The boat was finally ship shape again and we left Singapore on the 12th of January. This delay has resulted in us being rather pushed for time if we are to make it to Oman by the end of February to meet up with the convoy of yachts leaving for the Red Sea. It took us three days to cover the 405 miles to Langkawi. The night passages were interesting and we had to maintain a careful watch as there were fishing boats and fishing nets everywhere. However it was a very comfortable sail, except for the final night when the wind increased to 35 knots and the sea became choppy.

We are now in Telaga harbour marina. The marina was badly damaged by the tsunami but has been rebuilt and is very nice. It is overlooked by mountains and the beach nearby is picturesque, with cows wandering about and pretty local fishing boats. The anchorage is just off this beach behind two man made islands. It is possible to check in and out here, with customs, immigration and harbour master all in one building, though while we were here the harbour master was not around and we had to go to the main town of Kuah. The only charge was 5RM about £1 for the harbour master on checking out, I think lighter vessels are free. Diesel is easily accessible from a fueling dock.

The currency is Malaysian ringgits, thank goodness they have dropped all the zeros and the exchange rate is about 5.5 RM to the pound, rather than 55,000. We hired a car, which is very cheap at 60 to 70 RM per day. Beer, spirits and cigarettes are duty free so we stocked up on these. Our next stop is Sri Lanka and we have been advised that it is customary to give these as gifts, I won't say bribes. We also stocked up with oil for the engine and transmission fluid which were very cheap from a large well stocked hardware and car spares shop in town called H. E. Trading. Provisioning is not too bad but good quality meat is not easy to find.

We managed a few touristy things the most spectacular being a ride on the very steep Langkawi cable car to the top of Gunung Machincang, 710 meters above sea level. There is a curved suspension bridge linking the cable car station to the mountain range, which we walked across. Our visit to the Temuran waterfall, 200 metres high, was a little disappointing as there was only a trickle of water at this time of year. It was here however that I nearly got my bag snatched. William noticed the would be thief and alerted me just as she was making a grab for my bag. He took a photo of the miscreant, who was a cheeky little macaque monkey.

It has been rather a flying visit, wish we could stay longer but we are off to Sri Lanka tomorrow.