With the South Westerly monsoon approaching, we decided to head south via the Malacca Straits to spend a couple of months on the much less travelled Eastern Coast of the Malaysian peninsular. As we had already been down this coastline before we decided not to stop and spend too much time here instead opting to explore the other side. I love the best laid plans…
Langkawi was our first port of call and Rebak marina beckoned. It was so good to be back at our favourite haunt complete with swimming pool, beach bar and choice of restaurants. Many of the rally friends were still there and we had a lovely few days with everyone before we all went off in different directions.
We took the cable car to the top of Langkawi which was really worth the trip. The views are incredible, and those little white dots on the ocean are cruising yachts. We were in Rebak so we couldn’t see Indian Summer and we were lucky to get such a clear day. You can see many of the small islands off Langkawi – most uninhabited.
We stocked up on our alcohol, did a few boat chores and then checked out before sailing down to Penang.
We have decided to go home for a couple of weeks later in the year so we wanted to make sure that we could get a berth in Straits Quay Marina which is usually full. With our berth in Sept all organised we set off for Pangkor. Last time we were in Pangkor was with the rally and we were all offered 5 days free in the marina which could be taken anytime within the year, so we took up that option and spent a week. Its a lovely marina, a bit isolated but with a car anything is possible. We again caught up with more rally buddies and had a fantastic week with them. Us girls did yoga every morning, gathered at the bar in the evening and managed to get our new HF radio set up. We spent a day in Lumut, the nearest town which is small but cute. Lots of artwork everywhere, and a long waterfront to wander along. The roads here are amazing – very well maintained and new. I would imagine they are expecting many more residents over the coming years.
After a lovely relaxing week in Pangkor, we set off south towards Singapore. We only stopped for the one night just outside Admiral Marina in Port Dickson and arrived in Sebana Cove Marina just in time for lunch. This marina is at the end of a river and is a fresh water marina. Never having stayed in a fresh water marina before we were not sure whether it would be any different, but were told by the long term residents that it is perfect if you are leaving your boat for a long time as there is not problem with barnacle growth. Here in the tropics, we get growth after a few days so this was great information. Problem was we had just booked a 7 week stay in Penang! Oh well, we love Penang anyway. They have a lovely tradition of all the yachties gathering at ‘The Bus Stop’ which was a shelter on the jetty. Every night we would all meet up at 6pm – a great way to meet everybody. There is a really clean swimming pool that we had to ourselves every day we were here, a good restaurant and very helpful people. We took their minibus to the shops, stocked up and after we had completed all those pesky boat chores, we left after a few days to start our northern sail up the East Coast where we were meeting all our kids at the Perhentian Islands.
S/V Indian Summer 1 