Day 106, Year 4: Trip to Yacht Haven
Date: Thursday, February 5, 2009
Weather: Hot in the Boat Lagoon; Breezy at Yacht Haven
Location: Boat Lagoon Marina, Phuket Island
Work on Windbird is still going really well. Oh’s crew finished taking every last bit of hardware off the cabin top today. They were able to remove things that Mark and I had given up on, so that was good. They then cut thick plastic pieces to just fill every opening. They secured them in place with a black silicone caulk to keep dust and water out of the boat but this will allow them to sand and paint right up to the very edge of every opening. They moved so quickly and while I was down in the boat vacuuming debris that had fallen in during the hatch removal process, even the companionway got saran wrapped over and the sanding of the hull began. The only problem was that I was below with no way out. I started banging on the companionway cover, but no one could hear me with all the machines going. I could see one of the crew in the cockpit, but he couldn’t see me through the dark glass. So I just started sliding the companionway hatch, slowly moving the saran wrap cover. The young man saw this and took the tape off the saran wrap covering so I could get out. But it is obviously not going to be easy to get in and out of the boat from now on. In fact, the crew foreman really doesn’t like it when we are inside the tent. He gestures that the sanding dust is not good for us and shoos us out. So I am having a bit of Windbird withdrawal, but as we watch the progress, I’m sure we will settle into a pattern where we can visit Windbird in the early morning or late evening just to check on her. In the meantime, we will continue to work outside the tent on getting all the hardware off the mast.
Mid-afternoon, we stopped our work on the mast and drove north to Yacht Haven Marina. We were to meet Mr. Nop there. He is the gentleman who is trying to persuade us to go with him to get our stainless work done. He speaks English, instantly draws plans for what you want, and promises quality work. Everyone we talk to about him says he is more expensive but he produces really top quality work. He wanted us to come to Yacht Haven to see arches he has built on other boats in one and half-inch stainless. We were insisting on two-inch and that was causing the quote to be just too high. He showed us boat after boat with one and a half-inch and they did all look substantial. So he has won our favor and we will go with him to have an arch built to hold our solar panels and wind generator with dinghy davits for raising the dinghy out of the water from behind the boat. He will also replace our aft life lines with stainless rails. So more money that we don’t have is being spent!
While at Yacht Haven, we visited with Donna and Gerri on Scot Free II. We haven’t seen them since Singapore, so it was great to get together again. We had a great meal at their favorite waterside restaurant and then headed back to the Boat Lagoon. Phuket is a yachting center in Southeast Asia but it really has a hodge-podge of marinas. Yacht Haven is all the way on the north tip of the island and it has no haul-out services. Boat Lagoon where we are has the haul-out services and all of the other boat repair services. It is a marina, but it has no facilities for yachties-no bathrooms, no showers, etc. You can use the facilities at the hotel and at one of the restaurants, but they are far from the boat yard. Royal Phuket is next to Boat Lagoon and has haul-out services but little else. And it costs a fortune to stay there in the water. Then there is Ao Po where we have spent a fair bit of time. It is brand new and has no boat haul-out and no boat services, but the staff is friendly and
the area is beautiful. So no one marina in Phuket has it all.
Tomorrow morning we have arranged to do a Skype call with the Concord Yacht Club that gathers on the first Thursday evening of each month. We will call them at 8 am tomorrow morning which is 8 pm on Thursday Eastern Standard time. That should be a great start to our day. Then it will be back to boat work. The mast should be done tomorrow and then we start going through everything that has been removed to clean the stainless pieces and access which things need to be replaced. We are hoping to do this work over the next two weeks while we also spend time working on naming and posting photos from this season of cruising that have never made it to the website. Then there are the explorations of parts of Phuket that we have yet to see. So we have plenty to keep us busy while Windbird is getting her “facelift.”
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| 090205 Day 106 Phuket Island, Thailand–Visit to Yacht Haven |
