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Published: February 5th 2015
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Sirius 1935
Anchored off Koh Lipee We boarded Sirius 1935 at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club around lunchtime on the 24th January and quickly realised the sleeping arrangements were going to be similar to that of the camper van some weeks ago i.e. trying different places to sleep each night! Our somewhat eccentric captain welcomed us aboard and proceeded to run through recent repairs to the boats electrical system. We quickly realised routine maintenance work would be part of everyday life aboard Sirius as it probably is for most yacht owners.
We were introduced to the rest of the crew who would be accompanying us to Thailand. Shayne (First mate) or what ever the correct term is, was an Aussie which we will forgive him for as he made our voyage so much more fun. In typical Aussie style he did enjoy a drink or two or three! Our chef was Noot, a Thai girl who was good fun and a brilliant cook.
Before we embarked upon our sea voyage we had to visit the local immigration office to get our passports stamped to leave Malaysia. Then it was time to cast off, or nearly, once the battery had had an extra charge and some
Fresh water lake.
Synchronised diving! other maintenance work was completed!
Our first stop was Dayang Bunting Island not too far from Langkawi. After a short dingy ride ashore and brief walk through the forest, we emerged to find an enormous beautiful fresh water lake. We were all straight in for a swim, very refreshing, while Simon our Captain told us the legend of the pregnant maiden and Abby and Freya entertained us with their leaps into the lake. Back on board Sirius it was gin and tonic time as the sun began to set and the smell of fantastic Thai food drifted up from the galley. Our first taste of the rituals of evenings on board, pretty good so far!
The follow morning we set sail to Koh Butang, this was our first real experience on the open sea as the previous day was only a short hop from the marina to Dayang Bunting. With the sails up and a real swell on the sea, we all felt a little queasy and poor Freya projected her breakfast over the starboard side. Time for us all to get sea bands on our wrists and stare at the horizon! We anchored for the night in
Hoist the sail.
Get your back into it man! a sheltered cove and were soon swimming and snorkelling to refresh ourselves.
Stuart, Shayne and the girls then decided to take the dingy off to explore a beach on the other side of the island. However after pulling the boat up on the sand, they ended up making a hasty retreat when a large group of monkeys took a shine to the dingy. Although the intention was to pay a visit to see the monkeys I think they really came to visit us and nearly made off with our only form of transport off the island.
This was our first real experience of sailing and we soon got used to the way of doing things on board, however our third night proved to be the real test. Our Captain decided it would be good to do a night sail to cover some miles while we slept. Within half an hour of setting off on this ten hour leg, it became very apparent that the sea was not as calm as we had been lead to believe. The decks were cleared of everything that couldn't be tied down, an extra tarpaulin was rigged up to protect the cockpit area
Sailing
Getting used to changing levels and harnesses were donned by the crew. The four of us spent the entire night lying down in the saloon together, concentrating on not being ill, while reassuring Abby and Freya that everything was ok. A freak wave that forced its way in through the hatches soaking us didn't help instill us with confidence and poor Shayne had to avoid answering my frequent questions about "are we nearly there yet?"
Having survived this near death experience (that's what we called it anyway!) the rest of the week was plain sailing. One particular highlight was our visit to Koh Muk. We rowed the dingy into a cave which got darker and darker as we followed the tunnel back for about 80metres, frequently ducking down to squeeze under the stalactites above us. Then just as Abby was about to panic, we saw sunlight ahead and rowed out into the sunshine; a completely encircled lagoon within the rocky island complete with sandy beach; breathtaking.
Despite being way outside our comfort zone, the haphazard cabin arrangements and the general eccentricities of our Captain, we had a great week. We will always remember sitting up on deck in the still and quiet of
Koh Lipee.
Just Beautiful. early morning and the nights after dinner spent gazing at stars; absolutely magical.
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Mum and Dad
non-member comment
Sailing.
I have heard sailing referred to as 'agony and ecstacy' and you have certainly enjoyed both emotions. What a super blog. It has brightened up a truly dismal day. Lovexx