Shopping, Socialising and That Dreaded Work

Arrival in Langkawi, anchored in Bass Harbour off Kuah Town, reminded us that we were back in a Muslim country. The calls to prayer from the nearby mosque carried out across the water to us but they were nowhere near as strident as those throughout Indonesia in 2006. It also meant that the holiday was over and out with the to-do list, both for shopping and work. Check-in went smoothly as always in Malaysia, so then it was off to fill the fridge once more before a delicious meal ashore.

While out shopping the next day we received a message to say friends on Crystal Blues would be arriving direct from Singapore after two and half days mostly motoring up the Malacca Straits (all those miles covered while we were dilly-dallying around between Phuket and Langkawi!). They dropped anchor not far from us just after 8:00 p.m. and it was after 1:30 a.m. before we got to bed!! We had a lot of catching up to do and lots of stories from their two months up the Rajang River in Sarawak to listen to (check out their blog here). We joined them again for dinner the following night after provisioning with fresh fruit and veg from the local Saturday night market. Following a Sunday breakfast of roti and curry sauce at a local Muslim eatery we bade them farewell as they were continuing on overnight to Phuket. Lunch was shared with more friends from Aquarius who we hadn’t seen since April, and then after more shopping we joined them again for a delicious dinner at Silver Sands Restaurant on the foreshore overlooking the mudflats at low tide.

The shopping and socialising has ended for the moment so it is back to the ‘real’ jobs. Installing the new HF radio, installing the replacement autopilot control head, organising a refrigeration technician to re-gas the fridge which was taking forever to cool down, maybe some varnishing, laundry… the list seems endless. The jobs will get ticked off, more will be added, but as the end of the month approaches, we hope to be in good form as Andrea and Will arrive from London to spend ten days aboard with us. Something to motivate us to get those jobs done.