Yahoo

The work is finally finished.  It’s taken longer than expected but the interruptions have been frequent and interesting.

For example, two days ago, we got a call from our friends, Jack and Sandy on Zorana, asking if we knew where Will was.  OK, Will is someone we met in Langkawi when we were hauled out. He was working on his wood masts as well as the yearly haul out to paint etc.

He has a 50 foot wooden schooner built, I think, in 1936.  Jack and Sandy were asking if we had any contact information for Will as his boat was aground.  The night before had been wild.  The sumatra winds were playing tricks again with gusts to 35 knots, absolutely buckets of rain and a good swell sweeping around the south end of Phuket making the anchorage uncomfortable.  But what did we know? We were watching a the third season of “Game of Thrones” (I call in Crown of Thorns) movie in our abode ashore with the air conditioning on.

So, when we told Jack and Sandi  that we didn’t have a Thai contact number for him we said we would do what we can to find him. Jack said other people in the anchorage had got together and managed to secure Will’s boat from the stern (he was aground bow in) with some old jib sheets they found on deck acting as the anchor line in place of chain.

It all turned out to be the perfect scenario for an almost disaster.  The contact in Langkawi said the person in the states they could get information from was away for the weekend.   The contact at the yacht club said Will had filled out a temporary  membership card but that the membership secretary had the paperwork and she was off on holiday for the week in Bangkok with no access to Will’s information.

So, to cut a long story short – no Will.  So I talked to the person doing the work on our boat, Mark fromLatitude 8, and he said he was busy taking care of another boat dragging in the anchorage. However, he said he would meet us at Wills boat at high tide and we would try to drag it off the sand/mud and set it up on another mooring.

With about 4 dinghys, 1 X 8HP and 3 X 15HP we were able to spin the boat around so the bow was facing wind and waves and then buoying the temporary anchor and leaving it behind we were able to push the boat up to another mooring.  All saved and the only damage done was a little water in the bilge from the boat planks working when the boat was being pounded down on the sand causing the planks to leak a little. That will subside after a period of time and Will can once again sail away.

It was Will’s lucky day but a warning to other sailors coming in to the anchorage not to take the moorings laid out by the harbour authorities.  They are attached to a steel loop on the concrete blocks but when they laid them out they threw out the concrete blocks into the water without checking to ensure they landed right side up.  So, not for the first time with the 100 odd moorings,  the line had chafed through a concrete block that landed upside down and pinned the rope to the ocean floor. Like a serrated knife the concrete block made short work of the line once a good load was placed on it.

The above was not the reason for this blog but rather to let you know we are back in operation.  Today we re-possessed our boat from the builder (no, we didn’t do all the work ourselves) and climbed onboard to look at the final product and test everything out.  It all comes just in time as it also time for us to clear out of Thailand so that we do not over stay our one month permit.

We are sad to leave our little Phuket abode.  If anyone is looking for a place to stay in Thailand we can certainly recommend this place.  It’s called Baan Suan Chalong, baansuanchalong@gmail.com

A first panorama shot. Not very interesting but this has been our home for 3 weeks

It’s on the road between Ao Chalong and Kata Beach.  It’s secure, comfortable, private, fully furnished, wi-fi and convenient. It does not have a website but if you are coming to Thailand and looking for a good place to stay in Phuket that doesn’t cost the earth then it’s a good choice.

Tomorrow we are headed back to the Ao Chalong Yacht Club and Sage 11.  It will be good to be back onboard and another chance for adventures as we move south.

How can one be excited by new sinks?

New counter top, new sink taps, new sinks. Nowhere near as exciting as kiteboarding in the Tuamotus

We are headed back to Langkawi and there should be another instalment of the blog when we get down there so if you are still reading this then dream of all the fresh fish that will end up on this counter in the next couple of weeks!