Back in port

Well, we survived! Neither of us were keel hauled either!

We sailed (well motor sailed mostly as the winds were not very strong) around to an anchorage in a bay to the north of Langkawi - went ashore for an Italian meal (made a change from Curry) and left for the Thai islands to the north the following day. We've learned the art of dropping anchor in deserted bays off tropical islands and mooring on buoys. Learnt also, what the keel scraping on coral reef sounds like - that was a bit of a shock at 10pm at night... we moored in 5m of water in the early afternoon and it wasn't until we'd hit the sack that the water level had dropped just enough for the coral heads to cause a problem. By torchlight and bow thruster, John and Drew extricated the boat through a narrow channel of deeper water and we moored further away from the island.

The following day, Drew donned scuba gear to check for damage which turned out to be just a few scrapes. Rene went snorkelling and I watched from the boat! The coral reef was superb the colours and the fish were amazing! Just like peering into a giant aquarium tank! The deserted beaches of white sand.... hermit crabs scurrying along the shoreline, stopping to fight over an empty shell - I have never seen so many in one place! The strange night noises of the fish swimming alongside the hull.... saw my first flying fish and porpoises.... saw the Island where 'The Beach' was filmed....

One high spot (literally) of the trip was being hoisted up the mast (by Rene!) to change a light bulb. He then found the energy to haul me right up to the top where I posed for photographs! Well, I wanted proof!!

The next few days will be spent prearing the boat for the trip down to Singapore and then on to Sarawak... drew says the engine and generator need servicing , the bilge pump wants looking at, plus there's provisioning to do - meal planning for May, June and July. Mmm I've said I'll give it a go! I'm going to use a spreadsheet to calculate what we need, as it's too hot to think!

So, for the next few days we have a good internet connection and we'll let you know when we're due to depart.

Love to you all