Living the dream goes on hold.

 
“Life is what happens…..while you’re making other plans.” John Lennon

Langkawi Telaga

Back at Telaga more boats had arrived and heading to the marinas as the dry season draws to a close. I met Paul and Tracy on “Cockatoo” who left Perth 7 years ago and headed across the Great Australian Bight to the east coast. They have only just arrived in South East Asia. I met Lars from Norway on 28 foot “Luna”, in immaculate condition, who has been living on his boat for the last 10 years. 

Boat maintenance:

• Installing a Radar sensor
• Removing heavy gauge wire from the eclectic capstan winch.
• Finding and fixing leaks.
• Engine maintenance

We experienced the first tropical down pour for many months, I was looking for leaks. Other than the normal leak through the front hatch everything appeared to be dry, well in the fore cabin anyway. The dry season seems to have come to an end early as the afternoon tropical thunder storms are appearing more regularly. Ah, and then there is the onset of the fungus when the oiled wood takes on that dull hue of mould and mildew.

Deck leaks – jib track bolts with no backing nuts due to the bulkhead being in the way – clever. I had wondered why water was oozing from the main bulk head after having resealed the chainplates while in Carnarvon. The load from the jib has distorted the track, due to the missing nut that retains the track, and broken the seal allowing water to flow into the bulk head timber. This was quite a major leak as it may have affected the integrity of the load bearing bulkhead. That’s another two leaks fixed.

Insects/Pests
Weevils – At first I was quite philosophical about the little critters, arriving in the first bag of rice that I purchased in Asia, more protein. However, the weevils were not so considerate,  being very prolific, consumed more rice and began to affect the taste of the food. One of the cook books suggested using bay leaves, this must have been more for appeasement, hoping the blighters would just disappear. After one particularly lousy meal, couldn’t be my cooking, of eating the abundant weevils and their excrement I declared war on the defecating, fornicating blighters. Chloroform! A drop of chloroform on a small cotton ball in a cage, so it does not touch the food, solved the problem. This is probably the thermo nuclear approach to solving a small problem however it works. WMD – Weapon of Minimal Destruction. I’m sure “No Rules Ron” would approve. The lesser of two weevils is definitely none. I think that’s called journalistic license.

Cockroaches – I’m not aware of any of these nasty pests on the boat - yet. I have been careful not to bring cardboard boxes on board, where roach eggs may be found. Cockroaches also fly. Combat Platinum Roach Kill is supposed to be very effective.

Termites – who would have thought termites would be a problem on a boat. Here in South East Asia the critters can fly! Not the common fat flying ant - small black critters with wings. I have heard several stories and seen the evidence where the whole sole/floor of a yacht had to be replaced. One keeps an eye out for the presents of unattached small wings on the boat – the calling card of the flying termite.

Mosquitoes  - A perennial problem – not usually to bad when anchored away from the beach. Any repellents with DEET in them are quite effective. The mossy coils tend to leave the boat smelling like being around a camp fire.

Cable Car Mountain from Telaga Frog Pond

Needing some exercise I walked up the cable car mountain with Graham and Sue from “Chandrika”. Sue and Graham had spent the past week climbing up their mast on “Chandrika” painting and doing other maintenance on the mast. What was I, a fifty something year old, thinking going walking up 700 metre mountains with two fit, rock climbing, thirty something year olds.

Graham and Sue "Chandrika"

Obviously my cruising lifestyle has improved my fitness as I did not need oxygen or to be in traction after scaling the mountain. It was a pleasant climb on steps carved into the side of the mountain and retained by concrete slabs where the electricity and water utility lines run to the summit. The view from the top was outstanding, with clear views to; Ko Turatua, the Butangs, Telaga harbour and “Sadiqi” just distinguishable far below.

View to Telaga, Rebak. Pantai Cenag

We treated ourselves to an ice cream before descending the easy way on the cable car. It’s far easier walking up the mountain than walking down – easier on the legs and back.

March 17 – Snowman, Tony arrived from England for a visit. The first few days were spent lounging around the boat trying to get Tony some colour, acclimatise to the heat and humidity. Two days later he was varying shades of pink and red – fortunately not lobster like. Snoring – the sound of serious deforestation with a defunct, rattling chainsaw emanating from the passenger proved a challenge necessitating the use of ear plugs. The sleep deprivation goes some way to explaining the grumpiness of the skipper in the mornings. One day we drove around Langkawi island doing the tourist thing. We drove up the highest maintain on Langkawi; Gunung Raya and had spectacular views of the whole island.

Gunung Raya

I had planned on sailing over to Ko Lipe to show him the quaint sights and bars. Tony took the fast ferry over as I needed to make plans for possibly flying to Africa due to an illness in the family. As an alternative we motored over to Pantai Cenang on Langkawi to try and get some sailing in. I should have know better there was not much wind. Alas, the anchorage was decidedly rough with opposing current and wind that I decided it best to return to Telaga.  Tony spent the last few days at Pantai Cenang in air conditioned comfort of the Rainbow Resort.