We are tied up at the Rebak Marina, part of the five star Rebak Island Resort. We arrived yesterday morning. We spent the night before at the “Fjord anchorage” in southern Langkawi after a hot but fast (due to current, not wind) sail from Penang. It was only 10 more miles to Rebak Island.
This morning (Friday) was the weekly “veggie run” over to the big island of Langkawi. The resort/marina took us yachties over in a small ferry (about 15 – 18 passengers) to meet the veggie man who comes over in his van and lays out boxes of fruits and vegetables on the ground, plus styrofoam containers with frozen meat and fish and chilled yogurt and cheese. It is a mixture of Malaysian produce and Australian products. It was a better assortment of fruits and vegetables than we saw in Penang, the second largest city of Malaysia. I think the nice assortment of food derives from the supply chain for the five star resorts that are a major part of the economic life of Langkawi, the fact that Langkawi is a duty-free archipelago, and the international airport connecting Langkawi to sources of supply. We all came to buy — filling up bags with all kinds of good stuff. The veggie man did a lot of cash business in 30 minutes, and had a grateful bunch of customers,
Langkawi consists of 104 islands of which only four are inhabited. Rebak Island was apparently not inhabited until the Taj Hotel group built the resort and marina. The resort is popular with Saudis. We have seen many young Saudi couples (some on honeymoons) and families strolling around and riding the ferry. The women are dressed head-to-toe in black burkhas and sit by the pool to watch their husbands and children swim.
We will be here for a few weeks working on some boat projects and visiting with some sailing friends from last year and before.
M.
View of Straits Quay Marina complex (Penang) in the morning mist
Comments are closed.