Malaysia, cheap, cheap, cheap!

How does one leave somewhere dramatically? By storming off or flouncing out or exploding I suppose. If so, then we have certainly not left anywhere in such a manner, thank goodness?! Our attempted departure from Klang last week was quite the opposite in fact. The engine refused to start at all so we couldn’t go anywhere! Angel who were leaving at the same time as us, to make the overnight passage to Pangkor, were extremely kind and agreed to delay their departure to wait for Moonshiner to be fixed. This eventually took three days and a very dedicated Malaysian engineer/mechanic (I don’t even know his name) who eventually worked until 1am in the horrid conditions down in the engine well to get the thing sorted out. It was the exhaust gasket on the manifold this time but I think this has been a problem building for some time. See? I am learning a fair bit about diesel engines

At least virtually everything is cheap in Malaysia so being stuck for a few extra days wasn’t expensive (eating out every meal is as cheap as buying and cooking the stuff….hoorah!) but the river Klang is just so dirty and smelly, we were very relieved to leave in the end.
The overnighter to Pangkor was punctuated as usual by umpteen small fishing boats and nets and a short lived but nasty squall accompanied by torrential rain and lightning, so we arrived fairly refreshed into this very new (for this, read unfinished) marina complex at Pangkor. And it has turned out to be an as yet undiscovered gem for yachts and yachties. The man “in charge” is a charming Chinese Christian Malaysian called James Khoo who has helped us enormously with all our needs varying from taxi driving to hauling Angel out of the water for minor repairs to supplying rat poison. (There is a bit of a rodent problem in Malaysia!)
The whole area is being built on reclaimed land and will eventually contain hotels, accommodation blocks, shopping malls, conference centre etc. You know the sort of thing. The marina part of it is of minor consequence and will merely provide an interesting view for the residents and visitors…...but we don’t mind this at all. We (I) really like it here! I bought a hat (Katharine’s wedding!), shoes, a dress, a large bag, 2 teeshirts, 2 tops and a purse for under £22. Unbeatable!

Angel is currently out of the water for her minor repairs which will I’m sure be very competently done and we have been staying on with her for a few extra days to enjoy the facilities a little longer.
The plan is to leave tomorrow morning (Saturday I think….time doesn’t matter out here at the moment) and head northish for Langkawi where one can buy duty free drink (fairly necessary with Christmas coming) and clear the boat out through customs etc so that we can carry on up the coast to Thailand from where the next post will probably be sent. We will be accompanied, along with Angel by a very nice Dutch built boat, Jaden now owned by an Aussie, Ian and his wife, Jam (Thai, no idea how you spell it!). The more eyes we have out there in the dark to spot the dreaded fishing nets etc, the better!