Thailand Ko Lipe

February 25 – Toby, who sailed with me from Fremantle to Carnavon arrived taking the easy way to Langkawi via AirAsia. He spent a few days staying at Pantai Cenang, riding around looking at boats for sale – there being a buyers market at the moment.
Cheap and cheerful budget accommodation near Pantai Cenang beach Langkawi:
Rainbow Lodge; http://rainbowlangkawi.com/ 
AB Resort; is right on the beach.

I collected Toby at the Telaga dingy dock after he had recovered from either too much partying in Pantai Cenang or a bug that he may have picked up on the flight. We hired motor bikes and rode around visiting the important provisioning establishments; the wet (fresh food) market, where to buy bacon, the cheap booze warehouse, duty free shops, yacht chandleries and the best boating hardware stores.

We took a covert skirmish to Ko Lipe on March 3 to show Toby the quaint, hedonistic little island. We left under cover of darkness at 6.30am, the sun only rises in Langkawi around 8.00am, and had a great sail in a 10 to 15 knot north easterly breeze. At 11.00am we dropped anchor at Sunset Beach having adjusted for the one hour time zone difference. On going ashore we visited and had a beer with Mr Man, who runs the Boom Boom Bar and who keeps an eye out for the dingy. In the evening we ventured ashore to the village in search of Thai food.

A great deal of time and effort was spent searching for the perfect beach bar. With the number of bars on the small island, I think it near impossible to visit every bar and remember what day of the week it was let alone ones name. I am sure many people have tried. After much searching, the following day we found the “Bila Beach Bar”. After a very tasty omelette, some exhaustive fluid replenishment, dispersed with the odd swim in the warm, clear waters of Anderrman sea some hammock time was required. It did not take long for the smooth talking Toby to find a couple of attractive girls – Michelle and Ursula from Switzerland. In the evening we returned to the Boom Boom bar and against my better judgement Toby, ordered margaritas – deje vu. I really ought to know better!

The return trip to Langkawi started off slowly under motor, there being very little wind. However, an 8 to 10 knot north easterly wind soon persisted and we were able to raise the asymmetrical spinnaker for a very pleasant sail. Toby had arranged to meet Michelle and Usula at Pantai Cenang as they left Ko Lipe on the same day by ferry. We dropped anchor near the southern end of Pantai Cenang beach at 19.45 and ventured ashore in search of food. The following day Toby showed me some of the bars he had frequented when he stayed there – one crime scene being the “Babylon Bar” on the beach. We sailed back to Telaga on Sunday March 6, me feeling decidedly liverish after having been forced to eat so much good food and drink so much alcohol. Toby kept on saying that it was so cheap in Langkawi, he still had so much Malay Ringgit left that he, generously, bought a great Thai BBQed fish dinner for Rob and Ticia on “Bluet” and me.  An inspired Toby flew out of Langkawi on the Monday back to his boat Lotus in Fremantle. I’m sure my liver will recover eventually .

Lap around Langkawi

The Langkawi Eagle at Kuah

Not wanting to grow any more moss, on me or the boat, it was time to move. It was also a good idea to get away from Kuah and the shops. On Sunday February 13 I headed south to go in a counter clockwise direction around Langkawi. The sea around the island, in most places, is surprisingly shallow. Most of the time was spent motoring as there was very little wind. The first night I spend at the “Hole in the Wall” or Kilim River anchorage.  Literally, a very sheltered anchorage behind a gap between the granite cliffs. Being so sheltered mosquitoes were a problem.

I Continued around the island, passing Tanjung Rhu  and anchored at Datai Bay on the North West Corner of Langkawi. A very nice spot with relatively clear water and two luxury hotels “The Datai” and “The Anderman”. Loquacious Tony from “Amber Nectar”, a Swedish Comfort 34, invited himself over to Sadiqi in his dingy, later in the afternoon, to say good day. He left Portsmouth England 25 years ago sailing across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. The water was clearer in Datai Bay than anywhere else that I have seen around Langkawi. It was a pleasant few days there.

Datai Bay

Then it was time to return to Telaga only a short sail/motor around the other side of the mountains where Langkawi’s Cable Car is.  Arriving back in the Telaga “frog pond” was almost like coming home – familiar boats and faces. I met up with Rob and Wendy again on “Aja”, another Fremantle registered aluminium boat. Met Peter and Lyn on “Mandella II”, a power boat, from Melbourne. Met up with Rudi and Preshca on “Slow Motion” again, having met them in Ao Chalong, Phuket while checking in.

Travelling around Langkawi on motor bike. This is an interesting challenge adapting to changing speeds having got used to a very sedate 5 miles an hour on the boat, if I’m lucky, to 60 kilometers an hour on the road. Give me the boat and 5 knots any day. Hmm, the sitting in rush hour traffic on the freeway analogy comes to mind.

Ramblings – psychotic episodes

Dealing with negative thoughts and emotions. Sailing most of the time on my own and having more than enough time to think it does not take long for negative thoughts to pervade. With a helpful tip from Tricia on “Bluet” I improved on a technique for reducing the impact of these adverse thoughts. I have touched on this before with a reference to fear. I know this is nothing new, having time on my hands I thought I’d share.

Some observed traits among people are; that we need to have something to worry about, and if we have any spare time we need to fill it. One recent event that at the time so incensed me to put me on the verge of raging psychotic episode had been a payment into an investment fund. This has since been resolved amicable. I apologise for the impolite assertions made at the time and have retracted them.

Depending on the worrying thought it does not take too long before I have wound myself up into a right state requiring, probably, months or years of anger management coucelling or therapy with some shrink. And, of course “we” brew and stew over these thoughts making it far worse than it really is, which eventually effects our health.

The technique:

1. Recognise, label and tag the offending negative thought.
2. Visualise wrapping the offending thought up into a ball. Be creative. For example depending on how offensive the thought is; mix up some fibreglass resin with extra catalyst to make it smoking hot, pour concrete or glue over it.
3. Mentally choose your favourite weapon eg. Golf club, cricket bat, baseball bat, double barrelled shot gun, bazooka, food blender . . . . let the imagination go.
4. Tee up or toss the wrapped up offending thought and whack it, listening for the sound and feeling of the impact; eg. the swish and whack of the number 4 wood, the thwock and vibration of the cricket bat, the plink of the aluminium baseball bat, the boom and recoil of the shot gun or bazooka, the whir and grind of the blender. . . .  OK, so this might be a little too violent for some. Wrap up the offending thought put it in a little box, assuming that it is a little offensive thought that is. Visualise digging a hole, burying it, then planting some daffodils over it.
5. Depending on how imaginative you’ve been, with any luck, you start wondering what you were originally thinking about. Well, don’t think about this too hard or you’re back at square one. So the next part it to find some productive, good thoughts to fill the void.

Remember you are only wrapping and obliterating your negative thoughts. This technique is not for dealing with the actual or real problem or person that may have caused the negative thoughts.

My father once told me, way back when I was a mere squack, that if everyone threw their problems into a heap and you had to pick one, you’d want your own problems back. He was absolutely right.

Ramblings – Shopping, food and alcohol

Shopping in a foreign country. This can be an amusing or otherwise experience. Sometimes not recognising what it is that is being bought and taking pot luck. I bought some sweet and sour mango, which when eaten must have left me with a pretty astonished look on my face as I gasped, retched and muttered what the hell was that! I even tried giving it away with no success. Finding something as simple as a decent tea bag can be interesting. There is a huge assortment of fresh and exotic vegetables and fruits. Durrin for one smells like a rotting carcass but tastes completely different. There is a vast assortment of fungi available in stores, far more than I’d ever seen before. Mushrooms are best purchased dried, for the boat anyway, then all that is required is to soak them before cooking. When buying food from the road side stalls and the person even implies that it is hot – believe them! Otherwise, you could quite easily feel that you had just sucked on napalm or white phosphorous, and an iceberg of glacier would not sooth the heat.

Finding a suitable beverage is one of the more pleasant challenges. Langkawi being duty free alcohol is very cheap. The cheapest beer Skol is drinkable in desperation, Carlsburg is better, then an icy cold Tiger beer is much better. In Thailand I drank either Singha beer or Chang. Chang being around 6.5 percent alcohol. One way of drinking less beer is have a few Chang, conversation soon becomes impaired due to  the sudden thickening of the tongue. I had trouble finding Bundaberg rum, my favoured tipple, and eventually settled for Mount Gay Rum at 55 Ringit (AU$22.00). I had tried Captain Morgan rum at around 30 Ringit (AU$10.00) and probably won't do that again. Even the Thai Rocket fuel rum called SangSom 80% proof, of what I’m not sure, was better. Sadiqi used to have a reasonably stocked wine cellar when in Australia. The wine now comes in a cardboard box. The South Africa Drostdy-Hof Claret Select, five Litres has been a real success. Good thing about Chateau Cardboard is one is not compelled to drink to stupidity, as one does not have to finish the bottle once opened, then again 5 litres maybe not such a good idea when in good company. The Western Cellars Californian Chateau Cardboard that I purchased was not a great success as for some reason, not for quantity of wine drunk; it left me with a nasty headache.

Langkawi

I had chosen Kuah (Bass Harbour) to meet up with Rob and Tricia on “Bluet” for Chinese New Year on February 3. Rob, Tricia and I spent a pleasant few days together. Unfortunately, they are heading out soon to try and find some work and continue their adventure. This is definitely one of the more difficult parts of the adventure – saying good bye to people whom have become very good friends.

I replaced the house bank batteries with two Trojan TMX27, 105 Amp Hour, Deep Cycle batteries. I was tempted to go for the modern technology and buy Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries. At more than twice the price than that of the TMX27 lead acid batteries I baulked. Also, the old charging system can not easily handle the charging requirements of the more modern batteries. The AC Delco deep cycle batteries had done well lasting just over 5 years. These batteries are cycling everyday to keep, mainly, the fridge running.

Rob from “Bluet” mentioned that he still had his charging alternator from the Volvo penta, single pot, engine that they had had on their boat. He removed the inboard engine ten months ago as it deceased or was about to. They now use sails or the outboard motor attached to the stern to move the boat. The alternator is similar to the one on my Volvo engine. I purchased this from him along with an Adverc smart regulator. This gives me more spare parts to rebuild my battery charging equipment should it fail.