Arrival in Langkawi

The intrepid little sailors on Basanti set off from Johor Bahru on Wednesday November 13 and after four days and three nights of sailing we arrived at the beautiful island of Langkawi.  Langkawi is actually part of an archipelago consisting of nearly 100 isands, but the main activities and the town of Kuah are on the large isand. 

We missed many places we'd like to explore in Peninsuar Malaysia, but we need to be in Phuket, Thailand for the first week of December where we will meet up with friends for the Phuket Race week.  We plan to spend more time in Malaysia next year, so these sights that we sailed past can be explored at our leisure later on.

We were busy in Johor Bahru getting a few things for the boat...even popped back to Singapore for part of a day to purchase filters and things for Basanti's engine.  We stayed at the Danga Bay marina, which is very conveniently located on a main road with plenty of busses and taxis.  Many of the people participating in the Sail Indonesia Rally were in Danga Bay to prepare for the start of the Sail Malaysia rally, and we met cruisers from all over and look forward to seeing some of these folks in the future.  One night there was a pot luck dinner at the marina and it seemed like most of the cruisers came along and there was plenty of delicious food.

We've been anchored just off Kuah Town since our arrival.  We've explored the town and found an electrician to check out the spare starter solenoid and something on the alternator, but now we're good to explore other parts of the island for a few days before heading up to Thailand.  We do not plan to get a Thai phone, so may not have lots of access to internet while we are in Thailand, however, I'm sure we'll manage to check our emails from time to time.

Hope to do some adventurous, touristy or scenic things soon so we can post a few photos.  Jhor Bahru isn't particularly scenic, but it was a good stop for shopping and eating.  Happy Thanksgiving to our American family and friends...we enjoyed our two Thanksgivings while we were in the US and will be missing our favorite holiday this year.  Eat some turkey for us!!

Brief update...from Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Buster's been his bad little self.  Once Phil and I returned to Basanti and Buster over at Nongsa Point (Indonesia) we prepared the boat and ourselves, officially cleared out of the country, and departed the lovely marina.  We departed early on a Wednesday morning as we had about 50 miles to cover, including crossing the Singapore Straits...one of the the busiest shipping channels in the world.  There is a constant stream of ships (2 lanes in each direction) moving east and west through the Straits and we were a little intimidated.  However, plenty of yachties cross it, so it can't be too bad.

We headed west along the Indonesian side of the straits until there seemed to be a gap from the west and nothing from the east.  All in all it was a little bit of an anticlimax, but we're glad for that.  Once we were on the Singapore side, it was pretty busy, but even then it wasn't too bad.  We motored around Singapore to the west and then up the Johor Straits, under a bridge in heavy rain with little visibility and then on up to Danga Bay Marina in Johor Bahru.  Here we are for a week or so getting a few parts and things not available in Indonesia.

Best thing so far about Malaysia has to be the food!!  We are all loving the varieties and eating too much...Indian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese...it is all here.  Yum.  The weather is hot of course and just about every afternoon we get a rain...a heavy downpour, but that cools things off a bit.

This poor computer...while in Singapore we took it to a fixer for a variety of reasons and the analysis was that the hard drive was really corrupted, so the fellow had to re-format the hard drive.  We saved a bunch of the files and things, but after the re-formatting, all the programs and things had to be re-installed and whatever.   Hopefully we are all good to go again with fewer technical issues.  Buster will have to sort through some photos and post something soon.

While the cat's away...

Phil and Chris left me in charge of things on Basanti at Nongsa Point Marina while they went visiting friends in Johor Bahru and catching up with family in Singapore.  Initially I was a little bit put out at being left behind again, however I met a Grizzley little friend from a Canadian boat and we enjoyed Chris's rum supply.

Once the rum was finished, I explored the facilities...enjoyed a table overlooking the marina, the huge pool and then managed to take a jet ski for a spin. 

 

 

 I'm sure I'll be in trouble when Phil and Chris return, but it was pretty fun and I think we'll all miss the pool when we move on.