Day 49, Year 4: Ready to Roll
Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful, Hot, Sunny Day
Location: Rebak Marina on Pulau Rebak Besar, Langkawi, Malaysia
Hurrah! The transmission is reinstalled. But before I tell that story, I have to start with a little description of last night. We sent the log and then stepped off Windbird to head up to the Hard Dock Cafe for dinner and to hear the band. We could hear the music as soon as we came up into the cockpit and they were playing my song, John Denver’s “Almost Heaven, West Virginia.” I think the real title is “Country Roads” but I prefer the longer version. So now I have heard this song every place we have visited this year. Unbelievable. When we got to the Hard Dock, the place was packed and the man and woman providing the music were great. We learned that they play on the resort side of the island every night at the fancier restaurant but people listen quietly. When they come to the yachties side of the island those over 55 years of age seem to regress into their younger years and start dancing on the tables. It was great fun.
The great thing about today is that the Zainol returned with our transmission and within two hours it was reinstalled. He did some really nice work on the coupling that had given them such a hard time when trying to remove the transmission. We ran the engine and all seems to be fine, but we will have a better idea after we motor to Kuah tomorrow. We’ll wait until after that trial to celebrate, but all indications are that our mechanic did a great job. And since he is about the only mechanic in Langkawi who works on sailboats, we’re very thankful that he does such meticulous work.
Mark put the finishing touches on the deck while I put the final coat of paint on my various paint jobs – including the toilet lids and seats! Yes, I have painted the toilet seats. When our neighbor, Steve, saw them newly painted on a piece of plastic sheeting held in place by our diesel jerry jugs on the dock he said it looked like an art gallery – the “loo-ve.” (“Loo” is the British term for toilet!)
So, yes, we are leaving Rebak tomorrow morning, going to Kuah for a couple of days, then to Telaga Harbor to check out of Malaysia, and finally on to Ko Tarutao in Thailand to meet our friends Kevin and Claire next Tuesday. And Christmas is coming! So we are getting excited.
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| 081210 Day 49 Langkawi, Malaysia–Work Projects at Rebak |
