Penang and packing

We left Port Dickson and headed up the coast to Pangkor where we spent a couple of days recovering from yet another horrible cough which Ken had contracted and passed onto me. Janet and Jeffrey on Pegasus were on the hard and we were able to have a final farewell to them. We first met them in the Galapagos and have sailed with them on and off since. We then made our way to Penang and arrived at Straits Quay Marina where we were booked to stay for 10 days. We would pack and ship our personal belongings from the boat to Vancouver hopefully coordinating with our arrival in May. We had got a very favorable quote from Pioneer Shipping Company, if they deliver in the same manner that they have responded to my questions so far we will be happy. We will have them stored in Malaysia as the rate at $33 a month is only a fraction of the cost of storing in Canada. John, the manager at Straits Quay was amazing—he had a locked storage area available to us as we packed the boxes. He also gave us the use of his great workers to help us get the boxes there from the boat. It wasn’t until we started packing that we realized how difficult it would have been otherwise. The marina is another “showcase marina” for the apartment complex and surrounding shops and restaurants. This allowed us access to a wide variety of restaurants and the rooftop pool at the end of each day. An amazing bakery made fresh whole meal bread daily and a lot of other tempting goodies. We have been trying to eat our way through our food but with a major packing project ahead it seemed that we deserved to eat out. When we arrived 25 large boxes had been delivered for us and we started the onerous task of starting to pack. The first couple of days were not difficult as we just loaded up as we scanned each room. We had to list and photograph the items as Canada Customs requires us to prove that we are shipping our own personal effects. We can come in as returning residents which allows us to avoid duty. Many of our things we had had on the boat since leaving Canada anyway—our folding bikes and most of Ken’s tools.—can’t imagine going to all of this trouble to ship something which wasn’t ours!! We quickly packed up 5 or 6 boxes each day and were amazed at how much we had on board—it is pretty obvious that after 7 years living on the boat that the common rule pervades—the larger the space the more you will carry!!! When we started to go through the huge hatches which we access from outside in the front of each amah we discovered things we had had stored away for 7 years and not used. Why had we carried this “stuff” for so many years???!!!! As we took each box off the boat started rising from the depths of the ocean!!—perhaps we really did have a “performance cat” as opposed to the “station wagon cat” which we had always believed we had. Perhaps all boat owners who have a bigger boat should have to totally offload everything every couple of years and then only put back what they have used and needed during that time! Finally after 5 days of heavy packing, most things were packed. We now had the 25 boxes fully packed and added a generator, bought in the Galapagos when our big one was giving issues—it is 110V so we are unable to sell it here, Ken’s tool box, various paddles and fishing rods. We had packed up some special oils, vinegars and sauces which we had either been given or I had bought into large plastic boxes to separate them from the rest of our shipment. Although all of these would not compromise our quarantine requirements if they needed to be inspected I wanted them easily identified. I had carefully photographed these hoping to avoid someone wanting to unpack everything—hopefully we will get a sympathetic customs agent—is there such a thing?—time will tell!! As the packing came under control I took a couple of days and went into Penang—this is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is yet another World Heritage City and much has been preserved. It, as is the rest of Malaysia is a truly multicultural city. The music and colour of “Bollywood” is the focus of “Little India”. As you walk past the spice shops and restaurants the smell of curries add to the mix. Chinatown of course provides the ornate decorations and the smoke of burning incense emanates from the temples. I watched as one man who had a huge cage of sparrows sold two small cages each containing two birds to 2 small boys who then proceeded to “let the sparrows go”. No doubt the sparrows knew the way back to the food source and could be caught yet again and sold to more small boys!!!—the ingenuity of the Asians always amazes!! Many small businesses which sell everything from screws to huge Buddhas are run by the Chinese. They also fix anything—from watches, to motors of any kind and everything else you can imagine. The Muslim Mosques add to the mix with regular chanting from the Koran. Many local people still ride bicycles and peddle rickshaws are used to transport tourists. I love walking around and followed the map which they have produced to discover the “wall art” which has been done. This is a mix of real items—bike or motor cycle—with riders painted on the wall to go with them. There are also original locations of historic importance where the explanation of the history is written on the walls. Adam and Kay flew in as they will join us on our trip to Langkawi to learn more of the quirks of Cop Out. They had booked a hotel for which we were grateful when we found how much chaos we would be living with until the shippers came and picked everything up the morning we were to leave for Langkawi. We had a couple of enjoyable evenings with them and our feelings of having them be the rightful new owners of Cop Out were confirmed. John and Paula, our very good friends on Mr John managed to make it in from Port Dickson to spend some time with us. It was lovely to see them. We met them in Rarotonga and have spent a lot of time with them over the years and kept in close touch. They will come up to Langkawi to spend more time with us before we must all part. Finally we were ready and the shippers came in and picked everything up. We had 32 items picked up each of which must have weighed 40-50lb. There was 7 cubic metres of volume, for those of you have the spacial ability to imagine—for those of you who can’t imagine it trust me that is a lot!!! We were impressed yet again as they were on time and packed the truck efficiently—it is always a little surprising in Malaysia if this all works as although the people are wonderful they are not known for efficiency and punctuality—the usual response to problems is that things are “finish”, “no have” or “no can do”. This company on the other hand seems to be able to “can do”!!!! We set off for the 2 days to Langkawi hoping for a good sail. Sadly as has been often the case on this coast the sail did not eventuate. We did manage to easily motor at 1knot faster than we had been doing for years and if Adam and Kay resist filling the boat up they will be able to travel faster than we ever did. We arrived in Telaga harbor to anchor for the night and were planning on going into one of the restaurants for dinner. We dropped in to visit Carmen and Robert from Caminata—French Canadians who had been on Sail Indonesia with us. We were all planning on going in together when the skies opened and a typical tropical downpour came down. After waiting a while we decided to abandon the effort and went back to the boat to open yet more cans. In the morning we went ashore and checked in with customs and introduced Adam and Kay to our favorite bakery there—one last almond croissant was left—guess who quickly grabbed that up! We now set off for Rebak and in the very gentle winds showed Adam and Kay how to put the spinnaker up—it went up perfectly so hopefully they will persevere and use it when the time is right—we did have to confess that it isn’t always that easy. We pulled into Rebak Marina where we would spend the next 4 days cleaning the boat—we had not had time since we packed and everything needs a major cleaning—it is raining regularly now and the mold seems to grow as you watch. We will then move into a room at the resort and they will move onto the boat and have it hauled. They will clean and redo the antifoul and have a survey done. Their insurance company requires them to do this although the four of us are convinced that nothing of consequence will be found we will wait to make sure everyone is happy before leaving.