going to snooze first?
A quick basic run through the different 'pages' of the chart plotter, that  I could remember , the how to go in and out of autopilot, how to cancel alarms, how to make sure the gori prop is in "overdrive", etc and it was already time for that first nap!

The lead up to departing from  Australia, making sure I have everything, actually getting to the airport, confirming I haven't gone over the baggage limit- not that I haven't checked this a gazillion times already- the last few days of activity since arriving in Port Dickson, combined with the movement of K'Gari and the heat of the day, make it really very hard to stay awake..........

Arrived on time and budget at the anchorage off Port Klang. A totally successful first day.

The next leg to Pangkor was about 90 odd miles, so allowing for our usual economical 5 kts motor/ sailing progression rate,  it would be  about an 18 hour day. As you can see I'm no longer expecting 8-10 knot sailing speed, I'm becoming accustomed  ,to the "the prevailing circumstances and conditions", of cruising in low equatorial latitudes.

As  luck would have it, although perhaps that wasn't what Lynne was actually thinking at the time, the tide running North, would help us in the first few hours, if we left at, oh, let's say, about 0130 !!!

Guess who was awake then? Both of us, once I had made enough noise making coffee!

Practically, I can if necessary,  heave the anchor unassisted , but the noise as the chain comes in and the wash down pump running, and the electric winch, would wake anybody - except perhaps, my teenage nephew.

My preference for arriving or departing anchorages is, that I'm happy to depart in the dark, I always have the escape course noted down , once we have  arrived safely, but prefer to arrive at anchorages in daylight. That hadn't  happened too often- well once I think, on the way north last time, so I planned to try harder this time to get the timings right.

Skipper awake and  up,  means its time everyone is, even if only briefly, whilst we get underway.
So it was.....

Knowing the waters for the passage ahead this time, also helped as, I knew that the fishing fleet which I expected to encounter about 20 miles to the north,  would then be found around about dawn, and probably heading home with their catch, instead of randomly trawling around innocent yachts making their way north.

Sure enough, that was how the cunning plan panned out. Daylight just makes it so much easier to manoeuvre around and 'through' the fishing boat fleets.
Lynne reappeared about daylight and I retired for a wee snooze.

On time and again on budget, we anchored off Pangkor town on the Eastern side of the island, with the last of the daylight, just in time for the  "duelling" mosques calls to prayer.

First anchorage at Pangkor

Pleasantly surprised by the total lack of mosquitoes, and the prevailing breeze during the night, until a thunderstorm moved through about 0430. Up of course, to check we weren't dragging the anchor.

The forecast for the run north had not been looking all that encouraging when we left Port Dickson after the first two days- which was now.  No wind followed by Northerly winds up to 15-20 kts. This would be right on the nose again.

Which weather god have I offended?

The plan so far executed precisely, was to get to Pangkor and there we could wait and see how the forecast had updated.
There were anchorages either side of the island depending on what developed. There is also a marina which I've heard rave reviews about for being able to get boats lifted out of the water for work. Its also a good place to access the Cameron Highlands from I've been told. So plenty of options.

The forecast appeared to have toned down a bit, but was probably going to at best, mean hanging around for at least two days.

Rang the yard to see if there was there was remotest chance of a lift out over the next couple of days. If there was, I could change the saidrive oil and the anodes again. After a quick chat with the very helpful manager James, who was just getting on a plane himself for the weekend, I decided to abandon this idea , as it was a lift mechanism I hadn't encountered before and I think it will take some under hull photos to the yard first, to see if their system will be ok for my particular boat, on perhaps another occasion. I know they gets cats out there, but it seems dependent on the underhull configuration.

Decision made, we relocated to Teluk Nipah on the western side of the island. Here I figured there were enough protected anchorages from the north or the south depending on which way it blew.

https://youtu.be/pYjsWLtk8a0

Enroute as we approached the northern end of Pangkor Laut, we copped the down draft from an inbound helicopter- looked very official to us. The resort (luxury) in the notes I had, said yachties not welcome. I have since read in the latest addition of the SE Asia Pilot (2016), that the management are hospitable and it has great restaurants and spas, if you have money to splurge!




As the water was a bit clearer in Teluk Nipah than at the marina in Port Dickson , I was again in the water - having a squizz and gave the hull a quick clean off. Didn't seem to bad, but it's still really a bit of a touch and feel inspection, rather than 20/20 vision.

Mounted the outboard on the dinghy and gave it a whirl, worked perfectly, if a bit smokily, as it burnt the oil off, which meant we could whizz ashore without rowing and get some lunch and or dinner as desired.
Lunch turned out to be somewhat forgettable kuey teow goreng, with a child waiter who has obviously studied keenly at the Basil Fawlty school of service. It must be the only thing in his life, he has studied keenly, I suspect.

The second and far more pressing need was tonic water!
The provisioning in Port Dickson had been fine, except for the complete failure to remember to get tonic water.
Alas the 7/11 inconvenience store didn't have any.
RATIONING was going to be the order of the next few days until we could restock. Loads of gin, just not loads of  tonic, or bitter lemon, or anything really.....

So the first to be subjected to rationing - by unilateral decision was Buffy! Perhaps then we would have enough tonic to make it through until replenishment could be accomplished.

October 17th : Not a manifesto, instead, I return to find........

No hideous surprises this time!

Arrived back on board about 10pm after departing Brisbane at 1245pm.
A very quick transfer through Singapore and onwards to Kuala Lumpur. Waiting for us, was the ever immaculately coiffed and attired Sashi, to transport us the 50mins back to Port Dickson, and hopefully the waiting K'Gari !

I had in fact received a call from the Marina about a week after I had left her. At 6pm on a Sunday evening  and just as I was on my way to work. My heart was in my mouth, as I saw the number was a Malaysian number.What had happened?

As it turns out ,nothing awful.

They were phoning me, to report that they had just noticed that my airconditioner was running. Phew! I explained I had left it running at intervals of about 9 hrs , for one hour periods, to de humidify the boat. I thanked them profusely for the call, and was really very pleased they had rung, as it indicated they were actually keeping an eye on things for me. I guess it had, until then, just been the luck of the draw that they hadn't passed K'gari when the a/c was running. Now I knew that they were keeping an eye on her, it helped make my  intervening absence easier.
When I had left her before in Kota Kinabalu, it was on a finger ,with live aboard expats, many of whom had my Aussie contact details.Admiral Marina , being far smaller , only seemed to have transient boats passing through, with the exception of a guy on a trimaran, but he was often away himself for work.

The  return, found K'gari exactly where I had left her, but perhaps a tad trimmed by the stern. This was because some numpty (aka me), had left the bung in the dinghy and the rain had just stayed in the dinghy.
That could easily be  rectified in daylight in the morning.However  the most important thing to rectify immediately, was the pre pump filter mesh  for the air con. After 16 weeks, it was in a state of minor  decay. I went to replace it with a new one and alas I had obviously used my last home manufactured filter when I left.

the originally supplied mesh after exactly 10 days-Joke!

I have been home manufacturing them , after the first one , installed by 'mystery person' yet to be determined, had obviously been done with mild steel mesh. This had  started to disintegrate within 10 days, so I sourced some stainless mesh in KK and have been making my own ever since. With care they last 3 months or more, but as the one I had just removed had not been touched,let alone cleaned in 16 weeks, it was beyond repair really. Just the job at 10pm, after travelling all day and temperature in mid 30's with high humidity. The initial one that night, was rough but , its still going fine.

might be home made but at least its stainless and lasts!

Moral of the story- always have a spare made up ready to go, when leaving the boat for any period of time unattended.

Whilst I was manufacturing the mesh to insert into the filter, my companion for this leg of the journey, Lynne, was busy shifting some bits and pieces.  Finding her cabin and more to the point, her mattress covered in  "stuff" that needed to be moved. The jib, the dingy oars, all the cockpit seat cushions, the lifebouys, and various other useful bits of gear, but somewhat lumpy and really not necessary for a nights sleep.All stowed there, as I was putting K'Gari to bed, back in June.

Airconditioning up and running, cabin cleared, no ice,(couldn't be bothered walking the 10minutes up to the bar to ask for some) but I'm pretty  sure I  recall there was cold  tonic in the fridge. Yes, bravely I had left the fridge running- NOT the freezer as well.Not this time.!
 What goes with tonic- oh well, better make it gin, hold the ice and lime!

The morning after. Slight stern trim caused by about 300lts of fresh water in dinghy!

Travelled thousands of kms for this brekky!

The next day started with, brekky, roti canai of course,( Lynne's introduction to this very filling and tasty breakfast) up the road, some minimal shopping. Followed by de bagging of the props and very quick clean of the seawater  inlets. The marina water had been much clearer when I placed the bags on in June.

Next day it was time to bend on the jib again, and refire the engines.Almost got it right first time! Just forgot to open the fuel cock on the first engine. I realised just as it gave the first "I'm starving" splutter . Shut down,opened the fuel, a quick prime just in case and refired. Both engines checked out ok, no leaks, everything appeared fine!

Before we could bend on the jib there was the small issue of another one of those damn grubscrews , which looked as though it was trying to escape, being refixed.

I went aloft using the mps halyard,with Lynne controlling the ascent and descent from the main deck.  Last time I had been up the forestay the jib had been in place and I was able to use it to balance myself , using my toes on either side of the unfurled jib during the hoisting up and down.This time there was no jib, so it was just a case of wrapping my legs , elegantly of course,  around the forestay, and with deference to  my dear departed mum, this is possibly the only other time,  where it is acceptable for a woman to cross her legs- in fact imperative I would say! So legs locked around the forestay and each other, I was hoisted aloft. Grub screw reseated,quick check of the rest and it was back to the deck- a place I much prefer, no matter how nice the view is 18m up in the sky!

Replaced the Profurl locking cap, which had gone mysteriously missing.Luckily there are two, and only one appears not to have been locked in place correctly.There is no way it could have been installed correctly- even Profurl said they just can't fall out, if they were installed  and locked in place, as per the rigging instructions. I certainly hadn't touched it, so there is really only one explanation. Upon closer inspection, I  found that another bit of the installation had been rigged upside  down- its not rocket science, but a little more care and attention to detail would be  nice. Perhaps the assigned assembler  in Vietnam, had been having a bad day, as the grubscrews clearly hadn't been 'loctited' in either ( see earlier post). However no harm done, the forestay hadn't collapsed, and I had been able to procure replacement part in Australia, as it had been noticed by Steve when we arrived at Pangkor,  back in June, that it was in fact missing. Hence I had been able to procure and bring back with me the missing locking cap- now correctly installed and locked into place.

Roti Tisu , iced lemon tea ,Lynne @ Port Dickson

Found the time for the  check out formalities from  Port Dickson, as well as introducing Lynne to  Roti Tisu.
Provisioned  K'gari for about a week, with only one major omission, as it turned out.

We departed the next morning for Pt Klang to anchor for the night.

We are underway! Let the adventure resume.

The second year begins : Langkawi to Port Dickson ; June 2016

Family arrived on the 17th June.

The intervening  home alone time had been occupied with the initial dozen blog posts being created.
Each night the predictable squalls - up to 30 kts some evenings, came rushing down the mountainous terrain along with the rain- the days were hot and humid. Writing the blog was the ideal way to spend the days, not to mention, fun, remembering all the adventures to date.

Now however, it was time to move again.

A repeat tour around the island, but this time including a trip up the cable car. Having done various cable cars around the world, I was admittedly in two minds about this one. Definitely worth it. A view all over Langkawi and up into Thailand.

not really doing the steepness justice, but there it is, looking down on Telega 

Revisit Kraf Complex Langkawi, where it seems I'm now recognised as a regular visitor by the batik man. I purchased a couple of small batik hangings the first time, Ros and Peter also purchased one. This time another purchase, Jo was as taken with them as we had been, and decided upon a beautiful reef scene.- it looks fabulous now it's been hung.

Back on board and I changed the sw impeller on the starboard engine,now that an O ring had come in with my new crew, and we were ready to set off south.

The decision that I had eventually arrived at, was to take K'Gari back south to Port Dickson to lay up , whilst I returned to Australia once again.

Steve likes to sail, Jo had wanted to do "a passage, including perhaps some overnight sailing", as she never had. Chris didn't have much choice, but it would, hopefully, be a fun  experience for him.

Now if you have been paying attention to the blog thus far , what may have stood out, is the complete lack of wind, which means a lot of milage is done , "motor sailing".

Early in my new "cruising life" I appreciated that when cruising, the worst thing you can do, is set deadlines- that's when it could get nasty, making decisions under pressure. Jo had booked their 'plane tickets to and from Langkawi, as at the time that was where I had planned to leave K'Gari. Needs must however, and now I was returning to Port Dickson. Jo had managed to change her tickets, at no penalty, to joining the return flight in Kuala Lumpur.
All we had to do was cover the 300 odd miles in the same easy hops I had done on the way north.

Hmmm- what could go wrong with that plan?
The alternative scenario  to no wind, is  "wind on the nose". This we were about to encounter!  There had literally been no wind for three months and now, as it turned out it would be strong and  "on the nose"

Left Royal Langkawi , and an easy motor sail to "the fjord" anchorage. A magnificently secure from any of direction of the wind anchorage, found in what appears to be a cleft in a mountain, but is actually between two islands.

another seawind - Thomas from Pei Pei arrived in" the fjord"

Tucked away for the night safely,we had basically left the boat open, (but fully flyscreened) when we turned in. That was a bit of a mistake.About 2am, with no warning- because the wind didn't precede it, in our safe snug anchorage, the deluge hit.The roar as the rain approached was amazing, loud enough to give me 30 secs advance warning. Perhaps the roar of the approaching rain had been magnified by the echo chamber properties of the gorge, which we had checked out the previous evening whilst at anchor, the gorge echoing to cooee calls.
Trying to shut down the cabin hatches and more importantly the huge windows of the saloon, before the boat was completely inundated, was somewhat exciting, not to mention wet! Chris, being a teenager, slept through the pelting rain, despite it coming in almost horizontally!

This piloting under bridges is a synch!

The next morning we set off and had  good run down to the northern end of Penang Island, sailing and motor sailing, and another pleasant overnight anchorage.Not an early start the next day as we were going to try to carry the tide through. Well that was the plan , but it didn't seem to have changed by the time I had calculated it would , A windless, motor down through Penang Harbour and under the bridges and clear by 1300.

Buffy needing steering practise, took us under the bridges!

Work out the clearance.Line her up.....

Good positioning but getting  nervous-but still got all nine lives left!
33m bridge clearance  - 19m mast height = heaps.  Hmmm, is now a good time to wonder how high the tide is at the moment???

relax!- no  probs Cap'n

 Then at last some wind, light and just enough to sail, a little too close on the nose , but cooling at the very least. It kept increasing to 20-22kts and from the south- this is not what had been planned for!
Soon enough the sea state pretty well made motoring a waste of fuel issue. So we reefed down the main, putting 2 reefs in and settled down to beat our way to Pangkor.
Well at this rate, Jo was going to get her night sail  experience  in!

Steve and I split the watches between us and Chris stayed up with me until he had had enough and Jo was going to offside Steve on his watches. Chris saw the delights of night sailing for the first time. The difficulty in trying to see through binoculars, when standing on a moving platform with a height of eye of about 2-3 meters, exactly what the lights of the fishing fleet, who were all around us, were actually indicating. He quickly got the hang of which ones to really  look out for- those on the starboard side especially, and how to judge visually, if they were likely to cross ahead or astern of us.
I showed him the basic concepts of how  the chart plotter and the radar worked, a bit at a time is the easiest way to grasp it all.

This is what an approaching Sumatra squall looks like on the radar.- the pink part is the rain. We are reefed down in anticipation  and still sailing at 8.5kts

The next morning 24 hours after leaving the Penang anchorage, we arrived in Pangkor and anchored once again in Teluk Nipah bay. We had tacked our way south, covering 121 miles, to make the 66 that it would have been in a straight line!
Spent the day at anchor and the next morning departed. The plan had been to stop overnight at Port Klang, but the wind was still not co-operating so in the end we  just kept going, tacking south, until the wind eased enough to make motoring a better proposition arriving off Port Dickson about 30 minutes to late to go alongside there and then.
Next morning the 24th, we berthed and it was time to start bedding K'Gari down again.

I had suggested to Jo, that they go down to Melaka stay overnight, and then proceed from there directly to KLIA to catch their flight. Whilst she was arranging some accommodation on the 25th, for the night of the 26th, it dawned on me, that I had lost 24hrs in my estimated time for putting K'Gari to rights before going home  myself.
The next two days were BUSY. This time the freezer would be completely defrosted and turned off- never again the potential disaster of leaving it on. Problem was with only 36 hrs left it would be touch and go.Its a great freezer- believe me!

Finished off the final clean  and shut down checks about 0900 on the 27th. My prearranged transport to KLIA , the wonderful Sashi, and his beautiful airconditioned car, was due at 1000.Phew , just in time!
Sashi had taken Peter,Ros and myself to Melaka, months ago, and picked us up again. I suggested to Jo, that it was the easiest way for them to get to Melaka, she decided it was as well. The following morning when he picked me up to take me to the airport for my mid afternoon flight , he told me that after dropping me at KLIA he was back to Melaka to pick them up for their evening flight. Lucky I kept his number following  the first experience!

Leaving K'Gari for 14 weeks this time, hopefully to return to no disasters.......