To Rally or Not to Rally…Sail 2 Indonesia, Sail Malaysia, Sail Thailand…a South East Asia recap.

Ok here it goes..for our friends who are following similar paths to SE Asia….here is a “not so quick” and dirty recap of each rally and an overall discussion about the cruising area. We would be happy to provide waypoints, more details on anchorages, etc…I am sure I will forget something so don’t hesitate to reach out for…..just get in touch with us : )

FIRST…PREPARATION FOR CRUISING SE ASIA BEFORE THE RALLIES BEGAN

This is not at all an extensive list but this is what we did for our preparation to head to Indonesia and beyond.

Tourist Visa – We were headed to New Caledonia before the Sail 2 Indonesia rally commenced in Cairns, Australia so it made sense for us to obtain our tourist visa at the Indonesian consulate in New Caledonia, rather than send out our passports from another country to Sydney, Australia (we needed our passports to get into Australia) like some of the other fleet participants who were already in Australia. Once you apply you need to enter Indonesia with in 90 days of application….so you can’t do this too far in advance. Please note that if you plan to stay in Indonesia beyond your 60 day tourist visa (the rally takes just about 100 days), you will need to extend your visa. Some of our fleet members chose to renew before the official rally collected passport at a scheduled rally stop in Lombok because it was cheaper. However, they only could extend for another 30 days which made it tight to exit the country at the rate of the rally schedule. We opted, out of convenience, to extend with the official rally and the “special rally price” of 1.6M Rupiah…but this gave us 60 more days… just a heads up….the cost of extensions caught lots of people on the rally off guard…us included. See our blog post with all the info on how to obtain your tourist visa from New Caledonia:

Indonesian 3 month social visa obtained at Noumea New Caledonia for the Sail 2 Indonesia Rally 2018

When we arrived in Cairns, Australia we went straight to work on the boat and to provision heavily for 2 weeks. Thing to think about and not in order of priority (hahaha):

• Learn a few words in Bahasa (also good in Malaysia)- Though Each village has their own dialect, Indonesians know Bahasa, the national language. Learning numbers 1-10, hundred, thousand, thank you, your welcome, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, how much?, sorry/excuse me,…it would be of much assistance to you. Additionally, download Google translate offline. It helped us when we went shopping for specific things and to hold entire conversations when we had Rahman aboard Slow Flight from Lombok to Bali. It’s not perfect but at least I could show them my phone and we would move closer to an understanding. Finally, they really do respond well to you trying to speak/communicate in their language. Malaysian national language is incredibly similar to Indonesian Bahasa, with only a few different words. The Thai language is a tonal one and gender specific…very difficult to read and speak. I think we only learned “thank you” in Thai.
• Wine – there is no wine in Indonesia, very little in Malaysia (except in Langkawi, a duty free island) and if so quite expensive. We did find a decent wine inventory in the “posh” western store in Phuket, Thailand…but also expensive.
• Liquor – Local Arak (rice or grain liquor) you can get when you make friends with the locals. However, your special scotch or bourbon…really any branded liquor you will have to wait until Bali or Malaysia or Thailand.
• Beer – Most easiest alcohol to find in Indonesia but I must remind you, Indonesians are primarily Muslim and you will reach an island or town that is a “dry” town. During the rally you will be visiting towns on islands where some of the locals have never seen a cruising boat, there may be beer offered in places that usually don’t serve alcohol but has been organized by the local governments. So please keep in mind, and I would highly recommend assuming, that the town you are visiting generally does not sell alcohol (expectation for Bali and when you get closer to Singapore/Malaysia) so buy when you can. We were in Kumai, an industrial town and we though for sure we could buy beer there…NOPE…even a 30-45 minute scooter ride to the larger town, no such luck.
• Cheese – there is none!!! Until you get to Bali, Langkawi, or Phuket.
• Coffee – The only coffee we have seen (expect for Starbucks) is Nescafe…basically instant coffee. Coming from Seattle, we made sure to stock up before heading out. We are currently in Sri Lanka…still Nescafe! Also, as of writing this, I can’t remember seeing UTH milk in the villages stores. Mostly powdered milk.
• Meats – We knew we were headed to a country where Muslim practices are adhered to. So we were unsure about the availability of pork. So we made sure to stock up on as much meats (in general) before we left Cairns….we were happy we did. In Malaysia and Thailand, meats were readily available.
• Sponges – Silly I know but the sponges are not “absorptive”….the sponge part is more like a foam and does not catch/hold water very well. We did stock up and were happy we did…actually gave some away to fellow cruisers.
• Laundry soap – If you have sensitive skin (like my husband) the laundry soap seems to be “perfumed”. We often provided the ladies soap…but you won’t get any back ; )
• Vaccinations/prescriptions – We started our vaccinations in New Zealand but had to finish some inoculation in Cairns, Australia at a travel clinic. Be aware that some vaccination are 2-3 doses so plan ahead. We have been able to get Trevor’s inhaler ALMOST everywhere but it has been a headache to do so. I would advise get as much as you can. With that said, the prices in SE Asia for prescriptions has proven cheap and 1 emergency room visit for Trevor (fish hook removal) only cost us $25 usd.
• Malaria – We opted out of the “preventative” medications both because the side effects sounded horrible (can’t be in the sun?!) and cost prohibited…however, we bought a 2 week supply just in case we started to see symptoms. We had a long discussion with a doctor and pharmacists and they both agreed that the local clinics and hospitals know how to deal with malaria (as it has been present there) better than NZ or Australia.
• LPG gas bottles – We don’t have propane on our boat (crazy right?!) but many do. The only place we know of to refill Australian bottles is in Medana Bay Marina on Lombok. Unless you purchase your own transfer device from Australia but I have no idea what that is…LPG is easy to find…but hard to refill your bottles. Malaysia seems to have more places to refill…though we heard one boat couldn’t “top up” a bottle in Pangkor marina because it wasn’t all the way empty. Thailand seemed to be no problem.
• Fuel- In Indonesia, diesel is regulated and subsidized for locals (cheaper for you)….this means you can’t just go to a gas station and fill your”yellow” jerry cans at the same price. So the locals offer to buy it for you, generally in their cans though sometimes not, and you bring their cans to your boat by dinghy. There are 2 marinas on Lombok island and a few on Batam Island near Singapore – Nongsa Point marina is one, but other than that, we didn’t see a marina until Malaysia hence no fuel docks. Most/all of the fuel in Indonesia is bio-diesel. We always put an enzyme fuel additive each time we fill up. We filled in Debut, Lovina-Bali, Kumai-Kalimantan, and then at a fuel dock at Nongsa Point marina. We had given our fuel filter and fuel transfer pump accidently away to another cruiser so we “couldn’t” filter… we were fine. We did love having a filter to transfer diesel…made it a little less painful…and we borrowed that out a few time…and we remembered to get it back : ) Malaysia we had a guy refill our jerry cans and in Thailand we just rolled up with our jerry cans to a stations and no weird looks. Average cost of diesel was: Indonesia = $2.60-4 usd/gallon, Malaysia = $3.20-4 usd/gallon, Thailand = $3.50-4 usd/gallon
• Oils – Additionally, if there is a special kind of oil for your engine…get some before you head off. We like to use Delo oil so we made sure to get lots. The grade of oil we heard could be of a lesser grade in indonesia especially, so we just didn’t want to take the chance. We still are using our Delo oil supply.
• Spares parts- HAVE THEM…. engine, generator, windlass, rigging, sails, electrical, refrigeration!!!! I understand that we can’t be our own chandeliers but expect hot weather, lots of DEEP anchorages, and a decent amount of motor sailing. Indonesia can take a good 3 months to travel through…Malaysia, (Pangkor marina) could have what you need or you can “import duty free” with a bit a help from James at Pangkor marina. If you can wait for Thailand, there is more supply there but way more expensive. Of course you can always fly to Singapore. A general call out to the fleet was made about fridges, alternators, starters, running lights out, and batteries in our Sail 2 Indonesia fleet. As soon as we arrived in Malaysia the call for spare parts seemed to reduce so we assumed parts were more readily available (Singapore is close by) and we can attest to Thailand’s expensive parts (though labor is cheap). It’s worth a mention, our friends on Storm of Lyton broke their boom on the passage into Indonesia. It took them some time but they got it fixed. Indonesians are really resourceful and creative with what they have so it’s not impossible. Batteries were purchased in Bau-Bau city but a fellow cruiser installed them. Main sails were torn around the Lombok straight and there is really no sailmaker until Malaysia and Thailand.
• Boat work – when we had small jobs done, like stainless steel polish or cleaning the bottom of the boat, we provided all the supplies and materials. You are basically paying for their time and labor.
• Credit cards/Debit cards/Drivers license/ Passport pages – Make sure expiration dates and number of passport pages are sufficient.

If we could do it again..these are a few little things we would of done differently:

• Antifreeze – We are told don’t mix different colored antifreeze and when we needed to check the heat exchanger or do our major engine work, we somehow could never find the same color antifreeze and it was hard to find large quantities..only small bottles. We are now fully stocked with the same antifreeze for the Indian Ocean.
• Water maker filters – It was very hard to find our Cruise RO water maker 5 and 20 micron filters. The filters we found were about 1/4 inch too tall. We love our Cruise RO since their filters are non-proprietary, however, you still need the right size filter (LOL). Thanks David Alton for ordering more and letting us buy from you!
• Bamboo or stainless steel straws – Plastic is a huge issue in SE Asia…we wish we would of purchased a reusable straw…or a few in case we left it behind in a restaurant.
• Line cutter on our propeller – This was just not something we could of done in our timeframe…but many Australian boats had them. Though these line cutters would help with fishing lines….it did not help one boat and the thickness of rope caught from the nets out here.
• Semi-hard bottom paint – Also something that we didn’t have the foresight to add while we last hauled out but the ablative anti-foul paint is just not holding up as good as we had envisioned. The 6 times our bottom was scrubbed it was pretty much fouled. The growth is incredible and we wished we had something that would not scrub off.
• Spinnaker – Though most of our SE Asia cruising was motor sailing, we did wish we had a good downwind spinnaker to sail more.
• Shipping Mistake – we didn’t know we could get such a variety of parts in Thailand and so we ordered a bunch of things and had it shipped to Langkawi, Malaysia as a duty free island. However…the cost to ship was astronomical..don’t do what we did…wait until Thailand for parts or do the research and call places in Thailand to see if they have what you want. Then order..if you have to!

Cairns, Australia…Seeing old friends, meeting new friends, and of course…boat work!

SAIL 2 INDONESIA RALLY 2018

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Why recreate the wheel?! I won’t…. Here is an incredibly thorough and well done recap of SV Starry Horizon’s experience in the Sail 2 Indonesia rally. Amy Alton summarizes everything from visas to navigation to provisioning to security to other people’s blogs and experiences…she has thought of everything! Amy, thanks for doing the work for me ; )

100 Days Cruising Indonesia & the Wonderful Sail 2 Indonesia Rally

Disclaimer: Raymond Lesmana, the rally organizer for the Indonesian side, and I are Facebook friends and we still keep in contact. Some of the information was heard by others and not our personal experience.

I will just add a “few” comments that I feel are important to keep in mind and in perspective while on the rally. I hope managing expectations will make for a more enjoyable adventure. As of this writing, I hear that John and Lyn Martin (rally organizers for the NZ/ Australia end) are joining the rally in 2019 and I believe some of the procedural points and background will be better explained. With that said, we hear the 2019 rally have multiple entry points which could help manage space in anchorages. All in all, these next paragraphs are what we have heard, experienced, and want to share.

Most of our knowledge comes from working closely to those in Lombok when we were there for a month building a temporary school after the earthquake in 2018. We got to see first hand how decisions are made on a local level and how challenging it is when there are so many decision makers involved. Lombok was also the official stop to extend our visas so I had ample time with immigration. Our time in Lombok gave us the opportunity to get close with the locals and in most cases ask “why?”.

The most common complaint we heard about, especially in the beginning of our rally, was nobody really knew what was going on and attempts to connect with Raymond to get clarification was difficult. Additionally, rally events were not on time or sometimes wouldn’t happen at all…and that was if we all even got a schedule of events for that rally stop. Often, a blast email would come from another cruiser who had just happened to run into Raymond and was asked to pass on the information. However, the blast email did not have everyone’s email on it so people were added as we went along.
Promises of beer or availability of provisions or services were often in these emails but sometimes just didn’t come to fruition. This did not go over well with some.

Raymond Lesmana and his role – The Sail 2 Indonesia rally has a duration of just over 3 months with about 20 official rally events and stops. Additionally, Indonesia is a huge country with thousands of little islands. We believe nearly every island has their own local government. Within each local government, each town and each neighborhood has its own “representative”, it would be fair to say there are multiple levels of “authority” on 1 island (that is how it was on Lombok)…not including the national governmental agencies. Raymond works for the national Ministry of Tourism… he is the “face” of the Sail 2 Indonesia Rally and of simultaneous rallies in Indonesia. He is also planning and promoting for future rallies alike. As we understand it, he organizes all the different level of “authorities” for each rally stop. This includes, immigration and customs when necessary. Perspective: Raymond does not have actual authority over what each local government wants to supply for the rally nor the dates or can make determinations for immigration/custom related issues. He can only contact and connect the right people to solve the issue. I am told, he is simply “told” what is going to happen and often right when the fleet arrives at the rally stop as the local government is possibly still trying to scramble to get their end organized.

Communication – Because some do not have FaceBook or WhatsApp, I am convinced that a blast email was the best tool to communicate with all of us but someone in the fleet has to take charge of starting to ensure that everyone is on that list because it won’t be Raymond. However, with 44 boats in the fleet, a FaceBook or WhatsApp would also be ok too but I would suspect some would utilize it as more of a social thing to communicate with their friends on the rally. The other Sail Indonesia rally (20+ boats) had a WhatsApp thread and Raymond responded quickly and everyone was up to date when in range of internet (I saw the feed in Lombok). Perspective: In my personal opinion, Raymond does not answer emails. Everyone is on their phones…including Raymond, the local appointed contact, even immigration. I can’t think of a way to synchronize everyone, without excluding those who do not use social media, besides Raymond passing on information about a particular rally stop and someone emailing everyone. Again, the fleet was generally spread out and like us, some followed the rally stops exactly and some did their own thing. What worked for us was to personally contact Raymond using FaceBook or WhatsApp and he always responded to me. Some tried that as well and did not get a response. No good answer because even when Raymond responded, to the best of his ability regarding schedule of events, when we showed up…the local government would change something. Just something to think about…. Patience….

Rally events- Hour long government speeches at rally sponsored events became a deterrent for people to show up to rally events later on. Additionally, huge displays and shows made some of us feel like we were royalty as we were gifted with hats and banners, little trinkets, etc. Huge meals cooked by locals…some incredibly extravagant dinners at nice hotels etc. Perspective: First, remember each rally stop town has its own “government”. Often there would be an official from the national government in attendance or a family member from the local royal family or sultan. The more extravagant the display the town puts on for the rally, the more “recognition” they get from the people that are important to THEM! They are very proud about it. Hence the speeches thanking all the important people….it’s less about us as a rally…we are almost like an excuse for the town to “show off”. However, with that said, it seemed like the more of us that showed up validated the extravagance. On the other hand….this type of display can be uncomfortable as some of these small town do not have all the resources like a big city/tourist place like Bali. For the stops we were at, we didn’t mind sitting through the speeches, though the one at Pasar Wajo (5 speeches and 1 guy had 5 pieces of paper) was a bit much. Even the other honored guests and locals alike were on their PHONES…! We chose to endure the speeches, long waits and possibly disorganized events as our way of thanking them for a FREE dinner/show. A lot of effort and work went into our events…for example we were told that in the town of Tifu, they literally strung electrical lines for lights and PA system, painted poles for decoration, local women doing all the cooking for the entire rally plus the villagers, and the like just for the rally. We don’t see this work being done but it is possible they have never had to do this before and something will not go as planned.

Navigation – In general, the waypoints provided to you in the rally packets are given to Raymond from another agency. These people are not sailors/cruisers. Anchorages will be tight and sometimes not appropriate. In Banda, locals were upset that “we” were anchored on the coral they were trying to protect. Of course we all don’t want to ruin coral and generally try to find a spot of sand to drop anchor, but in this case there were so few and limited anchor spots, it was hard to get the entire fleet in. Some were upset that we were not told about the new regime of coral protection in Banda. On another occasion, a cruiser ran aground trying to go to exactly the waypoint given but did not detour around a huge reef that was on the charts. We generally know that our chart plotters are nearly correct but these waters are not as well charted as areas like Australia. Perspective: Do your own research and do what is comfortable for you. This also means the pace of the schedule of the rally. Tides, currents, choosing overnight passages vs. day hopping… don’t feel pressured to make EVERY single rally stop IF it pushes you too far out of your comfort zone. Side thought: In tight anchorages my suggestion would be to anchor with like kind boats..meaning we are a monohull, we will anchor next to monohulls. Tides and currents and the different way catamarans and monohulls swing will bring you closer than you think. In Benan Island, the combination of under current and wind brought many boats “kissing” and at one point the entire anchorage looked like all the boats were doing a waltz…. at night of course!

• Engine and fuel Stats for Indonesia:
  • Total of 310 gallons purchased for all tanks.
  • 219 hours on engine and
  • 401 hours on our generator. We do love our AC : )
  • We were in Indonesia for 110 days.

SAIL MALAYSIA RALLY 2018

http://sailmalaysia.net/

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Most of the Sail 2 Indonesia rally continued with the Sail Malaysia rally. Others either stayed in Indonesia, went to Singapore, or explored Malaysia without the rally. The familiarity with everyone made touring and exploring easy. We can’t forget to mention Sazli, rally organizer, who did a great job organizing the 5 rally stops in Malaysia. He is organized, communicative…and best of all…has a great sense of humor! A month with the Sail Malaysia rally was the perfect amount of time and events are organized, timely, less extravagant, and very short speeches! The month still gave you time to explore outside the organized events. However, the difference between rally stops in Malaysia compared to what we saw in Indonesia is that we never saw a remote village, art crafts specific to Malaysia (besides what was in the stores but I questioned where they came from), and in these more touristy spots, it was hard to grasp the “culture” (though plenty of history to absorb). Just a thought….

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Short bit on religion/culture, in our opinions: Malaysia’s national religion is Muslim…but with that said, it seems to us that the Malay/Malaysian people are much more “tolerant” than in Indonesia. We believe this is the case do to it’s geographical proximity to modern Singapore and generally on the mainland…vs. Indonesia are more isolated as a country of islands. You still can’t find alcohol served in “halal” restaurants, but if you find the “chinese” side of town, beer and liquor is readily available. Dress is still mildly conservative but if you are with the rally, you will be visiting mostly touristy places and dress codes are much more relaxed…for us. However, if you are traveling outside of the major towns the rally visits (like we did in car and went to visit some hot springs) EVERYONE is covered…let’s not forget if you are going to a government office or any place where official business is taking place, we are told you could be turned away for not being properly dressed (this includes no flip flops allowed). English is spoken almost everywhere even though their national language is VERY similar to Bahasa in Indonesia. The Malay/Malaysian people seem to be more direct/business oriented than Indonesia. Still less tolerant of confrontation than us folks from Western countries, but in our experience, everything is about business and they do protect their own. For example, in Langkawi, there were fellow cruisers who were knowledge in mechanical/electrical trades. However, they had to “work” under the radar or were kicked out of a marina because they were doing “work”. Yes, it could be because of liability reasons, but further chats with locals in Langkawi, there seems to be, specially in Langkawi, a want to keep the work for Langkawians. Just a heads up.

Preparation: Visa- 90 Day visa upon arrival. The rally takes about a month so you have plenty of time to cruise around Langkawi…something we didn’t do. Puteri Harbor marina did all our clearance into Malaysia..easy peasey…. No idea the cost or procedures if not with the Sail Malaysia rally but I am sure it is easier than Indonesia! Here is a link to Noonsite for a more detailed accounts:

https://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Malaysia?rc=Formalities

Charts/Cruising guides – We used the SE Asia Pilot and SE Asia Cruising Guide. Additionally, the Sail Malaysia rally will provide you (and it’s online) with a cruising guide of suggested anchorages and marinas. Other than that, Garmin and iSailor worked well for us. We also used Google imagery, like Ovital, because the charts were a bit off but not much to mention. Further, Malaysia has massive land “reclamation” projects either underway, started or finished, that may or may not be on Google imagery or charts. These land “reclamation” projects do change the contour of the bottom and can have some effect on how the tides flows. We hear these projects are for Chinese investors. I guess they can’t purchase “land”..so they make it (things that make you go “hummm”!) Always do your own research! Link below is the cruising guide provided to our rally.

http://sailmalaysia.net/sailing-in-malaysia/sail-malaysia-cruising-guide/

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Weather, Tides, Currents – Cruising Malaysia means dealing with the Malacca Strait…which in turn means dealing with tides and currents!!!!

First of all, the Singapore strait. Check out our blog post and what we used to cross the Singapore Strait.

Crossing the Singapore Straits

Second, the Malacca Strait – We were given a program called Total Tide from Patrick and Elizabeth (SV Lebarque) who were our rally’s guest fleet members who have been cruising this area for over a decade. The program is based on the UK Admiralty Hydrographic Office and I think this version we got is a bit older and is rudimentary and not super user friendly. With that said, it is still just a guide and what we experienced vs. what the program states was a bit off…but close enough for passage planning. There maybe a free download but not sure if it will cost money to get the regions of the world you want. If you want it I can email it you. Just get in touch with us. Below are 2 screenshots f what the program can do. It has all the world regions…

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The weather was mostly sunny and it did not rain or blow over 20 knots…that I can remember…except for that SUMANTRA the fleet experienced in Melaka. Seriously…that was no joke. See our blog post about Melaka.

Anchorages/Marinas and access to fuel, water and LPG – Most of the time (there was only 5 official rally stops) there was a marina at an extra cost…the average price we paid at a marina was $23 a night for a 45 feet monohull. Electricity (230v), water hookups, and access to diesel, LPG and the like were there. However, there was an anchorage generally close by to the marina, a short dinghy ride in. Here are screen shots of where we anchored and stopped at marinas in chronological order.

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Provisioning/Food – There will be plenty of grocery stores and markets (night markets are the BEST!) so no major provisioning ever happened throughout Malaysia. However, Western foods like pasta, pasta sauces, brand name chips and snack, were western priced. Still not a lot of cheese. Plenty of veggies, fruits, and staples are found easily. You can purchase alcohol at some grocery stores but you will need to pay at the “non-halal” check out.

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Food was of better taste and variety in Malaysia than in the remoter islands of Indonesia. Again I attribute this to the Malaysia rally stops being more in populated areas. Mostly street food (noodles and fried little goodies), Indian and Chinese restaurants were easily found. Italian and Mexican foods were harder to find but could be found in larger cities.

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Internet – 4G is everywhere….When we arrived in Malaysia at Puteri Harbor, there was a place we could get SIM cards (orange logo) but we were told, for better coverage and plans, to go to a mall and visit CelCom or Maxis. No idea about Digi.

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Getting around – Download the Grab App. It is the SE Asia Uber…and is fantastic! Another App that is useful is the Agoda App. Similar to AirBnB combined with Hotels.com. We were told that hotels honor prices shown on Agoda. We only used it once but it was quick and easy to book rooms with.

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Boat work/Marine supplies – There are many more options in Malaysia to get boat work done and parts and supplies. I would say that Pangkor or Langkawi is a nice relief from Indonesia’s lack of boat supplies/parts. However, Thailand does have quite a large boating industry so it depends when and how bad you need things. Many rally participants left their boats at either Pangkor Marina or Rebak Marina in Langkawi to either land travel or head home for a bit. We heard mixed reviews about Rebak however, heard wonderful things about Pangkor, particularly due to James Khoo, the owner of the marina. If he doesn’t have it or knows someone who can help, he will find it for you. He gets it…what us cruisers need and want and has worked hard for us, past and present (did I mention there is a freezer at the marina office with frozen bread, croissants, and ice cream… lol). Look for our token of appreciation in his marina office. It looks like this:

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Security – We felt very secure and safe in Malaysia. The only thing we were advised to watch out for were small fishing boats setting nets basically on top of your anchor so when you pulled anchor you would damage their nets and they would demand payment. This did not happen to us but we did witness at anchor a fellow rally participant have a few words with a fishing boat as they dropped a net right beside them at Mual Town. Additionally, be aware when at marinas for rats or vermin. We heard of 2 different boats that had an “extra” crew member but did get rid of them.

Best and worst in Malaysia – Both has to be Melaka! The history is just a subtle reminder of the land and people who came and went and stayed. The food…OMG…unbelievable!

Melaka…History repeats itself…incredible food and culture….and the scariest moment in our sailing experience!

What we missed in Malaysia- We hear Penang is an incredible place: full of great food, local culture, art…etc. However, as of this writing, we have been told that unless you can get into the marina (at high tide only) anchoring and getting ashore has become very difficult if not impossible. We opted to possibly visit Penang by ferry from Langkawi but it just wasn’t in the cards for us. Neither was sailing around the island of Langkawi and heard there are amazing anchorages and great exploring to do. If you get the chance to travel around these waters….let us know how much we missed! ; )

• Engine and fuel Stats for Malaysia:
  • Total of 202 gallons purchased for all tanks
  • 89 hours on engine and
  • 307 hours on our generator. We still love our AC : )
  • We were in Malaysia for 74 days.

SAIL THAILAND RALLY 2019

http://www.sailthailand.net/

We originally were signed up to participate in the Sail Thailand rally, however we were delayed in Langkawi due to termites. Further, we experienced engine problems and had to berth at Yacht Haven marina for the majority of our time in Thailand. With that said, Bert and Marieke (rally organizers for 2019) absolutely kept us in the loop and we received all emails regarding the fun they all had. We were able to join the last 2 rally sponsored event near Yacht Haven marina, thanks to them for the personal invitation. We didn’t want or need to join to ease official procedures or formalities, so I will describe below our procedures we went through without the rally just to give you a glimpse.

Preparation for Thailand: Visas- We thought we were going to be in thailand for 2 months so we paid for a Tourist Visa when we were in Langkawi, Malaysia. It took about 7 business day and we had “an agent” do it for us. It cost us about $175 usd for two of us. See the link below for examples of the Thai visa application. It is simple. We needed to provided:

http://www.thaiembassy.org/penang/th/services/3065

• copy of boat registration
• copy of boat insurance
• 2 passport sized photos for each visa you are applying for
• Complete application that Surin supplied us.
  • NOTE: be sure when filling out the application and checking out of Malaysia that there are no “passengers”…only 1 captain and # of crew.

Although you do not have to get a Tourist visa for 60 days. You are allowed a 30 day visa upon arrival. However, if you plan to leave Thailand, you will need to post a 20,000 Baht ($630 usd) bond on your boat. Please see the Noonsite link below for more details.

https://www.noonsite.com/Countries/Thailand?rc=Formalities

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Provision – We decided to take advantage of the duty free island, Langkawi and completely filled up on beer, wine, and bottles of liquor. We were told the government places limits on the amount of “goods” (what I mean is alcohol) you can buy per passport per calendar month. We were told: 3 cases of beer, 2 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of liquor. Well this is just not going to do. We opted to go to every “duty free” shop and buy the limit at each place but then that seemed to be too much work. We spoke with Surin again who works as a “co-op” so she can sell large quantities and make it look like it was purchased between said other vendors/places. So that is what we did.

Checking out of Langkawi – It seemed like an easy task and it was for us but just as we were getting ready…we started to hear rumors about needing an agent. At this time, I do not know if that is being enforced but there was a large discussion about it on social media and on Noonsite. We did not need an agent.

Then off we go….we took a week to day hop from langkawi to Phuket. Some opted to take 2 weeks. I suggest not to check in with immigration at Koh Lipe or if you do check in to Satun,be sure to check out of the local harbor master. See our blog post for more details:

Thailand….at last! The passage to Phuket

Again, we were not able to participate with the Sail Thailand rally until the last rally event due to engine issues. However, friends of ours made this video about the entire rally…if you care to watch.

• Engine and fuel Stats for Thailand:
  • Total of 89 gallons purchased for all tanks
  • 42 hours on engine and
  • 131 hours on our generator. We still love our AC : )
  • We were in Thailand for 34 days.

SOUTH EAST ASIA RECAP

SE Asia has been a wonderful…the people are friendly and generally curious….medium amount of planning required (do research on Sumatras: a weather phenomenon in the Malacca straits)….and with internet readily available it seemed easier to get around and so forth. With that said, this was the most intense cruising grounds, not because of weather or even currents (though they are not to be messed with in the Malacca straits or near Komodo/Lombok/Bali) but because of the fishing activity. You have to stay alert ALL THE TIME!!!! It makes even day hops harder than usual and over night passages…well…you just cross your fingers you don’t run over a net.

Side note for all our SE Asia travels:

• I always brought with me toilet paper, sand hanitizer, a pad of paper and pen (drawing and/or Googling images always helped for communication), and bug spray in my bag when we went to land.
• Fishing was little to none…we did some in Indonesia between islands thinking that would be a good place, but all we caught were plastic bags. In Malaysia and Thailand…with the massive amounts of fishing activity, we didn’t put the pole out after Indonesia assuming the waters were overfished.
• Water activities – The farther you move west in Indonesia and up the Singapore Strait…we did not get into the water. We did scuba dive in Banda and Komodo national park in Indonesia, and then not again did we get into the water until we snorkeled in Koh Lipe and Phi Phi Islands in Thailand.
• Remember to eat with your RIGHT hand and not your left. The left hand is considered dirty…..Trevor had to practice lots!
• I am sure I missed something…if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask : )

Just for fun…try to guess which country you will see these fishing boats/devices?

Keep us posted on what you will do and see in SE Asia…..can’t wait to hear all about it!

Terima Kasih / kob-khun ka!