A circumnavigation of the island of Langkawi (Malaysia) has surpassed our expectations. Nowhere near as crowded or built up as Phuket, and it has a lot to offer. On the minus side the water isn’t clear so we haven’t been swimming much; cloudy water tends to have more little jelly fish which give nettle-like prickles. G has been in to do his regular clean-up of the propeller which in this warm water has grown pea-sized barnacles in just a couple of weeks. The hull’s antifouling works well, but we haven’t yet found anything that stays on the prop for more than a week or two.
We have done a lot of dinghy exploration. On the east coast of the island is an inlet known as The Hole in the Wall. A narrow entrance between cliffs broadens to a sheltered anchorage with lots of mangrove channels off it. The combination of mangroves and steep forested cliffs and rocky outcrops is a haven for wildlife. The large white breasted sea eagle is the emblem of the island, and there are lots around, very recognisable with their bright reddish brown backs. They glide in circles in the thermals then suddenly swoop down to pick up fish in their claws with hardly a splash. They do get fed for the benefit of tourists, a practice we don’t really approve of, but seeing a dozen or more swooping for little bits of fish is quite a sight.
There are monkeys living in the jungle growth, and in the evenings at low tide they came down to the little bit of rocky beach near our boat to pick at shells on the rocks, using sticks as levers.
We had read that it was possible to dinghy through a passage to a bay on the north side of the island, a cut having been made in the rock to connect bits of waterways. On the way it passed right through a cave and the first time we attempted it the tide was very low and still going out and we didn’t want to get stranded, the second time it was too high and we couldn’t get through the cave, (spring tides at the moment). Third time better calculated, and we got as far as the cut then decided to turn back as we were getting low on fuel. The last bit was covered the other day when we had moved round to the northerly bay. Tick that one off now!
The whole area is a wonderful breeding ground for fish and sea life in general, and there are quite a few fish farms, mostly with small floating restaurants attached which cater for the lunchtime launch tour visits. We arranged to eat ‘dinner’ at one, but at 5.30 as he was closing at 6o’clock. Had a group of customs men as company, their patrol boat tied up next to our little dinghy – two huge outboards making ours look very puny. We are pretty close to the Thai border, and have noticed radar on lighthouses too. The prawns we had with fried rice were large, fresh, sweet and delicious but we had to eat fairly quickly as an extremely dark and ominous cloud was looming and thunder and lightning were getting closer. Back to the boat to close hatches and let out more anchor chain …….but nothing much happened. A few loud crashes of thunder, some wind, and not enough rain to collect.
The wet season will soon be here, and most evenings we get a bit of rain. Have been collecting enough to wash clothes but haven’t had a real downpour for a while. It is hot and humid most of the time, and a cloudy day is welcome. Our on board thermometer doesn’t ever go above 26C but we reckon it is more like 34C most days. In fact the last bucket filling downpour was a couple of weeks ago and accompanied by a squall. We have had no high winds for weeks, and suddenly had 40 knots blowing. Left it too late for taking down the sun awning, and we had to cut the lines as it was getting more ripped every second. What a mess. It took us days and quite a lot of new fabric to patch it and get it in working order again. Would have been quicker and easier to have made a new one, we didn’t realise how weak the original fabric was getting, no doubt the next time the wind blows hard it will be the old fabric that goes. We have a heavy duty (and heavy weight) sewing machine on board which is definitely not user friendly and needs regular maintenance and adjustment. But, it does the job and we are getting to know each other better so hassles and frustrations are getting fewer. Made in Taiwan to a design at least 50 yrs old!
Langkawi is a duty free island, so tourists stream in from at home and abroad to buy electrical goods, perfume, clothes and china from the main town, Kuah. Lots of Russians as evidently there are good value package holidays to Thailand and Malaysia. Where we are at the moment, anchored off a new marina complex, there is even a Russian restaurant, and menus at other upmarket eating places are written in Russian as well as English.
Once a bay, quite marshy and low lying with a small fishing village, Telaga has been dredged to make a marina, and the ground removed used to construct two small islands to form protection, leaving a sheltered lagoon for anchoring. As with many places visited, it looks as though original plans were a lot larger than final construction, and there are large areas of ground that were presumably meant for hotels and holiday flats. An area has been built for the fishing boats, and there is still a small village at one end of the bay with cheap local restaurants.
Shopping for basic supplies has to be done in the main town, Kuah. We hired an old car there (phone Musa who arrives the next morning with the car. Pay 40 ringits (about £8) and the car is yours, to be left with doors open and the key under the mat the next morning. No paperwork, and possibly no insurance. We drove carefully.) It would not have passed any roadworthy test but the air conditioning worked. We needed diesel, and it is much cheaper at fuel stations than fuel docks. A long process though. Fuel is subsidised, and you are not allowed to buy more than 30 litres at one time. We needed 220 litres! So we went to three fuel stations, one of which let us have 55 litres, so that was half the quantity. Back to dinghy. Back to boat. Empty jerrycans into fuel tank. Set off again. You have to pay before getting fuel, and I had paid for the first round so G paid for the second and we repeated the performance. As you can imagine it took us all morning.
Took the opportunity to go for a drive across the island in the afternoon, visiting a craft centre as I was keen to see some good quality batik. Was very taken by hand painted floaty silk kaftans but ‘dry clean only’ was on the label, and common sense prevailed! The cottons were all in rather garish colours.
In Thailand we acquired an on board resident, a little gecko which seems to live in the boom and has a sort of laughing tweet, mainly in the evenings, and, seemingly, in answer to things we say. Quite funny when we are playing cards and make winning or losing shouts! We hope that he has an insatiable appetite for mosquitoes. Our dictionary says that gecko is a Malaysian word, and mimics the sound they make.
Next stop Penang again as we travel south down the Malaysian coast. We didn’t have long to explore this historic city on our last visit. Will probably treat ourselves to a marina as it was an awfully long bus ride and walk from our previous anchorage.
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