Captain’s Log: Goodbye Thailand, hello Malaysia

May 18-22

Hi All,

Well…..all our bags are packed…..hmmmm…….I like the song but maybe I should say all our bags are stored:)))) We are ready to leave Phuket around 8am tomorrow, Tuesday, May 23!!!! We’ve had a pretty good last few days doing our final provisioning, checking out of Thailand and doing some minor projects/maintenance.

Laptop: Hmmm…….I close the laptop and come back a few hours later to find a cracked display…..WTH….how did that happen?????……..whaaaaa!!! Great…..in a foreign country, do not speak the language and now I have to find a computer repair shop…..ugh!!! I call our friends at the Selene dealer who have no personal experience with a computer shop but send me in the direction where there should be some shops….hmmm. I then go up to the marina office and wow…..there is a very nice woman named May who speaks great English……I show her the broken display and she says no problem, I know a great computer repair shop I’ve used several times. Oh, things are looking better….she calls the tech and he says sure, I can fix/replace….send him to the shop. It’s a bit tricky to get to so she walks to the taxi stand with me and gives the taxi perfect directions. So, w/in an hour of discovering the cracked display I’m handing over the laptop to someone I know nothing about to get it fixed. It is an older couple and they seem very nice……just hope all my security is working. They call me back w/in an hour and say they have located a display in Bangkok…..will overnight it…..and should be ready Sunday or Monday…..great…..cost $130……that sounds even better. It actually was ready late Sat afternoon……so w/in 24 hours of the discovery, I have a brand new display…..whoa……who would have thought!!!!

Anniversary: We had a nice and quiet day…..41 years…..we had a friend who told us boat years count double so it’s really been 54 years:)))) We decided to go to Patong Beach……one of the more popular and beautiful beaches in Phuket and since we had not been we decided to go over for a beach/bay lunch. Now Patong Beach is more famous as a tourist town as well as for its night life……think New Orleans and Bourbon street…..you know, strip joints, girlie bars, lady boy bars, music et al. And, indeed it was……we went during broad daylight and most of these places were closed but most of the bars and restaurants were open!!!! The beach was beautiful as advertised but maybe not as crowded as what I found Maya beach on Phi Phi Le……that was a huge surprise!!! And, after several days of thick overcast and rainy clouds….it was sunny…..well, until we came back:)))) We did find a nice beach bar/club and proceeded to have a very nice lunch with various drinks all with a gorgeous view of the Bay. We even taught the bar tender how to make a Grand Cayman mudslide…..yummers….he was so proud of himself he said he was going to name the drink after us….who knew!!!!

GEN: Ever since we started cruising a few weeks ago after being gone that 4 months, the GEN has been running hot…..maybe 10-20*F above normal and close to the safety cutout……hmmm, and major ugh!!! I had changed the coolant and raw water pump during that down time and thought maybe I had done something wrong. After doing various checks and ensuring the thru hull and raw water hoses were not plugged, I was stumped. I decided to write Bob Senter, the Northern Lights rep…..he repsonded that before I tear into the GEN, check the ground wires connected to the GEN body….maybe they were loose…..and, sure enough they were….I had checked these and they felt tight but turned out not making a good connection. But, the bolt that holds these 4 wires on was in bad shape from the vibration…..and of course, in all the spare bolts we have….like a gazillion….we did not have this one……so off to various chandleries and we finally found the bolt. The Pilot House gauge now reads about 190*F and the actual temp per our new IR gun is around 184-188*F……so we are w/in 4-6*F which Bob says be happy……so indeed, John is a happy camper (and the Admiral too) that it was an easy fix!!!!

Weather: The rainy season is certainly here……it has rained everyday since being back in Phuket…..sometimes buckets. We are hoping that as we get closer to the Equator (Singapore is about 1.3*N) the rains will be less, but we really do not have any experience just our hopes!!!! And it still is hot and muggy……we were told the rains will cool thing down a bit but that certainly has not happened yet!!!!

The Plan: We have picked out about 6 places to visit on our way to Langkawi Malaysia…..Phi Phi Don again for the first night, Koh Muk, Ko Rok, Liang Tai, Tanga and Rawi…..about 11 nights for the 200 nm cruise……only day hops….no overnights….too many fisherman and traps for our comfort!!! We hope the water quality drastically improves so we might be able to do some snorkeling and maybe get in a dive or two…….

We actually will be in Thailand until the last day when we crossover to Malaysia when we enter Langkawi!!!

We should have internet most of the way or will be on our Sat phone data plan!!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon