Cheap Booze, Pyrex and Chocolate - Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Kuah, Langkawi Island, Kedah State, Malaysia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Mon 29 Nov 2010 07:25
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06:18.154N 99:50.997E
Not so early on the morning of November 14, we motored a short
hour from the mystery meat anchorage to Royal Langkawi Yacht Club on Langkawi
Island near the main town of Kuah. Our arrival in the yacht
club became semi-exciting after Don lowered the bow thruster and
tested it before backing into a slip. Instead of the usual obnoxious loud
whir of the motor and sharp movement of the bow, we heard a
half-hearted whine as the bow moved a half-smidgen to port. Uh
oh....not good - bad luck again (need I point out that Michele and
Bryan were still aboard?). While I scanned the empty berths for one we
could easily get into bow first, Don continued to cycle the thruster until it
mostly returned to its normal self, whirring loudly and pushing the bow to and
fro. Without further ado, we backed into our designated slip and chalked
the bow thruster's trouble up to bad karma or more likely, plastic trash wrapped
around its prop picked up in the almost-but-not-quite marina without a break
wall in Penang. Don checked out the bow thruster as best he
could in the yacht club, but decided a more thorough going-over would have to
wait until we were in open water again.
We stayed two nights in the yacht club, which gave us enough
time to explore the town of Kuah and its surrounding area. There's not
much to say about the town itself except that it's jammed with duty free stores
(the island of Langkawi is a Malaysian duty-free zone) selling
everything from $12 bottles of good vodka to Pyrex dishes (all in the
same store, by the way). Oh, and chocolate. We haven't quite figured
out why, but there are at least six specialty chocolate shops in Kuah offering
the full range of Kit Kats to Godiva. Langkawi is a big tourist
destination for Malaysians, so maybe they come here to buy a year's supply
of booze, Pyrex and chocolate? That would be surprising since the
majority of the population here is non-alcohol consuming Muslim, but maybe it's
the Chinese that buy the booze and the Muslims that go for the Pyrex and
chocolate.
We did get to a wildlife park, which was fun (pictures below),
and spent a lot of time in a dodgy taxi trying to find the Malaysian marble and
crystal factory outlet shops which don't seem to exist anymore. At one
point, when we were on our way to the Langkawi Craft Complex, our
driver spied a police roadblock ahead and promptly turned the car around with
little or no explanation. It was then that we started to wonder
about our driver's credentials and decided it might be a good idea to
cut our trip a little shorter than planned.
 A blue and gold macaw at the wildlife park.
 Bryan and Michele becoming one with nature at the wildlife
park.
 Bryan making many birds very happy.
 Dinner at the yacht club.
We left the yacht club on November 16, and proceeded twelve
miles to the west to arrive at Rebak Marina on the tiny island of
Rebak just off the coast of Langkawi Island. Before leaving, Don tested
the bow thruster and this time got a big nothing when he flipped the
switch. Nothing, not even a click (might I point out once again that Bryan
and Michele were still aboard?). After a long search for a bow thruster
breaker that doesn't exist, Don fiddled around with a few more things and
presto! the thruster came back to life. We weren't exactly sure why it
came back to life, but not being ones to argue with a working bow thruster,
we cast off from the yacht club. On the way to Rebak, we stopped
long enough for Don jump in the water and inspect the bow thruster. Sure
enough, a wad of plastic was wrapped so tightly around the prop that Don
had to go at it with a knife for about ten minutes to get it off. That, of
course, explains the first problem we had with the thruster, but not the
second. The Browns left the boat in Rebak, and we've since used the bow
thruster three times getting out of Rebak and into and out of Telaga Harbour
Marina on Langkawi with no problem. Kind of makes you go hmmmm,
doesn't it?
Next up: A collection of quotes summarizing Bryan and Michele's
excellent adventure.
Anne |