Langkawi Cruise (days 1-4)

Hi everyone,
We departed Rebak Island marina on Boxing Day, sailing SE to the "fiords" at the southern end of Pulau Dayang Bunting.  We stayed there for two nights.  Yesterday morning we sailed to Fisherman's Cove (Selat Riang-Riang) at the southern tip of the Langkawi island group.  Today we sailed to Kuah.

Zen Again Track

We had a great sail to the Fiord, eventually reefing the main when the wind got up to 20 gusting 25 knots.  Shortly after that we got into the lee of the island and had to motor the last mile or so to the anchorage.  The fiord is a narrow channel between the main island and a small offlying island.  The entrance is less than 100m wide, and only about 200m wide at its widest point.  We anchored at the widest point, tucked in near a small creek mouth (marked by the mangroves).

Great sail to the Fiords

Spectacular surroundings in the fiords

Great anchorage

Company aboard

Zen Again in the fiords

The fiord is a lovely anchorage, very well protected from sea and most winds.  The clouds were speeding past overhead at times but it was calm in the anchorage.  We saw many macaque monkeys, brahminy kites and several other birds.  We had the anchorage to ourselves on both nights.

Yesterday we motored from the fiord to Fisherman's Cove.  Along the way we calibrated the newly installed backup autopilot, doing the necessary 720 degree turns and zig-zags.  The cove is another small anchorage, this one protected by three islands which surround it.  On the day the wind came up to 20-25 knots at least, with good bullets coming through the anchorage.  The seas from outside penetrated a little, but it was very flat once the wind moderated a little.  We saw only one monkey but lots of brahminy kites (like sea eagles but with chestnut wings and back instead of dark grey).

Dawn at Fisherman's Cove

Today we had a great sail from Fisherman's Cove to Kuah.  We had a very nice 6-10 knot NE breeze.  The track shows we must have been having fun - we were tacking!  We're now anchored at 06 18.78N 099 50.80E in 6m over mud.

We expect to stay here for two nights before heading north to the Hole in the Wall anchorage on the NE coast of Langkawi.  We hope to spend New Year there, and probably won't have phone/internet coverage.