Life in Langkawi

Dear Family and Friends,
It seems like ages since last time I posted on the blog, as some of you can't access it thought I would send an email and there will be photos on the blog if you want a look.
http://sailingwatusi.blogspot.com.au/

We have been based in Langkawi on the north western coast of Malaysia since sailing back from Thailand around the end of May. This is the southwest monsoon season which means unpredictable weather, storms and rain until November. 

Langkawi has proven to be a good place to hang out, there are a variety of anchorages either at islands or in the main town of Kuah. There are a lot of other boats doing the same as us so we have met more yachties and had great dinners and sundowners on the beach plenty of times, food and alcohol are cheap here so we have made the most of it....Kens beer is $10.00 for 24 cans.....wine about the same price as australia and bottles of gin are also $10.00. As a result we have both put on a few extra kilos.

We joined in the hash runs with the Langkawi Beach Hash House Harriers held twice a month, it's a small group, all expats from different places so we have met some friendly folk, also through some of the hashers we have played tennis twice a week when we are in Kuah which we both enjoyed except for the aching muscles the next day.

In June Kens daughter Jenna and her boyfriend Brendon came over for a visit while I was in Australia seeing family and friends. They all had a great time exploring the island by boat and motor bike.

We had to renew our visas so we took the boat to Satun in Thailand for a few days, then we went to Penang to have our anchor chain regalvanized and took a couple of our hash friends for the sail down but unfortunatly we didn't have good weather for the trip the monsoon weather kicked in and we got rain and wind. 

We stayed in the marina, which was great to be able to walk off the boat when I felt like it, also the 5star facilities a bit of luxury, the washing machine cost $1.30 instead of me hand washing so everything on the boat got washed and we also caught up with some friends who have based themselves there for a few months.

Watusi is going well with the on going maintanence Ken is doing, he is often researching how to run things the best way and sourcing parts on the Internet.

Langkawi is a tropical island with large mountains, waterfalls, thick jungle and beaches, the Malay people are very friendly and laid back, the food is tasty and cheap with variety from the local Chinese and Indian cuisine and it's a duty free island. The only disappointing fact is the rubbish that is lying around it really is an eyesore, they seem to be addressing the problem but there needs to be more improvement.

We will sail back up to Thailand at the end of October and explore the west coat where we haven't been yet, then in January we plan to sail to the Andaman Islands with a group of boats for a month......all subject to change of course.

I hope this newsletter finds you all well..... And I think about you all regularly 

Love Katrina and Ken 

Getting our visa in Satun took longer than we thought and we couldn't wait for the tide to come in so Ken was determined to drag the tinny into the water, lots of cleaning after that excercise.

Relaxing on the beach at Singa Besar Langkawi 

The Straits Quay Marina Penang, looks expensive but only $17.00 a night

Sundowners at the lagoon Telaga Harbour where we have anchored a number of times.

Dinner with a group of yachties 

Plans are subject to change, this time Cousin Norma came back to Langkawi so we had a great day  up at the cable car....with the view down to the boats

On On at Langkawi Beach Hash House Harriers

Special food markets every afternoon for Ramadam 

Sent from my iPad