ANAHI - SOLO IN MALAYSIA
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06.21.988N 99.41.091E Wednesday 6th January 2009 - The Blue Water
Rally mostly sailed off together on the 2nd and it feels so strange to be
‘alone’ – the umbilical chord is gone and we feel as if we
are playing truant……we are free - we can do anything we want and
the choice is overwhelming! In fact we are back in Telaga Marina in
Fireworks on the beaches
And lanterns to set aloft and make a wish – literally dozens
sweeping across the night sky…..
Up and up they go……. Pretty dancers with their amazing hand movements Before the Rally departed we managed to catch up with Evelyn who
treated us to a great lobster dinner, then we had a lovely New Year with Big
Blue watching the fireworks ashore before they left the following morning, January 1st we sailed to Ko Racha Yai where we attached
ourselves to a mooring buoy just as the weather turned moody and unsettled with
cloudy skies, rain squalls, gusty winds and lumpy seas…….we know we
have made the right decision to stay behind but it still takes some getting
used to and we resisted the temptation to tune into the SSB roll call and
chats.
The Lego jetty snaking out into the bay
Infinity pool taken from the five star boutique resort
But what a treat lay in store when we ventured Inland
With plenty of tracks
And bird life!
…..and huge monitor lizards
Sunsets…… We have pottered about: changed our fuel filters on the generator and
topped up our batteries with water (having isolated one dead cell from the
loop), mended the float switch on the bilge pump, filled up the
generator’s diesel tank, adapted the davits to accommodate the dinghy
with engine attached, played scrabble, cleaned up inside and enjoyed some
blustery walks around this very picturesque island. Ko Racha has an extremely busy bay with diving and fishing boats
entering daily, snorkelers and divers risking life and limb splashing about in
the middle, fishing trawlers and long tails careering in and out, barges (one
visibly sinking and dumping bags of cement to reduce weight) with building
materials, charter yachts without a clue (one with a stray dinghy floating out
to sea which Oscar rescued), independents and speed boats doing over 20 knots
with wakes to match all clamouring into this small space and jostling for
position. A plastic Lego-like pontoon snakes its way from the beach into the
chaotic melee and I am absolutely amazed that there are not more accidents…..our
only incident being a dive boat hitting our anchor and coming off worse than
us! Sailing back to Malaysia on the 4th, we couldn’t
resist spending one night in Phi Phi Le bay where The Beach was filmed (still stunningly
beautiful and pretty much unspoilt) and one in Ko Bulan where we anchored and
loved on the way up. The Mediterranean and particularly Turkey has a fantastic
reputation for cruising butThailand and Malaysia are incredible too and having
sailed all this way it just seemed a crime not to spend more time here and
really explore the whole area……….
The view looking in…….
…a busy beach
….and a moody evening looking out! The rangers provide Buoys now so yachts don’t damage the coral. Why are we back in Langkawi? – Our Thailand visa runs out on
the 9th of January and although a lot of people do ‘the Visa
run’ to get an extension of time we decided to return to Malaysia on the
boat and have booked into www.rebakmarina.com
for a haul out on the 10th January – there are no major
problems with the boat but over 20,000 miles have taken their toll not only on
Anahi but also on us – we’re all a bit worn out! Rebak Island is
privately owned and apart from being home to the Marina there is also a
beautiful resort there where yachties are invited to enjoy all the facilities
– swimming pool, gym, internet, tennis court and restaurant – so it
will be hard work effectively doing a diy mini refit on the boat but hopefully a
little r and r too…… |
