Back Tracking



Anchored in the fiord at Langkawi

We finally completed all our listed tasks, stocked up with hopefully enough cheap booze to last us to the next duty free island then headed out of Rebak for possibly the last time. We decided to go back to the fiord for another look, this anchorage is in a small narrow passage between 2 islands with 200m high cliffs, it’s protected from all winds and boasts some great wildlife like eagles, monkeys and hornbills. After a couple of days of relaxation and checking that systems were again running as they should we decided to head around to Kuah for 1 last meal at our favourite Indian restaurant and get ready to head back south east. A series of squalls followed us from the west and hit just after we were settled, didn’t last long but they came with a punch.



Storm approaching at Kuah Langkawi the day before leaving

The next morning we were up before daylight and away soon after hoping to get some tidal assistance along the way, the 60nm journey to Penang  as we expected was a motor sail with some fluctuating winds but at least coming from north east which was good. The trip was relatively quick and we entered the new Penang marina to our berth well before dark. The marina is a bit out of town on the north side of the island but a hell of a lot better than staying at junk anchorage which is adjacent to Georgetown, the old dilapidated town marina, the ferries and the ever present grease trap smell. A hired motor bike helped shorten the distances.

Local fishing boat tied to fish attractors which are lengths of 100mm diameter bamboo with whatever?? attached below, a real danger at night

One of the reasons for stopping at Penang was to get a health screening at a local hospital, which is big business here. For less than AU$200 you get a full health screening which is much more thorough than back home and comes with free lunch and appraisal. We both passed OK but they did find some things that hadn’t been picked up before in OZ. Nothing that a few extra beers can’t cure, I’m sure that’s what he said. Penang is famous for its assortment of Asian cuisines and we certainly had our fair share in the 5 days we stayed, all quality even the small roadside stalls and cheaper than chips literally.

One of the unwanted guests that frequent Penang waters

Next it was off with the tide down the channel between Penang and the mainland under the huge bridge that links the two together. We overnighted at Jerejak Island which unfortunately reminded us of a tip as floating rubbish passed us by and then came back when the tide reversed.

Looking down the rail tracks from the top of Penang Hill about a 75 degree decline

Next morning we were away at dawn and passed through the opening of the new even longer second bridge between Penang and the mainland. They were piling when we came through in November 2010 so have progressed significantly in the time. The bridge is so long it disappears in the haze before you can see the mainland. We pushed the tide for the full 6+hrs as we rounded the Great Kra Bank a shallow shoal which extends out seaward and increases the distance to our next destination Pangkor Island 75nm south east. By late afternoon we had a good tidal lift and arrived before dark to a pleasant anchorage with 1 other yacht and as we discovered 10 minutes later a ferry to another island with a resort who refused to alter his usual course just because we were anchored. We decided to move and relieve him of any additional stress caused for him to actually steer his boat around us.

One of the monsters unloading mid-stream in Panang

The last time we were at this island we had a storm come in from the southwest which caused a washing machine affect in the bay and since it is now the north east season we did not expect a repeat performance. WRONG!! Next morning in comes another southwester but thankfully not as bad as the previous time and by late afternoon all was back to normal with a light breeze from the northeast and surprisingly cool only 27 degrees. We hung here for a couple of days waiting for the right day without storms forecast before heading off again.

About to go under the main arch of Penang Bridge

Up at 0430 with expectations to leave for the long 87nm run to Port Klang, but to our surprise we  were fogged in with only 1nm visibility, first time we’ve seen this over here so we wait till daylight before leaving and thankfully we did, as fishing boats were everywhere with their nets. It was a long day as we motor sailed southeast with the tide and then against it, we reached the entrance to the port channel just as a ship was leaving so we moved over and made room, a storm was brewing on the mainland and the wind freshened to 20kts from the west which gave us assistance but as we know when the squall heads offshore the winds shift 180 degrees and generally strengthen. We were about 5nm away from an anchorage near the power station amongst the moored ships when it hit with blinding rain and strong winds from the northeast. We motored into it until we found a good clear area just on twilight. The storm faded after a couple of hours and gave the boat and us a good washdown.

The new southern bridge to Penang seems to go for ever

Port Klang is a long narrow port with both a north and south entrance, it’s also the closest to KL so is very busy day and night. We left the next morning expecting to ride the tide through the harbour, unfortunately this wasn’t to be. The tidal flow along the west coast of Malaysia is out of sync with the actual high and low water levels so is very difficult to predict in all areas for even the experts. We were experiencing neap tides at the time so the rate of flow was minimal (2kts max) and if you travel the whole day you generally get both advantage and disadvantage so it should balance however it always seems more when pushing it. When leaving the south entrance we again had to make room for ships, and when we say ships we mean it. These were up to 400m long, displace 500,000 tonne and travel at 20knts, they also put out 3 x 3m high bow waves with a wavelength of about 5m between each so when you hit them you go through like a submarine. So much for our freshly washed decks.



Construction of the main arch of the southern bridge

It was a pleasant 60nm run down to Port Dickson once we traversed through all the moored ships and barges, the coast is close so a bit more interesting and the water surprisingly clean. Admiral Marina provided us with a huge 25m berth for some unknown reason even though there was an abundance of smaller ones available. When we went north this marina was closed for renovations which at the time sounded odd because maintenance here in Malaysia is unheard of and is considered an unnecessary expense, why maintain when you can just build another with Government subsidy. After discussions with the manager it would appear that times are changing in some of the sultancy’s and more western business philosophies are being adopted most likely due to a crackdown on corruption.

The grand main building at Admiral Marina Port Dickson

Admiral Marina is very up market and the most expensive in Malaysia as it is owned and operated by a resort, it has been built properly similar to Rebak and does have a small haul out facility albeit by mobile crane. It only has 1 restaurant which has a captured market since it’s a 30min walk to any others. We only ate there once and the food was nice but more expensive than usual. We stayed a couple of days had a trip into Port Dickson town in the free shuttle bus and found a friendly Chinese watchmaker who repaired our ships clock which had for some strange reason stopped on happy hour. While we secretly hoped it couldn’t be fixed and it would be stuck forever he did a marvellous job while we waited and reactivated it back to life with a new brain for AU$9, our duty free booze thankfully spared as the numbers were dwindling far too rapidly.

One of the many waterfalls in Malaysia

Rather than doing an overnighter as we did going north and experiencing another storm from hell we decided to day hop south to Danga Bay in Johor and take our chances at anchor. We left at 1030 heading for the Water Islands just south of Malacca. This section of the Malacca Straits has the highest frequency of thunderstorms in the world, the worst of these come from the west and are called ‘Sumatras’, the same as the originating island 30nm away. These sumatras usually hit at 0300hrs at 50-60kts with torrential rain and lightning, a terrifying experience from all accounts. Thankfully few are encounted this time of year but when we left the anchorage the next morning at 0530hrs, 1.5hrs before dawn a menacing thunderhead was looming down from the northwest. We scooted along with the tidal flow dodging fishing boats and nets, some of which showed on the radar and some didn’t. We out ran it and suffered no effects thankfully. We arrived at the next anchorage at 1500hrs with the option of staying or continuing on to another unknown anchorage amoungst the moored ships adjacent to Singapore Strait, which we wouldn’t reach till after dark. We decided to stay and tackle what came our way. Pulau Pisang (Banana) Island was shallow and rolly from the passing ships but was quiet and peaceful, NO!! call to prayer, which we had to endure the previous night at Pulau Besar. The Mufti treated it like Karaoke and in typical Asian fashion was hellishly off key sounding more like a slow dying goat bleeting for its life.

You can see why they create such a large bow wave

The night passed without disruption and again before dawn a nasty thunderhead full of lightning began to bear down on us from the northwest. We up anchored and headed off with the final 40nm to the marina hopefully before the tide turned to run out. We motor sailed to Selat Johor the strait between Johor and Singapore weaving our way through the myriad of moored ships. The strait is pretty dirty with rubbish because it doesn’t flush properly due mainly to the well-known causeway that was once the only link between Singapore and the mainland of Asia. There are plans a-foot to remove the causeway which would be great from our point of view as it would allow dual access from both east and west, cleaning the water way as well.

Weaving our way through the mass of ships enroute to Johor Strait

We arrived at Danga Bay Marina just after the top of the tide which was lucky as the area east of the marina has silted up considerably due to the ongoing works to the foreshore. We had 1.5m under the keel which when we left last time would have been 3m. We would have hit the bottom this time if we’d arrived at low water. We were given a berth by Captain Ron the marina manager again 25m long and the same dock as previous. That afternoon at 1600hrs in came a storm from the northeast with heavy rain and lightning but this time we were safety tied up and out of harm’s way.



Most southern tip of the Asian Continent which we rounded before heading up the Johor Strait

Danga Bay has been and still is undergoing a major redevelopment with foreshore reclamation and construction of many high rise apartment blocks all targeted towards the wealthy Singaporean middle class. The plan is to create a world class living environment equal to say Darling Harbour in Sydney. Whether this can be achieved only time will tell. Already many of the older more local restaurants which we used to frequent have given way to the development which is sad so we have to venture further for our local cuisine at the right price.

A night at the local Danga Bay Bar with entertainers/yachties John and Shelley from Townsville bringing back memories of dock parties back home

We now have about 6 weeks to kill before the season is right to head east so will blog again before we leave.

Bye for now.

Beers and Cheers in this case a soothing Guiness

J&J

Chicken and Champas? It Ain't All The Time

Unlike backpacking which is somewhat predictable and easily planned, well for some people anyway, boating is totally unpredictable and making plans near impossible. Well it’s happened again. While sailing around the lovely waters of Thailand with plans of heading up to the Myanmar (Burma) border and then out to the Andaman Islands, 400 miles to the west, we discovered that a leak had developed where our rudder post comes into the boat. It was not bad but salt water in and around our new fuel tanks was not something to ignore and the problem was only going to get worse. We investigated the various options for repairs and even had 2 retrofit neoprene socks (gaiters) delivered from a yacht steering company in Denmark and had a nylon sleeve machined with the intention of cutting it in half and fitting it around the shaft to clamp on the gaiter. These ideas looked good, but the practicality of successfully fitting them was unrealistic. The only proper solution was to haul out AGAIN, remove the rudder and replace the ‘O’ ring seal. We investigated the costs of hauling out in Phuket but it was twice the price of Rebak and at least in Langkawi we knew all the suppliers and we had friends there to help if necessary, it was only a matter of when?

Thai girls just want to have fun



So do Aussie girls

We decided to hang around Phuket where conditions are relatively calm and enjoy the many restaurants and laid back lifestyle as we still had 6 weeks left on our visa.

Every day starts the same with a race to to tourist islands

The winds dropped out for several weeks which made the west coast anchorages rolly and uncomfortable so we stayed on the eastern side of Chalong harbour where we caught up with our friends Brigitta and Olav from Munich who have been sailing around the world for 12 years. They have now decided to ship their yacht “Helios” to Turkey rather than sail the long route around Africa, another legacy of the pirate situation west of India. Like all yachties Olav is easily riled when you ask the simple question “how much”, its amusing to see the blood rush to his face and the body tense up. The shipping agents are only different to the pirates in that what they do is considered legal and they don’t commit murder, so I guess it’s still the best option. We now know of 15 boats going to Turkey from Phuket via ship at around US$30,000 – $40,000 per yacht. When you ship your boat to Turkey it must be totally “dry” of alcohol so we were asked if we could help reduce the burden of rum aboard Helios, we obliged of course and were surprised how much the boat rose out of the water when we left. The burden was somewhat reduced, however after 12 years of cruising and defying customs rules unknown bottles kept appearing from the bowels of the ship night after night for us and others. Perhaps the boat may never be dry?

Olav and Brigitta from "Helios" what a loving couple

We also caught up with some American friends, Cathy and Jerry from the yacht Po’oino Roa who had a friend staying with them, Connie. It was a margaritas afternoon and we again got the thumbs up from them for the quality of our frozen concoctions, which is a big compliment as they have spent many years indulging in the real thing back in Mexico. After the fun afternoon we had in Langkawi last year doing the same thing Cathy had decided to purchase the ingredients as well so there was plenty to go around, the lack of an endless ice supply being our only restriction.



East Chalong anchorage - sublime

Wal and Gina came over and caught up with us again, they were now staying at a beach resort on the west coast and braving the roads on a motorbike, albeit a bit wonky as they were still getting used to riding in Phuket, they’d tried to get a car but with the place full of Russian tourists it was impossible. The Russians are taking over Phuket and there appears to be little resistance from the local Authority who no doubt are handsomely rewarded. The Russians are loud and obnoxious with a sense for music that makes Eurovision sound good, shame because Phuket is a lovely place. The locals here hate them because they cheat when paying the agreed price for a service, paying only half or a third then walking away claiming not to understand.



Koh Lanta much more laid back than Phuket



We decided to return to Langkawi the coastal route and stop at some places we hadn’t seen yet including Koh Lanta, Koh Muk and an isolated anchorage at southern Tarantao. The first 2 islands were great with lovely restaurants on the beach front and relatively clean water for a swim, Muk also has a huge hong called the Emerald Cave which is 80m long and connects the sea with a small inland lagoon which is open overhead and full of lush rainforest, quite spectacular especially if arriving after all the tourists. Tarantao was a disappointment as it was full of fishing, trawling and squid boats with generators running all night. So after a week since clearing out of Thailand we cleared back into Malaysia and then on to Rebak to work again.



Emerald Cave - Koh Muk

We hauled out of the water 3 days later and began the difficult task of removing the rudder and steering gear. The lower rudder bearing is a split bronze fitting that is thru-bolted to the skeg and encapsulates a section of the 50mm stainless steel rudder shaft. The thru-bolts were countersunk and epoxy glued in place which made intact removal impossible for 3 out of the 4. Those 3 had to have the heads drilled out and then the threads knocked through from either side separating the 2 halves. This took 1.5 days, half my drill bits a big centre punch and a badly bruised knuckle. The bearing was cleaned up and looked brand new.



Inside the hong with the cave entrance opposite

To remove the steering equipment meant unbolting and splitting the 600mm diameter aluminium quadrant that gripped the rudder shaft, luckily we didn’t have to remove any cables but just loosen them and release the autopilot chain. Due to the restricted access to this equipment another 1.5 days went by before the rudder finally fell free. We discovered the cause of our leakage problem when an ‘O’ ring was flicked out of its groove in the ferro-bestos rudder tube bearing revealing a flat surface to the whole inside face of the ‘O’ ring. The rudder shaft also revealed some wear and pitting.

Rudder removed

A trip into Kuah the next day with the expectation of “no have” from the suppliers we were pleasantly surprised with “how many” at only $1.50 each. We bought 2 replacement ‘O’ rings with the intention of adding the second inserted in the nylon sleeve that was machined in Thailand and was now having a groove machined in it here in Kuah by Mr Chin the Chinese man that made our fuel tanks.

Steering quadrant which had to be split in half to remove rudder, access is via a 300mm x 150mm hatch in the transom compartment, the support  ropes are feeding through a 50mm diameter hole in the deck for the emergency tiller

The rudder shaft was cleaned and repaired using an epoxy that hardens like steel then faired smooth like new. Another 2 days passed before the new seal was inserted and the rudder pushed up but the fit was too easy and we dropped it back out again. Further inspection revealed that the groove in the top bearing had worn as well so after packing with a thin strip of amalgamating rubber sealing tape the rudder was reinserted and this time had to be jacked up into place which indicated a good snug fit in the seal. A full mains pressure water test with the deck wash sprayer revealed no leaks, a test that we would expect worse than the sea could deliver. The lower bearing was reinstalled and epoxy glued in place same as previous. Next was to epoxy glue the new nylon sleeve with the additional ‘O’ ring seal into place and clamp the gaiter to it and the shaft, a much easier job now that they could be inserted over and onto the rudder shaft rather than retrofitted around it as was the intention in Thailand.

The new gaiter fixed to the nylon seal housing and rudder post. there is sufficient strech in the neoprene to allow the rudder to turn through 90 degrees

The quadrant with its new bolts was clamped back into its original position and cables re-tensioned. A few more adjustments with the autopilot to centre the wheel and all was finished like new. In the mean time we had epoxy faired the skeg where the lower bearing fitted and primed with epoxy paint then antifouled the area affected. We also cleaned, primed and antifouled the propeller and shaft. We were ready to splash again, yahoo! A trip out the front of the marina and an hour of turning and bouncing as hard as we could assured us that all was OK down below and no more leak. The steering was a little tighter but that is exactly what would be expected.

A relaxing afternoon aboard "Scarlet O'Hara" celebrating the sale of their boat, albeit with a few dramas

We engaged the services of an American surveyor another John from the yacht “Scarlett O’Hara” to oversee the whole of the rudder works and provide a full in and out of water survey including a rigging inspection to satisfy our insurance brokers who have insisted that these will be required next year prior to renewal. The boat is coming up to 20 years old and the rigging 10 years since it was replaced, critical times when dealing with yacht insurance. All passed with flying colours and thanks to our Townsville yacht broker a fair valuation in these hard financial times. In America they are virtually giving boats away.

Back in the water again and some maintenance work which was not done prior to leaving for Thailand, a bit of R&R around the pool, then we head back east for some more adventures, hopefully less traumatic. We are a bit sad about missing the Andamans but from the reports from other boats this year we didn't miss much with most of the corals bleeched by rising sea temps last summer. C'est la vie

Take care, bye for now.

Beers and Cheers with "Dreamweaver" in the background

J&J

Thailand Again

Finally finished all the work items on the current list we made which we wanted completed before our departure from our home for the past 7 months, Rebak Island Marina. The list was quite long and included a few items that had been carried over from prior to leaving OZ. The last of which was to paint the cockpit floor and in the process while lifting the beer fridge back into place one of the stainless steel handles broke on (madam’s side of course) and the fibreglass box hit the floor with a great thump. Our first thoughts were, is the fridge still working which it wasn’t, we didn’t even think of the newly painted floor. Disaster dawned on us, what no beer fridge the day before departure!! After several minutes of cursing it was out with the electrical test kit to isolate the problem and hopefully fix it, all the time hoping that it wasn’t the dreaded blackbox. Thankfully it was only a broken corroded earth wire which when replaced had our trusty beer fridge purring as normal again and a huge sigh of relief from both of us and probably our neighbours as well who no doubt heard the whole event.

Beer fridge about to be repositioned after repairs

The next day had us heading up to Telaga Harbour to fuel up, a relatively simple process if they remember to turn on the pump, otherwise it can be a drawn out affair. It’s not as if it’s the first time anyone has ever asked for fuel. Rather than take the yacht into the fuel dock we find it easier to ferry our jerry cans in the dingy, always on the watch full eye for speeding fishing boats. We actually met an American guy at Rebak who 18 months ago was doing likewise and was mowed down by one and had both his arms almost severed, he is very lucky to be alive today and of course the perpetrators were never charged or even sort after by the authorities, so it’s a reminder to us that we must be vigilant in these waters at all times.

All work completed and put back together with new water heater

Customs clearance is a breeze here in Malaysia and within 30 minutes we were cleared for take-off again and back aboard sorting out a few gremlins with the new smart charger system we installed.  The problem was traced to one of our battery isolators which must have blown it’s diodes that prevent backflow of power between different battery banks. The new charging regulator on the main engine was being activated by the alternator on the genset. The genset was disconnected from the isolator which is only needed in port on shore power, so the problem was solved and the new regulator recalibrated.

The next morning we were up at dawn, testing the genset again while running down the fridge and freezer, all was ok, so we headed out of the anchorage with 4 other yachts, all of whom had cleared the previous day and we were heading for Thailand again. From Langkawi, Thailand is only 20 miles away so we headed out to the Butang Island group in a good 15kt northeaster which turned more northerly during our run across to the west and increased to 20kt. We had a good sail and it shook out a few cobwebs from both the boat and us. We got the fright of our life when we looked out the back and saw something dragging behind, only to realize that it was a fish on our trolling line. Both of us ran around in circles trying to remember what to do, it had been so long since our last fish. We managed to haul it in and to our surprise it was a dolphin fish sometimes referred to as a maui maui or dorado and fantastic eating, it was the first we've ever caught. Things were definitely looking up.

It really was much bigger than it looks and great eating

The wind kept in from the north and freshened so our next run up to Koh Rok was on the nose and not particularly pleasant, having to motorsail all the 40 miles and when we hauled in our trolling line it was minus the hook, could have been anything that broke it off. Our entry into the anchorage was not soon enough as the winds increased to 30kt about 5 miles short as a line of squalls passed over, thankfully the small channel between the 2 islands offered good protection for the night.

Changing to the local Thai flag

The next day we headed off to Phuket and with the direction more westerly so the wind angle was much more favourable. We managed to sail the whole 60 miles in less time than it took to do the previous days distance, averaging 8kt for the day and with reefed sails pretty happy that we were getting back into the swing of things. The catamaran that left an hour earlier was just ahead when we entered the northern channel of Ao Chalong. Rather than go to the western clearance anchorage we stayed in the more protected and safer option of the northern anchorage with the view to using the dingy to ferry us to the customs clearance facility.

Next morning while splashing the dingy some friends arrived at the anchorage and informed us that another friend that we had sailed with in OZ and across through Indonesia had died the previous night in the local hospital after a bout of pancreatitis 2 days earlier. Russell at 64 was not in the best physical shape, but he had just finished having a lot of work done on the boat and was looking forward to some adventures here in Thailand before heading for South Africa. We had dinner with Russell and Daphne when they stopped at Rebak only two weeks earlier on their way to Thailand. The shock of the news sent shivers through both of us and brought home how vulnerable we all are and that each day should be treated as special.

We eventually got around to clearing in several days later to avoid the weekend surcharge and arranged a hire bike for the day so we could search out some spares and visit Daphne at the marina, which by the way is full to the brim, a legacy of the pirates to the west of India creating a bottleneck in these waters.

One of our neighbours the openning in the side is their garage

A service at one of the local Buddhist Temples was arranged for Russ and although not a believer in that faith, the monks provided a very sincere and moving tribute, along with some words and poems delivered by family members and friends who flew in from various parts of the world. After the service we all went to the Lighthouse pub on the waterfront at Ao Chalong for a wake having many farewell drinks and more anecdotes of people’s memories of Russ.

Another neighbour their garage is in the transom

As Xmas was just a couple of sleeps away we decided to head over to the western side of Phuket to an anchorage called Nai Han, which reminds us of Lizard Island, windiest place in Phuket without a doubt, but good holding and with the wind blowing it’s very cool. The wind hooted in at 30kt for 2 days and again on Xmas day, but we braved the conditions and had a dinner with a few others  at a local restaurant  on an adjacent beach, not at our favourite restaurant, as it was booked out. Daphne joined us with her son Gareth which was good, after coming down from the marina by car. The winds were generated by an out of season cyclone which originated in the Bay of Bengal about 200 mile west and then gradually drifted further westward and crossed southern India killing 33 people.

Xmas tea at a local retaurant at Nai Han

Boxing day as usual was spent lying around reading and about lunchtime we got a phone call from our friends Wal and Gina who have flown in from Cairns starting a 3 month trip through Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives and then Philippines. They're staying on a sistership to their own catamaran and they joined us at  our favourite restaurant and this time it was not booked out thankfully, and we all enjoyed the local cuisine and beer while we filled them in on some of the things to watch out for here.

Wal and Gina from Cairns

Next it was off to Patong Bay the party town on Phuket Island to welcome in the New Year 2012, a big difference to last year’s celebration in Langkawi which was very lame being a Muslim country. Fireworks abound sporadically all night with the option ashore to purchase bungers the size of a slab of beer which they will let off for you or buy a burning lantern which is released into the air with the intention of releasing all those built up frustrations. With the number that floated overhead and at least 1 in every 10 crashing and burning it should be a very relaxing new year with the whole of Patong now care free. On shore it’s a circus with bars jamb packed with drunken tourists and every conceivable piece of crap for sale at not so cheap prices.

A burning lanten released at Patong Beach

A very popular place after midnight

After seeing in the new year at the Margarita Bar listening to a great band it was back to the beach through the throng of the crowd to watch more fireworks directly overhead, arrived back at the boat at about 2am. About 10am while having a recovery cuppa we noticed a lanten hanging in the rigging, caught on the first set of spreaders, it was still in tack but without any candle so it must have lost it and dropped on to us, no damage thankfully but had to go up in the bosun's chair to retrieve it however. That certainly didn't assist our recovery.

An unwelcome visiter that had to be physically removed

Hope everyone had a good safe new years eve and lets hope 2012 will be a very good year. 

Beers and Cheers with Russ and Daphne (centre) and Linda in happier times.

Bye for now

J&J

Back From OZ

Well finally after about six weeks we have enough time to post another blog, life has been so hectic during and after returning to OZ that we haven’t had time to scratch. We are currently in Penang to pick-up new visas for Thailand and then returning to Langkawi tonight to make final preparations to head north again.

A trip back to Sydney is never complete without a day on this wonderful harbour

The trip back to OZ was eventful and thanks to Bernie for his hospitality and generosity in making the stay enjoyable and easy for us to get all the boat bits we needed. For those who don’t know Bernie, he’s the new guy in my sister Sue’s life and he wears himself out spoiling her rotten.

If you've heard how great a weekend at Bernie's is then try a month. Thanks Bernie

It was great to catch up with both families again and share some old and new experiences and it’s good to see that all the nieces and nephews are getting on with their individual lives and moving forward.

Our loan car thanks to Bernie

Unfortunately we didn’t have sufficient time to get to all parts of OZ that we are familiar with and catch up with friends but hopefully the blog will keep everyone informed and we are just an email away.

We keep being told that we are living the LUCKY LIFE, yeah sure Lucky Lucky oh so Lucky

Since returning to Langkawi we have dropped the boat back into the water after antifouling and have since finalised all the remedial works regards the fuel tanks and in addition carried out some improvements and repairs from our trip across from OZ last year and now can look forward to more exciting adventures ahead. From here on the blog should capture the ups and downs of our sailing life rather than the land travel and give an insight into why we do it and why others don’t.

Bye for now.

 Beers and Cheers with bubbles for a triple celebration, Jen's ?? birthday, 15 year anniversary owning Dreamweaver and splashing the day before at Rebak before a night at the Hard Dock Cafe.

J&J

Hard Yakka

2 months after returning from our inland jaunt we have finally put things straight with all the remedial work finalised and time again for some blogging. It has been a very frustrating and challenging period to do the extent of work that has been required to get things back in order. Far removed from the leisurely lifestyle which we have become accustomed to and thought would be the norm in lovely SE Asia it has been physically draining and hard for both of us to do the work. The conditions here are very different than back home even compared to Townsville the temp is 28-30 degrees 24/7 and humidity 90%, the AC has been a great help and the work would have been impossible without it.

Robbie the robot doing what he does best and making the most of available space

As you know we had to replace not 1 but 2 fuel tanks, the first of which was the subject of intense negotiations and haggling with the Chinese owner of the local fabrication company, well he was sacked after our first inspection of his work on the tank and another fabricator was engaged to build both tanks. Unfortunately this lost us nearly 2 weeks but Mr Chin was a much better man to deal with than Mr Lim and his pricing much more realistic and acceptable. Not sure how many years of bad luck one gets from just pissing off a Chinaman but should be much less than the 20 years for killing one.

2 new shiny tanks sitting on our centreboard

While the tanks were out it gave us the opportunity to carry out other maintenance work which would otherwise be very difficult so we replaced the remaining steering and autopilot cables to the quadrant which hadn’t been done in Darwin or Thailand and epoxy painted the section under the tanks. We removed the other (3^rd) fuel tank and cleaned all the crap out that had built up over the last 18 years and installed 2 inspection hatches in the hope it will assist with future cleaning. We removed the water heater that ran off the main engine heat exchange system which has now provided additional storage area for tools and spares. Just have to find a place for the new heater, perhaps a food cupboard will do nicely, negotiations are now underway for approval.

All clean now

 Our microwave died the other day for no reason which meant we had to find a replacement, lucky our local Chinaman appliance shop in Kuah had a similar size. Thinking of buying shares in his shop, prices are no cheaper than OZ even with the 5% discount they so generously haggle over and this is supposed to be a duty free island. So far we’ve bought a fan, an air conditioner and now the microwave and still they treat us if we’ve just arrived from the moon. One thing about Asia is you will never get close to the people, everything is straight down the line, business, business and more business.  

Hardstand flooded even more than last time from monsoonal storm

We arranged for a drum of antifoul which is compatible with our existing paint system and it is manufactured in Singapore but our supplier is located in Pangkor which is half way down the West Coast of Malaysia so we decided rather than risk a local transport company we would catch a ferry to the mainland at Kedah and hire a car for the 9hr return trip. This was exciting!! the car cost 30RM about A$10 for the day which we think was its total value thus negating the need for any insurance. It struggled all the way south and back but thankfully when it started pouring rain the wipers did work which was a great relief as night approached. Top speed was a very shaky 90km/hr even though the limit was 110 on the tollways. By the way we paid more in tolls than the car cost.

Both new tanks secured in place but still plenty to do

We were too late for the last ferry so spent the night in a budget hotel and checked out the local markets the next morning before heading back home with our drum on a very bumpy ferry as the winds had picked up overnight from the west and continued all the way to Langkawi. Most of the locals were laid out flat, throwing-up into plastic bags, some even before we got out past the entrance wall. Thankfully they were sent to the stern of the boat away from us.

You would never get away with this back home - flammable liquids infront of the exit on a passenger ferry

Back on board again we were pleasantly surprised the following day when 2 of the marina staff arrived by forklift with a birthday gift for John which is a custom at Rebak Marina. It wasn’t a large cake and the bottle of red wine was normal size so not quite sure why the forklift, but when in Asia you just go with the flow. We had a meal at the Hard Dock Café with some friends and enjoyed the cake, the red and the company, waking up the next morning with a slight hangover, a complete contrast to last year which was spent at sea en-route to Borneo.

Happy birthday John- they even sang it while we stood on deck above

Cracked a bottle of champas the other day as celebration for completing phase 1 of the work and now at Melbourne Airport on our way back to Sydney for a month to catch up with family and of course buy more boat bits for phase 2. Hopefully get our VHF radio fixed which suffered from severe electrical storms last year.

Beers and Cheers from 35,000 ft

Bye for now,

J&J

Home Sweet Home

It was a tossup, do we exit Thailand the quick way by plane or do the long scenic trip back to Malaysia by train. The cheaper option prevailed and saved us a couple of hundred dollars but boy oh boy was it long. The first class sleeper to Bangkok was very comfy with 2 adjoining single cabins and 1^st class service. We arrived in Bangkok 2hrs late which was OK as our next train didn’t leave for another 6 hrs. We didn’t bother venturing beyond the station as was our intention to have another browse through Chinatown and hopefully pick-up some bargains but we think all the bargains were left behind in Vietnam. Vietnam was definitely the best place to buy the cheap stuff like clothes etc.

All aboard and ready to go.

The trip to Hat Yai was comfy but uneventful and despite arriving on time we still couldn’t make our ferry connection at Satun due to our first bus breakdown of the trip and a change to the ferry timetable due to Ramadan (Muslim fasting month). The next ferry had us waiting for 4hrs and after the 1.5hr trip to Kuah Langkawi a hasty rush through Custom’s clearance, a speedy taxi ride to the Rebak ferry terminal we found that their timetable had changed as well and a further 1hr wait. Eventually we made it 2 days after leaving Chiang Mai. The plane would have taken 6hrs but hey where’s the adventure.

Bangkok Station

Back on board we found that all was OK as we had left it; all the water absorbers were full, the covers were still well fixed, the dingy was covered and well protected, BUT we noticed a bad fuel smell and upon closer inspection found that we had a leaking tank. NOT GOOD!!!! So much for some well -earned R&R, this was not to be.

Back to REALITY!! by the way if your curious its just a chisel handle.

Our intended short stay on board before heading off again has now been extended to sort out this problem which involves replacing not only 1 but 2 fuel tanks as the leaking tank could not be removed without the other. To make things worse the other tank could not be removed intact and had to be cut in two. 1000 curses from each of us to the builder who should have known better. The only saving grace is that by not staying in China for the 2 months as planned we now have time to spend doing the work on the hardstand and in an acceptable timeframe despite the frustrations of Ramadan!!



The offending tank about to be NBO'd

 

With the intended work ahead of us we decided to buy an air conditioner despite already possessing one which is obviously living a very lazy comfortable life back home in our shed. The heat and humidity here are unbelievable and you break out in a sweat just thinking of what’s ahead for the day. The only relief was a cold beer but after much relieving not much work got done, so the AC was a must, despite the unwanted cost.

This one had to be cut to extract it from the cabin

All the businesses in Langkawi and most probably Malaysia are owned by Chinese expats from several generations ago and it’s no wonder they are called the Jews of Asia. They are very difficult to deal with and are unscrupulous businessmen especially with the foreign yachties. They expect payment up front and the lack of competition and closed shop behaviour generally means negotiation is fruitless and they have the advantage. There are ways however to deal with these people and it’s a matter of getting them to potentially “loose face” by demanding they provide proof or evidence of something that you know they can’t, this is the only way to get them to back down and swings the pendulum the other way. You must always be prepared to walk away from the deal and bluff plays a big part of the negotiation. It can be fun and entertaining but it’s a real bitch when you get snookered. The new tanks are currently involved in such negotiations and the outcome hopefully will be to our advantage.



Rebak Hardstand awash after a recent heavy down pour

 We are still hoping to head off and travel through Central and Eastern Malaysia for a couple of weeks before heading back to Oz in October for a month so will try to keep the blog active throughout and hopefully get all the remedial works completed beforehand. We still have all our planned works to complete before splashing again in November.

By the way a few stats from our trip through Asia if you’re interested:

Duration:  101 days

Accommodation: 45 different places, average probably 3 star, prices ranged from AU$15 -$75 per night excluding the boat trips

Total Cost: AU$84 per day, an absolute bargain including everything from start to finish.

Photos Taken: 3,867

Our new Malaysian phone number is +601119631431

Bye for now.

Beers and Cheers from back onboard with our Skol again

J&J