Malaysia - PD to Langkawi

8 December 2005

One day sail took us to Port Klang where we anchored for a night next to the German yacht Freedom Fargo. It was stinking hot. We spent our days in a damp sweat and the nights were awful, especially when it rained as it seemed to do every night and we had to close all the hatches! There was a lot of rain about, in the form of short, sharp, vicious squalls. It was what they call the ‘monsoon’ and we got awfully sick of it.

The next day we continued northwards.  The Malacca Strait widened considerably from here onwards and sailing was generally less stressful. However, in the middle of that night our prop stopped spinning. Mike actually thought it might have fallen off and we spent a miserable night thinking we had a hugely expensive problem to solve. Fortunately, a little wind sprang up so we could continue by sail.  Later that night, during my watch naturally, we had a near run in with a fishing boat that wouldn’t move out of the way and I misread his red light as a port light. Adrenalin pumping stuff, as I couldn’t alter course being already as close to the wind as I could get but he moved at the last minute, thank God! We limped slowly but perfectly into the anchorage at Pangkor Island the next morning, as always dead proud of ourselves. To Mike’s relief, the problem was only a large plastic sack, tightly wound into the prop, which he spent a whole morning cutting away.

X marks our anchor

On the green lawns beyond this beautiful beach were an old house and disused restaurant and bar on stilts. We thought it an ideal place to buy and just settle down, making a bare living selling beer, sandwiches and ice cream and renting out bikes and kayaks. Sense got the better of us, sadly.

A day later we left and did an overnighter to the island of Penang. It continued blisteringly hot, there were lots of thunderstorms bringing rain almost every day. Though the Strait was choked with fishing boats, we caught absolutely nothing on our lines.

We anchored at Junk Anchorage off Georgetown next to Freedom Fargo and met Alf, a single hander. Getting to land from the yacht required taking the dinghy into the edge of Chinatown (built on stilts at the edge of the water), climbing up a ladder and walking right through dozens of these tiny slum dwellings, generally full of people. They just stared at us without curiosity and we gave up greeting them or apologising though we were embarrassed and went in as little as possible.

Water bus between the island and mainland

One day we took a bus through town and then the Funicular Railway up to the top of Penang Hill. In the coach with us was a young woman in a jet black burqa, heavy thick material which covered everything except her hands and a veil covering her face except the eyes, which were darkened with kohl and extraordinarily beautiful. Despite the appalling heat, her demeanour was cool and tranquil.  I felt hot just looking at her, which I tried not to do, though Mike felt no such qualms and couldn't take his eyes off her. She was accompanied by a man wearing pale khaki slacks and a white short sleeved cotton shirt.

Penang Hill

Malaysia was quite marvellous, with incredible ethnic, religious and culinary diversity, beautiful green countryside and ultra modern skyscraper cities. I found it very exotic, particularly all the different temples and mosques.

Buddhist

Hindu

Muslim

Our last port of call in Malaysia was the island of Langkawi.  After an overnight sail through a terrific storm we anchored off the main town of Kuah, on the south of the island.  There are dozens of good anchorages all around this island and it is very popular with the cruising community.  Food and (particularly) beer are cheap and many boats just stay here - for years! We met up with Moonshadow and Freedom Fargo again and met Boris and Lisbeth on the Swedish yacht Li.  We liked the town of Kuah and spent a pleasant time there, though it continued to rain often.  The heavy rains and often cloudy skies did make things slightly cooler.

Kuah

We managed a little touring; the Oriental Village, touristy but lovely, and took a ride up the cable car - spectacular views of the island.  On Christmas Eve, we moved out of Kuah and sailed up to Telaga harbour on the north west coast.  We spent three nights in the new marina which was nice and reasonable, but unfortunately miles away from anything.  In the marina complex there were various tourist shops and a small store for essential, but expensive, groceries.

Telaga Marina

New friends Boris and Lisbeth on Li were also in the marina. Christmas was very un-Christmassy, a pot luck barbeque on the beach with a bunch of strangers. The anchorage off the beach in this stunning location was quiet, safe and very sociable so we moved out and stayed a few more days.  I could see why boats ended up staying so long here. 

Before heading off to Thailand we shared a taxi with another couple to go shopping in Kuah.