We managed to launch Kilkea II on Sunday and went to Telaga Harbour which is only about 5 miles away. We tied up to the gas dock on the way in only to be told no diesel today maybe tomorrow! That was ok as we then tied up at the marina, washed the boat and had a nice dinner out. The next morning the batteries arrived and I managed to shift the old ones out and the new ones in. We were all finished by noon and we rented a car to finish up some shopping and banking. Back at the marina ready to leave we were told no fuel until tomorrow! Now we had no choice but to stay another night. At about seven that evening we heard a light knock on the hull and found one of the marina boat boys asking if we wanted fuel as they now had some at the fuel dock. Needless to say we untied and headed right over and filled up. We uplifted 515 liters of fuel so that meant we had only 85 liters or less left on board. It was to late to leave so our for another dinner with plans to leave first thing in the morning which would be around 9 am as that is when the office opens and we had to pay for the moorage. At nine we were up at the office only to be told that the fuel spill people we at the marina to conduct a drill with all the booms and ping pong ball to simulate the fuel. This meant the marina was closed and we could not leave until two pm!! The drill ended early and we finally left at noon. We sailed down to a small island that is know for its coral and tied up to a very big orange mooring ball and spent a quiet night. The next morning we were off an hour and a half before daybreak and managed to dodge all the fishing boats and floating rafts that they tie up to at night as the fish seem to congregate under these floating palms and other stuff. Some of them are very big! We were happy when it go light and we could see better. We needed to arrive at Penang around the high tide which was at eleven am thus the reason for the early departure. All went well and we arrived at Straits Quay marina in Penang. The first thing we did was to get the a/c going as it is unbearably HOT!! Callisto is here and we all went the Mall, (air conditioned) for a little shopping and dinner. The next day we just relaxed and ended up in the evening, (the only time of the day one can go out) in an Irish pub that had free drinks for the ladies after eight. On Friday six of us went to the E&O hotel for lunch which was way over the top with great food and deserts and ice cream, (something we don't often get). We all ate far too much but once in a while is ok. Today started out with a boat job of fixing the sump pump on the grey water holding tank. That went ok with the problem being a stuck valve. Cleaning and flushing and it seems to be ok. Then I found a small leak in the engine room with a crack in a stainless steel one inch pipe that is just starting to leak. That is now all apart and I'm hoping that we can get it welded or replaced hear in the next couple of days.
Tomorrow we are driving up to the Cameron Highland with Anne and Mike for a couple of days. We are sure hoping that it is cooler up in the hills???Will let you know.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Work goes on
We finished up with the gel coating, the vhf antenna, bimini top, and cocktail table as well as a bunch of other things on Friday evening 14th of March. Saturday morning we left at first light and sailed until around five in the evening when we were forced to anchor for the night due to 35k headwinds. We stopped at a bay we know on Ko Lanta island and had a quiet night. Next morning we were off before sunrise and managed to sail down and anchor off Rebak island by sunset. 145 miles in a couple of days is too much but we had a time for our haul out on Monday the 17th. That went fine and by noon we were hauled, blocked and power washed. It has been two years when we were in New Zealand that we were last out of the water. Not too bad but she does need some sanding and new bottom paint. We have had two boys doing all the prep work and Mark doing the spray painting. It is now Friday noon and they have just finished the painting and this afternoon the boys can start the waxing of the hull. We should look beautiful when it is all done and we are back in the water. If we can get back in by Monday then we will go to Talaga hbr where we have 12 new batteries that we will install. So twelve in and twelve out with the temp in the 30's! Not much fun at all. Once that is done we will be off to Penang for a few days off from boat jobs but I imagine we will find something to fix or work on. Ah the joys of owning a boat sailing around the world fixing her up in exotic places.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
some more photos
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| first meeting with elephant |
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| Marian meeting a new friend holding sugar cane in its trunk |
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| getting comfortable around these big animals |
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| Marian first time up |
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| feeding a banana |
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| washing after our ride... everyone get wet |
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| white temple |
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| hands reaching up from hell |
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| a creature |
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| Another temple on the site |
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| worlds most beautiful toilet |
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| the golden triangle |
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| big ear tribal lady |
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| lovely big ear child. they use bamboo pieces in the ear lobe to make room |
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| Marian with a long neck lady |
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| classic long neck lady |
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| having lunch with the tigers right behind us |
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| beautiful animals |
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| overlooking Chiang Mai |
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| temples in Chiang Mai |
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| there are lots of these around |
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| jade buddha |
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| David looking at a Naga |
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| inside a temple |
photos.. only took two hours to upload!!!!!
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| Doug and Thelma |
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| Similan island |
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| Phang Na bay sunset |
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| lime stone island by James Bond island |
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| our crew |
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| Marian and Thelma having fun |
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| Sea Gypsy village |
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| Marian at Doi Inthanon national park |
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| Hill tribe lady at the market |
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| Water falls at the park |
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| Silk worms |
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| Thelma and Doug shopping |
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Busy busy busy doing nothing important
I have been getting the complaints of not keeping up the blog but we have been busy doing nothing important.
We made it back down to Nai Yarn beach at the airport in two days of sailing and motor sailing which was a good run. We picked up Doug and Thelma at the airport on the 14th and took them back to the beach where the tide was at the low and we had to do a couple of trips in the dinghy out to Kilkea to get the luggage and them onboard. Time for a swim then back to the beach for dinner. The next morning we were up early and off to the Similan islands which are about 50 miles offshore. This is a park area with very clean clear waters. Lots of fun to go snorkeling and swimming. We stayed in the area which have a number of islets for four days by which time our friends had gotten over their jet lag. We left there and did lots of stops going around the south end of Phuket island and up to Fang Na bay which is full of the hongs and limestone shaped islets that were features in an old James Bond movie "The Man with the golden gun". We explored the sea gypsy floating village which was actually built on cement pilings and was a big village with shops and eateries that were supplied with lots of passengers on day tripper boats. We spent one day at Paradise resort which is cruiser friendly and sat around the pool and enjoyed sundowner drinks and dinner. Then is was back to Yacht Haven Marina where Doug and Thelma flew out to Sydney where they will stay for a couple of months.
Next day we were busy with an electrical guy onboard to try and find out what was going on with the batteries which he sorted out. Out of our twelve house batteries we only have four that are ok so now we will have to replace all twelve. This is not good as we replaced them all in Darwin just a year and a half ago. We now plan to pick up the new batteries in Malaysia as the prices are much better down there.
After one day here we flew up to Chiang Mai and had a holiday for a week. The city has an old walled area of temples and hotels and brick a brac markets. We hired a car and driver who spoke good English and had three days with him driving us up in the national park one day and then up to the golden triangle where you can see Laos and Burma from Thailand looking across the Mekong River. The day up in the hills was nice as the air was cooler and the water falls and views were very nice. On the way up to the golden triangle we stopped at the white temple which is an amazing place but instead of the same Budhas and stuff in the traditional temples this one is full of modern political art with renditions of recent events and people including George Bush and Obama Bin Laden. Interesting! The third day we did local stuff around Chiang Mai, botanical gardens, lunch watching the tigers play with tourists, and another temple overlooking the city. On another day we spent on a tour to ride elephants! We started with feeding them bananas and sugar cane which each one eats about 250 kg a day, they poop a lot, then we had to learn how to get on and off, and then how to make them go left and right and to stop and start. Then it was a good lunch and off on an hour sitting behind the head and ears. An hour was more than enough and then it was into a pond where we had to throw buckets of water on them and then scrub them with brushes while they submerged below the surface with just the trunks up for breathing. They did like to squirt you with water as well so we were soaking wet by the end of it. Good thing they give you clothes at the start of the day and have showers at the end of it. It was a good day and we enjoyed a good soak in the tub back at the hotel. The rest of the time was spent just wandering around the town and enjoying some good meals out.
We have finally addressed the crocodile bite that we got up at the Escape river at Cape York in Australia. At present the guys are grinding and reglassing the damaged area as well as fixing some stress cracks in the area. The bimini top is off being resewn as the glued on slots that the stainless pipe fit into are starting to undo. We have changed the outhaul lines as well as the bunggy cords for the topping lifts on the masts. Later this week we have the electrical guy back with a new antenna on top of the main mast. The vhf radio has not been transmitting well ever since Panama when the frigate birds flew into the antennas and knocked them off. I managed to reset them but they never worked well since. So that has been keeping us busy and there are still a bunch of items on our to do list. Later this week we will leave Thailand and head back down to Rebak marina in Malaysia for a haul out on the 17th to paint the bottom and wax the boat which is in bad need of it. The sun and uv here are very hard on the boat in this part of the world.
We made it back down to Nai Yarn beach at the airport in two days of sailing and motor sailing which was a good run. We picked up Doug and Thelma at the airport on the 14th and took them back to the beach where the tide was at the low and we had to do a couple of trips in the dinghy out to Kilkea to get the luggage and them onboard. Time for a swim then back to the beach for dinner. The next morning we were up early and off to the Similan islands which are about 50 miles offshore. This is a park area with very clean clear waters. Lots of fun to go snorkeling and swimming. We stayed in the area which have a number of islets for four days by which time our friends had gotten over their jet lag. We left there and did lots of stops going around the south end of Phuket island and up to Fang Na bay which is full of the hongs and limestone shaped islets that were features in an old James Bond movie "The Man with the golden gun". We explored the sea gypsy floating village which was actually built on cement pilings and was a big village with shops and eateries that were supplied with lots of passengers on day tripper boats. We spent one day at Paradise resort which is cruiser friendly and sat around the pool and enjoyed sundowner drinks and dinner. Then is was back to Yacht Haven Marina where Doug and Thelma flew out to Sydney where they will stay for a couple of months.
Next day we were busy with an electrical guy onboard to try and find out what was going on with the batteries which he sorted out. Out of our twelve house batteries we only have four that are ok so now we will have to replace all twelve. This is not good as we replaced them all in Darwin just a year and a half ago. We now plan to pick up the new batteries in Malaysia as the prices are much better down there.
After one day here we flew up to Chiang Mai and had a holiday for a week. The city has an old walled area of temples and hotels and brick a brac markets. We hired a car and driver who spoke good English and had three days with him driving us up in the national park one day and then up to the golden triangle where you can see Laos and Burma from Thailand looking across the Mekong River. The day up in the hills was nice as the air was cooler and the water falls and views were very nice. On the way up to the golden triangle we stopped at the white temple which is an amazing place but instead of the same Budhas and stuff in the traditional temples this one is full of modern political art with renditions of recent events and people including George Bush and Obama Bin Laden. Interesting! The third day we did local stuff around Chiang Mai, botanical gardens, lunch watching the tigers play with tourists, and another temple overlooking the city. On another day we spent on a tour to ride elephants! We started with feeding them bananas and sugar cane which each one eats about 250 kg a day, they poop a lot, then we had to learn how to get on and off, and then how to make them go left and right and to stop and start. Then it was a good lunch and off on an hour sitting behind the head and ears. An hour was more than enough and then it was into a pond where we had to throw buckets of water on them and then scrub them with brushes while they submerged below the surface with just the trunks up for breathing. They did like to squirt you with water as well so we were soaking wet by the end of it. Good thing they give you clothes at the start of the day and have showers at the end of it. It was a good day and we enjoyed a good soak in the tub back at the hotel. The rest of the time was spent just wandering around the town and enjoying some good meals out.
We have finally addressed the crocodile bite that we got up at the Escape river at Cape York in Australia. At present the guys are grinding and reglassing the damaged area as well as fixing some stress cracks in the area. The bimini top is off being resewn as the glued on slots that the stainless pipe fit into are starting to undo. We have changed the outhaul lines as well as the bunggy cords for the topping lifts on the masts. Later this week we have the electrical guy back with a new antenna on top of the main mast. The vhf radio has not been transmitting well ever since Panama when the frigate birds flew into the antennas and knocked them off. I managed to reset them but they never worked well since. So that has been keeping us busy and there are still a bunch of items on our to do list. Later this week we will leave Thailand and head back down to Rebak marina in Malaysia for a haul out on the 17th to paint the bottom and wax the boat which is in bad need of it. The sun and uv here are very hard on the boat in this part of the world.
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