Tigress Too Cruising News: L A N G K A W I ….we have arrived!!!

We are finally at our goal destination and boy it feels good!

To celebrate our arrival the Harbour Master put on a fantastic laser light and fireworks show and we celebrated by breaking out the BBQ and fixing in position at long last.

Its been 220 days since we left Fremantle

We have travelled 3184.50 nautical miles

Used 443 litres of diesel

Spent $ *@#+^% getting here…far too much!

We have laughed and cried, panicked and relaxed, and tested ourselves. But on the whole it’s been a good trip this far.

Christmas will be spent at Rebak Marina which is attached to Rebak Island Resort http://www.rebakmarina.com/

So for the Christmas week we will enjoy all the luxuries the resort has to offer, Christmas lunch at the restaurant with the other yachties, some good happy hours and lots of catching up with people we have met along the way. We found a Cold Storage supermarket in Penang that catered for a western style Christmas so we have a fridge full of Christmas goodies and treats to chomp our way through. Better still is that Langkawi is a duty free port so the liquor cabinet is full again. It’s looking like it will be a good week despite the fact we are missing friends and family at this time of year.

We have has a good time travelling the west coast of Malaysia despite the lack of wind until our sail from Penang to Langkawi when we had a good 18/20 knots on the nose which shook all the cobwebs out of the boat and us.

As we approached Penang a rather large bridge appeared that was not marked on charts or on Navionics or in any info we had collected. My friend Mr Google helped out and we were safe to pass underneath the 30m clearance. If I remember rightly it is the largest span bridge built in SE Asia at 24km long. It really is quite spectacular, once you realise its ok to pass under !

We anchored off Georgetown in the “junk anchorage” for a few days. From here we explored the old town, went up to the top of Penang Hill by the funicular railway and enjoyed some local food. To access town from the anchorage we took the dinghy to Chews jetty & tied up there. There was always something to see as we walked along this busy jetty that families have made their homes for many years. The smells were also quite…different… my nose certainly suffered a little on these walks!! There is still a lot for us to explore here but here are a few pictures from around town….

The Blacksmith, how he works in the heat up here is amazing.

Some old bikes

In between selling his pork chops this man was fanned by his daughter (?) and even that he found very tiring…it’s the heat that does it!

Some wonderful old houses and street art on every corner

Tying up the dinghy and hoping it will be there when we return

The walk along the jetty and some very grand stainless work

Enjoying coffee and a chat. Check out the haircut!

We the motored round to the very new Straits Quay Marina for a couple of days. We needed fresh water and the boat needed a hose down. This was a great place to stop. Clean, good security, washing machine. It’s a short bus ride into town, or a bike ride. Tesco is 5 mins walk and Cold Storage 15 mins walk. We will go back there as we still have more exploring and shopping to do in Penang.

We left there early morning prepared for a long day of motoring the 55nm to Langkawi but we were nicely surprised to have a breeze despite it being slightly on the nose.

I think we have decided that for now we will make our base between Penang, Langkawi and Thailand, by that I mean for the next year. There is so much to see and do up here, by sea and by land and we are in no rush to head off anywhere in particular, unless of course someone comes up with a better plan.

We are looking forward to Ben & Kate arriving mid January and there is a chance that my dear friend Carey maybe venturing out to Thailand in May so that on its own is a very good reason to hang around.

We spotted this rather large monitor lizard swimming around the marina in Kuah. I guess we won’t be jumping in the water for a swim here.

To all our yachtie followers we hope in 2014 the winds will always be from behind, blow you gently along to discover wonderful new anchorages and meet interesting new friends. Sail safely.

To all our land followers we hope 2014 brings you joy and happiness in everything you do. Live, love, laugh.