Langkawi sightseeing and Xmas

We are in Kuah town, Bass Harbour moored at the lovely Royal Langkawi yacht club. The facilities are great with 2 restaurants, swimming pool, chandler and a walk from the centre of town.

Yesterday we celebrated xmas eve with a trip to the top of the cable car 705m above sea level. It was pretty scarry and I closed my eyes at times..The suspension bridge was even more freaky and after Eric, Ryan and Maya had crossed, it took me 10mins to get the courage to do the same. I never looked down, just straight ahead and prayed. Particularly when there was movement!

There was an animal park at the bottom of the gondola's with a tiger, elephant rides, deer and small petting animals

 The monkeys are everywhere as you walk along the road..

Last night we ate out at a local restaurant and did some last minute shopping..
After opening presents and santa stockings this morning, we had breakfast at the yacht club...Then stocked up with booze..24 cans of skol beer cost 32MR ($10.50AUD) 1L Gordons gin 40MR ($13AUD) The cans of sprite were more expensive than beer!!

Now we're heading for the pool to cool down, then lunch at the restaurant, probably a siesta, then a farewell dinner prior to Ryan and Maya's departure at 2100hrs for Kuala Lumpar, then onwards to Vancouver via Changhai

We wish you all a very Merry Xmas

Penang to Langkawi

Leaving Penang we had favourable winds and for the first time since leaving Johor Bahru and sailed the majority of the trip under sail alone.. BUT it made our arrival time at the marine reserve of Palau Paya too early! (Murphy sure does hide around every corner)

With some long tacks and reduced sail we watched some amazing electrical storms over Sumatra arriving on day break. The anchorage was exposed to the weather but we tied up to a marine reserve bouy and had some sleep.

Ryan and Maya went ashore in the kayaks and did some snorkelling. They said the water was clear and there were prolific numbers of small tropical fish.

After a lunch of BBQ duck and salad we set off for Langkawi, BUT where did the wind go? The motor is running yet again!

We motored through the spectacular fiords and anchored for the night at Teluk Dayang Bunting

The next morning we went ashore to the National Park to see the "Lake of the pregnant maiden"

It is attibuted to the legend of a lovely elfin princess who married an earthly prince. Her first child died shortly after birth. She was so sad and depressed that she buried the child in the crystal clear waters of the lake. Before she returned to her celestial abode, she blessed the waters so that any childless maiden who bathed in the lake would conceive thereafter

 These monkeys were really switched on. The slightest noise of a plastic bag had them on full alert for food which would excite them to "attack mode"

We are now berthed at the Royal Langkawi yacht club ready to see the sights and enjoy the spirit of Xmas

Port Klang to Georgetown,Penang

On Saturday the 18th we set off bound for Palau Paya, a little marine reserve island 20nm from Langkawi. We had a great tidal flow to our advantage and flat seas.. 6 hrs into our trip we were radioed by a yacht asking for a tow back into Port Klang as they had engine problems....What a dilemma..We wanted to keep going while the conditions were good but couldn't refuse assisting another yachtie. So we towed them 15nm back to an anchorage and Eric organised a friend of ours to drop by and have a look at the problem. Dave is a mechanical engineer and he and his wife Fran were a few miles behind us..The Polish couple were extremely grateful as not only did they get  a tow but their engine fixed as well

By the time we got back on track conditions were not as favourable and eventually with strong winds and squalls on the nose we pulled the plug so to speak and diverted into Penang.

The straits between Penang and the mainland were a maze of fishing boats and nets which we had to negotiate..The busiest we have encountered so far.

After going under the Penang bridge we entered the Tanjong city marina in Georgetown.

 

We enjoyed exploring the town which is steeped with more than two centuries of unique history and heritage, enjoyed the food and caught up with some past cruising friends.

The food was a mixed cuisine of Chinese, Indian and Malay and Thai

This man is cutting up a duck we ordered..Eric's favoutite

This sign amused us

This afternoon we are underway again for the islands south of Langkawi which are 50nm away. The wind is still in the direction we are going but the seas are flat so hopefully we will have a quiet trip arriving just before dawn and be able to tie up alongside the wharf next to the marine reserve area.

Birthday celebrations at Port Klang

Today we celebrated Maya's birthday with a day out to Kuala Lumpar which is Malaysia's largest and capital city with a population of 1.8 million. The greater KL area is 7.2 million...We hired a taxi and driver for the day and went to view the city from 88 floors up from the Petronis twin towers. These towers are the tallest twin towers in the world but their height is surpassed by the Taipei 101 tower. The total height to the top of the spire is 451m. Unfortunately we could not go to the observation deck as it was booked out for the day, but we had a nice lunch and peruse of the massive shopping mall followed by a walk through the park with fountains and pools.

This birthday flower candle opened up from a bud when lit and played the happy birthday melody

Tomorrow we set off for Pangkor, 95nm north. We hope to get some easterly winds so that we can sail and gets some miles behind us

Water Islands to Port Klang

On day 4 we left the Water Islands for Port Klang.

Along the way we experienced a second fuel blockage of the journey despite spending much of the previous day de-clogging the diesel lines.  We discovered Erica was infected by her first-ever diesel bug. 

Diesel is an organic fuel so it provides an ideal environment for microscopic fungi, yeast and bacteria to feed and grow.  A single cell, weighing only one millionth of a gram can grow to a biomass of 10 kilograms in just 12 hours, resulting in a biomass several centimetres thick across the fuel/water interface.

Together we took turns removing the infested diesel from the affected tank by transferring it to the second running tank using several of Cathy’s nylons as a filter. 

We took shelter from the headwinds and sloppy seas behind a slow-going coal barge and tug while we performed the difficult work onboard.

Once that was completed, it was then time to wash out the empty tank with loads of fresh, hot, soapy water in the remaining daylight hours while maintaining our course.

We managed to have another wonderful meal prepared by Cathy and rotated watch into the night and into the morning.  It was difficult to navigate around the myriad of fishing boats, flagged nets and white buoys often indicating several metres of nets.

During night watch, an incredible electrical storm entertained us, coupled with the fright of getting tangled in nets and running parallel with the enormous vessels in the shipping lane.

We sailed into Port Klang with squalls of up to 35 knots and near white-out conditions.  We had to pull in the genoa as we approached the marina. We were greeted by Marina, a friendly little monkey. 

 

Ryan also made friends with a local fish he apprehended with his bare hands out of the water.  As we looked on in disbelief, the fish promptly decided to bite his forearm and escaped.   

After flying some early Christmas-present remote-control helicopters and eating a delicious birthday barbeque, we cranked up the stereo onboard and watched Spartacus.

We were the only visitors berthed for the night. 

We still intend to make it to Langkawi before Christmas, but anticipate a steady, but slow pace an additional 200 or so nautical miles north of our current position.

Johor Bahru to Malacca

We said goodbye to our friends in Danga Bay on Sunday morning and set off for the Malaysian west coast.  Despite light headwinds and incoming tide, the motor managed to keep us chugging along at a steady pace along the Johor Straits.  We went under the Tuas bridge with not much to spare, which connects Malaysia and Singapore.

Exiting Johor Straits, we turned north to carry on up the Malacca Straits.  Here we navigated a route amongst massive cargo ships and plenty of fishing nets that were poorly marked. 

We decided to continue throughout the night to take advantage of a slackened headwind.  AIS showed the seas shared with plenty of others in the darkness.

We tried to keep behind this barge and tow as the wake was smoother and wind less but he was doing a knot faster than us and slowly pulled away. We suggested Ryan throw our anchor into the back of the tug for a deisel free passage.

Day two presented us with a little wind to play with, so we put the sails up to gain a bit more speed.  It was nice to turn the engine off for an hour or two.  A little wolf herring decided to jump onboard to join us for a few moments.  Unfortunately, nothing big enough for us to eat.

We are currently anchored amongst the Water Islands.  Our friend, Jerry the gecko, had lost its tail in fright but will be set free on the beach once the outboard motor is fixed.

The forecast is to remain relatively the same and so we will set off again tomorrow morning with hopes of reaching Penang and Langkawi by the end of the week.  We plan to carry on through the night once more.

Langkawi bound

I'm writing this before the sun comes up and before the shipmates wake..We are delighted to have Ryan and Maya aboard for the next 2 weeks. We met them in Singapore off their early flight and did some sightseeing while they slept

We caught a bus and stopped at Raffles hotel but it was too early for anything to be open but we had to prove we'd been there.. No cocktail in the bar I'm afraid

The Singapore observation wheel is pretty amazing with great views of the city

We enjoyed the spectacular architectureof the newly built Marina Sands hotel and strolled through the lobbies of the 3 towers

We bought fresh supplies at the local market yesterday with help from Maya and Ryan and will set sail shortly down the Johor straits and out into the Singapore straits