Back to Rebak

Hi everyone,
On Monday we returned "home" to Rebak Island Marina.  Zen Again was hauled out, hosed down and propped-up on the hardstand by 1000.  The surveyor appointed by our insurers arrived as we were hauling out and he carried out his inspection over the next couple of hours.

Prior to returning to Rebak we enjoyed a few days of relaxation anchored at Telaga Harbour.  We only went ashore once, but had a great lunch at one of the restaurants there.  Three course meal including the best steaks since Darwin for RM40 each.  At anchor we found the boat was taking a little water whenever there was any motion.  We also took water when motoring from Telaga to Rebak in calm conditions.

Telaga Anchorage

Telaga Sunset

There was no major external damage visible but the surveyor could see where water had been coming in, and his report makes clear the work that needs to be done.  This includes mast removal, compression post removal and cutting out the lower part of the main bulkhead - all to get to the damaged area in the cabin.  Externally the hull will need to be cut back and new fibreglass laid up over the damaged area.  The surveyor and insurance company have cleared us to sail to Phuket for repairs.

Zen Again on the hard at Rebak Island Marina

We enjoyed our last few days at Rebak Island.  It's a great place to keep a boat while enjoying all the facilities of a very nice resort.  We stripped the boat of a lot of "stuff" mounted on the stern - no need for lifebuoys, dan buoys etc when single-handing!  We also dismounted the Aires vane gear since it won't be used for a while.

Today we are flying to Perth.  We'll be looking for work to fund the repairs and the refit we now have planned.  In February I'll fly back to the boat and sail her north to Boat Lagoon in Phuket.  There the grounding damage will be repaired and a number of other jobs done.  If all goes to plan Zen Again will have a great new "look" come May!   She'll be ready in all respects for the blue water cruising we still want to do.  Watch this space...

Telaga

Hi everyone,
This morning we motor-sailed from Teluk Datai to Telaga anchorage.  We motor-sailed the 10nm to check damage from yesterday's grounding.  It appears we are taking water whenever underway.  Not a lot, but enough to indicate we have a significant problem.  We were planning to have work done in Phuket, now fixing this problem is at the top of the list.

We are now anchored at 06 21.78N 099 40.81E in Telaga anchorage, in 3m over sand.  About a dozen other boats anchored here with us.

Zen Again Track

The passage here was pretty miserable - low cloud and frequent drizzle or rain.  Quite cool too.

Departing the anchorage

Malaysian military vessel (with Thai warship in the background)

North coast of Langkawi

Due to our grounding incident we have withdrawn from the Royal Langkawi International Regatta.  We were looking forward to some round-the-cans racing, but having to deal with taking water while racing just doesn't make sense, especially while two-handed.

We expect to stay here for two or three days, and will then move back to Rebak Island.

Teluk Datai

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we motor-sailed from Hole in the Wall to Teluk Datai at the W end of the N coast of Langkawi. Once again it rained for part of the short passage.  We eventually anchored at 06 25.897N 099 40.438E in 6m.

Zen Again Track

One needs to very careful anchoring here.  The rocks shown on the charts (Garmin, Navionics & CM93) between the small island off the E end of the bay and the main island shore extend further S than shown.  We motored into the centre of the bay then closed the shore until we reached a depth of 6m and an anchored catamaran.  We turned to port and proceeded along the shore staying in 6m depth.  From about 4 knots we slowed down to 2 knots (thankfully) and then the depth started to decrease suddenly.  The depth decreased to 4m and then we hit a bombie (isolated rock).  Luckily we were only doing about 1.5 knots.

Rocks visible at low tide!

We managed to move away from the bombie easily enough, and anchored at the position given above.  The uncharted rock is at approximately 06 25.94N 099 40.46E.  We saw depths of 2.5m to 3.0m immediately around the rock, but didn't hang around to thoroughly research the hydrography.

After anchoring we found we had taken some water.  The flow gradually reduced to nothing during the afternoon.  Tomorrow we'll head around to Telaga and that will show whether we take any water when underway.

Motorsailing along the north coast of Langkawi

At Anchor

 Despite the grounding we had a pleasant afternoon.  There are two resorts ashore nearby and a few folks have paddled past in kayaks and sailing a surf cat.  Mid-afternoon a rain squall came through.  The anchorage is very well protected from NE winds by the small island and the foul ground between it and the main island.  Pity the charts don't show that the foul ground extends out into the bay!