Finally Escaped from Pangkor Marina

A few days ago, after 2 weeks of fairly frantic activity--completing boat projects, provisioning, getting cat annual visits, moving out of the condo, etc etc, we finally left Pangkor Marina.

Finally Underway!
It was bittersweet. While we are REALLY excited about getting out cruising again, we will really miss everyone, both staff and cruisers, at Pangkor Marina. The Pangkor staff is just fantastic. Led by James Khoo, but supported by Akina, Ruz, Adam, (and several others) in the office, and Shah, Fifi, Fikri, Akmal, (and several others) in the marina and yard, we couldn't have had a better place to spend a year. Yes, A YEAR!

James' monthly (and sometimes more often) BBQ's, where beer, soft drinks, and grilled meat are provided free by the marina, is just one of the thoughtful things that give the marina a very nice community feel. The amenities like a pretty well-stocked marine store (and help sourcing parts they don't stock, from anywhere in SE Asia), free wifi in the air conditioned "library", inexpensive housing across the street from the marina, rental cars by the hour, and a lively Whatsapp group, the marina feels like home.

We did, in all fairness, do two 2 1/2 months visits to the USA, 22 days in Vietnam/Laos, and a long weekend in Cameron Highlands. We got LOTS done that needed doing--most significant being stripping 8 years of bottom paint and getting a new "good for 4 years" bottom job.

Other things that I can think of off the top of my head that we accomplished... 2 new alternators, new start battery, many small electrical upgrades, rebalanced our LifePO4 batteries, major saildrive maintenance, new propane hoses, new awnings, sail maintenance, liferaft tested and repacked, fire extinguishers serviced, new electric outboard (ePropulsion), new B&G digital radar, new Nav Computer, new flooring in the main cabin (faux teak), boat polishing, rudders straightened (again). We also purchased and learned how to use a Starlink internet terminal, so now we will have real internet when we go offshore.

After agonizing over what kind of bottom paint to use (Chugoku, Jotun, International, CopperCoat), we settled on a new formulation offered by International Marine... International AP. It is an ablative paint formulated for high fouling areas and for slower boats that tend to sit in one place for weeks at a time (ie cruising sailboats). International says we should get 4 years out of it. James arranged for a professional team from International Marine in Singapore to come to Pangkor to apply it, and teach the Pangkor crew how to do it next time. Because we are a test boat, we've agreed to send back periodic updates on how it is doing--they wanted to make sure the paint was applied per International specs.
Beautiful International AP Bottom Paint!
We purchased but have not installed yet, new catamaran nets from MultihullNets (aka Sunrise Yacht Products in St. Pete, FL). Pictured in this link are the nets that came installed on our boat when we bought it. But we have now upgraded to full "offshore" nets, with a strong open weave, more suitable to surviving the open ocean. Pics of those once installed (soon!)

Sherry had fun hanging out with the ladies--morning walks and "water dancing" in the pool for exercise. Dave had fun exchanging technical information with all the guys in the marina. We each took the time to give at least one "class" in the marina "library" to share some of our knowledge and experiences. Sherry on OpenCPN, Dave on LifePO4 batteries. (These presentations can be found at https://svsoggypaws.com/presentations.htm).

We enjoyed having a car for most of the time. One downside of Pangkor is its distance from the main part of town, with, astonishingly, no regular bus system. Grab (the "Uber" of SE Asia) cars are scarce at peak times from the marina. The marina will rent a "beater" for a cheap price by the hour, so you aren't completely stuck. But we opted to rent a car by the month. A nearly new air conditioned small car is only about $250/mo.

The weather since we left 5 days ago has been stinky... low overcast and drizzly with wind out of the north (on our nose, of course). Yesterday it finally cleared up, and we had the tide with us, for once. We were making 8 knots under sail (and current) for 4-5 hours.

We are now in Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia, getting ready to check out for Thailand. We made a quick stop in Penang to try to get Thai Visas, but the timing didn't work out. We are on a schedule to get checked into Phuket Thailand before Christmas, because some of our friends from last years' rally have organized a big Christmas Day lunch that we want to attend. So waiting over the weekend in Penang wouldn't have worked. We did spend half a day sightseeing (taking the local 50-cent bus into town). Could easily have spent several weeks in Penang exploring.

Likewise, we will only stay a day in Langkawi. Another place worthy of a month or two to explore and savor. But, alas, "You can't see everything."

Our Trip to Laos and Vietnam

August 15 - September 6, 2023

Just about the time we were finishing boat work in the yard in Pangkor Marina, Malaysia, we realized our 60-day tourist visa was running out. The plan HAD been to cruise in Soggy Paws up to Thailand, spend a few weeks, and cruise back to the marina to put the boat up for a couple of months' trip back to the USA. But as projects dragged out, the time we would have to spend in Thailand got smaller and smaller. We eventually decided to skip Thailand for now and fly to Vietnam instead.

We didn't spend a lot of time planning this trip. At first, we looked at a "G-Adventures" 10-day tour. I had done a G-Adventures tour to India with my daughter Nicki a few years back--it was fun, well organized, and not too expensive. Best: I didn't have to do any planning! But after letting Dave browse through a Lonely Planet, he decided that a tour like that would skip too much. So we expanded our timeline from 12 days to 23 days and started laying out a rough plan. "It will be easy," he said. "We'll plan and book the first few days, and then wing it from there."

We looked at what the G-Adventures tour offered, and gathered up all the cruiser-generated info we could find (mainly trip reports from friends). (Our resulting "Compendium" of Vietnam travel information is linked as a PDF at the bottom of our Vietnam/Laos Travel Page).

One of the first things we did was decide to include a quick stop in Laos, just to see a little of that country, and add another country to our "countries visited" list. (This is after we read the Laos trip report from our friends on s/v Ocelot.)

Though it IS possible to get to Vietnam from Malaysia without flying (friends have done it overland and down the Mekong River), we were short on time, so several major hops were done by airplane. It turns out that Vietnam is quite a LONG country. We ended up also scheduling a few jumps on overnight trains. And buses and "Limo-vans" filled in the rest of the transportation.

Here is the overview of the trip:

- Bus from Pangkor to Kuala Lumpur Airport
- Air Asia flight (thru Bangkok) to Luang Prabang, Laos
- A few days in Laos
- Laos Airlines flight to Hanoi
- 3 days in Hanoi and surrounding areas
- Sapa (mountains to NW of Hanoi)
- Halong Bay (cruise destination east of Hanoi)
- Start working our way south through the central area
- Stops at a couple of national parks
- DMZ, Hue, Danang, and Hoi An
- Fly to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City and spend a few days there
- Fly back thru Singapore to Ipoh (a 2 hour drive from Pangkor)

Our day-by-day schedule and some tips and links to where we stayed are included on our Vietnam and Laos Travel Page. We couldn't have done nearly as much without the help of Tung at Hanoi Old Quarter Travel

When I get time I hope to add some more pictures here.

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

(sorry, I've wanted to catch up by back-posting blogs from our trip through Indonesia from last year, but just haven't gotten to it).

We've been talking about wanting to go see the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia for awhile. But boat work just seemed to be taking up all our time. Dave finally figured out a way to work in a trip. He found out from another cruiser that there was a place in Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia) that does hydrostatic testing on dive tanks really cheaply. And, in testing our ham radio, he found low power output, and there's a guy someone knows that repairs ham radios, also in KL.

So, he decided we just HAD to go to KL and take our stuff there, and while we were waiting for the stuff to be finished, we could take a short side-trip to Cameron Highlands. When he decided that, he hadn't looked at a map--he thought KL would be a shortcut to the highlands. But (see the map), Cameron Highlands is not very far inland from where we are at Pangkor Marina. Google says we can drive there in 3 1/2 hours (on a weekday). But going via Kuala Lumpur extended the trip to 7 hours!
The "Short Cut" to Cameron Highlands via Kuala Lumpur
So we decided to stay overnight. I found a great deal at a Hilton Garden Hotel near our first stop on Monday morning (SK Cryogenics, the hydro test people) for only $50 per night. With a car, in a big city, "free parking" is one of the first amenities you check when booking a place. This was a nice hotel with a buffet breakfast (extra cost), a VERY comfy bed, and a decent view of the city. Highly recommend the Hilton Garden Inn Pahong if you're spending a night in that part of the city.
Our Room at the Hilton Garden Inn Bed Decorations!
One thing we didn't realize before we took off was that the roads in Malaysia are pretty darned 1st world, which also includes tolls. But they don't have the ticket system that they have in the USA, and of course, having never been out of the immediate area of the marina, no electronic toll device. And there's no "toss some coins at the machine" booths either. You have to go through the truck lane, and the person in the booth looks at you like you have 2 heads. "You don't have a Touch n Go card?" And of course the cars behind you are backing up while the toll person writes out a receipt... After doing that a few times on our way into KL, we vowed to get our own Touch n Go card. One of the ladies in a toll booth said "get them at any gas station or 7-11". Someone else told us, "get them at the toll booth admin building" (just after most toll booths). Well, we stopped everywhere, and everyone has "top up" (add credit to a card you have). Nobody is selling the cards.
First World Driving!
The guy at SK Cryogenics, when we dropped off the tanks, took pity on us and loaned us his spare card. We vowed to find our own card and return his when we came back to pick up the tanks in a few days. We probably stopped at 10 places before we gave up. No one is selling the cards (but you can buy them online), not even the toll booth admin buildings.
SK Cryogenics - Bauer Dealer and Tank Hydro
I knew we were in trouble as we started out of KL after dropping off both the tanks and the radios (of course, on the other end of the big city). I zoomed in on the route and saw that though the first 3/4 of the trip was all freeway, the last 1/4 was very a winding mountain road. It's only 60 km, that last bit, but it took us over 2 hours of fairly stressful driving.
The Wiggly Road to Cameron Highlands A Quick Stop at a Waterfall on the Way Local Handicrafts at the Waterfall
We finally arrived in Cameron Highlands around 5pm. Fortunately we had no trouble getting into our (privately-owned AirBNB-type) room that we had booked on Agoda. It was mostly as described and OK for a couple of nights. The price was right and the location was pretty good--near town but not IN town. However, after staying there for a couple of days, we wouldn't recommend it. Though that apartment was decent, the condo building it's in (Barrington Square) is not being maintained, the stairways are full of trash, and the last night in a different unit in the same condo (because we wanted to extend and had to move to a different one), we killed about 20 roaches (mostly new hatchlings). Also if you came by bus and didn't have a car, it's a bit far into town for walking.

We spent 3 full days there. We booked one half-day tour to see the highlights of the tea farms, the butterfly sanctuary, etc. And we did some exploring on our own the other 2 days.

Cameron Highlands is a popular weekend spot for Malaysians, and we had been specifically warned to visit mid-week vs on the weekend. But it was still very busy and the traffic on the 2-lane road was pretty solid all the time. I can't imagine what it's like on summer weekends when the kids are out of school.

There is some historic value in the Highlands, as the Brits in the 1800's who could afford to, would retire to the Highlands during the hot months. It is definitely more pleasant in the Highlands during the summar. We enjoyed visiting the museum showing some of that history. We did enjoy a couple of walks in the forests, one with the tour and one on our own. But it was sort of a "meh" experience for us.
Historical Stuff at the Museum
We did discover "hot pot" (also called "steamboat" there at Casa Osiana. This is where they put a cooker on your table, with a pot with 2 compartments, and some broth, and several plates of meats and raw vergetables. And you cook your food yourself right on the table. We requested a Thai Tom Yam base without any spice, and it was really delicious. The nice restaurant was empty except for us.
Nice Restaurant-Casa Osiana Our Hotpot Before Cooking Look at all that Seafood!
On our last night, we had dinner at The Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant. That was also very good. And I'd recommend either of these places as a place to stay in a historic location. There are a ton of hotels and eateries in Tana Rata town proper.
The Old Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant A Properly British Garden for Afternoon Tea And a Cozy Place for Cool Nights in the Highlands
The most recommended tour company (in an older Lonely Planet as well as online) apparently went bust during the Covid Pandemic. We walked to the location that was listed for it and nothing was there but a hotel. But that hotel booked us the tour we were looking for from a different operator. They all seem to go to the same places.
The Tour Company We Used
Sights from our Tour Below
A Short Hike to the Famed Mossy Forest Butterfly Farm Butterfly Farm Butterfly Farm More than Just Butterflies at the Butterfly Farm! And we Visit a Strawberry Farm Strawberry Farm U-Pick Strawberries
And of course, no visit to Cameron Highlands would be complete without a visit to a Tea Plantation.
Acres and Acres (Hectares) of Tea Acres and Acres (Hectares) of Tea Acres and Acres (Hectares) of Tea Acres and Acres (Hectares) of Tea Harvesting the Tea Tea Tour and Tea Tasting Final Stop on the Tour - A Hindu Temple
And we did do a little hiking and exploring on our own... We captured the hiking map on our cell phone A Sunset Drive and Short Hike to See the Far Valley Robinson Falls - A Nice Easy Hike

Messing Around in Raja Ampat

We made it to Raja Ampat, our 4th visit here since 2016.

After 3 weeks in the boonies, the first order of business was getting re-stocked with food and fuel. So we decided to pull into the marina.

Early March: A Few Days at Tampa Garam:  We opted to go into Wick's Tampa Garam "Marina" on Feb 28.  We had been in there on our trip back from Papua New Guinea in 2019, and so knew what to expect.  This marina had been built as part of a resort complex that was no longer operating.

The Narrow Entrance to Tampa Garam Marina, Sorong
There are a few permanently based boats in the marina basin, but not much in the way of a real marina.  An ex-pat Australian named Wick (Warwick Alliston) who has 5 or 6 businesses in Sorong (the primary city in Raja Ampat) leased the space to accommodate visiting yachts.

The entry is narrow and has a half-sunk ferry and a controlling depth of about 10 feet at high tide.  But Screensaver, with a 2.1m draft, got in with no issues at half tide. Contact Wick by Whatsapp, and he will arrange for someone to guide you in.  Ourselves, with a 1.1m draft, and having been in before, we went in on our own.

Wick's Contact Information

In addition to managing 2 marinas, Wick also does a lot preventive maintenance for the huge diving industry in Raja Ampat. Tanks, compressors, etc. Plus he knows every tradesman in Sorong, so can be a great source of who to go to if you have a boat problem.

All Settled, Mediterranean Style, in the Marina
We were surprised to see a big motor yacht in at the marina. It turned out to be a guy I had been chatting with on FB Messenger--exchanging information on anchorages, etc. in Raja Ampat. He was appreciative of the extensive information we post on our website, and so invited all the cruisers (all 3 boats) aboard his beautiful yacht for dinner. Very nice guy, great staff, great dinner. They were on their way from the Philippines to take the boat home to Australia. We enjoyed hanging out with them for a few days.

An Evening Aboard the Yacht

There are no piers in the marina, just a nasty concrete wall with some tie-points.  So you have to med-moor... drop your anchor in the middle of the basin and gently ease backwards and toss your lines to someone on shore.  With our twin engines (and a dinghy or two standing by) it was no big deal.

The tide is about 6 ft in range, and the wall you are tying to is pretty broken, so everyone stands off a good 6-10 feet, and uses the dinghy to go ashore.  We didn't like tying our rubber dinghy to the nasty wall, so usually left it at the head of the basin on a small dock (careful not to obstruct others' use of the dock).

We arrived on a holiday weekend and the pool associated with the resort (which, unlike the resort, is open) was jam packed. We went one time, but never went back.

The Nice Pool at Tampa Garam

This marina isn't very convenient to the main part of Sorong--the route minibuses don't come all the way out to the marina.  The only solution is to take an Ojek--a motorcycle--to where the route minibuses turn around.  Or get Wick to arrange a taxi.  Air conditioned taxi rate about US $10 per hour.

We organized a trip via taxi to drop me at the grocery store, and Dave take the diesel jugs to the gas station, and then pick me back up at the grocery store.

Jugging Diesel...Car to Dinghy to Foredeck!
Cats Supervising, of course

Cat food is scarce out here. Especially cat food the cats will actually eat. All during our cruise thru the Philippines last year I was trying them on different varieties of canned cat food, and they absolutely refused to eat it, no matter what the flavor. So, I kept doing what I had been doing--buying small "Tongkol" (very close relation to Little Tunny in the Atlantic) at the fish market, cooking them, and cleaning them. Here I am having fun again cleaning Tongkol. The cats, of course, are making sure Mom is doing it right.

Sherry Making Cat Food

Diving in Raja Ampat: Since we had to come back to Sorong to renew our visas in a couple of weeks, we didn't spend too much time in the marina. We soon blasted off to go diving with Biodiversity Eco Resort We did a bunch of diving with them in 2016, during their off season. Now, with barely any tourists in Indonesia, they weren't really fully open, but said they could accommodate a few diving days, and we were trying to negotiate a good deal for all of us to dive.

The Gorgeous Beach at Biodiversity

The whole dive negotiation got a little messy, though. Rather than diving as a group together, Yanina off Screensaver declared that she wanted her very own dive guide--to stay with her, at her side, the whole dive. She had had a couple of scares while diving recently, but desperately wanted to see what everyone was raving about under the surface in Raja Ampat, but she was also scared. Dave, on the other hand, wanted a guide that would range around and find critters for him to take pictures of. And Biodiversity only had one guide at that time. So we ended up splitting into 2 groups, diving separately, and couldn't negotiate much of a deal on price. So we didn't dive as much as we wanted to. But we did get a few dive days in.

Lounging on the beach during a Surface Interval
Legendary Cape Kris in the Background

Kabui Bay For A Few Days: After we finished diving, we left Screensaver at Biodiversity and went up into Kabui Bay. We had gunk-holed a spot in the dinghy in 2016 that Dave really wanted to take Soggy Paws into...a very shallow sand spot unsuitable for monohulls. 00°25.05'S / 130°36.86'E

Our Very Private Anchorage

A River Trip: Another adventure we had in Kabui Bay is a dinghy trip up a river on the north side of Kabui Bay. We anchored the big boat off the river at 00°19.31' S / 130°35.75' E in about 8 feet of water (shallows slowly, pick your depth). Took the dinghy as far as we could go up the river... about 2-3 miles.

Headed into the River

Marking the Very End on the GPS

Stay Tuned for Part 2 of our Raja Ampat Adventures!