ESCAPE

 PANGKOR

On the 18^th of February we finally threw off the lines and escaped. After months of hard work Sunray was looking good again. There is still a lot that I would like to do inside, revamp the galley for one, but that can wait, and it is now time to go and enjoy and relax.

When we left Melbourne just over four years ago, I had visions of lazing around, swimming, snorkeling, drinking sundowners, meeting new people, exploring exotic places, and wafting silently across a calm ocean.

Well!! Sure that is part of it, but only a very tiny part. Mostly it is about work. Yes, that four letter word I thought I had left behind.

Sailing is hard work! Sails up, sails down, sails in and sails out. Flying downwind or bashing into seas. Very rarely is it the stuff of my dreams, although as I write this we are gently wafting along on a calm sea to Langkawi.

Then there is boat maintenance. This is constant due to the harsh, damp, salty environment in which we live. All systems must be in tiptop condition at all times, and things are constantly in need of repair or replacement. But enough, all the hard work is behind us for now, and it is time to enjoy.

We left Pangkor marina just before high tide and travelled just around the corner to Lumut and dropped anchor off the yacht club. This was only ten miles, but we had decided to chill out here first and to check that all systems were working as they should be.

Lumut is a naval town, with large dockyards and good facilities. The yacht club is old English colonial with a lovely swimming pool. Unfortunately it is becoming very run down and dilapidated, and the sand barge collected a couple of pontoons on its way past. It needs new management and/or owners but the asking price of 45million ringgit ($15 million) is so ridiculous that unfortunately it will probably just close and become just another neglected eyesore.

Our first night on anchor promised to be calm as the wind dropped out and we went to bed expecting a good night’s sleep, only to be ripped from our dreams by the harsh TOOT TOOT TOOT  of the sand barge coming straight for us. Quick, start the engine and anchor up. Seems that even though we were out of the channel, the barge needs lots of turning room and we were in their way. We reanchored closer to shore and around 2.30 went back to bed. Once again we were ripped from our slumbers to the high pitched BEEP BEEP BEEP of the anchor alarm, the wind had turned and we were only metres from shore! Up anchor and move further out again, drop anchor, have a cup of tea, decide not to leave today and fell back into bed for another couple of hours of sleep. Not a good start to our relaxing holiday trip.

We decided to stay another night, which turned out to be a good decision as we had a very calm, undisturbed night’s sleep. The next morning we headed out for the 14 mile trip to Pulau Tenang. We managed to get in an hour’s sailing before dropping anchor at 11 a.m.

 PENANG

Once again up at first light, which is around seven here, and heading for Penang. While we did motor the whole trip, there were no dramas and we anchored at a lovely little island at the bottom of Penang. Next morning we motored into Jerejak anchorage where we planned to stay for 2 nights, do a bit of shopping, inflate the dinghy, check the outboard and potter.

Two days later we headed out in the dark with the tide. They can be something fierce up here so we wanted to use them to our advantage as much as possible. We were only going some 35 miles to Pulau Bunting so once the tide turned we dropped anchor for lunch then sailed on. Very pretty little anchorage where we had another good night’s sleep.

 

 APPROACHING LANGKAWI

First light and it is off to Langkawi. We are sailing along at around 3.6 knots (about 6.5 km) and yes, this is the stuff of my dreams.

 FJORDS

 We decided to anchor at the “Fjords” and what a beautiful place it is. Surrounded by majestic islands, one soaring higher than the next, it is a peaceful haven that seems a million miles from anywhere but is only ten miles from Kuah, the main town on Langkawi.

 DISNEYLAND

After two very enjoyable nights there we headed to Kuah to stock up for our next trip. We anchored not far from “Disneyland” otherwise known as the Bella Vista Hotel, where we stayed last time we were here.

 

 STORM OVER KUAH

Since our arrival here we have been having huge thunderstorms right about the time we want to go and eat, so I have had to improvise both nights, but thunderstorm or not, tomorrow night we are going out for dinner with some other cruisers. Then it is off to Telaga harbour, our last stop in Malaysia before entering Thailand.