Fellow Cruisers

 Date: 4th May 2026

Location: Singa Besar anchorage, Langkawi

Gilly at peace at Singa Besar.

Well, we've finally made it out of the marina. The plan is a leisurely circumnavigation of Langkawi Island. 66 miles and maybe three to four weeks of anchorage to anchorage cruising.

It's day three of our time in the first anchorage, Singa Besar, and we've just got back from visiting Dave on the next boat. Dave bought us some fish he'd caught when we first arrived here and we went to thank him for it and to see if he wanted some sour dough bread when it's out of the oven later this afternoon.

That got me to thinking about the people we've met since we got back to Malaysia and how easy it is to connect with people in this lifestyle. This short article explains it well.

Dave's not the first person we've met here. Let me tell you about a few of the others. As you'll see you find out a lot about people very quickly. Names have been changed but the rest is all true.

A few days after we got back from the UK an informal race was organised. Pete asked for crew so I volunteered. We won and that was enough for us to organise a meal together. Pete lives in Hong Kong but is originally from Germany. His family have run a camera accessories company for two generations first in Cologne, then in Ireland and now in Hong Kong as tax regimes made one after another more favourable. An avid racer he has recently purchased a very fast catamaran with a view to joining the cruising life. He's at a big crossroads in his life with a non sailing Chinese partner, a declining family business and no real base for the next phase if his life. He's now back in Hong Kong trying to make some big decisions on the way forward.

Next to us in the marina were Ian from the UK, Maria his Lebanese wife and their two girls, 15 and 13. They have been living in Dubai for many years. Having sailed their boat through the now notorious Straits of Hormuz last year and spent 6 months cruising the Maldives they flew back to Dubai leaving the boat in our marina. Not a good plan. They then spent several weeks watching the missiles flying overhead and the anti missile devices taking most of them out as Trump screwed up the Middle East and the rest of the World. Were they scared? Well Maria has grown up with war in Lebanon and for her it was just more of the same. Her calmness appeared to have been transmitted to the rest of the family. We talked a bit about life in Beirut and Hezbollah's part in the country. The girls follow a strict home schooling regime. They talk English, French,  Arabic and some Chinese.

Also on our dock is Brian, a forty something New Zealander. Recently retired from a full on marketing role he is one of our favourites. We initially met him when Hugh and Linda were with us and Linda complimented him on his blond topknot. Most of the time he spends holed up on his boat with air conditioning keeping him cool. His project? Writing a book that explains his innovative marketing framework pulling on his years of experience and incorporating new AI techniques. Alongside the book for which he already has a publisher he's developing an online course that he hopes to sell to aspiring marketeers. When he's not beavering on his book you'll find him in the pool or at the bar.

Talking of the pool we were chilling out there one afternnon when we heard "Geell, ees that you?" It was French Patrice from SV Astra. First met in French Polynesia he had recently arrived, this time with a different gorgeous crew member, already his wife! Astra lost her mast off New Caledonia and whilst fighting his insurance company for compensation two big events occurred. Firstly he happened to meet a professional metallurgist in a bar who wrote a comprehensive report for him that finally convinced his insurers to pay for everything. And secondly he met his new wife an engaging Polynesian woman. Patrice's brother lives in the Phillipines and is now project managing a new home in the jungle for the newlyweds. An amazing location not too far from civilisation but high up on the side of a hill looking down on a perfect anchorage. They will sell Astra though and buy a smaller coastal suited boat instead.

And finally there's Betsy and Christian on SV Gemma. She's American but has never lived in the US. He's German. We first met them way back in the Marquesas, French Polynesia. While we were eliminating the termites in Australia they had started a major refit of Gemma here in Rebak. Lowering the floor, moving the water tanks and goodness knows what else. Betsy is the sociable one. Both very fit and with a recent new knee Betsy is a triathlete. The aforementioned sour dough starter is hers. They are back in Germany at present and we have responsibility of keeping it alive. Today's loaves are on there last rising before baking. Fingers crossed.

So there you are. A snapshot of another side of our life. I hope you enjoyed it.

A New Addition to the Family

Current Date: 14th April 2026

Current Location: Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia

We're back in Malaysia! And boy is it hot here. 44°C in the cockpit when we arrived a couple of weeks ago.

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The protected Marina on Rebak Island.

But what's that hanging from our boom rope? Ah yes, it is of course the nest of an Olive Backed Sunbird. Mum sat for 10 days before we heard cheeping from the depths of the pendulous nest. So now we can't leave the marina until the chick, just one we think, fledges and flies off.

Our new addition hidden in the somewhat tatty nest. A baby Olive Backed Sunbird.

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But a lot happened back in the UK in the four months we were there too.

We caught up with friends and family.

We also sourced most of the 82 items on our 'must purchase' list and packed them into our trusty expanding bags.

Just another box for the bag.

Sadly we also attended Chris Brown's funeral. Chris was Petronella's chief engineer's back in the 2010s. He taught me how to fix stuff when you don't have the right parts. Although it was a sad occasion he was well remembered by family and friends. RIP Chris.

Into 2026 and we were in Spain to celebrate daughter Jenny's 40th birthday with her, Emma and Marcus. Where did those 40 years go?

Vigo in Galicia, NW Spain. Jenny's new home.

Birthday meal.

And my brother Philip produced his second full length play to rave reviews.

Infertility, abortion and IVF. What's not to like?

Shortly before returning to Malaysia I had a very unsettling month when I started having scary thoughts at night, forgetting things and generally feeling most unwell. Thankfully it all disappeared as quickly as it developed although after many dream free years I've had a couple of crackers recently. One night I dramatically failed my engineering degree at Imperial College and last night Mehalah was involved in an England Rugby match where I grounded her in the mangroves just before kick off.

Of course we also got back into restoration of our  local canal. Mostly in atrocious weather conditions.

One day closer to canal opening day.

The hard work pays off with otters spotted in the new section.

Another brick in the wall. Restoring an old lock.

Gill, Rachel and Peggy.

Thank you of course to Harry and Rachel for looking after our shoreside life and allowing us to continue our peripatetic lifestyle [that's a word I've always wanted to use].

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So now we are back on the boat. Within a day of our arrival Hugh and Linda flew in from Thailand where they were visiting a friend. It was great to see them again. They were booked into the resort here for a week. The plan was to crack on with boat jobs and indeed amongst other things Hugh and I sorted the dinghy davits strings and made a bung for the anchor chain locker whilst Gill and Linda reclassified our medical kit and cleaned the dinghy. But what their visit best did was to force us off the boat to explore some of Langkawi's local attractions.

First off was The Skycab to the top of the island's second highest peak. It includes apparently one of the steepest cable car runs in the world! Gilly was not really prepared for the ride and closed her eyes for much of it. It was pretty busy but as Linda finds it hard to stand still we were ushered through the express lane in next to no time. A good day out.

The halfway station.

Up above the white bellied sea eagles.

The summit.

View from the top. Telaga Marina to the left, our island, Rebak Island upper middle.

For my birthday Jenny and Emma had bought me a half day with an expert ornithologist for two people. Hugh was a lot keener than Gill so after a 6am wake up call we caught the early ferry across to Langkawi main island. Off we went. And a great morning it was too. Three environments revealing a total of 42 species. My favourites? The pratincoles, the hornbills and the dusky leaf monkeys (yes, I do know monkeys are not birds). Thanks girls. We had a blast.

Stop 1. River. Kingfishers, eagles and swallows.

Stop 2. The Forest. Hornbills, bulbuls, dollar birds and dusky leaf monkeys.

Stop 3. The Wetlands. Egrets, pratincoles, bee eaters and stilts.

By now we were running short of supplies. We hired one of the marina cars, caught the little ferry across to Langkawi and went to Billion, the Malaysian equivalent of Waitrose in the UK or Sainsburys in Australia. Except it's not. Check out the rice. Big bags, 5kg each. Two whole aisles of them. Tiny dried fish that you buy by the kilo which smell, well they smell actually like tiny dried fish might smell. And then there's the chicken aisle. Just grab a couple and pop them in your basket. Great stuff!

A small selection of available bags of rice.

Small fish. We are yet to try these.

Looking more like an intensive care baby ward here you get to choose tonight's tea.

We tried to do an 'outing' of some sort every other day. Next up was a trip through the mangroves with another guide, Selva. He's a Tamil from Sri Lanka but he's lived most of his life in Malaysia. An avid environmentalist and self taught his knowledge of nature and British colonial history put us to shame. A very interesting guy he took us deep into Mangroves far from the teeming tourist boats.

Mangrove trees. No flowers. Propagate by dropping these 'arrows' into the mud below.

The best mangrove environment we've seen.

Seeking the elusive Brown Winged Kingfisher. Heard but not seen.

Selva, our knowledgeable guide.

Another rare plant I can't remember the name of.

We also maxed out on the resort facilities. Mai Tai cocktails (sometimes two) became Linda's favourite evening beverage, the pool became our daily rendezvous and the girls both enjoyed a massage while Hugh and I were on the bird watching trip. With marina residents enjoying a 25% discount over resort guests H&L quickly became Mehalah's 'crew'.

Hugh and Linda eventually stayed with us for two weeks before returning to the UK where Linda's twin Graham was critically ill with lung cancer. Regrettably he died a couple of days later but not before Linda joined him at his bedside. A complex man, Graham was artist, boogy dancer, lover of the hills and eccentric. My best memory? 60th birthday elegant picnicking in Kew Gardens being photographed by Japanese tourists. Oh yes and going to avery cold Belgium to watch his image of a flushing toilet projected on the front of a classical building! Not only were Graham and Linda twins but Gill was also born on the exact same day. Goodbye Graham.

I was going to go on to talk about our daily routine now H&L have departed but I'll save that for a later blog and talk more generally instead.

We have booked into the marina here for a year which is strange as we are used to always pushing on to the next place. Once we have completed the outstanding boat tasks we will slowly explore Langkawi Island - maybe doing an island circumnavigation. Our Malaysian visas expire on 22nd June so we'll probably take Mehalah up to Thailand which is only a dozen miles up the coast, for a few weeks too. And then we want to travel by public transport to some of the other SE Asian countries - Laos, South Korea, back to Indonesia and Vietnam. We've never been to these countries which we think of more as gap year backpacking destinations rather than anything else so its going to be interesting. Especially as we are not very good 'tourists'. I'm more at home always with the next destination in mind. Another issue is that we don't really understand the weather here. Rainy season is just kicking in. Big thunder and lightning storms, winds if any are now from the south west. And it will only get wetter. Most cruisers are preparing to leave Rebak and fly home for the wet season. Somehow we've chosen to just arrive! So we'll have to see how this all pans out.

Of course we can't avoid the current geopolitical situation here either and we do feel closer to the action here than we would back in Western Europe. A lot of boats have left SE Asia in the past few months to head back to the Mediterranean, in many cases completing their circumnavigations there. But that means crossing the Indian Ocean, passing south of the Straits of Hormuz and then entering the southern Red Sea pinch point of Bab-el- Mandeb. Most of them have reported some GPS spoofing (position and speed way out of their true position) but all 50 or so have successfully navigated the passage North past the Houthis of Yemen, the tricky reef strewn navigation and the rip-off Egyptians. Several of them reported seeing French and US vessels steaming southwards past them. No riding lights, no AIS. Troubling times.

OK. That'll do for now. It's nice to be back on Mehalah meeting up with old friends and making new.

Return to UK

Current Date: 19th December 2025.

Current Location: Ebley, UK.

In Pangkor Marina the rain continued and indeed intensified. By next day it was officially declared a cyclone, Cyclone Senyar. This was the first ever cyclone to be recorded in the Malacca Straits (yup, great timing that). Weather was stormy where we were but just down the coast the marina that we had passed on the way up to Pangkor was completely destroyed. Luckily no loss of life, just the loss of one finger that we know of.

The remains of Port Dickson Marina - pontoons wrecked.

On the one day the rain stopped for a while we took the ferry across to Pangkor main island. This is certainly no tourist mecca. It's the home of many of the colourful fishing boats that were throwing their nets in front of us and, like everywhere outside the main towns in Malaysia, home to hundreds and hundreds of mopeds and motor cycles.

With all the fishing boats came the fish shops. We did see a few larger fish but mostly it was piles and piles of tiny dried fish - very smelly. I think this reflects the fact that these waters are almost completely fished out. Too many boats.

Trays and trays of tiny dried fish.

Malaysia like much of SE Asia is gradually being infiltrated by China. The Pangkor Chinese Cultural Centre has pride of place above the straits.

Chinese Cultural Centre.

Finally the weather changed for the better. Just as well as by now the boats that had joined the Malaysia Rally were queueing up to take their allocated spots. The better weather meant that we could leave and make the short journey to an island with a lighthouse on it. We were now just 130 miles from Rebak Marina, our final destination for 2025. Keen to get it over with and with few decent anchorages along the way we opted to make the passage in just two long days. More motoring and little to report. The current was more favourable than expected but 65 mile days are 12-13 hour passages if we wanted to arrive before darkness fell.

More fishing boats many hauling nets in the slightly deeper waters with smaller one man craft where the water was shallower. We kept a sharp out for nets and men in skiffs waving flags at us to point out where their floating lines were. At night we were surrounded by squid boats. They shine bright lights into the water which attracts the squid which they scoop up in yet more nets.

Plenty more fishing boats to negotiate.

The last anchorage before Rebak.

So finally we raised our anchor for the last time in 2025 and headed for Rebak Marina. We wiggled up the S-shaped approach and tied up in our easy to access slip. Our home for the foreseeable future.

Rebak is a small island a few minutes free ferry ride from Langkawi big island which is itself another ferry ride from the mainland. Rebak Resort is pretty upmarket and the marina is attached to it. We can use all their facilities - pool, tennis courts, restaurants and communal areas. The marina community has a lot of long stay residents plus cruising yachts such as ourselves. Prices are very reasonable and the staff excellent. All in all this is a good place to draw breath.

Our berth for the next few months.

Mehalah taking a well earned rest.

We had a week then to put Mehalah to bed for four months. This is HARD work, especially with daytime temperatures well into the thirties.

The hull needed a good clean.

Solar panels tilted, water tanks emptied, fuel tanks filled, sails off and stored, small leaks addressed, bilge pump repaired - the list went on.

Halyards and reefing lines stored out of the sun to prevent UV deterioration.

It wasn't all hard work though. Every evening we made sure to stop work and head to the pool. Surrounded by coconut palms and frangipani trees this is the place to be after a long hard day at the dock.

Relaxing at the end of the day.

One entire morning was spent checking in to Langkawi. One downside of being here is that every single time we arrive at a new town we must visit not only the harbourmaster but also customs and immigration. When we leave we have to repeat the process all over again. A bit of a pain to say the least. But it did mean that we had the opportunity to visit Kuah the main town of Langkawi with its famous Eagle Square.

Langkawi's Eagle Square.

And then it was time to return to the UK. After an interesting taxi journey when the driver offered to take me out squid fishing one night when we return we caught the internal flight to Kuala Lumpur. A night in a hotel there and then I surprised Gill by booking Business flights back to England. Tee hee! She didn't stop grinning for 14 hours.

Friends Hugh and Linda picked us up, took us back here to Ebley and then acted as chauffeurs as we made our car legal again after nearly two years. Thanks guys.  

Our first ever Business class ticket. Thanks mum.

Smiling as she stretches out on her fully reclining seat.

So now we're home. 5,388 miles travelled in 2025. And hard miles too. Stopping and starting most days is much harder than a long passage in many ways. To think that this time last year we were on Bondi beach and waiting for the fireworks extravaganza at Sydney Harbour on 31st.

Yoga in Indonesia.

Old man doing yoga in Ebley!

Unfortunately by the time we arrived back in the UK one of our best friends, Chris, had died of prostate cancer. We made the long trip north to attend his moving non-denominational funeral. A very sad day but I was proud to be asked to speak of the time he spent teaching us when we first purchased Petronella. You can see him in action on Petronella in Portugal back in 2009 here. Rest in peace Chris.

We will now be based in the UK until after daughter Jenny's 40th birthday. We fly back to Malaysia on 24th March to explore SE Asia for the rest of the year before we decide on the next adventure.

Happy Christmas everyone and here's to a healthy, peaceful and successful New Year.

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You can follow our route at https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/mehalah/journey

And all the earlier blog posts should be at https://yachtmehalah.blogspot.com