We’re back onboard

 

Who would have guessed that a planned 3 month trip home would stretch to 4.5 months? That’s how long we were away for and the time just flew past. We were kept very busy and in fact we were both very tired & bodily weary by the time we left.

Firstly we had a house to tidy up in preparation to rent it out. A paint job on the outside, renovations to the kitchen and new cooker installed, garden weeded, uneven pavers re-laid, garage divided, and so the list goes on. Fortunately friends were around to give us a hand when needed. Then there was the more pleasant things, wedding dress shopping, catch up coffees, lunches, dinners, dog walks, yoga classes. We enjoyed some lovely evenings catching up over dinner with our friends. We especially enjoyed the cooler change of weather and for once we found winter in Perth quite pleasant.

Ben & Kate had just moved into their house and had a job list waiting for Jerry. Together Jerry & Ben built a front fence from materials salvaged by our friend Clive. This now keeps the 3 dogs in and means the front garden can  be used to grow vegetables which Kate & Ben will be planting soon. Kate has got her “Sproutly” business set up down the side of the house. Growing sunflowers sprouts and the like and selling to restaurants. They have just installed solar panels and the list has begun for jobs when we return in February!

As most of you know Jerry loves a project and when we were last home he had promised Chris and Michelle he would build them some wine racks for their new house, a bigger job than Jerry first thought. But the wait was well worthwhile. All Chris has to do now is to fill the racks with 998 bottles!

Meanwhile back in Langkawi TToo sat patiently waiting for our return at Rebak Marina. I had dreams of returning to find the inside of the boat covered in mould, birds nesting in the sail cover, maybe a rat set up home or wild monkeys taking things from the deck. All these stories of boats left for long periods of time haunted me in my sleep at night. But whatever we did to prepare the boat for leaving worked well as when we returned she was just as we left her. Well the outside canvas had a bit of mould on it and the decks were a nice colour of green where the rain had gathered but nothing that didn’t disappear after a good scrub down. Inside was perfect, maybe it was the weak solution of vinegar we used to wash everything with or maybe the moth balls we left around the boat helped, or the fan we left running (not running when we got back). Whatever it was it worked and all we did was air her out for a day and she was back to normal.

We are now busy painting the bottom of the boat with antifoul and hope to return to the water next week. Living onboard while on the hardstand is not pleasant at the best of times and up here where it is very hot and humid it is definitely not pleasant. You can only work for a couple of hours in the morning then a couple of hours at the end of the day as the outside of the boat gets too hot to apply any paint and the inside heats up like a furnace. We have softened and hired an airconditioner. It sits above our front cabin blowing cool air through the boat. It makes sleeping at night so much easier and I am not sure what we will do when we leave the marina and have to give it back! Hopefully by then we will be a little more acclimatised and also it may not be so humid. Rebak has to be one of the best marinas by far to slip your boat as when it all gets too much we just go to the pool for a cool off and recharge the batteries and if I don’t feel like cooking at the end of a days work we just go up to the Hard Dock Cafe which is for the yachties only and enjoy a nice meal and a cold beer at very reasonable prices.

I am joining a few ladies every morning for an hour of yoga which is very pleasant. I seem to have injured my knee while home and my lower back is not too good, so I am hoping the yoga everyday will help with the healing. It’s also a very pleasant way to start the day.

Once we are in the water we shall take delivery of our brand new mainsail and genoa that have been made for us by Taskers in Thailand while we were in Perth. That is something to look forward to as the old ones are now 25yrs old and well past their use by date. Once they are up and we are happy with them then our sailing will begin again.

Yesterday was my birthday and so we had a day off work. A trip into town for some shopping followed by a relaxing massage for the 2 of us to ease away the aches and pains,then it was back to Rebak in time for a cocktail at the pool bar with Chrissie & Phil. A quick shower and back to the beach bar for happy hour with a few cruising buddies and then dinner at the hard dock cafe. I had a wonderful day and was made to feel very special with several renditions of Happy Birthday, cards and presents from friends, some of who we have only met in the last couple of weeks and messages from friends at home. Phil made me a Jimmy Buffet birthday cake (laced with rum, of course) and it was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

I maybe another year older but this cruising life makes me feel younger every day!