Back to Malaysia
Wildfox
Anthony Swanston
Wed 22 Jun 2016 06:04
With the
boat’s visa running out it was time to go back to Malaysia, this time to the
Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. There are
certainly places where I could anchor here and be protected when the South
Westerly Monsoon pipes up but they are pretty remote and I am not a hermit.
OK, refit
all done and everything tested. Off I
go. Three miles out and my automatic
pilot (Raymarine tiller pilot 2000 if you want to know) fails having been
re-built and tested. So hand steering as
there is no wind at all. First stop Ko Phi Phi Don made famous by Leonardo de
Caprio in The Beach. Up early next
morning and lo and behold the windlass won’t work. Actually it worked down but not up. Pity it was not the other way around. I could reverse the polarity. But I don’t know how. I am in 20 metres of water with 55 metres of
chain out. Hand cranking this amount of
10 millemetre chain is hard work.
A full day
of hand steering to my next stop where I find a quiet anchorage in shallower
water 10 metres. Next day I have wind so
sails up and wind vane steering gives me some time to relax. Or at least keep a look out for the millions
of fish traps. This is the main reason for not sailing at night. I did it once here and I am not doing it
again.
The next
anchorage is also shallow if I go quite close in. Completely protected from the south west
which is where the wind blows from at this time of year. At 0200 the wind howls
from the north east and I am now stern on to a reef with a falling tide and a
rising swell. 0400 and I start to
bump. Engine on, go ahead, hand crank
some chain, go ahead, hand crank some chain, keep repeating and in just 30
minutes of sheer panic I am out of trouble. This anchorage is now called Bottom
Bump Bay. My next anchorage is the
famous Hole in the Wall spoiled by the hundreds of tourist speedboats that pass
too close so the customers can get a good look at the yachts. At least they are gone by 1700 and it is just
me and the eagles. I wake up to a full
moon just setting.
Arriving at
RLYC I get tied up by 1100. By 1300 I have registered at the marina, cleared
with the port captain, cleared customs, cleared immigration, got a data sim for
my Ipad, a standard sim for my ‘phone and had lunch. You really can get things done in
Malaysia. Especially lunch as the
restaurants are quiet as it is Ramadan
and the Muslims are not allowed to eat during the day. Mind you that means that many places are
closed. The food court at the ferry
terminal is normally heaving and offering a wide choice of good value
dishes. Closed.
And what
next? Who knows. Maybe a quick trip to Kuala Lumpar and
Singapore. Or maybe I will have to find a
job as the value of both sterling and my investments tumble…
