We certainly wanted more time to explore Thailand, we have only scratched the surface and it is such an interesting country. Needs must however, and we have had to return to Malaysia where we have had an excellent price for storing the boat out of the water on the hard whilst we return to dear old Blighty for a few months. We had to clear in to Malaysia at Langkawi so we hired a car from Mr Din (£8 a day no questions asked) and combined a visit to the officials with a brief shop and a tour of some of the scenic highlights. The best of these was a vertiginous ride in a cable car 700 metres up a mountain to an extraordinary bridge linking 2 peaks.

Not a good experience for those with vertigo. A few people turned back and there are numerous health warnings at the start of the descent from the first peak down to the bridge. Needless to say the views were breath-taking.

There were stunning views over the rainforest. Malaysia seems to have been very successful in keeping large tracts of forest from development, although, as throughout Malaysia, building is going on everywhere. One oddity about this development is there appears to be a lack of planning or possibly an excess of corruption in the planning process. Did I say that?

This is especially true of marina development. There are 3 marinas we know of on the west coast of Malaysia, built with government money, that have become unusable. One at Penang that is too shallow, another near Klang has dangerously fast tides and this one on Pangkor Island is so badly affected by swell in some seasons that the pontoons have been torn apart.

And yet the quality of the buildings is high.

On the other hand there is a lot that is being managed well, as is the marina at Marina Island, Pangkor, which is not falling apart and is run by the determined and energetic James Khoo. This will be the home of Gryphon 2 for the next few months while we return home. Peter has gone a week ahead of us; we fly out of Kuala Lumpur on 17 January. Those of you who follow our blogs will therefore have to wait a while for a next instalment