112. Here Comes The Sun

The transition period between the southwest and the northeast monsoon seasons has just passed here in Malaysia. This is a time when you can expect a lot of rain. And we have certainly had a lot of that. Not as bad as in Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka where I understand they are counting fatalities in the thousands. But still lots. And only a couple of hundred miles south of here, Tropical Storm Senyar trashed a marina in Port Dickson. The same marina that I was in a couple of months ago.

But the weather appears to have settled now. Just in time for me to go cruising again. The plan is to leave Malaysia in a couple of days and go to Thailand. I really can’t wait to get back to pristine anchorages and spend the days snorkelling reefs and the evenings around a bonfire. And to let the breeze rather than the AC cool my cabin at night.

I have enjoyed my two months in Langkawi though. Much more than my other stops in Malaysia. In all honesty, Malaysia is pretty far from being my favourite cruising country. The water is murky, shallow and filled with trash and there are fishing boats and nets everywhere. I’ve spent nearly all of my time here in marinas or on the hard and I can hardly recall the last time I swam in the ocean. But Langkawi is different. It’s lush, surrounded by a beautiful archipelago and located outside the busy Malacca Strait. And it’s a duty free island, which is handy when you want to get boat work done and when stocking up the bar for guests that will arrive for the holidays.

I’m spending my last few days here in Langkawi clearing out Saoirse’s garage, one of her three cabins. So I can make room for four guests. The Rosanders. A Swedish family that my buddies on Picasso and I met back in the Caribbean when they sailed with their boat Happy Pancake (named after the dating site that matched the parents together). I’ve had to be pretty ruthless in order to make them feel comfortable and welcome. My spare outboard engine, 1 500 DVDs, numerous pilot/guide books from around the world and one of my sails have all had to go. The sail that carried Saoirse all the way from Lanzarote in the Canaries to half way between New Zealand and Fiji. Across two oceans. Something that I couldn’t just throw away. So I gave it to a Spanish lady on the boat Avenger and asked her to make bags from it. Esther, or Bag Lady as I affectionately call her, managed to produce fourteen totally unique bags. Bags that I call ’Two Oceans’ and that I plan to give to some of the people that matter most to me.

So there you have it. A short update on what’s been going on here. Mainly boat work while hiding from the rain. But now the sun is back and its time to go cruising again. Life is good!