Routine Days at Langkawi

Date: 21st August 2026

Location: Pulau Timun Island, Langkawi

Sunrise at Kuah.

Tonight we are anchored SE of Langkawi main island. We've just watched a pod of twenty or so very small dolphins cruise past pff-ing as they make their way across the bay. There is just one other yacht here tonight. Its quiet with White Bellied Sea Eagles circling overhead. Anchored in 7m and protected from the gentle southerly winds we are hoping for a quiet night. Tomorrow or the next day we will continue our anti clockwise circumnavigation of Langkawi, a 60 odd mile passage before we return to our marina for Gilly's birthday on the 28th.

Since returning from Thailand we've slotted nicely back into the marina routine. Sleep in the cockpit where it's not too hot with mossie spiros burning, wake up around 7.30am, tea or coffee, muesli and fruit, a few jobs, maybe a sleep, off to the swimming pool for 4.00pm, exchange sailing yarns with the other resident cruisers, then back to Mehalah, a bit of doom scrolling and bed.

There's a large common area at the resort shared by the resort's residents and the marina visitors. We took a jigsaw along and over several days we and friends and mysterious guests completed it. It was a gift from our friends on Carina now back in Canada so we blame them for the two missing pieces. The resort management were impressed so they are going to buy jigsaws for their residents to work on. Especially as now is the rainy season and it'll give them something to do.

Interspersed with our routine we've still managed some non standard things too. 

Racing. Not something we are used to. Now Gilly will tell you she is not competitive. Haha. We crewed for our friends Allan and Elaine on their Beneteau 393 in the fortnightly marina race. Lovely conditions out round one of the islands and back again. We were winning by a couple of boat lengths as we rounded the island. Then followed two miles of ducking and diving as we fought off Wally finally crossing the line just two seconds ahead of him. Gill was happy and the post race celebrations at the bar turned very messy! Two weeks later conditions were less favourable as we headed out again this time into 30+ knots of wind and a nasty sea which turned even worse when the wind dropped to nothing and the swell persisted. Several boats retired but we were again the first monohull home. Great fun.

We are well in with the marina clique now so every two weeks boats leave for a BBQ weekend on the nearby Singa Besar island. We joined for one. A dozen boats anchored and a lazy Saturday afternoon of music, beer and camaraderie at the makeshift 'clubhouse' made mostly out of driftwood that has floated onto the island. It's another of these shacks where you can carve your boatname onto a piece of wood and pin it to the wall. Plenty of names we recognised there from our travels. Next day we ventured into the jungle searching for the waterfall that feeds the freshwater pipe on the beach. Hot and sweaty we arrived 20 minutes later at the waterfall to see a 2.5m python lying in wait in the plunge pool. We didn't swim! An interesting thing happened here. For the second time in two days I seriously split a pair of trousers at the crotch. Luckily for you it appears as a dark rent in the picture below. Previously Allan got an eyeful when my £1.50 pair of shorts did the same thing in their cockpit.

Cruisers from around the world.

The python.

The waterfall.

The chilling swing.

We also made a flying visit to Kuala Lumpur for a couple of days. KL (we're locals now) is the capital of Malaysia and a big bustling city. First visit was to the hospital to check out a difficulty I was having swallowing. With that proving to be a false alarm we were off exploring. If you are in KL you have to go to the top of the Petronas Towers formerly the tallest buildings in the world. So we did. And then it was food and markets. Tasty coconut dropscones, street food and an amazing meal where you chose a soup and collected a plate of meat, vegetables and sea food. Then you sat at a table with an individual induction hob and cooked the goodies. Yumsters. The soups were pretty spicy too.

)

Drops scones cooked while you wait.

Noodles from one of many small stalls.

The soup and personal hob.

Some of the goodies.

The Petronas Towers.

Pretty high up.

Meanwhile back in the marina life goes on. If you thought there would be no boat jobs to report you'll be disappointed. We've had new cockpit covers and cushions made as only two of the six zips were functioning. The autopilot is still giving us problems so there's a new bit on order. Gill's purchased a secondhand Sailrite sewing machine (the dog's bollocks of sailors' sewing machines) so hopefully there will be fewer swear words on Mehalah in future.

New cushions.

New cover.

New sewing machine.

 

Gill's first project.

Next month we are lifting out for a couple of weeks. We'll clean the copper coat antifoul as usual. But the main task will be to replace most of the through hulls which have been on the boat for 43 years since she was built. Some of them are so stiff I have to use a lever to shut them and I fear they will snap and let a lot of water into the boat. We'll be replacing the old bronze ones with TruDesign plastic composite ones. A big job.

One of the new through hulls, ball valve and horsetail.

But that adventure can wait until next time.

And finally as September approaches we have a big decision to make. What should we do next year? We do know that we intend to take Mehalah to Thailand for Christmas and New Year probably in Phuket. That's a big meeting place before boats set off westward. We would both like to return to Turkey. That's a hard trip up the Red Sea and Gill doesn't know if she's ready for that. Add in the current geopolitical situation and it's a difficult decision though boats are still making the passage. Otherwise our options are to head south to South Africa, to stay in this general area for another year, to ship Mehalah back to Europe (too expensive) or to sell her. My choice at present is the Red Sea route as Arrival in Turkey would complete our circumnavigation of the globe. We shall see.

White = Mehalah. White dots = Planned. Purple dots = Petronella.