by Judy Handley | Nov 14, 2009 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 19, Year 5: All About Heads
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2009
Weather: Hot, Sunny Morning with Rains Beginning Midday
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia
This was a day of mixed emotions for Oma and Granddad. First we did a Skype call with Mark’s family in Florida where our son Justin, his wife Jo, and Ziggy are visiting. We got to see Mark’s family and got to watch Steve’s grandbaby Hayden running around and talking up a storm. He turned two in August and he is a bundle of energy. When Hayden looked at Mark on the computer screen he called him Grandpa. We all had a good laugh at his confusion. Mark and his brother Steve look so much alike that even though Steve was sitting right beside Hayden, the logic of a two year-old allowed him to think Grandpa was also on the computer screen. Ziggy was already asleep when we called which was a disappointment but we did get to talk to Justin and Jo. A little later Mark’s sister Jeanie arrived and Ziggy woke up to meet her, so we did get to see him today. That made us happy, happy even though Ziggy was obviously a little sleepy and not quite as lively as usual. But regardless, those big inquisitive eyes kept searching the computer screen to figure out just who he was looking at. We were bubbling with joy at seeing him. And then Jo asked us if we had heard about Sam’s accident. The emotions swung from elation to fear. What accident? After hearing the story from Jo we understood that Sam, our daughter’s oldest child, had fallen on Thursday and hit his head. He had to be taken to the hospital where they put in six stitches right above his left eye. After ending our conversation with the Florida gang, we called Heather to find out more detail about Sam’s accident. I was a teary-eyed Oma at this point, but after talking to Heather I felt much better. The accident happened at daycare when Sam went running out of the building to go meet his dad who had come to pick him up. Somehow he fell off the porch and his head and a rock collided. Jed took Sam to the Emergency Room where they put in the stitches. And Sam handled all of this very bravely. He didn’t like it when they wrapped his arms in a sheet like a straight jacket so he couldn’t move while they did the stitches, but otherwise he did great. When he got home he said to Heather, “Mama, big bonk.” And bonk it was for sure. But all is well and our emotions are back on track after a morning here of wishing we weren’t so far away.
Now . . . while on the subject of heads, I’ll take this opportunity to address a question posed to us in our blog by Rich. We have never met Rich but he has been reading and responding to our logs since the beginning of our voyage and we feel like good friends. Rich responded to my log of yesterday where I stated that two heads are better then one. Of course, I was talking about getting our heads together to share information, but he used that as an intro to ask the question about whether it is a good idea to have two heads (meaning bathrooms) on a boat. He has been against the idea of a boat with “two heads” but was asking for our input on that. It is a question that many cruisers wrestle with and there is no one answer. A second head definitely takes up precious space, but for us, two heads are definitely better than one. We have a v-berth forward with a head (sink, toilet, and shower head without a separate shower stall) and an aft cabin with a head (sink, toilet, and shower stall). We are a center cockpit boat and because of that, our main cabin is little smaller than most, but we have our aft cabin bedroom and bathroom which is very convenient, especially as you grow older and find you have to go to the bathroom more often during the night. We don’t have to travel out to the main cabin to a shared bathroom, and we like that. The v-berth is used for storage when we don’t have guests, but is transformed into a guest bedroom when people are visiting. The fact that visitors, no matter how seldom we have them, have their own space and bathroom is something we really like. It does mean you have to maintain the plumbing in both heads, but since the forward head is not used most of the year, we just shut off the sink and the toilet and only open those up when guests arrive. That way it is really not like maintaining two heads constantly. Our recent change of removing the thru-hull to the forward head and running water to it from the main thru-hull in the engine room reduces further our maintenance of that part of the boat. So if you are looking for a boat for two people and don’t have a lot of family or friends that will be visiting for extended periods of time, one head is sufficient. But if you have adult children that will be visiting, as well as other friends, I would definitely say that two heads are better than one.
With today’s log, I am posting photos that were taken of our family back in August when Justin, Jo, and Ziggy visited us on the Cape on their return from England. Kathy, a good friend of our daughter Heather, is a photographer and she did the family photo shoot for us. Since I’ve been thinking of kids and grandkids all day, I think this is the perfect place to post these photos.
by Judy Handley | Nov 13, 2009 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 18, Year 5: Productive Work Day
Date: Friday, November 13, 2009
Weather: Hot, Sunny Day with Late Evening Rains . . . Again
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia
While writing the log date, I realized that it is Friday the 13th. Thankfully we made it through the day with no bad luck and hope you did the same. We started our day by meeting the couple on the boat in the berth closest to us. We actually have no one on either side of us and to our starboard there are a couple of boats with no people onboard at this time. Frank’s boat is to our port and he has just returned from a foray to South Africa. There are many boats here that do the Indian Ocean circuit each year and then return here as a home base.
We then spent our day checking jobs off the TO DO list. I finally got the spice drawer cleaned out. In this extreme heat, spices seem to last only a year. They then solidify and mold. Yuck! So I carefully cleaned out each spice jar so they can be reused. It was painful throwing away the contents, but now that job is done. While I was working on that, Mark was running the new water hose to being water to the forward head from the engine room. This was made necessary by the removal of our forward thru-hull, but now that job is complete. We have a working forward head and one less hole in the boat. In order to do this job, all of the floor boards had to be taken up and that prompted me to cleaning. Every time Mark removed something, I cleaned it. What a great duo!
Next we worked together to take the anchor chain out of the locker, all 300 feet of it, and pay it out on the dock. Then when we brought it back in, Mark applied Lanocote, an Australian sheep lanolin product, to the chain that sits deepest in the anchor locker to try and slow the rusting. The chain really needs to be regalvanized, but for now the lanolin will have to do. Mark also caulked a hole in the compression post that has been leaking right over the table in the main cabin when it rains really hard. After enduring a few too many sprinkles in the main cabin, we remembered that when we removed everything for the paint job in Thailand, that hole in the compression post was caked with caulk. So now that is done once again, and when the rains came this evening, we didn’t get the sprinkles inside. Let’s hope that took are of the problem.
The last job of the day was to start removing the connections on the LPG lines running from the tank outside in a locker to the inside to our stove. We have arranged for travel to town on Monday with Cory and Barbara of Increscent Moon. That will allow us to share the cost of the car and at the same time, get the supplies we need for the reinstallation of the LPG hose. We have only one little canister of butane left for the little campstove we bought in Thailand last year. And people we have checked with say this is not available here. So not a lot of cooking is going to be done here until we can find a gas supply. In honor of that, we went out to dinner at the Hard Dock with Cory and Barbara tonight. Their boat is a sister ship to Windbird, only the second we have met during our voyage. It is so nice to have a sister ship nearby so you can check in when it is time for repairs. When you have the same boat, you probably have had the same problems, and as always, two heads are better than one when thinking through a problem.
by Judy Handley | Nov 12, 2009 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 17, Year 5: Continuing Stove Saga
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Weather: Hot, Sunny Day with Late Evening Rains
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia
After our whirlwind trip to Kuah yesterday, today was slated as another work day. I had laundry and cleaning to do and Mark’s big job of the day was to install the piece of toerail that got ripped off on our passage from Bali to Borneo. We had to have the piece made in Thailand but we just didn’t have the chance to put it back in place before leaving there. It was a beautiful sunny day, but you could have fried eggs on the deck it was so hot. That made Mark’s job even more difficult. But he persevered and now I only wish that the rest of the toe rail looked as good as the newly installed piece. While waiting for the laundry to soak itself clean, I worked in the galley doing some much needed deep cleaning. My cleaning took me behind the stove and there I saw something I wasn’t prepared for. Where the copper tubing that delivers propane gas to the stove comes through protective sheet metal behind the stove, it looks very much like the tubing is split. Without removing the stove, we can’t tell for sure, but because a propane leak is so very serious, we have shut off the propane at the tank are going to replace the copper tubing as soon as we can find the appropriate parts. Whether or not we really find a split when we can see the tubing up close, the tubing looks corroded and should be replaced in any case.. We were thinking that we have faulty sensors and that is why every time we try to turn on the propane the sensors start going crazy. Then we got a great email from Bob, one of you wonderful people out there who reads our logs and sends us much needed information, and Bob suggested that it might be a faulty solenoid. And now we have a third possible explanation for our problem. When we were in Kuah yesterday, we found a solenoid and LPG control valve, but no sensor. That would have to be ordered. So we decided to further investigate the problem and return to town on Monday to buy new LPG hose and attachments and to place the order for the sensor and buy the new solenoid if needed. We may have to replace all these parts, but we will start with the installation of the new LPG hose and attachments and see where that takes us. Shopping here on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday is tricky as the Muslim stores are closed on Friday and some on Saturday and the Chinese stores are closed on Sunday and some on Saturday. So we’ll play it safe and wait until Monday. And speaking of safe, after discovering the split tubing, we had to try and find a way to get any possible propane gas out of the bilge. We read what we could find on the web, which wasn’t much except for serious warnings about making sure you don’t let any propane get into the bilge. So we decided to put the shop vac up on the deck and use the hose and extension pieces to get down into the bottom of the bilge. We turned on the vacuum on the deck and let it run for more than half an hour. Our thinking is that by leaving the vacuum on for a long period of time, sucking air out of the bilge, that we have removed any propane gas. Propane sinks and can explode when you start your engine if not dealt with, so we will continue to search for any other safety measures we can take. When we were talking with Bud and Nita of Passage in town yesterday about our problem, Bud asked if we had inspected the copper tubing for possible leaks. We had not and for once I am thankful that I spend so much time cleaning.
by Judy Handley | Nov 11, 2009 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 16, Year 5: Back in the Land of Nasi Goreng
Date: Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Weather: Sunny Morning Turning Stormy in the PM . . . Again
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia
What a whirlwind of a day. We left Rebak on the 9:30 ferry with our very heavy mainsail with us. We met Mr. Din at the ferry dock in Langkawi and got our rental car for the day. We pay 40 Malaysian ringgits ($11.85 US) for a car with only a breath of fuel in the tank. There’s no paperwork, no insurance, no guarantees, and never any fuel. You just take the car and hope it will make it back to the ferry dock in the afternoon. So we thanked Mr. Din and took off for the day. We stopped in the little town of Matsirat to get fuel and then headed to Kuah. We drove straight to the sail shop to drop off our mainsail. While waiting for Ben, the expat that will do the canvas work, we shopped in a little Indian store that I was told had the best array of spices in Kuah. It is right downstairs from Ben’s shop, so this was very convenient. All of our spices onboard simply solidified in the heat while we were gone, so it was good to be able to replenish the Indian curry spices. I also walked up to the wet market to get a few fresh veggies. When I returned, Ben had arrived and had our sail in hand. We discussed a few details of sail cover design and then we were off for other shopping adventures in Kuah. Our first stop was at a small computer shop that we had heard does very good work. We needed help getting our new wifi booster installed and working. We parked and walked a few feet when we saw Bud and Nita of Passage. They were on the hard in the Boat Lagoon while we were there getting our boat painted and it was great to see them again. They were going to the same computer shop, so we had a chance to catch up on plans. They are headed to the Red Sea, so we will definitely see them at different points in the next few months. We stopped at an ATM on the way to shop and found that we could not get money there. Oops! So Bud loaned us the money to get our work done with a promise from us that we would stop by Telaga Harbor on our way home in the late afternoon to repay.
We were successful in getting the wifi booster installed and working, so on we went. We had a mile long shopping list but started by stopping for lunch. We went to a food court and were reminded that this is the land of Nasi Goreng. That is simply fried rice with Malaysian hot spices and we added ayam which is chicken. It costs about $1.30 US each and warms you from the inside out. We then went to our favorite hardware store in Kuah and bought epoxy glue and matting to replenish our stores, various engine and transmission oils, and continued on. We went to the Langkawi Yacht Club to see Paul of Nauti Bits who is trying to sell our monitor windvane and a few other items. One thing had sold since we left last spring and we left two more items. Then it was on to grocery shopping, a stop at Peninsular Marine which is the West Marine outlet here, another hardware store, and the bakery. It was late afternoon by this time and the rain was pouring down, so we started our trek back home. We did stop at Telaga to repay Bud and Nita and we were back at the ferry dock in time for the 6:30 pm ferry to Rebak.
We are spending the evening putting away all of the things we bought today and trying to figure out where we will actually store all the food and drink we need for the long trek ahead. We have done this before, but this next season offers fewer opportunities to restock. Always a challenge.6
by Judy Handley | Nov 10, 2009 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 15, Year 5: Second Thoughts . . .
Date: Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Weather: Sunny Morning Turning Stormy in the PM
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia
Knowledge is supposed to be a good thing, but when you spend a day reading about how to get home from here, you get just a little apprehensive. I think I’ve checked every website out there and learned just enough to be dangerous. Just the sheer miles are daunting and then there are the piracy issues if you go through the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea or the wicked weather if you go around South Africa. Cochin, India is looking much more inviting than the Maldives, but again, that is at first glance. And then the Red Sea, which we thought would be cheaper for us than going all the way around South Africa, is looking more and more expensive. Just the Suez Canal transit alone will cost us $500-$700 US plus all the backshish (alternate spelling of baksheesh) we have to pay. Wikipedia states that, “Baksheesh is a term used to describe tipping, charitable giving, and certain forms of political corruption and bribery in the Middle East.” We know from other cruisers that this form of tipping is not an option. If you don’t pay, you might be awakened in the middle of the night during a terrible storm and told you must leave the Suez Canal RIGHT NOW. Fun and games. But there are wonderful things to see and beautiful people to meet, so we’ll continue the research and hopefully come up with a plan that suits us. We are still sticking with the Red Sea route for now, but as with almost every cruising couple we have met here, there is still a tad of indecision lurking out there..
Mark continued his work on our stove issue and determined that it is faulty sensors, so tomorrow we trek to Kuah on the main island of Langkawi to look for sensors, take our mainsail in to have a new cover made, and shop, shop, shop for food, drink, and various boat things. We have just gotten Windbird cleaned out and ready for provisioning, so now the process of filling her up with food stores for the next six months begins. It is an arduous task, but once done, you really do have your food supplies for months and only need to catch fish and buy fresh veggies and fruit when it is available. By tomorrow night, Windbird will sit just a little lower in the water with all the goodies we find in town.
by Judy Handley | Nov 9, 2009 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 14, Year 5: Looking Forward
Date: Monday, November 9, 2009
Weather: Still Sunny and Hot
Location: Rebak Marina, Pulau Rebak, Langkawi, Malaysia
Our first issue of the day was dealing with the website. The host was able to restore the site with formatting up to November 2, but we lost everything from that point on. That was not a problem as we have copies of everything, but we did lose the comments posted after November 2. So if you sent a comment after that date, maybe you would take to the time to send it again so we have a record of who contacted us when giving us the information you sent along. The second web related issue of the day was that the internet here is off and on. I’m not sure what is happening, but I doubt that I will get to send this log tonight. We are definitely offline right now, so we’ll have to wait until the marina office opens tomorrow morning to see what’s happening with that.
The success of the day was that we got the headsail tack sewed then cleaned and raised the sail. So we now have a headsail and staysail. On Wednesday we will take our mainsail to Kuah to have the new sail cover made and by the end of the month, we will be ready to sail-hopefully. I don’t want to be too optimistic as it seems each time we are, some other issues rears it’s ugly head, like our stove. Today it started acting up and by this evening, we are using the little butane gas stove we bought when we lived on land in Thailand to finish cooking our dinner. We have some electrical problem that causes the propane solenoid to keep shutting itself off. This problem is not one that we expected, but so it goes.
Early this morning our neighbors across the dock in front of us invited us over for coffee at 3 pm to discuss plans for our voyage from here to the Red Sea. Linda and Mike are from New Zealand and their boat name is Hanalike (Ha-na-like-ee). As with many of us, they are a little undecided as to what they will do this season. They will either leave Thailand in January headed for the Red Sea or they will head back home. They wanted to pick our brains as to see what cruisers we know that will be making the trip. Just the fact that they wanted to get together to discuss this prompted both Mark and I to start looking forward. After raising the headsail, we spent the rest of the day searching the web (when it was available) for information from cruisers who went through the Red Sea last year and figuring out just how far we have to travel from point to point. Yikes! It is a long way across the Indian Ocean and up the Red Sea, but at least now we have a better handle on what faces us. We still have to decide if we are going north to the Andaman Islands and whether we will stop in Cochin, India or in the Maldives south of India. But in any case, we have about 1500 miles from Thailand to either the Maldives or India and then another 1400 hundred miles from either of those places to Salalah, Oman. Just the passages to those locations will take us roughly twelve days each and then it is another 650 miles from Oman to Aden in Yemen. That’s another five days. And then we have the 1500 miles up the Red Sea to Port Said on the Mediterranean side of the Suez. That trip will be done in baby steps-day trips from one anchorage to another, so it could take a month or two. So we have lots of miles to cover before we reach Turkey in the Mediterranean. We have finally started the planning for this part of our voyage and will spend much of the next two to three weeks here in the marina doing just that while we have the internet connection, albeit not the most reliable we have ever had.
One last note. We went over to check on Shirena after a dip in the pool late this afternoon. As I have mentioned before, Tina and Robert of Shirena are back in Australia to attend a family wedding and we are just checking on the boat every day or so to make sure all is well. While there, we noticed that Wild Card is just down the dock. That is Fatty Goodlander’s boat and he apparently came in yesterday. For those of you who read Cruising World, you know his name well. Wildcard was here earlier and Robert and Tina got to know Fatty and Carolyn quite well. We met the Goodlander’s in New Zealand, but maybe if they are still here when Robert and Tina return, we can get to know them even better. I’m assuming they are getting ready for the Red Sea run and I would love to talk with them about that. We also saw Margaret and Patrick of Aqua Magic. They came in today and are right beside Shirena. They will be leaving for five weeks in the UK on Wednesday and when they return, they will start their trek toward the Red Sea. So the cruisers are gathering and it is time for those cruiser get-togethers where we share information and thoughts.
