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!