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January 4, 2007 - Rallies, Races, and Celebrations, & Water Spouts
by Beth & Al Liggett

We have been rambling around Langkawi since our return from the States. Once we put the boat back into sailing mode again, we left the shelter of the Hole in the Wall and went cruising - locally! We have been able to catch up with good friends, see some of our favorite places, and participate in a variety of events on the island.

You can just see Sunflower on the left amidst the crowds that anchored in the little lagoon just outside Telaga Harbor Marina in November. Highest number we counted was 69 one morning.

The Town
Kuah is the main town in Langkawi. We stopped a few days in the main anchorage in Bass Harbor. We loaded up with some supplies and had a look around at changes that had been made during our absence. Langkawi always changes - shops grow bigger, they change locations, or disappear all together. But our favorite shops, our favorite restaurants, and favorite people were still around and it was good to catch up with them all again. We indulged in some of our favorite local dishes. I must admit to have had "rice withdrawal" while we were Stateside!

The Water Spout! Unfortunately it was diminishing by the time we thought to get out the camera. That is the catamaran that was fully engulfed in the turmoil of the activity.

The Weather
The local weather was still not settled into the NE Monsoon. We had thunder and lightning storms in rain squalls nearly every afternoon. Usually there wasn't much more than 25-30 knots of wind associated with those squalls, and that only for a relatively short time. Yet one afternoon a waterspout developed right in the anchorage, right between our boat and the shore! There were 2 boats between us and the shore; the waterspout completely engulfed one of them, a 42-foot catamaran! The tempest swirled the cat back and forth, dragging the anchor towards the beach and ripping the awnings. We could see stuff flying out of the cockpit up into the maelstrom! The owners weren't aboard, thank goodness. I fear they would have been injured trying to rescue gear; or that their dinghy, if on the davits, would have done damage to the boat, or if trailing astern, would have been flipped and sunk. We stood in the cockpit of Sunflower, fearful it would turn in our direction, and so awed by watching the drama unfold that we forgot all about taking photos until it was almost over!

Telaga Harbor Marina Now rebuilt after the Tsunami in 2004 and fully functional. And full!

The Marinas
Three days later we pulled into Rebak Marina. This is one of the two marinas in Langkawi that were devastated by the Tsunami on December 26th, 2004. Rebak has just completed the dredging and rebuilding of the marina, expanding it by adding two additional sets of docks so that the marina now accommodates 160 boats. The new facilities are very nice. They were offering special berthing rates to attract the yachts back into the marina. Rebak has an active travel lift and hardstand that many boats in the area use. The main drawback to being in Rebak is that it is located on another island, one with nothing other than the marina, hardstand, and the Rebak Resort; there is no infrastructure for yachtie support there. Unless you count the swimming pool! You must take a marina ferry to the main island, then organize transportation into town from there. The special berthing rates become a lot less special when you add the cost of all that into the equation.

We still had to scrub up our big awning from the "Attack of the Mold" and could use the docks in Rebak to advantage for that, plus having abundant fresh water at hand to help with the job. We also needed to leave the boat for a few days to go to Penang. With the weather acting up we thought it prudent to leave Sunflower in a slip. Then too, Al wanted to take the engine's water-cooled exhaust elbow in for repair, so the engine would be down for a few days - also better to be marina-bound during that project. In fact, we had a whole new elbow made rather than reweld the old one.

With our "marina projects" taken care of, we sailed from Rebak to Telaga Harbor Marina. This is the other marina that caught the brunt of the Tsunami. Since it was only about 18 months old at the time, Telaga was able to bounce back a lot more quickly, and in the rebuilding the configuration of the docks was changed and much improved. It is a lovely development, but also quite far from Kuah, or any town. There is no bus service either. The marina was open for business a year ago, in time to officially welcome the first Darwin-Bali-Langkawi Yacht Rally.

The Rally
This year the second contingent of that same Rally arrived - and the main headquarters (read - party venue!) was again at Telaga Harbor Marina! Some 96 boats left with the rally, but I think only 70-some-odd actually made it this far for the festivities. About the same time the yearly Raja-Muda Yacht Race began from Port Klang. The Race makes various stops along the Malaysian coast and it too finishes in Langkawi. Many racers will then continue north to Phuket for the King's Cup Regatta in early December. Little ol' Langkawi gets to be a busy place!

We anchored outside the marina. There are two manmade islands (spoils from dredging the marina) making a "breakwall" and forming a lagoon of sorts between them and a long while sandy beach, just outside the marina. There is plenty of room - thankfully. For about a week, between 18 and 25 boats anchored were anchored out with us on a daily basis. Then somebody opened the flood gates and in came all the Rally boats! At least 20 arrived one afternoon! The most we counted in the anchorage was 68 one morning. The Marina was full and turning away those who called for a berth.

Part of the grounds of the LIBEX - the Boat Show held at Telaga Harbor Marina. The open tents were for events and presentations; the exhibitors were inside a fully air conditioned tent structure.

LIBEX
Now how's this for yachting overload - at the same weekend that Telaga Harbor had the Rally AND a Regatta in port, there was also a Boat Show! The Langkawi International Boat Exhibition, also called LIBEX. The organizers set up fully air conditioned pavilions for the business displays, charter agencies, brokers and marine gear manufacturers. There were a few small boats displayed outside the tents, and a few larger boats in the water along the quay front. We had no idea what to expect - thinking probably on the minimal side - but the Boat Show was actually better than we thought!

Ian and Elizabeth (yacht Ad Astra) who celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

Special Parties
When we were in Addu Atoll, Maldives, in March of 2005, we invited the group of yachties that were in port (six others) to share our 40th wedding anniversary celebration. A few weeks ago, Ian and Elizabeth, who had been one of those attending our party, had their own 40th wedding anniversary! They threw a grand party at one of our local restaurants. About 20 of us gathered around the tables where the food platters kept appearing, the beer and wine kept flowing, and the hilarious "Best Wishes" kept us all laughing far into the night!

We celebrated Thanksgiving while we were at anchor by Telaga Harbor Marina. At first we thought we would have to have something like spaghetti instead of the customary bird. It seemed there were NO TURKEYS on the island! Well, the day the scouting party gave me that sad news, Al phoned from Penang where he was rescuing his computer from the cyber-hospital. "Do you need anything from Penang?" he asked. Well, yes...He scored a turkey, our friends Garland and June (Swift) did the roasting, I did pumpkin pie and other accompaniments, and Wolfgang and Heidi (Kanaloa) brought good stuff too. The six of us had a wonderful traditional Thanksgiving feast!

Celebrating George's birthday aboard Moonshadow. Special candle in foreground!

Last and certainly not least, was a birthday party celebrated aboard Moonshadow for George. Yes - the SUNS and the MOONS, fellow SetSail contributors, were together again! Merima turned her talents to a delicious chocolate cake (2!) and we brought a special birthday candle for it. Imagine this: the candle looks like a folded lotus flower. When you light the center, a flame like a blow torch roars up out of the center of the flower, lighting small candles on each of the petals which then unfold and the whole thing sings Happy Birthday! Sadly, it only works once.