Settlin' into the Yacht Club

Sunday, June 01, 2014

Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia

Well this is all new to me... I'm on the boat on my own, in a marina. and in a different part of Langkawi that I’m used to.  I only stayed in a marina one night before so I’ve no idea what to expect.

It’s a bit unsettling being on my own and having the responsibility of looking after 'Malmuirie’, but thankfully I soon settle in and get into a good routine of working away on the boat during the day and making new friends in the evening.  It turns out we have great neighborhoods in the marina and I quickly strike up a fantastic friendship with Joe and Anita on ‘Coral Kuching’ beside us which is a lovely catamaran.  They use it as their home and we end up having regular coffee mornings together and have really adopted me, they’re like my new family.  Joe, originally a Geordie but moved out to Australia has’t lost a bit of his accent and Anita from Denmark is great fun.  They introduce me to many more of the locals and neighbors from the yacht club, many of whom have stayed here long term.

Ian and Elizabeth (Ad Astra) a lovely couple from New Zealand, married at least 40 years and living on the boat the past 14 years;  Neil (Scarlet) is a fellow Scot who also lives in Australia but just returned from sailing single handed to and from the Maldives from Langkawi, with the journey back from Sri Lanka taking him 26 days due to lack of wind.  Being fellow Scots we quickly build up a great relationship and his stories of the journey are fab.

Johno  and his son Michael who are the ole sea dogs who’ve been all over the place, doing all kind of jobs at sea and currently settled in Langkawi, and Nick (Lala Salama) is a complete character sailing round the world single handed and is a real gem.  Terry and Fiona (Roam 11) who sailed all the way here from the UK have great stories and have become great friends.  Tony and Sangtong (Destiny’s Voyager) who are always up for a laugh and joke, and I mean always!

I could go on and on, but  Jamie and Julie (Thea) on their beautiful Super yacht, Dave who also has a canal boat in the UK,  Roel and Janine (Colonel) with his stunning Schooner, Rod and Jen (Boomerang) who are complete headcases, Kate, John and Luke (Sea Hog) who are Harley daft and great fun and of course Tommy (Thea) our Viking.

The stories and tales over a beer in Charlie’s Bar in the evenings are fabulous, with so many single handed sailors going round the world, many coming from the UK on their boats, and some sailing and living mainly around Malaysia and Thailand, plus so many other adventures that they are a truly inspiring bunch, it’s all very sociable at the marina, entertaining  and I have great fun getting to know them and the boats in the marina.

I had a couple of friends who I had previously met on my travels come to visit Langkawi and came to sea me which was fantastic.  My friend Steve from Lake Tahoe who I first met in Nepal and came to Langkawi last year too.  I introduced him to many of the yachties and he struck up a great relationship with Rod and Jen in particular.  My friend Robert I met in Langkawi a year ago is back and friends Janice and Peter who I met in Chang Mai are here too but we would mainly hang out over in Cenang.

So all in all, an eventful start to living at the marina and I can’t wait for Drew to see the work I’ve been doing on the boat and for him to meet these guys when he returns, he’ll love it.

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2025-05-23

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