STILL ON THE HARD

REBAK MARINA, LANGKAWI MALAYSIA

We have started our fifth week here in Rebak on the HARD. We are making progress!! I have just attempted to upload photos but the "molasses' internet just won't allow it.

My mechanical work is finished, of course we won't know if everything is working correctly until we are launched. Kathy has once again been sewing and tomorrow she will have finished a new back shade. Today we removed our 15 year old main sail, the new one is enroute via Fedex and we should have it about May 3rd. We are also awaiting the new exhaust fitting that was fabricated in Thailand. After it's installation we can go back in the water.

Our days have been busy and the weather has been both hot and rainy.

ENGINE WORK

REBAK MARINA, LANGKAWI MALAYSIA

So as I've said before working on engines is not my speciality. Looking back when I was in high school it would have been much more beneficial to me in my current lifestyle if I had nothing but shop type classes rather than college prep math, chemistry etc. etc. hey you can't argue with Mom and Dad. So I'm learning on the job.

It was no problem taking things apart. Everything was cleaned, wire brushed by me and then painted by Kathy. My friend Jack came by and helped with the installation of the new rear main oil seal. It was a real bugger but we managed and I learned a lot. Next to bolt things back together. Hey it's just the reverse of taking things apart.

The bell housing is back on. The flywheel is fitted, The bolts are in place and I am using my new torque wrench so as not to make a mistake and break something. You guessed it I managed to snap off a bolt. Not being St. Patricks day I still had a bit of luck and was able to remove the other bolts and find that I could also remove the broken one. Getting new ones was no problem!! A ferry ride, then a visit to three hardware store and I had not only new bolts for the flywheel but also for the rest of the engine installation stuff. Now the new bolts, nuts, lock washers and a set of taps to clean out the threads cost 98 RM or $35 US. The taxi ride cost $45 US!!!

Kathy went along on the adventure to buy some other provisions and then while waiting for our return ferry trip to the marina area we got some lovely take away food along with my requisite number of beers for all of 25 RM or about $8 US. It seems our biggest cost is in transport.

Tomorrow it's back in the engine room and hope that things go well.

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NO TSUNAMI!!

REBAK MARINA, LANGKAWI MALAYSIA

I left the last blog update with us having just experienced a second earthquake. On the hard the boat was rocking and rolling! The quake was centered off Sumatra, Indonesia at a Richter scale of 8.2. The first was an 8.6!! These were both in the same area as the one that created the disastrous tsunami in 2004. Thankfully these quakes had horizontal not vertical movement and no tsunami was generated. In 2004 Rebak marina was destroyed. If a tsunami had occurred there was nothing we could have done other than hope that where we were located in the hardstand area was high enough and would not be affected. We did have bags packed!

Back to "Life on the Hard". We've now been out of the water for two weeks and have managed quite a lot. After prepping the bottom Kathy put two coats of anti foul paint on it and will get one more on before we are splashed. The wind vane has been removed and cleaned up ready to be taken back to California and put up for sale. There was a 4" in diameter hole in the transom from the vane. That has been filled with fiberglass and now has been painted with primer and a first coat of finish, needing two more. Kathy will then have to paint the symbol of Po oino back on the transom. The rusting exhaust fitting was also removed and sent to Thailand for a new one to be fabricated. There is no one here in Malaysia that works in the more rust resistant 316 stainless steel.

The most daunting job for me was the leaking transmission and engine seals. I am not an experienced mechanic!! Taking things apart is no problem but then getting them back together using all the parts in the correct spots and having them work is possibly another. Thanks to lots of encouragement and phone conversation help from my old Newport Harbor buddy Jack Kimble I now have the transmission out and will get the new seals and a bearings installed manana. Next will be the rear oil seal on the faithful "Miss Perky". For that Jack has promised to come by and supervise. It's quite amazing to find someone that you have known since high school out here doing the same thing, having a sister ship and he's been doing this for thirty years.

Kathy and I share the workload and little by little we make progress. Today Kathy made a trip to town to get a transmission seal and order a new bearing while I was dismantling things. Later I cleaned parts and Kathy painted them. Tomorrow for Kathy it's back to pick up the bearing. This means at least a two hour trip at a cost of $20 US for a $30 US part. I'll put another coat of finish on the transom. Doing work here is very different than in the USA; that was our reasoning for attempting to have everything needed prior to haul out but some things you just cannot plan for.

My hope is for one more week on the hard, stay tuned!!

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LIFE ON THE HARD

Rebak Marina, Langkawi Malaysia

After three months of enjoyable cruising in Thailand and having to friends come and visit it was time to once again get caught up on our boat maintenance. No we don't just sit around and drink margarita's and read books every day. Boats need lots of constant upkeep. It has been three years since our last haul out and it truly should be done every two years. We had originally planned for this in December but after doing all the work in Danga Bay we needed a break to read and drink margaritas.

Since the boat yard is located on an island and has only a small chandlery we spent ten days anchored off the main town of Kuah trying to gather everything necessary for our work while out of the water. We stocked up on not only the boat repair items but also essential provisions. It is possible to go in to Kuah but requires first a 15 minute ferry ride then either renting a car or using a taxi. Food is not to much of a problem as the store at the Rebak resort carries quite a few things and on Fridays a "veggie" seller meets the 0845 ferry with lots of goodies for sale. Still it's necessary to be organized for the time your hauled out and on the hard.

Our list of project started with cleaning, sanding and painting the bottom with anti-fouling paint, scrubbing and waxing the hull, removing the wind vane steering system which has never worked and after our recent transmission problems included new oil seals for the transmission and one for the rear of the engine. There is not a reliable mechanic in the boat yard so the engine and transmission work will be learn as I go.

We hauled on April 1 and first was a high pressure wash to remove growth. We were moved to a hard stand location with the boat propped
up in a cradle with supports under the bow and stern. Next was the placement of the ladder. Our home that normally floats is now ten feet in the air and accessed via ladder. Of course we continue to live aboard. The sink now empties into a bucket and the toilets are no longer usable; but we are close to the restroom's and the shower's are not a far walk. There is a special restaurant for the yachties and we can even bring our own beverages. There is internet at the speed of molasses which is why I write these on our sailmail provider. Hopefully I will be able to up load some photos soon. It's hot here so we have rented an air conditioner which manages to keep the inside boat temperature at 80 degrees during the day. Working outside you try to stay on the shady side and use the hose liberally for cooling.

Once settled our first project was preparing the bottom for new anti-fouling paint. After the high pressure wash the bottom still had to be scrubbed and then sanded, real FUN. Definitely a "blue" job especially with blue paint you turn blue. Kathy was busy cleaning the hull of the boat with oxalic acid in preparation to apply wax before we go back in the water

As I write this we have just had our second earthquake, the first generated a tsunami warning. All the occupied boats are leaving the marina but here on the hard we'll just sit and wait.

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THE MISSING MONTHS

Rebak Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia

Somehow I've managed to fail to write any updates for almost the last four months. This was caused by a variety of things but mainly lack of a good internet connection in which to both write and post photos which are worth more than a thousand of my words. We still don't have the best connection here in Rebak marina so I'll send text to update all of our fans out there and try to add photos when I can.

We have returned to Malaysia after three nice months spent mostly enjoying the cruising and only doing the necessary boat projects to keep things running. Currently the boat has been hauled out of the water for some work but more on that later.

Back to our adventures this past season in Thailand. We took a leisurely six days from Langkawi to Ao Chalong, on the island of Phuket Thailand where we did our official check in to the country. Once again our old friend Phil and his wife Nuch met us for a short visit and transportation to the market for groceries. That afternoon, December 20, we moved around the island to Patong bay where we had a chance to catch up with our old cruising buddies John and Renee of "Scarlett O'Hara". Our plan was to stay there through New Years.

The next week was quite busy. As Kathy's sewing machine was broken and awaiting a part to be brought by our friend Connie who was due to visit starting December 27; Renee loaned us both there machine and her sewing expertise to finish some projects. There are lots of things to do to prepare for a guest as those quarters are what is normally our garage.

Our arrival in Thailand was several weeks earlier this year than last and we experienced very different weather. This year we had lots of very windy days and nights in the anchorage, 25 to 40 knots. This made things not so comfortable as the local boats don't have what we would consider proper anchoring gear and tend to drag through the anchorage. We along with the other yachties spent lots of time confined to the boat doing anchor watch. We watched several local boats drag around and did one time have to veer away under power with our anchor down to avoid a collision. As long as there is no real damage looking back it was fun.

Connie arrived for her three week visit with more than half her luggage being stuff for us and the boat. It's always great when a visitor comes! For the next week we stayed in Patong. Kathy and Connie keep busy doing lots of touristy stuff, elephant trekking, Thai cooking classes, Buddhist temple tours, massages and of course shopping.

Leaving Patong we moved to the south end of Phuket island for a few days then back to the north up the east side of the island into Phang Nah bay. Here we visited a number of different islands most containing "hongs' which is the Thai word for rooms. The islands are of limestone and these "hongs" are basically small lagoons that are accessed through tunnels. Some you may drive the dinghy in others may be entered only by kayak or swimming through a cave. I kept wondering if perhaps we would run into Huck, Tom or Becky. We weren't interested in Ingin Joe! We continued around Phang Nah bay in a clockwise fashion arriving back at the south end of Phuket island for Connie to depart back to Annapolis Maryland. We hope Connie enjoyed her stay as much as we did having her. The only negative was all of our travels were motor boat trips. You don't seem to get to sail much here..

Next it was back to Patong bay for us and more boat project stuff. Having the sewing machine part that Connie brought Kathy was able to finish some new shades and other repairs. I was able to do the normal upkeep stuff.

In late February we once again moved around to the northeast side of Phuket island to await our second guest Lisa, one of Kathy's old racing buddies. Two guests in two months what a great way to get goods transported from the states!!! Lisa was only with us for a week so we made a quick trip through Phang Nah bay seeing the exciting sights.

With Lisa's departure it was time to make some decisions. We had been experiencing some transmission difficulties and were we to try and make repairs in Phuket or in Langkawi, Malaysia. We only had ten days left on our Thai visas and after talking with my old friend Jack Kimble of a sister ship to ours decided Langkawi was the better option.

Good bye Thailand! That catches up most of the missing months except for photos which I will try to add when we get a better internet connection.

Next will be LIFE ON THE HARD.

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