We left the Seychelles with a clean bottom, some new light weather sails, and all systems working pretty much as they should. The first two weeks were dream sailing. Light winds, calm tropical seas, and everything including the autopilot working just fine.

We passed just south of Addoo atoll in the Maldives on a clear night, full of stars. It was early the next morning that we sailed from the Southern to Northern hemispheres, crossing the equator in style. There were cheers and coins offered up to Neptune and of coarse, Badger Bag, Meggi even baked a cake and made home made ice cream to celebrate. But with a crew of only three it was difficult to have Neptune aboard for a real line crossing ceremony.

Large bands of dolphins were never far away. In fact one day Meggi and Peter managed to snorkel among a group them. Imagine swimming with dolphins in the middle of the Indian Ocean hundreds of miles from land and thousands of meters from the bottom!

 Meggi still gets excited when she describes how they would swim up to her tilting their heads first to one side then to the other in order to have a better look. One wonders who had the more interesting time observing another life form. There were so many flying fish that each dawn we had to collect them from the fore deck.  Quickly cleaned and fried they made a welcome break from the usual ships fare.

The calms and heat were an everyday affaire. The tropical sun high and hot overhead. Even at night heat seemed to radiate from the moon itself. All during those oppressive, stifling days the sun made the decks boiling hot and melted the tar from our rigging, while the resin oozed from the planks bubbling from under the paint.  There were days when Vega drifted lifeless on the swell, rolling to such a degree that it seemed her mast must surely go by the board.  It was a wearisome time and it seemed to last for ever.

Then the gremlins started acting up. Yep, Mr. Murphy was still alive and well. He had evidently been off pestering some other poor souls. Our biggest problems have always been with the electrics and that’s where the troubles came from. After a lot of small problems the generator died. Which meant we had to use Vega’s very thirsty main engine to charge batteries.

Lets not discuss the shaft generator, which has never lived up to its advertised abilities despite lots of tender loving attention. Then the variable pitch prop decided to go on strike, new seals made little difference, so I blocked it in the best position and there it has been ever sense. (The company says it needs a new valve shuttle and sleeve, which we now have on order).

The shortage of electrical power meant we could not use the autopilot, and had to husband our batteries carefully. Well, it was back to hand steering. Just about then the thunderstorms began to pick up.

Meggi thought these big thunderstorms with their blinding deluges of water were sent along just to provide her with long fresh water showers. It was amusing to watch how she would get under the sun awning pulling its corner so that a deluge of water would cascade across her, then make a turn around the deck where inevitability she had several bits of laundry in the works before returning to the sun awning for another dunking.

Each evening as the moon would set Vegas wake would start to glow in a long stream of phosphorescence winding its way astern. We all spent hours lying on the stern looking down into the turbulence behind the rudder where the glowing swirls seemed like miniatures of great spiral galaxies against the darkness of the sea.

This was the tropical sailing we had all dream of. The nights were cool, although we all continued to sleep on deck, and the stars bright in the night sky. On these gentle days, with Vega making a stately 4-5 knots sleeping places in the bow sprite nets were at a premium.  The “shshsh” of her bow wave is the most peaceful sound imaginable. All in all it was an idyllic trip until we rounded the northern tip of Sumatra.

As we approached the straights shipping became more common. Often 5-6 ships were in site at one time. The currents were strong and the winds had fallen light. It took us almost a week to negotiate those final 300 miles of Andaman Sea. The first 2 days in the Andaman Sea were marked by calms.

We drifted aimlessly on the currents, awaiting the daily rainstorms, and in general were bored out of our minds. Perhaps I shouldn’t say bored, as we did have a few very close brushes with local craft. In an area that is famous for its pirates, any local craft that comes too close is highly suspect. If those were curious fishermen or something else, we will never know. Every time one came to close- and some were so close we could touch them – it was all hands and the repeal boarder’s drill.

That week was marked by rain, calms, rain, and more rain. Arriving at last off of Langkawi the winds played one final trick by backing into the East. Of coarse we wanted to go exactly east. Early in the afternoon we entered the channel while between sailing and drifting we arrived at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. We had been at sea for almost one month. Not bad for a 114 year old boat and all those calms.

The Langkawi yacht club is a modern marina with all the services baring slipways. The first evening Meggi and I slipped off for a giant meal in the club house, then Peter went out to see if he could drain all the cold beers from at least one of the local bars.

Signing in couldn’t have been easier or more pleasant. All of the officials were very friendly and most helpful. Imagine all the formalities were over in 30 minutes! All are located a short distance from the clubhouse.

Langkawi is an amazing island. It skillfully blends the ageless traditions of Malaysia with the most modern of amenities.  Green, lush tropical green, is the color of Langkawi. Being a tax free port it also has the advantages of low prices and a multitude of available items. Very important considering the repairs we needed to make.

We strongly suggest it as a destination for those arriving in this area for the first time. After any long trip this is the place to fill the fuel tanks, stock up the food stores, and in general relax before going on to the other, more complex and costly, destinations.  Several weeks later we waved good-bye to our friends at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club and headed North.

Langkawi will always stand out in our memories as the place where the Tsunami struck us and where we found ourselves delivering food and medical supplies to the north West Coast of Sumatra.