Langkawi for Christmas

Our Thai visas are about to expire and our boat permit as well so it is time to leave Thailand. We make a couple of provisioning trips into town and do a few boat jobs. Richard decides to remove the remaining varnish from the caprail and try teak oil. After several coats it looks almost as good as varnish. However it later proves unable to withstand going to weather.

We leave Phuket allowing time for overnight anchorages but arriving at Langkawi before Christmas. We have more wind and choppier seas than we expect. After 5 days we drop the anchor in Bass Harbor near Kuah town. We have a delicious dinner onboard Hannakin Christmas Day with Jean and Clive, also John and Isabel from Pathfinder. We make phone calls to the family.

After Christmas we start working away on our list of things to do before we head for the Red Sea. We pay a return visit to Dr. Chew to have our teeth cleaned. We go through our charts to see what we are missing. We have new fitted sheets made for the v-berth. We buy liquor and Cadbury chocolate bars at the duty-free shop. Richard takes apart the head.

One morning Richard goes to town on a hunt for miscellaneous plumbing and electrical parts. At 2pm I receive a call on our mobile phone from someone who tells me Richard has been in an accident and is at Langkawi Hospital. I scan the bay and spot another cruiser in a dinghy. I wave him down and get a ride ashore, then get a taxi to the hospital.

It takes me awhile to find Richard--this is not Bumrungrad and not many people speak English--but eventually I spot him in a bed in the Male Ward. He doesn't look as bad as I had feared. Some cuts and scrapes, lots of bruises and perhaps a cracked rib. Fortunately no broken bones. I ask what happened. He doesn't know. He remembers standing by the side of a street waiting to cross. Next thing he knows he is waking up and looking at three muslim women in headscarves looking down at him. He soon discovers he is in a hospital and the women are two nurses and a doctor. It takes awhile for him to remember that he is in Langkawi and has a sailboat at anchor in the bay. Then he asks a nurse to call me.

After discussing the situation Richard says he would feel better if "nurse Jean" came to see him. I had already alerted Clive and Jean so they were ready to hop into a taxi and come to the hospital. Richard felt reassured after Jean arrived and looked him over. Later two local women appear at his bedside, one the driver of the car Richard apparently collided with. We are unable to determine exactly what happened but the women tell us they brought Richard to the hospital.

The doctor says Richard should stay in the hospital at least 24 hours so I head back to the boat before dark. The next morning, with Clive's help, I move Moonshadow into the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club marina where it will be easier for Richard to get on and off the boat. Around mid-day New Year's Eve Richard releases himself from the hospital. The bill is U.S. $40.

The accident slows Richard down for a few days and delays our departure. He is now recovered except for occasional soreness around his ribs.