Nov. 20, 2009-The Far Side of Taratoa

On Thursday we were beating south in a boisterous fresh breeze with a reefed main and a small jib. Wings sailed well in the conditions and we worked the waves and held high aiming for the far side of Taratoa; the windward side.

We could have taken the more direct route to Lankawi; it is a straight line from Phetra passing to leeward of Taratoa. Instead we chose the windward path. The decision was based on the desire to see the unseen. Why does the man climb the mountain? Because it is there.

So is the far side of Taratoa.

It required one tack to clear the northeastern cape and another to break out of the island string which runs along that side of Taratoa then we sailed down the windward coast looking at surf beating on the dark shores, at deep forested hills and small patches of golden sand beaches trying to see something to validate the island’s reputation for mystery. It was a prison camp in the 30’s but the prisoners somehow took over and it became a pirate’s den in the 40’s, then the Brits came in the late 40’s and cleaned it up, they claimed, and the King made it into a national park.

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Sailing on the Far Side of Taratoa

What we saw as they sailed past on Thursday were mountains disappearing into the low clouds and impenetrable jungle. Hawks with rust colored wings circled overhead riding the updraft of the island’s peaks.

At 17:00 we tucked in behind one of the small offshore islands and dropped anchor. A squall blew through with pouring rain and the waves were choppy even behind the small island. Taratao was lost in the mist. It got dark.

There have been rumors of skirmishes between pirates and the park rangers, and other unexplained encounters, but the rumors are just that, rumors, and morning dawned uneventfully. After breakfast the Hawks dove on a meat scrap thrown overboard then fought over it.

Some fish jumped.

We inflated the dingy and went ashore. There was a road and a ranger station. The rangers were painting furniture. A pair of Germans cycling around the island stopped to take some photos. Otherwise nothing moved and the day was still.

A short walk in the jungle revealed little more than what we could see from the yacht. Taratao is an island which holds its secrets.

We stayed for two days and on Saturday set out for Langkawi.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Taratoa

PS, We've gotten some shots of this place, click here for a few. We'll post more of them as soon as we get some solid, high speed, Internet.

Nov. 18, 2009-Sailing to Phetra

On Wednesday we sailed from Lanta Flats to Ko Phetra.

Never mind the flat gray day or the rain spitting from the low lying clouds all day; the wind was constant if not steady, jib pulled like a horse, the windvane steered and it’s been a long time since we had a day of good sailing like that.

We needed it. Not fast the whole day but in the gusts we hit 7 and anyhow it felt good to be heeled over. We took turns on deck watching for fish traps and minding the vane and we ducked behind the dodger to stay out of the rain while the other snoozed or read below. Easy; three watches, 35 miles, 6 hours.

Ket’s sails were perfect. The jib is going to open a whole new chapter of sailing: 6+ knots of boat speed in 7 knots of wind and it will carry the breeze up to 15 knots. The main is beautiful right out of the box. Thank You, Ket.

At 5:00 we eased into the lee of Koh Phetra and dropped the hook under another of Thailand’s tall limestone karsts.

And had a glass of wine.

A good day on SV Wings.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Koh Phetra, Thailand

PS, We'll post photos as soon as we get some high speed Internet

Nov. 15, 2009-Underway Again

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Judy Goes Sailing

Well, she almost went sailing.

After three months of hard work we finally finished our projects, spent a week packing the boat, several hours waiting for the tide, and got underway from Phuket, Thailand on Sunday, November 15, 2009, as planned. We're back in cruising mode now. We're finished with work, every thing we own is on the boat and we're free to go where we please. And it is a great day for sailing.

However despite the great day for sailing we didn't do any; we fixed things.

After a 12:30 departure we motored the whole afternoon while we dealt with and resolved, one by one, a bunch of niggling problems, and one significant problem which still needs a resolution.

We had trouble with the charting software and found that it lost the nav input when the monitor shut down every 15 mins (to save power). We changed that setting.

We had trouble with the instruments. The buttons on our 30 year old B&G are getting downright sticky. I managed to get them all to work in the end.

I repaired a leaking dingy tube (twice). It seems to be holding now.

But the big deal was the leak which we found in the shaft log. There has been water appearing in the engine bilge for months (when we are motoring) and I thought it was the packing gland, which I've adjusted a few times. I decided that it was someting else and after sponging and drying the bilge completely I tracked down the source of the water: a leak under the fibreglass tube which brings the shaft into the boat. I suspect the tube itself is broken. This will be a difficult fix; it is hard to get to and hard to repair when wet. We might have to haul the boat out of the water. Tomorrow I will remove the rubber hose which covers most of this tube and look closely at the problem (with a dentist's mirror, since I can't get my eyes down into this spot) and maybe I can repair it with some waterproof epoxy long enough to get some fiberglass on it.

Maybe not.

Anyhow, we put the cover back on the engine, anchored at Koh Yao Yai, cooked burgers on the BBQ, and woke up this morning with Phi Phi Island beckoning from 14 miles away.

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Phi Phi Island

Maybe, if all goes well, we'll sail there today.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Koh Yao Yai, Thailand

Nov. 12, 2009-Final Preparations at Yacht Haven

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Early Morning

We've been packing and finishing projects for several days and we are nearly ready to depart for Malaysia. Wings sinks deeper and deeper into the water as we pack more and more of our equipment and supplies on board. Its been three years since we carried all this stuff.

We are also throwing out a lot and we've been giving away piles of unwanted items such as extra clothes, linens, useless spare parts, worthless sails; you name it. We put little piles of junk on the dock near the trash can and it disappears instantly as local boat workers decide that our unwanted items are their new treasures.

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New Look Nav Station

Last night, in a late night of work, we installed the new Nav screen and we've set up our system to use MaxSea with the CM93 charts we have. This will allow us to interface with the new AIS transponder which we are anticipating buying in the US next spring.

This morning we took on fuel, not a lot, it's supposed to be cheaper in Malaysia, and Friday we will check out of Thailand. Actual departure is planned for Sunday, November 15, 2009.

We're ready to go sailing again.

Click here for some more images.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket

Nov. 3, 2009-Sea Trials: Sailing to Yacht Haven

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Sailing to Yacht Haven

We left with the tide on Tuesday morning and after clearing the tortuous Boat Lagoon Channel set sail in a 15 knot NE wind. The day was cool and we had a good sail. The new sails Ket made for us looked fine and thankfully none of us, myself, Judy, or the boat, have forgotten how to sail.

When asked at the end of a passage how it went a captain likes to be able to say "uneventful" but I can't say that this passage was without drama. After sailing for a while, when the wind went light, we started the engine. Thirty minutes later a water pipe blew off it's fitting and in the 10 seconds it took to stop the engine it dumped about 10 gallons of saltwater on our bed. A couple of new hose clamps fixed the engine but the bed will take some time to dry out even more so after we hauled it out on deck to air out only to have rain begin.

Next the engine quit with what we instantly recognized as fuel starvation. It seems that the port tank was empty. We quickly switched to the starboard tank and are kept our fingers crossed that its level was more accruate then the port's. (It was, we had enough fuel to get to Yacht Haven).

Hurrying under power to make slack water at Yacht Haven we saw an opportunity to add a knot or so by re-hoisting the main when the wind came up from astern. Just as we came into the wind and started to hoist that breeze turned into a 24 knot rain squall and we struggled with setting sail in those condtions. Then when we got the sail up the wind immediately dropped off.

However we made port before the tide started to run strongly, making entance to the marina ill-advised, and were safely docked by 15:00.

So despite the minor dramas the trip was concluded sucessfully and we all passed our sea trials.

Next we have two weeks of work reloading the boat and some additional minor projects before we head off to Malaysia.

Click here to see another shot of the new sails.

Fred & Judy, S/V Wings, Phuket

October 27, 2009-Relaunched

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Afloat

We re-launched Wings on Tuesday after 7 1/2 weeks in the yard and it was good to get it back in the water. Judy took some shots of the process.

Click here to see her photos.


Now the big clean up begins.

We've still got to get the new brackets for the wind vane plus the hydraulic panel is not finished and the refer needs some work; oh after the work which was done on the engine it needs a check up before we can start it.

The name needs to be put on the sides.

All of these things can be done in the water.

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Windvane

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New Graphics


In a week we will be sailing.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket Thailand

October 19, 2009-New Paint

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What a shine!

Click here to see the new paint.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings

October 17, 2009-Five Weeks of Boat Work

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Big Tent Over Wings

Inside this cocoon the metamorphosis is occurring; soon a butterfly will emerge.

It's now been five weeks since we arrived at the Royal Phuket Marina boat yard and the work still continues. It was supposed to be three weeks. The rain has accounted for part of the delay, but mostly the long duration of this project has been due to the perfectionist tendency of Oot, the man we hired to paint the boat. Oot and his men have been sanding and fairing for a month. This doesn't surprise us (we actually allowed for eight weeks) or disappoint us; we're getting a good job out of it.

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Latest primer colors

So we don't mind, really, go for it guys!

Well, it might mean a delay in getting out of Thailand and on to Malaysia, our next port of call. The problem is that we can only leave Boat Lagoon, which shares the entrance channel with Royal Phuket, at certain tidal states and this delay means we will probably miss the last window for the month of October, maybe even the first two weeks of November.

But we're retired and we are just chillin' for the moment; and getting some other projects completed while we wait.

Right now the plan is for the new dark blue Awlgrip topcoat to be applied on Sunday, October 18. With all this prep we are anticipating a very smooth finish; we'll let you know in the next update.

Meanwhile we've taken some time to see some of the other sights of Phuket; here is a rubber plantation. Click here for more photos.


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Rubber Plantation

Click here to see the Marinas at Boat Lagooon and Royal Phuket, including the apartment at Boat Lagoon where we are living.

Click here to see the big boat yards on Phuket.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket

October 9, 2009-Thinking of sailing

We’ve been working on the boat for over a month and the end is not yet in sight.

But like a long voyage we know that in time this project too will be over, and then we'll be back on the water doing what we like best: sailing.

I don't usually feature the work of other photographers but this shot by Jean-Marie Liot is stunning.

Jean-Marie Liot Image, from Sailing Anarchy
Sailing

It got me thinking about some of the great sailing images we've gotten over the years. Here are some from the America's Cup, in New Zealand in 2000.

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Nippon

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Adabracadabra

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America True & Nippon Circling

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Eye To Eye

And we've had some good sailing on Wings; these shots captured at Western Circuit regatta in Singapore.

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At the Mark

Takedown Action

Sailing

So, even though these days we are living ashore and Wings is on the hard, sailing is still very much on our mind.

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket, Thailand

October 2, 2009-Wings Project Update

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Spotted Wings

Sanding Gets Serious

Oot's boys have been sanding the hull now for three weeks and that's some serious sanding. Today they applied the primer.

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Primer

Rudder Repair

The rudder had bad pitting about 2-3mm deep all around the shaft where the shaft enters the rudder. This looked like a break-point to me (also where Scarlett O'Hara's rudder broke); we wanted some sort of fix. The welders at Luk Engineering built up the shaft and then shaped it to restore the surface. What they also did, which you cannot see, is insert a solid post inside the rudder post tube to add strength where the rudder post enters the rudder itself.

Rudder Drawing


Windvane Rebuild

We also asked Luk Engineering to rebuild the windvane. I built a plywood jig to hold the brackets in the some position as they would be on the transom of Wings and I told the welders what sort of improvements I wanted, and they did a great job. This is how it turned out.

Finished Windvane

Mexican Panga makes it to Thailand

An American guy from San Diego named Britt is importing these Panga's from China and selling them in Phuket. One difference from the version we knew in Mexico is that they have a deck built inside the boat that is high enough so that, with some drain holes, rain water can run out. This keeps them from sinking in the monsoons of tropical Asia (not a problem in Baja).

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket