We had arranged to meet Dan of Still Dreaming here. He and Mary have finally got their New Zealand residency but one of the conditions is that can only be out of the country for 6 months for the first 2 years. Dan needed to organise a lot of work for SD – a new engine,  new rigging , hull repairs and luckily met a surveyor who is able to organise and oversee much of this work while SD is on the hard for the next 2 years. It was good of Dan to brave the weather on a scooter and nice to share a beer and catch up. We had not seen Dan since he and Mary left SD in Cochin in June 2010.

3 – 7 Feb. we day-sailed up the Thai coast, pretty much following our previous track. We had some good sailing – marred by some flukey calms behind islands again. We arrived in Ao Chalong and dropped anchor in front of the beach bars at Ban Nit again.

9 Feb. We had a very bouncy motor sail up to Boat Lagoon. Whilst the anchorage was calm, once around the first headland, the easterly wind was pushing in some significant swell from the ‘deep’ sea (20m +) to the relatively shallow bay (less than 5m). We bashed up the coast with plenty of water over the deck – some of it finding its way below again through the chain plates leaving a small puddle on the cushions, again underlining the need to get the deck done properly – and soon! Eventually, once we could bear away we sailed the last 5 miles to the seaward end of the dredged channel leading up to Boat Lagoon and Royal Phuket marinas. Disappointingly we had to reduce sail so that we slowed down not to arrive too early before the tide was high enough to negotiate the channel.

Once moored up we began work to ready the boat for the impending work namely remove the sails – hot work in the heat of the marina and not a great job for Terry’s neck.

Day 1. Fri 10 Feb. the lift-out crew came knocking on the boat at 9am wanting to lift us out as soon as possible. at 9.35 we were in the slings and by 10.30am we had been power-washed and chocked up in front of the Pro-Carpentering workshop. All very well done with none of the stress we had felt being lifted at Satun only 3 months earlier. As soon as possible, Mikes lads were on board getting on with jobs. The boom came off, the dinghy lifted on to the ground under the boat. We started to move things off the boat and into the small bed-sit type apartment we have rented to stay in whilst the work goes on. And judging by the heat on board, we’ll be very glad of the comfort of a clean, cool room rather than trying to live on board.

day 2. Sat 11 Feb. The crane lifted our mast off and raised a canopy over the top of the boat to provide some shade for the workers and a little relief for the boat too. Once again, the Pro Carpentering team were on board beginning to mask the bits not to be painted and make a canopy over the cockpit so we can still get in and out.  Everything needed to be removed from the deck that was on top of the teak – fortunately for us that is not too many fittings – mainly the genoa tracks and the windlass.

Unfortunately we found our little pet gecko under the life raft a little slimmer than he ought to be!.

day 3. Sunday 12 Feb. No work by Pro-carpentering today but we went on board to make sure that as much as possible is ready to take off tomorrow. Sunday lunch with Pat and Tony on full flight who are also stuck here with no engine – they are having theirs over-hauled but have some difficulty finding the spare parts for their old Volvo.  Lunch was at a large road-side eatery on the main road outside of the marina – barbequed chicken with salad and vegetables. The food was good but not the prettiest surroundings. Tony and I helped to prepare a papaya salad in the ‘kitchen’ but didn’t get a discount on the bill!

Day 4. Monday 13 feb. Lots of activity on deck this morning. All the wooden plugs covering the screws have to be removed, then each screw removed individually – there must be hundreds! as well as working to get the genoa tracks up. They have managed to get a section of the teak up. Interestingly the glue under the teak is not a complete layer, rather put on in blobs or lines so that the glue layer is not continuous. this means water getting under the teak could freely run all over the deck.

Day 5. 14 Feb.  Continuing to work to get the teak off. Also each screw hole is being expanded slightly so that thickened epoxy can be put in to fill the hole. every single one.

Day 6 . 15 Feb

most of the wood is up now and the glue removed leaving a very slippery shiny gel coated surface. The holes are being filled in, but we queried this with Mike as we thought that the deck was to be left to dry a bit. Mike said he had checked the moisture readings earlier and it was dry but we said we wanted to have a look for ourselves. Mike’s moisture meter is showing the deck very wet at the places we suspected – by the chain plates and the filler cap – also the lowest point for any water to settle. We aren’t sure of the implications of enclosing a wet balsa deck so go off to do some homework and get some advice.

Day 7. 16 Feb. Hole filling continues.  We’ve decided to continue with this and then then sanding off the gel coat as this will probably help to let the deck breathe.  the deck itself looks in sound condition and shows no sign of delamination. we’re still worried about the wet areas though.

Day 8. 17 feb. finish hole filling and then it is allowed to dry ready for sanding.

day 9. 18 Feb. sanding off the gel coat. a LOT of nasty dust.

Day 10. 19 Feb. Sunday again. no work. Go to lunch with Tony and Pat again. Tony’s mum sadly died last week so he is off back to the UK for a few days.

Day 11. Monday 20 Feb. Mike called with a great idea to build up the fibre glass around the chain plates and filler caps so that water runs around  them rather than down the joins if they open up.  We’re still going to open up around the chain plates to pick out all the old sikaflex used and see if there is any damage to the balsa. Mike has gone over the deck with his moisture meter and written the readings on the deck so we can see if it has dried out any in a few days.

Sunday 8 January

John and Vanessa decided it was time for them to move on and do some more exploring. it’s been good to see them again and its likely we’ll see them further south. Old mates Pat and Tony on Full flight, Ants and Div on Divanty and Grahame on Eeyore arrived in the bay. We all decided that there was not much more you needed from an anchorage than what we have at Ban Nit.

Finally we decided we have to drag ourselves away from Thailand and head back down to Langkawi. Our 2 month visas run out on the 10th so we checked out on the 6th. on the 8th, we head east towards Phi Phi don that we have been persuaded to stop at instead of heading all the way over to Ko Lanta. We had a good sail in choppy seas until about 1 mile short of Phi Phi Don so we motored in to the anchorage, dodging the zooming trip boats heading in every direction at top speed. we found that all the space in the anchorage had been taken by local moorings and could not find anything suitable for us, so we decided to continue on with plan A on to Ko Lanta and even managed to sail most of it.

9 January

Headed south to the anchorage just north of Ko Talibong. We had some great sailing again off the west coast of Ko Lanta which got easier in the more settled wind further south. however, we had to motor the last 5 miles to  the entrance to a river where there are 2 large limestone rocks, one on the beach, the other in the water. We had seen a boat anchored here when we anchored further up the estuary. its a spectacular spot in a little pool off the beach. what a shame we were too late to explore further.

10 Jan.

more good sailing in gusty winds – sometimes doing 7kts in 15kts of wind then be-calmed in the wind shadows behind the islands. Anchored in Ao Pante off NW Ko Tarutao. another beautiful spot – a wide sandy beach backed by slopes of densely green wooded jungle. There was so much room, we even anchored under sail!

11 Jan.

south again to the anchorage at Telaga on Langkawi. A flukey sail down the coast of Tarutao but a fantastic blast across the straits between Tarutao and Langkawi. We easily held off a bigger (46’?) Japanese boat with full sail up, although i’m not sure they knew we were actively racing! Once in the lee of Langkawi the wind inevitably died again. Terry pointed to something in the sea ‘Cor look at that’ ..on our starboard side were black vertical fins swimming in the opposite direction, easily half the size of the boat so 20 feet….a black shark???

12 jan

moved in to Telaga marina to get shopping etc. hired a car with John and Pearl on Saturday and bought squid and prawns for a seafood feast later. met up with john and Vanessa again in Mick’s bar and nice to see Jonno busy helping Roger ‘licky-lips’ with his moorings business.

15 jan

motored down to ‘the fjord’ anchorage to get a good start for Penang tomorrow. all alone again and we thought this was supposed to be the most popular anchorage in the area!

16 jan

left as early as we could – sun doesn’t rise till 7.30am. had 2 hours of sailing before the wind died giving way to heavy rain for 2 hours but no useable wind. arrived off the Straits Quay marina about 5.30pm just in time to get some help mooring up. the marina is inside a complex of apartments and restaurants, so not very attractive although convenient and very sheltered.

17 Jan Spent most of the day getting the chain ready to go to the galvanizers (Steelway hot dip), one of the main reasons for coming here. Blooming hot work cleaning , scraping removing paint and flaky rust from 90 meters of 10mm chain. In the evening we got the bus up to Batu Ferrunggi where Jim, Katherine and baby Michael are staying at the Hard Rock Resort for a short holiday. Katherine is half Malay and has come to Malaysia to visit her family for Chinese New Year in KL. We walked down to a local Hawkers stall near the Golden Sands for some local food at a sensible price.

18 Jan. The Steelway man came to collect the chain at 0815 – but the weight broke his trolley! so we had to hand ball the chain up the slope to the quayside before he put it on his truck to take to the factory. John & Vanessa showed up again – they are getting the train tomorrow to Malacca – but had time to show us where the visa agency was (to get a 2 month Thai Visa) and the Kaptains Tandoori house for a wonderful meal to rival the RBYC, although the surroundings are not quite the same here!

19 Jan. Terry went off to the hospital today to see a consultant about his recurring neck problems. he was diagnosed with spondylosis in India causing him neck pain and loss of feeling in his hand and fingers on one side. he is now getting the same symptoms on the other side so we’re keen to find out what is going on. when he eventually got back, he had had an MRI scan, several tests and 2 meetings with different consultants. how does that compare with the NHS….a 6 month wait just for a scan, I’ll bet! anyway, he has to go back next week and fortunately we can stay on at the marina. Meanwhile I prepared our tax returns ready to submit on-line.

20 Jan.  We collected our new 2 month Thai visas and i wentback to the computer repair shop to see if they had found the problem with my little Asus eeepc that had ominously died on Friday 13th. Seems they need more time to find out what it could be and since they are closed for a week due to new year holidays and will not re-open until after we leave, i had to collect it un-fixed, but no charge. I’m stunned it failed so suddenly. the thought is that its a hardware problem and won’t be worth fixing.

21 Jan. Terry went into Georgetown again today. this time to buy wheels for his intended air conditioner skateboard, so we can slide the A/C unit back easily whenever we need to get in or out of the boat. He also went to the chemical man – the shop stuffed with every conceivable chemical from Tea Tree oil to toluene, from chloroform to calcium carbonate. amazing. Terry had quite a chat to Mr Ong who is nearly 90. most of his business used to be to local factories but since they have all moved to Vietnam or Thailand or closed down he only sells in small quantities to the likes of yotties and laundries who are another source of his now rather thin business (soda crystals etc).  He doesn’t seem to mind too much though, it seems to be more a hobby than a business for him now.

This sort of shop would definitely not be allowed in the EU!  bottles and jars of highly flammable not to mention, explosive compounds and liquids lying around all over the place, next to each other.  Even when the shop is closed, the shutters are open.  Obviously, Penang’s arsonists have yet to catch up with this golden opportunity! 

23 Jan: Gong Xi Fa Cai !– HAPPY NEW YEAR. the year of the Dragon. A bit of a damp squib however in terms of our own entertainment. There were supposed to be some events laid on by the Straits Quay management for their customers (apartment dwellers, shoppers, diners as well as marina berth holders) which failed to materialise. in true oriental style face was saved by claiming that the 24 drummers scheduled for 3pm had, by 15.02 already been and gone – so silly us ALL (200+ people) for not noticing them! So we headed for the bus stop to go into Georgetown where we expected some further entertainment at the Esplanade on the seafront. During 45 very hot minutes we watched 5 busses go by without stopping as they were already full, whilst all the time the queue was getting longer and longer. So we walked to the previous stop in the hope that we would find fewer people and therefore the bus more likely to stop. There were fewer people, initially – but the busses still sailed by. after 1 1/2 hours we gave up and went for ice cream in Tesco’s!

24 Jan.Started work quite early to complete as much as possible before it gets too hot. We finished attaching the newly glavanized chain and anchor and put all 90 metres back into the anchor locker. Terry went off with 2x25l fuel jugs to get diesel from the nearest Petrol Station only to find that they would not sell him any without a permit from some bigwig down town who is most likely on New Year holiday anyway. Eventually he managed to sweet talk them into allowing him to fill them up, but he was told defiantly: ”no more”!(in a car or truck ok, not in jugs). Meanwhile Fiona got on with emptying the cockpit locker AGAIN to look at the fresh water pump. Nothing obviously stood out as being wrong so In the end she fitted the new one we bought in Phuket which seems to work – the pump primed ok, the pipes cleared and no longer sputter and the pump is not having to switch on to maintain pressure even when not running any water. 24 hours later, still ok. fingers crossed.

The billed Dragon Dancers did appear today for a celebration dance. Very colourful and at last a bit of ‘Kultcha’!

Terry went back to the hospital to see Dr Oh who is recommending as much rest as possible – which he should get when we get the deck done next month, but in the mean time he will have to do a little of the winching, pulling, heaving and whatever else we need to do to get the boat back up to Phuket.

Saturday 28th. up with the sun for an early get away for the trip back to Langkawi. It started as a cloudy, blustery day with good wind but a choppy sea, but with the tide favourable till around 3pm we thought we were in for a quick ride north. for several hours we were hitting 6 and 7 kts over the ground. At the Coral islandsit was as though a new day had dawned – the sun came out, the sea flattened and the wind died and veered leaving us ghosting towards the Nicobar islands at 2.5kts! So, engine on and then a ‘thwump’ sound from the prop. i went into see what the problem was – a thick plastic bag had attached itself to the prop which i pulled off with the gaff hook. Luckily Terry did not mention the ‘S’ (shark) word whilst i was on the water! During the trip I was below and suddenly heard a loud hissing sound and the water pump running continuously. I quickly turned the power off to the pump and looked under the galley sink – water everywhere! The re-inforced hoses on the mixer tap we bought in India had burst. What a good job we were on board otherwise we would have lost all our fresh water into the bilge as the pump would have kept pumping. we may also have lost the (new) pump too as it would have run dry for as long as the power was on.

Sunday 29th. A nice tacking sail all the way up Bass Harbour to the anchorage in front of Kuah town. A racer cruiser followed us up the sound making much better tacking angles than us and caught us up in no time.

After leaving the Boatyard we headed over to the Butangs and spent several days anchored off Ko Rawi again where we had met up with Estrelitta and Tarka after our crossing from the Maldives and Sumatra in May. Then we decide we should start heading north towards Phuket but have never much fancied the off-shore route via Rok Nok and Ko Phi Phi having listened to other cruisers experiences there. Added to which, the weather is not as settled as perhaps it could be for the NE monsoon period, so we opted for the coastal route.

3 December to Ko Khao Yai/Ko Bulan. A 35 mile mostly motoring east back to a great anchorage off the mainland. The sea is covered in fishing stakes and pot marker buoys which means there is no relaxing as a sharp look out needs to be kept all the time. most are well marked with a light and a dark flag on a tall stick, others are merely floating bits of polystyrene or pop bottles. We’ve been having some problems with the fresh water pump which last night failed to work. today it’s working again. to check it out, we have to remove everything from our large cockpit locker to get to the next layer down which is a daunting task at the best of times.  we’re also a little concerned that the prop shaft has come out of alignment with the engine causing it to vibrate a lot. it could be that or muck on the prop, or a lose blade…..

we’ve been carrying a spare pump since Marmaris, so once the locker is emptied I swop the old pump for the spare only to find it doesn’t pump anything! it’s not powerful enough to lift the water from the bottom of the tank to the pump. what a waste of space! So I swapped the fresh and salt water pumps around and both work. Just manage to get everything back in the locker before it pours with rain for 4 hours. BUT the pumps are now making horrible noised and won’t prime properly – lots of air in the pipes, which means it’ll all have to come out again. grrrr.

4 December we heard from John and Pearl on sy Hydrus that they are at an anchorage abt 10 miles west of here and are very uncomfortable in strong winds so we suggest they come to our lovely snug spot which we are sharing with 10 or so squid fishing boats. AND they have caught a fish and are willing to share!

6 December. head north to a spot north of Ko Talibong, well sheltered and quiet, if a long way off shore! No sign of the rumoured Dugongs mentioned in the Lonely Planet.

7 December. an early start with thoughts of stopping at Ko Muk for the ’must see’ ‘Emerald Cave’ – a cave that can only be reached by an underwater swim where the water is bright green. however the sea outside was choppy and rolly and its cloudy, so the ‘emerald’ effect is likely to be somewhat muted so we pushed on – we’ll be coming back this way, maybe we’ll do it then. we anchored on the north east side of Ko Lanta off a lovely tropical island – little beach and palm trees. Beautiful.

8 December. moving on again, around the bottom of Ko Lanta and up the west side. We had some terrific sailing in the katabatic winds dropping off the steep hills at the southern end – double-reefed and still doing 7 kts through the water! We anchored in the northern bay in abt 4m (low tide) but still a long way off shore. After a surprisingly quiet night considering the number of beach bars around the bay we went ashore and found shops all the way along the main road to Saladan the ferry port in the north.

9 December –some strong winds in the forecast so we ducked into a sheltered bay north of Ko Lanta.

10 December. emptied cockpit locker again. re-swapped the pumps, checked the connections, but it still won’t prime properly…..so mostly using the footpump.

In the evening we watched the Full Moon rise over the eastern shore and settled down to watch ‘The Dish’ a film about an Australian town’s involvement in the Apollo 11 moon landings. when it had finished, we checked the moon again only to find it had turned RED! What’s going on? IS the sun going out? Through the binoculars we could clearly see the moon being progressively more eclipsed! I got out my little laptop with a fantastic program called ‘Stellarium’ (it’s free) which shows all the stars and planets from any lat/long location at any time past or future. It showed that the brightness of the moon was down to 30 whatevers and would stay that way for about 1.5 hours! So, we watched the moon go through a TOTAL eclipse AND there was hardly a cloud in the sky AND we didn’t know a thing about it!

11 December. Still reeling from last nights eclipse excitement we set off heading east towards Chalong. Back over the ‘bar at the entrance and a nice sail (slightly spoiled by having to dodge the pot markers) west. I decided we should stop at the southern anchorage of Ko Yao Yai in the middle of Phang Nga Bay to nicely break the journey. In the NE winds the bay looked to afford perfect shelter.  Actually because of the shallow depths, you can’t get in very far. the wind died to a breathless heat then the clouds welled up and we had a 20 minute squall with rain winds from every direction and 30 kts followed by complete calm again. at about 4.30pm we noticed waves entering the bay from the SOUTH which just worse and worse – on a falling spring tide – so at 5.30pm we had to make a hasty dash to find better shelter. the sun sets at about 6.30pm so we have just over an hour to find somewhere in daylight. I was nearly bounced off the foredeck in our haste to leave in the rising chop, we turned to starboard up the western side of the island and were relieved when the waves soon died down in the lee. further north we found a jetty and a couple of boats moored, then another yacht anchored in a nook in the island. nice flat water, 10m depth. We just got the anchor down as darkness engulfed us and another rain squall blew over. A nice quiet night fortunately. By morning the winds and waves had turned back to the NE but nothing as choppy as yesterday.

12 December. A downwind genoa ride to Chalong Bay. the seas were surprisingly choppy for the 15-20kt winds but we guessed that the effect is more wind against tide. We could hear Divanty and Eeyore on the vhf trying to leave Boat Lagoon Marina but going aground in the channel. We rounded the headland into Chalong Bay passing ‘The Aquarium’ and another bay before getting to the huge bay. And suddenly, there are all the cruising boats, 100’s of them! We had seen barely a handful of other yachts on our way north and had wondered where they were – and now we have the answer – in ao Chalong! We anchored on the NE side off a very inviting Beach with 2 restaurants. what a shame the tide is out and we can’t get over the reef to try it out.

13 December. moved over to the moorings off Chalong Pier. mega busy. found our mooring that we organised through Brent at the Phuket Cruisers Yacht Club (PCYC)- just a bar really. Otherwise the anchorage is miles off shore and not a great for us in our little dinghy. We went to the harbourmasters to check in – we had checked out of Satun, so we wanted to ‘change ports’ which confused them. there is conflicting advice as to whether this is a good thing to do or not…on balance we’d say don’t bother. Went into Chalong and found ‘The Anchor’ – a recommended cafe and rightly so! and went to Villa Market supermarket – nice but expensive. Fruit and veg is available at the local market but its for the early birds – 5am till about 9.30am!

15 December. Hired a car with Bill and Amy of sy Estrelitta to look around Phuket and go to price up new decks at the workshops at the marinas. Our deck is beginning to leak very badly and its only going to get much worse. we need to get it sorted before this years SW monsoon.  We spoke to several companies pricing teak decks and found a shop that does fibre-glassing. Terry had a long chat with Mike at Pro-Carpentering and seemed happy with what Mike was saying and how he would approach the job. We never wanted a teak deck in the first place, so the idea of replacing it with fibre glass is very appealing. Nigel Calder is of the opinion that teak has no place on a cruising yacht and we agree! Nigel has had Malo’s built for him specifically withOUT the usual obligatory teak deck.

Bill and Amy took us to Big C where we had lunch in the food court in the basement and then on to Rolly Tasker’s huge sail-loft. from there we went to Patong. Not my cup of tea…been there, done that, don’t need to go again. Bill loves to watch the people go by of all shapes sizes and persuasion…

17 December. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM! Today we welcomed Don of sy Northern Shadow on board. We had met Don in Marmaris and had heard he was looking for somewhere to go after a trip to Australia with his girlfriend went a bit wrong.

19 December.

moved around to the Sw of Phuket island to the anchorage at Nai Harn. a lovely wide white sandy beach at the east end backed with beach cafes. to the north, a small cafe and beach bungalow complex called Ao Sane (referred to in the pilot book as the Jungle Bar) and a lovely wide anchorage. Estrelitta were already here so we anchored on their side under the wind generator. 20 Dec we moved closer to Ao Sane – cheap beers and good food and easier for our little dinghy.

22 December.

Unfortunately Don had to move out as the forepeak is already booked for John and Vanessa of sy Meand’er AND now Suleika (2 boats ouch), whom we know from Marmaris. They have been back-packing Malaysia and Thailand during the European winter and are spending Christmas on board. On 23rd the wind has got up and made the north side a little rolly so we moved back to the south side. unfortunately its too far and too rough for us to get ashore for the Christmas Eve party at Ao Sane where Don is now staying.

25 December

HAPPY CHRISTMAS. Bacon sarnies and fizzy for breakfast followed by Xmas dinner at Ao Sane – joined by Francesca and Marco and Don for a fabulous lunch. Terry thoroughly enjoyed his blue crab curry. still very windy – found out that its due to a tropical storm in the Bay of Bengal pulling wind into the system.

28 December.

the forecast for New Years Eve looks awful to the point that we feel it would be no fun with 4 people on board sheltering from the wind and rain, so we’re heading for Boat Lagoon. The sea atht esouth end of Phuket was quite rough but we ended up with a gentle sail for 5 miles or so up the east coast. the entrance to Boat Lagoon is via a winding channel marked with concrete posts. there is no sign of a mast from the sea. We managed to run aground rounding the last bend into the marina only freeing us when a boat came roaring past causing enough wash to get us afloat again! Once tied up we looked around the deathly quiet, soul-less basin of water cut out of a mango swamp, we wondered if we had done the right thing. it was so bad that we preferred to eat on board rather than go and find a place to eat. Next Day John and Vanessa took a bus trip to some places they had visited on a previous visit 15 years ago and we took the opportunity to talk to Mike and Pro-carpentering and get him to look at the boat. i also emptied the cockpit locker to look at the water pumps again…grrr

30 December.

The horrid forecast has completely disappeared so we made a dash to Tesco Lotus for supplies and left boat Lagoon on the high tide at 1pm an headed back to Chalong Bay – on the NE side (Ban Nit?) where a couple of dozen other boats are anchored off the Beach Cafe’s.

31 December.

a lovely loooong lunch at Pee’s Beach Bar. the chicken Satay at 70baht is gorgeous. This was a good move on our part as both bars are fully booked for dinner later. We went back to the boat for a snooze, then a few snacks. We watched odd fireworks going off, some chinese wish lanterns and an idiot letting off flares – one which landed in the sea abt 50 m from a boat, another went straight up in the sky then landed back down on the beach in amongst all the people.

at 12, armed with a glass of fizzy we watched the fireworks go off in earnest. All around the bay, 1000’s of fireworks bloomed and faded for 30 minutes or more creating a marvelous spectacle.

Terry’s knee continues to improve with his daily routine of physio in the pool, ice, rest, physio and more ice. He tried to cycle his bike the other day but still found it too painful but then tried again yesterday and reported it felt much better. So we’re still on track for our postponed haul out at Satun, Thailand.

We hired a car for 24 hours so we could go to the paint shop in Matsirat about 20km from here to buy our anti-fouling paint, primer and supplies and get a stock of beer which we understand is much more expensive away from ‘duty free’ Langkawi.

We took the opportunity to go over to Rebak Marina to visit Bill and Amy on Estrellita who have been busy replacing their chain plates. This has meant that they have had to remove most of the interior woodwork on both sides and the stern as well as grind out fibre glass. a nasty job but they are feeling very pleased with themselves that they have done it. I have to say that down below, you would not know that they had been in such a mess!

Yesterday we used the car to to the ‘diesel run’. Fuel at the marina or fuel barges is much more expensive than at the local petrol stations 1.80 ringgit (40 pence per litre) compared to 3 RM at the marina ( 65 pence), still cheap compared to UK prices, but a significant saving nevertheless. So we put our jerry cans in the little car and filled  them with150 litres of fuel and stuck it in the car. Next stop was the the wine shop to get 40l of boxed Aussie wine and some whisky, put that in the car, then on to the supermarket to stock up with some staple canned goods and all that went into the little car too. As you can see from the photo, the little car worked hard!

Then we had to work hard by hauling this car load from the car to the boat which involves a 500m trek with some very oddly designed trollies down a long steep ramp (esp when the tide is out) and along the pontoons.

John and Pearl of sy Hydrus popped round this afternoon before they checked out of Malaysia to head up to Thailand for a month

4th. Nov

The build up of coral and other growth on the hull is so bad that we ( ie Terry) have to scrape it off before we can leave here to go to the boatyard.

Fortunately, Terry’s knee has improved to the point that he can do this job with the aid of our new electric ‘hookah’ device – a device that pumps compressed air to a breathing regulator which means that Terry can stay under the water for extended periods rather than relying on holding his breath. the water line looked awful and he said the propeller was un-recognisable under a ball of growth.

5th Nov

Just as we were thinking Terry was back to ‘peak’ fitness so he went off shopping on the bike to Kuah, the local town. On his way back, barely 50m from the boat he has tweaked his knee again. Very frustrating, especially for him – back to the ice and physio routine.

We’ve managed to get a further 2 day postponement of our lift at Satun boatyard until Friday, so we will leave Langkawi on Thursday.

13 Nov

We left RLYC thursday 10th at high tide around noon and made our way round to the Hole in the Wall anchorage on the NE side of Langkawi for an overnight stop before heading over to the boatyard. Some tricky pilotage through some shallow areas tested our rusty skills – dark patches in the water turned out to be cloud cover and not shallows fortunately!

Next morning we were up early to catch the rising tide into the river for the boatyard at Chebilang. The yard provides waypoints which proved good guides through the sand and mud banks, just having to dodge some fishing nets/sticks. We anchored in the river overnight near a pair of nesting kites, which made quite a noise at times but nothing as to the din of the longtail fishing boats plying up and down the river!

Sat 12 November.

We got our call from the yard to lift around 11am. We drove into the slip and they slid a trolley underneath the boat and firmly tied us to it with all manner of ropes. a diver checked that we were sitting on the trolley correctly under the water – although how he saw anything in the silt laden, filthy water is beyond me!

The trolley is then pulled up a slope into the yard using a thick wire pulley system. All the time there was a lot of conversation/shouting between all the people – in Thai of course – so we had no idea what was going on or what was going to happen next. we could not see what was happening underneath the boat so had no clue if all was well or not. Several alarming jolts later we were out of the water. then we were moved sideways into a temporary slot for a couple of days.

Finally, a ladder was put up to the gunwhale so we could get off the boat and see what was happening underneath….

Actually, on first looking, it was not too bad. as expected not much anti-fouling left and everything where it was meant to be. the hull was pressure washed and that was it for the day.

Sunday 13th

This morning, even though its sunday,  a chap with a rotary sander arrived to scrape off what was left of the anti-fouling and boy did he work hard! the temperature is in the 30’s and its a dirty job, but he kept at it all day with a couple of drink breaks and a well-earned hour for lunch. In the end Ow worked with us all the time we were there and he did a great job with the sander, painting and polishing. We found out that he is Burmese (prefers the country to be called Myanmar) has 2 children and a wife there, but cannot find work, so he has come south to earn some money to send home. He lives in the workers compound next door to the yard which are really basic with very little privacy for anyone. Ow said he had not been back to Myanmar for 4 years. We suspected, but cannot confirm that he may have been illegal in Thailand.

the yard was initially created to provide for the local fishing boats. A couple were doing extensive repairs – all wood hulls being attended by carpenters with piles of wood sanding and sawing from dawn till dusk. But most were on a very quick turnaround – hauled out, washed off and one coat of anti-fouling then launched the next day. they aren’t earning if they are not out fishing. It was interesting to see another side of maritime life so close up.

There were a few other cruising boats there and we would meet for lunch in one of the 2 restaurants. unfortunately these weren’t open in the evenings, so it was best to get a meal mid-day. It was good to be able to discuss issues and get some local information considering this was our first visit here. Some were having problems getting their galvanizing back from the factory in Bangkok die to the floods there this year. PSS yard prides itself on its paint work and 2 or 3 were being re-painted there too. There was a wide spectrum of satisfaction with the work at PSS but our experience was totally positive – everyone worked to resolve any issues we had, the stainless work was excellent and cheap. our only issue was that we were on the wrong type of trolley and had a bit of a lean which was made even worse when we needed to have the chocks moved to paint under the keel.

One day I noticed that there seemed to be a bit a a split in the hull at the stem just above the keel. I showed it to Terry who got Jia, the yard manager to discuss what could be done. Ow sanded a bit down and we found that whilst it didn’t look too serious, it was better to do something about it now than later. a second ‘split’ was found at the stern under the tube that carries the prop shaft into the boat to join up with the engine. It was decided to grind back the gel coat and fibre glass in a large-ish patch around the damaged area, and then build up the area with some fibre glass matt and epoxy. Ow did all this for us as well and other than a small hiccup completed the work flawlessly.

Meanwhile, we’ve been very busy ourselves. We wondered what we would be doing with ourselves but we have had hardly any spare time! We’ve taken the opportunity to re-bed the chain platters with sikaflex and the fuel filler pipe which has been leaking water copiously recently. We’ve been living on board which has not been a problem for us. Several crews have moved into hotels or apartments in Satun Town about 15km away. With the a/c unit the temperature has been fine. all waste just goes on the ground below the boat to get washed into the river. no-one cares. the toilets and shower facilities are very basic but useable.

After 16 days we were ready to be launched again. unfortunately – most yachts can only be launched around high water spring tides which puts a bit of pressure on to be ready on time or you may have to wait another 2 weeks till the next spring tides. We had a choice of 4 days, but had to fit in with other boats needing lifts in and out, as well as the yard having to manage the space available in the yard too. Before we were launched a 50 footer came up the river waiting for its lift out and a very large catamaran was due in the next day.

On the final Saturday we hired a marina car (300 baht and very battered!) to go to check out of Satun (so we can check in at Chalong) and to get some shopping in preparation for our departure and short cruise up to Phuket.  Its a shame that we have not had more time to explore the area but even though we’ve had Ow doing all the hard work, we have been very busy ourselves. In all, we enjoyed our brief visit to Satun although not keen to repeat the lift and launch procedures!

Location: Royal Langkawi Yacht Club, Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia

Looking west over Bass harbour from RLYC

Back on board Roam II after September in the UK. We had a good flight back on Royal Brunei Air. Its a long way but the service and aircraft were as good as we could expect.  We had a 5 hour wait in Brunei for the flight to KL and we managed to have lunch with Jim and Robyn at the airport. This time Rob was limping with a very swollen ankle. We had a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur before arriving back in Langkawi. It was ok, but our short visit did not do much to ignite much interest.  We managed to find a restaurant to watch the Rugby World Cup quarter final England V France but we were the only ones watching, so no atmosphere.  There are a lot of European and Antipodean ex-pats here and they must be watching somewhere but we could not find them.

It seems we were away at a good time as our neighbours have reported a lot of heavy rain and squalls. The cheap tarp we left covering the foredeck has been completely blown to tatters, luckily the new one we have for the rear section has done it’s job well. No nasty surprises below either.

Next step is to get ready for our haul out at Satun yard in Thailand.

11th Oct

Unfortunately Cap’n T managed to hyper-bend his already bad knee whilst getting off the boat and ended up lying on on a mooring rope between the boat and the pontoon. Garth and I fished him out of the water but his knee started swelling immediately. After a week of ice and gentle physio in the pool he tweaked it again and went back to square 1. Currently we’re on track for our postponed haul out on the 10th November for 2 weeks.

Still, on with jobs on board as ever, maintenance, mending and new projects.

John and Pearl of sy Hydrus came over from Telaga to collect the pieces we brought back from the UK for them. They have been busy repainting the deck of Hydrus which cannot be easy when it rains so often.

20th Oct

One afternoon we hired a car to do a bit of visiting ourselves – we went to the shop at Matsirat to check the situation with supplies of anti-fouling and got some supplies of beer from the warehouse. We also we over to Telaga for afternoon tea with Hydrus. We have also decided to mount the wind/water  generator  on a pole so its permanently out and working to provide power when the wind blows. We bought the appropriate pole mounting kit from Ampair in the UK and just needed to find the right size pole. Unfortunately its not a standard size. We could not find Mr Chin’s foundry at the fishing village and the other place ‘Our Way’ could not help us. Luckily in Telaga we were able to find someone who did know Mr Chin’s – we had been right outside and not known it! So on the way back we tried again – bingo! not only did we find it, but Mr Chin was happy to fabricate something to fit the mounting kit to a 2.5m pole for about 75 pounds.

25th

We tried to hire a car today to go and collect the pole from Mr chin’s, but the only car available was a booted car that was too small to carry the pole. No-one had any hatch back cars available and the rest of the week is holiday rates for Divali. We managed to get a mini van taxi to take us there and back, which easily got the pole in the back.

Full Flight had joined the ‘Sail Malaysia’ Rally from Jahor Baru – just north of Singapore and over to Borneo at Kuching. This section between Miri and KK (Kota Kinabalu) incorporated the Borneo Yacht challenge – some ‘round the cans’ races and a passage race from Miri to KK.

We found T&P on board with some old friends from the Vasco da Gama Rally – Storm Dodger and Rhumb Do. That evening we joined them all at a BYC hosted party in a local hotel which included a night’s stay in the hotel too! The room was large with 2 double beds – big enough for all 4 of us in comfort. The next day we had to be ready to leave just after lunch for the passage race to KK – 150 miles, so hopefully about 30 hours. We went into Miri for breakfast at the local chinese hawker market and enjoyed the most superb fried noodles with barbequed pork – the best for a very long time. Back on board we stowed and got ready for the off.  the start went well and we were all sailing with cruising chutes. there wasn’t a lot of wind but with the help of a favourable current we were making 5-6kts over the ground.

Terry stood watch with Tony and Fiona teamed up with Pat and we did 2 hour watches through the night as the wind died away. The girls eeked out all the speed we could to keep the boat moving in the right direction. Then the boys took over and made a lot of noise by having to tack to keep the boat moving. About 1.30 into their watch they gave up and started the engine, waking both Pat and I up AGAIN!  The rules of the race meant that we were still in with a chance, provided the other boats in our class had also resorted to the engine. We had seen several boats pass us throughout the afternoon and night as they gave up very early. 

There wasn’t an awful lot to do, but we were rewarded with spectacular sunsets and sunrises.

During the long hot afternoon, one of the catamarans was reporting to race control that as there was so little wind they had used nearly all their fuel and would run out before the finish. We were a little smug about this as they had off-loaded a lot of stuff in Miri to be transported to KK by road – thus making them lighter and therefore faster than they would normally go, but they had not figured on perhaps needing 100 miles or more of fuel. Nevertheless, skipper offered them fuel if they motored up alongside us – meaning we had to slow down for them to catch up….

We motored on tying up in the Suteri Marina at KK just about sunset.

Next day we were up and out again – this time racing around the cans in the bay.  Terry and I have never sailed in a race before. We followed Tony’s instructions as best we could – a little difficult on a strange boat at times – which included gybeing the spinnaker, by the way AND using me as a human preventer to keep the mainsail as far out as possible on the home run. We had one serious rival – an Adams 50 – a sleek boat with 5 hefty blokes as crew, but we managed to pip them at the post and finish ahead of them.

More racing on the next day but with plenty more wind . this time on the upwind start the Adams showed us a clean pair of heels as it managed to sail about 10 degrees closer to the wind than Full Flight – Tony was very miffed!  We nearly caught them on one leg, but they shut off our track and forced us to bear away and they beat us to the line in some very gusty conditions. However, we did beat them on handicap. 

That night was BYC closing party night with all the prizes to be awarded. we came second in our group behind the Adams 50 by just one point. I wonder if the boys lost us the passage race when they wasted 2 hours going off on a tack?

Our time on Full Flight was over – a knackering but enjoyable experience. A Big THANK YOU to Pat and Tony for being such great hosts.

From KK we flew down to Kuching for a date with some Urang Utans

We flew Air Asia from Langkawi to KL staying overnight in the LCCT (now known to us as the Low Cost and Comfort Terminal). It was VERY uncomfortable. If we had to do it again, we will try to take a cheap blow-up lilo to sleep on.

Robyn & Jims

Jim and Robyn live in a lovely airy house that goes with Jim’s job. Inside it is filled with treasures from their years of travels around the world reflecting their wide-ranging interests in many cultures and countries. Books also fill their walls.

Robyn's Garden

They drove us around Bandar Seri Bagawan, known as BSB, the capital of the Kingdom of Brunei – ‘The Abode of Peace’ – so long as you ignore the Airforce jet fighters screaming overhead. We went for lunch and had the most divine laksa I have had – Penang style apparently.

Stairs and books

Jim joined us from work – limping. He had tripped whilst running at the local Hash (a bit like a cross-country running club/social club/drinking club) jamming a tree branch into his shin. He was having the wound dressed daily a the local surgery but no-one was quite sure if there was still some residue left in the wound (it turned out a week later that there was).

'The Venice of the East' - BSB stilted Kampong

Jim and Robyn were trusting enough to lend us their car for us to driver ourselves around and explore Brunei. We went to the old British Consulate building, a lovely airy wooden building now a small museum with pictures of Queen Elizabeth and other royal cronies over the last 100 years. The building over-looks the river with a large Kampong on stilts – a large village built over the water as the original population would have done when the jungle ashore was too difficult to inhabit. The Brunei Museum was closed and we couldn’t find the Technology Museum. The Royal Regalia Museum also sounded interesting but we could not work out where we could or could not park!

Probiscous Monkey

One evening we went on a river tour to find probiscous monkeys and visit the ‘Venice of the East’. Our trip was just as dusk was falling and on a low tide, so we were a little hampered in our quest. We caught a glimpse of the roof of the Royal Palace over the trees as we raced up river.

Royal Palace BSB

At one point our guide raced towards the shore, he had spotted a saltwater crocodile – we caught but the merest of glimpses of it as it swam away. Further up river evidence of ‘progress’ as acres of mangroves were being cleared away to make way for a new road. The mangroves are the main habitat and food for the Probiscous Monkeys, so we felt quite lucky to spot any at all – a small group high up in the trees.

Another evening we took a drive up to the yacht Club – a lovely club with a large pool. The food there is very nice and you are allowed to BYO alcohol in this very Muslim and therefore ‘dry’ state. Jim also took Terry to the Hash club night. He came back with a special T-shirt as a commemoration for the Sultans birthday that week. Jim, still limping had to sit out the run this week and just do the socialising!

We found Brunei to be somewhat lacking in character, which is probably unfair. the country is solely reliant on the oil that provides its abundant wealth. Immigrant workers provide the labour at the unskilled level and the brains at the management and consultant level. The Sultan is a dominant figure here. It was his 65th birthday while we visited which meant some serious celebrations in BSB – processions to which many had no choice but to attend. Jim was not allowed to travel out of the country – as a state employee it would have been deemed disloyal for him to leave. Luckily he was not press-ganged into any celebrations. Robyn recounted the tales of when she was a teacher and the Sultan was to visit – days before, new computers and equipment would arrive and any necessary painting done. On the day itself, everyone had to be in position hours in advance, sometimes standing outside in the sapping heat and humidity. Afterwards the new equipment would be collected to be placed at the next school selected for a royal visit. The demands on the Sultan himself seem huge. The local paper is full of articles about all these visits he makes – not only to schools, but to ladies groups to judge cake decorating, to hand over the keys of another state provided house and all manner of things. I know its not a job I would want!

From Brunei we headed south over the border into Malaysia to meet Tony and Pat in Miri. Again, our generous hosts drove us to the border town of Kuala Belait (KB) for us to get a bus to Miri. Unfortunately when we got there, the anticipated frequent buses were only twice a day with the next one about 4 hours later. the next plan was for R&J to drive us to the border, we would walk across and get a bus or a taxi from the other side. We had the phone number of a taxi driver in Miri and if necessary, he would come and pick us up (abt 15km). However, we needed neither as we managed to get a lift from a very kind English couple heading to Miri for a weekend break from their work in Brunei. They were happy to take us right to the marina – which, despite their frequent visits they did not know existed!

Butangs View

26 May Rubiah –  28 May Arr Butang Islands Thailand.  244 nm 2 days 3 hrs

31 May Butangs – Telaga, Langkawi, Malaysia. 35nm

1 June, Telaga – Kuah, Bass Harbour, Langkawi.  18nm

Terry writes:

The MTM Rally is over really as Divanty left a day ahead of us choosing not to return to the lovely Rubiah Bay, so we are on our own for what turned out to be the most difficult part of the whole passage.

Pulau Weh lies at the northern end of the Malacca straits which is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world where large ships bound to and from SE Asia ply their trade. We had very rolly seas and loads of shipping to worry about in the first 24 hours after leaving Pulau Weh. Avoiding the ships is made much easier by our AIS device which transmits our position, course and speed to other vessels but at one point, one particular ship, the MV Bunga Melati 4, who was on a collision course with us, would not answer the VHF radio. Roam II was sailing with the wind vane at this time (a steering device controlled by the wind) and unable to steer a consistent course so we always like to make ships aware of us. In the end, another ship, the MV Athenian Star managed to raise the helmsman from his slumber by shining a strong light onto the bridge! He then changed course away from us. In such a busy shipping lane, there is no possibility of rest as lookout has to be kept at all times as it takes only 12 minutes for a ship to reach your vessel after appearing on the horizon!

Eventually on May 27^th, the number of ships we had to deal with reduced considerably as we passed out of the main shipping lane. The ships were then of course replaced with fishing boats but we were able to cope with these much more easily after our experiences in Indian waters had taught us how to deal with them.

Butangs Beach view

On that same day, we received an email on board from our friends Bill and Amy on S/Y Estrellita who were en route from Phuket in Thailand to Langkawi. They informed us of a group of Thai islands called the Butangs which we could re route to for another stop on the way to Langkawi. As they were only 40 miles from Langkawi, we decided to stop there.  Even more attractive was that it was closer AND we could sail the course rather than have to motor.

Are we glad we did as Butang is an uninhabited national park. Wonderful clear water, a good sheltered anchorage and the bonus, our sailing friends from Cochin, Bill and Amy and Jonno with son Michael from S/Y Tarka II. We were worried that officialdom would again rear it’s head as we would be entering another country, this time Thailand, without a visa or permit. Bill however reassured us that there were no authorities at Butang and so it turned out.

Jonno and Michael to the Rescue

We arrived at Butang ingloriously as our engine again stopped pumping cooling water. Fortunately, we managed to secure a tow for the last half mile to the anchorage from Johnno and his son Michael in Estrellita’s RIB!

Terry then had to again try and find the fault in the engine and after three hours managed to solve the problem, temporarily at least. We decided that after these engine issues that we would need to check into a marina once we arrived to Langkawi to investigate and properly fix the problem!

on the beach at Ko Rawi, Butangs

We spent three idyllic days in Butang, swimming in the clear water, walking on the beaches, snorkelling on nearby reefs and socialising with our friends. Fun of the highest order after a passage of some 1700 miles.

We made the final 40 miles to Bass Harbour in Langkawi in two stages, the first to Telaga an anchorage in the north of the island and then finally, nursing the engine into Bass Harbour itself in Langkawi. We are grateful to have arrived at last as getting to SEA (South East Asia) has always been our goal. Now that we are here we intend to base ourselves here for a while and do some land travel as well as sailing. It’s great to be here!

The short answer has to be ‘no’.

On the positive side, it is beautiful, the swimming and snorkelling are terrific in good weather. Going to the local islands and interacting with real Maldivians is very rewarding. We found many people willing to give us assistance of many kinds – local information, guides, lifts ashore, fresh water etc. They would like more tourists to visit their local islands, the old attitude of keeping us separate is dying away, although apparently still present in some places.  Our windlass was repaired to a high standard with skills difficult to find in many other ‘more developed’ places. In Male there are chandlers and knowledgeable people who can obtain parts and services for boats – much more so than in India. A lot of money has been spent developing the local islands since the tsunami of 2004. Many new harbours exist on many islands, unfortunately they aren’t charted or listed anywhere and no-one is sure of their depths! Most local boats have very shallow draft so they have not been built with keel yachts in mind.

On the downside, it’s relatively expensive, just for the cruising permit and fees which you have to have if you are going to anchor anywhere other than Uligan, Hulhulamale or Gan. The cost is similar to marina fees in Langkawi.  The permit itemises the places you are officially restricted to visit, which are very few. In reality most yachts try to go anywhere they can,  sometimes asking permission to enter anchorages where there are resorts, other times assuming its ok unless told otherwise. this applies to both resorts and local islands. We were asked to move once from a resort ‘our guests don’t like it’ and we heard stories where some local island cheifs did not like westerners mixing with his people, but we did not experience this ourselves.

 There are very few bullet-proof sheltered places to moor with only one ‘marina’ at the Island Hideaway. When the weather turns to the SW, the possibilities reduce drastically.

The anchorage at Hulhulamale (for the capital Male) is OK in good weather but dangerous for a yacht when the wind has any strength with West in it unless you can anchor behind the airport runway. Then you are a long way from the ferry jetty with few possibilities of places to land the dinghy.

The variety of provisions outside of Male is very limited – sometimes just a few cans of vegetables and some very old potatoes and onions – nothing is cultivated in the Maldives themselves, everything is imported which makes it expensive.

The island resorts for tourists have no bearing on the real Maldives at all. The building of new resorts seems relentless – which with the global recession seems folly – are there really that many people in the world able to afford such expensive holidays? there is also a preference for building villas on stilts over the water, which must be wonderful, but it is not the Maldivian way and it destroys the coral. The more resorts that are built, the fewer the safe anchorages for yachts.

Cruising information is patchy. We used the ‘Maldives Cruising Guide’ by Max Moltemi and ‘Sailing through Paradise’ by Hoedemakers and Geerdink. Neither we found to be completely reliable.  We also trawled the internet for information from other cruisers. Google Earth also showed up plenty of physical information – like passes through reefs where our charts were unclear. It also proved to be more up to date than many of our charts, and even though there are some old photos – many pre-tsunami – they are being updated all the time.

We were glad to have been and experienced these unique islands ourselves, but we do not have any desperate desire to return soon.