We arrived in Langkawi after 2 long days of motoring, no wind as usual in the Malacca Strait.  We anchored overnight off Penang where the new bridge is well under way and the construction workers enjoyed having their photos taken.

At Langkawi we anchored overnight in an attractive bay and admired our new sprayhood and mainsail cover and the newly polished topsides. Gryphon ll looks surprisingly fresh for a boat that has been 2/3rds the way around the world.

We swam here but much of the water is polluted with rubbish, or so soup-like with large strings of plankton and baby jellyfish that we are put off a dip.

Never mind our next stop was the luxury of Rebak Marina, with its posh hotel and lovely swimming pool. The yachties are rather separated from the other guests who are ferried around in golf carts, whilst we get the use of a wheel barrow if we need to transport anything. The hotel and marina are on an island but there is a free ferry to Langkawi, and there is a wonderful Mr Din who rents cars for £8 a day, no questions asked. We used his service last time we were here and prices are more or less the same depending on which car you have, these rank from smooth and shiny to juddery and multi-scratched but all have aircon which feels very essential here.

The pool is a Godsend, it is lightly used but not always refreshing as the water temperature, like the sea can be like a warmish bath. Staying cool is a priority as the marina is in a windless bowl, surrounded by rain forest and mangroves, and populated by amusing and ungainly hornbills and less amusing biting insects that come out to play at nightfall.

Our awnings are a help but the temperature rises to the high 30s indoors and as soon as any exertion is required we break into a sweat.  The main reason for coming here was to collect a new water maker being sent out from Germany and to fit it where we had mains power available. Consequently I have been crawling in and out of small spaces and lockers and losing quantities of fluid, so much so that even my shorts were soaked with sweat. It is necessary to drink all the time…or one ends up with bright orange pee and unhappy kidneys!

The new water maker still in its boxes:

                                                                                                                                                          and partly fitted.

Our defences against the mosquitoes and no-see-ums are more complicated. We have a domestic 240 volt fan for when we are in marinas but someone gave us the tip of putting the fan outside the fore hatch to suck in cool(ish!) night air rather than just waft around the warm air in the cabin. However, this of course has to be protected by a mosquito net that then has to be hidden under the upturned dinghy to stop the rain getting in!

After 9 days in the marina we decided to move out and anchor somewhere cooler to finish off the water maker. We found what appeared to be an attractive anchorage but at about 9 p.m. the wind got up and we started sliding through the oozy mud and we bumped a sand bar.  Fortunately no harm was done and we managed to re-anchor after a stressful 45 minutes.

No wonder people spend so much time in marinas!

So today we will get on with finishing the water maker but being a boat there is a continuous list of maintenance jobs. A fellow cruiser introduced me to the broken/repaired ratio, i.e. the number of problems that have been fixed compared to those that have occurred in the last week. Our ratio is currently about 4 to 1. Here is a list or repairs waiting

1.       Loo outlet seal needs cleaning or replacing (unpleasant job).

2.       Cooker safety sensor not working on one ring (irritatingly difficult to find the exact problem).

3.       Electric winch has insufficient power (never had to do anything to it so no ideas, will email Foxes at Ipswich where we bought the boat, they are always so helpful.

4.       However, I did fix another loo problem and replaced an engine impeller whilst at Rebak marina so the ratio is not too bad.

Let us see how it goes from here!