Wet Market Shopping

Here going shopping is a bit different than your basic trip to Vons or Costco. The "supermarkets" here in Langkawi more likely have mostly dry goods. Shelves are stocked with canned goods, paper products, some frozen things but very little in the way of fresh fruits, vegetables, fish or meat. For those sorts of things we go to the wet market. For the freshest selection it's best to plan your trip first thing in the morning. For us it's first a dinghy ride to shore then a taxi to the market place.

The front on the Langkawi market is devoted to fish, beef and poultry. The rear half fruits and veggies.


Each vendor has their own stall and different product. For the beef here you just tell him what you want and he will carve out your choice. We saw no grinders to make hamburger.


In this stall we purchased a half of a Wahoo, which the operator steaked out for us at a cost of 16 ringgets per kilo. That figures to about $2.50 a pound.

Here we see an example chickens, they normally include the feet along with some cuts of beef


We've finished our shopping and now are spending a bit of time in the "food court". Kathy has decided we should sample several of the different local delights, I couldn't tell you what any of these might be but she added another couple of things and the price was less than $2 US.

Through out the market place there are a goodly number of scavenger's and my guess would be this would be a most unsafe place for any mice or rats as we saw a minimum of 100 plus cats. they seemed quite happy and well fed.

For frozen meats: chicken, pork, beef or sausages, bacon we find these items in a freezer in the back of any number of Chinese duty free shops that have mostly liquor displayed but other goodies in the back.

Shopping here is definitely a different experience!

Merry Christmas

Here in Malaysia and being a bit ahead we are in the midst of Christmas day. We know many of you are experiencing a white or wet Christmas, here we have a lovely day with temps in the mid 80's and mostly sunny sky's. We have a port roast on the BBQ but we may be joining friends in a dinner ashore


We are not able to carry and store lots of holiday decorations but Kathy does her best with what little we do carry. Most years something is added from the country we're in. Fortunately she found the raindeer when we were in Penang as Christmas is almost non existent here in Langkawi. being mostly Muslim there is little evidence of Christmas.


So with Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas" in the background I give you a view of our bit of Christmas decor.


we wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS.

George Town-Penang

We have left George Town, Penang behind and keeping with our goal made a one day passage to Langkawi. So now here are some photos of the sights of Penang. This bridge crosses from the mainland to Pulau Penang.


A view of the ferry landing area, marina in the background.


George Town is a busy city with lots of traffic, cars, buses and pedestrian.


The British colonial influence on the architecture.


No velvet pictures of Elvis but all kinds of other stuff

Amongst the colonial building are numerous temples- Chinese, Hindu and Buddhist.




No the monkey's are not quite in downtown but not far from it. This was a view as we were walking from the Thailand consulate to visit the botanical gardens.


The botanical gardens.



View from Penang Hill. The top at an elevation is 2700' above George Town. Access is via a railroad built by the Swiss in 1923, now being upgraded, a four wheel drive road or hiking trails.

Kathy busy shopping for the latest "Harry Potter" movie. Dvd's are sold for 5Rm or $1.75 US buy 5 and get one free. Yes the had "Harry" and in addition Kathy found lots more.


Transport via bicycle rickshaw is a great method of going in some of the crowed areas of George Town. here a driver takes a break.


These driver's will probably need breaks after pedaling us around. Cost 30Rm per hour.



As i said I the beginning we now ventured another 70 miles north to Langkawi. this will be our last rally stop and also where we will leave Malaysia after the first of the year for Thailand.
Stay tuned there is more coming from Langkawi.

A Midnight Awakening

I often mention about finding a secure and safe anchorage. Most of our cruising days and nights are spent at anchor. The boat is our house and we need a secure place to park it. For days and nights on end we leave our house attached to the bottom of the ocean by a hunk of metal and a length of chain. OK it's a high tech piece of metal designed to grab into whatever type of material the ocean floor consists of at that particular location but non the less it weighs just 66lbs. All of us yachties have what WE consider the best anchor. If you look around at cruising boats and ask, each individual will swear that his is the best. Truth be known they all work and also at one time or another they will all fail for some reason. Failure means that you and your house get to go for an unexpected ride. In an anchorage it could be you or perhaps another boat that drags. Some of the large local craft use only homemade anchors with little or no chain.


Last night, midnight to be exact we were awakened by our "anchor drag alarm" a feature built into our GPS. I got up to see what was happening. We had definitely moved, but had now settled in again. The tide had just changed and as the current also shifted we had gone from one direction of pull on the anchor to the opposite. In doing this the anchor normally rotates over and resets itself. In this instance we drug about 250 feet before it reset. We have one GPS that is always on and whenever at anchor has the drag alarm set. The photo is of the chart plotter screen showing our location for the past 3 days and then the little boat showing where we moved. While I sat and watched to confirm that we were stuck securely again one of the local boats drug to within several feet of the yacht anchored nearby before pulling up anchor and moving. After confirming we were secure once again it was back to bed.


Things like this don't happen often but if you spend as many nights on the hook as we do they will. You know what will happen if you play with fire! This morning all is well. One big reason for dragging is your anchor finding debris on the bottom, plastic bags, discarded fishing nets or other bits of trash. This is what is hanging from the recently pulled anchor of the local boat which was next to us.

Penang Rally Dinner

The days touring done it was time for eat, drink and be merry. The festivities were held on a tent covered lawn in front of a local college. Our first view was this lovely food covered table followed by one stacked with a cooler full of cold beer and a fruit punch. Also along the sides were BBQ,s with several different meats and a lamb roasting on a revolving spit.



Along with the dinner were awards for a photo contest sponsored by Lieca cameras for the rally participants. Yes, we had submitted some. The photos had been printed and displayed, we were pleased to see that several of ours were amoung them. Come awards we gathered in three. One of a Marshallese outrigger sailing canoe can be seen in the lower right background of the Lion dance picture.


After a great feed it was time for some "yachtie" boat racing. Each table was given a piece of foam, a small knife, some sticks and a piece of construction paper. We were asked to build a boat for the races. Several different types were built, from monohull to catamaran to outrigger.


The course was a water filled trough with 3 boats going off at a time. Propulsion was by captain and crew blowing into the vessels sails. After 3 heats and finals a winner was declared. We're still not sure if the winner's had the best design or were the best Blower's. No matter a fun time was had by all. That's our tables entry pictured, a non finalist.


All in all a very busy day.

To Penang

Leaving Pankor on our way to our next rally stop of Penang about 70 miles away we kept to our routine of no overnight passages, we made a stop at a small island Pulau Talang about 15 from Pangkor. This made for a very short day, but there were no complaints from either captain or crew. In the afternoon we were visited by some local fishermen, a first here in Malaysia, who wished to trade some fish for fishing hooks. I dug through our supplies and soon we had one small fish of about 15 inches and 3 crabs. This for 6 hooks. It was a nice supplement to dinner.

Off again the next morning for the remainder of the trip to Penang. Once again most of the forward mobility was provided by the faithful "miss perky" our auxillary engine. The anchorage was was a calm channel between Penang island itself and Jerejak island. We set the anchor along with 12 other boats. A swim would have been nice but after spying a number of jellyfish trailing long tentacles we decided to forgo a dip. Penang is the oldest of the British straits settlements as the first lease was signed by the British East India company in 1771. Today Penang's economy is high tech industries and tourism.


Sunday the 28th was to be a rally tour day and a long one. Here at Penang we have about 30 boats that are rally participants. The schedule began with a pickup by water taxi and then being bussed to various activities and places around the city. First stop a local boatyard where we were shown their facilities for an necessary repairs we would need for our yachts. This was a modern yard with all services available. In fact the following day I dropped 2 of our spare anchors off to have them re-galvanized.

Next stop into the city of George Town, established in the late 1700's. We saw some of the preserved colonial buildings and were dropped off at an outdoor street fair for lunch and shopping. Kathy found an addition to this years Christmas decorations and I found a nice outdoor refreshment stand.


Next a visit to the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion. The restored home of one of the wealthiest tycoons at the turn of the 20th century. Painted a bright blue it is comprised of 38 rooms,5 courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 windows, all of the stained glass variety. The art work in the photo is actually comprised of broken pottery that is then use for the various scenes.



Our last tour stop was to the LGL Specialty Center a modern hospital. So first stop where repairs could be made to our floating homes and last where modern and inexpensive medical care could be obtained for our bodies. We had been told of the excellent medical facilities available in Malaysia and this was an opportunity to visit one. There will be more later on this as today while I'm writing Kathy is having the "executive health screening".

Our day was to end with a dinner and some fun. That will be the subject of the next post, which in blogdom will actually be before this once it's done.

Pangkor Rally Stop

After several days relaxing anchored in the bay at the southwestern end of Pangkor Island it was time to move about 3 miles away to the Pangkor Island marina whom were hosting the next stop on the sail Malaysia rally. Due to strong currents in the marina we had been told to arrive at a slack tide. This made for a leisurely morning as 1:30 pm was high water. Rounding the end of the island we once again got to view the ever present fishing boat zooming about.

The approach to the marina was straight forward though as normal it seems here over rather shallow water, Marina staff met us in a small launch and guided us into a berth. This is another of a number of newly developed marinas along this coast of Malaysia. The docks are finished and have water and power but no real surrounding infrastructure, such as restrooms, showers, laundry or restaurants etc.. Not a problem as a rally stop we were entitled to 3 days of free dockage. Once we were secured we were told that there was an afternoon tour to a local shipyard and then a stop at the supermarket on the return to the marina. Kathy was quickly ready to go as when we had been anchored out she had only been able to buy a few fresh things. I decided to stay and put the boat away and start on some other necessary chores.


Off the group went and for a change from our experience in Indonesia in a modern air conditioned bus. Reports came back as the shipyard was OK but the supermarket definitely worthwhile. A buses luggage compartment can have many uses. Yes that's our stack with the "trader joe's" bag and slabs of Carlsberg beer.

Wednesday the 24 th was to be a rest day for rally events. Though since we were secure in the marina it was a perfect time to get things done. For Kathy the never ending job of laundry, done by hand in a 5 gallon bucket. For me it was time to do an oil change on the faithful Miss Perky.

Thursday was another tour this time across the channel to Pangkor island, I stayed aboard but kathy was off to see the sights. They visited an old Dutch fort, from the 1600's, a Chinese temple and enjoyed a big lunch.

Thanksgiving evening there was no turkey to be found but we enjoyed the final rally event in Pangkor, a big feed with everything from local noodle and curry dishes to pasta or peanut satay. Also included was all the beer we could drink. It was an enjoyable yachtie gathering.

To Pangkor

Our very early departure meant for an early arrival at Pangkor where we would spend the first few days anchored before moving to a marina for the actual rally events. One of our disappointments has been our lack of sailing time. The winds so far have been light less than 10 knots so it has been mostly motoring with an assist from the sails.

I've written of the huge amount of shipping traffic here in the Malacca straits, well there is even more fishing boats about. The fishing fleet here is HUGE! At any one time as you scan the horizon you can count perhaps 50 or more. There method is either nets drug behind to scoop up and scour the bottom or drifting ones for the fish to swim into. In watching them retrieve the nets we see only small fish in the 8 to 10 inch range. We don't even bother to drag a lure anymore. But today we made a catch. While motor sailing along we came to a sudden stop.
We had managed to catch the remnants of a discarded net. First stopping the engine then lowering the sails it was time for Jerry to go for a short swim. Knife in hand we were soon free. The debris was loaded aboard disposal once we reached Pangkor.

Our anchorage was in a large protected bay surrounded by white sandy beaches. There were several resorts and a small town. We launched the dinghy, my last patching job was holding nicely, and went to shore joining several others for a nice dinner out.

Day Tripping

We continue on our way along the coast. We are enjoying the fact that we can locate anchorages each evening though it also means some early morning starts. here just north of the equator, sunrise has been late around 7 am. We normally try to get underway about 6 making for some lovely sunrises.

From Pulau Besar we made our way to just north of Port Dickson, anchoring in a large bay. We were somewhat exposed to some swell but not a bad spot. By sundown several other yachts had also chosen to anchor here.

Sunday the 14th we moved on to the Port Klang area where a newly constructed marina was located. the rumor was it was almost free and there was power and water. Kathy was excited to do more laundry. The slip fees were cheap at $ 7.50/day and we did use the water though only a dribble came from the hose. Once again all was clean aboard.

A day and a half were enough marina time as we left again Tuesday morning, our next planned stop was up the Selongar river. Nearing the river bar we found very shallow water, luckily 2 other yachts were headed here and one had used this spot before. We tucked in behind him to make our way across the river bar. Now as a monohull we draw almost 7 feet but our catamaran guide boat only 2 -1/2. We followed along and at one point were down to only about 9" between the keel and bottom. No problem across the bar it was deeper and there was a snug anchorage upriver. We did have a small concern! We entered on a rising tide but the following morning it would be ebbing. This made for a 4 am start to have the same amount of depth that we arrived with.
Our departure was fine and we were off to Pulau Pangkor where it was a planned rally stop.

A Short Day

After a restful night at Kukup we took our time getting ready for departure. The early morning had a low tide so we need to wait for a bit of the flood. Meantime I got a chance to bottle the current batch of home brew.

Once underway it was short 25 mile or so trip to Pulau, meaning island, Pisang. We anchored in the lee of the island with 4 other boats joining us. It had been another day of motor sailing with the wind from the northwest which was our direction of travel.

As the weather report showed a wind direction change for Thursday we spent another restful day catching up on reading at Pulau Pisang.

We departed Pulau Pisang in the early hours of Thursday the 11th. No the wind had not made it's favorable change so it was more of the same main sail and genoa providing some help to Miss Perky our faithful engine.
Our next stop was another island close to the coast, this Pulau Besar near the port town of Melaka.

Melaka was to be the first of our rally stops, though it presented some problems. Anchoring at Besar then required a ferry trip in to the city. There was an unprotected roadstead anchorage off the town or a marina that was in disrepair and we had been advised not to go in to. Our decision was just to stay in the island anchorage and skip the rally stop.

Pulau Kukup

We departed Danga marina with the goal of no overnight passages as we made our way up the west coast of Malaysia through the Malacca straits. This area once known for it's piracy today is more renowned as perhaps the busiest shipping channel in the world. Imagine all ship traffic headed west from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China goes through these waters as does all eastbound traffic from India and what has come thru the Suez and Red Sea from Europe. We were told 1000 ships a day and that does not include the local fishing traffic.

Our anchorage off the town of Kukup made for a short 25 mile day. Though as usual a short distance does not equate to time. As we left Danga we current against us and this continued as we rounded the southern point of the Malay peninsula. We averaged about 3.5 kts. motoring the entire way. We entered past the navigational marks through fairly shallow water, 13 feet, since Po'oino Roa draws 6' 8" that didn't leave much to spare. Once over the bar the depth increased to 70' of the town of Kukup.

Kukup's industry is fish farms. These appear to be floating docks supported with plastic drums. They have pens in which various types of fish are raised for market.

A shallow spot in which to anchor was found that would be protected from any adverse weather and we settled down to a sundowner cocktail and bbq dinner. the only downside was perhaps the fish smell.

Danga BayMarina

We made our way past Singapore and up to the Danga Bay marina. This would be the first marina stop since last April and having traveled approximately 4500 miles. Kathy was really looking forward to having the use of a hose to wash everything. A real benefit to the marin was it's low cost FREE ! The marina has been in existence for a couple of years but as it is not finished there is no charge for slips.

The check-in proceedures to a new country were easily carried out and we were ready to get busy cleaning and fixing all that we could. As we don't spend lots of time marina bound when we in one we look at it as work time.
For three weeks we kept busy. The decks were scrubbed, stainless polished, canvas re-sowen dinghy repaired, inquires were made regarding repair of the water maker, cushions cleaned, fuel taken on etc. etc. Prior to leaving I even managed to jump in the water that more resembled weak tea to clean the barnacles from the propeller.

We had joined a rally, "Sail Malaysia" for the passage up the west side of the Malay peninsula to Langkawi. The rally included three stops in between, so to keep to a somewhat schedule we made our departure from Danga marina on 8 Nov. The best part was having to pay only 13 ringet, about $4 US for electricity used.