Stop – 1A
Ooops – I forgot our first stop which was Vancouver. A quick stop but great to see some old friends. Not many pictures as was stuck with just the tablet.
Waiting for Louise after an 18 hour flight – I guess some people have to work
Wow! I guess the colour is needed in the winter. Great preservation job
On one of the major bike routes through Vancouver so what better than a lighted bicycle
More photos on a return visit later
Stop 1 – Victoria
I know it’s been a while since the last posting. We haven’t stopped moving. Our first and third stop was/is Victoria, BC. And what weather – glorious May weather can be the best time of the year. And this year it’s greats.
Victoria in all its glory
It is close to Swiftsure Race weekend and boats are starting to fill the harbour.
Cherry blossoms are in bloom
“This is MY home but you are welcome for a short while” – Hubert
Visiting with friends is always best done with food –
Easter table at Sue’s
Hard at work. Sierd working up the saliva glands
Tea with friends – Penny
Pippa
Zak and Connie at Rebar
The glorious rhododendrons. Second only to India
Downtown Victoria – Tourists are coming already. Cruise ships, sun and the ever alluring west coast brings them in the thousands
We are on our way
I am posting again primarily as an experimentation with video. However, we have left and are now on a long trek back to Canada. We left the boat yesterday to stay in a hotel close to the Phuket airport as all the cushions on the boat are turned up, the electricity is turned off, there is no drinking water left in the tanks, and the gate into the rubber plantation doesn’t open until 0700hrs unless previously arranged for someone to get up and open it for us earlier.
Our flight is early and we are off to Singapore for another night and then returning to what the weather forecasters are saying is going to be a rainy Monday afternoon. But we are looking forward to that in that we are going to escape the 36C temperatures and incredibly debilitating humidity.
Please be patient with the videos as I try to incorporate them in a way which doesn’t drive people crazy i.e. not too long and not too often. However, doing videos on WordPress is a learning experience and I obviously have a lot to learn. As it is I am going to expose you to another Premier Boatyard video – watch or discard as you want!
Not much more time
We are now down to the last 4 days before we leave. We are doing well but then we have help. I started to remove all the old bottom paint but then realised there is no way I am going to be able to do this in the time we have.
So, I hired Bau and his hard-working team of two to come and do it for me. What a relief and what a job. First it’s the paint remover application and then it’s laborious scraping and sanding to get down to the fiberglass.
May look like the pox but it isn’t.
It’s now done thanks to their hard work and I can leave the boat to dry out while we are gone. That’s always good for a fiberglass boat as contrary to a lot of people’s thinking fiberglass is not impervious to water. Fiberglass does soak up water over the years and problems like blistering does occur. Luckily for us this has not happened although I do suspect that there have been a few bubbles in the gelcoat which has been repaired.
Another view after all the anti fouling has been removed and what remains is an old ‘barrier coat’ to protect the fiberglass
When we come back we do have a big job of filling, sanding, applying barrier coats, applying undercoat before we get into finally putting on the antifouling. Right now we can relax as a major part has been completed and we are very happy this has been done before we leave.
Living on the boat while on land is not the best but we are making do. Climbing up and down ladders to get to deck level, being out of the daytime breezes and having to walk 200 metres in the middle of the night to the washrooms are not all things we enjoy but there are some nice things out here in the country. There are a few great markets around where we can shop for fresh items for dinner like giant shrimps (tonight’s dinner was 8 large shrimp for$4, a freshly made papaya salad perfectly spiced for $1 and a large cauliflower for fifty cents. We rushed home before the work gates closed at 1900hrs and sat down to a great feast. Will really miss the markets here when we leave.
To finally put the boat into storage we usually cover the entire boat with shadecloth. We are partway there at this point as we have finished all the jobs in the forward half of the boat. In the next couple of days we will finally don the aft section and that should protect the fiberglass and the teak decks from the punishing sun and keep the boat a little cooler.
Shadecloth is magic to cover the boat. Keeps it cooler and protects the fiberglass and the decks
Partially wrapped to protect Sage from the sunshine
Hauling Out
Why does it always feel like we are off to the executioners bloc in some nightmare like the Game of Thrones when we haul out? I think it’s because dry land is not a place a ship should experience. However, hauling out is a necessity.
Unusually, this is the second time in the last 12 months. Why? Well, last July we had to haul out to fix a broken centreboard and now we are hauling out to put the boat into storage while we travel back to Canada for a break from the onslaught of the wet season.
The first question in this region is ‘where can one haul out at a reasonable rate yet be close to needed supplies and trained labour?”. Luckily two years ago Premier Boatyard opened up at the north end of the island of Phuket. It is a little tricky getting into Premier Boatyard as it requires going under the main powerlines feeding Phuket and making your way throught the mangroves to the haul out ramp.
From the above photo you can see the masts of boats that have already hauled out. Luckily for us we have a centreboard and we only draw 1.4 metres which is even less than some of the catamarans. Easy you say. Well, we are still very nervous.
It is shallow on the way in and we follow the lead dinghy that guides us but the catamaran that went in first already went aground and the ebb current is threatening to push us sideways onto the sand bank and the stakes poking up from the water’s edge. .
And then we are through. A deep hole in the mangroves greets us and we are held in place with bow and stern lines on both sides to hold us in place for the lift.
Part one is complete and now it’s time to haul the boat. This time it’s different. We are usually hauled out by travelift but this time we are going to be loaded on a trailer and hauled out by a tractor. In the photo above you can see people in the water positioning the boat for the trailer.
The trailer has hydraulic arms to support the boat while the tractor hauls the boat out of the water. It’s an ingenious design being simple, effective and efficient. However, we are always nervous taking the boat out. Just imagine if your house was being moved and was put on the water while the new foundation was being built. I think you, too, would have a few concerns.
Well, we are out. Connie is still up in the cockpit for a free ride while I am trying out the camera function on the tablet since my main camera has died. We are making our way up the ramp ready for the power washing and then the move to Sage’s home for the next six months. Yes, we are leaving the boat for that long and we are sad. It is just not the environment to leave her in but it is less worrisome than leaving her in the water.
So this is the view now from the back deck. We are kept awake at night by the chirping birds in the trees behind us. We can see the boats travelling up and down the channel between Phuket and the mainland in the distance and we can admire the flower boxes in the gardens off the stern. Weird for sailors who are used to watching the fish jump around the boat with clear unobstructed views of the horizon. We have to clamber over the stern and down the 6 metre ladder to head to the washrooms but best of all it is only a few metres away to the BBQ!
Remember those days
Here’s a picture of Sage sailing into Nai Harn Bay but in the background is an old acquaintance – Darwin Sound. We met Darwin Sound in !Alert Bay on our way back from Japan in 1990. We weren’t in Sage but onboard our old 8 metre boat Hejira. We took out their spinnaker pole to measure it up against Hejira and their spinnaker pole was longer than Hejira!
We still aren’t in the same league as Darwin Sound’s 70 feet but we’re getting there.
Unfortunately just after we dropped anchor Darwin Sound picked up their anchor and left. We haven’t seen them since.
Photo of Sage and Darwin Sound by M. Reck onboard SY Strider
What do we do all day
Here’s an interview with Connie
Setting new standards
I am not sure the face mask seen in the photo below meets the Workers Compensation Board standards? Apparently he was issued all the correct gear but chose the baggie instead. Just proves the old addage of you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink!
Best and worst of 2013
Best and worst of 2013
Best anchorage – Ko Muk – scenic anchorage and incredible hong to visit early before the hordes arrive
Worst anchorage – Patong due to sewer smells – this is not a scratch and sniff blog
Best special event – New Years Eve in Patong, Thailand – perhaps next year I will be better prepared and provide some photos of the most amazing fireworks display – see Fireworks Video
Most memorable sailing experience – entering and sailing through the Singapore Straits at night!
Best food – Thai food
Beautifully decorated always
Granted – unusual ingredients but if you’re open to something different then who knows. You may enjoy
Best restaurant – The Spice Room at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi
The Spice Room – awesomely decorated and the food to die for
Best drink – Singapore sling at Raffles Hotel. Must sit at the bar and tell him/her that you want to watch them make the drink
Best Yacht Club – Ao Chalong Yacht Club
Best Marina – 115 Marina, Singapore
Best boatyard stairs – Bousteads (AKA Wavemasters in Langkawi)
Best guest – Sandy Draper. She was a real trooper. For 5 days out of a two week vacation she survived the worst sailing weather in 2013. It was the same storm that sank at least 12 sailboats in Thailand
As always, Sandy is up for exploration and fun!
Worst guest – cockroaches. No explanation needed here.
Best piece of new electrical equipment – air conditioner. We put this on while we were in a marina and it kept Connie from abandoning the boat and returning to Canada
Best piece of new on deck equipment – shade awning for forward deck. Made by Erya in Langkawi. Great work and an awning that is a lifesaver when out cruising the islands and in the rainy season
Worst experience – breaking the centreboard on the sail between Kuching, Borneo and Singapore
Interesting Stats
Reviewing a few statistics while we sit in an anchorage with no wi-fi.
Browsing our log books and came up with these figures for 2013:
Number of miles travelled by boat – 2,224 (Total number of miles travelled since leaving Canada – 19,427)
Number of hours with the engine – 204
Greatest number of miles covered in 24 hours – 145 nautical miles
Number of countries visited by boat- 3 – Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. This does not count the number of countries tavelled through by land
Number of anchorages visited – 43 (this stat includes multiple visits to the same anchorages at different times of the year)
Number of marinas visited – 3
Number of days spent in a marina – 77 (we left the boat in a marina while we travelled to India)
Royal Langkawi Yacht Club
Number of guests – 3
Connie and Sandy at the waterfall
Luisa and Connie
Mena protecting herself from the sun
Number of unwanted guests – numerous range of cockroaches, ants more cockroaches (they are now all gone, we think)
Number of times the boat was hauled out – 1
Number of days with winds above 35 knots – 1
Number of babies under the age of 1 met living and travelling by boat – 2
Michael being introduced to working on the foredeck
Number of borders crossed inadvertently – 1 (Burma, while sailing to the Surin Islands in northern Thailand. The red line on the chart below is the Thai – Burmese border) – oops, this is 2014. Oh well….
Number of nights spent at sea – 5
Number of people converted from drinking german beer to gin and tonics – 2
Antje and Holger – recent gin adapters
Sage on sail 