Year 6 Day 8: The Fleet Is Shrinking
10 February 2013 | Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia
Dave/Sunny and Hot!
Since we have returned to Leu Cat and Rebak Marina a week ago, we have watched as the fleet of cruisers here has gotten smaller and smaller. When we arrived last November, the marina appeared to be about 90% full. After we left for the States, those cruisers participating in the Sail Malaysia Rally arrived and filled the Marina to the brim. However, since Christmas, the exodus of boats leaving Rebak for Thailand has started. We have been told that the best time to sail Southern Thailand, which is just north of us on the Malay Peninsula, is between December and March. This is the dry season for this area and what little winds this area gets are most prevalent then. Thus, we are now in the "primo" time to leave Rebak and go to Thailand.
Those cruisers that we have spoken with who have sailed to Thailand before all speak of it very highly. It seems like they just can't wait to get back there. We are told the area is very scenic with unusual rock formation islands, nice waters, wonderful people and workmen that do quality work for a reasonable price. Given how pleasant it is here in Rebak, it must be extraordinarily nice up in Thailand.
We, however, have decided to put off going to Southern Thailand until next year. Instead, as we have laid out in this year's sail plan (see Year 6 Day 2's blog), we will be going in the opposite direction and will spend the bulk of our sailing time on the eastern coast of Malaysia. The truth of the matter is that we are still in "Indonesia Rally shock". Last year we joined that rally and, along with about 150 other boats, cruised through Indonesia. Based on that experience, we have determined that we are just not rally people as we strongly prefer to cruise by ourselves instead of with a large group of other cruisers. While we only followed the rally for a few weeks, I still have visions of anchorages chocked full of cruising boats with each harbor bristling with masts and having difficulty in finding a decent place to anchor. The best parts of Indonesia for us were the quiet anchorages where we anchored either by ourselves or with just a few other boats.
The thought of following the fleet up to Thailand right now is just not something we are anxious to pursue. Thus, we will be heading in the opposite direction in hopes of finding the peaceful beautiful islands and reefs of eastern Malaysia to be a bit more toward our liking.
However, we will miss our friends who are either staying at Rebak or sailing up to Thailand. Tonight, we said goodbye to our friends John and Chris of S/V Sara II. They will be leaving tomorrow to spend a month or two in Thailand before returning to Rebak where they will park their boat to do some very extensive land traveling.
We first met John and Chris off a little island in Indonesia where we and a few other cruisers had anchored. We had veered away for the main rally fleet seeking some quality time at this remote and scenic island we had stumbled across. As the day progressed, a few more cruisers who also were seeking some solitude came upon our anchorage and decided to stay. By 1600 there were about 5 or 6 boats sharing our dream island so we all decided to go ashore to have sundowners on the beach. At that time we were introduced to John and Chris and discovered that this was John's second circumnavigation. Wow! That to us was pretty impressive.
We bumped into John and Chris a few more times in Indonesia including in Lombok, where John had contracted an infection and we went with him and Chris to the hospital for treatment. He is doing great now so the medicine did its job!
To wish them a bon voyage, Mary Margaret and I suggested that we get together at the resort tonight to enjoy the Chinese New Year buffet. They readily agreed and we ended up being joined by John and Cheryl of Sea Mist and Jeremy, a friend of John and Chris' who also hails from England. The seven of us had a wonderful time by first going to the beach bar for happy hour and then having a wonderful buffet, complete with delicious Peking Duck.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will seeing John and Chris again next year when we return to Rebak. Hopefully, they will be here then and we can get together once more.