My OperaMalaysia to Thailand
Saturday, December 17, 2011 7:42:26 AM
So since leaving Indonesia what has happened to Mind the Gap. Well quite a lot really. Dodging ships in the Malacca Strait, sailing along the Singapore coast with its impressive coastal skyline. Past Raffles and under a bridge that we thought may take our VHF aerial off the mast but made it Ok with some space to spare. We were headed for Danga Bay marina in Johor Bahru The depth instrument started playing up so decided to enter the marina in the morning rather than risk running aground that the evening.
We were pleasantly surprised to see at least one boat that we knew Malaika (Chris & Lyn S/Africans).
We also met a bunch of new people, including the Danks family (John, Jenny, Justine, Jessica and Jonathan) on a cat called Blue Moon also from SA and in the berth opposite ours. We spent so much time with them that after reading their account of the last few weeks thought that we did not have to write anything as they have covered it all. We will just provide a link to their site… http://www.bluemooners.com/apps/blog/entries/show/10845117-johor-to-langkawi-to-see-the-end-of-a-great-year-2011
Decided it was a bit too cheeky so wrote our account of events.
Arriving shortly after us was the Stransky family on their cat Fantasia which had just won line honours in the Darwin to Ambon race by 6 hours. In conditions that suite they sail at consistent and sustained speeds of well into the 20's.I was invited to sail some of the inshore races with them in the Raja Muda series. We watched the ups and downs of the Rugby World Cup in air conditioned comfort. We also got on with numerous boat projects. Tools, paint and stuff all over. It was like living in a tool shed.
I made some horizontal blinds (louvers) for our front windows. They took ages to shape and put together and paint. We painted them white after their first waterproof coats. Each side has to dry before we can flip it over for the other side. Two windows and a couple of coats each in between the rain and it all takes ages. This project was also interrupted when we were both struck down with Dengue fever, onset is sudden and severe (just as the book says) - splitting headaches, aching bones and a fever, you have no appetite and do not even want to drink anything. We suffered for 4 days quite badly but we took some controversial medication (I will not go into that here) that helped and started a quick recovery from day 4 onwards. Getting the materials i.e. the plywood, 2 sheets, 8X4 and crossing a 3 lane motor way on foot with these plus a bicycle is another story - we do things a little differently here.
Some woodwork was sanded and waits for the varnishing to happen. And all these projects set up enough dust on the seat cushions that needed washing before we set off. So much for relaxing at a marina! Lorna was hoping to get some sewing done while we had the extra power but no time for that.
Most of our boat projects were completed and we had been up the swamp for long enough. It was so convenient being at a marina with shore power and unlimited water. Not that there was a water shortage, we had rain every day and usually loads of it. Not the best water though and definitely not for drinking. Whether it is acid rain or full of pollution from the city or airports who knows but it left black deposits on everything unless it was washed off right away. Almost every day we had a thunder storm or one was threatened to occur.
Took the bus across to Singapore for the day before we set off on our journey to Thailand. We were so close to Singapore from the marina in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru. It was a real easy trip - there is a land bridge of about a mile just a few miles away from where we were. Just hop on a bus, hop off, walk through customs and immigration and hop on another bus across the border and Wha La. Used a day metro travel card to get around the city. Their underground trains were quick, punctual and efficient. Singapore is like a visit to Disneyland. Everything is spotless. Fines for everything from having chewing gum, to littering or even jay walking. Saw their botanic garden as well as the city architecture up close. Visited the famous Raffles hotel but did not stay there. It is way out of range of most cruisers budgets. Site seeing and shopping was the order of the day. We left the boat at sun rise and got back long after sunset - another busy day.
Malacca Strait
It was great being at a marina, the ease of shopping and ready access to water a particular luxury for us but it was time to be off. Two other cats, Blue Moon and Plane Sailing left the same time as us and we sort of cruised together to Langkawi. We had to stop to scrape some barnacles off our boat when the water became clearer. The water was too murky where we were at the marina to do this before we left. Others who were wiser fastened plastic bags around their props to keep the barnacles off when they arrived.
We did mostly day sailing as there were too many hazards with fishing stakes and other obstacles that could not be detected at night. Significant stops were near the city of Malacca where one night we encountered a severe thunder/lightning storm accompanied by almost 40 knots of wind, fortunately it did not last long and no damage was done. Plane Sailing had a narrow escape from the rocks when their anchor started dragging. It was their good fortune that they were warned by Blue Moon and a potential disaster was averted.
At Pinang I sailed the in shore events on Fantasia. Conditions did not really suite them but they still turned in a good performance but were beaten by a super light small cat called Sidewinder.
At Langkawi we were hoping to see Fantasia sail over the finish with that sought after line honours win. We were sure they would as the wind was up and over 20 knots in strength. We scanned the horizon just before sunset then gave up and went on to the anchorage. Apparently we just missed them, it was still light as they powered over the finish line in excess of 20 knots, hotly pursued by the tri Miss Saigon 3 minutes later.
I again sailed with them during the inshore races in Langkawi and although we did well a few mistakes cost us a chance of doing better. They did however end up with a great haul of silverware at the prize giving. They then went on to sail in the King's Cup in Thailand. We arranged to meet them there and take some of their excess stuff on our boat so that their boat could be as light as possible for the racing.
We hired a motor bike and went island sight seeing here in Langkawi. There are some beautiful anchorages here but we will have to explore another time. We left to check out at Talaga about 20 miles or so from where we were based in Kuah - Langkawi. On the way the starboard engine stopped and I saw that the fan belt was badly worn. I replaced it, Restarted the engine but the alternator was damaged, also it sounded like I had a blown head gasket. We made it to Talaga but had to head back to Kuah for spares and engine fix. Bought a new alternator but it has no tacho fitting, so no rev counter on one engine it is not a disaster. The head gasket turned out to be a damaged fuel injector gasket and seat. Three days of toil, skinned knuckles and cursing finally got the fuel injector out, it seemed to be welded into the cylinder head. Had to make up a tool that resembled a valve grinder to resurface the seat of the fuel injector in the cylinder head. All ok now but we did miss the Kings Cup.
Thailand
We have seem some sights in Thailand already
The Emerald Cove
80 meters of total darkness through a cave in our dingy from a sea entrance leads to the most enchanting and secluded beach in the middle of the island.
This is the approach and only access is from the sea.
looking towards the inside
About 40 miles further on we anchored off the beach were the 1999 cult movie "The Beach" was shot. Another amazing place.
We are now at Ao Chalong, a few miles from Phuket taking it easy before heading off to James Bond island and the Similans for Christmas. Anybody want to join us then for cruising around Thailand or racing in the Langkawi Regatta - see http://www.langkawiregatta.com/Entry/yachts-for-charter-listing.html
We were pleasantly surprised to see at least one boat that we knew Malaika (Chris & Lyn S/Africans).
We also met a bunch of new people, including the Danks family (John, Jenny, Justine, Jessica and Jonathan) on a cat called Blue Moon also from SA and in the berth opposite ours. We spent so much time with them that after reading their account of the last few weeks thought that we did not have to write anything as they have covered it all. We will just provide a link to their site… http://www.bluemooners.com/apps/blog/entries/show/10845117-johor-to-langkawi-to-see-the-end-of-a-great-year-2011
Decided it was a bit too cheeky so wrote our account of events.
Arriving shortly after us was the Stransky family on their cat Fantasia which had just won line honours in the Darwin to Ambon race by 6 hours. In conditions that suite they sail at consistent and sustained speeds of well into the 20's.I was invited to sail some of the inshore races with them in the Raja Muda series. We watched the ups and downs of the Rugby World Cup in air conditioned comfort. We also got on with numerous boat projects. Tools, paint and stuff all over. It was like living in a tool shed.
I made some horizontal blinds (louvers) for our front windows. They took ages to shape and put together and paint. We painted them white after their first waterproof coats. Each side has to dry before we can flip it over for the other side. Two windows and a couple of coats each in between the rain and it all takes ages. This project was also interrupted when we were both struck down with Dengue fever, onset is sudden and severe (just as the book says) - splitting headaches, aching bones and a fever, you have no appetite and do not even want to drink anything. We suffered for 4 days quite badly but we took some controversial medication (I will not go into that here) that helped and started a quick recovery from day 4 onwards. Getting the materials i.e. the plywood, 2 sheets, 8X4 and crossing a 3 lane motor way on foot with these plus a bicycle is another story - we do things a little differently here.
Some woodwork was sanded and waits for the varnishing to happen. And all these projects set up enough dust on the seat cushions that needed washing before we set off. So much for relaxing at a marina! Lorna was hoping to get some sewing done while we had the extra power but no time for that.
Most of our boat projects were completed and we had been up the swamp for long enough. It was so convenient being at a marina with shore power and unlimited water. Not that there was a water shortage, we had rain every day and usually loads of it. Not the best water though and definitely not for drinking. Whether it is acid rain or full of pollution from the city or airports who knows but it left black deposits on everything unless it was washed off right away. Almost every day we had a thunder storm or one was threatened to occur.
Took the bus across to Singapore for the day before we set off on our journey to Thailand. We were so close to Singapore from the marina in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru. It was a real easy trip - there is a land bridge of about a mile just a few miles away from where we were. Just hop on a bus, hop off, walk through customs and immigration and hop on another bus across the border and Wha La. Used a day metro travel card to get around the city. Their underground trains were quick, punctual and efficient. Singapore is like a visit to Disneyland. Everything is spotless. Fines for everything from having chewing gum, to littering or even jay walking. Saw their botanic garden as well as the city architecture up close. Visited the famous Raffles hotel but did not stay there. It is way out of range of most cruisers budgets. Site seeing and shopping was the order of the day. We left the boat at sun rise and got back long after sunset - another busy day.
Malacca Strait
It was great being at a marina, the ease of shopping and ready access to water a particular luxury for us but it was time to be off. Two other cats, Blue Moon and Plane Sailing left the same time as us and we sort of cruised together to Langkawi. We had to stop to scrape some barnacles off our boat when the water became clearer. The water was too murky where we were at the marina to do this before we left. Others who were wiser fastened plastic bags around their props to keep the barnacles off when they arrived.
We did mostly day sailing as there were too many hazards with fishing stakes and other obstacles that could not be detected at night. Significant stops were near the city of Malacca where one night we encountered a severe thunder/lightning storm accompanied by almost 40 knots of wind, fortunately it did not last long and no damage was done. Plane Sailing had a narrow escape from the rocks when their anchor started dragging. It was their good fortune that they were warned by Blue Moon and a potential disaster was averted.
At Pinang I sailed the in shore events on Fantasia. Conditions did not really suite them but they still turned in a good performance but were beaten by a super light small cat called Sidewinder.
At Langkawi we were hoping to see Fantasia sail over the finish with that sought after line honours win. We were sure they would as the wind was up and over 20 knots in strength. We scanned the horizon just before sunset then gave up and went on to the anchorage. Apparently we just missed them, it was still light as they powered over the finish line in excess of 20 knots, hotly pursued by the tri Miss Saigon 3 minutes later.
I again sailed with them during the inshore races in Langkawi and although we did well a few mistakes cost us a chance of doing better. They did however end up with a great haul of silverware at the prize giving. They then went on to sail in the King's Cup in Thailand. We arranged to meet them there and take some of their excess stuff on our boat so that their boat could be as light as possible for the racing.
We hired a motor bike and went island sight seeing here in Langkawi. There are some beautiful anchorages here but we will have to explore another time. We left to check out at Talaga about 20 miles or so from where we were based in Kuah - Langkawi. On the way the starboard engine stopped and I saw that the fan belt was badly worn. I replaced it, Restarted the engine but the alternator was damaged, also it sounded like I had a blown head gasket. We made it to Talaga but had to head back to Kuah for spares and engine fix. Bought a new alternator but it has no tacho fitting, so no rev counter on one engine it is not a disaster. The head gasket turned out to be a damaged fuel injector gasket and seat. Three days of toil, skinned knuckles and cursing finally got the fuel injector out, it seemed to be welded into the cylinder head. Had to make up a tool that resembled a valve grinder to resurface the seat of the fuel injector in the cylinder head. All ok now but we did miss the Kings Cup.
Thailand
We have seem some sights in Thailand already
The Emerald Cove
80 meters of total darkness through a cave in our dingy from a sea entrance leads to the most enchanting and secluded beach in the middle of the island.
This is the approach and only access is from the sea.
looking towards the inside
About 40 miles further on we anchored off the beach were the 1999 cult movie "The Beach" was shot. Another amazing place.
We are now at Ao Chalong, a few miles from Phuket taking it easy before heading off to James Bond island and the Similans for Christmas. Anybody want to join us then for cruising around Thailand or racing in the Langkawi Regatta - see http://www.langkawiregatta.com/Entry/yachts-for-charter-listing.html
