Through the Whack-a-Mole Gauntlet: Crab Pots, Glowing Boats, and the Great Prop-Wrap Mystery

Dodging the Obstacles - Crab Pots and the "Aggressive Tuk-Tuks" of the Sea

Our passage from Phuket to Langkawi began as a tedious obstacle course, requiring us to constantly dodge crab pots. As night fell, it morphed into a high-stakes game of whack-a-mole with local fishing boats. These vessels share three dangerous traits: they run without AIS or radio, have non-existent navigation lights, and seem to enjoy playing chicken. Ironically, they spare no expense on garish, flashing, colored lights—giving them the look of the sea’s most aggressively decorated tuk-tuks.

Matt and I learned something new that night. Approaching Langkawi, we were confronted by an array of intensely bright green lights, reminiscent of stadium illumination. We initially thought they were far-off leading lights or land markings, but our chart was silent. In the dark, with a rolling boat and no moonlight, the lights danced with our perception, appearing distant one minute and close the next. It turns out this stadium-level lighting was mounted on a tiny 15-foot longtail fishing boat zipping around at high speed. We’re still not sure what they were hunting—squid, perhaps?

In Langkawi, we had a final dinner with Jack, the owner, and bid him farewell. Family obligations meant he couldn't continue yet, but he’ll rejoin us in the Philippines for the leg to Palau.

Fuel Consumption Riddle

From Langkawi, our first mandatory stop was Pangkor Island to pick up a replacement battery (yes, the new boat had a flat one) and an EPIRB—a vital tool for crossing large bodies of water. The stop allowed us to refuel and check our consumption. Something was wrong: the manual quoted 6 litres/hour, but we were burning 9! The penny dropped when we remembered that had commented on the stiff steering on our first sea trial. We needed to check for prop-wrap—a logical conclusion given the sheer volume of rubbish we’d seen in the water. We cut away about 15 meters of thick, 12mm poly rope twisted around the prop and rudder stock. Consumption immediately fell back to the quoted 6 litres/hour—a critical improvement, as expect to motor a lot, given little wind on the passages in and around the equator.

Sailor and a Baker

Whilst on passage, Matt, who is a keen baker, taught me how to make sourdough bread. Now we have fresh loaves every day, and I cannot overstate how good warm sourdough is for brekkie when sailing. On all future trips, I’ll be ensuring the crew is well-practiced in this skill!

A Spectacular Light Show

Leaving Pangkor and heading toward Singapore, the daily temperatures of 42-45 deg. C was causing a lot of precipitation in the atmosphere. Cumulonimbus clouds were rapidly forming to port, starboard, fore, and aft. Looking at the radar, we had no choice but to push through; there was simply no way to steer around this system. That night, we had one heck of a spectacular—if slightly worrying—light show. (I'm glad that we didn’t have a problem – it’d be an difficult call to Jack explaining why his boat sank due to the lightning blowing out his stern drive!). We found a single positive when the squall blew over: the drenching rain brought an immediate and welcome drop in temperature to 36 deg C, which, in the oppressive heat, felt positively cold.

Next time, we play super tanker chicken and more fishing boat fun as we approach Singapore…