Monday, February 26, 2018

Saturday, February 24, 2018

A Day Out In Phuket.

Kristin and I polished this morning the stainless steel and Knut installed two new water pumps, which was great and the fresh water pumps no longer comes on all the rime. Great work. As it started to heat up we drove south to visit the Big Buda in Chalong.


 The view of the Chalong Bay from the Big Buda.




Then we drove to the large Temple Chris and I visited 1.5 years ago and I bought a "number" of the nice Thai T-Shirts - well quite a number that is.

We ended up in Ao Po Marina where they had the Thailand Boat show. Mostly they exhibited motorboats, but it was interesting to visit that marina. 


 Kristin and Knut waiting for their beers...... which was a long wait.


 And I bought Gabriel a Thailand T-Shirt with Elephants embroidered on it.





Thursday, February 8, 2018

Phuket February 2018

It took me about a week to sail from Pangkor Marina, via Langkawi and up to Phuket. The Auto did not work, so I hand steered all the way and had long days of up to 11.5 h steering, as well as the last few days I had great wind of up to 38 kn T and 48 kn App, so some days it was fast and a wonderful  sail.

 Once I heard a noise and looking out I could see nothing. The the noise came again and some hours later I found this fish that had jumped up on the fore-deck to get a free ride. It quickly died and went back to sea.


This is the sail/rigging loft of Rolly Tasker in Phuket. It is one of the biggest sail lofts in the world and is very impressive.

The Generator did no longer produce 100 V AC, so I could not use it on my way to Phuket. Here we have dismantled the power plant and I believe it will need rewiring. Water had gotten into it and the water likely came from a poor job the Westerbeke mechanic did in Whangarei, NZ; whatever he touched he messed up.







Moored at Boat Lagoon Marina in Phuket. Very safe, expensive(!) and not much wind, which equals to hot, hot and as the marina is inside the mangroves there are a lot of Mosquitoes, so all hatches are covered with insect screens. One can find almost everything for yachts in this marina, at a price not seen before (expensive) and the yachting business here is booming and everyone are fully booked.

Perhaps an update would be of interest?

- Spray Hood: Taken off today 10.02.2018 and should be redone during the coming 10-12 days. Will be done by a Portuguese couple.

- Curtains: Booked to get a new back lining, repaired and washed. The material is still good and nice.

- Tender cover: Booked to be repaired, as it is falling apart.

- Westerbeke Generator: Big problem. Asked the agent in NL for spare parts to be send to me. Await his answer Monday. Bad job done in NZ and I am glad I did not pay all the NZ bills. Generator completely taken apart and need rewiring (see photos above). Very expensive and time consuming.

- Fuel Filters: Ordered to have a complete clean up of all the 3 filters hanging on the wall, as I suspect they would give problems later on. I have the Racor filters on board, but a good clean up is needed.

- Electronic:

- The FLS works again and I did a silly thing, but we are OK now.

- The Si-Tex radar: will you believe it, the cable I bought in DK and installed in Trinidad has one of the eight cables, broken. Hopefully the technician can get a new cable with eight wired inside so we can test it Monday?

- The Simrad CA42 and DS42 did work in Pangkor, but stopped as I set sails. The chap  took them to his workshop to see if he can fix them; but I think they are now finished. Then what to do?

- Simrad Autopilot: Works again and its was a silly connection I did i Beauvallon i 2013 that had come loose. Well I installed the computer myself and one of the connections were a bit loose. Silly small thing that caused my to hand steer all the way from Pangkor Marina and waste a lot of time.

- WC Pump motor in aft WC: Makes a lot of noise and will pack up soon. But I found exactly the same pump in stock here, so I will change it.

- Rigging: A big problem as they had sold the parts I had ordered. Everyone here are too busy and this work will delay me and we need parts from S, UK or AUS. I am working on several solutions and it is tough on me. It has to be done, as I will have no insurance for the IO. I will find a way. It will be expensive.

- Solar panels: Have started to get estimates/quotes and getting close to make a decision. Going for 2 x 325 W panels and I have the MPPT controllers from Victron, but need the SS frame done and everything installed.

- Carpets: The rubber is falling apart and I am seeking a solution. Can't find the rubber, but there are anti slip mats. TBA.

- Ship Chandlers: amazing choice here and I found the heating element for the hot water, so once the mechanic are finished and I will have the engine room for myself, I will install it.

- Shopping; There is a small IKEA in town and a Makro. Went to Villa Market today and got Baguette, but could not find the Filet Steak.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Langkawi 01 February 2018.

I have hand steered all the way from Pangkor Marina, as the new autopilot had decided to strike, just as I left the marina. I had tested it and it worked well. Thus it has been a slow and tiring trip so far.

Arrived in Telage Marina anchorage, Langkawi yesterday and hired a car to clear out and do some duty-free shopping. Tough going, but it is now all stored well in the wine cellar.

Below some photos taken today, which might interest you, or perhaps Gabriel?