Christmas & New Year were spent at Rebak Marina , Langkawi. We had a great time there last year and had arranged to regroup again this year with friends we had met. Unfortunately the weather was not so good, the season seems to be different this year and we had rain right through the festive season. A bit of rain is ok, it helps cool the boat down but too much rain and it does hamper the socializing around the wonderful pool at Rebak, it also cools the pool water down and sitting at the pool bar drinking a cocktail or two is not quite the same. On quite a few occasions the pool bar was closed due to the weather and lack of people in the pool. But that had it’s benefits as it meant I could swim laps freely without bumping into anyone. Despite the inclement weather still managed to enjoy ourselves and the resort put on a lovely Christmas lunch smorgasboard, alas no roast potatoes 
New years eve the resort was charging myr 550 for their buffet, far too expensive for us yachties and so the management put on a smorgasbord at the yachties restaurant for myr 85. Much more affordable. A group of yachtie muso’s got together and we had a great sing along after the meal and then went down to the beach to see the new year in and watch the fireworks and lanterns in the the sky sent up from Cenang beach.
Our fitness is definitely disappearing since arriving in Asia. Unlike the sailing in WA where there is always wind and you use a lot of energy sailing the boat. Up here the lack of wind means we either have a very gentle sail or we motor, both of which require very little effort on our behalf. The heat and the humidity also mean a walk ashore, which we do a lot of, turns into a stroll and as for riding our fold up bikes, too much effort required and anyway the local traffic frightens me. One reason we like Rebak so much is the use of the pool for swimming laps (and the odd cocktail at the pool bar!), yoga with a group of other ladies and early morning walks. There is always something to do.
We met Misty & Peter from UK who have been at Rebak for a number of years. They are not young, I think late sixties & seventies. One year at Rebak when walking they discovered a very overgrown path that once went around the island. They decided for their own fitness that they would clear this path and for 4 months everyday they would slowly hack their way through the jungle clearing the path. No mean feat in the heat and humidity, not to mention the snakes and monkeys they would have come across. The path was literally overgrown completely and they have done an amazing job of clearing it to about 2 metres wide. They still walk everyday with machete type tools not only to keep fit but to keep the path cleared. The island/resort management do not help in anyway but they do charge resort guests myr100 for a guided walk! Jerry and I walked the path quite often while there, about 45 mins, it was a wonderful way to start the day, so peaceful, sometimes cool and always made us puff!
So here we are in 2015 and we are now tied up at Admiral Marina, Port Dickson where we will leave the boat to go home for Ben & Kate’s wedding. The sail down here was very pleasant. We stopped off at Penang for a few days which is always very pleasant. So much to see and so much choice of lovely food.
This time we were very lucky to have Otters around the boat. They had just had babies and would keep us awake at night with their chattering trying to encourage the babies into the water.
Next stop was Lumut where we anchored outside the Lumut Yacht Club which is up the Dinding River. It is a beautiful old yacht club but in desperate need of some maintenance and repair as too are the jetties. Even the billiard table was “closed for maintenance” A sign we see often in our travels up here.
We spent a few days here exploring Lumut & then moved on a few miles into Pangkor Marina which is on a man made island and a great place to slip the boat and get work done if you need it. Our friends Cecillie & John were there having a major refit on their boat Delphian.
We left the boat here overnight while we went over to Pangkor Island to celebrate our 30th Wedding anniversary! We were very adventurous and hired a scooter to get around the island. We have often thought about hiring a scooter in other towns we have visited as many yachties use these as a cheap form of transport but as I have never been on a scooter before and Jerry has never had a pillion passenger we have always chickened out and hired a car. Well we decided that we would take the risk on Pangkor, not much traffic and only one road around the island so all very civilised. We were a bit wobbly and slow at first but a few “hurry up” toots from the locals soon had Jerry zooming along. It was good fun!
Our hotel was not the best we have stayed in and the only time I have written a review on the booking website. If we had wanted luxury I suppose we should have gone to the private island of Pangkor Laut but our budget doesn’t allow for such luxury.
Continuing our journey south we had chosen to leave Pangkor just as some whopping king tides were happening, so we fought them all the way to Port Dickson. We had wind in the mornings and tide with us which was great but by 2pm the wind dropped and the tide was against us. At one stage we were down to 2 knots and that was with the engine on!
Crossing over the shipping lane to anchor outside of Port Klang was busy on the way up so we knew what to expect this time. What we didn’t realise was that the ship we thought was on anchor and that we chose to cross in front of by about 100m was in fact a dredge that was travelling (luckily) at a very slow speed!! When I told our friend Peter this story today he said that the name given to yachties by the captain of ships up here is WAFI’s – wind assisted flipping idiots or words to that effect! I shall check the AIS more closely next time!
Next stop brings us here to Port Dickson. We are tied up in Admiral Marina which is attached to a resort. We have a few jobs to do on the boat while here and luckily there is a pool for us to use when it all gets too much. There are local shops about 15mins walk away, a great supermarket with good vegies and some fresh seafood, a hardware store, a massage shop and a few good restaurants. So all very civilised. Jerry has just been shopping on his own in the hunt for bread and is very pleased with his purchases of 2 fishing net lights, we use these for anchoring at night as the locals know what they are, (we now have 6, Jerry does like to have spares!) and a large syphon pump all for $14.50. That’s his Sunday trip to Bunnings, Malaysia style and he’s happy!
No matter where we go we seem to be constantly bumping into people we know. Yesterday we met the skipper of a very nice Catamaran here at the marina. Jerry knew Paul from years ago in Fremantle when he was refitting a yacht. Paul was only young and was the gofer, now he is the skipper of this mean machine. It’s a small world. Gizmo is laid up here after a lightening strike. It has a carbon mast and rigging which now need xraying and lots of electronic equipment replacing. This is the 2nd catamaran with carbon mast etc we have met in the last 2 months and both have been hit by lightening.
I booked our tickets on the KTMB Intranet to take the train to Kuala Lumpur next week. Apart from being very cheap $9.00 for the 2 of us, train or bus travel is always our preferred way to travel up here as you get to mix with the locals and it is always an interesting experience. Unfortunately when I went to print the tickets off at the marina office my booking had disappeared. A glitch in the intranet system had sent our booking off into cyberspace. They will refund my money but now the booking site shows that the train is full. So we either go to the train station, an hours journey by bus and see if there are spare seats, or take a taxi from the marina straight to KL. I think with luggage etc we will opt for taxi.
We have 2 nights in Kuala Lumpur to explore the city before flying home for a month. Am I excited….YES I AM!!
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