Day 173, Year 4 Mission Impossible More Possible

Day 173, Year 4 Mission Impossible More Possible
Date: Monday, April 13, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Day; No Rain Yet
Location: Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia

Mission Impossible is looking a little more possible. We had a good day and we will need another good day tomorrow to make our goal. We did have a Skype call with Justin, Jo, and Ziggy this morning. They are home and doing well. We got a couple of Skype pictures of Ziggy with his eyes open and we got to hear him cry out for the first time. Unfortunately Skype photo quality is not always good enough to post. But it won’t be long now until we are there and will have some good quality photos to
send along.

That’s it for today.

Day 172, Year 4 Mission Impossible

Day 172, Year 4 Mission Impossible
Date: Sunday, April 12, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Day; Rain Late in the Evening
Location: Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia

We had an early morning motor to Rebak and launched into a flurry of activity. First we lowered the headsail, the only sail we have been carrying from Phuket, and took it up to the platform area to fold. Then then lowered the anchor to the dock and then got the anchor chain out of the chain locker and laid it out on the dock to be washed down along with the extra anchor rope we have in the chain locker. Next we washed down the boat to get the salt water off. It was way past lunch time when we
finished these chores, and then after lunch I cleaned the dinghy and sprayed it with UV protectorant. Mark sprayed down the anchor chain and the rope. It doesn’t sound like much, but each of these little jobs takes a lot of time. It was late afternoon before we got the dinghy hoisted up onto the cabin top and by early evening, it was time to put the anchor chain back in the locker. It was late and we were tired and Mark made the decision to hoist the anchor from the dock to the deck without me
on the dock to guide the anchor. I was in the chain locker flaking chain not aware of his decision when I head a thud and knew the anchor had hit the bow of the boat. Sure enough, we have a lovely gouge right on the bow just below the new stainless bow protector. I probably don’t have to tell you how upset this made both of us. Not sure what we will do about, but a good night’s sleep will probably improve our thinking.

The wonderful surprise of the day was an unplanned Skype call from Heather while we were at the the Hard Dock Cafe eating dinner. I had the computer with me to send Easter cards to Sam and Ziggy and while sending the cards, Heather called. We got to see Sam get the goodies out of his Easter bucket. We also got to see Jed’s parents who are visiting over the holiday weekend. What a special treat from so far away. And we even got to watch Sam as Heather checked her email and opened the card we
had sent to Sam. It is unbelievable that within ten minutes, I could send an e-card and then actually watch my grandson open it and took Skype photos of him doing this. Sam smiled and when the song accompanying the card ended, he signed for more. The internet is really unbelievable.

Tomorrow morning we hope to have another Skype call with Justin and Jo on their Easter Sunday evening. They should be home and it will be great to see Ziggy again and get an Easter photo of him. I’ll have to post the grandson pics with tomorrow night’s log.

In the meantime, we still have soooooooooo much to do. The inside of the boat has become a disaster area and it is now time to straighten that, cover the boat, and pack. I know we will make it, but right now it seems almost impossible.

Day 171, Year 4 Meeting Ziggy Via Skype

Day 171, Year 4 Meeting Ziggy Via Skype
Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day
Location: Telega Harbor, Langkawi, Malaysia

We rushed to shore this morning to make a Skype call to Justin, Jo, and Ziggy, but the connection here was just not good enough. So Mark, Donna and Gerry of Scot Free II, and I headed to Kuah. Once there, Mark and I went to an internet café that we had once before used to make a successful video Skype call to Justin and Jo. It worked and we got to see our grandson for the first time. He and his momma have been through a pretty traumatic experience, but both are looking great. Ziggy is still
sleeping a lot and having a bit of difficulty latching on to nursing, but the hospital staff has been very supportive and Justin and Jo are incredibly positive which is wonderful after such an ordeal. Ziggy should be allowed to go home tomorrow and things will probably improve ten-fold once they are home. Our thoughts are with them every minute of the day and we can’t wait to see them in a week when we arrive in New Mexico.

We did more shopping for essential parts in Kuah in the late morning and then headed north out of town.. We were looking for a dinghy repair shop where we could buy dinghy drain-hole plugs. We found the shop and bought the plug that we will use to plug a leaking through-hull. We drove north on the east side of island to a place called The Hole in the Wall. We didn’t actually go there as it required a boat ride, but we did have a great lunch on the dock. We had a bit of a set-back on the way
home as we had a flat tire. But there was a spare in the trunk, so we made it home just fine. Mark and I launched into a late afternoon frenzy of work and will move the boat to Rebak Marina in the morning. We are working hard, but we think we can get everything ready by Wednesday. I’m sure that is optimistic, but we will be ready, one way or another.

Day 170, Year 4 Arrival in Malaysia

Day 170, Year 4 Arrival in Malaysia
Date: Friday, April 10, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day with Late Afternoon Clouds
Location: Telega Harbor, Langkawi, Malaysia

We had a much better day today motoring from Ko Lipe to here. The winds were right on the nose again but at least the seas were flat and the winds were light. We went directly into the marina to the fuel dock to fill our tanks. Most cruisers believe that you should leave your tanks totally full to reduce condensation. So we have that job done. We then rented a car and took our Monitor windvane to Kuah to the second hand shop to be sold, bought a suitcase, and a new phone card for Malaysia. At the second hand shop we bought this ghastly red and white candy striped sun cover for Windbird. We had hoped to find good tarps here, but they just don’t exist. So we’ll be all set for Christmas when we return next December-green and white boat, red and white sun cover. The sun cover is a disposable item so at least it is not a permanent addition to Windbird. We have lots more to do in town, but almost everything was closed by the time we got there today. We had forgotten that in Malaysia Friday is the day off and Saturday and Sunday are working days. After we run around in the morning making other purchases, we will move the boat to Rebak to her new home for the next few months. So little time and so much to do.

The really exciting thing is that we are sitting in the lobby of the marina here and are on the internet. We got to see the first photos of our new grandson Ziggy and he is beautiful. And actually Jo looked great after her long ordeal. A photo of Ziggy will be posted with the log from two days ago introducing Ziggy. So if you want to see the world’s newest beautiful baby, take a peak.

Day 169, Year 4 A Star is Born

Day 169, Year 4 A Star is Born
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009
Weather: Sunny Day That Went Pear-shaped; Winds S/SE 25 and Stormy
Latitude: 06 degrees 29.091 minutes N
Longitude: 099 degrees 18.117 minutes E
Location: Ko Lipe, Butang Group, Thailand

This is the second log I have sent today. The first was to introduce our new grandson., Ziggy Milo Handley. At that time the skies were blue and things were great. And then everything went pear-shaped. That means everything went to hell in a hand basket. But more about that in a minute. First I must tell you about our little celebration on the beach at Ko Lipe in Ziggy’s honor. Our friends, Donna and Gerry of Scot Free II presented me with jar of marinated artichoke hearts and Mark with a cigar. Now this was a first for Mark, but he actually took one puff in Ziggy’s honor. After dinner, we found a little store that sells the beautiful Chinese lanterns that you light and they soar high in the sky. Donna and Gerry launched the first one in Ziggy’s honor and then Mark and I launched ours. It went up and up and up as if it were trying to reach the full moon. A number of children that had gathered uttered the Thai equivalent of ‘wow’ and we were all in wonder of the light that just rose higher and higher in the sky. All I could think is that a new star is born-our Ziggy.

Now back to the really terrible day of sailing. The winds increased to 25 knots right on the nose, the seas became VERY choppy, and Windbird hobby-horsed into the waves with the bow digging deep bring tons of green water over the deck. We haven’t had conditions like this since our crossing from Norfolk to St. Martin. If anything was going to leak, it would do it today. The good thing is that only the forward cabin hatch leaked (which it always does) and the forward Dorade over the v-berth leaked (which it always does). But then we remembered that we had not caulked the holes in the deck where the toe rail ripped away back in the Java Sea. We had plugged the holes but then cleaned them out to install the new piece of toe rail. That never happened, so we got water in the cabinets on the starboard side of the boat. We had all the sails stored in the v-berth and I thought maybe that was why the bow was digging deep into the water. But I went below and pulled them to the middle of the boat and the result was not much better. All I really did was make a mess of the inside of the boat. Once the weather conditions eased a bit, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning. At this point it seems that there is so much to do to get the boat ready to leave that we will never make it. But I know we will, hard as it might be.

We didn’t get to check the internet here to see the pictures of our newest grandson, but we will make it to Malaysia tomorrow and be able to get a phone card so we can talk to Justin, Jo, and Ziggy on their Friday evening. We are so anxious to get to high speed internet tomorrow so we can see the photos of Ziggy. We will pass those along when we reach Telega Harbor.

090409 Day 169a Butang Group (Ko Lipe), Thailand–A Star is Born
From 090409 Day 169b Butang Group (Ko Lipe), Thailand–A Star is Born Video

Day 169, Year 4 Introducing Ziggy Milo Handley

Day 169, Year 4 Introducing Ziggy Milo Handley
Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009
Weather: Sunny Day; Winds SE 15
Location: Sailing from Ko Rok Nok to Ko Lipe, Thailand

It’s a boy! Ziggy Milo Handley was born Tuesday night at 11:47 pm. He weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces and Justin says he is really cute. After 18 hours of labor at home and then 10 hours of labor in the hospital, Ziggy had to be delivered by C-section. Jo and Ziggy are still in the hospital recovering but should be home soon. Justin said he and Jo finally got a nap after three straight days of no sleep. So all is well in New Mexico. Justin, Jo, and Ziggy, we love you!

Ziggy Day One