Pangkor hornbills

Still on our motorcycle trip from Phuket (Thailand) to Malaysia to renew our Thai Visitor's Visas and meet up with our friends at Lumut of Marina Island, we decided to catch the 10-minute ferry from Marina Island to Pangkor Island.

Part of the draw for us to this Island was to see a daily feeding of wild hornbill birds on the seaside patio of a particular hotel. There are various species and these are the largest called Great Hornbills. They are not unlike the Toucan (remember the mascot for Fruit Loops cereal?)

On arriving at the pier, we were immediately met by a young man who had scooters for rent, so we struck a deal and off we went. We had read the feeding time was around 17:30 to 19:00. Apparently the birds don't follow a rigid time schedule! So with time to kill, there was the whole Island to explore.

Pangkor Island's robust terrain is carpeted with lush tropical forests. We headed counterclockwise on the main narrow road that circled the Island.

Before leaving the condensed village that's squished between the shore and the steep hillsides, we came upon a shipyard. There, they were hand-building ocean-going ships of about 25 metres all out of heavy timbers and planking. You could easily picture yourself in a European shipyard of the 1600s.

Jordan was amazed at the huge planks of prized wood. Solid planks the size of a castle's dining room tabletop that could sit 30. What would these planks, rich in colour with a grain completely clear of knots, be worth back home in Canada? And where did they get such pristine timbers?

Beautiful timber

Continuing, the village scene soon drifted aft as we travelled a snaking road that climbed and clung to the sides of the vertical slopes where the forests disclosed where the prime timbers came from. Then the road eased to a pleasant drive past unspoiled beaches perfectly accented with large boulders as if placed by landscape architects.

We ended up early at the hotel where the hornbills would appear so we relaxed to soak up the setting. Soon, out of nowhere, a large hornbill swooped down as a special guest for dinner. First, she set on a tree branch to survey the safeness of the place, then finally flew down to the plate of cut-up papaya on a little table in the middle of the patio.

Free food!

We seemed to be the only persons interested and slowly crept closer to get a few snapshots...

Mrs. Hornbill was fine until she decided we were getting just a little bit too close and flew off into a high tree where she watched the 2 curious humans from her safe perch.

Soon thereafter, Mr. Hornbill came for the last of the meal. (Evidently a "he" as his bill was larger.) He delicately picked up each piece of fruit by the tip of his capacious bill and with a little backward flip, down it went, at the same time probably wondering what are these strange creatures looking at?

Feathered fruit flipper

The sky was turning an ominous charcoal and the faint rumbles were our cue to take flight back to the human jungle.

Visa and video!

Our 2-month Thailand Tourist Visa expires September 30th, at which time we would need to do 1 of 2 things. First, while remaining in Thailand, we could pay for a 1-month extension or secondly we could do a Visa run by leaving Thailand to get another 2-month Visa.

Normally, we would just do the first, but as our close sailing friends are in Malaysia for only a few days before leaving for South Africa, we chose to kill 2 birds with 1 stone and do a Visa run and have a visit. After all, we have wheels now that we bought a motorcycle and a road trip would be a welcomed interlude.

Off to Malaysia

We left on sunny September 22nd, willing to take whatever the rainy season gave us. The roads were great and the scenery amazing. The first part of our travels had us winding past tall pinnacles and mountainous cliffs that reached towards the sky. One could see patches of exposed raspy limestone as evidence of the formations' permanence and betrayed the soft tropical growth that cloaked them. Some were tall and skinny like solitary guards standing watch over the fertile planes at their feet while others were clustered in solidarity as though for protection in a group.

Unfortunately the rain came down in sheets and draped the formations in misty clouds. But even though partially obscured by the shroud of fog, it gave the scene an enchanting aura. However we're hoping on our return trip for better weather and photo ops.

The later part of our travel was past rather boring flat lands matching the monotony of the motorcycle's drone. We arrived just after dark on the 23rd at Marina Island in Malaysia, about 400 km south of the border, and met up with our friends on Jabula.

Bruce and Jeannie were furiously trying to get Jabula ready by Friday to go back in the water and start their passage across the Indian Ocean to South Africa. It's the correct time. Right now, the lights are green for a go but come November the lights will turn red for the sailor and green for the cyclones in certain areas of that passage.

Us with Bruce and Jeannie in their work clothes

We felt very honoured and special when later Bruce and Jeannie presented us with a video production entitled Living the Dream, which is exactly what we are doing! Much of the footage was done while Jeannie manned Jabula's helm, and Bruce, with an expert and steady hand, did the shots as Sea Turtle and Jabula sailed together through parts of exotic French Polynesia.

Included: sailing, swimming beneath a waterfall, watching dolphins jump, extracting pearls from oyster shells...

For a link to this treasured and copyrighted video, either click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHNbOFTlrbc&feature=youtu.be or on Living the Dream under Other Links in the right-hand column.

Updates

We have posted a new entry for The Pea Green Book blog (link on far right of this page). Libertad was the latest host of Pea Green.

Also posted in our slideshow link at the far right are photos of our visit to the Galapagos.

As the days go by

Thailand, or at least the Island of Phuket, seems to really love the colour pink. Yes, pink. We notice it everywhere. Large buildings painted entirely pink, bus signs plus many others, men and women both owning pink motorscooters and helmets, vehicles (including garbage trucks and buses), chairs, clothing, etc. Also popular here are cartoon characters plastered onto everything, whether owned by male or female. Perhaps this indicates their young-at-heart spirit!

There is also a multitude of different types of street lights, many quite ornate. Our favourite is just before approaching the pier at Chalong Harbour.

Golden illumination

I was fighting a cold that I just couldn't get rid of for several weeks. I finally went to the hospital (which is where you go for a doctor appointment) and was informed that I had pneumonia! He felt that I was also dehydrated (I know, I never drink enough) and I had a seriously low blood pressure. Once admitted to the hospital, I was hooked up to IVs for antibiotics and fluids. The next day I was feeling much better and headed back to the boat.

But after running a course of antibiotic pills, I was still not feeling top notch. A young nurse in a clinic took my blood pressure and suggested that my electrolytes were probably low. Bingo! After drinking a few Gatorades and other sport-type drinks, I was feeling 100%.

A long time ago, a sailing friend of ours, who by the way drinks water non-stop, fainted. She too was lacking in minerals and told that she needed electrolyte drinks.

With all the rain we have been getting in the past couple of weeks, we had quite a bit in our dinghy. What to do? Take a bath!

Splish, splash...

With the weather not the best, we are in no hurry to head out to the islands. As there is no problem finding minor boat jobs to do, some of our slack time is diminished with such chores. World cruising as they say is defined as fixing your boat in exotic places!

Let's eat

One of the things Thailand is known for is its cheap and abundant food, not to mention it's DELICIOUS!. The choices where to buy are varied. If one wants to mix with the locals for traditional fare, vibrant outdoor markets are everywhere with the best prices. They are always crowded with enthusiastic and inquisitive buyers.

People and motorscooters everywhere

As well as food to take home or food to eat on the spot, you can also find housewares, handicrafts, clothing, shoes, knickknacks, etc. for sale.

Anything and everything

The streets are lined with eateries and bars with good and inexpensive menus so we end up eating out a lot. It's less expensive to eat out than to cook on the boat, plus we don't heat up the boat with hot burners or oven. Dinner out for 2 with a wine or beer each is typically less than $10 total.

For more American food stuffs, there are modern air conditioned grocery stores typical of the western world but you pay for the price above the local outdoor market price. There are at least 2 very modern and big malls that make the tourists and expats feel at home. A couple of them are so large, you can easily get lost!

Eventful anchorage

Our sedate life at anchor in Chalong Harbour (south Phuket, Thailand) has been punctuated by some interesting and lively events.

Clear skies showed us the brilliance of the blazing white supermoon as it was the closest to the earth while it was full. We never knew that the orbit of the moon is elliptical which brings it closer to earth at times. At the risk of sounding trekky, the technical name for supermoon is the perigee-syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system, just in case you were wondering.

We arrived in Thailand during the rainy southwest monsoon season that brings unsettled weather. Actually as I am writing this, a squall passed through with gale force winds and horizontal rain that lasted an hour. Surprisingly, no boats dragged. The bottom is muddy sand and excellent holding.

A week ago, we had a similar rain event. We opened up a deck watertank fitting and let the rain fill our 50-gallon starboard tank in about 10 minutes! At times, we've been caught by a sudden downpour while out on the motorcycle but we could duck in under cover and wait it out which usually doesn't last very long. At least it's warm.

Then in heavy winds once again, a boat behind us with no one on board escaped its mooring. Jordan thought the mooring line looked chafed. It drifted over to a distant muddy shore and grounded. We unfortunately couldn't do anything to help as water had leaked into our outboard fuel tank so it wouldn't start. We tried the VHF with no response - no one turns them on at anchor here! But fortunately, the boat had the owner's phone number posted on the side and someone from shore called him. The owner was able to move his boat at high tide and re-moor it. We saw its anchor light on later in the evening. So all ended well.

Another night, we awoke to the sound of booms at 01:30. Fireworks are common here but this was different. Jordan got up and looked out and saw that a big dive boat had exploded and was engulfed in flames!

Boom!

As we watched, there were a couple of more loud explosions. It was surrounded by other boats, and being downwind, we were a bit worried that once the boat's mooring line burned, it could drift towards us. But once it burned to the waterline, a couple of police boats tied a line to it and towed it to where it's cremated remains sank to its water grave. We later learned that only 1 crew man was on board when it exploded who promptly jumped overboard and was soon picked up, unharmed.

Wow...it's been an exciting month so far!

What about the coup?

We are visiting Thailand during expanded military control. Basically, the military lost patience with the dysfunctional federal ministers who couldn't get their act together and do their job. So the military said "enough" and kicked out the bickering bunch and took pragmatic control. By definition, a coup. But if you worry about visiting Thailand from news reports, in our opinion, you can dispel your misgivings.

As tourists, particularly in this area of Phuket a long way from the capital of Bangkok, we don't see the effects. It's been business as usual for the most part, but just recently, the military has taken the opportunity to tidy some things up around here. Over the years, there has been a lot of uncontrolled development and lax enforcement of proper laws and procedures and abuses as a result of corruption at the more local government levels.

One of the obvious military influences here has been the tidying up of the beach areas which were festooned with illegal buildings and vendors on public beaches. So the beaches here have been purged of ramshackle premises and illegal beach chair renters that dominated and monopolized the otherwise pleasant beach experience. Beach by beach, they came in with soldiers and equipment, and by day's end, it was cleared out with many carted off to jail.

Remnants of dismantled structures

The illegal taxi mafia were targeted as well as corrupt local officials and apparently the jails are full as the accused wait due process. Basically the military has taken overdue action and given notice to all levels of officials to "Do your job or there will be consequences."

Military worries? None for us as we enjoy our stay in Thailand.

Keeping busy in Thailand

Now in Thailand, our first order of business was getting hooked up with a national cell phone company for WiFi so that we could internet from the boat and also get our cell phone functioning.

To get around for the first few days, we rented a motorscooter for about the equivalent of $7 per day. However as our plans are to be in this area for quite some time and wanting to do some distant land travels, we bought a used Honda Phantom motorcycle. It's quite a process though to purchase, license, and register a vehicle and took us about 7 hours over 2 days to get it done.

When we got our vehicle sticker, we noticed that the expiry year was dated 2558 and learned that Thailand follows the Solar Calendar - not the Christian Calendar. Their calendar is 543 years ahead of ours, and for a moment there, we were confused and thought maybe we had been sailing just a little too long!

We're now mobile

It was our 10th anniversary so for a change of walls and some luxury we booked into the orchid filled Kata Beach Resort only a few miles from our anchorage. There were beautiful glorious orchids everywhere...at the reception counter, surrounding the lounging area, on dining tables, in the rooms...

Just a sample

We've been meeting up often with our sailing friends of Morning Glory. They have been at Phuket Island for a few months now taking advantage of cheap labour to get some major work done on their 45-foot catamaran. They sailed from eastern US the same year we left Victoria BC (Canada). We first met them in the South Pacific and again in many exotic places along a similar route to us. They joined us in the village of Kata for a splendid dinner.

Jordan and I hung out at poolside - swimming, sunning, and reading - and feasted at the breakfast buffet.

Pool overlooking the Andaman Sea

As much as we love Sea Turtle, it is nice to spend an occasional night out!

Andaman Sea in background

Phuket

Without turning the motor on, we pulled anchor and sailed 3.5 of the 4 hours to the southerly end of the well-known Island of Phuket (Thailand) ducking and weaving at times to avoid coastal fishing boats and their nets.

For miles out, our approach was under the watchful eyes of the familiar Big Buddha on top of the hill overlooking the bay. We had visited it on a previous visit to Phuket. We joined a motley multitude fleet at anchor in the big Chalong Harbour (N07°49.252' E098°22.210').

Chalong Bay is an official port and the long, 700-metre pier has the offices out at the end to process the entry of foreign boats. It's a bustling part of Phuket. Dozens of day tripping, speedy tourist boats are based here and skim past leaving large wakes, heading off to close islands.

After picking an anchoring spot in the pack in somewhat shallow waters, we dinghied in to get processed. However we arrived just as they were packing up for an early close and we only got half done. It was Friday, and as they seemed nonchalant about having us come back the next day, we wandered into the busy town to check things out.

Chalong Bay in background

We walked down the long concrete pier (visible on the far right extending from shore) which is structurally sound but the floating concrete docks are all coming apart from recent storms and surges. With large rusting bolts, some are now tied together with thick rope and are grinding away against each other. All day and night, you can hear the creaks and groans in their death throes. This is very unusual as we were told that that the facilities are only about 3 years old!

Phuket's main public pier

Docks haphazardly tied together with ropes

THAILAND

After more than 10 days at Langkawi (Malaysia), we pulled anchor at 13:00 on July 28th and set off on a short passage to Phuket (Thailand) which is about 125 NM to the north. With islands spotted along the way, we planned to anchor each night.

As soon as we left Langkawi, we were in Thai waters so our first night anchorage was in a cove on the south side of Ko Lipe in the Butang Group of islands. (The Thai word "Ko" or "Koh" means "island".) It was a short 7.5-hour run that put us in at dark where we anchored out of the west wind on a rocky bottom (N06°29.038' E099°17.904'). Thailand time is 1 hour earlier which made our log entry at 19:30, not 20:30.

The Island looked pretty with a sandy beach but we decided not to leave the boat until we were officially checked into Thailand at Phuket. We had heard stories of other boaters receiving stiff fines for being caught on shore before checking in.

There were a few fishboats and we could see lights from a couple of resorts on land. The west wind swirled around the point all night but we were in a protected spot.

On the 29th, we had a real rocky bumpy 10-hour motor-sail tight into the wind making for Ko Rok Nok which is right next to Ko Rok Nai. We set anchor in the protection of the lagoon between the 2 islands along with 3 other sailboats and a handful of indigenous fishing boats (N07°12.689' E099°04.006'). There we snorkelled the coral reef in front of beautiful sandy beaches. The water wasn't perfectly clear but it was pretty good. It had been a long time since we had seen clear water or snorkelled so it was nice to finally get in and see some coral and fish.

The next day, we made it as far as the protected bay of Ko Phi Phi Don (N07°43.979' E098°46.100'), a 7-hour motor-sail.

Imposing cliffs of Ko Phi Phi Don

Phi Phi has impressive scenery. Tall, limestone, sentinel cliffs protect its palmed beaches, however with its close proximity to touristy Phuket, it is overrun with travellers. It is full of tour boats roaring back and forth, shuttling the invaders of serenity to what's left of the beach. The uncontrolled development has plastered the shore with tacky stalls, hotels, and eateries were one can now only see tranquility in the imagination of times lost,

Next morning (July 31st), we gladly pulled anchor and sailed for 8 hours, past Ko Phi Phi Lei which was the setting for the 2000 movie The Beach (beach hidden from this view).

Location of movie

We beat most of the way on a port tack up into the east sound of Phuket to uninhabited Ko Rang Yai (N07°57.445' E098°26.922') where we shared the peaceful anchorage with only 1 other sailboat and a couple of longtails. (Longtails are Southeast Asian boats that have their own version of an outboard consisting of a motor mounted high on the transom with its propeller extending several metres out the rear, giving the boats their name.) This Island's shoals are said to produce top quality pearls for export around the world. Tiny Ko Rang Yai can be circumnavigated in about 15 minutes!

Longtail - see prop way at the back

There was a huge mansion on Ko Rang Noi, the tiny island right next to our anchorage. It almost seemed to encompass the entire Island and appeared empty while we were there with no lights visible at night.

Langkawi life

Langkawi (Malaysia) is a duty-free Island, meaning anything imported here is duty free and the end price to the consumer is reflected in that, So we stocked up on, you guessed it, beer and wine. We once met a sailor who did a consumer price index of each country he visited. It was simply the price of beer. Here in Langkawi, it was about $0.60 a can, almost the cheapest we have ever found. The passable boxed wine came in at the equivalent of under $3.00 a bottle.

Dining at the local eateries, which there were plenty of, was cheap too and delicious.

Our days and time here was also occupied by some boat jobs. Jordan opened up the inspection plates on the fuel tanks and extracted a few litres from the bottom. He let it settle over a couple of days in clear containers. It showed an acceptable amount of sediment and a wee bit of water but nothing that the filters and water separator couldn't handle.

Then it was on to the outboard. It was overheating so Jordan took out the thermostat and found it defective, so fixed that, a not so easy job. Strange as the motor is near new. Nice to have such a fix-it-kind-of-guy on board!

Did some playing too. Jordan got a present. A quadcopter drone complete with camera that takes basic pictures and videos, so he spent some time - on shore of course - practicing flying it with the remote controller.

Flight school

One morning, we heard a sudden wind increase. By the time we got up in the cockpit to check, the wind was a full gale from an intense squall that passed through the big bay. We struggled to get down the sunshade canvas canopy but not before it suffered rips and we lost 1 pole overboard.

Then we determined we were dragging. Of the 30 plus boats at anchor, most occupied, the crews were up on deck dealing with the wind or watching anxiously as other boats ahead of them were dragging towards them. Our boat being 1. Dragging is a rare anxious occurrence for us that we prefer to avoid. However, we got the motor started and anchor up, albeit with some difficulty and motored out into the wind until it died, which wasn't long. We counted 7 boats that dragged, but in the end, no tragedies.

Scooting around Langkawi

We rented a motor-scooter at Langkawi (Malaysia) to scoot around the winding scenic roads of the 25 km long Island and can easily be driven around in half a day. For a nice change, the natural tropical flora dominated instead of people. The diverse Island scenes presented themselves to us in quiet villages, remote beaches, verdant rice paddies, and the occasional secluded beachfront 5-star resorts all not out of sight from the steep slopes above.

A boat and his best friend

Rice paddies in the lowland

We spotted a barrel of cute Gibbon monkeys crossing the road via the overhanging trees above us. Around another turn up in the steep hillside, a big bird caught our eye and when we stopped, it along with its mate, flew off. From the luggage on their beaks, they were a veritable big beautiful pair of rare Hornbills. We weren't quick enough with the camera though.

Gawking Gibbon

At 1 scenic viewpoint, the loud chorus from the jungle creatures was remarkable.

Even though it's obvious that Langkawi's destiny is with tourism, we could see enduring indigenous culture in both the fundamental daily activities such as tilling the soil or fishing the seas.

Fishing boats in port

Rickety dickety docks!

We rode into a tiny village whose shamefulness was announced by strewn garbage everywhere. The scene was shared with lounging indolent men and a tribe of goats that were sifting through the garbage (the goats that is!) None of the plastic refuse made it to the garbage bin that was in plain view...quite disgusting. Fortunately for the sake of Langkawi's reputation, the village was off the beaten path.

One tourist venture we wanted to check out was the Panorama SkyCab, a cable car ride to a cooler altitude. Up up we were drawn past the vertical climbs of Machincang Mountain. At the top we could see the whole of Langkawi, the islands of Thailand to the north, and out over the infinite blue expanse of the Andaman Sea and the Indian Ocean to the west.

SkyCab going up

Near the top is a uniquely designed curved SkyBridge for pedestrian viewing that spans a gap over virgin jungle. Notice how the tower leans to accommodate for weight of the bridge. Unfortunately, it has been closed for major refurbishing since 2012. Wonder when it will reopen...

Spatial experience

The ride down looked as if it would be quick due to the downward curve but surprisingly it was not. Back at the Base Station, we strolled around the Oriental Village, full of souvenir shops and retail stores, spas, galleries, and quaint little bridges over fish-feeding ponds - an outdoor mall!

SkyCab going down

Included in our SkyCab ticket price was viewing of a 6D cinema. We declined as time was running short and we thought it might be a full-length film. Later we found it was less than 15 minutes. Oh well, next time. I later read about 6D on the internet and wished we hadn't missed it. You "live inside the movie" with all the movement.

A few facts about the SkyCab:

• Horizontal distance: 2,079 m
• Vertical rise: 680 m (seems higher!)
• Inclined distance: 2,158 m
• Turn-around trip time: 28 minutes
• Hourly capacity: 700 passengers/hour
• Longest free span: 950 m (between Tower 2 and Middle Station)
• Steepest gradient: 42 degrees
• Construction period 16 months (Apr 2001 - Aug 2002)

Once back at Sea Turtle, we wound down the day over sundowners accompanied with reflections of a fun day.

Legendary Langkawi

We left Penang Island July 15th, passing close to lots of marine traffic going both ways in a lane that was dredged in shallows that extended a few miles out. Freighters, pilot boats, ferries, fishing boats, a cruiseship, and a big tug.

We all shared the aqua medium with a profusion of garbage. Contributors to this unnatural blight are mostly coastal populations but also indigenous maritimers with surprisingly little consideration to fragile ocean environment. Sailors are as a rule very conscious not to discard any non-biodegradable waste.

As we motored merrily along, we finally noticed some of the "fish stakes" that are mentioned on the charts at various spots along these coastal areas. These look just like skinny tree branches sticking high up out of the ocean. It would be impossible to see them at night and in fact they are hard to spot even in daylight until you get quite close.

The day started out sunny but the skies turned a dreary grey and brought with it high winds, up to gale force winds for a short bit. Winds were on the beam so it was no problem even though we were getting some waves over the deck. The winds consistently slowed, along with a directional change, which eventually put a mild breeze against us.

We had planned on possibly doing an overnight stop at Paya Island. It was said there were mooring balls we could hook onto, and it being a Marine Park, has apparently some good snorkelling. But the state and direction of the sea waves made the anchorage less than desirable so we pressed on.

As the daylight waned, we made the Langkawi archipelago of the Andaman Sea. We set anchor for the night tucked in between 2 small islands just before 20:00 close to the southwest end of the bigger Island of Langkawi (N06°14.475' E099°52.206'). This archipelago has 104 islands at high tide (99 at low tide!) with only 2 inhabited - Langkawi and nearby Tuba. This will be our last Malaysian stop before heading into Thailand waters.

The next morning, it was a short jaunt up to the main bay and harbour of the town of Kuah on the main Island, setting anchor (N06°18.817' E099°50.619') amidst about 30 other sailboats plus an abundance of other commercial vessels. Ashore in the high heat and humidity, we walked around to get familiarized with the area.

The word "Langkawi" means "reddish-brown eagle" in Malaysian. A large statue is located at the marina next to our anchorage and we noticed several of the stately birds flying overhead - a very definitive name choice.

Marina statue

As Langkawi is duty free, we plan on stocking up with a few items. We found a small supermarket and small mall - nothing as large as at Penang - and stopped for our favourite treat, iced coffee!

Funicular and henna

Still hanging out at the Island of Penang (Malaysia). Another attraction that we wanted to experience, and would be a first for us, was the funicular tram rail ride to the top of Penang's highest point at 830 metres above sea level. Funicular: "an inclined plane or a cliff railway". At 6 km from town centre, we caught the 204 City Bus with the locals and got off at the tram gate.

The journey to the top of the Penang hill (okay, "mountain" for Penang's sake) in the old original tram took about half an hour but the new tram cars take only 10 minutes. There was also a stop mid-way to check out the views from there.

Old original tram

Arriving at the top, it was noticeably cooler, around 21°C, which was a break from the city heat that we left below. The vistas from the summit were good, but would have been fantastic if it hadn't been for the haze. We have not yet determined for sure why there is so much haze in these areas.

At the top were temples, eating areas, nature trails, and typical tourist stuff. There was a fence of lovers' locks where padlocks with couples' names were attached, locked in perpetuity.

Locked in love

On the ride down, we got a seat in front for better viewing.

Headin' down

Early the next day, we arrived at the agency which would get our Thailand Tourist Visa from the Thai Embassy here. Doing it here would net us a 60-day Visa opposed to only 30 days for Visa Upon Arrival. We filled out the forms, took some passport photos, and handed in our passports for processing. "Come back at 4:00 pm and you will have your Visa."

So to kill the day, we rented a motor-scooter for more "to sees". Many places are closed up in the mornings and some because of Ramadan but the State Museum was open and it provided good insight into the multi-cultural history with many artifacts of everyday life of generations past.

Elaborate wedding bed

Riding around to see what else we could find, we saw the Chocolate Museum which after going through was more a retail outlet. However as chocolate lovers, we did buy a variety pack and had, what else? Iced coffee!

Then I decided to get some Henna art (an Indian custom) done on my hand. The henna dye or paint comes from the henna shrub/tree leaves. The design is made with an intricate thin bead of dye applied to give a temporary tattoo. It is especially a custom for brides to have elaborate designs applied on hands, arms, and feet for their wedding. But I wanted something a bit simpler. I asked if she could include a sea turtle on mine, you know, like our boat name!

Lost in translation, the artist was slightly unsure so Jordan drew a quick sketch of a sea turtle. She gave a nod (actually a typical Indian head wiggle) of understanding and proceeded to do a nice job.

Henna handiwork

I was told to wait for it to dry for 10 minutes before washing off the excess dye. By then it had even started to lift and peel off. Once washed, my hand was stained with the reddish brown colour and it should last for 1 to 2 weeks. At a cost of 5 Malaysian Ringgits (less than 2 dollars!), it was a real deal.

1 week later

By 17:00, our passports were returned with the pre-approved 60-day Thai Tourist Visa. With nothing keeping us from leaving, we weighed anchor the next morning and with the tide in our favour, we left the thin diesel filmed bay waters and headed north to the island of Langkawi (Malaysia).

Going ashore

Earlier today we anchored in front of George Town at Penang Island (Malaysia). Going to shore was interesting as we tied up the dinghy at 1 of several "Clan Jetties". These structures are a composite of Chinese residential shanties built on stilts that extend from the shore out into the shallows and their front doors are accessed by a narrow centre boardwalk. Originally built many decades ago to avoid property taxes, they have endured and now have become an attraction.

Boarded walk of Chew Jetty

We used the Chew Jetty, the biggest with 75 homes/buildings, which is the most visited by tourists. But the invasion of privacy seemed to be taken in stride by the residents and in fact most have taken advantage of the situation and offer souvenirs, snacks, and services to the curious camera clicking visitors.

View of jetties from our anchorage

Wandering the city streets and alleys, we visited the remnants of Fort Cornwallis and read its history boards. We passed by the 1897 clock tower built as a monument to the Queen, and then walked through the Penang Interactive Museum which was fun and out of the ordinary.

Mirror illusion...or not?

For relief from the heat, we stopped at 1 of many coffee shops for what has become 1 of our favourite treats, iced coffee.

Trishaws, another form of rickshaws, pedalled the tourists around; sidewalk vendors and buskers delighted the crowds. Later in the days and evenings always seemed to bring out more life.

Tasty foods of all kinds

On 1 corner, we were attracted to the Eagle's "Hotel California" accompanied by a novel percussionist with his made-up instruments of pots and bins. His original guitar was built from a tennis racket!

Play it again!

It immediately reminded us of a time and place, half a world away now, when we were in Baja Mexico at the actual Hotel California that inspired the song, and where our timing was perfect for the live band playing the namesake song. Jordan, showing his age, also remembered being at the Eagle's concert in Seattle (USA) when they premiered that song in 1980.

When we returned to the Chew Jetty to dinghy back to Sea Turtle, we were shocked to see how low the tide was - we had forgotten about the extreme tides of the full moon! We were just in time and managed to escape the mud and low water level.

Moon over Penang

Pretty in Penang

We had arrived at the south end of Penang Island (Malaysia) yesterday - July 11th - in the dwindling twilight and safely anchored on the lee side just after dark. We saved the trickier part of the channel passage for the morning light.

Just arriving at Penang

How big is Penang? It's about 25 km long and 15 km wide and is connected to the mainland of Malaysia by 2 impressive bridges. We had anchored just before the new southern and longest bridge - 24 km including the causeway - 17 km of which is over water.

Added to the impressiveness was the bridge's nightly psychedelic light show cast on its structure with alternating hues of red, blue, green, and white. This bridge was officially opened on March 1, 2014 - only 4.5 months ago - so of course didn't show on our charts.

So we upped anchor at 10:00 July 12th for a short channel passage up to George Town on the northeast end of the Island. The first navigational considerations were narrowing depths and transitting under the bridge, which to me looked too low even though Jordan assured me it was more than high enough.

The tide flow was with us so Jordan did a manoeuvre that was probably more to satiate my doubt than for safety. He turned Sea Turtle 180 degrees, idled in forward, and let the flow very slowly take us through backwards. That way if we had to abort at the last second, all he had to do was power it up. But there was lots of clear air over the mast. Whewww!

The new bridge

Then we saw through the haze the next, original bridge, much the same as the first one and still an impressive 13.5 km long and that indeed did show on our charts.

There was lots of passing and anchored commercial marine traffic and a container port (on reflection, maybe we should call them consumer ports!) We passed close by an anchored freighter to get a closer look at what it was offloading onto a barge of penury. It seemed like either sand or grain.

Offloading sand?

Once again, we were presented a much more populous scene than expected where over the years, growth and more recently skyscraper development filled the flat coastal lands and encroached on the fertile hillsides.

Densely populated

We anchored in front of George Town on the northeastern end of Penang Island at 12:45 (N05°24.620' E100°20.529') close to the shuttle ferry and cruiseship docks and beside another sailboat that Jordan remembered in the south of Malaysia.

George Town's history, like Malacca, was centered on trade and brought with it merchants of Indians, Arabs, Chinese, as well as Europeans. The architecture of the era and multi-culturism still exists and remains employed. It is now seeing rejuvenation after UNESCO's classification as a world heritage site in 2008.

Classic architecture of Penang

Yes, architecture captivates Jordan!