Pangkor to Penang

Friends on SY Tegan shared their wondrously deadly homemade Baileys into the wee hours of our final morning in the marina. Despite our heavy heads we rushed about doing all the last-minute preparations. Rene finished installing an alternative tackle block for the mainsheet. He also repaired our deflated dinghy and installed the life-raft to the stern. I cleaned and scrubbed like you wouldn't believe! Everything in and out was covered – or embedded with a thick layer of dust (despite all of our efforts to keep it from coming inside). Eventually we were ready to leave. By late afternoon we were anchored in Bogak Bay in the South Western corner of Pangkor Island. Jellyfish the size of Rene drifted by and we enjoyed our first night at anchor in many months. We stayed at 04' 12.47N 100' 33.13E.

Rene's handiwork with the mainsheet

Anima rests at anchor in Pulau Pangkor

Up pre-dawn, we motored out between the main island of Pangkor and a much smaller one (with exclusive resorts) with a nice current helping our passage. The wind picked up enough to help us along and so we sailed or motored at around 6.5 knots. Inspired to cook up some tasty foods now that I was free from constant boat work (for the minute!), I rustled up a yummy breakfast of Pikelets and a healthy potato salad for lunch (see recipes below).

Pikelets for breakfast

We anchored out from Pulau Rimau in about 7 metres of rolling swell at 05' 14.59N 100'16.32E. Ren was too nervous about nosing deeper into this small bay in case of a lee shore or uncharted rocks. So we spent a bouncy, but not uncomfortable night – at anchor next to a beautiful jungle-covered island. Again we were accompanied by giant jellies. Today we covered 67 nautical miles. 

Leaving the untouched islands, heading for the city of Penang

We caught the end of the current up through the channel between Penang and mainland Malaysia. An easy trip of only 12 miles by daylight. We anchored at the aptly named 'Junk Anchorage' (05'24.60N 100'20.59E) just out from the Tanjong City Marina. We elected not to stay in the actual marina to save money and because the marina is not in a good state of repair. Due to the constant ferries (who all leave their powerful engines running at the dock), it is almost completely silted up, leaving only a dozen berths deep enough.

Yawarra 2 was here and we enjoyed catching up with them (as usual!). We stayed for 3 days, paying 5RM each day to tie up our dinghy in one of the unusable berths. I think it's free to tie up at the jetty in the anchorage but we chose to pay so we could see Nick and Jan more often. When we visited Penang back in early January with Ben and Chihiro, we spent a similar amount of time here and left thinking of it as one giant traffic jam. This time we approached it by sea which was far less hassle and bustle. Our accommodation last time was the Red Inn Cabana where we paid about 50RM each night. This time we simply anchored in our own home, for free! 

I love Indian food!!

Nick and Jan are Penang enthusiasts. They love it. We like it a lot more too now, it's just so ALIVE! I still hate the traffic and lack of pedestrian crossings (you have to make a run for it through cars, buses, motorbikes etc. as they race along). However, I LOVE the food here. We had some amazing Indian meals, each for only $2.50 AUD. I love the pokey streets streets of Georgetown... Indian music stores pump out the latest hits and you just feel your body start to dance.... we ended up buying 3 Cd's ($12AUD). Rene went to the 'Chemical Man' to get some hardcore acids (sulphuric, hydrochloric and nitric) for working on the boat. What a place! A small room, packed to the ceiling with all manner of chemicals and related paraphernalia. The shop-owner is about 90 and knows everything about his trade. Ren is amazed that he could simply walk in and buy 1 litre of extremely toxic acids, no questions asked!

Liangtraco SDN. BHD. or 'The Chemical Man's shop'

Apart from getting our 2 month Thai visas here, we also stopped in Penang to see the Thaipusam celebrations.This festival was AMAZING. Probably my favourite cultural experience in SE Asia so far. The reason was that this celebration is for the Hindus, not for the tourists. I was allowed to be there and take photos but it was for them, not me so it was all the more authentic, alive and mind-blowingly different. I didn't find the piercings to be disgusting - instead I was constantly awed at the dedication and strength the particpants demonstrated. For 48 days prior to Thaipusam, devotees purge themselves of all mental and physical impurities. This means that they only eat one small vegetarian meal each day (24 hours prior, they must fast completely), they abstain from all pleasures (alcohol, sex, bathing in cold water and sleeping on the floor) in order to transcend from desire.

Young men wearing these Kavadi's danced in circles to hypnotic, awesome beats all night long

Offerings of coconuts, milk and rice on banana leaves with so much incense

Two men almost ready, covered in hooks - the live drumming at this point was insane!

The rod in his mouth is actually pierced right through

Heating up the drums to tune them.

Close up of the piercings

Just been pierced through his tongue

We all found it astonishing that there was no blood!

Gurus with their famous quotes were on display

Most attendees carried pails full of milk to pour over the temple.

Shrines and street art decorated the streets

Men bearing hooks pulled forward to increase the tension on the ropes.

The best live drumming I've heard in ages

The crowd culminated at a temple after having walked many miles carrying their pails or piercings.

This man is covered in piercings yet because he's in a trance, feels no pain.

Recipes

Pikelets (thanks for Chihiro for this delicious recipe)

1 cup self-raising flour

pinch salt

¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

¾ cup sour milk*

3 tablespoons sugar (I often reduce this)

1 egg

1 dessert spoon melted butter / oil

* fresh milk soured with 1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice

Sift dry ingredients, add sugar. Mix to a smooth batter with beaten egg and milk. Add melted butter. Heat and grease pan, drop batter by dessert spoonfuls on to pan, cook until bubbly on top, light brown underneath. Turn, cook other side.

Healthy Potato Salad

(I haven't included all measurements because I usually just do it by feel)
Potatoes, washed/peeled, cut into large pieces (usually quarters)
Olive oil
Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons sumac (a delicious Middle Eastern spice)
Capsicum, finely diced
Large green or red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
Fresh mint, chopped
Parsley, roughly chopped
Shallots or red onions, finely sliced

** You can really add whatever you like, the core ingredients are the potatoes, dressing and chillies.

Steam the potatoes until they're tender but still firm. Drain and let them cool for 10 minutes. Mix the dressing (oil, lemon juice, sugar, sumac, salt and pepper) and pour over the potatoes. Add all the other ingredients, toss lightly and serve.

Potato salad on deck

SPLASHDOWN!!

We're floating again!!

We hauled out of the water here in Pangkor Marina intending to do 2 weeks of work on Anima. Now, 2 months later, we're finally done (mostly) and today we splashed back into the water. The marina manager, James, expertly drove us along in the haul-out machine, our engine started first go and we slid into an empty berth no problems! It feels so so good to be on the water again. We're both exhausted but still have lots on our to do list before we can head north to clearer waters.

James steers us on the haul-out machine through the yard

Counting Down to Splashing

Jan 28. 

The sky today is cloudy, grey and threatening rain - not good for painting. Instead, Rene embarked upon reinstalling the aft railings which have been suspended a few inches above deck for the past 2 months. He discovered (of course) that this job was more difficult than expected (why is it never easy on the boat?) because the metal had warped during its time in the air. I reattached dorade vents to the deck and the spray dodger frame before realising there wasn't much else I could do and so retreated inside to continue TESOL. Local workers finally fixed the electricity cable that had fallen from its support and been lying on the ground (often in a puddle of water). They dug a hole for a new pole and then pulled the large cable up using their bare hands (!) in a cherry picker. Ren also reattached the portside winch and painted the last of the topcoat. We didn't quite have enough to paint everything - there are a few spots left around the place that are still waiting for a second coat. They'll have to keep waiting! In the afternoon I started peeling/scraping the old masking tape from the green stripe that has been there for nearly 2 months. Have discovered a new sundowner thanks to another yachtie here - beer on ice! Makes it go further and is more refreshing too. I'll have to make do with my ration of one of these each day for now as we can't afford to drink wine anymore :(

The old pole is pushed over, note the wire on the ground

New pole in, wire is pulled up by hand in the cherry picker

Jan 29. 
We're booked to splash back in the water on the 2nd of Feb. Can't wait! There's still a lot to do but I think if we keep working we'll be fine. Have been bitten by a few mozzies lately - I really hope they're not disease ridden. Today we worked together at scraping off the old masking tape from the green stripe. It was tedious, soul-destroying work. After a few hours though, it was done (many hands!) and we set about sanding and cleaning it ready for painting. I was cleaning the stripe from above, leaning down and over the edge when I stood up and nearly fell overboard. Luckily I could hold onto a rope and steady myself before tottering inside to collapse on a seat for a while - my head reeling. As usual, my hypochondriac tendencies started to go rife. Rene didn't help - when he finally came inside to get something and saw me lying there he said 'do you need to go to hospital?'. 'I hope not!' was my reply. Looking at the clock I saw it was past 2pm - maybe I'm hungry? I forced myself to make lunch and eat a sandwich. Then I took an iron tablet - we've barely eaten any meat here because I can't bring myself to deal with the way it's sold here. So, while I lay around trying not to panic that I'm dying, Rene got on with the boat work, taping and painting the green stripe. After about an hour, I felt OK again and so ventured back into the heat of Malaysia to continue work. Ren was enjoying painting the green enamel paint (far less toxic than the two pac paint he's been using lately) so I busied myself taping up more areas. Then, a finishing touch - our name sticker is back on the back!

Check out the difference in green on our stripe

Ren working at making Anima pretty :)

Painting over the non-slip on deck

Jan 30. 

I scrubbed the deck with turps and then soapy water until my hands bled - literally. ouch! By the end of the day, I had cleaned, taped up and painted 13 non-skid deck sections. Phew! They look great and I'm impressed with how much I achieved in one day - though am not impressed with the blisters and cuts I received as a result. Rene worked on the hull. He sanded all of the little spots that had been exposed to steel by those nasty little barnacles, then he cleaned and painted those spots with Jotamastic before painting half of the hull with antifoul paint. Busy busy busy!

Rene paints the first coat of anti foul - Jotun Sea Guardian 60

Jan 31. 

Rene concentrated on the hull all day again. Firstly he painted it in antifouling, then painted those spots from yesterday with Safeguard before embarking upon painting a second coat of antifouling. He is still at it now as I quickly type this up at 8.15pm before showering and trying to figure out what to rustle up for another late dinner. I spent hours in town with some other yachties in the car - my last chance - to stock up with food for the coming week/s and sort out other things like getting our new name sticker! When I returned, I pulled off all of the tape from yesterday's sections and then installed the starboard side safety railing. Much cursing was involved at some points when those bloody bolts and nuts just wouldn't cooperate! I succeeded in the end and finished off with doing more hand washing. A new record - I killed 6 mosquitoes who were all biting me while I did this annoying, never ending yet necessary chore. Tomorrow we go up in the haul-out machine so we can paint the bottom and points we're held up with currently. It's all happening finally!!! 
Rene ended up painting into the night. He finally knocked off at 1am. 

Anima with the first 2 coats of antifoul on.

Ren working into the night.

Feb 1. 
Our alarm went off at 5am and Rene got straight into it. He had to paint the final coat of antifoul paint early enough so that it would dry by the time the machine lifted us. I got up early too but instead of launching into work, I did an hour of Ashtanga yoga. It felt soooo good to do the primary series. I should get up that early more often! While Rene concentrated on painting and setting up the anodes, I installed the portside railings and cleaned up all the stuff (ropes, jerries, gas etc.) that was hiding out under our tarpaulin on the ground. A few toads escaped as I scrubbed and hosed for hours. I somehow managed to convince Rene to agree to us chucking out a bunch of stuff that we don't use and which usually lives on deck (clutter!). A lot of it will be recycled by the marina here which is cool. Our air conditioner broke. We were just talking about selling it / giving it away and it started making a very loud shuddering/vibrating noise. As I write this, sweat is sliding off various bits of me and gathering in other parts. Oh yeah, the joy of the tropics! Anima is looking great. The highlight of today was being lifted up onto the haul-out machine. Tomorrow we splash! 

Our beautiful, multi-coloured home!

Anima sitting in the Pangkor haul-out machine

Job nearly done!

Rene happy that he only has a little more painting to do!

Cerae's Special Egg Burger Recipe

I've been perfecting this recipe over the last year or so. We are mostly vegetarian and so eat a lot of eggs for protein and energy. This burger is so delicious that I want to share it with you all. 

This recipe is designed to be read from the bottom up, as it lists all of the ingredients in the order they're layered into the burger.

Toasted bun / bread top

Traditional Mustard Pickles

Sliced cucumber

Sliced tomato

Sliced cheese

Tomato sauce or salt and pepper (or both if you really want)

Fried egg/s - done until the white is solid but the yolk is still runny

Avocado

Mayonnaise

Toasted bun /bread bottom

I hope you like it as much as we do!!

Will This Haul-out Ever END?

Jan 20.

Rene paints topcoat on the forward section of deck. I tape up more areas for him to paint around. Rene nearly passes out from the heat of working in the sun on deck. I feed him lots of water, 100plus and food. I get a ride in Tasha's car to check out getting a new name sticker made. Rene sands back the Penguard and the cockpit. He has to rewire the sander and gives himself an electric shock. Handwashing. After sunset (7.30pm) we walk over to Annwn to have catch-up beers. They generously give us a Bintang all the way from Indonesia and it tastes like good times. Lightning flashes all night.

Ren's bandages from wearing the gas mask so much.

Ren painting topcoat

Jan 21.

We get up before sunrise (doesn't really rise above the mountain before 7.20) and tape up the holes on the topsides that Rene made when grinding away the rust / old paint. I feel depressed about how long we've been here and how it feels as though we'll never finish but help him anyway. We use some left-over Kossan Kofill filler that our friends from Tasha D.M left behind when they splashed back in the water. It turned out to be a great solution! Rene filled up the worst of the holes and sanded them back ready for priming tomorrow. I wrote lists, tidied up, tried to get rid of useless stuff and painted the inside of the dorade vents bright red. I managed to also paint my hair - I'll have to cut the top off now! Rene painted some more Penguard and then some topcoat in the late afternoon. I worked on my TESOL course but am not enjoying it - I'm finding the coursework very tedious and not very helpful. I managed to procrastinate a lot by reading friends blogs and helping Rene.

Magic stuff

Ren applies Kofill

Jan 22. 

My glamorous laundry

Heavy rain lashed at Anima all night and then continued well into today. Not good weather for painting. Rene had a terrible time trying to remove the masking tape we'd applied yesterday to mark the areas he needed to fill in. I looked up solvents for masking tape and discovered WD-40 and Acetone are commonly used. Ren stuck with it for hours and eventually removed enough so he could sand back the surface to a smooth finish. He really regrets surrounding the areas with masking tape as it was extremely frustrating to remove it all afterwards. I shared a car trip to Giant and Tesco with some other yachties to stock up on groceries. We are eating in a lot more often here because the marina is quite a distance from any good, affordable restaurants. I painted the second coat of red enamel paint inside the dorade vents - it is a real pleasure to paint such a rich, bright colour. I also was finally able to start the process of reinstalling deck stuff. Today it was the rope spool that lives under the bench at the stern. Rene painted the last of the Penguard and is disappointed that we didn't order more earlier on as he would have liked to build up more layers. More handwashing at sunset before a cold beer while we looked over our progress.

The re-installed rope spool

Freshly painted dorades

Jan 23.
Kung Hei Fat Choi!!! or Happy New Year! Today is the Chinese New Year and is now the year of the Dragon. We heard fireworks throughout the night and things in the shipyard were pretty quiet during the day. Rene painted the second coat of Hardtop on deck - a big moment!! It took ages of course - he painted all day and only managed to do half of the deck. I finished another TESOL unit - this time on the future tense. Once the paint had dried, I was able to embark upon the process of removing the tape I'd layed down along the edges of all of the areas requiring Hardtop. As with all boat work, this task is seemingly simple in theory yet laborious and difficult in reality. The tape only sometimes lifts up in one piece, often it tears into tiny fragments which have to be painstakingly picked by hand. The most annoying part is that it has left a sticky residue that I'm hoping will wipe off with thinners. If not, it's going to add days to our time here. Rene kept at painting until dark. I made the most amazing burgers for lunch. I'm so impressed with how tasty they are (it's a recipe I've been perfecting for over a year now) that I'm going to share it in a separate post. After sundown we visited Annwn who had invited us over to help them drink a bottle of Champagne they'd hidden away in a locker. I'm always happy to help!! We had a nice evening chatting under their red lantern lights before heading back through the yard to Anima.

Robyn and Wal from Annwn

New Year mandarins from the marina.

Jan 24.
I continued to work at removing the tape from areas on deck that have been painted. In particular, I was finally able to cut free the tape from the butterfly hatch glass panes. They've been covered since we arrived and are finally pretty much completed. Ren moved the huge old air conditioner (bought in JB) to said butterfly hatch and then we had to deal with the rust spots that had been hiding out under it all this time. I helped out sanding and identifying rust spots until Ren

Ren painting and painting and painting topcoat

Jan 25.
Ren started today by applying a second coat of Jotamastic to the areas that received a first coat yesterday. He then lightly sanded and cleaned the port side topside before we worked together to tape a new waterline. After our experiences cruising through Indonesia and getting the topsides all dirty with slime, we're lifting the waterline up by about 2 inches. The stern was a little tricky to measure - the old waterline (that we stuffed up last time) was too low and we had to figure out a new one. I worked at cleaning the tacky stuff (left after removing the tape) off the back deck using a variety of products. I tried Kerosene, Turpentine, Eucalyptus Oil and Citronella Oil. The most effective are Kero and Turps - though the turps keeps on disintegrating my gloves so I'm a little worried about the toxicity. More hand washing. More TESOL work. More painting. I kept working till late tonight - we've run out of alcohol and it's my ritual (while on the hardstand) to have a drink at the end of the day. Eventually I realised we had some rum in a hip flask stashed away. It's empty now too. I wish alcohol was more affordable in Malaysia!!

Working at removing the stickiness

Ren taping up our new waterline

Jan 26.
Happy Australia Day! It didn't feel like a typical 'Straya Day' as I stepped around deflated Chinese Lanterns that had fallen in the boat yard. We had to keep working on the boat - no time for lazing around drinking and playing backyard cricket!! I borrowed Tasha's car and did a Tesco / Post Office run before embarking upon taping up the green non-slip sections on the aft deck. It took ages!! By the end of the day I was finally able to paint in these areas. We're using Emerclad that came with the boat. When I opened it, there was an old paint scooper (rusty tin) and block of wood inside! Whoever used it last, did not pack away properly. Rene painted topcoat all day. He did the final coat on most of the top decks, including the cockpit which now looks very nice and shiny! After sundown, we joined the other yachties at the boat shed for a BBQ. I was most impressed with Mary's meat pies which she miraculously baked in her Weber BBQ!

Painting new non-slip green paint on the aft deck

Mary with her homemade meat pies!

Progress shot. She's starting to come together finally!

Jan 27.

I got up early and only did a few sun salutes before starting work on deck. Now that the topcoat is finally done, today I had to remove all of the masking tape that I'd previously stuck down to protect anything not requiring topcoat. We have learnt that masking tape is not friendly. If it isn't removed within 2 days, it can behave in one of two evil ways: firstly, it can leave all of its stickiness on deck which needs to be removed with lots of elbow grease and thinners; secondly, it can dry onto the deck so that it needs to be painstakingly scraped off with a Stanley knife and my fingers. I did the latter for 12 hours today. My fingers ache. My brain feels weird. What a strange thing to think about all day!
Rene painted all day. He firstly did a few touch-ups on deck and then continued with the topsides. We're exhausted. I'm worried about the Emerclad paint I applied yesterday - it was quite sticky and tacky and hasn't quite set yet. I hope it does soon. All of this working in the sun means I'm getting my "tan", my freckles are all getting quite dark!

Stubborn tape and my trusty tool today

Working in the early morning, coffee by my side

Sailbirds getting there slowly

Check out my freckles!

Old and New Friends on Pangkor Island

Old friends from our early BrisVegas days travelled past and stayed on Pangkor Island while new friends from the Indonesia rally cruised up to anchor on Pangkor Island - both on the same day!! It was raining so we took the ferry across the Pangkor Island and hired a motorbike for 30RM (he asked for 40RM, Rene said 30RM and he said 'OK', how easy was that bargaining?). The west side of Pangkor Island is beautiful. We zoomed along the hilly road, fringed by sweet-smelling jungle and breathed in the natural beauty. If only I could bottle the smell of a rainforest! It's the best smell in the world... well, one of them. 

Biking along quiet, jungle-fringed roads = bliss

Storm RiderZ - the bikie gang unite!

Our friends Amie and Linc were staying in a guesthouse which we located easily. They also hired a bike and we rode about the island as the bike gang, Storm Riderz! We hope to reunite again for more biking adventures!! 

Sailbirds swim with old friend, Amie

Coral Beach was lovely for our first Malaysian swim (no pollution for once) while the waterfall had warning signs about the hazards of swimming there (possibly due to the monkeys?).

Clean water and white sands at Coral Beach, Pangkor Island

Luckily the warning sign was also in English..

We met with the Molonga crew on a different beach and shared ice-creams at a semi-deserted resort bar. Fun times! We hope to cruise in Thailand with these lovely folk in the near future.

Molonga arrives on Pangkor!

Common thing, cats begging while you eat

Amie takes (probably) even more photos than me so I love to hang out with her because we snap away like crazy!! This often results in some fun, terrible, amazing, embarrassing and beautiful shots. I love the pink wall shot (below) that her camera snapped of us. It automatically took it when it detected smiles!! We wish Anima was in the water so we could take these awesome friends out for a sail... not to be this time, but definitely next!