June/July August 2016
I can’t believe 3 months have passed since last putting fingers to keys in the saga of Kanaloa; that is to say, successfully, my last missive accidentally lost to the ether to be never retrieved being the computer illiterate I am. But we are all well and looking forward to recommencing our adventures sometime in the not too distant future.
Shannon and Ronan enjoying a swim
Uncle Morg and Lachie
Sam, Shannon, Lachie and Ronan arrived at the end of May in torrential rain that kept them airborne above Phuket until there was a window of opportunity to land. Their grey week on board was marred by continual rain but we did slip away for a few days to swelter in a closed up boat at anchor as the showers continued to assail us. Rather disappointing, especially given the generator still overheated despite having changed the water pump impeller, denying us the joy of air-conditioned comfort. Still, it was a pleasure to share Kanaloa with children and grandchildren even if Lachie was rather terrified by his granddad.
Sam and family deserted us for the comforts of a beach resort and we flew down to Penang to renew visas. Georgetown was great, a step back in time amongst the godowns and shophouses of Chinatown, the sensory delights of little India and the abandoned waterfront trading houses of imperial Britain and its European competitors. Italian one night, Indian the next and ‘traditional’ Chinese to follow, there was no shortage of restaurants and cafes near the Royal Bintang where we languished between sorties into town. Chinese and Indians on the island still outnumber indigenous Malay by far and one only hopes that enterprise will retain and maintain the architectural heritage that has given Georgetown its World Heritage status. Beyond the town, we ventured up Penang Hill by funicular to wander the 5 km back down through the forest pursued by aggressive monkeys who appeared to mark Morgan as a particularly vulnerable target, and this time Trish didn’t have any bananas hidden in the folds of her skirt.
Mark and Judy at James Bond Island
Warren and Morgan shelling fresh prawns brought to boat by local fishermen. Who is that slim man!!!
Trish and Morgan returned to Phuket and Kanaloa while I flew on to New Zealand for a week. Meanwhile Jittakorn had resurrected the generator (a clogged heat exchanger) and we were ready to venture into Phangna Bay with Mark and Judy on my return at the end of June. The rains had eased and we enjoyed 4 delightful days exploring the hongs and
Beautiful Phangna Baykarst islands of Phangna Bay. We joined the hordes of day tourists to kayak and dinghy into the hongs, spectacular forest rimmed sinkholes open to the skies and entered by sinous sea caves and tunnels, accessible only on certain states of the tide. In the evenings we had the islands and anchorages more or less to ourselves as the day trippers and tourist boats returned to theirs bases and left us to wander James Bond island alone and swim the tide run green waters in peace, gorging freshly BBQ’ed prawns bought from the passing fishermen each day. Pickles from London arrived a few days after Mark and Judy departed and we extended our exploration of the bay, again blessed by another few days of fair weather – more prawns and more swimming – I could get to enjoy this life if it weren’t for the interruptions of Waikaia! Trishs old friend Pickles joined us for 10 days in July and again we managed a trip out to Phangna Bay. Lovely weather, hongs and prawns.
Pickles and Morg mucking around in the dinghy
Pushing the kayak to it’s limits
We had our first real sail the 19 miles back to Yacht Haven, beating up the channel against wind and tide. I was pleasantly surprised at how well she sailed, Trish and I making short work of the tacks with the electric winches – not as lively as Mustang Sally but then again, at 26 tonnes that was not to be expected. But Kanaloa wasn’t to let us off that lightly after 2 more or less incident free trips away – we went to drop the main just short of the marina to allow me to replace the main furling motor that you may remember failed on our first day out of Rebak a few weeks ago, only to find the halyard inexplicably jammed. That called for re-furling the sail, this time with the help of the electric drill clamped to the furler emergency drive shaft. Worked a treat and has ever since!
Another quick trip back to NZ in late July broke up 4 rather dreary weeks pulling Kanaloa apart to tackle the rather diabolical state of the the electrical and electronic systems with the help of a very meticulous cruising acquaintance well versed in the arcane art of DC wiring. We have removed a ton of redundant wires and cables, converters and complicated relays and have big inroads into making the boat safe and tidy behind its comfortable facade. At times I wonder what I have bought into, but console myself that the bones of the boat are good and eventually we will restore her to Mustang Sally’s meticulous standards – and I could never give up the air conditioning. We have become part of the Yacht Haven community gathering most nights at Pens, the delightful diminutive cook and owner of Coconuts, or The Deck, the more up market restaurant of the marina. When a couple of beers and dinner for 3 cost no more than a home cooked meal why waste the gas! Morgan and his golden ringlets are a familiar sight around the docks, completing school work on The Deck, riding his scooter or catching fish for the neighbor’s cat. We now have fold up bikes bought from fellow cruisers who had just sold their boat – Morgan has requisitioned one and has kindly offered me his scooter. His school work is going from strength to strength. He loves reading and words and is continuously stitching up Trish with laughter – the other day on being reprimanded by Trish he retorted “we can sit down and discuss this over a cup of coffee” – where that came from we have no idea!
Last week after hectic preparation we left Yacht Haven and had a great 3 day sail back down to Langkawi on another visa run, covering 85 miles during daylight hours on the second day. The passage was largely drama free except on arrival at Phi Phi on the first evening when a continuously cycling bilge pump had us a little concerned. Pulled up the floor boards to find water gushing into the boat through the stern gland (seals the propeller shaft where it exits the boat). We managed a temporary fix before an internet search found installation instructions that helped solve the problem. The seal had been installed only days before we bought the boat after completion of the pre-purchase survey and was of a type with which I was totally unfamiliar. The grub screws fastening part of the seal to the shaft had worked loose and allowed it to slip forward breaking the seal. The benefits to modern cellular technology are amazing at times – without 3G internet access I would not have been able to tackle the problem with the confidence I had a 5.30 a.m. the next morning!
Unfortunately before leaving Phuket we missed the yacht clearance office by 10 minutes (closed at 3.00 p.m. instead of 4 as we mistakenly thought) after an hour and three quarters drive in manic traffic from Yacht Haven to Chalong at the other end of the island, and now Trish has a police record in Phuket after she and Morgan overstayed one day! Still it doesn’t seem to be the end of the world and shouldn’t make return difficult. T & M are now boat sitting in Rebak, the island of smelly drains, black burqas, a turquoise pool and hornbills, waiting for the return of Morgan’s little friend Millie whom we expect back from Sumatra on the family catamaran in the next week or so. I’m back in Waikaia for a week and am looking forward to returning to our floating home next Monday. We will return to Phuket in the second week of September in time for all of us to fly back to NZ on the 15th September for 4-6 weeks. Until next time.