Posts
Hi again,
Well, the windlass switch did finally turn up at Octopus Electrical - 6 weeks after ordering it and it was the wrong one!! So we decided to sail without it. We do have another switch in the cockpit but whoever is there cannot see the anchor so it makes things awkward. However, we are good at hand signals (of the polite kind!!) - boating is full of innovation and compromise!
At this point we must make mention of Yacht Haven Marina and Nick and Zara who run it. It's friendly and very well run - nothing is too much trouble. We enjoyed our time there but of course it was finally time to move on, particularly as we had officially cleared on Jan. 7th.
We went across to Yao Yai again and spent a couple of pleasant days there enjoying the beach and the resort restaurant which as resorts go, is very reasonably priced. Then it was time to up anchor and continue our journey south to Langkawi. It was early in the morning and the sea was flat. However, as we approached the southern end of Yao Yai, we noticed that the engine was getting somewhat warmer than it should - again. So we made another ad hoc decision to alter course for Krabi Boat Lagoon where we knew there was some expert engineering assistance in the form of Wit at Popeye Marine. And it would be good to see everyone at Krabi again in any case, notwithstanding that we were becoming serious overstayers by now. As we rounded the southern end of Yao Yai there was a very lumpy sea running with the wind on the nose and of course we were nursing the engine but we had the tide with us and as we approached the Krabi coast the seas flattened so there wasn't a problem. By a happy coincidence the tide was right for us to enter when we arrived off the shoals outside the river system where KBL is located. So we just simply followed the waypoints and tied up on our old berth. Kuhn Wit came on board and then we had a discussion in their office where he suggested that it could be a faulty thermostat. Sure enough we took the old one out and it was indeed faulty. Ked then went into town in search of another and eventually found it. Re-installed and ready to go again. After 4 days and some more provisioning during which we were careful not to drive a car as we were officially not in the country, we left again. This time all was well - except!! The house battery master switch disintegrated and as this is the source of all power on the boat including electronic navigation which is a must when approaching Krabi, we decided to go back again. We had only been at Koh Pu which is 15 miles south of Krabi, so back we went once more!! Shades of leaving NZ back in 2011! At least in the NE monsoon this coast is sheltered with generally flat seas and often not much wind. We had been on the phone to Songbad from Koh Pu and he was sourcing a new switch for us so it was not long back at KBL and we were ready to go again! All these problems were in themselves minor, but they had the potential to become serious and usually what happens on boats is that 1, then 2, then 3 problems arise which in sum total prove to be very serious taken all together. So, it was best to fix them as we were able. Then once again back to Koh Pu. There is a spur of deeper water which heads into a long beach and we anchored at the head of this spur. Quite an open anchorage with a bit of a roll but not too bad. However, one wouldn't want to be there in the SW monsoon - it would be dangerous and untenable. Generally the sea around here is very shallow - often only 30' with the deepest we have seen 70'. We felt a degree of familiarity with the place!! The next morning we were surrounded by longtails all fishing for very large creamy coloured jellyfish. We had seen one ourselves the night before - the biggest jellyfish we have ever seen. There were usually 2 people in each boat - one conning and the other in the bows with a circular net on a pole. This guy also acted as a lookout for more jellyfish and then it was another swoop with the net and another jellyfish bit the dust. Apparently they are exported to China.
Next leg was to Koh Muk - 37 miles further on. A very scenic sail between spectacular islands and around the bottom of Koh Lanta, but again no wind. We were going to anchor between 2 large limestone cliffs but as we approached it did not look such a secure anchorage so we proceeded a little further around another point and there were about half a dozen boats anchored off another resort - including "St. Michel" (pronounced St. Michael). She is a German schooner owned by Joachim who we had got to know in KBL. Joachim sails with his young Thai wife, Ning. It was good to see them again and that night we went ashore and gorged ourselves on some lovely Thai food - very inexpensive. The next day it was off again and we had intended to stop at Koh Talibong but we didn't like the anchorage as we had to be well offshore to stay in water deep enough so we elected to continue to Koh Bulan. Made for a long day at 55 miles. We passed the limestone ridge of Koh Petra which we had admired when we came north last April/May. Then we spied a grey launch which appeared to be anchored. As we came closer we saw that it was a Thai Customs launch which gave us some palpitations as we were by then overstayers extraordinaire. However, they took no notice of us and we passed without incident.
There was the usual haze which made navigating by eye difficult at times so thank goodness again for the chartplotter. Koh Bulan had been highly recommended and there is a very good south facing bay (good in the NE Monsoon) but it shoals so rapidly that it is only possible to go just inside the headlands which gave less than perfect protection but it was adequate. There were half a dozen local squid fishing boats all anchored there when we arrived about 6 and as darkness fell they turned on their bright green lights to attract the squid. In the morning they had all vanished.
We left at 0700 and headed south along the eastern shore of Koh Tarutao. We had to stay reasonably close as further east the sea gets uncomfortably shallow. As we proceeded south the wind started showing signs of life and by the time we hoisted the main we needed a reef to keep things comfortable. Langkawi was well in sight by now and we continued around the SE shore in sometimes quite lively conditions. We are probably excessively cautious but we keep away from the shallower water on the chart. We'll probably get a bit more blase once we've been in and out a few times. Then we were in the channel and approaching the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Marina. No problems - we had been there before - and we berthed without incident.
However, it wasn't long before we wished we had gone somewhere else because the marina had deteriorated since our last visit 9 months before. They are about to begin substantial rebuilding but that's no excuse for an attitude which was unmistakably that we were a nuisance. The food in the restaurant was so bad that we only ate there once and there was the usual roll from ferries passing close by. And just to put the icing on the cake, they appear to have overcharged our berthage. And they repeatedly mix the laundry up and then when finding lost items in other boats' laundry they want to charge more - you can imagine Jean's reaction to that! Just as well the crutches are well stowed. All in all we were pleased to leave on the 12th. It was noticeable how many of the boats in there were in various stages of decrepitude with equally decrepit elderly owners - some drinking too much. We sure don't want to end up that way ourselves, although we have to say that after Thailand it was such a treat to be able to buy from a huge range of Scotch Whiskies (malts and blended) at extremely reasonable duty free prices. A stalwart of ours is Famous Grouse and it was only the equivalent of NZD11.
We had the pleasure of coming across Debbie and Paul and their 2 children, Kimberley and Mark. They are South African and we had met them previously at Gilli Air off Lombok in Indonesia in September 2013. They sail a gorgeous steel 100' sloop called "Asia". They charter her with high end charters to remote places but they said business was down at present due to the financial situation in Russia where much of their clientele is based. They had originally bought the hull which is a John Brooke design in Whangarei and the creation of "Asia" from there is a fascinating story of dogged perseverance. She is a credit to them. They asked us on board for drinks one night and so we all went out to "Asia" at anchor in their 90 hp. tender! Quite quick. We had a great time and the time passed all too quickly until it was 0300 and we said we must be getting back. So, back into the tender and hurtling into the night when, due to a faulty fuel gauge the outboard died through lack of fuel!! We tried paddling back for a while which was taxing after quite a few glasses of excellent wine!! We made some headway but in the end just couldn't get back to the yacht so we anchored and Paul went swimming off into the blackness. We were worried about him as we couldn't see him and certainly couldn't have helped him if he'd needed it. However, all was well and he was soon back paddling a kayak with a container of fuel. Then we were back to "Asia" to leave the kayak and off again at around 30 knots to be deposited in the marina at about 0500! We staggered into bed and didn't wake till 10 feeling somewhat the worse for wear. But we'd had a great night of conversation and Jim had managed to beat young Mark at Chess, but only just.
We also met an American boat called "Banshee" whose acquaintance we had previously made at Pangkor when we were coming up the Malacca Straits in April last year. It's amazing how you keep coming across people and very sad when you finally say goodbye - possibly never to see them again but that's part of cruising.
We find Langkawi and Kuah in particular quite difficult for sourcing provisions etc. We hired a car a few times and gradually became more familiar with the place but it's typical of Asia in that the most unlikely looking premises have the thing you want and the only way to ascertain that is to walk into the shop. At least signs are written in English here, but that isn't generally much help. Jean found an acupuncturist who relieved a sore arm and shoulder which was good.
We'd had enough of the RLYC after a few days so left to come the 12 miles to Rebak Marina. Rebak is an island with a free fast ferry service to the mainland at Pantai Cenang. It exists in conjunction with a resort whose pool and gym are available for use by marina residents. The resort (owned by Tajhotels of India) is of a high standard and the pool is huge and gorgeous. The whole place is very well maintained and as we write we are about to go and have another late afternoon workout in the pool. The marina is very welcoming in stark contrast to the RLYC. It does not have much wind though and we have managed to find a portable air conditioner to keep the boat at an acceptable temperature - high twenties. Otherwise it would become fairly unbearable.
We've met another German couple - Andrea and Detlef on "Phoenix" - and an English sailor (Mike of "Cooya") who owns a 100 yr old wooden boat currently based in Amsterdam! The world seems full of geriatric 60 and 70 yr olds sailing yachts hither and yon! You see the grey heads and beards everywhere - we reckon they're breeding.
Jean's now got her tickets to Miami via London and is getting very excited about seeing her grandson Carter and the imminent birth of Peapod # 2. She's also coming back via Glasgow so will be able to see her nephew Jiveen and his wife Jenny and their little son Theo. Jim meanwhile is going to NZ to see his brother and 3 daughters and 4 grandchildren.
More news prior to our respective departures.
Lots of love from us
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Rebak Is. Marina
Langkawi Is.
Malaysia
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Sunday, 15 February 2015
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Phuket ongoing
Hi to all,
So much has happened since our last blog early in December.
The refrigeration problems have been cured (touch wood) and the heat exchanger has been a work in progress. Firstly they appeared to be trying to find a pressure cap to fit but when that seemed too difficult another approach was tried. This involved modifying the top of the heat exchanger to fit the best cap and finally we have something that works.
Then we had an out of the blue surprise when we received an email from a long lost cousin of Jim's (Russell), who lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland. It turned out that he had been staying at a resort at the south end of the island and it was suggested that we meet for lunch in Phuket Town and this we duly did at a renowned Thai restaurant. We had a great catchup with Russell and his wife Carol who we hadn't met until then. They had a car and a driver who waited for them while we had lunch whereas we had hired a car from the marina - about 50 kms to the north!
We were still chasing our windlass switch from Octopus Electrical at Boat Lagoon and had been having fruitless conversations with Mick there. It should have been taking only a week at the most to get here but no sign yet. Boat lagoon is quite a marine complex but we have found that AME Chandlery is the only game in town there. Everything in Phuket is outrageously priced but AME at least has what you want. Anyway, we now understand that the switch is finally in Bangkok and should be here in 3 or 4 day's time.
We had a great Christmas lunch at the Haven Restaurant here at the marina with a buffet Thai lunch. So much food we could hardly stagger out of the place! We enjoyed being with Nick and Erica of "Jepeda IV" who are now on their way to the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. New Year was very quiet by comparison. There are 4 good restaurants here - a cafe in the marina itself, Haven, Coconuts and Mommas and Poppas. We favour Coconuts because it is relatively inexpensive (av. 150 Baht - NZD6 - for a main course) and because they speak English - and the food is great. The language ability is important for Jean so that she can establish that they don't use the dreaded MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)which causes her so much distress and discomfort. It's endemic in Thailand and we have no idea why, as their food is so well endowed with natural flavours in any case. Why would they use a poison like MSG as a flavour enhancer? We can't fathom it.
We've hired a car on a number of occasions at 1000 Baht per day and have been discovering Phuket slowly but surely as well as shopping for provisions at Makro and Tesco. The former more for cheaper bulk items and the latter for more discerning items such as Carr's watercrackers from the UK!! Alcohol is ludicrously expensive, except that we have found 100 Pipers Scotch at 549 Baht for a 1 litre bottle - NZD22. You can't buy alcohol between 1400 and 1700 - absolute nonsense but it appears to be the Thai way of curbing alcohol consumption. In many instances logic and Thainess are oxymorons!! Finding one's way around Phuket and in particular Phuket Town is a very hit and miss affair and one always feels a great sense of satisfaction when one actually stumbles upon one's target!
Jean had a problem with a dental bridge - one of 4 she had made when living in Hong Kong 25 years ago. We found an excellent dentist almost next door to the Bangkok Hospital. The Phuket Dental Centre - Dr. Prasert Theplaong DDS. Very friendly and professional and an excellent dentist. He was very complimentary of the Hong Kong bridges all those years ago. Apparently the HK dentist was the official Cathay Pacific dentist. And at least only 25% of NZ dental prices.
As we needed to get ourselves and the boat out of Thailand by Jan. 18th. we eventually decided that it was about time we officially cleared out of Thailand at Ao Chalong so decided to drive down there - rather than taking the boat into a crowded and somewhat dubious anchorage. We have never had such a bureaucratic runaround in our lives. Leaves Indonesia for dead. It was all because we had originally cleared into Krabi back in May 2014 which is only 40 miles across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. The people in Phuket Customs, Harbourmaster and Immigration couldn't get their heads around that simple fact and the fact that it didn't fit their computer registration system made it even worse. After much shuffling back and forwards between the computer registry and the various offices occupied by the denizens of Thai bureaucracy and some shouting we eventually got it done, but what a process!!
That was on the 7th. but now on the 15th. we are still here!! Everyone tells us not to worry about that - hope they're right and Customs doesn't launch a check of all boats still in Phuket Marinas. The reason we're still here is that we did leave on the 10th. and headed to our first anchorage on the way to Langkawi which was Yao Yai. However, when pulling up the anchor on the morning of the 12th. the windlass switch finally totally gave up the ghost and so, rather than have difficult anchor retrievals in 6 other anchorages, we elected to return to Yacht Haven where we now are again. We did have the pleasure of meeting Graham and Lorraine of "Lorrigray" at Yao Yai and enjoying their news. Then we actually managed to sail almost back to YH as the wind was up but it fluctuated between 5 and 15 knots which was frustrating. Still we had all day to sail a relatively short distance and as we were going to arrive at lunchtime with no-one to help us berth we actually slowed down considerably as we came up the narrow channel to YH.
Then this afternoon (14th.) imagine our delighted surprise when Manuela of the German boat "Sternchen" appeared quite out of the blue alongside our boat. She and Georg had just sailed in and we had another fairly hilarious time with Georg's lack of English and our lack of German! Having said that, he speaks much more English than we speak German! They are getting ready to load their yacht onto the Sevenstar ship sailing from here to Mamaris in Turkey in March. It was great to renew our friendship and we hope to see much more of them before we finally part company, which is the great sadness that comes with this lifestyle from time to time.
We hope to be able to leave here no later than the 21st. once the windlass switch is finally here in the fullness of time. Hope no-one in Thai Immigration is watching too closely. Still, as Master of the ship "Tiare Taporo III", it is Jim's prerogative to decide to sail when it is safe to do so and not before. But we don't want to have to explain all this to the Thai bureaucracy with their lack of English.
This sailing lark can be fun at times.
Jean has been enjoying her Ipad with images of Carter James on Facebook and of course she is looking forward with some excitement to being in Miami in April when Peapod # 2 comes onto the scene. Jim meanwhile continues to fire off pithy comments under the pseudonym "Tiare Taporo III" on various NZ Herald articles which interest him - it all fills in the time while we wait for this pesky switch!!
Lots of love to all from us...........
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Yacht Haven Marina
Phuket.
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
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So much has happened since our last blog early in December.
The refrigeration problems have been cured (touch wood) and the heat exchanger has been a work in progress. Firstly they appeared to be trying to find a pressure cap to fit but when that seemed too difficult another approach was tried. This involved modifying the top of the heat exchanger to fit the best cap and finally we have something that works.
Then we had an out of the blue surprise when we received an email from a long lost cousin of Jim's (Russell), who lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland. It turned out that he had been staying at a resort at the south end of the island and it was suggested that we meet for lunch in Phuket Town and this we duly did at a renowned Thai restaurant. We had a great catchup with Russell and his wife Carol who we hadn't met until then. They had a car and a driver who waited for them while we had lunch whereas we had hired a car from the marina - about 50 kms to the north!
We were still chasing our windlass switch from Octopus Electrical at Boat Lagoon and had been having fruitless conversations with Mick there. It should have been taking only a week at the most to get here but no sign yet. Boat lagoon is quite a marine complex but we have found that AME Chandlery is the only game in town there. Everything in Phuket is outrageously priced but AME at least has what you want. Anyway, we now understand that the switch is finally in Bangkok and should be here in 3 or 4 day's time.
We had a great Christmas lunch at the Haven Restaurant here at the marina with a buffet Thai lunch. So much food we could hardly stagger out of the place! We enjoyed being with Nick and Erica of "Jepeda IV" who are now on their way to the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. New Year was very quiet by comparison. There are 4 good restaurants here - a cafe in the marina itself, Haven, Coconuts and Mommas and Poppas. We favour Coconuts because it is relatively inexpensive (av. 150 Baht - NZD6 - for a main course) and because they speak English - and the food is great. The language ability is important for Jean so that she can establish that they don't use the dreaded MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)which causes her so much distress and discomfort. It's endemic in Thailand and we have no idea why, as their food is so well endowed with natural flavours in any case. Why would they use a poison like MSG as a flavour enhancer? We can't fathom it.
We've hired a car on a number of occasions at 1000 Baht per day and have been discovering Phuket slowly but surely as well as shopping for provisions at Makro and Tesco. The former more for cheaper bulk items and the latter for more discerning items such as Carr's watercrackers from the UK!! Alcohol is ludicrously expensive, except that we have found 100 Pipers Scotch at 549 Baht for a 1 litre bottle - NZD22. You can't buy alcohol between 1400 and 1700 - absolute nonsense but it appears to be the Thai way of curbing alcohol consumption. In many instances logic and Thainess are oxymorons!! Finding one's way around Phuket and in particular Phuket Town is a very hit and miss affair and one always feels a great sense of satisfaction when one actually stumbles upon one's target!
Jean had a problem with a dental bridge - one of 4 she had made when living in Hong Kong 25 years ago. We found an excellent dentist almost next door to the Bangkok Hospital. The Phuket Dental Centre - Dr. Prasert Theplaong DDS. Very friendly and professional and an excellent dentist. He was very complimentary of the Hong Kong bridges all those years ago. Apparently the HK dentist was the official Cathay Pacific dentist. And at least only 25% of NZ dental prices.
As we needed to get ourselves and the boat out of Thailand by Jan. 18th. we eventually decided that it was about time we officially cleared out of Thailand at Ao Chalong so decided to drive down there - rather than taking the boat into a crowded and somewhat dubious anchorage. We have never had such a bureaucratic runaround in our lives. Leaves Indonesia for dead. It was all because we had originally cleared into Krabi back in May 2014 which is only 40 miles across Phang Nga Bay from Phuket. The people in Phuket Customs, Harbourmaster and Immigration couldn't get their heads around that simple fact and the fact that it didn't fit their computer registration system made it even worse. After much shuffling back and forwards between the computer registry and the various offices occupied by the denizens of Thai bureaucracy and some shouting we eventually got it done, but what a process!!
That was on the 7th. but now on the 15th. we are still here!! Everyone tells us not to worry about that - hope they're right and Customs doesn't launch a check of all boats still in Phuket Marinas. The reason we're still here is that we did leave on the 10th. and headed to our first anchorage on the way to Langkawi which was Yao Yai. However, when pulling up the anchor on the morning of the 12th. the windlass switch finally totally gave up the ghost and so, rather than have difficult anchor retrievals in 6 other anchorages, we elected to return to Yacht Haven where we now are again. We did have the pleasure of meeting Graham and Lorraine of "Lorrigray" at Yao Yai and enjoying their news. Then we actually managed to sail almost back to YH as the wind was up but it fluctuated between 5 and 15 knots which was frustrating. Still we had all day to sail a relatively short distance and as we were going to arrive at lunchtime with no-one to help us berth we actually slowed down considerably as we came up the narrow channel to YH.
Then this afternoon (14th.) imagine our delighted surprise when Manuela of the German boat "Sternchen" appeared quite out of the blue alongside our boat. She and Georg had just sailed in and we had another fairly hilarious time with Georg's lack of English and our lack of German! Having said that, he speaks much more English than we speak German! They are getting ready to load their yacht onto the Sevenstar ship sailing from here to Mamaris in Turkey in March. It was great to renew our friendship and we hope to see much more of them before we finally part company, which is the great sadness that comes with this lifestyle from time to time.
We hope to be able to leave here no later than the 21st. once the windlass switch is finally here in the fullness of time. Hope no-one in Thai Immigration is watching too closely. Still, as Master of the ship "Tiare Taporo III", it is Jim's prerogative to decide to sail when it is safe to do so and not before. But we don't want to have to explain all this to the Thai bureaucracy with their lack of English.
This sailing lark can be fun at times.
Jean has been enjoying her Ipad with images of Carter James on Facebook and of course she is looking forward with some excitement to being in Miami in April when Peapod # 2 comes onto the scene. Jim meanwhile continues to fire off pithy comments under the pseudonym "Tiare Taporo III" on various NZ Herald articles which interest him - it all fills in the time while we wait for this pesky switch!!
Lots of love to all from us...........
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Yacht Haven Marina
Phuket.
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----------
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Sunday, 21 December 2014
Fwd: Christmas cheer
----- Original Message -----
To: "2XS - Peter & Marguerite" <margueriteharmsen@yahoo.com>
Cc: marguerite.harmsen@gmail.com
Subject: Christmas cheer
Date: 22 Dec 2014 03:20:10 -0000
From: zmq5985
To all our friends and family,
It's that time of year again when we dispense goodwill, love and cheer to all. Just a pity that politicians don't appear to be able to do the same!
Anyway, we hope that wherever you are you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, which as the year unfolds, brings you everything that you would wish for.
Jean's hips continue to strengthen and make progress and she is into a gym and swimming regime now. We are both looking forward to seeing our respective families early in 2015 - Jean in Miami, Florida and Jim back in little old NZ!!
And to finish another Irish joke - you can put it in your Christmas crackers!!
A travelling circus came for the first time to Connemara in Ireland. While in town one day an elephant escaped. Mrs. O'Reilly was looking out her kitchen window and she saw this strange looking animal in her backyard. She'd never seen the like; she nearly fainted. She called out to her husband, "Paddy, Paddy come quick. There's a strange lookin' animal in the backyard and he's digging up the potatoes with his tail". Paddy said, "what's he doing with them?" She replied, "if I told you that, you'd never believe me!"
Cheers again and Merry Christmas.....
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Yacht Haven Marina
Phuket
Thailand.
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----- End of Original Message -----
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
To: "2XS - Peter & Marguerite" <margueriteharmsen@yahoo.com>
Cc: marguerite.harmsen@gmail.com
Subject: Christmas cheer
Date: 22 Dec 2014 03:20:10 -0000
From: zmq5985
To all our friends and family,
It's that time of year again when we dispense goodwill, love and cheer to all. Just a pity that politicians don't appear to be able to do the same!
Anyway, we hope that wherever you are you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, which as the year unfolds, brings you everything that you would wish for.
Jean's hips continue to strengthen and make progress and she is into a gym and swimming regime now. We are both looking forward to seeing our respective families early in 2015 - Jean in Miami, Florida and Jim back in little old NZ!!
And to finish another Irish joke - you can put it in your Christmas crackers!!
A travelling circus came for the first time to Connemara in Ireland. While in town one day an elephant escaped. Mrs. O'Reilly was looking out her kitchen window and she saw this strange looking animal in her backyard. She'd never seen the like; she nearly fainted. She called out to her husband, "Paddy, Paddy come quick. There's a strange lookin' animal in the backyard and he's digging up the potatoes with his tail". Paddy said, "what's he doing with them?" She replied, "if I told you that, you'd never believe me!"
Cheers again and Merry Christmas.....
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Yacht Haven Marina
Phuket
Thailand.
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----- End of Original Message -----
----------
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Saturday, 13 December 2014
Fwd: Three little irish jokes!!
----- Original Message -----
To: "2XS - Peter & Marguerite" <margueriteharmsen@yahoo.com>
Cc: marguerite.harmsen@gmail.com
Subject: Three little irish jokes!!
Date: 13 Dec 2014 11:16:01 -0000
From: zmq5985
We are not racially biased!!!!!
- The priest was asking a class in religious studies and asked who was the greatest man that ever lived.
Answers varied - one said it was Michaelangelo, another said it was Alexander Graham Bell. "Very good answers" said the priest, "but not quite what I was looking for". Then a little Jewish boy stood up and said "please Father, the greatest man who ever lived was St. Patrick". "A very good answer", said the priest, and the Jewish boy won the class prize. Afterwards the priest asked him, "strange that a Jewish boy should come up with the answer that you gave", and the Jewish boy replied "well, in my heart I know that it was Moses, but business is business!"
- The captain of a ship received news that the passenger in cabin 36 had died and so he despatched his 1st. mate to the cabin to have the occupant buried at sea. The 1st. mate duly reported back to the captain and announced that he had proceeded to cabin 26 and had had the occupant buried at sea. "My God", said the captain, "I asked you to go to cabin 36. Was the occupant of cabin 26 dead?" The mate said, "well, there was a person named Shaunessy from Kerry there and he said that he was not dead, but you know what terrible liars these Kerrymen are!"
Murphy had come into a substantial sum of money - 500,000 pounds - and decided to visit his brother in Boston. On the way home the plane ran into trouble and the captain announced that they would probably have to ditch. "My God" said Murphy, "here I am and just come into all this money and I'm going to be killed". So he said to God, "if we get safely home I'll give you half my fortune". Well, the plane eventually landed safely and a priest who had overheard Murphy's heartfelt prayer and promise suggested that Murphy might like to sraightaway start giving to God. "Not on your life", said Murphy, "after we landed I made a new pact with God and I told Him that if I ever went up in a plane again, He could have the lot!"
Cheers from us........
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Yacht Haven Marina
Phuket
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----- End of Original Message -----
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radio email processed by SailMail
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To: "2XS - Peter & Marguerite" <margueriteharmsen@yahoo.com>
Cc: marguerite.harmsen@gmail.com
Subject: Three little irish jokes!!
Date: 13 Dec 2014 11:16:01 -0000
From: zmq5985
We are not racially biased!!!!!
- The priest was asking a class in religious studies and asked who was the greatest man that ever lived.
Answers varied - one said it was Michaelangelo, another said it was Alexander Graham Bell. "Very good answers" said the priest, "but not quite what I was looking for". Then a little Jewish boy stood up and said "please Father, the greatest man who ever lived was St. Patrick". "A very good answer", said the priest, and the Jewish boy won the class prize. Afterwards the priest asked him, "strange that a Jewish boy should come up with the answer that you gave", and the Jewish boy replied "well, in my heart I know that it was Moses, but business is business!"
- The captain of a ship received news that the passenger in cabin 36 had died and so he despatched his 1st. mate to the cabin to have the occupant buried at sea. The 1st. mate duly reported back to the captain and announced that he had proceeded to cabin 26 and had had the occupant buried at sea. "My God", said the captain, "I asked you to go to cabin 36. Was the occupant of cabin 26 dead?" The mate said, "well, there was a person named Shaunessy from Kerry there and he said that he was not dead, but you know what terrible liars these Kerrymen are!"
Murphy had come into a substantial sum of money - 500,000 pounds - and decided to visit his brother in Boston. On the way home the plane ran into trouble and the captain announced that they would probably have to ditch. "My God" said Murphy, "here I am and just come into all this money and I'm going to be killed". So he said to God, "if we get safely home I'll give you half my fortune". Well, the plane eventually landed safely and a priest who had overheard Murphy's heartfelt prayer and promise suggested that Murphy might like to sraightaway start giving to God. "Not on your life", said Murphy, "after we landed I made a new pact with God and I told Him that if I ever went up in a plane again, He could have the lot!"
Cheers from us........
Jim and Jean
s.v. Tiare Taporo III
Yacht Haven Marina
Phuket
www.tiaretaporo3.blogspot.com
----- End of Original Message -----
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Friday, 5 December 2014
Photos
1) Jean in the revolving restaurant KL
2) Jean and Garn at the Galley Bar and Restaurant Krabi Boat Lagoon
3) Island formations on the way to Yacht Haven Phuket
4) More crazy drunken islands!
5) The restaurant Koh Yao Yai
Photos
1) temple outside royal palace Bangkok before we went to India
2) palace building
3) palace guard
4) Petronas twin towers Kuala Lumpur
5) KL from the revolving restaurant - a la Sky Tower
Yacht Haven Koh Phuket Lat. 8 degrees 10.2' N Long. 98 degrees 20.4' E
Yesterday it was the Thai King's Birthday (Dec. 5th.) and probably the most revered day in the Thai calendar.
We arrived here at Yacht Haven on the 1st. after a pleasant passage from Krabi. Very sad to leave all our friends at Popeye and Garn at the Galley restaurant. We managed to finish the bottle of Chivas Regal 12 yr old which we had given to Capt. Des Kearns to mark his 70th. birthday some months previously - sitting in Des's office looking out over the marina where "Tiare Taporo III" was moored. We hasten to assure you dear readers that we didn't drink the whole bottle then - it had taken some direct hits on previous occasions!
It was a total of 52 miles via the southern end of Koh Yao Yai which is a large island smack in the way! We anchored first at Koh Dam Khwan (only 10 miles from Krabi Boat Lagoon) - a very pretty anchorage with the usual precipitous and dramatic scenery typical of this part of the world. At around 2000 there was a fairly violent electrical storm, again typical of this area at this time of the year. We are always concerned that with our mast sticking straight up into the air, we are vulnerable to these nasty bolts of electricity, which could fry all our electrics with a direct hit. We didn't receive a direct hit but Jean was holding onto the stainless steel frame which supports our companionway dodger and was zapped as one bolt came uncomfortably close. Her arm remained sore for about 24 hours after that. Maybe it was the titanium in her hips that attracted the energy - hope it hasn't melted them!! The boat appeared to be OK with all our instruments still functioning but with lightning one always worries about "latent effect" - we'll just have to wait and see.
The next day dawned fine and clear and we headed out on a SW course towards the southern tip of Koh Yao Yai. Soon after raising the anchor, we passed through the small group of Koh Yawasam with very dramatic formations. There will be some photos posted here just after this blog. The tide was low and you could see part of the submarine formation which appeared riddled with small holes and caves - like a Swiss cheese. They must have been standing there for quite a long time, but somehow there was an uncomfortable feeling if getting too close! We rounded Yao Yai and continued north along its western side until we spied a resort on a good swimming beach which all looked good from the point of view of essential sustenance! We anchored off the beach and over the next 3 days we cleaned the hull of the yacht from the dinghy and went ashore for swimming and eating - and drinking! We know that's what you all think - that this cruising life is a continuous round of hedonism, but of course that isn't the case - the difficulty is in convincing you lot. Hardly worth the effort really!! The resort's restaurant was quite inexpensive and right on the beach so was an idyllic setting. About 100 metres away from the beach we found a coffee bar which had excellent coffee where Jean could get her fixes.
Then on the morning of Dec. 1st. we weighed anchor again and headed in a NW direction the last 20 miles to Yacht Haven Marina. We had no wind to speak of the whole trip so it's been a case of using the iron sail. Yacht Haven is situated right on the northern end of Phuket in the channel that separates Phuket from the mainland to the north so is very sheltered, although being in the channel, it does receive a cool breeze which is welcome in the tropical heat. Phuket International Airport is very close - only 20 minutes away by car. Here it is very quiet away from the madding crowds who flock to the western side beaches and try to kill each other on jetskis. There aren't any safety regulations regarding the use of these things, or if there are they aren't enforced. A tourist was killed the other day on a jetski and 3 more in a speedboat which hit a fishing boat at right angles in good visibility in daylight! Then there are the lack of lights at night as we've mentioned before and on top of all that the Thai authorities are now insisting on all foreign flagged yachts being fitted with AIS transponders. The real reason for this is to keep track of foreign boats - not for any safety considerations. We have an AIS receiver but not a transmitter and we're damned if we are going to be forced to fit one - at a rough cost of NZD1500! Some years ago an American yacht took the NZ Govt. to court concerning jurisdiction over foreign flagged vessels and their equipment- and won. Maybe it's getting time to do the same thing here.
On our approach to Yacht Haven it's necessary to stay in the channel and when approaching any marina or anchorage for the first time there's an element of anxiety as to the correct way to go. We were talking to YH on the radio and they said we should "head for the green buoy" and there await a dinghy which would guide us in to our berth. We did this and promptly went aground - twice!! We weren't best pleased thinking of our new antifouling which has no doubt been compromised although hopefully just on the lead keel and the sacrificial wormshoe (which is Amazonian Green Heart timber - hard as iron and impervious to the dreaded Teredo Worm). Then on the way in we had been told on the radio that we would be tying up port side to and had all the fenders and mooring lines deployed accordingly. However, the guy in the dinghy then said it was starboard side which necessitated changing everything and that's no small job. Then he changed his mind and said it was port side after all. Just as well the crutches were well stowed otherwise they would definitely have been flying. The guy doesn't know how lucky he was!!
However, after that poor start we find that the marina is very pleasant with a choice of 4 restaurants ashore and a gym and pool which actually belong to a condominium complex just up the hill from the marina.
Fingers crossed, but we think our refrigeration problems have been finally solved, although it didn't help that the technician who came to work on the system virtually spoke no English. We also had David Samuelson, an expert rigger based at Boat Lagoon, on board to give our rig the once over. Fortunately he didn't find any issues and was so impressed with the mast fittings that Noel had designed and fitted in Whangarei, that he took photos of them!! David it turns out had had dinner on board the "Taporo" - a steel motor ship that we sold in 1971 when the Tahiti business was sold - when he passed through the Marquesas Islands on his yacht in 1974. We've noticed that the deck mounted foot operated switch for our windlass has cracked on its surface so will have to try and source another. The new lifeline starboard side hasn't been swaged properly so we're taking that down to Boat Lagoon on Monday for that to be done. And we need a new radiator cap for our heat exchanger as the old original one is leaking - so no rest for the wicked. There is always something on a boat! And dental maintenance for us as well - Jean needs repairs to a bridge (or a new one) and Jim is having a long overdue checkup and clean. Far far cheaper than NZ where you need to take out a 2nd. mortgage to pay the extortionate fees.
We are hiring a car on Monday for the aforementioned jobs as well as some provisioning. The Phuket traffic is legendary so it will be exciting as we make our way around.
Still not entirely sure of our immediate movements but we're likely to be here for Christmas and leaving just after for Langkawi. The boat temporary import permit and our personal visas expire around mid January so that's the imperative. Then back to Krabi in March before Jean flies out to the States and Jim to NZ. As always we'll let you know.
Cheers and love from us......
Jim and Jean
P.S. Don't forget to look for our recent pics which will be posted to the website in the next couple of days - very inexpertly as usual!!
To close - another Irish joke - Murphy wasn't feeling well so he decided to go to the doctor. After examining him the doctor said that he couldn't find anything wrong and so he'd have to "put it down to the drink". Murphy said "that's all right, doctor. I'll come back another time when you're sober!".
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We arrived here at Yacht Haven on the 1st. after a pleasant passage from Krabi. Very sad to leave all our friends at Popeye and Garn at the Galley restaurant. We managed to finish the bottle of Chivas Regal 12 yr old which we had given to Capt. Des Kearns to mark his 70th. birthday some months previously - sitting in Des's office looking out over the marina where "Tiare Taporo III" was moored. We hasten to assure you dear readers that we didn't drink the whole bottle then - it had taken some direct hits on previous occasions!
It was a total of 52 miles via the southern end of Koh Yao Yai which is a large island smack in the way! We anchored first at Koh Dam Khwan (only 10 miles from Krabi Boat Lagoon) - a very pretty anchorage with the usual precipitous and dramatic scenery typical of this part of the world. At around 2000 there was a fairly violent electrical storm, again typical of this area at this time of the year. We are always concerned that with our mast sticking straight up into the air, we are vulnerable to these nasty bolts of electricity, which could fry all our electrics with a direct hit. We didn't receive a direct hit but Jean was holding onto the stainless steel frame which supports our companionway dodger and was zapped as one bolt came uncomfortably close. Her arm remained sore for about 24 hours after that. Maybe it was the titanium in her hips that attracted the energy - hope it hasn't melted them!! The boat appeared to be OK with all our instruments still functioning but with lightning one always worries about "latent effect" - we'll just have to wait and see.
The next day dawned fine and clear and we headed out on a SW course towards the southern tip of Koh Yao Yai. Soon after raising the anchor, we passed through the small group of Koh Yawasam with very dramatic formations. There will be some photos posted here just after this blog. The tide was low and you could see part of the submarine formation which appeared riddled with small holes and caves - like a Swiss cheese. They must have been standing there for quite a long time, but somehow there was an uncomfortable feeling if getting too close! We rounded Yao Yai and continued north along its western side until we spied a resort on a good swimming beach which all looked good from the point of view of essential sustenance! We anchored off the beach and over the next 3 days we cleaned the hull of the yacht from the dinghy and went ashore for swimming and eating - and drinking! We know that's what you all think - that this cruising life is a continuous round of hedonism, but of course that isn't the case - the difficulty is in convincing you lot. Hardly worth the effort really!! The resort's restaurant was quite inexpensive and right on the beach so was an idyllic setting. About 100 metres away from the beach we found a coffee bar which had excellent coffee where Jean could get her fixes.
Then on the morning of Dec. 1st. we weighed anchor again and headed in a NW direction the last 20 miles to Yacht Haven Marina. We had no wind to speak of the whole trip so it's been a case of using the iron sail. Yacht Haven is situated right on the northern end of Phuket in the channel that separates Phuket from the mainland to the north so is very sheltered, although being in the channel, it does receive a cool breeze which is welcome in the tropical heat. Phuket International Airport is very close - only 20 minutes away by car. Here it is very quiet away from the madding crowds who flock to the western side beaches and try to kill each other on jetskis. There aren't any safety regulations regarding the use of these things, or if there are they aren't enforced. A tourist was killed the other day on a jetski and 3 more in a speedboat which hit a fishing boat at right angles in good visibility in daylight! Then there are the lack of lights at night as we've mentioned before and on top of all that the Thai authorities are now insisting on all foreign flagged yachts being fitted with AIS transponders. The real reason for this is to keep track of foreign boats - not for any safety considerations. We have an AIS receiver but not a transmitter and we're damned if we are going to be forced to fit one - at a rough cost of NZD1500! Some years ago an American yacht took the NZ Govt. to court concerning jurisdiction over foreign flagged vessels and their equipment- and won. Maybe it's getting time to do the same thing here.
On our approach to Yacht Haven it's necessary to stay in the channel and when approaching any marina or anchorage for the first time there's an element of anxiety as to the correct way to go. We were talking to YH on the radio and they said we should "head for the green buoy" and there await a dinghy which would guide us in to our berth. We did this and promptly went aground - twice!! We weren't best pleased thinking of our new antifouling which has no doubt been compromised although hopefully just on the lead keel and the sacrificial wormshoe (which is Amazonian Green Heart timber - hard as iron and impervious to the dreaded Teredo Worm). Then on the way in we had been told on the radio that we would be tying up port side to and had all the fenders and mooring lines deployed accordingly. However, the guy in the dinghy then said it was starboard side which necessitated changing everything and that's no small job. Then he changed his mind and said it was port side after all. Just as well the crutches were well stowed otherwise they would definitely have been flying. The guy doesn't know how lucky he was!!
However, after that poor start we find that the marina is very pleasant with a choice of 4 restaurants ashore and a gym and pool which actually belong to a condominium complex just up the hill from the marina.
Fingers crossed, but we think our refrigeration problems have been finally solved, although it didn't help that the technician who came to work on the system virtually spoke no English. We also had David Samuelson, an expert rigger based at Boat Lagoon, on board to give our rig the once over. Fortunately he didn't find any issues and was so impressed with the mast fittings that Noel had designed and fitted in Whangarei, that he took photos of them!! David it turns out had had dinner on board the "Taporo" - a steel motor ship that we sold in 1971 when the Tahiti business was sold - when he passed through the Marquesas Islands on his yacht in 1974. We've noticed that the deck mounted foot operated switch for our windlass has cracked on its surface so will have to try and source another. The new lifeline starboard side hasn't been swaged properly so we're taking that down to Boat Lagoon on Monday for that to be done. And we need a new radiator cap for our heat exchanger as the old original one is leaking - so no rest for the wicked. There is always something on a boat! And dental maintenance for us as well - Jean needs repairs to a bridge (or a new one) and Jim is having a long overdue checkup and clean. Far far cheaper than NZ where you need to take out a 2nd. mortgage to pay the extortionate fees.
We are hiring a car on Monday for the aforementioned jobs as well as some provisioning. The Phuket traffic is legendary so it will be exciting as we make our way around.
Still not entirely sure of our immediate movements but we're likely to be here for Christmas and leaving just after for Langkawi. The boat temporary import permit and our personal visas expire around mid January so that's the imperative. Then back to Krabi in March before Jean flies out to the States and Jim to NZ. As always we'll let you know.
Cheers and love from us......
Jim and Jean
P.S. Don't forget to look for our recent pics which will be posted to the website in the next couple of days - very inexpertly as usual!!
To close - another Irish joke - Murphy wasn't feeling well so he decided to go to the doctor. After examining him the doctor said that he couldn't find anything wrong and so he'd have to "put it down to the drink". Murphy said "that's all right, doctor. I'll come back another time when you're sober!".
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