Back to Malaysia

We needed to travel a couple of days south from Koh Lipe of Thailand to the Pangkor Marina of Malaysia. So on April 10th, we checked out of Thailand, and with a breeze on our nose, we first motorsailed for the Langkawi group of islands about 5 hours away. Halfway there though, we decided to bypass Langkawi and do an overnighter south for our check-in at Penang Island of Malaysia.

Throughout the night, we kept a vigilant eye to avoid nocturnal fishing boats and nets. Then as the day broke and we cut through the haze as we entered the Penang Strait, it was the freighters we had to give way to. We anchored in front of George Town at Penang Island (Malaysia) around noon (N05°24.646' E100°20.569').

At George Town, having previously seen its sights, we made haste and did our Malaysia check-in and our port check-out all at once for a quick departure to resume our southbound track. The afternoon departure was good timing. Just! We picked up a southbound tidal current that pushed up under both bridges while we watched an ominous black squall intensify just over our shoulder. Realizing we couldn't outrun it, we pulled over in the shallows as close to shore as we could and dropped the hook (N05°16.321' E100°17.524') just as the wind and rain hit.

Looked lower than it was!

Once the squall abated, we lifted the hook at 23:00 and continued to motorsail until we reached Pangkor Island (N04°14.696' E100°34.344') where we anchored on April 12th for one evening. The next morning, we dinghied to the nearby man-made island (Marina Island), where we confirmed our reservation and then motored Sea Turtle over (N04°12.688' E100°36.109').

This would be Sea Turtle's home for awhile...