Ship Shape & Bristol Fashion….. Again

22nd Oct
Jerry says  "Again" should read “Nearly” which means there’s always a job list.
We are back in the water and planning to leave the security and comfort of Rebak tomorrow. We have been working hard through Jerry’s never ending job list and are now at the point where the Captain is satisfied we have completed enough jobs and its time for him to take the Admiral for a sail before there is mutiny onboard!
Of course we are coming to the end of the SW monsoon. It’s hot and humid and every afternoon big black clouds roll in above us and we have a huge downpour reducing visability to almost zero. The good thing is it cools us down and fills the water tanks. But its not the best thing to be caught in when trying to sail somewhere.
The old girl, (Tigress Too) is looking pretty smart and itching to be released from the marina and get some wind into her new sails. However, the chance of that happening is very doubtful as wind is very rare up here at the moment except for the hour or so before a thunderstorm.
We have changed the colour of the antifoul from black to blue as Jerry always found it hard to see what was going on underneath with the black antifoul. I rather like the new blue look. We managed to get hold of some propspeed to put onto the propeller, we find it very good at keeping the prop clean.

We painted the bimini top after a year of looking at it and doing nothing about it. It’s a challenge in the heat and humidity to get any sort of maintenance done, a) you sweat buckets as soon as you move and b) epoxy paint goes off very quickly once mixed. But I must say the bimini looks rather smart now all repaired, sanded and painted white.
Once back in the pen we opened our present to ourselves and put on the new mainsail and genoa. They look amazing and we can’t believe how bad our old ones must have looked. Still they were 25yrs old! The workmanship on the new sails is excellent. All we have to do now is go for a sail and test them. We went to put up the old staysail and as we did the luff tape fell apart. Why ever did we think this sail would not need renewing ? So that is now with the sailmaker and we will pick up the new one when we return at Christmas.

I think I mentioned in the last blog I have a bad knee, the result of too much ladder climbing while home only made worse by another 2 weeks  of ladder climbing while on the hardstand. I have been doing yoga and swimming laps on alternate days but the knee was not getting better and the swelling was not going down. So a friend here, Jan, took me off to see the very nice Professor Dr Shamsudeen or Mr Din for short, not to be confused with  Mr Din we use for car hire.
I refer to Dr Din as the pin doctor, yes he is an acupuncture doctor as well as many other doctors I am sure and is a lovely gentleman with a good sense of humour. Now as I have a slight aversion to needles and anything that may inflict even the slightest of pain I was a little apprehensive about this visit but I’ll give anything a go to help heel the knee. What my friend Jan didn’t tell me was that not only does Dr Din stick pins in you he then wires you up and plugs you in asking you how much he can turn his dial on the little machine that sends electric pulses racing from pin to pin. I was very brave but when a thunderstorm started up together with lightening I did wonder about being plugged into 240v! But all was well, I have had 2 sessions now and while my knee is not heeled all the swelling and inflammation has gone down and its a lot easier to get around. Both Dr Din and yachtie Dr Sue who also examined my knee assure me there are no tears, ruptures, breakages, just an overstretched ligament that needs resting and some very tight muscles that need stretching and massaging. So rest it is, massages (lovely) and fortunately no more ladders to climb. A session with Dr Din is very affordable at MYR 40.00 which is about $14.00! When I pluck up the courage I am off to see Dr Chew. Yes you guessed right, the tooth Dr.

23rd Oct
We reluctantly returned the airconditioner this morning and left Rebak. It was we thought an extravagance we could afford ourselves whilst we worked on the boat and did a great job of keeping the boat cool inside so at night we slept like babies. In fact sometimes we were a little chilly and pulled a sheet over us!
It has been 153 days since we last sailed. I guess that’s why I was a bit wobbly around the deck on the way out of Rebak. We are now anchored at Kuah, no wind to blow us here so the sails stayed packed away. Found a spot to drop the pick and within half an hour the heavens opened with a really good monsoon downpour. We are now chasing a leak in the head lining which is making its way down the wiring that feeds down the mast into the boat. This will be a tricky one to fix and will keep Jerry amused for hours no doubt. He is not a happy chappy
While out and about in town the other day we came across a cake decorating competition. Wow! what bright colours! Not sure I would like to eat any of these, Jerry was convinced they used plasticine to make the decorations. I think the theme was the ocean & weddings. here are a few snap shots that I thought I should share.

When/if it stops raining we will dinghy ashore to but some internet then I can post this blog. Internet is always a challenge and has been very frustrating with its near non existence while we were at Rebak.
Next stop Penang, weather permitting, over the weekend.

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!

Home Again, Home Again

 

 

Wow! I knew it was a while since I posted a blog , but I must say I am  quite chuffed by the amount of people who have asked when are you going to update the blog!  It’s been 2 months, that’s far too long, but we haven’t really been doing much sailing over the last couple of months  for various reasons. A lot has happened over this time, not all sailing related though, but due to popular demand (LOL!) I will update you on what’s been happening. It’s also just over a year since we left on our journey, how time flies!

Having arrived in Thailand towards the end of April we made plans to leave Yacht Haven Marina to explore Phang Na Bay & then make our way to Krabi to enjoy some time with my girlfriend Carey who was holidaying from UK. Unfortunately though I had to make an urgent trip home to Brisbane as my dear father age 96 was in hospital with pneumonia & other complications. I got home in time to spend a wonderful day with him at the hospital and sadly he passed away 2 days after I arrived. He was a wonderful man, a loving and dear father & will be sadly missed.

On returning to TTOO we made our way to Krabi  to meet up with Carey & Richard. We decided to berth the boat at Krabi Boat Lagoon & check ourselves into a condominium next to where C&R were staying. Krabi Boat Lagoon is very isolated, even getting there is quite a trek as you motor from one way point to the next, 6 in total. By the time you get to waypoint 4 you are starting to head up river amongst mangroves. At waypoint 6 you now have mangroves on both sides of the boat closing in on you and no marina in sight. You are asked to call the marina at waypoint 6 and they will assist you to your berth. After calling up on the VHF we were asked if there was a green post to our starboard side ? Yes there was and we were then told to turn to starboard here and come into the marina. Well the gap in the  mangroves was about 15ft wide and had  Jerry questioning my relayed instructions from the marina, but we made our way in a little apprehensively, watching the depth sounder very closely as it dropped quite rapidly. Just after entering and making a turn to starboard there was Krabi Boat Lagoon.

Needless to say it is a very well protected marina but because of this it is also airless and very hot & humid. Also it is literally in the middle of nowhere, a good 40 mins by taxi into Krabi town. BUT , it is also very cheap and has a good hardstand area where many yachts had been left while the owners return home to escape the monsoon season.

We made our way to our condominium booked through Airbnb website – I highly recommend this for good reasonably priced accommodation.

It was directly opposite the hotel where C&R had booked into and we spent the following 5 days in their company. We spent our time lounging by the pool, talking our heads off, a few cocktails here & there, a massage or two and generally just having a nice time. For me it was just what the doctor ordered and helped me through what was a very sad time. Carey is my oldest & dearest friend and I have been waiting many years for her to visit me. Having survived and quite enjoyed her long (?!) flight from UK hopefully  she will return for another visit soon.

With a sad farewell we returned to TToo and headed back to Langkawi . I have to admit it was a bit like going home! I feel very comfortable  in Langkawi and we have spent quite a bit of time there. It’s a great island to visit and so many yachties make this their base so there’s always good company & things going on. We headed over to Rebak Marina & lifted the boat out of the water to leave her while we returned  home ….AGAIN!  This would be my 4th trip home in a year, Jerry’s 3rd ! Not what we had planned at all but things happen & so you just have to go with the flow as they say.

We were quite impressed with the professionalism of the staff who were operating the lifter. They took great care to see that everything went smoothly and that the straps were positioned correctly before lifting. They even sent a diver into the water to check the positioning of the straps under the keel!

But then we looked over the side and our diver appeared to be taking a rest! The Malays certainly take every opportunity possible to have a “doze off”

Much to our surprise the weed & barnacles that were covering the bottom of the boat when we left Yacht Have had all disappeared. We can only put that down to the week in Krabi Boat Lagoon which is a good percentage fresh water. It had killed off anything growing on the bottom and it had all dropped off. It saved us a lot of scraping.

After a week on the hardstand we were more than ready to leave. The monsoon season was setting in & it was unbearably hot & humid. It was  32 deg during the day , 28 deg at night & 82% humidity and with no aircon on the boat things were getting a little tetchy onboard to say the leastWe were packing the boat up for 3 months so had lots to do as well as trying to get a little bit of work done on her bottom before we left. We took the sails down to store them only to find that the headsail was starting to rot quite badly, they are 20yrs old. So a decision was  made to buy new sails & have them made while we are away by Taskers in Thailand. Thank goodness for the pool at Rebak, even if it was warm,  a great place to escape to after working on the boat. The pina coladas and beers were still cool and the Hard Dock cafe meant we didn’t have to cook onboard at night. Sleeping was a challenge..too hot for both of us in the forpeak. We had 3 x 240volt fans & 3 x 12volt fans running to try & circulate some air so we could sleep.

Arriving back in Perth we thought we would freeze but the weather has been quite mild and we are enjoying a cooler change and also sleeping under a duvet. We are definitely noticing the difference in cost of living, WOW! Perth is expensive. Not something we noticed or cared about when working here but now we are not working its quite frightening!

We are back in Fremantle just in time to celebrate my nephews 40th birthday. No doubt over the next  3 –4 months there will be a lot more social engagements. Ben & Kate have bought there own house & moved out of ours which means we have to do a few renovations and rent it out again. We thought we would escape the monsoon, spend sometime  at home &  also help B&K with a few jobs at their place and just enjoy being around family & friends for a while.

So I guess until we return to TTOO  this will be may last post for a while, unless I have something interesting to write about or some photos to post. Maybe I can keep you updated on the renos!  

We have had some great feedback from readers of our blog since being home. Its really great to know that people are following our travels and enjoy reading the blog. So stay tuned as we will return with more sailing adventures!