Port Dickson-Rebak Oct-Nov 2015
We arrived in Port Dickson on the 26 Oct, cleared in the next day, customs, immigration and harbour master were located all together and a very painless experience. A breath of fresh air after Indonesia’s protracted and frustrating system. Port Dickson was another marina come resort affair with restaurants and a huge swimming pool. Here we met Sababa, a Farr 50 owned by a couple from the Bay of Islands so it was nice to have some company to watch the much anticipated world cup rugby final. The restaurant assured us that they had the channel available and Jett (a lovely young girl who was crewing on Sababa) was even going to look after Morg for the night as the game didn’t start until 11pm in the evening. So there we were all geared up for a great nights entertainment, turned on the channel at 1050pm and no rugby. They didn’t even subscribe to the channel!!! We tried everything we could to try and get a live stream, even paying some US sports site $30 in subscription fees, only to find out we needed a US ph no. to activate it, needless to say nothing worked and there were some bloody angry Kiwis thundering around the place. It was a huge let down and the best we got was some youtube highlights after the game. The whole thing was a screw up and was just another trying experience of what we thought had been careful and considerable communications with local people.
Moving on………………we did a day trip down to Malacca City, an historic spice trading port. It has beautiful buildings and a mix of cultures, the town itself isn’t that big and so we hopped in a rickshaw to do the sights. Morgan opted for the pink Frozen theme!! and Warren got some lovely purple themed chariot. Great way to see the city.
After a week in PD we left for Pangkor where we met Lochie and Zoe and their 2 small children. They were working on a total refit of a French aluminium boat that they had salvaged from the Seychelles and doing a lovely job. Huge boat which they intend to do charter, expedition work in, Lochie being an experienced sea captain and Zoe a marine biologist. Morg spent a couple of days playing with the kids which was great.
This wasn’t out favourite place though, very hot and after 2 lovely resort marinas probably a bit basic. The Straits of Malacca doesn’t offer great anchorages, no great beaches or swimming places as the water is a murky brown, so most of the boats tend to use the marinas available.
We then did an overnight sail to Rebak, another marina located on a small island off the larger island of Langkawi. Again a resort with all the amenities.
Morg at the pool at Langkawi with friend Millie and Laura.
View from the end of my feet
A few other cruising friends were there and some children, so Morgan spent every afternoon in the pool with the kids while the adults sat round the pool bar chatting and drinking Mojito’s, sure have a hard life!! There is quite a semi-permanent set of cruisers at Rebak, boats that arrive and don’t leave for a long time, lured by the resort, easy officialdom and duty free. Everyone stocks up on booze here as it’s easy to get and doesn’ t cost the earth. It does tend to feel like a bit of a retirement village at times, albeit a pretty swanky one.
Warren went home for a couple of weeks and Morg and I got into our routine of school in the morning, poolside in the afternoon. Friday mornings we would get the free runner ferry to Langkawi where an enterprising Malay set up a mobile produce van, lovely fresh veges, meat, cheeses, milk –all the goods ready available at home but which have become a bit of a luxury item for us over the past few months as very hard to come by in Indonesia. Morg got his first paid employment here. Doing odd jobs for the couple on the boat next door-Bobby and Kimmy. He would often disappear there for a few hours ‘helping out’ and earned some pocket money.