Nov 24-27
Hi All,
We didn’t do too much in Langkawi…..it was very, very hot…..temps in the 90’s and heat index over 105* F…..arghhhhhh!! Both days we went out we were just drained in a few hours!!!
The first day we did the duty free thing. Malaysia has 3 duty free islands and Langkawi is one of them. Supposedly very cheap alcohol and many cruisers stock up. Well……luck is not on our side on this one……starting Nov 1 Malaysia is limiting what people can purchase, claiming they were losing too much duty from people reselling on the mainland. So, the limit is 3 cartons of cigarettes, not too worry on that one, 5 liters of spirits or wine, 3 cases of beer. We did find the prices to be 10-75% less on the alcohol/wine than USA……JWB, USD18, ($53 in USA), Jose Cuervo Tequila USD12, $22 in USA, Absolut vodka USD8, $32 in USA…….all in liters…..ok, pretty good prices….but a bottle of Ron Zacapa 23 and Glenlivet 18 were the same price as USA….it seemed for the higher priced items the discount diminished!! Kathy found some Cloudy Bay wine from NZ about 30% less than in USA…..($20 vs $30 in USA) but the wine selection was limited!!!
There were Custom agents in the 4 duty free stores we visited and when you bought something they took your passport and made an entry on the computer trying to prevent cheating. This new law is quite controversial and obviously is killing the duty free trade business on Langkawi……it will be interesting to follow this development!!
We had a very quiet Thanksgiving!! This is the part of the cruising lifestyle we don’t really care for. We ended up in Langkawi, not knowing anyone and in a country that does not celebrate USA holidays. It was uplifting and at the same time a bit depressing to see on FB all the family/friends celebrations. It was Thanksgiving last year when Kathy had her back surgery 2 days prior……whoa!!!!
The second day we checked out of Malaysia……the hardest part was finding the 3 offices……Harbor Master, Immigration and Customs…..all 3 were in the ferry building which is close to the marina but the offices are not obvious……we asked 4 people and got 4 different directions:)))) But, it was stamp, stamp, see you next year and we were done!!! From there we walked around a few more stores and called it a day!!
Since I had a little time I have now cracked the books on crossing the Pacific back to Alaska….oh boy, this is going to be a real challenge to sort out all the seasonal weather…..monsoons, trade winds, typhoons…..joy. I got a headache within a few hours….enough to know this will take some careful thought….ugh!!!! We do know/think we will leave from Japan…..just not sure from where as we do have choices……sometime in June/July 2018…..it’s just getting to Japan in time that seems to be the more daunting challenge…..the NE trades do not diminish until May……ugh!!!!
We left Langkawi at 7am on Saturday Nov 26 for the 85 nm run to Ko Kgai……a pretty good run…..seas calm and winds started 10-15 but died to <5 kts……took us about 11 hours……8 kt avg…..we had problems anchoring….the book said west side but all we found was rubble and rocks and the anchor would not set after 2 tries…..so went on the south side and found a beautiful beach with 2 small resorts and anchored in 50’……..passage beer opened by 6:15pm.!!!
Wow…..our first ever visit into Thailand waters and we love it……gone are the dirty waters of the Malacca Straits……back to the blue ocean colors……and these forest/bush covered limestone pinnacles are stunning!!! We even had a glorious sunset…..whoa!!! But, the night fishing boats are back in the 100’s…….the whole night sky was lit up from all these fishing boats…..very similar to western Indonesia!! And, in waters <100′, we came across a gazillion fish traps……all marked with flags…..maybe 100-200 yards apart……we had to dodge these little guys all day so not a very relaxing passage!!!
So what do you do on your first night anchored off some limestone pinnacle in Thailand…..you watch James Bond, The Man with the Golden Gun:)))))
Up early again and left Ko Kgai at 6:30am…….btw, time changes in Thailand…..back an hour…..so sunrise is now 6:15am and we are 15 hrs ahead of CA time!!! We made it to Yacht Haven marina around 4:15pm…. but our berth is not ready….well, we can’t get to it at low tide……hmmmm…….but they say our berth is deep enough and good for when we are back in the USA……we hope so!!! We can move tomorrow at high tide, but first we have to go to Customs/Immigration to check in….about an hour away…..joy!!!! The run was a little over 9.5 hours, about 7.5 kt avg….we had an adverse current almost the whole way and up to 1.5 kts the last 3 hours and coming up the channel to the marina….ugh!!! We had 10-15 kt beam winds with a 1-2′ chop in the am but then in the afternoon flat calm seas and wind….sweet as!!!
And…guess what…..another marina with a different plug….really….but we bought this one….I think #10…… as it is cheaper to buy than rent for the 2+ months we are here……but an electrician has to come to wire it…..really….so we wait another hour and 2 very nice guys show up…..but their cord is not long enough….so we have to pull Mystic up to the next berth…..we are on a long T-dock……geez…..when can I have my passage beer……but, we get it done…….power on, AC on (it is still 100* F heat index) and passage beer opened by 6:00pm!!!!!!
We will be here just a week and then fly back to USA on Dec 5th…….but, it is a week of lots of cleaning and TLC for Mystic……we have a long list……ugh!!!! I’ll write a summary of our 2016 cruising in a few days, but we did 5000nm in 7 months……whoa!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
REST MYSTIC REST!!
PS: Pictures on the website: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Langkawi
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