Hi Tehja and Taylor. You’ll never guess where we are
today. Malaysia! We left Phuket on November 5th and arrived here in
Langkawi on November 8th. Thailand only lets us keep our boat there
for six months (actually, this time they let us stay a year), and then we have
to leave their country. But they let us come back right away.
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| Jenny the wind generator taking a rest during a beautiful sunset. |
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| Another beautiful sunset on our way to Langkawi. |
We will return to Phuket as soon as our boat batteries
arrive (four golf cart batteries – like those that ran the golf cart we used in
Costa Rica). We bought them here in Langkawi because they are cheaper. These
batteries run our lights, computer and all our other electrical stuff when the
engines aren’t running and making power for us. We keep these batteries charged
by feeding them with solar power, or charging them with wind power, or by
sometimes running the engines. We haven’t been “plugged in” since we left the
Caribbean.
So on this Sweet 16 day, we are patiently waiting for
our batteries at anchor in the big harbour of Kuah. There are lots of other
sail boats and scads of ferries, because this is an island and the only way you
can get here is by plane or boat. There is no bridge.
Kuah, Langkawi is “duty free” (which means a
government tax hasn’t been charged and so some stuff is cheaper), so we have
been stocking up on some boat parts and chocolate treats. So today we shopped.
And we had beef – at McD’s of all places.
You’ll see from the photos that Kuah is a pretty
harbour town. Lots of tourists come here to shop, so the shop owners keep
everything clean and tidy to attract the customers. But with all the ferry
traffic and as a result of some industries that were here a number of years
ago, the water in the bay is polluted. So we can’t swim at all. So we’re
looking forward to getting our batteries and setting off for Thailand again.
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| Some colourful shops in Kuah, Langkawi. |
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| Grandpa on his way to the chandlery - a store that sells boat stuff. |
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| One of the main streets in Kuah, Langkawi. We've walked it many times. |
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| Kuah has a beautiful park to walk through. |
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| Our walks are shaded by nice big trees. |
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| Grandpa chatting with a fellow-Canadian while a storm approaches from the west. |
This evening we had visitors on CanKata – a couple
from a Canadian boat, a couple and their 24-year-old daughter from an
Australian boat, and a guitar-playing song-writer from an American boat. We had
lots of good food, laughs and music under a very pretty sliver of the moon that
also had some “earth glow” (the unlit part of the moon that glows just a tiny
bit). And we thought of you. It was a good way to end a good Sweet 16 Day.
All our love,
Grandma and Grandpa Sailor xxxx
P.S. A couple of SpongeBob jokes:
He was deep C fishing.
Why did Patrick get running shoes?
To be a track star.And another P.S.: Here are some photos from the time Kevin and Great-Grandma Merc visited us in Langkawi in 2009:
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| Kevin, Great-Grandma and Grandpa at the Langkawi pier. |
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| Grandpa and Great-Grandma and the big bird "Langkawi" |
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| Kevin and the Langkawi |
