S.V.Taipan

Aground! Boat Maroon

2012-02-03T14:49:00.000+07:00

Janurary 27th Haulout Date.

New Orca Windlass installation.

The lead up has been hectic to say the least. Since we arrived back aboard Taipan on new Years Eve we have had the deck painting completed on schedule and we moved to a "normal" pen from the "work dock" which was a total joy!

The deck and cockpit look great. The new anchor winch was the next project which had to be completed before departure. It took a week or so to get the anchor windlass, deck fittings and gear back on and then we were able to head out towards Boat Lagoon. We had two nights on anchor before the onslaught begins again. When we left the marina all was well until anchor o'clock... suddenly neither of the depths sounders were working so it was back to the trusty string and sinker.

Dont you just love it when you are motoring gently along on a windless day enjoying a day away from the dock when a big fat stink boat (aka "Moon Sand") comes by at 15 knots and the bow wave is 6 feet high! High enough to put about 200 gal below deck and drench me while um standing on the foredeck trying to shut hatches!!!. Do they use brick designers to design these monstrosities!!!.

Oh well I got the hatches over the chart table shut in time to prevent two computers getting drowned!

Our anchorage was a little exposed because we were being cautious but managed to have a nice couple of days rest.

Before we left to head in to Boat Lagoon Marina we managed to get the 2 depths sounders working and I loaded the new CMap, Mapmedia derived Charts which were supplied by Furuno as replacements for the Navionics Mapmedia derived charts which we purchased and which were totally useless. I am very happy to report that the new ones look great. Suddenly we can actually use the Furuno Navnet 3 D plotter!. Just as well because the trusty Garmin which has been with us for 10 years has finally started to get screen failure. How timely!

David had blood tests recently and the medico back in OZ is very pleased with them. He is getting fitter and stronger as each long weary day goes by. His driving is deteriorating!

Since we hauled out for annual maintenance PLUS a few other odd jobs we have been hot sweaty dirty and busy. The mast came out to be repainted and serviced. That's one big and stressful job let me tell you! The painting sanding and repainting is on going and we try to do some on it in the early morning and late afternoon when its a little cooler. Average here is 32deg with 80% to 90% humidity so... yes!... you sweat...not just "glow" let me assure you!

The work begins

We get here to start each morning at about 6.20am and get several hours of shade which is a big incentive for such an early start.

From the other end.

The rest of the day at present in take up with engine un-installation !! Yes the trusty Volvo MD 30A 65HP is being superseded by a new Yanmar 75HP Turbo. We have agonized over the decision for nearly a year and reluctantly decided to replace it instead of buy a few new parts. The engine still runs and starts perfectly but some of the peripherals are dying. Starter motor, copper pipes, potentially the main diesel rotary pump may need service...lots of little things which would be easier repaired out of the boat but which added together with the 12,000hrs of great service don't add up financially. In five years it will be a 30 year old engine. Any way the new engine in here in Phuket and we are awaiting the arival of Huck... our great friend from OZ who generously offered to come and help with the installation if we went ahead with the purchase. Hes due next week!

We haven't bought a new gear box as it is not so old, so its a bobtail instal....???

Currently we are staying at the Akwaaba Hill Mansion with good friends Mike and Chris who have once again invited us to stay. The boat is not livable...the air con cant work on the hard stand....When Huck arrives we will move into a condo here at the Marina for a couple of weeks before we go SAILING..... hopefully! Thats what were here for after all!!

Life in a Bubble

2012-01-06T17:21:00.001+07:00

Plastic and tape...painting job.

We are tucked back in aboard Taipan albeit inside a big plastic bubble with paint fumes. Our painter permitted us to go aboard to kick out 2011 and welcome in 2012. We had a quiet night aboard for the first night in three and a half months. It was amidst a fug of mold and closed up boat smell that we savored a good bottle of red and toasted the incoming year. Couldn't find the champs but no matter! The red worked well and we duely awoke on new years day with a shocker head just to remind us were not quite up to all the partying we used to do.

Cheers

We flew out of Australia on the 21st only 7 days after the successful completion of Davids treatments. We had a few days each with Annamarie, Michael and Corinne and Andrew and Christine, all of whom spoiled us rotten. Andrew and Christine drove us to the airport and kindly offered to look after our car.

Chris and Mike, sailing friends in Phuket picked us up and welcomed us to their lovely hill mansion overlooking the bay. Several days rest and relaxation and then Xmas chaos reined!. 12 friends to a wonderful sit down lunch and dinner with all the trimmings. Fabulous day and company and food by the pool with views to Phang Nga Bay.

View to Phang Nga Bay.

We have now settled down to life in the slow lane again...watching paint to dry. David of course cant be slowed down and the ampaphobic is "currently"....pardon the pun... tangled in wires, resistors, relays meters and stuff doing something technical to the fridge and freezer compressors which are apparently confused by the fans!!....??? I cook and clean!

The fridge and freezer were not keen to start when we got back as some old dust in the fans had got damp and they wouldnt start. Suffice to say its all good now the fridge man has been by!

I have banished most of the mould and damp smelly boat smells with conderntrated bleach and am now working my way through the cupboards washing stuff. Cruising life!

We hope to be finished with the paint business in about a week so we can get the boat back together to start the next jobs.....thru hulls and mast....and new engine....sigh. Might as well just slash a hole in all your pockets!!

Thanks to everyone for your support and good cheer during a trying 2011. Looking forward to sailing this year....somewhere...anywhere!

On the Home Run 11th December 2011

2011-12-11T15:42:00.001+07:00

The final phase of Davids treatment comences tomorrow and will take about 3 days. He is really well and positive. We are looking forward to getting back to Taipan on the 21st in time for a relaxing Xmas with friends in Thailand. Work aboard is progressing well in our absence.

Michelle and I

We have been fettered and nurtured by all our wonderful friends and family here in WA for the past 3 months. It has been wonderfull catching up with everyone.

Riding with Jean and Margie

Joan, Davids mum, is safely into her new home in Albany which was a huge undertaking for everyone concerned but we feel sure she will enjoy the new home and the rediscovery of her old home friends.

Spending time with children and grandchildren has been a rare pleasure we have enjoyed more of, on this return trip.

I hope every one has a wonderful Xmas and New Year and that maybe some of you will get the opportunity to join us so we can repay some of the hospitality we have enjoyed here.

I had a couple of riding opportunities and missed a couple but is was good to get back in the saddle. The season has been long and lush and the view from horseback is always special

I didn't get to ride with my treasured daughter in law, Ferne and the grand daughters but will have to get that happening next year!

Grey Nomads on the Road

2011-10-23T08:32:00.003+07:00

We have been in OZ for over a month now and its been pretty hectic. Firstly there was the round with the medicos and programming for Davids treatment. All the treatment so far seems to be working as planned and the outlook remains good.

Our first priority after initial round with doctors was to buy a car of some description. After several days of searching and haggling we bagged a Holden Commodore wagon. Its been great so far. Lots of km but not really old. 7 years.

Savannaha's first Pony Club Rally on Jane.

We went down to Albany to stay with Kris mum and dad for a couple of weeks and managed to catch up with lots of friends and family. Edna and Colin, Kris's mum and dad, headed off to Bali for a break so we went and stayed with Kris's son. Jason and Ferne, his wife, and two daughters. Helped with the new verandah for a couple of days. Savannah, 4 years, participated in her first Pony Club Rally with her pony Jane. Lily, 12 years, went off to a Gymkhana in Albany with Freckles and swept the field, arriving home with the high point trophy and a bag of loot. Ferne is as busy as ever with horses to be worked or broken-in for number of clients. Jason is getting ready for harvest and a busy hot season ahead, with big crops forecast.

The team. Jason Kerry and David finished laying the retaining blocks for the verandah

Before we returned to Perth we headed off in Edna and Colin's caravan for a grey nomad trial run. I have to say it was a little alarming when we stopped at the Stirling Range Retreat to hear the noises coming from one of the wheels. Not keen on that, David investigated but without a wheel spanner, it was difficult to accurately determine the problem but we soldiered on for a couple more days eventually returning to Jason's without misadventure. Not convinced about caravans though.

Grey Nomads on the Road

Radiation started on the 13th of October and we have counted off 7 of the 30 treatments today. At the end of the treatment period we plan to go back to Albany for a couple of weeks to recuperate before the hospital and brachytherapy which will involve 4 days in hospital and a spinal block for 3 of those days to enable the treatment to be administered. Not really looking forward to that bit much.

Wild flowers at Cape Riche

On the weekend of the 15th 16th Jason Ferne and Lily met us in Yokine where we helped them to pick up and stack on pallets, some brick paving they purchased second hand to be transported down to their farm for the new verandah and garage. (23ton, 5300++, 4kg ea , 200sq m.) We were all knackered!!..(..relief to know it was not just the "olds" who were stuffed!!)

This week we spent a couple of nights with Ann-Marie in Fremantle which was fabulous. I had a couple of visits to a specialist to consult on a troublesome shoulder injury I sustained in February, and he has decided that cortisone and exercise with be sufficient. Thankfully no surgery!

23 ton of Paving tiles packed and wrapped for the verandah

Next weekend is the CHOGAM Conference in Perth so we plan to head south again for a few days. Kris's folks are back from Bali, having survived the earthquake there unscathed. Looking forward to their adventure stories. At 83 and 89 years there are sure to be some tales. It is also Colins 89th birthday so we will have to participate in strangling a few rednecks.

Davids mum Joan, is planning to move back to Albany so we are spending quite a lot of time staying with her in Guildford to try to help here sort out the move. A big job at 88!

The picturesque estuary at Cape Riche

Thats it from us for now.

FURUNO UPDATE

2011-10-14T08:27:00.001+07:00

Furuno Update
After protracted communication with Furuno Support we have finaly been advised that they will provide the unlock code free of charge for the CMap Chart Chart which covers the Navionics chart area we purchased.

MaxSea France does confirm there may currently be shortcomings of the Navionics based MM3-V69-P00
( S. China Sea ) map data.

This will hopefully resolve the problems. We will keep you posted here when we return to Taipan in late December and update the charts.

Arrived back in OZ.

2011-09-13T08:32:00.001+07:00

We flew in knackered, after a long wait in KL and were greeted by the friendly faces of Andrew and Christine at 6am at the airport and a very welcome site too! Great breakfast at their place before we picked up the car from Bayswater Hire and now staying with Joan, Davids mum, at Guildford.
Now its back to treatment mode and blood sucking, an all that fun stuff before we can pick up the "cured"card and flick off back to warm..sweaty even...Thailand and home to Taipan to continue our adventures.
Car hunting for a cheap reliable car..ha ha! Wish us luck!

Australia. Mob Ph 0415129156 or Kris 0467541529

Furuno Navnet 3 D Chartplotter woes.

2011-08-17T15:32:00.001+07:00

We are frustrated with Furuno's lack of response on this issue to date.

The image on the left is a screen shot of a genuine Navionics chart running in a Raymarine Chartplotter

The image right is of the same area, in northern Phang Nga Bay Thailand, is a screen shot of the Furuno Navnet 3D chart plotter with a Mapmedia derived Navionics chart. These charts are digitized for the Navnet 3D plotter and purchased by us at 4 times the price of the original Navionics data.
There is no tide data and no useful depth information. Further zoom reveals nothing further.
(The red squares are way points we have put on)

For more comparisons see

Navnet 3D MFD8 Chartplotter Running Navionics Derived Charts

Some more exploration in Phang Nga Bay

2011-08-12T08:19:00.003+07:00

Brother Vernon arrived on the 24th from Perth to spend a few weeks with us so after topping up on some great Thai food we headed back out into beautiful Phang Nga Bay again. This time to explore some spots weve heard about but not been to yet.
First stop was at the northern Hong group where we anchored late on the 28th at Panak. Vern and Jo visited the area in janurary after our joint visit in Vietnam so we didnt go to Kho Pan Yi stilt village as they did that tour then. Off we stooged to the north east corner of the bay and in beautiful conditions we anchored at Chong Lat. Dingying upriver we found a healthy and productive oyster farming area. Some hard bargainig saw us loaded with fresh oysters for dinner. A young fisherman dropped by with a shark and some lovely prawns for a bargain so we had a good supply of local seafood laid in.
Hen and Chicken island again provided some lovely snorkling before we headed upriver to Krabi. We intended to go right up to the town but chickend out after running onto a sand bank. The rising tide assisted in getting us off again quite quickly but the tide was nearly done so w elected to anchor at the Ferry jetty and take a taxi into town.
Krabi is a big sprawling place so we didnt see much but it certainly looks interesting. Thais do amazing things with traffic lights ....

A long tail bought us back to the dingy we had left tied to the ferry dock. With the tide now out it was easy to see where we grounded on the sand...there are lots of sand banks!!. Going up river would be possible but stressfull! The anchorage just upriver from the jetty was very comfortable and the trip to the city by taxi was easy. It is possible to clear in and out of Thailand here and its a good spot to remember.
Headed to Bamboo group and snorkled again. This time the conditions were excellent and it was thoroughly entertaining. Long Beach on the north east side of Phi Phi was our choice for anchorage overnight as the southwesterly swell was evident and Phi Phi anchorages doubtful. Long beach proved a good anchorage and the meal ashore was delicious. Perfect conditions.

Vern relaxing after a dive at Koh Rok Nok

Onward to Phi Phi Don where a visit to the bay would not be complete without cocktails on the beach at sundown and a good foot massage. We suffered for our desires though because Taipan rolled like a pig all night in the SW swell. Off at sparrows for somewhere sheleterd....Rok Nok! Ok so it is a bit more distance south but the swell wont get into the chanel at this angle!
It was a long sail / motor and conditions were not that great. There was less than 2 miles visibility, the worst we have seen in Thailand. We did however catch a nice Spanish Mackerel and a Dorado, so more fresh fish to keep us going. Anchored in the chanel we had a reasonable night sleep and lo and behold the morning was heavenly. One of those really lovely days. Donned our gear and even broke out the hookah to head off to the north eastern side for a dive. The water was the clearest I had ever seen in Thailand! Absolutly fabulous. Vern was pretty impressed with the amount of live coral after recently diving in Honduras.
Thursday morning we reluctantly headed out to Koh Lanta Old Town on the south east side. The weather was still gorgeous but we needed to keep moving. Friday we hired motorbikes and rode the island roads to Saladan at the top end. Had lunch and toured around. Very easy place to ride a bike as there is no bridge to the island so the vehicle traffic is quite limited.
Left Lanta early on Saturday to head back to Yacht Haven. Sailed 60 NM in two legs all the way to the northern tip of Koh Noi. Was probably one of the best sailing days we've had in the Bay in 5 years!
Sunday we had another leisurely sail into Yacht Haven Marina in time for dinner at Coconuts.
Monday we hired a car and set off to explore the east coast. Laem Sak fish restruant happend to be our first stop and we realized that this was the village ajacent ot our onchorage at Chong Lat the previous week. We had a seafood meal at the jetty restruant which was very nice and continued on towards Krabi and Ao Nang. Spent the night at Viewson bungalows on the beachfront. headed out early for breakfast in Krabi town and on towards surat thani. diverted late in the day to Khao Sok national park and spent th night at Riverside Cottages. Rustic but comfortable. We were all really ill by Wednesday morning with some nasty gut bug...food or bug..dont know....! Anyway it was not an option to stay longer. We headed to Takua Pa to find a pharmacy and get drugs!!
Arrived back at Yacht Haven at 100pm and fell back into bed. Vern had to fly out at 1.00am Thursday morning so he got 8 hours recuperation on drugs before we took him to the airport and said our farewells. We improved fairly rapidly from midnight so I hope he did too!!
Sad to say goodbye

Great Crew

2011-07-22T08:04:00.002+07:00

Steven Tom and Hannah

Thursday 14th July. Stephen, Kerry, Tom and Hannah arrived on board fresh from a few days of luxury at Indigo Pearl. It was pouring rain and forecast to get worse. In one of the brief breaks in the deluge the dock boys came and threw of our lines and we motored out into the gloom. Well the gloom sort of lifted and we had a pleasant motor down the channel and decided to head on to Phanak for the night. It remained calm and although we had some rain it was cool and flat.

Kerry

On Friday we headed out to the stilt village at Kho Pan Yai. The conditions were bad. Gusts up to high 40's but no sail up and protected water so we just leaned over!! A long tail took us ashore and we wandered the alleys and shopped in the shelter. Back aboard and high tailed it to the north east side of Kho Noi. Anchor down just in time. Another squall hit as 3 more yachts were attempting to get into the shelter. By dark everyone was settled in and safely anchored.

That was the last still night at anchor. Saturday we made our way via the Bamboo Group to Phi Phi Don. Ashore for dinner and cocktails and some shopping. Rolled like a pig all night. The wind went south!!! Un heard of! still we rolled. Some snorkeling and swimming before heading to the north anchorage. Visitors ashore for some shopping and massage while we motored round to the new anchorage. It was reasonable so we went ashore for massage and cocktaiils etc as you do!!

Got back to Taipan at about ten PM and she was rolling as good as ever!. Fortunatly it stopped about midnight so we were all able to get some sleep. At least it was fine and clear again.

Tuesday we arrived back at Yacht Haven to ferry the crew back to the Indigo Pearl for a well earned relax before departing to Perth on the late flight on Wednesday night.

What a great crew!

Busy Visitor Times in Phuket

2011-07-12T19:07:00.005+07:00

We have recently had a busy time with visitors here in Phuket. Ley Langford from Crystal Blues, currently based in Singapore, flew in for a four day visit and stayed aboard Taipan in Yacht Haven. We had a fat time eating Thai for breakfast lunch and dinner...well not quite breakfast but it was fun. We actually took the whole four days off and just drove about checking out developments and shopping. This is the new Ao Po Marina hardstand. Its much easier to get into than Boat Lagoon and they use a Sealift machine instead of a Travel-lift so no overhead stuff. Looks promising for the future.

L to R. Alan Jan David Tim Vanessa Mike Carole

On the 4th of July Tim and Vanessa, Davids son and his fiance, flew in from Australia for a two week break from their mining jobs in the North West. Vanessa's parents and Aunt and uncle were in Phuket too so we had a family day out up to Ko Pan Yai and back on Tuesday.

Wednesday we all dashed into Phuket to do some privision shopping and then departed marina at 3pm for Ko Naka Yai about 11 Nm. The weather was lovely and it was great to be out into the Bay again.

Thursday morning after a brief swim and slow breakfast we made our way to Phi Phi Don arriving in the early afternoon. Two glorious days a Phi Phi with cocktails on the beach enjoying the afternoon sunset. Awesome Pizza and much fun at the fish doctor. Small fish attack your feet and nibble off all the dead skin. Sent Tim and Vanessa into paroxysms of giggles! On Thursday afternoon we hired a long tail for a run over to Phi Phi Lei. It was amazingly blue! but we have never seen so many tourists. Phi Phi Don was packed with people and boats.

Saturday we headed up to the Bamboo group for some snorkeling and after a short shower of rain we spent a couple of pleasant hours there before heading onto Hen and Chicken anchorage for the night.

Long Tails in Phi Phi Lei

Sunday morning paddle and swim and snorkel before heading west to Ko Yai to anchor for the night. We had a huge rain squall and were besieged by yachts seeking shelter just after we settled our pick. Its a roomy place though so there was no harassment. The squalls passed and the sky cleared for the night.

Monday has come all to quickly and we headed back to Yacht Haven for Tim and Vanessa to take a luxury break at the beautiful Indigo Pearl Resort at Nai Yang Beach not far from the marina. After they were settled in we caught up with Davids brother Steven, his wife Kerry and the two not so children, Hannah 13 and Tom nearly 18. They are also at Indigo Pearl and we are looking forward to them joining us aboard Taipan later this week for a Phang Nga Bay adventure.

Langkawi to Phuket June 2011

2011-06-25T16:40:00.001+07:00

Aside from the debacle with the water in the Diesel Langkawi was a good stopover. Great fun to catch up with Brian and Dawn on Ten Large again. Rebak is still a lovely marina despite a severely unreliable internet service and the fact that neither of our phones (Digi) work there at all. There are lovely walking trails and the pool is great.

Having restored the Volvo and the Yanmar to their original condition we headed to Kuah to get some fuel and clear out for Thailand.

On Friday 10th we motored out of the anchorage and put the way points on the 3 navigation instruments..!!!! .(Garmin, Furuno Navnet 3D (useless) and Netbook) for Taratao. Hmm triple redundancy !!

Walking train on Taratao.

Taratao is a Thai Island National Park just north of Langkawi. It was a prison island built around 1938 and disbanded in 1947. It had something of a reputation as a haven for Pirates and guards and prisoners colluded to pirate many ships in the area. Around 3000 prisoners were detained here at its peak. There are several pretty walk trails to take you through the historical sites. The anchorage is excellent and there is water available at the long concrete pier.

Concrete pier at Taratao

We saw some large squirrel type critters in the tree tops. About the size of a cat and very black.

We sailed on to Petra to anchor on the east side opposite the lone hut owned by Kan. Ashore for a swim and walk again and we gave Kam a throw net we have been carting around unused for 6 years. Figured he'd get a lot more use out of it than us. He is a Bird Nest watcher we think and his little camp was immaculate with lovely orchids and ferns.

12th is raining and squally so we upped the anchor and sailed up to Kantang river entrance.

The plan was to check in at Kantang. Its a tricky place to get to and quite a long way. We motored up the river...wrong river...turn round ...different river.....went aground twice on banks. Arrived at 007 24.14N 009 30.34E and anchored on a mud bank. Aground for a couple of hours. Went ashore to look for Immigration Customs etc and found a very clean and tidy town with a pleasant market but absolutely no sign of any Officials!. Did buy some nice veg.

Dingy dock at Kantang.

Back to Taipan ....still aground....waited for some more water so we could leave to anchor downriver. The town must make fish fertilizer or something. The smell was atrocious!!!. Not long before dark we got off the bottom and raced downriver to anchor just before dark between a couple of big fish traps opposite a large barge loader. Mosquitos had a good feed overnight.

We decided that the depth log is faulty. The reading when we went aground said 1.4m under the Keel. It is supposed to go aground at 0!! Hopefully now we can keep off the mud.

Tuesday 14th Kradan. many years coming and going between Thailand and Langkawi and we have never stopped at Kradan. The anchorage is beautiful. Very close to the beach and its still 10m. The wind is quite strong so we decided to spend a few days here to wait out the strong weather warning. Its full moon though and so most of the Thai fishing fleet seem to have decided to wait our the weather and the moon here too. Over the next two days we had up to 50 large crewed trawlers and squid boats in the anchorage. Too many people!!

A barge tow outside Lanta. The tug is not visible in the pic.

Thursday 16th gave up our position to some fishing boats and headed out to somewhere peaceful. The wind was howling and from the west north west so it was a boisterous sail in up to 30+ kn. Its only 16nm up to Talat Lanta and after abandoning the southern anchorage we headed up there to drop the pick. Talat Lanta is the original town in the area and on a very nice open water way with good protection at this time of year. There is a big concrete pier with a small floating dock at the end for dingy allowing all tide access.

Sunday 19th with the wind warning still active we headed to Koh Ph for shelter. David was busy trying to convince me we could get round the top of the island and short cut to Krabi just as we grounded at 6 kn on a mud bank which was sticking out of the water!!. Mark 1 eyballs...no way!

We spent the next five hours watching the bank appear and dissapear before enough water returned for us to pull off and anchor for the night. At least it was sheltered.

Taipan anchored at Hen n Chicken.

My tolerance for rivers and shallow banks at an all time low as we motored out to the south again avoiding the possibility of a rounding the north of the island but the likely hood of grounding for hours again was also diverted! Our next stop was Hen and Chicken opposite Krabi. Something was muttered about attempting an upriver passage to clear in at Krabi but it was deemed inapropriate and struck from the record!!.

The north end of Phang Nga Bay is spectacular and not lessened by the strong winds we experienced. In fact, without a serious deadline for a change, we were able to sail the most efficient route to make use of the excellent breeze and enjoy some lovely sailing in this beautiful cruising ground. Ko Hong provided a great lunch stop and swim and the overnight anchorage on the eastern side of Koh Noi could be considered any time during the SW monsoon season.

Wednesday 22nd. Eventually we had to get to Phuket to clear into Thailand . The officials take a dim view of cruisers taking longer than a fortnight to travel from Langkawi to Phuket. (130Nm) We did have a particularly long period of adverse weather and we were not harassed too much.

All round it was a great couple of weeks and the nearest to "cruising" weve been for many a long day!

Now we are in Yacht Haven Marina looking forward to the arrival of Tim (Davids son) and his partner Vanessa.

Langkawi. Sailing aside while we fix something that was not broken.

2011-06-25T11:48:00.002+07:00

David is well although he is getting even more forgetful... nutty maybe....he left the cap of the deck filler the other evening and we went to bed. It poured with rain and put over 30ltrs of water into the fuel tank. Unknowingly we started the genset to charge batteries first thing in the morning and ....yes...engine stopped....oh dear...darn well we started the main engine...still unaware that the water was in the tank and guess what!!! it stopped too. Now we had a very alarmingly decreasing power supply and no motor to pull the anchor to sail and no wind anyway. We pumped all the water out of the tank then David cleaned all the lines out and removed and replaced all the filters but there was water still in the rotary injector pump on the volvo so no point in trying that. Genset tried to run but kept stopping......... had to call Noel;. a fellow from a near by marina to come and tow us back into the marina where we spent the rest of the evening and following morning with a good friend of Ten Large...my favorite boat in the whole world as it happens......Brian came over: he had over 300 trucks in the UK.....never a Volvo!!!.....he had a trucking business. he once bought a Volvo truck but he sent it for repairs after a government motor test and when he got the bill....he told them to keep the truck and the bill!!! Anyway he came over, and together with his expertise they removed the injectors we had just replaced....grr....and that enabled the poor old starter motor to turn the motor over without bursting into a ball of smoke......then they found a bleed screw on the pump and although it was time consuming we eventually got the fuel back running and the water out. Only ended up changing one injector on the Volvo and one on the Yanmar Genset. Phew!!

Next morning we left the marina again ..... and lo and behold....he had left the deck filler cap off again....lucky I spotted it before we sailed into the ocean and filled it up with salt water!!!.

Then on the run to Kuah...about 10nm....he lost the cap of one of the jerry cans over the side so decided to lower the Dingy to retrieve it!. Well we got the cap back eventually and then towed the dingy the last bit as a storm was approaching....all good till we get to the anchorage...forget the dingy is there...drop the anchor and back up....and ....you guessed it....run right over the dingy tow line and cut it off. Very lucky the dingy was along side and we were able to grab it or he would have had to go for a swim!!

This morning he dived on the prop and removed the tow line!!

So you see the female hormones have kicked in and are working well now!!!

Penang 27th May to Langkawi 31st May

2011-06-03T12:46:00.004+07:00

Penang was a good stop over as usual and we treated ourselves to Sunday Breakfast at the Eastern and Oriental hotel. It was outstanding as usual. The Little Penang Street Market was in full swing when we emerged from breakfast and a pleasant hour wandering through the exhibits and displays eschewed. We were lucky to be here for the market as it is only on once a month. Huck bought a nice little video camera and David and Shenka went to the Barge to get Diesel. It is awkward to get fuel in Penang because the fuel stations wont let you fill Jerry Jugs at all without a letter or authority from the harbour master or customs or someone. Of course you need to know that before you rock up at the fuel station armed with loads of jerrys. It also cant happen on the weekend. Shenka was a huge help though and he also cooked for us all a wonderful Indian dinner aboard Blue Whale.

Headed into lake for a swim.

On Tuesday the 31st we headed out towards Langkawi. There was very little wind and we made it into Dayang Bunting at 4.30 in time for a swim in the lake.

Wednesday the 1st of June we headed into Rebak Marina. Hired a care and took Huck on a whirlwind tour of the Island including the cable car to the top of the mountain. We were lucky with the weather and managed a good panoramic view of the whole group.

On Friday the 3rd Huck flew out to Perth. We were very sorry to see him go as usual. Thanks Huck.

27th May 2011. Rocking an rolling to Penang.

2011-05-28T14:19:00.000+07:00

We've arrived in Penang and a very welcome arrival it was after the last two days. When we left Singapore on the afternoon of Tuesday the 24th of May we decided to sail non-stop to Penang. We hadn't done that since November 2006 and seem to have forgotten the downside. Out of Singapore was easy with Immigration at the anchorage speedy and efficient we were underway by 3.00pm. We left the marina later than expected because the fuel system in the marina at One 15 is hopeless. It froths in the nozzle so badly that we had to fill Jerry cans then decant them into the boat. Painful!

There was no wind of any use so we motored up to the peninsular and set off into the shipping channel on dusk to travel with the north bound stream of ships of every size and description throughout the night. We were the smallest!. There were barges with tug tows heading south though, in the north bound traffic, which was a hazard, although all the ones we saw were lit correctly, a change from our last trip.

Huck, David and I did roughly three hour watches which with 3 people is far easier, giving everyone a 6 hour break.

Dawn on Wednesday we were approaching Melaka so we detoured inshore to sail close to the city then followed the coast during daylight hours. As dusk approached again we moved offshore to avoid the plethora for unmarked and badly lit fishing boats and nets. Once in the channel all went smoothly albeit slowly with current against us and only useless wind. By midnight the picture had changed however, with the wind picking up to 18 to 20 knots on the nose and large numbers of ships around the port of Klang. The sea had built and was short and steep causing a nasty hobby-horsing effect and occasionally knocking the boat speed back to only 2 knots. With a large thunderstorm visible on the radar we decided to turn back a short distance and head into the port of Klang. The motion was now bearable and the boat speed much better, at up to 8 knots. The storm broke with a vengeance as we entered the port so with little visibility and the radar totally cluttered we hugged the left side of the channel, furthermost from the main port activity.

Tanjong City Marina. Penang

On Thursday morning and we were all tired, having been unable to get any sleep in the conditions. In the fore peak berth I spent as much time in the air as on the mattress.!! The sea flattened as the day wore on and we approached Pankor Island at about 11pm with the conditions worsening again. The fishing fleet there is truly dreadful. The lights are the typical Asian Christmas tree lighting system, with even the occasional large ship showing flashing lights and no navigation lights. One fishing boat came straight at us down the radar screen. A course change of 30 degrees by us didn't deter it and with spotlights shining at us we were forced to turn a complete circle. I seem to remember something similar in the same place in 2006. Maybe its a local game they play with yachts!!. In our past experience in daylight, these events are usually caused by a net the fishing boat doesn't want you to run into. This was not the case on this occasion as we resumed our original course after the circle. It was however very unnerving. As the night wore on the seas built again and sleep became impossible.

Friday morning at first light saw us 60 NM from Penang, everyone tired and the sea still messy. By 11am things had settled somewhat but the wind was still useless. We were taking turns to get a well earned sleep. By 3 pm it was only 20nm to go and with a better angle we were able to motor sail more efficiently. Tanjong City Marina at Georgetown, Penang was a very welcome sight, and by 5.50 we were tied up with the air-conditioner running and the crew were all a much happier crowd!!

We had a delicious seafood dinner at the Shady Tree after dropping the Passports into Banana for Thai Tourist Visas and hit the pleasantly imobile "sack" by 10pm.

The Shady Tree Penang

Not a peep was heard until 9.40 am this morning!!

David, Huck and I left Miri in Borneo on the 13th of May and have sailed 1100 NM. "Sailed" is a euphemism for "motored" on this occasion. We only had about 4 hours of sailing. We have motored 198 hours on this trip, sometimes down to only 1.7 knots. Since Miri we've used about 790 litres of fuel!. This would be our most inefficient trip to date....EVER!! On the upside, the old 65hp Volvo, with about 12,000 hours on it, hasn't missed a beat and still only used about 1 litre of oil.

Singapore.19th May to 24th May

2011-05-24T12:34:00.001+07:00

Huck showing David how to rebuild the big jabsco bilge pump.

Taipan on the dock at One 15 Marina Sentosa Cove Singapore.

We picked up the new Viking Life Raft in Singapore.
Corine Ji, Viking's Sales Support Coordinator was extremely helpful and even delivered the raft personally. Ph +656424921, Mobile +6590664589 or email her at COJ@viking-life.com

Miri to Singapore Friday 13th May 2011

2011-05-21T16:22:00.001+07:00

The day is wearing on as we prepare to leave the marina in Miri to head to Singapore on out first leg back to Phuket. Waiting for a part for a pump. Well its getting late and the part hasn't shown up by4pm so we finally toss the lines and head to sea.

Huck in the tea brown Rajang River in Sarawak.

Aboard the good ship Taipan for this journey we have Huck Holden from Mt Barker in WA. Hucks a seasoned Taipan traveler having come from Darwin to Bali with us in '06 and on various other legs round Australia prior to this. Huck is an invaluable crew member because not only does he eat what ever is going without complaint he can also fix almost anything. We never seem to notice the things that need fixing till he arrives so hes been put to work on the pump. Hence the parts we were waiting for.

The wind picked up about an hour out and the sails took over all the way to the entrance to the Lassa River. 185NM South West. On Saturday Huck landed 3 Spanish Mackerel in pretty quick order and we decided to call a halt to the fishing about then! Tasty change from chicken and pork.

We anchored at about 5am on Sunday in the entrance to the Lassa River for a nap then up anchored and off up the dirty tea brown river past mile of destroyed forest replanted with Palm Oil. The whole day was spent motoring in the sometimes rainy and dank river swamps. You may have guessed I am very unimpressed with the swamps of Borneo thus far!

A traditional Long House on the Rajang!

On Monday morning we struck off into the clear blue ocean for Singapore, 450 NM to the west. No wind! Well enough to sail assist for motor sailing. Tuna!! at 4 and a half knots on ta blue Rapala lure followed by sashumi. a highlight! On Tuesday the wind dropped to total calm so we dropped the main, cut the engine and David hopped over the side with a scraper to knock of some barnacles which we suspected were on the propeller and shaft and causing extra drag. He was only in the water about 15 minuets and just as he got out 4 very big dolphins surfaced for a look. Luck he didn't spot one in the water!!

Friendly Indonesian Fishermen between Borneo and Singapore

The 18th was Davids 64th birthday so we started the day with Champagne breakfast then naps in shifts...then lunch was Canapes and anti pasta and white wine. More naps in shifts then Dinner of Beef Stroganoff followed by Plum Pud and Brandy Sauce with Red wine. You know we haven't been drinking because you see we are following a really serious health plan. Loose weight and get fit to fight the Prostate cancer! We did however feel a birthday could excuse us all.

The 19th we are approaching the Seaways into Singapore. We've not had a drop of rain or a squall and the strongest wind has been 12 knots , since we left Miri on the 13th.

May 1st Back to Taipan and Miri Marina

2011-05-01T09:32:00.002+07:00

Here its mostly fine during the day with a late storm some days. We walk an hour every morning and then do whatever boat jobs are on the never ending lists.

There has been the inevitable re provisioning to do after a lengthy absence. The fridge and freezer were emptied and turned off so some serious shopping happened. We bought back some Roo steak and cheese. The Australian Customs took the Blue Castillo off us because its a "soft" substance...probably a nitro bomb!! Darn!! Air Asia were also antsy about us flying our two new plastic diesel Jerry cans. In the end they assured themselves, probably by smell test...that they were safe and we were able to bring them. Malaysian Airlines didn't have a problem with them. We were pretty unhappy with Air Asia the last couple of flights. Their prices have not been so competitive and the service is really ordinary. We have done a few flights with Malaysian Airlines and Vietnam Air lately and been pleasantly surprised.

Since we returned David has re commissioned the Spectra Water-maker which we pickled, as we were unsure how long our absence was to be. Its running well apparently. During that process he discovered a pump had come undone and was rubbing on the steering cables so just as well we found that now and not in the middle of a storm!!

While we were back in OZ I got an Xray and Ultra Sound of my shoulder but didn't have time to get back to the hospital for a second ultrasound and to have the injection. In Miri we called into the Orthopedic Specialist for an appointment. We went back an hour later for a cortisone injection into my shoulder. No fuss no bother and now no pain! All for just $57Aus. In Australia just the Xray and Ultrasound was $300 plus 2 doctor visits and I still hadn't had the cortisone!!

A couple of days ago we put new rope clutches on the Main Traveler because the Ronstan ones we purchased and installed in Thailand were not clutches. The were only jammers and now we have moved the track forward there is more tension on the lines so we think clutches will work better David also replaced the injectors on the Volvo which we had serviced back in Perth. He has run up the two engines , main engine and gen set, and its all systems go!

We are waiting here in Miri for Chris and Daun to return to More Magic and for Huck our trusty sailor friend to come from OZ. We are hoping Huck will sail with us from Miri to Singapore.

Tim and Vanessa, Davids son and partner, are planning a trip to Phuket to catch up with us on the 15th of July for 10 days so our plan is to sail back to Phuket to leave Taipan on the hardstand from mid August until mid January when we return from Australia. Mid August because that will give us time to do a few little things before we leave, like pull the mast out and strip it in preparation for new paint. We would like to get the non skid deck surface redone and the hull painted if that is possible. We are exploring possibilities and prices at the moment. There are some good trades people in Phuket we have worked with before and its possible to leave the boat and expect the work to be done. The trusty blue Jeep is already booked with Morn, the great car rent man of Phuket, so we'll have wheels as well.

So for now we are waiting and doing jobs!

2011-04-29T09:46:00.000+07:00

Back to Taipan 25th April

2011-04-27T19:47:00.000+07:00

We flew out of Perth with Air Asia for Kuala Lumpur at 6.50am. Thanks to Andrew and Christine for their lift to the airport at 5am!! Also for the stupendous roast pork and all the goodies the night before we left.
Our wait in KL was painful. Travelled from the cheap terminal to the main terminal and waited until 8.15pm for our flight out to Miri with Malaysian Airlilnes. Back aboard Taipan before midnight. Pretty wacked!
Its been exhausting getting the Prostate Treatment sorted out but now its under way. Lots of exercise to go with the Hormone Treatment and already feeling tired.
Our Malaysian Telephone numbers havnt changed
Kris +60 164665346
David + 60 164907947

Back In Australia 29th March

2011-04-02T12:41:00.005+07:00

On the 29th of March we flew back into Perth to pursue some treatment for Prostate Cancer, diagnosed in Kota Kinabalu on the 18th of March. David had no symptoms and his PSA was not very high (within the range for his age) however we were advised to go straight back to Australia for follow up.
We visited a Radiation Oncologist David Joseph for advice and David was referred to a surgical urologist, John Stanley at Hollywood Hospital for further assessment. David underwent a MRI and CAT scan on Thursday morning before this appointment and we were able to take the results of scans and the pathology results with us. The scans don't show any involvement with Lymph or Bone at this stage and it is considered unlikely to have metastasised. It is however a T3 tumour. He decided that surgery was not an option. Well, not an option he would recommend, as the location of the tumour makes it unlikely that surgery would be successful on its own.
Wednesday 13th of April after a return visit to David Joseph David commenced hormone therapy. This will take six months so we can fly back to Taipan on Anzac Day April 25th.
In 6 months we will return to Australia for a 6 week therapy of Low Dose Radiation which involves visiting Charlie Gardner Hospital every week day for about 10 minutes. Following this there will be a 2 to 6 week rest period before Intensive Radiotherapy which will require hospitalisation for 3 to 4 days.
This will be the end of treatment we hope.
Thank you all for your kind thoughts and good wishes and we will keep updating this site on developments.

Our Australian Phone numbers are
David 0405294605
Kris 0467541529

Miri to Labuan 6th March 2011

2011-03-06T16:43:00.000+07:00

Left Miri at a round mid-day on Friday the 4th....yes, and with bananas on board!. In spite of the bananas we had a great sail around to the river anchorage in Kuala Belait, Brunei. Its about 35NM so we arrived well before dark, in time for pleasant sun-downers in the cockpit, and glad to be out of the marina again. On Saturday the weather held again for a great sail in fine conditions to the infamous anchorage built by the Sultan of Brunei's brother. Some sort of folly for Brunei and a lovely anchorage for yachties passing by. The most peacefull and calm anchorage imaginable with picturesque shore side. Unfortunalty its a no landing area so we were content to look at it with beer in hand from the cockping onece again.
This morning after a leisurely breakfast we motored out and set sail for Labuan about 35NM again. However the wind died and after only a very short sail we motor sailed into the marina at about 3.30 pm. We passed the time learning to put eye splices into double braid lines. The larger ropes still challenge us and the instructions are total double dutch!. Labuan still a dodgy marina but we have some parts and some mail here to pick up. We also have a new anchor winch on order and will wait for that here also.

Woody Elephant Training Chang Mai

2011-02-09T09:16:00.002+07:00

Returning to Chang Mai on the 8th we booked into the Anodard Hotel in the old town because it was closer to the center and cheaper and better rooms than BMP. We decided to do an elephant mahout training camp for 2 days and one night.

Woodys Elephant Training was chosen as it was recommended by Vern and Jo after their day there.( Website www.woodyelephanttraining.com
Email: humber3333@hotmail.com
Ph +66 815315363)

This is a family operation with only 8 elephants making it somewhat more personal. Woody picked us up at 8am the following morning and we drove north for about an hour to the property. On arrival we were issued with elephant training clothes and hats and then instructed in elephant training language. We had a number of basic commands to learn before we could get started. Next we were introduced to the elephants and given mount and dismount lessons. No saddles an no stirrups so all about leg lifting and leaping and clawing your way aboard. Ears are a useful hand hold and the elephant, if inclined, and if you get the command right, will assist with some foot and knee raising maneuvers. Next was lunch. All the meals were sumptuous Thai Style but with consideration of western palates. Not too spicy but you could add your own to taste.

Mahouts for two days.

After lunch the 5 of us climbed aboard, 2 per elephant, and rode up the hillside to a lookout where we dismounted, that's polite for skidded and slid off ungracefully, to chop sugarcane to feed the elephants. Here we swaped mahouts and we headed to the river to scrub and bath them. We all got soaked doing water fights, them with noses and us with buckets. After a good scrubbing and splashing about we climbed aboard again for a real underwater swim in the lake. This time the elephants went completely underwater with us on top!. It was tremendous fun and plenty of squealing and fooling about was had by all, especially the elephants.The end of the day involved feeding and chaining them for the night prior to our own feeding. After dinner we joined the real mahouts around the fire and tested some local delicacies from the fire then checked the herd and retired thankfully to our beds. Our room was splendid. No camping here!!. A huge room with en suite. Very early morning we arose to be involved in more bathing and scrubbing then breakfast for us and them. Then it was one by one all the herd had to be taken down to water to drink and only 3 tourists here now.

Great white hunter having a fat time!

The second day progressed in much the same way but with a little more experience under the belt and the elephants becoming more familiar, it became obvious that a week or so would be a lot of fun and there would be some chance of actually controlling the animal yourself. The "real" mahouts were never very far away when we were "controlling" our animals. There were no seats or saddles though so it was all bareback on the neck. Awesome. The best part of the trip and even David enjoyed it.!!

We went really swimming under water. That's David and I on the disappearing elephant in the middle!

After our elephant farewell we were driven back to Anodard Hotel. We relaxed round town for the next couple of days, enjoying the galleries and shops and food. Time comes eventually to consider heading back to Taipan in Miri. On the 12th we headed to the night train again to go down to Penang. Two nights !! Enough about trains! We had planned to go on from Penang to KL by train but gave up and caught a flight to KL and onward to Miri, arriving on the evening of the 15th. We had been away a month but will need to go back again one day to see all the things we missed.

More Photos of Elephant Training

Chang Mai and the Golden Triangle

2011-02-05T08:04:00.002+07:00

Tuk-tuk in Bangkok

On Tuesday 1st of February Vern, Jo, David and I flew out of Ho Chi Min to Bangkok, caught the train into the city and a taxi to China Town. We stayed at China Town Inn (Yaowaraj Rd Sampuntawong Bangkok.Ph +662225020315) It is noticeably shabbier than the equivalent price hotels in Vietnam. China Town was fully dressed up and busy for Chinese New Year, Thai style. It was fun prowling the streets for 24 hours prior to departing on the night train to Chang Mai.

The train north to Chang Mai left at 6pm evening and was due into Chang Mai at 7.20 am the next morning. It would have been much better to have had bottom sleepers each. Instead, we had a top and a bottom per couple. Top berths in second class sleeper is very narrow. Bottom berth would be big enough for two at a pinch. Toilets….left a lot to be desired and the less said the better!!. Food aboard was pricey for Thailand but good quality. We arrived in Chang Mai and went to a hotel we had pre-booked with an agent at the train station. BMP Resident. +6653208822. www bmpresident.com. Email: bmp_tourservice@yahoo.com.
First impression was a little dodgy but it was OK, the food was good and it was an easy walk into the Old Walled City.

We hired motorbikes again and set off with map to find the Air Asia office so Vern and Jo could organize flights to Patong for a few days R&R prior to heading back home to work. That task accomplished there was a lot of cruising about the streets of the old town while we had bikes. You don't see much on a bike in town though because you don't stop. Just buzz by. However we were able to get some sense of the size of Chang Mai.

On the 4th of Feb Vern and Jo went off on an elephant trip for the day so we wandered the streets, found a number of lovely antique shops and galleries and organized a car for hire to drive to Chang Rai the following day.Jo and Vern returned gushing with excitement over their excursion so David and I decided to have a go at it when we got back from Chang Rai.

On the5th of Feb The car a Toyots Yaris, was delivered and we ferried Vern and Jo to the airport on our way out of town to drive north. It was sad to say farewell we had all had such a great time. Such a nice way to spend time together. No commitments of family or work just quality time such as you don't get when you visit home on return trips from the boat.

Leaving Chang Mai we drove north west towards Fang overnighting in a small but pleasant hotel along the way. Next day we dawdled through towards Chang Rai passing through some spectacular mountain scenery. We stopped in a small village where the Lunar new Year festival was being celebrated by a number of different ethnic groups. Dancing chanting and eating we the order of the occasion and we were invited to participate.

Arriving in Chang Rai just before dark we spent some time looking for somewhere to stay. Our map was awful and we finally found Maekok Villa (445 Singhaclai Rd Chang Rai. Ph 053711786 Opposite the Overbrook Hospital) near the very center of town. It is very central and we had a very good room up stairs, clean and comfortable.US27. Maekok is an easy stroll round the corner from the Thailand Tourism Center and after arming ourselves with several maps and brochures we set off into the countryside to the north west of Chang Rai. A full day was spent driving round the mountainous roads to all sorts of dead ends at the Burma boarder. We stopped in outback hill villages, ate local fare and chatted to the locals. No one understanding a word the other was saying.

The area at this time of year is very dry and the air quality by afternoon is quite bad as the stalks from the harvested crops are being burned off in preparation for new plantings. its amazingly populated and cleared from the bottom of the steep gullies to the mountain ridges. One detour we did took us far out through dirt roads to an advertised Tea Plantation somewhere to the north west of Doi Mae Salong. It was called Chouifong Tea Plantation and established in 1979. It was a spectacular drive and the tea plantation is an impressive sight straddling as it does several mountainsides, gullies and ridges. To get there towards the end of the road we had to pass through an army encampment complete with huge camouflaged guns. The soldiers were however very friendly and waved us through. On our return they explained that the Burma boarder was only just down the spur about 100m. We could see a barracks of presumably Myanmar soldiers just on the next ridge!.

This area is still called the Golden Triangle but its notoriety as a big opiate area is past. Today the country is dotted with fruit trees, crops of rice, sunflower, and numerous things I couldn't put a name to. When you go on a tour you have a guide who will perhaps know the names and history but on your own you go places tours don't go. We think a little of both is a good balance. Before heading back to Chang Rai for the night we drove out to Mae Sai one of the official boarder crossings with Burma.

In all we covered about 1200km and took in sights to the east and west of highway No.1. In hinesite it would have been better to bus to Chang Rai and hire a car there. There is not a lot to see en-route and its quite a long journey.

More Photos of ChangMai and ChangRai

SAIGON

2011-01-29T07:10:00.001+07:00

On Friday the 28th of January we boarded the hotel bus and were taken to Danang Airport to fly to Ho Chi Min City. We checked into a hotel just across the street from the Ben Thanh Market in central Saigon. It was small, no window, awful breakfast and quite expensive so we moved up the road to Ha My Hotel. 120 LyTu Trong Street, District 1, Tel +84 8 38233981. Email; hamyhotel@hcm.fpt.vn www.hamyhotel.com.vn. It was a very good clean hotel and we had nice rooms on the front overlooking the street and good breakfast all for $US34 per night including in room computer and internet and air-conditioning. This was the norm for hotels throughout Vietnam in this price range.. There were plenty of wireless hot spots every where we traveled.


The flower sellers were packed into every vacant median strip.

TET or the Vietnamese equivalent of Chinese New Year was about to start so the streets were swarming with a mind boggling mass of produce and stuff!. Everything was on a motorbike or a street cart. The flower sellers are endemic at this time of year and numerous bikes with really large potted cumquats were very common. The huge main street islands were a mass of flowers of every colour and description from dragon fruit display to orchids and sunflowers. Chrysanthemum was very common and the overall effect mind blowing!

Our first tourist destination was the War Remnants Museum, which I suppose every tourist to Saigon visits. It is high impact macabre and graphic! You certainly don’t leave there in any doubt as to the extent of damage to human bodies and appalling and grotesque nature and carnage of war!

Lovely shop fronts abound.

Next was the visit to the Cu Chi Tunnel complex several hours out of town by bus. I suppose one must do it. However get a car and driver and do a few detours. Its packed in those busses and very uncomfortable! There must be thousands go through the tunnel complex daily. Interesting but more of a boy tour!. They got to fire off a few rounds too!

Vern and Jo hired a motorbike in Ho Chi Min city centre and had a bit of a play with the traffic. VERY BRAVE! Vern insisted it wasn’t any more difficult than mustering freshly shorn sheep in long grass in a stony paddock! We walked

The streets and shops were lavishly decorated for TET.

We only spent 4 days in Saigon. There was plenty more to see but we decided to head to northern Thailand to the hill tribes and elephants in lieu of Sapa. You always need to leave something to come back for.

More Photos of Saigon

HOI AN

2011-01-25T17:30:00.001+07:00

Vern and Jo on their Rental Bike.

Delightfull! There is something for everyone in Hoi An. We spent 5 days here in the end. We stayed in Phuc An Hotel in the town. (Phuc An Hotel Ph +84 510916757, 39 Tran Cao Van St. www.phuocanhotelhoian.com) (Not riverside, which is a long way out.) Including breakfast it was $US 30 per night. Good helpful staff and transport service. Across the road is Sunshine Café. Hoi and her daughter run the show there and the food and company is delightful.

It was so lovely and such a great “holiday”. It is very touristy but we loved the hustle and bustle, great food and architecture. Hoi An is a heritage listed city and as a result of an agreement between North and South it was only slightly damaged the during War.

The old French Colonial architecture is gorgeous. The pale yellow ochre, which is the traditional paint color of Vietnam, comes alive when contrasted with the old timbers, ornate tiles and doorways, cobbled streets and lovely riverside waterfront. The temperature was mild around 22c during the day so most of the woollies were put out to pasture and we strolled in shirtsleeves.

All in a days work

Unfortunately, a family crisis saw us bid farewell to Magics who had to fly back to Australia so we were down to 4. Vern and Jo hired a motor bike and on the second day managed to convince me to ride behind David on one!! I don’t think I will ever be comfortable on a motorbike but it was a good way to see things around Hoi An. We saw the beautiful flower and vegetable village, serene and iconic rice paddies complete with water buffalo being ridden by their keepers. We were able to wander in and out of all sorts of narrow lanes and interesting areas.

Typical of the Hoi An streetscape

One thing we all noticed is that the overall standard of living in Vietnam seems to be higher than almost anywhere else we have travelled in Asia. There are neat, tidy, clean, freestanding homes, often several levels, throughout all the areas we visited. The array of foods available including fruits vegetables dairy, grains and meats is truly enormous. Meal sizes and meat portions seem to be generally more generous than the rest of Asia. Yes of course there are the poor and disabled, many of whom with injuries as a result of the conflict in the 60’s and the ongoing legacy of the land mines.

Hoi An Water front has lovely old Colonial Buildings now converted into shops and restaurants.

Old Japanese Bridge

More Photos of Hoi An

HUE and DANANG

2011-01-24T17:11:00.001+07:00

Our intention was to journey north to Sapa and the hill tribe area. How ever the temperatures there were in the minus range at the time so we elected to start south to Hue on the Perfume River. This entailed a flight from Hanoi and a short bus trip into town where our bus driver located a very reasonable hotel with extremely friendly capable staff.

We dropped our bags in our rooms at the Thai Binh Hotel (one of the nicest hotels we stayed in during our travels in Vietnam, about US35 per night with in room computer, air-con and breakfast. www thaibinhhotel-hue.com) Their staff organised a half-day tour of the historic sites around the area. The six of us boarded a small private coach and set off to visit the Thombs of,Tu Duc and Khai Dinh, Thien Mu Pagoda and the century old Citadel. There is so much to see here that we feel our tour was rather fleeting but given that several of us had contracted some flue like lurgy, our capacity for too many more staircases and temples was being stretched. I have resolved that should I return to Vietnam I will spend more time in this area.

The following day we did a private mini bus trip to Hoi An via Danang. This was a fairly hair raising drive with a combination of poor road and very erratic and sometimes very fast driving by our driver! We stopped on a mountain pass for refreshments and were immediately pounced upon by touts selling all manner of trinkets! They are good, and relieved us all of some VD, a practice which we came to call “de-donging”!

This particular de-donging was something of record, with all of us purchasing a lot of stuff none of us wanted but which we all laughed about for some time. Next stop was China Beach, famous as the location for “Good Morning Vietnam” and a site for R and R of American Troops during the Vietnam conflict in the 60’s. Danang is a thriving port and business centre and not really a tourist stop. It is gearing up though and in another 10 years there will be plenty of very big beach resorts all along this coast. They are already in the construction stages.

More Photos of Hue and Danang

HANOI VIETNAM

2011-01-18T15:56:00.001+07:00

The air quality was pretty awful when we were in Hanoi

On the morning of the 18th Feb we flew from Kuala Lumper to Hanoi in northern Vietnam to meet Vern, my brother, and Jo for a few weeks of traveling together. We met at the airport as planned and in spite of all the warnings about taxi scams we still got caught. Our “taxi” (not a taxi) quoted us VD400,000 for the trip but when we arrived he said he wanted that amount for each passenger! We didn’t pay him and when David went into our hotel to get them to come and sort it he quickly accepted the agreed amount and fled!. We discovered we had paid twice the going rate! Advice… don’t get a taxi that is not a taxi, ie. Not marked. Red ones and blue ones are OK apparently.

The streets get pretty busy

We checked into our hotel, Nam Hai (more on that one in a separate post) in the old quarter, and set off to explore. The old quarter is extensive for the walker and the traffic is pretty lively but very easy to negotiate. You just shuffle into the traffic and keep walking slowly. It miraculously just separates around you! I wouldn’t try that in Perth. So having become acquainted with the road rules and the traffic we ventured up many interesting lanes and alleys. Our first brief was to get some warm clothes. We’d all arrived dressed for summer and with no fall back position. The unseasonably cold weather caught many travelers by surprise and the heat was on to get into some woollies! (Temperatures are usually around 12c to 20c but plummeted to 5c to 12c.)

One of may lovely facades.

The dealers in coats, particularly North Face copies were doing a roaring trade and our group alone bought 10 coats from him. Vern and Jo had some other Australian friends flying in next day as did our sailing friends Chris and Daun from SV More Magic. Coats alone weren’t enough for those of us used to the perpetual summer of the lower latitudes so it was onward for tights, scarves, gloves, shoes, socks and beanies! Now very nicely attired, and warm, the real agenda could be pursued, that being eating, stooging in assorted interesting shops and of course galleries and Museums.

Vern and Jo and their friends went off to Halong Bay to do the boat thing but being yachties, ourselves and Magics decided to stay in Hanoi. David and Christo spent hours walking the streets checking out the casket of dead Ho and the war and ethnology museums. Daun and I virtual shopped. That’s to say we didn’t buy anything but at the end of the day would decide what we would have bought if we had…(a) somewhere to put it. (b) enough room in the luggage now that it was full to capacity with woolies. (c) the need or the budget for it! It was all extremely good fun.

All decked out in our new woolies.

We did purchase some very good coffee called Weasel coffee. Producers use a technique to select the best beans which involves the participation of weasels. Apparently these creatures are coffee connoisseurs and this penchant is employed by growers who harvest the dung of the coffee eating weasels, clean it and roast it for sale as Weasel coffee. Its defiantly the best coffee I have ever tasted!
There are an exhaustive number of galleries and clothing shops of a very high standard scattered around the area. It wasn’t difficult to explore just within the Old Town for 3 days. There was still plenty to see.
A visit to the Ethnology Museum was a must do for Daun and myself, however it was very cold inside and although the displays were good we only spent a couple of hours there. Getting there back on the local bus was the biggest adventure because we got lost. Finally we found a severely overcrowded bus going our way.
Eating is always an adventure in a new place and Hanoi had plenty of choices. Our favorite Vietnamese food was Ban Me. A really delicious bread roll, better than any Ozie bread, filled with spicy pork, lettuce, green stuff, coriander relish and something pretty hot. They varied from seller to seller but we usually at them for lunch. There was a delicious restaurant called La Restaurant near our hotel which had terrific food at great price. Vietnams legacy of the French occupation is very obvious in architecture and food and very much to the benefit of the western traveller who occasionally likes to eat familiar cuisine.

Bridge over Hoan Kiem Lake

Vietnamese people are very friendly without harassing you. We found that English is reasonably widely used and we had very little difficulty communicating.

More Photos of Hanoi

NAM HAI HOTEL

2011-01-18T06:00:00.000+07:00

55 Duong Thann St Kiem District. In the Old Town area.
We should have been warned when the prearranged driver meeting us all at the airport didnt show up. We got de-donged the first time and only time getting from the airport to this hotel. Magics arrived after us and only stayed one night; we should have taken a leaf out of their book then too. Over the few days we stayed various little things bugged us like the lift being very incosistent and mostly not working. It matters when you are on the 5th floor! The rooms were freezing and the reverse cycle air-coonditioning was hopeless. Bathrooms were, in hinsight again, the worst ones we stayed in. But this was our first hotel experience in Vietnam. When we went to check out at about 10pm on the last evening it all went pear shaped. The US dollars we put on the counter mysteriously dissapeared while the desk clerk was argueing the US dollar rate with us and trying to charge VAT which we had been quoted as "included" (and which Magics were not asked to pay). Eventually we went up to bed and set them to work looking for the missing money. There were 3 guys hanging about the desk while the transaction was taking place. At 5 am we caught a taxi pre ordered by the hotel. We farewelled the staff assuming the money had been located and the bill sorted. NO! 5 minutes later as the 6 of us were on our way to the airport the taxi phone rang and he was instructed to return us to the hotel. At this point we had no option but to pay the hotel again or miss 6 flights arguing! There is not doubt that someone pocketed the money at the desk. We only had a very limited UD$'s on us so there could be no mistake. Give Nam Hai Hotel a big miss!

Magics moved to ROSE HOTEL, was excellent. . Tel. +84 438286779. Mob. +84903442180. In front of the HanDa Market and beside the Hong Ha Theater and next door but one or two from Nam Hai.

Xmas in Brunei. 2010

2010-12-28T17:20:00.000+07:00

Brunei. Oil wealth. Expensive.

Chris and Daun outside the Shopping Mall in SBS

Well they do a great Xmas lunch at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club.

All the Santas at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club

The clearing in and out exercise is very frustrating and expensive for Asia. Ausies get to part with $20A each because they are unhappy with Australia for banning the Sultans brother from flying direct to his cattle property in the north of Oz without clearance!!! Seems a little petty!
Any way we spent several hours clearing in and then enjoyed the Xmas lunch. Went up river to the inner RBYC but after the anchor winch decided to go on strike again we decided to get on the way to Labuan so left today. Again it was a lengthy and frustrating clearance proceedure. Probably wont bother the officials at Brunei again!

Christmas capers on More Magic.

Royal Brunei Yacht Club. City

Made the Labuan Marina around mid day after a slow but eventfull sail. We saw a WHALE!...Joan spotted it and although we thought it was probably a log we humoured her and went for a closer look!. And it truely ruley was a real live whale!!...it "blew" several times and finaly dived. We were totaly amazed!. The marina manager has since told us they do get whales here. Not sure what type it was yet.

Tomorrow we will head towards Kota Kinabalu and New Year.
More Magic and crew are headed back towards Miri to pick up No. ! son so we will catch up again later. Thanks for a great Xmas guys!!

Kuching. Easier into the wind by air!

2010-12-28T16:34:00.001+07:00

Kuching. Sarawak, Malasian Borneo.
David, Joan, (Davids mum visiting from Perth Western Australia,) and I head out to the airport on the 16th to catch a flight to Kuching. We took a chance and didnt book rooms for our stay however city map showed numerous choices and we had very little luggage so a taxi took us to central Kuching and we set Joan down in a comfortable air-conditioned chair while we went in search of accommodation. Very quickly we came upon a clean and basic looking place, one street off the main waterfront, called Furama Lodging House and despite warnings on the net that some of the cheaper places "having vice activities" we checked out the rooms and checked in. $33A per night seemed ok. We ended up spending our three days here and would go back.

Orangutang at the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre.

After checking in we ran down the car hire place and organised a car. An ancient Honda Accord, in very good condition. That afternoon, Thursday, we drove out to Semenggoh to visit the Orangutang sanctury. The feeding was nearly over because we managed to get lost several times and arrived late. The staff were great though and we got to see several of these beautiful creatures. Dinner that evening at Magna Carta Restruant in the old Court House on the Kuching Waterfront, was a highlight and Joan was intorduced to Tuak, the local wine.

Friday we set off to breakfast at a local cafe then to head to a mall. all this took longer than planned so we aborted the visit to The Cultural Village at Tanjung Dati and went instead to the Sarawak Museum. Several hours later and somewhat dissapointed we headed to lunch after which we spent a very pleasant hour in a water craft meandering up and down the river inspecting the local landmarks.
We learned sometime about now that we had visited the "Old" Museum!..darn! The old museum is extreemly badly lit and the exhibits certainly look like they have been there since early last century. We will have to go to the New Sarawak Museum on our next visit.

The government building. Parliament Palace. Kuching

Saturday we headed out early to the Cultural Village at Tanjung Datai. Its a fair drive and we only got lost once!. You do see some interesting things on the side when you get lost so its not all bad. We arrived and managed to track down a wheel chair for Joan at the Datu Beach Resort. Its a lot of walking at the village, mostly on boardwalks and only on the odd rough spot, did we look like tipping her out. Joan was able to climb the sometimes rickety and chalenging entry ladders to see the examples of traditional tribal houses, offering an introduction to local cultures and lifestyles. There was a compliment of local people on site to offer further information and displays of music, dance, craft and cooking. It was a long day but fortunatly not too hot and well worth the effort.
Sunday we went to the local sunday market for a few bargains and then to Uniko Borneo craft shop in the centre of the city. This was an amazing antique shop selling items primarily from Sarawak but also odd exotic peices from all over asia. A very articulate and well informed young man there was able to supply information on a number of interesting peices we admired. Eventualy we had to drag ourselves out of there and rush to pack and drive to the airport for our flight back to Miri.

Orang Ulu House at the Cultural Village near Tanjong Datu

Bidayuh House

Kuching. Interesting and friendly city. We will be back.
Now we are motor sailing up the coast towards Muara and the Royal Brunei Yacht Club for a Xmas Lunch on Saturday in company with Chris and Daun on "More Magic". We left Miri yesterday mid-day and stayed in the river at Kuala Belait last night after a great sail.
On that note I will wish everyone a very Merry Xmas and may 2011 be all you wish for.
Cheers.

More Photos of Kuching December 2010

Arrived in Miri Borneo Thursday 2nd December. Hooray. About time

2010-12-03T10:55:00.005+07:00

Good bye Singapore and hello ocean passage, all be it a short one. We motored out of One 15 Marina Sentosa Island on Friday 26th of November for clearance and a short passage to the anchorage at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsular prior to setting off to Borneo. Destination Miri to meet Chris and Daun on More Magic for a long overdue rendezvous. We fare-welled them in Tioman Island promising to catch up soon. that was 2 years ago.
Passage east was uneventful and we motor sailed in light northerly weather for the first 2 days. Had about a day of sailing in total. Caught 4 fat mackerel to top up the freezer and relieve the boredom. We decided to take a detour up the Rajang river and out the Lassa River mouth to get a nights sleep. This proved fairly eventful as we pushed strong current up river for 6 hours to the anchorage and promptly went aground on a mud bank at low tide right on dark. Had to sit it out for an hour to get enough water to go again and then we pushed current for another hour in the dark to find a suitable anchorage. It was supposed to be a rest day!

One more overnight sail through the Sarawak oil fields and negotiating some tropical storms brought us into Miri and our destination on the mid north coast of the island of Borneo. Only one of the storms had any wind in it and it caught us by surprise early on the last day. No damage but we had become lax in preparation as all previous rain had been calm. We only saw 30kn and only briefly. All told it was a good trip and we arrived in good form ready to take on the More Magic crew. However the Admiral was in Australia so we had to entertain the captain for a couple of days.

Daun is back now and she and I are having a fat time stooging about the shops on our bikes. Its an easy place to get about and traffic is very light by comparison with many places we've stopped. The marina here is very quiet although there has been a bit of excitement with 2 boats sinking in their pens in the last couple of months. The most recent was an old English lifeboat pictured above being re floated.

On Saturday night we attended the Christmas Parade through town in which thousands participated with candles and lanterns and singing Christmas carols. It is fabulous to see this participation in an Islamic country where harmony and common sense prevail. Everyone celebrates everyone's festivals and rituals!!

My birthday came and went with some fanfare. Breakfast in bed, champagne morning tea Great lunch out on the town with Chris and Daun and a fantastic Borneo mask to add to my collection. I also received fabulous sparkly thongs and a great top.
On the 12th of December David flew off to Kuala Lumpur very early to meet Joan, his mum, and fly back to Miri with her for a 5 week visit aboard Taipan. Tomorrow we will all fly to Kuching to spend 3 nights there exploring the sights and culture of this interesting city. More on that in my next posting.
We return from Kuching on Sunday 19th and plan to depart the marina to sail in company to Brunei for Xmas at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club with the crew of More Magic.

This may be my last posting before the big Xmas 2010 so to all you followers out there...... CHEERS! BOTTOMS UP!! AND HAVE A GREAT BIG FAT MERRY XMAS!!

Langkawi to Singapore. Oct. Nov 2010

2010-11-16T20:40:00.002+07:00

The alternator needed to be checked in Penang.

We arrived from Pisang Island into Singapore's One15 Marina on Sentosa Island at the south end of Singapore on Sunday having negotiated persistent heavy rain with thunder and lots of lightening. Thankfully the radar worked well and we managed to navigate our way through the giant ships coming and going. The visibility was appalling. Check In at the western quarantine anchorage was pretty speedy and we were safely tied up by 4pm.

After leaving Langkawi we took a fairly leisurely pace to Singapore, only day sailing and anchoring at night. Our first stop was Penang. We didn't go into the Tanjong City Marina this time, instead we anchored off, just south of the ferry dock. This proved simple and convenient with the facility at the marina to leave the dingy, negotiating the ferries was easy and the peace and quiet of the anchorage is preferable to that noisy smelly marina.

Next stop was Pankor Island and we were surprised to find a burnt out navy ship aground on a bank in the middle of the channel.

We stopped in Port Dickson for 3 nights to go over to Seramban to pick up ropes from a rope manufacturer there. www.cordage.com.my Its a big manufacturing enterprise with high quality line at affordable prices. Ben, the owner, was exceedingly hospitable and we had lunch and a guided tour over his two factories. The new building is being finished preparatory to the move later this month. This little adventure took us most of the day.

We had a small maintenance issue at the top of the mast so David had to go aloft to attend to it. We ran a spare main halyard to ensure we have a backup.

Singapore is clean and busy as usual however there is a public holiday tomorrow, Wednesday, so that will slow down our jobs. Its was great to catch up with Crystal Blues for a good old tuaking with dinner on our first night in! I have just returned from the hair dresser with a whole new look. Brunette!!...heee hee..no pictures!

There are some battery irregularities David is trouble-shooting here. So far he has discovered 2 of our 8 our AGM 100AH Trojans have failed. One is hot with an internal short. The other one is not holding its power and is unstable. This is a disappointing performance in a 3 year old battery.

Next stop Borneo.

Langkawi 28th October.

2010-10-30T12:59:00.000+07:00

We didn't manage to get out of the Yacht Haven Marina till Tuesday and went straight to Phi Phi Don. Had a good sail but not fast enough to catch a fish. Wednesday morning as we sailed out towards Rok Nok hoping for a snorkle, we looked back towards Phi Phi Lei to see this amazing water spout. The weather got stronger and wetter. We dodged lots of heavy showers with the aid of the new Radar but eventualy had to sail through a big band of rain or take a long detour with no guarantee of avoiding it. The rain was so heavy the visibility was down to about 200m and with the Thai trawlers working in pairs its not comfortable when you cant see them. And we still dont know the new Radar well enough.

Just as we were hitting 8 and 9 kn the inevitable happened. Caught a fish! Fortunately a small enough one to land into the cockpit over the stern. A nice Dorado fish, or Mahi Mahi. We normally land fish on the deck on the side which necessitates getting the rod and line outside everything and up forward. Can be tricky in rough conditions.

We arrived at Rok Nok in clear but overcast conditions, picked up a sheltered mooring and set off for a snorkel. Not disappointed again. The reef is ordinary in the channel but the fish are prolific and varied.

Thursday was pleasant sailing and motor sailing to Telaga. We had just dropped the pic when we had a surprise visit from Carl and Kathleen off Silver Fin. A very pleasant and much welcome surprise lead to a good night aboard and lots to reminisce about.

We have heard there is some severe weather approaching so have decided to sit it out at Rebak and catch up with a few friends. Halloween Party tonight then we will see what the weather is dishing up before deciding whether or not to leave to head on south.

October 24th 2010 Leaving Phuket again.

2010-10-23T17:53:00.000+07:00

This is our 4th attempt to get away from here. Its not that we dont love it here, its just that other cruising destinations becon. Taipan seems to have an invisible bungie attached and we keep ending up back here for a variety of reasons. The last reason was because Jason and family were arriving for a 3 week visit from Australia and here seemed the best place to meet them hence our return in September. Now its time to go again.
Tomorrow, Sunday the 24th of October we will toss the lines off and head to Borneo via Langkawi, Penang Port Klang, Port Dixon and the Pisang group of Islands. We should be in Singapore in about 2 weeks all going to plan. The "plan" is to spend several days in One Deg 15 Marina and then head direct to Mirri or KK in Malaysian Borneo. That will be about a 4 day sail with luck. Any takers???
We have had quite a lot of unscheduled work to do for one reason or another so it will be nice to get out and go sailing. We are always sad to farewell all our good friends here. Have done so now so many times I don't think they believe we will be gone long. We certainly plan to return sometime.

Family Come to Visit Phuket.

2010-10-07T17:55:00.001+07:00

A foray out into Phang Nga Bay produced this little beauty for Jason between Kho Yai and Phi Phi Don.

Out of the marina on Thursday after a couple of days local fun. A day at Splash Jungle Water Park was a big success. Nai Yang Beach a pleasant stop.

First stop out of Yacht Haven about 2 hours at a small desert island..... well it was when we arrived for about 10 minutes..then the hordes of tour boats arrived and deposited hundreds of tourists for lunch and a swim. We left. We did give the prop a quick clean.

Phi Phi Don next stop. Overnight in relative peace considering the water traffic of long tail boats. Into shore for a saunter amongst the tourist shops and ice creams all round. Afternoon snorkeling and paddling in the Nick and Zara Kayak was a big success with everyone participating . Savannah on the kayak but all others swimming. Lots of fish to see and good sizes. Encouraging after our last snorkel here 2 years ago revealed very little.

Another night in the busy bay then off to Bamboo group 11nm north for snorkeling amongst splendid reef and great fish. A little inclement and deteriorating. Up anchor after lunch and head to Hen and Chicken. Phew the weather really deteriorating now. Gusts up to 30+...hmmm... most traveled well and there was plenty to do, and we can give Ferne a Kwell tomorrow!

Persistent rain and squalls all night. Lots of wet washing. Covers working well though so OK out in cockpit. Hen and Chicken to Yacht Haven and the weather calmed down and we got to have a big "sail". No fish but very pleasant. Ferne enjoyed the Kwells!! Arrived back on Yacht Haven about 5.30 and got take out from Coconuts.

Monday rest day and Fantasea show for the evening. Great success too. even the buffet!

Tuesday is a frenetic drive around the island and concentrating on Patong. Cant really come to Phuket without visiting it at least once. So they did!. Shopping. and an early dinner at Coconuts again. Very yummy.

Airport by 6 AM Wednesday. This day went very wrong because after waiting in KL for 6 hours they discovered their Air Asia flight to Perth had been canceled so had a 14 hour wait at KL. Not fun with a 3 year old!

Well its Thursday afternoon and they are all safely home in Mount Barker WA after a 4 hour drive, a 5 hour flight, a 14 hour wait, and a 1 hour flight from Phuket!!!.

We were sorry to see them go and missing them all already

In the Swim and up the Jungle.

2010-09-28T16:31:00.000+07:00

So the big day arrivesd and Jason, Ferne, Lilly and Savannah stagger out of the arivalls hall at Phuket International Airport after a marathon 18 hours of travelling. Tears and sore ears. The cabin pressure on the air Asia flight from KL gave everyone problems and pain with their ears. First time overseas for all the culture shock was starting to tell by 9.15pm. Six hours at KL low cost terminal not everyone's idea of a good time.

Without further ado everyone crams into the trusty Suzuki jeep and we make hast to the condo on the hill overlooking Yacht Haven Marina to deposit the tired crew.

Sunday a much refreshed family wanders down to Taipan. Planning and strategies abound before we decide to do a Phuket town day on Monday for provisions so we can leave for the Bay on Tuesday for a trip to the stilt village and James Bond Island.

Phuket Town is full of new sights and Uptown turns on lunch. Anchor winch is retrieved from the repair shop for installation Tuesday morning before departure.

Shoppin at Central Festival for more clothes. The Beveridge family are very light travlers. They arrived in Thailand with 3 small back packs and a hand bag. Two adults and two children for 3 weeks. That has to be some sort of record!. Anyway they are loading up for the return journey.

Tuesday big delays and setbacks with anchor winch installation. Plans to leave abandoned to Wednesday. Still some finishing off to do Wednesday but departure by lunch time is achieved. Lovely weather, a little overcast but warm and light breeze. Not enough to sail but good start. Heading down to a small island for a swim and ice creams. Jason finds himself a jet ski and rode it to a standstill, decclaring that the last 15min was going to be telling on his muscles next day. Still...he had a fat time and we all had a good swim and icecreams. Back to Taipan by paddle power as the outboard decides to take a holiday. Funny that! Small motors...lawnmowers outboards etc. All the same.! UNRELIABLE. Never mind, another adventure, and we are happily gliding in the late afternoon light to Ko Hong to anchor for the night.

Thursday morning its a late start and some paddling on the two man kayak weve borrowed then off to Ko Pan Yai. A long boat meets us and we negotiate a price to go to James Bond Island and back. Thats a much better place than I imagined it would be but it is slack season so not so many people as usual. Vendors very keen to sell goodies so we all get nice new "pretties" Savannah has the girls mesmerised and they just want to GIVE her "pretties"!. Photos, pretties and a lovely sunset to go back to the stilt village with. Gibbon babies on the shoulder for a photo or two, a number of edibles, things David cant resist and we call it a day and head back out to Taipan for dinner aboard.

Friday its still lovely weather even though it rained quite a lot over night. Up anchor and head back towards Yacht Haven for water and washing and regroup and new adventures ashore. On the way we stop at Phanak for a look at the hong and a swim behind the boat in the strong current for a bit of fun. Arrive back at Marina late afternoon.

Saturday is a lay-day. The kids lay in the pool and they all go for an explore in the trusty truck.

Sunday we are off the the Khao Sok National Park to stay at The Cliff and River Resort http://www.thecliffandriver.com/index.html

and to avail ourselves of the various activities availiable from there. Journey up to Khao Sok via Kho Lak and Tekuapa in the Suzuki is a pleasant enough trip. Taken slowly with plenty of ice cream and lots of stops. Arrival at 12.30 in time for a refressing swim in the delightfull pool before a splendid Thai lunch in the restaurant, shadowed by the towering limestone karst formation on the bank of a burbling splashing fresh water stream. In the afternoon we go canoeing with a couple of guides down the river under the jungle canopy to see monkeys and water monitors and do some tarzan stunts off a big rock on a knotted rope into the really refreshing river. Much fun!

Did I mention the food? It was fantastic. Every meal was good.

Monday it Elephant Trekking. We are chauffeured to the Elephant Camp and the six of us are seated, two per elephant, onto the three elephants on our trek. We are fairly early so we are the first ones out. Elephants don't seem to be frisky like horses!. A good thing really. Anyway we start with a little trepidation as we seem to be in a very boggy, slippery, clay track with lots of water and mud, all of us are somewhat unnerved by the treacherous nature of the footing and much relieved when we soon get into a rocky stream and proceed to climb up what would be an almost impossible track for any other form or transport I can think of. Wet, rocky and quite steep. These animals are amazing. About half an hour into the trip Lilly is astride on the animals neck, just behind his head and pinned in position by his big flappy ears, she is in heaven. After about 45 minutes we stop and get off. Here we take a jungle walk of our own while the transport takes a rest stop.

Lilly and I both get to ride astride on the way down. Not without me having quite a debate with the Mahout about the advisability of my doing so! It was a fantastic experience. Not at all like horse riding. More difficult as there is less to put your leg "on". Its more like sitting on a very active small drum. I think I will have a few sore muscles after that but it will definitely have been worth it. Return to the resort for a swim and to pack to leave after a super time at a very reasonable price.

That was a trip I think we will all remember for a long time.

Splash!

2010-08-28T10:10:00.000+07:00

We are afloat again.
17 days on the hardstand in Rebak in August. Not the best fun a sailor can have on a boat. It was oppressively hot, day and night, with the air-con not working on the hard. (It needs seawater to cool.) Mosquitoes! Did I mention the mosquitoes? We were just unable to keep them out of the boat and a little nervous with at least one recent case of Dengue in the marina we know of.

The best part about Rebak is the pool at the end of a long hot sweaty day on the hard.
Our highlight was meeting a lovely young Danish couple here on holidays and staying in the Resort. We gave them a lift to town one day and the friendship developed from there. Stephen and Josefine Maple were a breath of fresh air and a reminder of the pleasure of the company of young people.
Our plans for the immediate future have changed again. We are going to sail down to Penang on Tuesday for Davids dental appointment on Wednesday. We will provision with the lovely fresh vegies availiable there, get Thai visa's, valid for the next 3 months, and then sail to Phuket again.
Yes!..I know we were going to Borneo!. BUT.... The marina at KK were less than helpful, not even answering emails. and we were unsure of berthing facility being available for the visit of Jason, Ferne, Lilly and Savannah so change of venue!
We are looking forward to our return and a much more leisurely pace while we are there this time. Maybe even some land travel? The sailing season, the best time of the year there, is just about to start so we will take this years season to enjoy the coast and islands.
Our Malaysian contact will be valid for the next week to ten days.

Ph +60 175741828
or +60 164665346

Arrived Malaysia

2010-08-09T05:53:00.000+07:00

Tossed off the lines on Thursday just before dark and motored out to the anchorage off Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket, our home since last November. On Friday morning after a hectic night stowing the final stuff we headed out towards Phi Phi. The sailing was good and Taipan was covering the miles so we kept going to the southern end of Ko Lanta. We had covered roughly70 nautical miles in good conditions. Friday loomed a little gloomy so we abandoned the idea of heading to Rok Nok to do our last snorkeling in Thailand for a while and headed towards the northern tip of Ko Taratao to rendezvous with Egress ll. Several hours on that course with the wind dropping before we changed our mind and hardened up to get a good sail, and headed to the Butang group. It was further, over 70nm, but sailing conditions were great and we even bagged a brace of mackerel. Yummo!!. The new rapalla lure strikes again.!...Saturday and easy 24nm run downwind to Telaga to deliver a dingy and outboard we had bought down for someone. Sunday we motored the 4 nm over to Rebak Isl to berth in the marina and ready the boat for the haulout today at 9.30
Now its Monday and we are safely parked on the hard with all the gross underwater work ahead of us. Its overcast but not raining and humid and heck!
So now we don the overalls and get dirty!

Arrived Rebak Marina.

2010-08-08T13:45:00.000+07:00

Gone sailing to Langkawi to haulout

2010-08-05T13:41:00.000+07:00

2010-05-14T13:36:00.002+07:00

The finished upholstery by Mr Peh and his team, from Charminsin in Phuket. They have done a great job and we are pleased with the finished effect. The fabric is a very hard wearing microfiber from the US. Something to lighten up the area was called for.

Above photo of forward cabin refit. New water tanks below the bed and an extended bed. The forward head and shower have been re-modeled to facilitate access to a hitherto difficult space. The bed covers and cushions were also made by Charminsin

Preview of work in progress on new hard dodger. Awaiting side curtains.

Time for a refit in the Galley and Chart Table.

2010-03-14T15:32:00.001+07:00

Taipan's galley now has new Staron tops by Absolute Kitchens in Phuket. Staron is an acrylic product which is very similar to Corian.

They were very professional and have done a great job.

It's much cleaner and brighter. Nice new sinks to keep the Admiral happy. We still have some minor finishing to do and the stove to re install.

The chart table is having a major refit with new teak to replace the original surface which after all the different equipment being installed and removed, has a number of holes. The new top has replaced the poor old teak veneer which just wasn't hard wearing enough for a computer chart table. Nice and fresh, lighter and very hard wearing.

Maybe not an Elephant but it does have a trunk?

2010-03-08T08:09:00.000+07:00

Phuket Thailand Xmas 09

2010-02-27T11:45:00.004+07:00

Phuket again. Such an enchanting place and lovely people so we are back.
Jo, Patrick and Genevieve from Sydney flew in to join us in early December. They gained a foothold in the condo on the hill overlooking the Yacht Haven Marina to catch their breath after a hectic work schedule back home. Some adventures were there to be had so Jo and Gen, a hard pair to keep still, set out enthusiastically to conquer all the treetops and waterways.
A week into the visit we set out to see the sights of Phang Nga Bay aboard Taipan. The spectacular limestone kast scenery did not fail, yet again, to draw gasps of awe and delight. No one got ill, we had good breezes and found some nice snorkeling. Ko Pan Yi the stilt village at the north of the bay and Phi Phi Don in the south were stops en route to destination Ko Lanta, the Xmas venue.
Arriving into the anchorage a foray ashore revealed a Xmas feast was to be held at Lanta Resort on the waterfront so we duly reserved seats for Xmas Eve.
Jo, Paddy and Gen booked into a resort at the northern end of the bay and spent 4 days reveling in the pool and enjoyed their daily massage. Taipan resting just of shore we joined them during the day for various excursions or just to sit and partake.
On the 29th Taipan, again loaded up with goodies from Xmas (fabulous Egyptian cotton sheets and fluffy new towels thank you, thank you), and provisions set sail for the west coast of Phuket Island. We caught a good Mackerel which, sadly, was the only fish we caught during their entire visit. At Patong beach anchorage 2 days later and J,o Paddy and Gen headed for the luxurious Adamaus Resort in Nai Yang for more luxury.
We headed to Nai Yang for New Year festivities and joined them there for the evening. Spectacular fireworks and Moet!
The next night we went to the Fantasea Spectacular. Its a really great night out which we had been promising ourselves we would do. Thank you again Jo and Crew.
Next stop was Surin islands. We set off via Thap Lamu for the islands and arranged to meet the others there after their fill of adventures, including jungle camping, white water rafting and elephant riding. On the 4th of Jan, suitably worn out, they arrived by fast speed boat from the mainland to set up residence aboard again. Unfortunately poor Gen picked up the inevitable tummy wog, probably from drinking tap water at the jungle camp, and spent an uncomfortable day the next day.
The Surin Islands is our favorite place in Asia so far. It is very quiet and unspoiled with spectacular white beaches and wonderful reef and fish. Its also very easy, without the strong current of some other places and with very clear water. Everyone had a turn or two with the Power Snorkel Hookah. Voted a big success by Paddy. Gen is a fish and its a miracle she didn't grow gills, so she was pretty happy just free diving.
We had a bit of excitement one afternoon when a big blow came straight into the anchorage at 30+kn from the south east . There was some frantic footwork by everyone readying the boat for sea and we made it out of the anchorage and round the corner to calmer water without incident. There are a number of good sheltered anchorages and plenty of moorings.
On the 10th we had to leave to get to Nai Yang, preparatory to Jo Paddy and Gens departure so we headed to Thap Lamu for an overnight stop then into Nai yang on the 11th whereupon the crew departed for some more luxury at Indigo Pearl Resort.
We all went to the Black Ginger restaurant at Indigo Pearl for a wonderful dining experience on their last evening. Definitely recommend that one. Thanks again.
On the 12th Andrew, Christine and Sarah arrived into Phuket from Perth via K. L. It was a long day and a bit of a food culture shock at KL. Their first night aboard at Nai Yang was very rolly, however despite some misgivings they all handled it very well.
On the 13th we all farewelled the Sydney crew at Mama Mias and sadly waved them off.
Taipan with new crew now departed to Patong on the 14th for a shopping extravaganza at Jung Ceylon and to re provision for the next leg to Penang.
Nai Harn beach stop provided excellent night markets so the gourmets sampled many local treats. The one voted most favorite is a potato on a skewer, which is spiral cut then deep fried...like a big chip! We hired a car and did a drive around the southern end of the Island and also cleared out with authorities.
Several days were spent touring Phang Nga Bay again then Phi Phi Don, Ko Lanta, Ko Muk to see the Emerald Hong and south to Langkawi to clear into Malaysia. Onward to Penang and into the Tanjong City Marina for several days to explore Georgetown. Andrew Christine and Sarah set off on a number of excursions of their own and we all enjoyed various culinary delights on offer including a breakfast at the Eastern and Oriental Hotel.
On the 30th Jan it was all over and the holiday had come to an end for the crew from Perth so it was farewell, all aboard the train from Butterworth to KL and a flight home to work!
So long and thank you all for a great few weeks.

Penang September 09

2009-09-29T17:43:00.015+07:00

Here we come again. We really didn't think we would be in Penang again so soon however its never disappointing to be here. The main reason for our return has been a change of plans relating to Taipan interior. We did quite a lot of work on Taipan in Phuket and have decided to return to complete the work. Hence back to Phuket via Penang.

Sailing to Penang from port Dixon has been fair with light wind and no rain. We have had little sailing but we did catch a nice mackerel on the final day. Always a treat.

Both David and I have been attending a Dentist here in Penang. Its still an unpleasant experience but the up side is that the service is a lot cheaper and quicker than Australia. The dentist is very good and previous work has been very satisfactory. We have 2 more appointments each but will take the ferry from Langkawi to Penang for those. We had planned to depart Penang on the 30th however weather hasn't been favourable so we have delayed. We have a few things to do in Langkawi before sailing to Phuket.

Its always good to catch up with old friends and Egress 11 were in port so we spent time with Jack and Norma which is always a delight.

Graham from Quiet Achiever has returned from a tour of east coast Malaysia and we have caught up with him also for several excellent Indian dinners.

On Sunday morning we made the supreme effort to arise early and walk to the E&O Hotel for a fabulous buffet breakfast. A "must do" in Penang

Little Penang Street market which only happens monthly was on last Sunday so we were lucky to catch that and strolled enjoying the crafts and music after breakfast. I bought a fabulous piece of cloth, once the pelmet cover in a Chinese shop house somewhere. Its old and battered but will provide endless hours of creative entertainment for me.

Hitori and Machiko friends from Penang invited us to yet another stunning Japanese meal in their home.

We were in for a pleasant surprise one evening when during the course of our delicious vegetarian meal at Sri Annanda Bawan we were delighted to discover that the last day of the Festival to honour the Goddess Mariamman. This village goddess is considered the root or body of the village and Tamil Nadu people almost universally revere this goddess. In Penang the goddess was displayed in an ornate wagon shrine into which 2 Brahman bulls were harnesses to parade the goddess thru the streets of Georgetown. At the Indian shops and houses the procession stopped to bless offerings which were returned to their owners. Accompanying the procession were a troupe of dancers and musician. The Indian women and girls were dressed in the most vibrant and beautiful saris. The night was really exciting and everyone was friendly and keen to share information on the event.

More Photos of Thaipusam in Penang 09

https://picasaweb.google.com/115450087052085474497/ThaipusamPenang09

http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/hindu/ascetic/mariam.html

New Marina at Melacca

2009-09-14T15:22:00.011+07:00

We left Singapore on Sep 9th with no wind except about 5 kn on the nose. That sailor speak for "we motor-sailed" .Arrived port Dixon Friday 11th

On Saturday we hired a car and drove the 90km to Melacca via the scenic coastal route, getting lost a couple of times along the way for a bit of interest. Spent the night in a fair to average hotel and visited several of the museums. Melacca is packed with things to do and see. Its a really old spice trade centre with abundant history and great food. We have visited before so this time we just spent wandering the old streets and poking about in the numerous antique and curio shops. There is a huge Mosque on a man made island which has big building development adjacent to it which although almost completed is deteriorating into a ruin. Amazing how many completed and almost completed projects are becoming ruins without ever being inhabited.

As we left town we ventured in the car to the coast where there is a lot of development occurring. Hundreds of barges are bringing tons of sand to reclaim miles of the waterfront for a new free way. As we sailed past quite close in on Friday we noticed a lot of new pylons and what appeared to be a wall surrounding a marina. Keen to discover whether one really does exist or may in the future we found the spot we had seen and sure enough. A new Marina!. It has one small yacht inside and the gate keeper gave us a phone number. We haven't made any further enquiries at this point but if interested this is the phone no. 062823552 Mr En Bachok.

The landmark imediatly behind the marina is "The Eye on Malaysia", a big ferris wheel! So you wont miss it!

TOM PRICE

2009-08-16T23:11:00.002+07:00

On the 24th of July we finally downed tools and headed to Parabadoo on a Qantas flight. Tim and Vanessa were there to meet us and we drove the 80 km to Tom Price where they live and work.
Spectacular weather and clear clear skies...and air for those of you in Asia! Its a long time since we were in this area and its easy to forget just how beautiful it is. The flora is extraordinary in its diversity of color and texture. Flowers abound but are often small and delicate. We drove to Karnjini where the gorges provided great photographic opportunity. It was too cold to swim in the crystal clear pools at the bottom.
We were only there for four days but they were each filled with new and spectacular sights. The mine tour of Rio Tinto proved interesting in the immensity of the endeavor. Tim and Vanessa both work for Rio and have lived in TP for nearly 2 years now.
28th saw us winging our way south again with a camera full of pics and some great memories. Thanks Tim and Vanessa.

"Langford" April to July 09

2009-07-22T23:19:00.003+07:00

On the 14th of April, after the Wacky Bush Wedding we moved to the farm house on "Langford" our farming property just north of Albany. Its roughly 400ac. and predominantly a forestry. Blue Gums for paper pulp. There is just 50ac of pasture and the house is rented.
The house was extensively renovated about 15 years ago and now none of the original house is visible from the outside. The plan was to add a big solar passive living space and new wet areas and office. Then to re clad the exterior of the old house , build verandas and replace all the windows. Construction was Stabilized Earth Blocks. These are made using Road Base and Cement. We made the 8000 brick and 200 paving slabs for the house over a 6 month period and then built the house. 80 ton of Gravel and 8 ton of cement went into the concrete mixer and out into a barrow..then into the moulds... and then they were stacked. This was all done by hand!!!. The brickwork was laid in gravel mortar and then all the joints were pointed up with a sand and ochre mix. A time consuming and laborious job but well worth the effort, from a purely aesthetic view. I don't need to tell you that all this history makes for a fairly strong sense of ownership. Not to mention a fair helping of satisfaction as one sits back and admires the finished result which is of a quiet, warm and functional home.
There had been no one living in the house for over 6 months and the grounds, particularly, were looking very dejected as a result of a lot of windfall storm damage. Inside was clean and tidy and very empty. We dragged some furniture over to the house from the locked storage room adjacent to the house and made ourselves moderately comfortable. Winter had set in although the days remained bright and sunny. Mornings were really cold.
The objective was to replace the lining in the main bedroom and build Built In Robes. Re tile the ensuite, repair some old termite damage in the roofing, re carpet throughout, replace several doors etc. This project went on and on...and on...until the 19th of August when we finished the fencing by torch-light. Tenants had moved in on the 18th.
Well you may be wondering how it took so long. The jobs grew bigger and the projects more extensive. A deck was added to the back over the big pond. The house was repainted inside and out. The waterfall glass windows were stripped and the sills replaced. Extra sills were installed to windows hitherto without them. The sun-room indoor garden had new jarrah tops made.Exhaust Fans replaced. Barge boards and gable ends replaced or added.Brickwork pointing with mortar. Guttering replaced or repaired. Underground pipes replaced. Shed interior demolished. Garden beds mulched with chips, Mountains of storm felled trees were heaped and burned, along with a great heap of junk abandoned by tenants gone bye. Fencing replaced or repaired and electrified..and all of this we did without any outside help.!!!..sigh. I really thought we might be permanently land locked.
The upside was that there were many, many visitors. Family and friends dropped by regularly to check on the progress and break the monotony of work. We are also indebted to friends and family who loaned us tools, as all ours are on Taipan.
The house has 2 slow combustion fires. A huge one in the lounge and a Rayburn cooker in the kitchen. The house was very snug although wood gathering became a regular event to keep up to the hungry fires. As the weather got progressively colder the heating was much appreciated.
We took great pleasure in observing daily, the large number and variety of birds which frequented the pond in front of the sunroom. Smokers, Greenies, Western Red Rozellas, Black cockatoos, Kookaburras, Shrikes, Honey Eaters, Red and Yellow Breasted Robins, Willy Wag Tails, Fantails, Egret, Mudlarks, Magpies, Crows and Whistlers. Several other varieties with which I am unfamiliar.
Well by the time we left exhausted and pleased to be going, the house and grounds were all in pretty good shape. New tenants were nesting and seem very happy with the house.

Wacky Bush Wedding

2009-04-14T22:13:00.001+07:00

Intrepid campers wove their merry way into the wilds of Narrikup in the south of WA at Easter to attend the wedding of the year!. A wedding they will never forget. No electric power or refrigeration. Plenty of ice though. Limited running water and Kenny toilets. On the upside though the refreshments flowed freely and the food kept coming.
Many guests stayed 2 nights and some stayed 3 or 4. Horses in floats and dogs in utes came together in a frenzy of pole erections and swag laying. Yachting friends, at home sailing in the mild climes of Asia, braved the cold, donned Drizabones and headed our way on flights from Bali, Singapore, Phuket and KL. Several boarding school mates flew in from the east coast. Sally H saw most of the weekend through the lens of her camera. The Chef, Wendy, flew in from New Zealand and has stayed on in the sunny west. Jo and daughter Gen arrived from Melbourne ..eventually! (thats a whole other story)
Beavering away at the piles of farm junk accumulated in and around the wedding venue saw David, Wendy, (who arrive a week early thankfully) and I suitable knackered by the big day. Fortunatly there were a big band of merry helpers ready to lay their backs to the wheel. Tin went on the wall, wood was gathered, the Big Wood Water Heater was designed and built by my beloved brother Vern. And what treasures they both are! Harley, a neighbor, blazed the trail to the camp with his fabulous new tractor and slasher. Balloons were blown and we were ready to party. Stuff was gathered from generous friends to facilitate the day. Eskies, generator, cables, ropes and tarps to name a few. The forecast was bleak!
Dawn of the big day was a little grey, however, although the sun didnt shine, it was mild and fine. Jumpers went on and off again. Horses were warmed up ready for the fray. Bridesmaides saddled Jumangi for Kris, donned their Akubras and mounted their trusty steeds. Most were pretty fresh and some, downright feral!. The bride issued with a steadying glass of Champagne, was hustled to the salon for a touch up job by Daun and Richelle.
Mobs of bods started arriving and a freshly painted bride was seen scampering off in the direction of the horse camp to pick up the "posie".
Drums rolled as Jim cranked up "Water Music" by Pavarotti on the ute stereo, the gathering gathered, and the clip clop of neddies was heard coming around the dam.
An elegant if somewhat eclectic cavalcade hove into view led variously by Lilly, Ferne with Savannah, Jean, Sally, Kris, Jo, or Michelle, depending upon who's steed was under control!.
David met the Bride in a timely fashion ( that is to say before she was unceremoniously dumped off) and ably assisted her to dismount, whereupon she was led away to the podium to be wed.

Captain Ganghook, alias Chris Morris, presided over the formalities and vows were variously exchanged amid much hilarity. (See excerpt attached)
Davids son Tim and Kris's son Jason were the whiteness's and never were there two finer whiteness's. Kate Thomas was the official Celebrant and kept the whole rabble in general order to ensure that the legal requirements were met. A fine job she did too!
To seal the bargain Gary and Libby provided an awesome bottle of champagne complete with gold in bubbles! This was to be the only gold about on the day and what better way to enjoy it than to get it in you!

Let the party begin. Only one speech. Colin made a considerably suitable and entertaining speech, elucidating some of Kris's past and inviting David into the fold. After this everything got a little relaxed and no more speakers came forward. Only serious eating, drinking, and yarn swapping left to do. Wendy had slaved over the slow combustion Rayburn to produce a veritable feast. Meat from Mount Barker meats was tender and tasty farm grown local food. Stayers were still partying until 4 but most good bush folk were in the sack by the bewitching hour.

The morning after: its a long slow BBQ breakfast, a bit of quiet strolling in the scrub, visits to horses or other camps and for the more energetic, a horse ride round the farm. There was a general long slow wind down and a gradual departure. 1 44gal Drum full of empty wine and champagne and another full of beer cans and bottles attested to the capacity of the 70 + guests consumption ability. There was still plenty cold in the chilly bins though. The dying embers of the Hot Water Heater signaled the end of a fun and memorable Easter weekend.

We had a lot of fun and hope all who attended did too. David and I would like to thank all those who came, played and pitched in and made this such a memorable weekend. We are looking forward to our return home to quaff the excellent vintages so generously gifted to us. Thank you

More Pics in Taipans Picassa Album. See link on right of page

Penang 2nd of Feburary 09

2009-02-20T13:51:00.011+07:00

-----------We arrived in the Marina in Penang. Tanjong City Marina. The less said the better. Its redeeming feature is that it is adjacent to one of the best cultural centres in Asia. George Town is a World Heritage listed site and is a living Museum of Chinese, Indian and Malay culture. The most diverse food and cultural heritage combined with fabulous architecture dating from the 1700's . To cap the experience here its the finale of Chinese New Year Celebrations and Thaipusam.
Thaipusam is an Indian festival. Body piercing extreme in which devotees indulge to fulfil their vows to the Lord Muruga. Symbolic milk pots are carried and many have them attached to fish hooks and hung all over their bodies. Large fish hooks are also inserted through the body and tied to ropes which in turn are tied to carts or held firmly by a follower. Gruesome and fascinating. The Kavadis are heavy frames worn over the shoulders and held aloft for the duration. They are often attached by rods which pass through the skin and back to the structure to hold it in place...photos should tell it all. The whole procession which is miles long goes to a temple up 270 steps on the mountainside. Music blaring and lots of dancing and free food ensure this is a celebration you wont forget in a hurry. The piercing is banned in Tamil Nadu south India so many devotees make the journey to Malaysia to participate in this festival.
We also found a good tailor in Penang and can recommend Jag Men Fashion at Level 2 Komtar. Phone Desmond on Mob 0164058309

Hitori and Machiko, artists and friends from Penang also hosted us to a stunning Japanese dinner in their home whilst we were there. We were able to reciprocate by taking them sailing down to Batu Muang and en route to sail past the fabulous sculpture on the water front designed by Hitori. They hadn't had the opportunity to view it from the water previously so this was a great thrill for us all.
Onward towards Singapore coming next.

South to Singapore

2009-02-20T12:55:00.006+07:00

On the 16th of January we picked up Annmarie from the Airport in Phuket. We've long been looking forward to this visit. First off was a flurry of shopping and on the 17th a big 60th birthday for Pam off "Tweed" was celebrated at Nai Yang Seafood with great gusto again. Many farewells said and hugs as we farewell our good friends Martha and Bryce on "Silver Fern" who have decided to head west!!... off to the big Indian Ocean. Very sad to see them go. Have a FAT TIME!
Gerry on "Scipio" and his friend and crew Lynn also off in a similar direction. Good Luck. We'll see you in France!
After a few minor engine repairs we headed towards Langkawi, clearing out at Ao Chalong, we then spent our last evening with Jocko and Wendy on "Synergy" and were sad to farewell Wendy. She will fly out to New Zealand on the 9th.
Our first night out was at an anchorage at the north end of Phi Phi Don. Next day we stopped for lunch at Ko Mai Phai and did some snorkelling on route to Ko Lanta for dinner. Next destination Ko Muk. We diverted to Ko Ha to snorkel, however although it is lovely and clear we felt it was tricky in the current and not worth the effort. Ko Muk is our favourite anchorage in the bay. There's a great walk from the small north west anchorage around the island to Charlie's resort on the southern end. Its about 8 km and the first 4 km is through fairly overgrown tracks which winde up and over the island through rubber plantation and natural jungle. There are several interesting workers houses where the the latex undergoes its first drying process. At Charlie's you can catch a long-tail to return you to your boat. It is advisable to wear long trousers and good shoes, carry a stick. We have never seen a snake but worth taking the precaution. A visit to the emerald cave for sundowners after all the tour boats finish for the day is an especially lovely way to relax and reflect on the the beauty and tranquillity of Phang Nga Bay.
There is good snorkelling (relatively) on the South west side of the small north western bay, around the big rocks. David got an ear infection whilst diving so he missed the big walk and the snorkelling but not the sundowners!We had two glorious nights at Ko Muk, totally enjoying the crystal clear water and secluded anchorage amidst towering karst scenery.
Our next destination, Ko Rok Nok was an all day affair with not much wind to assist. Then another early start to The Butang group. This was our first visit here and we were delighted to find a secluded white sand beach with beautiful trees overhanging to provide shade and excellent snorkelling offshore around the two small islands on the north side of Ko Butang at 06 32.46N 099 09.63E. There are three moorings here at this time and all seem secure. We over-nighted quite comfortably on a large yellow one. The current is quite strong through here so we snorkelled with the dingy in tow.
27th of January saw our arrival at Telaga anchorage, Langkawi, for Immigration procedures and quick sight seeing with Annmarie prior to her departure on the 28th. What a lovely lazy time we all had and how sad we were to say good-by. Return soon!!!
Langkawi for some provisioning and on the 1st of February we headed out to Palu Paya about 20nm south east of Kuah. Good wind and very comfortable sailing meant we made it in early so we elected to head on to Palu Bunting. Low and behold...a huge bridge before out eyes! Apparition surely? This structure joining the mainland to this totaly uninhabited jungle clad island must be the epitome of Malaysian waste. You certainly know you are back in Malaysia.

Hellfire Pass, Kanchanaburi and Bangkok

2009-02-20T08:06:00.008+07:00

On the 5th of January we all flew to Bangkok where we were met by Ponchai in his luxury 12 seater tour bus and taken out to Kanchanaburi.We arrived late at the Blue Star Guest House
( www.bluestar-guesthouse.com Phone Thailand 034512161) and were shown to lovely rooms for 300Tb per night per couple. The Blue Star provided very good value and excellent meals. The following morning Ayer, the operations manager at the Hellfire Pass Museum met us and Poochai drove us the 80 km up to the Museum.
The Hellfire Pass Museum was established and is maintained by the Australian Government as a monument to the POW's from Australia, England, America and Holland, who under Japanese command, built the 415 km long Thai Burma "Death" railway during the 2nd World War. Work commenced on the 2nd of September 1942 and was completed on the 25th of December 1943 Just 16 months!! The deaths of prisoners was caused by overwork, starvation, beatings, disease and injury. The numbers are appalling. More than 16,000 POW,s and 100,000 impressed Asian labourers died.
Hellfire Pass or Konyu Cutting, is but one of the numerous cuttings constructed using hammer and Tap tequnique by the starved and beaten prisoners. The entire route is constructed of rail line over bridges, through cuttings and viaducts throught rough and difficult terrain. There is a walking trail for 4 km along an actual reconstruction of the line which we didnt have time to do. The exhibits are exceptional and the Museum is a must do if visiting Thailand. it would be especially moving to attend an Anzac Day memorial dawn service in the cutting.
It was at Colin's instigation that we found ourselves in Kanchanaburi as he has several friends who were POW's on the railway project and was therefore very keen to see it. We would highly recommend a visit to the area also but to make the effort to go the 80km out to the Museum and Pass.
Hintok River Camp on the Kwai and close to the Helfire Pass Museum would be a great place to stop over. We lunched there. see wwwhintokcamp.com
Kanchanaburi itself is a fairly large town on the River Kwai, famous for its bridge. The Bridge over the River Kwai was constructed by POW's using bridge components bought in by the Japanese from Java, It was a strategic crossing and was bombed many times by the Allies in an attempt to cut the supply line from Burma. Unfortunately the Japanese used POW's as human shields to try to prevent bombings to no avail. The prisoners were also camped very close to the bridge as a deterrent and this also caused severe injury and fatality amongst their ranks. The prisoners made every endeavour whilst constructing the bridge and the railway to undermine its structure and facilitate failure under load. This practice, if detected was punished severely. Punishments were harsh and often fatal.
We made a pre-dawn pilgrimage to the Bridge walking from our hotel for 15 minutes in the cool quiet morning air. There were a few sleepy stall holders setting up. Early coffee and watching the monks on their ritual alms collecting round provided interest as we awaited the first train and sunrise for a photograph or two. Back to the hotel for breakfast then a big day at the two huge war cemeteries. It is interesting that the Japanese, so cruel and ruthless, allowed the prisoners to bury their dead with some piety. They often attended the funerals and allowed the prisoners to be buried with all their identification. When the Australian War Graves Commission commenced the exhumation of interred soldiers for identification and reburial this facilitated their gruesome task.
Their remains are now buried , in two beautifully maintained cemeteries in Kanchanaburi A headstone marks the name and details of each soldier.
Across the street is another excellent museum of the period called the Thailand - Burma Railway Center. www.tbrconline.com
It is interesting conjecture that the Australian government is planning to hand over the Hellfire Pass Museum to the Thais. Should this happen is is widely believed that the Japanese, quite influential financially in the region, will put pressure on the Thai's to endeavour to have the history "modified" so as to present them in a better light!!
Thank you to Ayer, Bill and Poochai for your help and guidance during our visit.
Back to Bangkok and to the stately and comfortable Sommerset Hotel for 2 nights. A visit to the Grand Palace, established 1782 houses the royal residences, throne halls and several government offices as well as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It was in stark contrast to the previous few days with luxurious jewels gold and glitter everywhere the eye roved. The complex is enormous, 218,000 square meters and justifies some serious research before a visit and plenty of time to browse. There is almost 8 km of internal wall mural. A whole day with a long lunch break recommended. Photo opportunities abound but require plenty of patience as the crowd is unrelenting. Don't be caught purchasing "appropriate" clothing outside the gates. Its available free for loan inside if your attire is deemed unsuitable.
Colin and Edna flew out of Bangkok on the 9th of January and we returned to Phuket and to Taipan the same evening. Really sad to say farewell and looking forward to seeing them again in March, back in Australia.

Xmas 2008 in Phuket

2009-02-11T16:52:00.023+07:00

We've had an exciting and busy time in the past couple of months. We arrived in Phuket on the 20th of November after a pleasant sojourn in company with "Tweed", exploring Phang Nga Bay between Langkawi and Ao Chalong.
Chris Cook and Djep arrived in Phuket for a few days in early December.
On the 9th we celebrated Kris's Birthday at Nai Yang Seafood with all our fantastic friends.
Then Colin and Edna, Kris's mum and dad, flew in on the 13th of December from Australia. There followed a flurry of sight seeing before taking them on a 3 day sail into Phang Nga Bay then back to Yacht Haven. Edna and Colin then spent a couple of days at a small resort on Kamala Beach. During this period we all went shopping and provisioning preparative to the grand Xmas adventure out in the bay. The chosen beach was Cable Beach on Ko Yo Yai, 3 hours pleasant sailing from Yacht Haven. Its a pretty sandy beach with Palm trees and Casurinas for a bit of Australian flavour. Its major attraction however is that it is uninhabited, a rare thing for a nice beach in Thailand.
David and Colin immediately set to work ashore with plans for the construction of a table in anticipation of great feasting. A rake was also ordered to clear traditional Thai debris (thongs, plastic bottles fishing floats, bits of net and such) from the immediate surrounds. It wasn't very long before three curious local lads arrived on a motor bike and without any prompting they joined the team.
The table required a considerable number of thin poles, and David, reluctant to attack the native flora indicated to the boys what he required. Forthwith they snatched his big machete and dashed into the jungle. A short while later returning with a pile of poles and palm leaves to cover the top
Using the electric drill and a copious number of stainless steel screws, the lads set to work to create the frame of the 15 ft long 4 ft wide table. David showed them how the electric zip ties work and they soon used the ships generous supply of those in fastening the palm leaves to the top. I think every palm leaf had its own zip tie.
The completed rake is a work of art, both in form and function!.
"Jaraman", "Tweed" and "More Magic" arrived in a fog of the delicious aromas of cooking xmas fare.
Xmas Eve we all feasted on More Magic and sang loud and long, well known, and not so well known, Xmas carols.
Xmas Morning everyone was aboard "Taipan" for Santa's visit and champagne breakfast. The weather was looking threatening. This is the only time the Thai forecast has been correct. It forecast rain.
Undeterred, we made for the beach at sunset, laid out the banquet and got the feasting under way. Sumptuous fat stuffed Turkey, Ham from Australia, Duck with Orange, Prawn salad and roasted veggies, all finished off with Plum Pudding, Brandy Sauce and cream. Well it rained...and rained and we all got soaked, our party hats ran into our clothes and dyed our hair, but the umbrellas kept the food dry. It wasn't cold and with good company, a few champagnes and wines down the hatch we barely noticed.
The Boxing Day Beach Boules Tournament saw everyone back on the beach for furthur epicurean and alcohol delights and it was a hotly contested competition between the guys and dolls. The Dolls ...including the honorary ones...won the day. The evening repast was held on Jaraman, the crews all still going strong after a marathon Xmas effort.
Edna's 81st birthday on the 27th saw us back at Yacht haven and off again to Naii Yang Seafood. This top seafood restaurant once again hosted the evening in superb style with Oysters of the highest quality, their speciality.
New Years Eve its all aboard Taipan in Panwa Bali on the southern end of Phuket after abandoning the traditional New Years Eve venue of Patong owing to unrelenting rolling. Tweed and Crystal Blues joined us aboard and the night whizzed by in a blur of fireworks food and alcohol. Neil and Edna share the sir name "Langford" so there was some family history to explore. Its likely that there is some link going back to Wales in the last century! A great night was had by all and we all saw a good bit of the new year in!

Distances from various anchorages on the East Coast.

2008-10-15T13:09:00.000+07:00

Encounter with a FAD

2008-10-08T15:29:00.000+07:00

Terengganu to Kapas to Kemmerman day sails south. Uneventful which is how we like it. Given that the weather was lovely and the sailing great, the decision was made that we would overnight straight to Tioman to clear out of Malaysia and start heading back to Singapore and up the west coast.

BAD idea. That's when the big bright moon decided to go hide behind the building thunder heads and the wind totally died and we forgot that we'd promised each other that if the wind died we would just "bob about" till it returned, or until daylight returned. So without any proper discussion or thought we started the motor. Now I should tell the newbies that this coast and almost every part of Asia we have visited by boat has been littered with FAD's. That's Fish Attracting Devices. They range from whole houses with many families to the huge free floating, or moored, bamboo rafts, through to poles jammed into the sea floor. We had seen many of the latter, in the distance, on our trip north in blessed daylight, and, yes you can guess what happened in the dead of the black night. Kris was perched watchfull and peering into the inky blackness with only an occasional flash of lightening to see by when there is was a streak of white rope racing towards her down the port side. No time to reach across to the throttle to throw the Volvo out of gear.
Too late we are dead stopped, engine stalled, and going no where. The good bit was that the revs were very low so the likely damage from such an encounter was minimised. Scanning about and there were 3 poles sticking out of the water within 3 meters of us in 25 meters of water!. The sea was calm and only a slight bobbing movement of Taipan on the one and a half inch mooring line we had picked up with our prop. We now know that the fishermen tie to these lines and fish over the side around the sticks. Our rope cutter was out of its depth here with the size of this line!
We were also out of our depth and there was no "drawing of straws" to see who goes over the side to cut us free! David goes!. Its his prop!. I don't "do" overboard in the dark!. And it turns out neither does David!! Two hours to dawn so we wait.
In the murky gloom of a very overcast morning it was revealed that with a little ingenuity we could cut the main line, from the dingy, and let Taipan drift with the current, away from the FAD's... You never know what fish are actually being attracted down there! This manoeuvre was successfully accomplished by the good Capt'n and then once we were a suitable distance away David dived on it using our trusty Powerdive hookah. I might mention that this is a top piece of equipment for boat maintenance and worth every one of the expensive cents we spent on it!
The removal of 5 x 20lt plastic containers acting as floats and about 10m of rope loosely wound and looped around shaft, prop and skeg took only a couple of minutes, remembering that the FAD was not that far away! Those 3 poles and that mooring were the only things on the whole horizon!
Roll on Tioman Island. In before lunch and very pleased too! We must buy an underwater dive torch!!

Snorkeling Sniffling and Singing

2008-09-30T14:36:00.001+07:00

Taipan left Tioman Marina on the 9th of September for the 72NM run to Kuantan. To late and wrong tide for entry so we anchored on the coast. Bonused a nice dolphin fish for the next few dinners.

The 35nm to Kemerman was a delightful kite run. The entry is wide and quite deep enough for our 2.2M draft however if a big south - easterly sea was running it might be touch and go at low tide right at the entrance. OH!.. Allah! Kemerman has the noisiest Mosque we have ever heard. Must be like Wembley Stadium at the Soccer finals!. We didn't go ashore, because the tide was too low to access the very high wall on the river bank alongside the city. There were fire crackers all around and these went off all night! Must have been something on?? Ramadan! The quieter anchorage is opposite the police dock not far inside the river. The town anchorage would provide very easy access to supplies and services. However a higher tide would make it easier to get ashore.
Next stop Tenggol. A very pretty island with a deep anchorage and a number of buoys. We picked up a mooring buoy for 2 nights and enjoyed lovely weather and good snorkeling. Not stunning but quite clear and apart from the junk quite entertaining.There are no facilities here although there are 4 very low key resorts which don’t cater to outside visitors.
Kapas Isl 36nm, is just 10nm south of Terengganu. It is a really busy tourist spot. Water not so clear when we were there and there were plenty of "jellies" so we didn't swim here. Stayed two nights in a very comfortable anchorage on the north west of the larger island. We believe there is some excellent snorkelling on the reef between the two islands and have since been advised that the jellies here have no sting. There are several large moorings which we saw other yachts pick up but the anchorage is shallow and on good sand so we didn't use one.
Arrived at Terengganu on the15th of September. The Heritage Bay Marina is well placed and easy to find straight up the river. All modern facilities including Gym Spa but not use of resort pool. We dingied across the river, tied the dingy on the beach adjacent to the town steps and walked to the shops. There is also a good anchorage just to the east of the marina.
Terengganu is a big centre with several very large and well stocked supermarkets, an excellent morning fresh market just a very short walk from the town steps Chinatown has some great restaurants. We only got a chance to sample one but have it on good authority that there are many more to choose from.
The arrival of Hanly and Bill at Terrenganu on the16th was greeted with great joy. Bill has manufactured a beautiful prop puller. (See photo of Bill explaining its intricacies to the good Capt'n) Every yachities dream and Hanly has an extra 2 bottles of Cointreau. Necessary refreshment for yachties after exhausting swimming and snorkeling in crystal clear water of east coast Malaysia. Couple of days spent in Terrengganu purchasing limes by the lorry load and then with all the provisioning laid in we were off to Redang.
Then things went a bit pear shaped. David and I got the flue!..Nasty....10 days in state of sickness ...no cointreau...very little of anything in fact. The new chums managed to keep busy with swimming snorkeling and dingy rides here and there. Redang is a great island with snow white beaches and good anchorages. We holed up in Berjaya Bay on the north east side. Not much coral to speak of but nice swimming. We finally managed to drag our bones to Perhentian Islands where we stayed low while the guests did lots of eating and drinking and swimming and sleeping and singing. Hanly plans to add the ucalalie to her instrument repertoire so watch this spot for new music from "Doris" http://www.doris.com.au/. Watercolours restaurant was a favorite eating and drinking spot. Hanly slept till 9.00 o'clock one morning!!.
Finally with the flue a little behind us we were able to do some dives and enjoy the really lovely coral and fish in spectacularly clear water. The colour is just remarkable.
28th September and making our way back to Redang. Found some really good snorkeling on the eastern side and would love to go back to explore further.
Palau Bidong was an interesting lunch stop en-route to Terengganu. It was a refugee camp for Vietnamese refugees from the mid 70s to the early 90's. It’s very dilapidated and run down but there are some interesting and moving memorials and plaques. Its a lovely spot and well worth the visit.
Farewell to our special friends and thanks for the visit. Great sailors and great company both.

Tioman Island

2008-09-09T17:38:00.000+07:00

Tioman Island.

Taipan arrived from Sebana Cove where we cleared in from Singapore on the 13th of July. Had a fabulous sail from Singapore with the kite up for a lot of the time. Best visibility we have had for a very long time.
This new marina although very small, is new, clean and the amenities are in place but not yet open. The power is still free and the water is 10MR per month or any part thereof.
We had time to do a lot of the little non urgent jobs which we have been putting off for ages. New Icom 710 is installed and working fine with two computers now set up to handle it. Computers have had a big clean up and one has been totally reformatted and reloaded. Both outboard engines have had repairs and service. Engine service was due and has been done.
Our trusty old Hoover Twin Tub which has served us well for the past 4 years has jumped ship and is now in semi retirement on the dock at Tioman ready and willing to serve the weary yachtie women..and men if they want.
Lighting is being upgraded with a new light being installed in the fridge...easier to find the beer! The bilge drainage system has been modified and should be a lot more efficient with only 1 pump having the bulk of the load. We have 2 other pumps in reserve. A new tap has been installed in the aft head with a shower head ready for the big bathroom refit in November.
We caught the ferry to Mersing where we purchased a Sierra Wireless Aircard 875u and an internet service connection with Celcom. It has proved very reliable and we have had effective email and internet almost without interuption all the way up the coast.
We decided not to go to Borneo this season but to head further north to explore the Islands on the east coast of the Peninsular. So it was a big farewell to Egress ll heading to Miri and then onward to Australia next season and to Synergy still holding the couch down in Tioman!
Taipan off north to pick up friends from Australia arriving in Terengganu on the 16th of August for 3 weeks.

Migration South

2008-07-04T07:20:00.014+07:00

Left: Celebrating David's birthday with Jon and Pam "Tweed" and Nik and Zara from Yacht Haven
Phuket is our favourite spot but the weather, at this time of the year, leaves a lot to be desired so we have been forced to migrate south. This annual migration usually commences long before Taipan gets under way.
Returning from the Andaman Islands in April several things conspired to keep us at the wonderful Yacht Haven where we based ourselves again to install the new aluminium 250lt diesel tank built for us by Luck Engineering. This took several weeks to install and works perfectly increasing our motoring range, in this windless part of the world, to 1000NM. We spent a week in Nick and Zara's fabulous new home ....with aircon and a pool.... being pampered by Munchie Cat and me doing some running repairs to some of Taipan's canvas covers.
Chris a friend from Australia came to visit for a week and celebrated his 60th with us so we took the opportunity to take a break in beautiful Phang Nga Bay exploring yet more of the stunning limestone cast formations.
With so many great friends at Yacht Haven we find it hard to leave and wishing to spend David's 61st Birthday on the 18th of May in their company our departure was again delayed. The oysters are also irresistible.
Having recovered from the birthday celebrations, Thursday 22nd May( Savannaha's 1st Birthday) sees final tearful farewells as we slip the lines and drift off down the channel in gorgeous sunshine to Ko Nakka Noi. 23rd a great sailing day and a nice Spanish Mackrel in the bag provides fresh fish for the rest of the trip.Ko Ngai then Taratao and into Rebak Marina Langkawi and reunion with old sailing buddies Chris and Daun in the new More Magic.
Celebrations all round and then into serious work again. Haulout for a cutlass bearing replacement. Should have done that last November when we hauled out. some things just get forgotten till you start the motor again and that dreaded rattle starts a rattling! While we are out David repositions an earth plate to use as the Antenna Tuner earth on the radio. The rudder stock just dosnt cut it! 5 nights on the hard is sime sort of record for us.
Relaunched on the 31st of May and ready for the next leg of the migration south.
It takes till the 9th of June to drag ourselves off to Penang with a boat full of duty free fuel for the boat and vino for the crew.
Penang. A great city full of gorgeous food and art. Visited all our favourite haunts for some culinary adventures and to catch a few old friends. 5 nights sees the trip to the dentist and a few routine medical matters attended to and we are off south again.
Port Dixons Admiral Marina is a good stop over for a trip to Kuala Lumpur. Several buses and trains and most of the day but very easy and comfortable. 3 Nights in PD and south again to Singapore. Two overnight anchorages and into One 15 Marina on Mon 23rd June. Most of the trip was in pleasant if light weather. Anchorages were all good and Taipan's new cutlass bearing has never been quieter.

Singapore is still busy, noisy and the people are self absorbed and don't make contact readily. There are some good services and suppliers here but as a general rule it is very expensive.

We have bought and installed a new front loading automatic washing machine and it also doubles as a television!!
A new Icom M710 has replaced our trusty SEA222 HF Radio and has taken up even more room in the nav station than the old one!. It seems to work well and I'm sure we will come to love it.!! Marc from Pactor Australia has been a huge help and a great resource once again in setting it all up and helping with hard to obtain cables and software. Thank you Marc Robinson! Contact Pca.cc or Ph +61 230114928.
We found a very competent company in Singapore for the repair of Inverters and Battery Chargers. Continental Electronic Enterpirse in the basement of Sim Lim Tower. They have been truly excellent.
Next stop is Sebana Cove, Malaysia, South East; to clear in and await the arrival of a new #G modem for internet access aboard (see Crystal Blues website in our Favourites) then off to the Tioman Islands en route to Borneo.

Andaman Islands March & April 2008

2008-04-28T12:43:00.010+07:00

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands run in and extensive island chain over 800nm long in a roughly north south line 350nm west of Peninsular Thailand. It is a geological extension of Sumatra and as such received extensive damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Northern Sumatra in December 2004. The damage and necessary reconstruction work has put the Car Nicobar group to the south off the cruising map. Permits are impossible to obtain and even Indian nationals must obtain permits to enter the area.
Taipan arrived Port Blair the capital of the island state at 300am on Monday 10th of March. We had reasonable conditions for most of the trip and caught several fish at the Invisible Banks 40nm south of Port Blair
Clearing process was surprisingly fast and all formalities were completed by 7.00 pm that evening. Or so we thought!. A visit to the Port Captain on Tuesday morning put paid to that idea!. We were advised that because we had several Wildlife Sanctuaries listed on our itinerary we needed to obtain permits from the Wildlife Warden. No Worries! 4 days later and much frustrated in the attempt we had the permit and only needed to find someone to pay to ratify the piece of paper!... well eventually we discovered that the 3 days we wanted to spend around wildlife sanctuaries was going to cost us in excess of A$1000 so we abandoned those plans and cleared out as fast as possible.
Ravi was our guide and driver and he was very good. During our wait he showed us round the island and took us to some great restaurants. Introduced us to Tasneem the lovely young Indian Wildlife Researcher who is writing a handbook for visitors on the flora and fauna of the Andamans. tasneem@khans.ca
Contact Ravi at 09434262030
Left David Ravi and Vicky from Sarenety
Do not put any National Parks or Wildlife Sanctuaries on your Itinerary if you want to have a hassle free visit.
Friday 14th we are cleared to leave the harbor and headed south to
Chidyatapu. 11 30.17N 092 40.76E Very pretty spot with some infrastructure ashore which looked like a logging camp and we didn't go ashore to investigate. Unfortunately it was very rolly and we were pleased to leave the following morning to negotiate the Mc Phearson Strait between South Andaman and Rutland Island. Weather was superb and remained so for over 3 weeks. After leaving the strait we entered the Mahatma Ghandi National Park. This is a very beautiful area with many islands set in the crystal clear water just begging exploration. Next time! Sailing north on the west coast we pass a group of palm leaf huts of the Jarawa Tribal s. They are a nomadic tribe living much as they always have in the remote west of the Middle and South Island. Many hectares of forest are Jarawa Tribal Land. Going ashore here is not permitted.
Port Campbell 11 55.3N 092 35.9E in 6 meters on mud. This is real wilderness and its tribal land. Superb anchorage and given more time would have spent several days here to appreciate the abundant bird life and amazing trees. Defence Island is particularly beautiful.Sunday and motoring out of the anchorage beware of the unmarked reef in the middle of the bay. It extends along the 10m line for a mile or so from at least.....11 56.91N 092 35.0E!!
backtracking to our entry track we exit the area successfully and unscathed other than a scratch or two.... and a little stressed to continue north.
Spike Island 12 17.52N 092 44.4E 6 meters Mud. Two days spent here enjoying oysters and exploring in the dingy. There are tribal huts ashore here so no landing but again very spectacular flora. Several small boats of Jarawa came past but kept at a distance. The entrance here is well charted but inside is a fairy tale!.. beware the reef stretching to the north of the 1st island on the south after you pass spike island coming in from the west.
Interview Island. South Anchorage 12 47.35N 092 39.85E 8m on Sand. Very well protected despite the swell apparent. None in the anchorage. Startlingly clear water but a few snorkels later we are disappointed to say there is no corals to see here and very few fish. Double headed Parrot Fish were in evidence but little else. South Reef Island has some patches of live corals and some fish but nothing much. It is however very good fishing off the inside southern tip and we bagged a Red Emperor, Coral Trout and a Sweet Lips. The dingy ride was also very interesting with spectacular white limestone rock formations cut with caves. Deer roam this and many other islands and continue to devastate the forest. There is also a population of approximately 40 wild elephant here. They are the remnant population of a failed forestry project and were abandoned here some years ago. They are also doing irreparable damage as they are not indigenous to the Andaman but were bought there to assist with logging. We were advised by Tasneem that they are potentially dangerous.
Leaving the southern bay to head further up the island we hooked a nice size Bar Cheeked Coral Trout as we sailed across the rocky reef area south of South Reef Island. Our next anchorage has a all tide shore access so we can get ashore..watchful of elephants!
Middle Interview Island 12 48.60N 092 39.53E 8 meters on Sand. Litter ashore was a shock but to be expected on such an exposed shore line. South West Monsoon would really thrash this coast. A large wooden bowl, once used to pound tarot or grains perhaps, was found washed up on the shore and now graces our foredeck, doing service as a rope holder for the present!
Thursday 20th March sees us heading north to North Reef Island 13 04,587N 092 42.430E 10m on Sand in crystal clear water again. Unfortunately the reef is very damaged and there are many fallen trees ashore. This is a sanctury and wildlife park....! so don't put it on your itinerary! The anchorage is really very beautiful and snorkeling or not.. its a very nice place to while away a day or two..maybe dont go ashore?
Good Friday and we are still enjoying that Coral Trout. Hooked up a few biggies trolling but they all got off. Think a longer run might be necessary.. we only lost one lure though. Squid fishing at North Reef very rewarding so squid on the menu for the next few days. 22nm to the north to Paget Island.13 25.03N 092 49.61E 8m on Sand. There are two islands here and we swam and walked on the southerly one which has easy all tide access and good walking because the deer have decimated the undergrowth! This end of the Andaman group has been raised by the earthquake by up to 1500mm in places and the damage to the reef is mostly as a result of this. The southern end of South Andaman is lower by a meter and many rice farms reclaimed from the mangroves have been reclaimed by the sea. Charts are a fair way out requiring constant attention. Leaving Paget we hooked up on two Giant Trevally for a good bit of sport and fair eating while fresh. This always happens when the navigation is at its most critical.!!!
Excelsior Island in the Table Island Group now on the north east side of North Andaman. We sailed through the strait south of Landfall Island with ease in spite of the complicated looking chart. Excelsior is a truly beautiful spot. 13 25.74N 093 05.84E 10m Sand. Well protected from just about everything here. Three very pleasant days spent here exploring on foot and by dingy with no luck trolling but some good strikes. Snorkeling very patchy and for the most part disappointing however we did find a few good small patches to keep us amused for several hours each day. The best was the closest patch to the east of Taipan.
Smith Ross Island. 13 18.03N 093 03.95E 9 m on Sand. A good size Yellow Fin Tuna safely in the fridge on route. Smith Ross is also a Park so don't put it on the itinery!.. the snorkelling here was great in very small patches. Good protected anchorage and park facilities ashore. On North Andaman just west of the anchorage is the town of Diglipur where there is a market each day but not needing anything so we didn't go.
Maya Banda 12 55.33N 092 53.63E 10m mud. Nothing to recommend it! Its a long way in out of the way and having gone ashore I cant think of any reason to do so. Maya Banda is the filthiest place we have ever visited. Not exactly unfriendly but decidedly off hand.
27th March and we sailed to Outram Island south anchorage picking up a nice Wahoo on the way. Outram South 12 12.34N 093 05.72E 12 M on sand. This was just an overnight stop and in the morning we went to North Button Island to snorkel. The clarity of the water is unbelievable. We drifted for several hours on the southern side but the corals although plentiful and all very similar. Very few fish of any size although there were plenty of varieties of small ones. The fishermen are netting everything in long nets which we regularly found fouled on the coral. Tasneem tells us there has been an alarming and noticeable decline in fish numbers in the past 2 years and researchers are very worried about sustainability with the illegal fishing a problems.
Outram Harbour...12 15.03N 093 05.76E 7m mud. The perfect weather started to look a little less perfect so we anchored here hoping for protection from the forecast SW and SE weather. It was a blessing that we did because the next 3 days were less that pleasant. However we were very snug in our anchorage and were soon joined by Spirit of Ireland and another French yacht seeking shelter. We could hear the Black Andaman Woodpecker ashore but unfortunately didn't get a look at one. Ravi has promised to show us next time we visit!
During our stay at Outram Harbour (there is nothing here) we were visited by several groups of fishermen. One group of 10 men boarded Taipan to get a finger of one of them bandaged up. he had a nasty gash from a fishing knife inflicted the previous evening. It was looking remarkably good. They had packed it with turmeric??? I cleaned and dressed it in the conventional way somewhat unsure whether is would be better than the turmeric though.
Some other younger lads came aboard for a look and were hysterical with laughter when they met our stuffed cat! Mrs Chippy. We gave them some old clothes which they seemed very pleased with but they really wanted pens??? Next day they came to give us a fish and the smallest Lobster I have ever seen.
Inglis Island 12 08.07N 093 06.50E This has to be one of the most beautiful islands in the Andaman. My camera died back at Outram though so I don't have any pics for you! The exceptionally clear water and good corals and plenty of small fish made this spot our favourite snorkel spot. On the north side, using the Power Dive Hookah, we cruised with 2 enormous double headed parrot fish for some time which was a highlight. The current here can get pretty strong though so you need to pick your time. Heading in to Havelock #3 for the night we snatched another big GT and gave it to Spirit of Ireland. They invited us over to sashumi and we had a delicious meal aboard.
Havelock 12 02.14N 093 00.34E opposite the Forrestry building and a short walk to the village. This was a great village and I so missed my camera. People were really friendly and we ate in the small restaurants. Really just very basic sheds constructed of timber in the weather board style. Narrow frontages and mostly 2 storied. Very little glass in evidence..shutters are the order of the day. There must have been a special on blue paint.! This place is a must visit. Two great fruit and vegie markets at night and chai and curd to die for!. Internet service by pigeon i think but it exists! Great traditional Indian street food. We went from here to Henery Lawrence and to Inglis for more snorkling but Inglis definatly has to be the best. Rumours of crocodiles were put to rest for us by the local fishemen who insisted that there are no crocks any where near here. "Maybe down the south end of Havelock on the west side!"
With our visa due to expire we used the last couple of days to relax at Havelock #7. Truely a beautiful beach. This is the major tourist destination in the Andaman and many day trippers come from Port Blair by ferry to see Havelock #7 Interesting to watch Indian women in beautiful saris wade out into the breakers to bath with their men folk who wear fairly regular attire! They hire bathing costumes on the shore! Backpackers seem to gravitate here also and it is possible to scuba dive with an elephant for $1000US we were told!..The elephant has no real say in the matter though and is sometimes a pretty reluctant starter.Sunday 6th of April and we headed off to Ross Island just outside Port Blair and anchored to visit the ruins of the British Command Post abandoned in 1945 after WWll occupation by the Japanese. The colony was established to incarcerate Indian Militants during the latter 19th century. These Freedom fighters, hero's of India, were attempting to oust the British Rulers from India. The Cellular Prison is a formidable place and a lot of it remains. We went to a light and sound show one evening which was very well done and well worth the effort. Ross Island itself was a thriving settlement with extensive buildings of stone erected using Indian convict labor. The buildings are now being destroyed by the Strangler Figs but the effect is awesome!...(Thank you to Thomas from Spirit of Ireland for the photos of Ross Island.)
Clearing out of Port Blair is a lot easier than clearing in but it still took 2 days and we didn't leave for Phuket until Wednesday the 9th of April Our freezer full of fish, a good belly full of Indian bureaucracy..and great Chicken Masala cooked for us by Ravi and served aboard Taipan. Tasneem also paid us a visit aboard before we left and we hope to keep in touch and look forward to the completion of her handbook.
Return journey was very peaceful, light wind, some with spinnaker flying but mostly motoring.
More fish at Invisible Bank and Pilot Whales on several occasions during the trip.
We hope to return to the Andaman's again nest season and look forward to catching up with Ravi and Tasneem.
In summary it is not the snorkeling paradise we expected but the fishing was fantastic and the solitude was great. Water is clear and the forests are just awesome. Culture? Well there isn't really any indigenous art or craft and the tribal peoples are pretty much out of bounds.

More Photos of Andamans

Australia for Xmas 2008

2008-04-24T16:34:00.008+07:00

"Yaralla" Farm at Mount Barker Western Australia...Golden Summer!

A surprise visit planned for Edna, Kris's Mum, on her 80th Birthday was thwarted by her unexpected illness. The visit was underway when we were informed that Edna had been taken to Hospital. Plans are made to be revised so we raced off to Albany.
January was spent providing support to Edna and Colin during Edna's convalescence and she seems to be recovering very well.

Brother Vern's partner, Jo, also suffered a severe illness of unknown origin which put her in Intensive Care in Royal Perth Hospital for almost 3 months. Again, thankfully, Jo is now in Shenton Park Rehabilitation Centre in Perth and is making huge steps towards her recovery. Go Jo!!!

It was great to catch up with both our families and meet our new grand daughter, Savannah.

We flew back to Singapore on the 26th of January..Australia Day, to join Chris and Daun on the new "More Magic" for the final leg of the delivery from Hong Kong to Rebak Marina in Langkawi.

Malacca Malacca

2007-11-20T11:54:00.000+07:00

We have been in Port Dixon for a week now with the inevitable jobs to do. This time it was a very small but persistent diesel leak in the port tank. Thankfully all our tanks are easily removed so the problem was rectified and cleanup achieved with a minimum of fuss.
Malacca is an old port city on the western Malay peninsular and was high on our list of priorities for a visit.
In the early 1400s, during the Ming dynasty, Cheng Ho a famous Chinese navigator first visited Malacca. He sailed to the area many times to trade used the port as a base to explore further west. His earlier visits saw the virtual annihilation of the coastal pirates by the sheer strength of numbers of his 270,000 man fleet! Cheng Ho's mission was as a Chinese ambassador and trader.He had no ambition to conquer foreign lands. He forged strong allegiances with the local ruling sultan who eventually made the trip to china to meet the Emperor. One of the Emperors daughters became the 6^th wife to the sultan and was installed with her 500 servants upon the hill overlooking the straights.
Later Portuguese, Dutch and English were to colonize the area. The resultant cultural mix has stamped the old city with its various influences in architecture, religion, art and cuisine.
Restoration commenced in the late 80’s and the area now enjoys tremendous popularity as a tourist destination. Cruise liners can be seen anchored off and the passengers are plied ashore and up the river in large tenders.
It’s approximately an hour’s drive to Malacca from Port Dixon’s Admiral Marina. Along with Jon, Pam (Tweed) and Jocko from Synergy we made the journey by hire car. We visited the Cheng Ho Museum, Architecture Museum, Old Portuguese Forts and Church ruins which house tomb stone tops dating back to the 1500s. There was just too much to see in a day so we hope to take a couple of nights there again on our voyage south next year.
Now we are heading north again to Langkawi and on to Phuket.

Exotic Penang

2007-11-04T14:58:00.000+07:00

We left Rebak marina on Friday26th of October with following breeze providing a lovely sail to Penang about 65NM south east. Chris and Daun off "Magic", now sold... accompanied us for a break from boat selling. They are looking for a new boat to replace the beloved Magic. She was just a little too small for long term cruising at 35ft.

Our trolling lure attracted two big fish..... a shark and a nice Mackrel but we didnt land either and lost the Rapala deep diver to the shark! Bummer!! Still it means they are out there. so there is still hope
Here in Penang the food is still awsome. Sunday morning we went to the Eastern and Oriental Hotel, a lovely colonial hotel beautifully restored... and had a long lazy Sunday breakfast buffet....all for 12 ausie dollars. Returning, we happened upon the Little Penang Street monthly Market and were entertained by a group of very gracefull and ornately decorated Indian girls from the local Traditional Indian Dance Academy.

Deepavali the big Indian festival is due to commence and Little India is swarming with shoppers, stalls and blaring Indian music. Its particularly vibrant after dark and exotic incense fill the air. This celebration is akin to Christian Christmas with gift giving and bonhomie and plenty of food.

The streets of Georgetown adjacent to the marina provide an interesting adventure playground. Antique shops and galleries.... Must visit the beautiful restored Chinese Shop house gallery Alpha Ultra 83 China Street...A2 Gallery at 27 Bangkok Lane. When your tired of galleries you can explore the amazing Temples and Museums in the vicinity.
Its hot and steamy here as usual but there is a reasonable breeze in the Tanjong City Marina although it continues to be the most uncomfortable berth facility north of the Albany Jetty. Much surging and snatching. During one particularly nasty session our stern line snapped. Fortunatly we had several stern lines in possition. Dont forget that the current really runs through here if your ever planning to come in. All very well if there was some manoeuvring room ... which there isnt...
We plan to stay until around the 6th of November and will then make our way down to Port Dickson to visit Jon and Pam on Tweed and do some exploring in Malacca. Antiques and art... just for fun!...

Just Add Water

2007-10-12T16:54:00.000+07:00

Splash!
We are in and what a welcome sound it is. Three weeks on the hard stand at Rebak Marina and Taipan has emerged free of old anti foul and of most of the dodgy paintwork done on the underside in Fremantle in 2004. Hopefully we wont be plagued with vast sheets of shedding anti foul and primer next time we haul out. New black anti-foul and a smart new red line on the black boot stripe to smarten her up.

A relaxed day in the beautiful pool here at the Marina and a day eating and shopping in Kuah and we are feeling nearly human again. Still some tidying up and aesthetic stuff to do however it will be a softly softly approach over the next few months.
Now in a pen with Internet on board so happy me! Next instalment will be from Penang where we plan to renew our visas for Thailand before returning.

Progress on the Hard

2007-09-28T11:07:00.000+07:00

Well its Friday the 28th of September and yes we are still on the hard. The "hard" hard work has been completed and its all down hill from here we hope! The anti foul had to be removed back to the hull including primer as the job originally done in Fremantle in 2002 was so substandard that every time we've hauled out since, large areas of anti foul and primer have fallen off. They don't of course fall off uniformly all over the boat so a considerable amount has had to be painstakingly scraped off using paint stripper. Not a pleasant pass time!

We have finally got some good staff from Hamid and the progress has been more rapid over the past couple of days. There is much preparation work including washing sanding and painting still to be completed but we are getting there.

Last evening we attended the monthly Pool Side Buffet provided by the Marina at 40rg per head... thats about$15 A. The tables were all beautifuly decorated and there was endless fabulous food. We had saved up all day of course and had a thoroughly enjoyable night. Fantastic service, great live music, all very ellegant.

Still no internet however the marina management is planning to upgrade this service to include wi fi throughout the marina and a phone provider is erecting a tower here also so communication facilities are set to improve.

Langkawi Malaysia

2007-09-18T09:44:00.000+07:00

Well just when you thought we were off on another adventure! No back in the marina only a different one. Rebak is an island off Langkawi Malaysia West Coast. Its a resort island predominantly and the marina here was dredged out of a Mangrove Swamp. Its almost new having been totally destroyed in the 2004 tsunami. The Resort operate the Marina however there are very few facilities apart from a good lifter and reasonably priced hardstand facility. There are no shops or chandlers and therefore everything must be procured on Langkawi Island which is a small ferry ride for about 20 minutes. Shopping is plainly difficult unless you like to lug heavy bags up and down ramps and into and out of boats. Most inconvenient! When you do get ashore there are no shops so you are forced to hire a car. It is a reasonable price at 40Rg but it does make a carton of milk expensive.

There are very limited Internet opportunities here. The wireless server is not designed for reception from yachts. Yachts must take their laptops to the Hard Dock shed to connect. After Yacht Haven it all seems primitive.

We had a fabulous run south, departing Yacht Haven at 3pm Monday. Not really enough wind to sail however we motor-sailed very comfortably and had no rain or thunder squalls so common at this time of the year.

Our Anchor Winch decided to have a lie down at Phi Phi Don on the first night out so we had to haul in 50 meters of chain and the anchor by hand in the early hours of Tuesday. Having achieved this with the help of various other deck winches and a spider-web of ropes, we elected to sail as far as Kho Rok Nok and use a mooring there for the night instead of arriving in the middle of the night at Langkawi.

This proved to be a perfect plan and once safely attached to the mooring we dived in for a very welcome and long overdue swim in cool clean clear water.

Wednesday morning a 7am the mooring is waved off and motor sailing once again we are into the Bintang Group when a loud whizzing alerts us to the fish on the line. A beautiful dolphin fish. Almost too pretty to eat but after months without our own fish .... sorry... in the fridge. No Freezer with it. Chilled for dinner.

Rebak Marina by 6.00pm Wednesday. Thursday we had to clear in with Malaysian Authorities. Always very easy here. However its Ramadan starting Thursday so a little further to drive. The main office in Kuah is open and its business as usual. No lunch though, although we were lucky to find food at the airport where we had a big reunion with Magic. Chris and Daun had gone to Australia in April and we were able to meet them and help ferry all their luggage home to magic.

Saturday and we are hauled out after a spectacular display of reversing. Taipan is not normally renowned for her reverse performances. David guided her cleaverly into the lifter backwards and thereby saved us a lot of time and effort removing the forestay. Just as we entered the lifter a huge squall hit but too late to be a problem so now Taipan is securely tied and propped on the hard and we are reduced to ladder access and back to work. Lets hope the sailing adventures will begin again soon.

Further Progress in the Pen

2007-08-25T06:37:00.000+07:00

Six months on and we are still in Yacht Haven Marina on the north eastern tip of Phuket Island.

Thailand

We have been working solidly but as anyone with a boat project knows..... it all takes time.

David has become quite the cabinet maker. Amazing what you find out doing the demolition work. Suddenly all is revealed and the task doesn’t seem so daunting. Now with the deconstruction complete and the “making good” period also behind us, we are finally well into the reconstruction phase!

Out with the third cabin and in with a Laundry - Shed and new “Garage” out the back! The hot water system & batteries now re located under the No 2 cabin bunk to make way for an automatic washing machine and small freezer under a new work bench with cabinets for tools and other shed paraphernalia.

The new “garage” is accessible from the cockpit for storage of bikes, air conditioner, (which we might just keep a while longer!) Spare sails anchors ropes and Jerry Cans.

My contribution has been primarily chief veneer replacer!. Water damaged teak has been renewed. I have replaced the veneer on the front of the Chart Table with the good captains help and now the varnish is going on there. I have removed a drawer to make way for our computer mini tower.

There have also been modifications to the companionway. We have lost 3 steps. Access is much improved as a result. Work is almost complete now just varnish and some teak trims to go.

At the beginning of July we moved into the marina managers house. While we house kept for Munchie, Nick and Zara's cat, we also took the opportunity to varnish the floors. We used Epiphane and although the drying time is a good 24 hours it was worth the trouble. It looks good after 5 coats and will improve when the final 3 coats to go on in Rebak in September.

A word of warning about Thai paints!.... they are generally substandard and we know of more than one case of the varnish just "falling off"!! Buy your own and make sure its an imported brand!

In the end I am sure it will have all been worth the discomfort and inconvenience with a much more user friendly and comfortable boat.

Noi and Ham. Young men from Marleys workshop at Yacht Haven Marina. Excellent cabinet makers who came to help us with the fine woodwork.

Myanmar Visa Time Again.

2007-08-20T22:46:00.000+07:00

The Thai visa system is almost unfathomable. We had a 60 day visa from Penang which we were able to extend for the cost of 1900Tb per person to 90 days but when this runs out we need to leave the country again.
Myanmar is the destination of choice for most ex pats as its only half a days drive north and the whole business can be conducted in just one day. You need to leave early though!

We left at 5.30am with Mike and Chris from Akwaaba. The rain was unrelenting and several towns along the road were suffering minor flooding from blocked drains. On a couple of occasions we had to take to the wrong side of the road for some distance to negotiate the flood waters. Its not unusual in Thailand to encounter vehicles on the wrong side of the road though so that didn't cause too much anxiety. We arrived at Immigration at around 10am and then having been processed we went to catch the boat across the river. The only fine weather for the day was during that crossing, in both directions, so it was a pleasant run. Being the "off season" we were well attended by local Burmese wanting to sell us... Viagra mostly... maybe it was our age! Anyway we bought local rum and had our stamps in and out attended to. Chris purchased a couple of pretty lacquer ware trays then we were hurried onto the boat and back to Thailand. Re entry is straight forward 90 day entry permit. Then back in the car and back to Phuket. Finished and home by 500pm.

I think its all something to do with tourism and frankly its more fun to take 2 days and enjoy the adventure. Next time we will spend a night in Myanmar. Its apparently possible to spend 3 nights there as part of this entry however you are not permitted to travel out of Victoria Point and as its a fairly small place 3 nights would probably be too long

Surins Thailand and others

2007-07-03T06:04:00.000+07:00

We arrived in Thailand in late January and spent a month cruising in Phang Nga Bay then travelled north up the west coast. A brief visit to the Surin Islands and the Similans (see left) then into the pen at Yacht Haven for a refit. David dashed back to WA for a medical check-up after having an unusual result from a stress test. Thankfully that was a false alarm and he returned to commence work on Taipan.

Deserted Beach in the Off Season!

Big Ones and Little Ones

2007-06-04T14:38:00.000+07:00

DAVIDS 60TH BIRTHDAY

Our Penang trip finally happened after a hiccup with flights. Our original flight was cancelled, we suppose, due to lack of interest, as the next day when we did fly there were only 9 passengers!

On arrival at Cathay Hotel in George Town we presented our passports to the desk so they could do our Thai visa renewal. Very good service as the taxis and inconvenience is more than covered in their fee. The Hotel, no longer the grand facility it no doubt once was, is still spacious clean, air-conditioned and the beds upstairs are the best we’ve slept in since home! Never mind the towels, best to bring your own as theirs are rather small and thin, and the hot water? Well you don’t really need it in the climate!

On our first visit to our favourite Indian restaurant we were astonished to discover when we went to settle that we had been shouted to dinner by a friendly Indian man named Dav who had sat to chat with us. That’s Penang! Dav also recommended Kashmiri Restaurant for David birthday dinner. The Kasmiri proved excellent and we had a thoroughly good night with Jon and Pam from Tweed who flew from Langkowie to celebrate with us and to spend a few days recovering from their very heavy work schedule.

The rest of the week involved a lot of walking around Little India and Georgetown exploring the north coast by local bus, and mostly partaking of the excellent local cuisine.

With renewed visas and refreshed bodies we have returned to Phuket and the hectic life of boat repairs and alterations.

While we were in Penang, Jason and Ferne presented us with our first grandchild. Savannah Jade, born on 22^nd May in Mt Barker WA.
Congratulations!

Now a little bigger Photo 10th August

Easter in Thailand

2007-04-07T17:15:00.000+07:00

We only realized late Friday that it was Easter... no mention of Easter here.
So on Easter Sunday yachties from Yacht Haven Marina... were invited to the local village for their annual games day and Kings Birthday celebration ... I think that's what it was all about..??? We presented ourselves in white Yacht Haven shirts.. en mass... about 20 of us... at the village green.. school sports ground...not green, dusty brown due to water shortage here... at 8.30am!!! and were amazed to find about 2000 people all respectably attired in their "faction" colours and ready to take each other on in competitive games...All teams had their compliment of lady boys (see photo) to spur on the competition with dancing and frolicking. first up was tug o war... Yacht Haven versus red team and we won after a lengthy tousle.... the games went on all day and our team dwindled away till there were 4 of us left. One funny game they call Superman involved men's and women's teams having to run round a witches hat wearing a pair of ladies panties then taking them off so the next person can put them on and they go again. It was hilarious.. my laughing muscles are really strained. In another game we were blindfolded, given a bamboo pole and had to set
out to bash an earthen ware pot to bits . They turn you round so you don't know where the pot is then fall about laughing as you stumble blindly about bashing the ground!!! anyway by about 330 pm we were stuffed and boiled so left to retire to the air conditioning for a nap and then expected return to festivities at 8.00pm! they play hard these Moslem's! I don't remember ever going to such a big evening
gathering........ again about 2000 people where there was absolutely no alcohol
and no brawling and a huge sense of fun... amazing. they were so welcoming and we won a trophy... not sure for what but another yachtie and I went up on stage to get it....... (see photo! )got back at about 11.30pm exhausted... but it was a great day and we felt really included. Another hilarious game involved one of our number, Peter, a young deckie off a charter yacht, New Zealander... we wont hold that against
him... got into a large black plastic pool filled with water and thick red mud about 10 inches deep to catch eels and put them into a bamboo tube... the winner is the one who catches the most eels... well the eels won but Peter caught the most eels so we might have got the trophy for that!!!

2006-08-28T18:42:00.001+07:00

Indonesia 2006

We have been in Indonesia for a month now and its absolutely fascinating. Our arrival in Indonesia was into Kupang in West Timor where our papers were processed quickly, efficiently and with the minimum of extortion. Our tour guide there was superb (and we have his contact)

Leaving Kupang we sailed north to Lembata to join the Sail Indonesia fleet at Lewa Leba. Sail Indonesia is a Rally of 100 international yachts organized by Indonesian Tourism Ministry. The welcome was amazing. A big Festival for the local island people was in progress and much traditional dancing and singing ensued at the highest decibel rating imaginable. We ate in little back street restaurants and the food was superb and cheap. From here we set out to explore the small bays and villages along the north coast of Flores.
The reception everywhere we have been has far exceeded our wildest expectations. The generosity and welcome of these people is humbling and I wonder if we Australians are as nice to these people in Australia. Whilst in Flores we took a day tour with a group of yachties over to the south side of the island. Flores has many active volcanoes and some very high mountain country with fabulous scenery.

From Flores we sailed north through several island groups where we encountered our first purely Moslem villages. With some trepidation we went ashore only to be greeted with the warmth and friendliness we had come to expect. The conflict however is that the Moslem villages are better laid out, cleaner with better houses and their children are much better behaved. We rode our bikes along one of the small roads for a few kilometers and were followed by children who took turns to ride the bikes too. Delightful! On our return to the village the head man invited us for tea and cake. Talk about the center of attention!

From here we sailed north to a small island called Pulassi. A couple of fishermen wearing balaclavas came alongside and immediately jumped aboard! Pirates you cry! Nope! They were just paying a friendly visit! Curious about everything. We were planning a BBQ Ausie style on the beach just before they arrived and after much hilarity as we tried to communicate in Bahassa…ours isn’t very good…we established that it was fine for us to go ashore and cook dinner. Quite a small crowd had gathered aboard by then, including a man and his wife and we took them all ashore with us in the inflatable....they were tickled! The BBQ was a huge success, we cooked Kangaroo...this took some explaining…and lamb sausages. After assuring them that there was no pork in them they happily tasted our food and were very approving. They slept in their fishing boat very close by all night and Huck played guitar and we played Pigram Brothers and Yothu Yindi to them much to their delight.

“Tana Beru” where a huge variety of timber boats are constructed right on the beach. The first thing to strike you as you sail into Indonesia is the number and variety of boats. Almost without exception these are constructed of timber and are often extravagant shapes and colors. Most are built of Teak with Ironwood keels from Kalimantan and called Pinece these vessels are used extensively for transport and cargo. The design hasn’t changed much since the 15century. These are the same vessels which Makassan traders used to cross to Australia to trade with the Aboriginals.

On the beach there would be 150 boats some up to120ft long, under construction and we were invited aboard some of the largest ones. Many are built for overseas clients and the World Wild Life Fund has 4 under construction there at the moment. We also took a driver and guide and went down to Bieru on the south coast for a run. The country is very stony and not very productive. The main industry is boat building and their timberwork is outstanding, a high standard finish being achieved with very limited use of electric tools and some pretty frightening electrical wiring!

“Makassar” conjured up images of minarets in the mist with wild eyed cutlass wielding pirates all steeped in the foggy aroma of a hundred different herbs and spices. Well this image is pretty correct except the pirates are not wielding the cutlass’s only carrying them for ceremonial purposes; the Mosques are all shapes and sizes with stainless steel tops slashing the foggy scented air and the call to prayer dominating 5 times a day. Often they are very out of tune but make up for it with their enthusiasm and decibel level. They must have the biggest speakers n the world here!.

The foggy scented air is filled with the smell of gutters, drains, food and smoke. However having said this I must say it is the most delightfully exotic history soaked destination in Indonesia so far. The people yet again are unimaginably friendly. Rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, bemo drivers, street workers: just everyone can’t do enough to help and they all want to talk to us.

“Tana Toraja” in the north of south Sulewesie a visit for 4 days.This region is inhabited predominantly by Christians of Bugis decent and their ceremonies almost defy description. Funerals are held here during a “Season” between July and the end of October. When a person dies the family set about embalming and storing the body in the back of the house telling everyone that they have a headache! (this may be for years) When they can afford the funeral everyone gets together and pitches in to build temporary houses from bamboo and timber all elaborately decorated family stay here during the funeral ceremony which takes around 5 days. Temporary houses may take several months to build and involve many hundreds of volunteer workers We saw one under construction since June and the funeral will be held in Mid Sep. Costing many thousands of dollars to build just in materials the owner also feeds all the workers everyday. A buffalo had been slaughtered for lunch!. Last year a temporary house cost one family 1Billion RP (even at 6.5Rp to the Ausie dollar that is an impressive sum).

The family home is a special building called a tongkonan. They are so elaborate and often hundreds of years old,! Highly decorated with carving and motifs of the area, they made from timber with elaborate boat shaped roofs constructed using bamboo and covered in thatch. The front pole has usually a huge display of buffalo horns arranged up it and these are from sacrifices made at previous ceremonies.

We were lucky enough to attend a Funeral Ceremony for several hours. Firstly we were introduced to one of the family and presented a gift (carton of cigarettes). We were then shown to one of the temporary houses and supplied with sweet strong coffee and an assortment of nibbles. Soon 11 of the large buffalo were lead into the grounds (which are about the size of 2 basketball courts,) and paraded for the master of ceremonies, one of the family heads. The ground is surrounded on all sides by houses and rice barns or temporary houses and this one has 7 barns and 2 houses. The color is predominantly red with beading and flags flying everywhere. The buffalo are presented to the family by friends and relations according to a very old custom.

Buffalo in this country do no work at all. They are raised purely for ceremonies and are the most pampered animals imaginable. They wallow in mud during the day then they are bathed, scrubbed, feet washed, teeth cleaned and lead off home to sleep under the house! The most valuable one sold here for 100K Ausie Dollars. It was a rare white one with black spots. None at this funeral were white but they were nevertheless imposing creatures and very docile. The Torajan people believe the buffalo carry the spirit of the dead to their god and as the journey is long and arduous they need big strong healthy animals.The master of ceremonies then read out the fate of these creatures. One was auctioned on the spot for around A$1400 and the money went to the church from the family. Several were gifted to relations. One was donated to the Mosque (and remember these people are Christian) in the interests of “peace and cooperation”. Several were lead away for future sacrifice. Two beasts remained. With very little preamble the first was tied by one front leg to a stake in the ground. I though the animal was very obliging considering all the blood on the ground around the stake from previous sacrifices of both buffalo and pigs. Then like lightening a cutlass was slashed upward across the unsuspecting creature’s throat opening a huge gash. He was somewhat alarmed but was quickly subdued with a judicious tug on his nose ring! Our guide whispered “Black Magic” somewhat distressed he explained that sometimes a spell is put on the knife operator and the animal although wounded will not die! It took several more stabs at the by now exposed jugular for the animal to finally fall dying onto the bloody ground. The fate of the second beast was just the same except that it managed to tear the stake from the ground and make a short dash for freedom before also being bought up short by his nose and tethered to his fallen predecessor. We left shortly after this! We learned that approximately 100 buffalo and 500 pigs were available for slaughter at this funeral alone, although to our relief they were unlikely to all be sacrificed this time. About half of them would escape till a later date.

The huge quantity of meat is either cooked and distributed to guests or portioned and gifted to the assembled. All these deals including volunteer helpers are meticulously recorded for future payback by the dead persons family.

“Tombs and Hanging Graves”

From this ceremony we went to Lemo about 6 km south of Rantepeo where there is a very extensive grave site. The tombs are hewn out of solid rock into the side of a vertical rock wall and are around 2m by 2m cubed. The cavern has a small opening and all the members of one household are buried here over generations. Above and around the doors which mark the entrances to the tombs are large niches carved in which are placed Tau Tau. These are figures carved to resemble the dead person and they are increasingly complicated as the carving ability of the Tana Torajan wood carvers has improved. The Torajans believe the dead need to take many things with them into the spirit world so they go to their graves very well provided for. In ancient times these people were also head hunters and several heads would be hunted for a noble person to take with him as slaves for his journey. I use the word “his” generally because the women are equally well provided for!

Lemo graves to a House Initiation Ceremony and we fought our way down a very crowded road to the site where a new tongkonan was being consecrated. Lavishly decorated in traditional style, with festive flags, beaded hangings and lucky ikats. (Locally woven cloths) it was quite a sight. The temporary houses and rice barns brim full of people, dead pigs everywhere and one huge sow neatly caged above ground in a bamboo contraption presiding over the carcasses of her fallen compatriots. The incongruity of pig meat being carried off slung over bamboo poles, carried by men weaving between beautifully dressed Torajan girls in ceremonial costume of bright canary yellow and hung with colorful beads, was striking. Soon there appeared out of the crowd two beautifully dressed women who performed a traditional dance to drum beat during which members of the crowd dash in to place money in the headband of the girls. I dashed in to do my bit! There must have been over 1000 people here. One very important house this one, 500 pigs must die!

We walked through rice paddies and along embankments towards an imposing limestone cliff to another cave gravesite. Tau Tau lined up in niches and skulls and bones of long dead Torajans raked into piles and draped with offerings, often cigarettes! This is a very old site and many of the coffins are almost rotted away.

“Baby Graves” On up the hill to an amazing burial site, a tree, a member of the breadfruit family! Many Torajan people are still animists although the Indonesian government outlaws it and they are often listed as Hindu or Protestant! Here in this tree are the bones of many babies. Called Baby Trees, animists believe a baby with no teeth is without sin and therefore requires no funeral. It is in fact not really dead. The baby is placed in a fetal position within a hole carved out of the tree. The tree oozes milk like sap which it is believed will nourish the baby. A fragile frame of bamboo and grass is placed over the hole and the tree gradually grows over leaving only a scar. When the frame finally falls away the family is satisfied that the baby has returned to heaven. Candles are burned here every Thursday and small offerings are made. Quite moving!

Before the Torajans had the technology to dig rock tombs they hung heavy timber coffins from poles suspend high on cliff walls or inside caves. We visited Londa Caves next where we walked by lantern light through caverns full of decaying coffins and piles of bones and coffins containing several family members. Torajans believe those who house together should be buried together.

The countryside is pretty spectacular, a drive high into the mountains reveals terraced rice paddies family enclaves the size of a small village and spectacular views of Gunung Sesean 2150m not the highest mountain in Sulewesi but impressive enough.

“A fishing village floating in the Lake”

Sengkang heading south and we stayed at a local hotel, less salubrious but very clean and welcoming. A fabulous traditional meal was served to us by the owner (a princess), and staff. Our object here was to visit a fisherman’s village floating on Lake Tempe. This we achieved by boarding two long narrow boats called long-tails for the long shafted propellers utilized. These are driven by a variety of engines but the technique employed to drive one is the same. The boat is pointed in the right direction by use of paddle then the propeller is lowered into the water and off you go!. There is no steering aside from the paddle, and no reverse. Only forward and more forward!. They go quite quickly and at the bends of the river the prop is lifted out to enable the operator to change the direction with the paddle again. They prove useful for crossing the myriad of floating nets, lines, ropes and other debris encountered during the half hour run to the village. The village comprises a number of floating houses built on bamboo poles anchored within a bamboo fence to keep out the floating water hyacinth. The lake, only about 2 m deep and fresh water, covers many thousands of acres and about 300 homes roam about out here. Property is defined by tall tepee shaped bamboo poles driven into the mud. These poles hold the water hyacinth in place and provide boundary markers as well as shelter for the fish. Fishermen only may fish within their boundary. There are some common areas but this is used mainly as thoroughfare or anchoring area for the houses. Fish and shrimp caught here are salted for market. We had some lake fish for dinner the night before and it was delicious, sweet white and quite firm. We were invited to take tea and fried bananas with a local fisherman’s wife and the interchange was as delightful as ever. They were fascinated by the idea that we also lived on the water and came all the way from Australia.

“We are in the Navy now!”
Makassar is a thriving city of one and a half million people. Taipan was docked alongside the wharf at the Indonesian Naval Base where we were treated as honored guests again. We paid A$7 per day for the privilege and this included power, water and 24 hr security. Pretty good deal!
Our guide for the tour to Tana Toraja was named Mustari. A and he was fantastic. We had he and his wife, and two small boys to dinner with is in the city one night and he insisted we visit his home for dinner another night. This meant a foray out into the suburbs, about half hour by taxi, and an hour return in the night by pety pety, (small public busses). Everyone again was super helpful and all want to try to talk with you. Another day we went shopping at two of the huge shopping malls. These are as big as anything in Perth and stock everything except cheese!
After a little over a week we managed to drag ourselves away from Makassa. The last boats to leave, Taipan, Silver Fern (Kiwis) and Tweed.(West Ausie) There is so much still to see.

More Photos of Sulewesie

Kimberley Cruise 2004 Part 1

2004-08-15T11:01:00.000+07:00

Monday 9th August Cape Leveque

Edna and Colin, Kris' parents, have driven from Mount Barker in the south west of the state( a mere 2800 km each way), to join us at Cape Leveque for a sail in the Kimberley. After a drive to One Arm Point for provisions and arranging for the car to be parked at the Ranger Station at Leveque we headed out to Taipan.


Edna and Colin at Silica Beach

Cape Leveque, Silica Beach Coppermine Creek Tuesday 10 August

That's an Oyster!

The Kimberley is a magic area. Its spectacular tidal range with currents to match, whirl you through stark rocky channels, past islands sometimes backwards, if you happen to get the tide wrong and all in a kaleidoscope of the iconic Australian color palate set into the milky aquamarine of the ocean. Setting off early we made it to Silica Beach for a swim in its crystal clear waters off a pure white sand beach. Onward after lunch to Copermine Creek for an overnight anchorage. this lovely waterway is a good anchorage and abounds in oysters and fish. We were successful on the oyster hunting but not so successful with the fishing this time.

The next morning we headed further into the waterway and encountered another 3 yachts. "Magic of Fremantle" Chris and Daun, "Scuttlebug" Trish and Ron and two children, "Forte" with Mark and Melissa with whom we were invited to have sun downers that evening. We trolled in the dingy and Colin caught a Queen Snapper which was more fun in the catching than in the eating. We lost a couple of things on the way but we are still learning! Mud crabs are very elusive and we never seem to have any luck there.

Coppermine Creek to Crocodile Creek Thursday 12th

Crocodile Creek is a tidal entry you want to get right! We got it wrong on a previous trip there and spent 6 hours lying on the mud bank without any water!. Not wanting to repeat the experience we carefully analyzed the tides every which way before entering the creek on a rising tide with some leeway in time.

Second pool at Crocodile creek

Its a fairly tricky entry with a rock bar across the entrance to the pool at the foot of the falls where the creek terminates. Here you tie off to rocks and when the tide goes out you are completely cut off from the sea as the creek totally dries out. The pool, even at low tide still has a good 8 m of water in it. Its only large enough for about 3 or 4 yachts and luckily there was no one else there when we arrived.

And we came into the pool over this rock bar.

Memorabilia at the shelter

Getting ashore involves a short trip in the dingy....several meters....to a very long ladder put there some years ago by the intrepid mine workers social club for their weekend outings. Once up the ladder there is a sort of rough shelter and some BBQ facility at the base of another waterfall. The pool up here is a great swimming hole although there are always the inevitable tales of crocs in there too. We like to swim in the top pool to be sure to be sure! While we swam up there the folks stripped off for a skinny dip in the bottom pool. Kimberley Escape a large charter boat arrived with a dozen or so guests so there was a mad flurry as clothing was recovered and hastily applied.

The mines a little distance away at Cockatoo Island are still digging very high grade ore for export.

Tthe rough shelter here has been adorned with memorabilia of passing yachts and boats for many years and it makes an interesting perusal. We have left several tokens of our visit there over the years. I believe that since this visit there has been a cyclone through which all but destroyed the shelter and removed most of these items. No doubt they will be replaced by new ones and new visitors over the years.

Friday the 12th we headed out for a spot of drift fishing. A shark caught Dad and the line cut his finger. Shark 1, Dad nil. Abandoned fishing and headed into Silver Gull where Forte Scuttlebug and Magic are all at anchor or filling with water from the outflow piped spring. Another relic from the mine days. On Saturday we came alongside the pipe to refresh our water supply and wash the boat. We spent several hours rafted up there with Magic and promised to try to catch up with them later with a carton of coke. They were heading on towards Darwin and we headed back to Cape Leveque to exchange crew. After anchoring we went back up river to have a farewell dip in the tank before heading back to Taipan and making our way back to Coppermine creek.
Sunday 15th August and a strong wind is up so motored back to Cape Leveque to drop Colin and Edna and pick up some more provisions in anticipation of the arrival of Tas and Pearl from Albany by Leopold Air, from Broome.

Monday the 16th we said farewells to Mum and Dad and wished them a good journey home and welcomed Tas and Pearl aboard for the next few weeks cruising with us to Darwin.

To view more images of this and other Kimberley adventures go to:

Western Australia 2001 to 2004

Leaving Perth for the Big Adventure

2004-07-08T21:00:00.002+07:00

9.00 PM 9th of July 2004 Fremantle to Steep Point 400nm

All our farewells done, some several times, we are finally ready to depart. The weather chart is a veritable Mona Lisa. A pleasure to behold. Perfect for the next 2 or 3 days. In the calm glassy waters of the Fishing Boat Harbor of Fremanlte, under the pale orange glow of the lights we collect our mooring lines one last time.
As we glide softly out through the entrance past fishermen and fishing boats and all that is familiar we cant help but wonder what the future holds.
Before long we are enveloped by an inky blackness dotted with flashing green and red channel marker lights. The distance is sprinkled with huge brightly lit cargo vessels. Aboard are myself Kris, David and Sam Medcalf. Sam is a special family friend, 19 years old and with very little experience but with all the exuberance and optimism of youth.
During the past 6 to 7 months and beyond, preparations have left little time anything aside from Taipan. Things have been tweaked, tied, tested, tightened, tensioned and generally readied in every corner, nook and cranny of our trusty vessel. Now for the true test. The first one is fairly simple. The main sail has been serviced and placed back on the boom but is hitherto untried. So the inevitable tangle ensues as we sort out reefing lines and knots at our first attempt to hoist it. We are all grateful for the very calm seas and light wind.

We are heading north towards Carnarvon via the Abrolhos. We will sail parallel these with the migrating humpbacks and spot them regularly. Identifiable by the light misty spouts of breath, the persistent observer will see these as location marks. Our little halco lure is trailing faithfully behind Taipan in the hope of attracting some sushi. However there is scant evidence of birds fishing these cold winter waters.

10th of July

Sam

Pleasant sailing through the night leaving sight of land at Dongara and estimating arrival at the Abrolhos Islands by midday. Pleasant sailing again. Following seas and fair winds, just like the brochures. Stopped briefly at Turtle Bay, on the northern end of the group, and fixed a battery problem. We had lunch and congratulated ourselves on an excellent start.

Journey onward to Steep Point and we were a little over sheeted when the strong wind warning came through at 10pm. The wind had been steadily building all afternoon. We had put in one reef but in hindsight..a wonderful thing ..we would have been more comfortable with 2 reefs.

Zydorph cliffs loomed to starboard on sunrise, both spectacular and threatening. We spent the morning watching small power boats dice death with the big rollers at the cliff face in the ever seductive pursuit of the "big one". Finally Steep Point was spotted at we gratefully slid into her welcome anchorage to rest and eat. There are an amazing number of holiday makers camped ashore, given that is a very long journey over rough and sandy track to get here. Must be school holidays.
Denham has become the next focal point and without any ceremony or drama we coasted quietly into the Denham jetty for our first night tied to something.
11th of July. Denham to Carnarvon. 62nm
Fairly uneventful except for some unmarked shoals on the eastern side of Peron Prong. Sam spotted the sudden depth change and we were able to take evasive action. Some cunning deviation and stunning guesswork had us again sailing in deep clear water.
Sams two Bonito marinated in lemon Juice after a good long soak in salt sea water make a very fair sushi. Just on dusk we enter the DOT marina and tie up fir the night. Huck and Karen good friends from Kalgoorlie and owners of "Evergreen" arrive for drinks after dinner.
Wednesday 12th July
Sam flies out today so we filled water and went round to the Facine River anchorage. We were invited to dinner with the Westoby's. Toby and Joyce have a plantation just out of town.
Thursday 13th July
All ready for the arrival of Sebastian Cook by bus from Perth. Son of Chris Cook a good friend from
Fremantle and with no sailing experience. Lunched with Hillary and Gary Westcot and all is ready to leave on the tide on Friday morning.
Friday 14th July

Modified bow roller.

Goodbyes all round and up with the anchor to motor round to the DOT marina for fuel. Leaving the marina after fueling up... wham bang crash...collected the ladder on the side of a big green port marker which jumped out in front of us. Wrecked the pushpit and safety rails and narrowly avoided pulling the rig off!!.
Back to the DOT Marina to fill in incident report etc on poles behavior! Gary Lawson came down to see if he could make us a new pushpit and rails. Dinner at the yacht Club!! Butt of many jokes!!
Saturday 15th July
Huck came down with a welder and all the necessary stuff and he and David disassembled the damaged bow rollers and the twisted and bent anchor tackle. Hucks clever welding fixed the pin and pivot and the anchor tackle declared fit for purpose again! Dined aboard Taipan then wandered to the Yacht Club for a Quiz Night.
Sunday 16th July
Early breakfast and Huck put the finishing welds on the Anchor tackle and, minus the bow roller, and we moved Taipan back around to the Facine Anchorage again to await the stainless steel work.The afternoon was spent on Evergreen helping to pull wires and generally trying to even the score. I did manage to load and get running his navigation software. Hillary and Gary invited us to dinner and picked us up from the Yacht club at 6pm. Sebastian, meanwhile, had found a friend, Jason, who works at Chicken Treat and enjoys fishing so Seb is happy hanging round with him.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc.

Nothing to say!!

Still in Facine we await the arrival of the new pushpit.. "push bit".. Not supposed to "push poles a bit". Saturday the "bit" arrives. Mick the welder has done a good job and it fits. Sunday and Monday spent fitting the stainless back on. Monday, with Huck arrival back from Kalgoorlie, we are able to fit the bow roller and prepare for departure once again. We have to run Sebastian to ground first but some inquiries at Chicken Treat bring him to heal. Farewell to Huck and Doug and Mary on"Cartref" from Freo, Loraine on "Mendara" Steve on "Mean Feat" "Ocean Lady" with Grahame and Trish heading south. Jim Welstead is still missing at sea between Exmouth and Carnarvon in his yacht Serene. Carnarvon has had record breaking rain while we were there. 150 to 160mm in 3 days.

Tuesday 27th July Carnarvon to Onslow 270 NM

7.00 am, raining softly, pitch dark and thankfully no wind, Sebastian proves his worth with eyesight like a hawk he guides us out the unlit channel through the nightmare of sand banks between the anchorage and the open ocean, missing all the poles and make a course direct for Cape Cuvier 50 NM north. Uneventful night although we are all tired. Seb is getting into the swing and not sea sick so thats all good.

Wednesday 28th July

Bopping up the coast past Coral Bay. Still quite overcast but not so cold. Caught a tuna. Great for patties. Put the where with all together to launch the asymmetric spinnaker. Went up OK but the sock does need the tube down the inside so the ropes wont foul the launch. Very annoying. Material is too heavy and its a big bunch of material at the head so it doesn't open properly. However all that aside its better than nothing and it speed our progress. Dropping it was easy but probably best to leave the sheets on.

Thursday the 29th July.

Beautiful dawn, I was asleep but its very calm. Motored most of the night and still motoring towards Onslow, On with the shorts for a bit of sun. Arrived in Onslow at 430pm and uneventful anchoring 500 meters from the beach in front of the old hospital. Spoke to Linda on the phone and we arranged to dingy in to spend the evening with Peter, Linda, Jake, Andrew, and Jill a friend of Linda's from Denmark, Albany. Walked about the streets awhile, quiet a good supermarket there. Sebastian very quiet with strangers. A good nights sleep in a still anchorage is welcome change.

Friday 30th July Onslow to Dampier 90 NM

Motored out of Onslow on sea of glass. Stunning day. Mangrove Passage is the preferred course to Dampier. The computer really takes the grief out of navigation in this pass. Not uneventful passage however. First the fridge stops working?? A minute or two of investigative electricianing reveals that the meter thingo is also stuffed probably new batteries. Too much navigation talking place to investigate further. Skitched Seb onto the milk which will only go off. What is that noise in the auto pilot again? squeak grind etc. Seems to be a loose sprocket on the chain drive. A spare Alan key and some blue tack seem to help.

Damn!!!all the electrics have gone down...computer too! The spare inverter doesn't seem to like any of the outlets any more. Stuff it!! its looking like an expensive day. At least the weather is nice!!

Hang ON!... the battery bank is very low. OOPS!!....Thinking..."I" may have accidentally disconnected the rear battery bank while modifying the auto pilot....true... problem definitely the battery disconnected. Whoopee!!... the fridge works, the inverter works, the auto pilot works, the electronics are all happy again.

Gas tanker in Dampier

Sailing through the night and the lights of Hampton Harbor, Dampier hoves into view about 4am. Great! 4 hours sleep!
Saturday 31st July Dampier to Broome. 350 NM Dawn on a stunning day and we are headed up Flying Foam Passage. After the excellent rains in the area, Burrup Peninsular is wreathed in verdant green, grey green spinafex, fresh from the morning dew. The iron rich country is even more outstanding in its striking red coloration. Not a cloud to cast a shadow and the whole panorama is ours alone.
What looked like becoming a beat across to Port Headland, instead, turns into a westerly and once again, up goes the MPS. Ive shortened the sock rope now so there is less to get tangled in, however the fabric is too heavy and the soc tends to fall down if the sail collapses. The attachment points need to be flaps not straps to prevent sheets being accidentally attached through them causing the spinnaker to snag when you try to hoist it. Also the pull lines need to be in a sleeve. All that aside ...it works if you are careful.

One mackerel to David

Depuch island Aboriginal rock art

David has set up his new rod with a lovely black and gold bibbed lure and bingo a fish! Some tense moments trying to land it as we circled about trying to keep the line behind us, but after about 20 minuets we had a 1200mm Spanish Mackerel safely landed and dispatched to the galley. Plenty of fish now.
Sebastian, not to be outdone and trying to catch a fish finally snags one. He spent 4 hours battling it..with the kite up...100m to Seb and 100 m to the fish. It is huge!. Its nearly a full moon but hard to see it . Just as David was about to gaff it the line broke. Darn!! It was a very broard fish with a wide flat mouth. Maybe a Cobia?? Seb was exhausted and slept 12 hours straight! Good Effort!

Sebastian in action.

Off Port Headland and... you guessed it...short steep chop even though there is only 15 to 18 knots of breeze. Its astern so pretty rolly. Bedout Island is on the screen all night. Will we ever get there.??

Sunday 1st August. Jamie's birthday. Whales again, fish feeding frenzy and beautiful sunshine. There is a strong front crossing the south west so we have benign west to south west wind here. Motoring predominates because its too light. MPS up at dawn and providing some assistance. No fishing today. everyone too exhausted by the thought. l spend several hours with the Nordic blond cream and a trim. Looks like and aging surfie chick now.

Pleasant afternoon MPS up, cruising along comfortably at 7kn in a light breeze on flat water. Evening draws in and a full moon rising. There is an increasing breeze so after dinner we reef, pack the MPS and secure it. Wind building and by 2am its pretty nasty and increasing, on the nose and short steep chop. Pretty uncomfortable. Off Walal, Anna Plains yukky!!
Monday 2nd August. Dawn and its disgusting. Another reef and no headies. By lunch time its flattened off again and we have to motor because the breeze is too light! Racing a strong wind warning into Broome. Drop anchor 1km of Ganthian Point anchorage and sleep welcome sleep!

Tuesday 3rd August. Broome. The wind is strong and the anchorage is rough so we are going to sit it out rather than getting soaked going ashore in this. Broome is a windy and inconvenient anchorage. Tides are huge 14M + and the anchorage is 17 KM from town. Dad and Mum are here however so we are able to link up with them to get shopping and stuff for the Kimberly run. They are going to drive up to Cape Leveque and join us for a sail in the Kimberley.

Saturday 7th August. Broome to Beagle Bay 75nm. Sunrise has to compete with an early sea mist creating a soft expectancy shot with pink and tangerine. Stark line of scrubby tufts mark out the sand hill tops only to bleach off into the fog. Boats are all lined up into the current as the swirly grey envelopes them. Sebastian has made his way back to Perth to find a real job. We up anchor and set off to Beagle Bay at 7.30am. Flat as glass and pleasantly warm, we motor most of the way. Late sea breeze assists our passage in to the bay. The pearl farm is well marked with radar reflectors. Dropped anchor at 7.30 pm
Sunday 8th August Beagle Bay to Cape Leveque 40 nm
Just a short uneventful sail. Decent breeze. Went ashore and welcomed with a $20 landing fee. Thats a new one! Dinner ashore and some phone calls to make.
We are awaiting the arrival of Colin and Edna, Kris's mum and dad, coming by car from Albany and due any time. When they arrive we will head into the Kimberley for our next leg of the voyage.

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