sv evi

We cleared into Malaysia on October 1st. It’s now November 2nd, and we are in Langkawi, a duty-free island just south of the border to Thailand. We are in our fourth marina in a month! In our 8 months in Indonesia we only stayed at 2 marinas (one of which was free). Part of the reason for this is that many anchorages in the Malacca Strait are unprotected to the west, where the infamous Sumatra winds come from. The Sumatras are short-lived winds that can reach 60 mph, and they often occur at night. The main season for the Sumatras is June-September, but several friends experienced them in October as well. The Malacca Strait is one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, which makes it challenging to navigate at night. We mostly did long day sails through the Strait, often leaving at 5 am to make 65 or 70 miles. The water in the Strait is cloudy, polluted, and not so nice for swimming.

At first when we got to Malaysia, I wanted to go back to Indonesia…I missed the friendliness of the people, the clear water for snorkeling, and the affordable food. Then Riki said that you can’t compare the two countries — they are so different, like apples and oranges. That helped. 🙂

We checked in to Pinetree Marina in Puteri Harbor, just across the river from Singapore. There was a naughty monkey there who stole food out of people’s cockpits and boats.

We reunited with Teresa, Dag, and Vetle on SV Escape in Pinetree Marina. We had first met them in Port Vila in July 2024. We have been buddy boating with them throughout Malaysia — our kids love playing with Vetle.

We spent 12 nights at the marina in Penang. We had such a fabulous time there. I could walk less than a block to get this fancy coffee.

There was a grocery store a block away, so I could just walk there and pick up ingredients for dinner, instead of planning meals and buying provisions in 10 day chunks of time.

It was easy to take the bus into downtown Georgetown.

The kids and I visited Tech Dome Penang twice — it was a fantastic hands-on science museum.

I woke the kids up at 5:30 am one morning so we could do a hike to Penang Hill before it got too hot. We started hiking in the dark…here they are on a rest break.

Malaysian food is incredible! In Penang there are five cultures that have created such a variety of delicious food: Chinese, Indian, Malay, British, and Baba Nonya (Chinese/Malay mix). One of my favorite food experiences were going to these outdoor food centers surrounded by tons of little stalls selling Japanese food, Vietnamese food, Western food (pizza, pasta, burgers), Thai food, and a wide variety of Malaysian food. You choose a table, note the number, then walk around and order your food. The sellers bring it to your table. They have beer and fresh juices. Everything is super cheap and delicious!

Georgetown is the main city on the island of Penang. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site with tons of different temples and mosques throughout the city. It is famous for its street art.There are tons (50?) of these wire sculptures around the city that often relate bits of history.

Another of my favorite food experiences in Penang was trying out a thali daun pisang — a thali served on a banana leaf. This food originated in South India. Teresa, Dag, and I went with all the kids, while Riki stayed home to clean the bilge. Poor Riki.

We sat down, and they spread the banana leaves in front of us. Then they added a type of raita, yogurt with red onion, cucumber, and carrot to our leaves, a bowl of rice, a papadum, and a curry. Next they came around with a huge silver platter with tons of little dishes on it — you could point and choose what you wanted. Then they had curry sauces you could add on top. I was in heaven! It was delicious.

Riki took the kids to Escape Penang, a waterslide and zip-lining adventure park one day. I had that day to explore Georgetown on my own…it was such a treat. I checked out a lot of the street art, went to a Peranakan (Chinese/Malay mix) Mansion museum, and did a little shopping. The street art was amazing!! Here are some pics from Georgetown.

While in Penang we all got dental check-ups and cleanings. Poor Jade had 6 cavities! She was very brave when getting them filled. It was so easy and affordable to get good dental care — a definite plus for Malaysia. Riki got a physical, where they did blood work, took a urine sample, did an EKG, and did an ultrasound of his internal organs. All of Riki’s medical work cost $22, and the doctor said everything looks good!

One advantage of spending so much time in marinas is that we have gotten in a good home-schooling groove. Jade made gnocchi as part of her language arts lesson — she is learning about Italy. It came out delicious! Later, she and Luz made a triple batch.

We celebrated Vetle’s 11th birthday at a waterpark on October 30th. It had some seriously scary slides!! We were there from opening to closing.

And…we celebrated Halloween here in Langkawi.

Halloween was a good occasion to break out these ole’ lightsuits. 🙂 They still work!