Captain's Blog November 2009

November was a hectic month with some disappointments to boot.

We arrived Langkawi the 1st Nov for some guarantee works on our freezer as well as some repairs to galley equipment.

On the 3rd Vivek signed off to renew his CoC and to use up his remaining vacation days.

On the 4th afternoon we got some strong mistral wind down the mountains and they made our anchors drag (we had to moor stern to as per marina's orders). I had dropped both anchors doing a Mediterranean mooring but the bottom is too soft to give any good holding.

Left: airpicture of lake, center: geological view, right: view from the sea

Voyage Langkawi - Patong - Surin - Yacht haven

So, the stay in Langkawi was coming to an end and I was wrapping up our business in this end. On the 13th I took leave of John Orr and I moved alongside the bunker barge Tuba VII to fuel up and potter onwards to Thailand.

Sunset

Outing to Hole-in-the-Wall and Pulau Dayang Bunting

On the 8th we went outing with our crew and headed first for the "Hole-in-the-Wall" at NE end of Langkawi Island, the vistas opening up after each bend was stunning watching the "Geopark" formations. When arriving the hole which was literally carved in the mountain wall it opened into a long fiord that was lined by mangroves, visiting sailing yachts and floating restaurants.

Entrance to "hole-in-the-wall"

Voyage Phuket - Langkawi

Our time in the Kingdom of Smiles was up again and it was time to exit the country. Once again we were on the way to Langkawi as we also had some unfinished business to take care of.

Ko Ha Yai

Captain's blog October 2009

As many you may have read my previous posts, I will just cursorily go through what we did in October (which was not much) but still in hindsight seems to me like a lot of things.

1st October we are sailing towards Phuket, finally being released from the Lumut Shipyard. John Orr is being put on vacation as he is just plain sick of the last months pressure.

A brackish water stream on an uninhabited Island

Shopping at Supercheap

Screenshot of the Supercheap website

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

Later on in the evening we get down to Phuket town to see the finale of the Phuket vegetarian festival. The possessed Mah Song are going to flog themselves with boiling oil. We arrive early to see a cauldron of oil being fed by a coal fire being stirred by assistants.

Toby's 40th birthday bash

On the 23rd was Toby Koehler's 40th birthday. Toby is our agent here in Phuket and he invited us among all other yachties to participate in the party that was going to take place on Nai Yang beach at the Beach Club.

The birthday boy himself

Diwali celebration

As per Saini's explanation Diwali is in celebration of homecoming of Ram after his exile. Those who want to know more may click this link

Anyway, I decided we'll celebrate the Diwali at Chao Mai beach doing some BBQ and relaxing in Trang province. We set off with me, Jira, Saini and Kalpu with Vivek and Rajaram to join us later.

Sunset at Chao Mai beach

Footnote on the Lumut drydocking

After having voiced my and my offices dissatisfaction of what went down in Lumut I was approached by the Manager, Mr. Nick Coombes, of APS Langkawi to meet on the 16th to sort out some issues at hand.

Rainbow just off Yacht Haven

Drydocking Lumut

Years ago on m/v Columbus Caravelle where we once spent an annual docking in Guangzhou for 2 humid weeks I thought that was bad. Then in 2003 when I was working on Project m/y Turama I thought I’d seen it all. Last year in Langkawi Wavemaster I thought I had hit rock bottom but I was once again proven wrong this year in Lumut by Grade One Marine Shipyard that set records in shafting the Client.

Lifted up after more than 24hrs of wrangling

Around Lumut

Having spent over a month in Lumut I have gotten to know the area a bit. Obviously the biggest attraction here is the Pangkor Island resorts and Pangkor Laut where movie stars visit. I did not visit there as I am not that keen on such places, seen one beach, seen ‘em all…

Front of Lumut International Yacht marina

Diving Pulau Pulau Sembilan

Since the yard disaster continued and we were held for ransom until payment in full I was again stuck in Lumut yet another weekend. I was meeting Chan for dinner on Friday and he asked if I would be interested in going diving the next Sunday together with his hooligans, this time at the Sembilan Islands. These Islands are a group of nine (hence the name Sembilan (9)) located south of Pangkor Island.

Map of the Sembilans

Diving at Pulau Jarak

Our drydock here is turning to disaster by the yard but I will get back to that later, anyway, last sunday I was invited to go for diving at Pulau Jarak and since the yard is hardly working I briefed my C/E and 1/O for my absense for the day. I left my hotel early in the morning lugging my dive gear. I was picked up by Mr. Chan, my newest acquaintance here in Lumut, we went to a local eatery and got some noodles for breakfast and then we headed for the marina opposite Grade 1 shipyard. We arrived soon enough and I saw the diveboat on a trolley being stocked up with divegear, food, fuel and whatnot. The boat was a abt 12m open monohull, same shape as they use in Maldives except that in Maldives they use mostly covered boats. Astern was fitted 2x200HP 4-stroke Yamaha outboards. Soon also other participants started to arrive and at last the crowd was abt 12 guys, all cheerily chatting in Cantonese with the phrase "tiu lei" splattered everywhere. Finally, the boat was set to go and the marina tractor floated us down the slipway and we started off towards Pulau Jarak.

Voyage Phuket - Lumut

We left Phuket on the 22nd Aug in order to be in Lumut a day before haul-up so I could sort out any problems from yard side as well scout out the area where I was going (it is uncharted).

Impressive clouds at Phi Phi Island

Back to work again...

So, once we arrived Phuket 6th Aug I was off the ship again on to spend my remaining vacation days, after that it would be continuous work until next May again...

The Kings memorial

Voyage Phuket - Langkawi - Phuket

As agreed I interrupted my vacation to take Kalizma to Langkawi and back. The purpose was to get some movement on the engines and pick up stuff that I had been shipping to John over a few months time. The main issue was to get our aft emergency exit hatch so we could install it here in Phuket before we would leave for our drydocking in Lumut.

The Hotel at Kuah waterfront, looks like a piece from Disneyland

Visiting kids

On the 22nd it was time to take the bus up to Bangkok and visit my kids. The bus was a VIP bus and it was frigid, luckily I had a sarong with me that I could try and warm myself. I arrived semi-deep frozen to Mor Chit the next morning.

Kids both were in good health exempting some sniffling and cough. We had a weekend of playtime as they were too busy weekdays studying. Their uncle had started a chicken and duck farm that they had fun feeding.

Pheung and Finn off to school

Car crashing in Thailand

20th I drove to Phuket to pick up my laptop. Luckily the techies had managed to save most of my data from the protected hard drive so I could be a happy camper again. The official diagnose was a faulty RAM chip. On the way back I had a misfortune to collide with a motorbike.

Not this bad though...

Trip to Ko Samui

On the 13th the entourage packs itself in the pickup again and we head for Ko Samui to visit Jira’s younger sister. I’m still on the road to recovery but feeling ok for the trip. We drive the whole day and take the ferry at Surat Thani to Ko Samui, only 420THB for the vehicle. The ferry seems to be (judging by the old signs) a Japanese 2nd hand find. It has Airconditioned lounges, a cafeteria and foot massage to offer.

The Buddha and all his hand postures

Chikungunya

10th July I got sick. I wake up in the middle of the night to the sensation that my every joint is aching and I run a high fever, so I quaff some paracetamol and go back to bed.

Thai mosquitoes in the act

Bull fighting in Kantang

9th July I went with Jira’s father and Luang to watch bullfighting in Kantang. In southern Thailand one can frequently see huge bull’s grazing at he roadside and I found out the local pastime is to pitch them against each other. I suppose some of them ends up in the cooking pot as well but bull’s are definitely more popular than cows.

Bull's at it

Beach hopping in Trang

6th July I hopped on our motorbike and drove with Nong Thuen towards Sikao and ended up to Khlong Son beach and port. The beach was actally called Hua Hin. It was all deserted and had some evidence of the sand eroding as it had been preserved by metal netting and sand bags. The bay must be an enormous habitat for screw shells as I saw thousands of empty shells lying in droves on the beach. After wandering around for awhile we hopped on the motorbike and drove along the beach until we reached the port.

Hua Hin beach

Trip to Hat Yai and Songkhla

3rd of July we loaded our entourage into our pick-up truck and headed for Hat Yai and Songkhla. Eventually the goal was to have me and Jira take a traditional tattoo by a Holy man (like a Brahmin). We reached Songkhla at noon and we enjoyed Samila beach and the Mermaid and Cat statues there. The beach peddlers were not as active and not as frequent as in Pattaya or Phuket beaches which I found pleasant. I bought the kids a set of spades and buckets and showed them how to build sand castles. The grown up Thais sitting in the shade probably thought I was another crazy farang playing in the sunshine, the kids were not of same opinion.

Cat statue of Songkhla (courtesy of Halimi Abdullah)