October 7, 2003

Langkawi Anchorages - Taking a Break at the Fjord

	Langkawi derived its name from the reddish brown eagle: "helang" means eagle in Malay, and "kawi" denotes its color. Photo shows one of the red-brown eagles taking a swoop down to the water to grasp up one of the hundreds of dead dragonflies on the surface.

After 2 months in the marina we needed a break. Marinas are fine, and Rebak Marina provided us with an ideal set up for surrendering to the clutches of Work Creep and getting some big projects done. However, Rebak Marina is also in an awkward location. It is located on an island, and the only thing on the island is the Rebak Marina Resort. The resort is very nice and yachties can use the pool and other facilities, but there are no supplies. To get any business taken care of, and buy groceries and boat supplies, you must go to town. Which means taking the small ferry the resort runs on a set schedule, (not always at the most convenient times) then either getting a taxi or hiring a car to drive the 20 km into Kuah. This gets expensive. As we were feeling really good about all we had accomplished, it was time to unplug the air con, get away from the dock, and languish in some of Langkawi's lovely anchorages.

We went to one of our favorites -- a fjord-like place between two islands near a fresh water lake. The lake sounds inviting, doesn't it, but access to the lake is a long dinghy ride away from the fjord. There used to be a set of wooden steps leading over a steep rocky ledge that was closer and led to the bottom end of the lake. The steps have been storm washed and broken down for a couple of years now. I really don't know why they built them in the first place, and there doesn't seem to be a word for "maintenance" in Malay.

This fjord anchorage is probably the one place in Langkawi that has not changed in all the years we've been around. Which is almost 4 1/2 years now if you can believe! We arrived in Langkawi in November, 1998. We came down to the fjord to join a crowd of yachtie friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. We had 3 turkeys!! That's because everyone wanted some left overs. Pigs that we were, there weren't too many of those.

This time we were by ourselves. Never mind. It is so beautiful there. So peaceful. On either side of us were limestone "karst" cliffs. Splendid color mixtures of greys, rusts, browns, and coppers on the bare patches of rock. Yet big trees have somehow taken hold on the slopes. How do they do that? With the vines and small bushes growing amongst the trees it makes a heavy jungle. It had been raining often enough that everything was lush and green. What looked like red flowers on some of the trees actually turned out to be newly hatched tender young leaves. However, there was another tree blooming with little fuzzy cream colored flowers that perfumed the air at odd moments with a frangi-pangi crossed with almond/honey/coconut scent.

And it was SO QUIET!!! Except for the birds in the morning. They really shook the neighborhood. Wish we could at least SEE them. The jungle makes it difficult. Eagles soaring, yes, and one morning they worked furiously at snatching up dragonflies that littered the surface of the water. Why did they drown? Why didn't they fly? Why weren't they all over the boat as well? There are two kinds of kingfishers that fly furiously across the channel, flashing their florescent blue wings and calling raucously to one another. And there are swifts darting about and sometimes landing (uninvited!) on the bow pulpit. But other sounds came from birds that could only be guessed at. Like a "Metal File" bird - you can imagine that scratchy sound, and a "Wheat Germ" bird whose whistle sounds just like -- wheat germ!

We watched a HUGE monitor lizard swim across the channel early one morning. What makes him do that? Two homes you think? (Two wives perhaps too?) Another evening there were two otters swimming along the shore. That's the first time we had seen otters at the fjord in a long time. Often the afternoons would bring a whole party of the leaf eating monkeys down along the cliff face and then into the flower trees for a munch. They stay so well hidden in the trees we usually only hear them, or see the trees moving with their passage. Strangely, we didn't see any of the brown macaque monkeys around the shore this time. There is a fresh water spring along one pocket of rocky beach that attracts them -- hence some yachties call this anchorage "Monkey Springs". My guess is that the monkeys have all gone to the Hole in the Wall and are cadging crackers from the tourists!

It wasn't all nature-watching from the cockpit. One morning we started washing the hull sides. Grey skies overhead. Oh well, we thought, keeps it cooler. Then the wind picked up. We abandoned the hull cleaning for closing hatches, battening down and rescuing the stuff laying around the deck. Winds got really gusty, ricocheting off the cliff faces no doubt. Our anemometer registered a highest gust of 38K! Lots of winds blowing in the high 20's, low 30's. But no seas, just mini-whitecaps. Rain was blowing OFF the awning instead of down our water catchment. Fishing boats came in to shelter - there were 6 rafted together at one point. Several tour boats blew through the channel on their way back to port with rain drenched tourists. It was NICE to be holed up so snuggly!