Feb 20-March 5, 2017
Hi All,
Hmmmm, let’s see if I can describe the last 2 weeks…….sleep in, coffee, internet time, coffee, breakfast, tea, a few projects, read, project, read, lunch, read, nap, maybe a project (depended on the book), cocktails, dinner, movie……then repeat…..bliss said the Admiral and I do believe our mojo/batteries are fully charged now:))))) Well, I suppose after the very active 2016 and very busy time in USA it was bound to catch up to us so we did what all good introverts do……took to our air conditioned bat cave (Mystic) and vegged:))))
We did one activity……took a day tour of Phuket……we went to the big Buddha, Chalong Temple, drove around old town, then a delightful fresh seafood lunch (prawns, squid, lobster) on the Bay….then, well, we were pooped….it was only 90* F and 80%+ humidity and even our guide said too hot……so we did a boat part errand and then a little provisioning and we were back to Mystic by cocktail time….and worn out….yikes!!!
“Phuket’s Big Buddha is one of the island’s most important and revered landmarks on the island. The huge image sits on top of the Nakkerd Hills between Chalong and Kata and, at 45 metres tall, it is easily seen from far away. The lofty site offers the best 360-degree views of the island, with sweeping vistas of Phuket Town, Kata, Karon beaches, Chalong Bay and more.) Easily reachable via a six-kilometre road leading from Phuket’s main artery route, it is a must-visit island destination. Funds for the massive structure come entirely from donations. Close up to the image itself, it is very peaceful and the only noises you will hear are the tinkling of small bells and the yellow Buddhist flags in the compound flapping in the wind, with soft background dharma music. Known among Thais as the Phra Puttamingmongkol Akenakkiri Buddha in full, it is 25 meters across at the base. The whole body is constructed with reinforced concrete layered with beautiful Burmese white jade marble that shines in the sun, making it a natural symbol of hope. The views, and the actual image itself are breathtaking.”
“Wat Chalong: Wats – or Buddhist temples – are among the most important symbols of Thailand, partly because the majority of Thais are Buddhist and partly because they are so beautiful. In Phuket alone, there are 29 Buddhist temples spread around the island. Wat Chalong was built at the beginning on 19th century. Wat Chalong ( Chalong Temple ) is the largest of Phuket’s temples, and the most visited. Locals and many Thai tourists come to pray and pay respects to several revered monks who were the founders of Wat Chalong, among them Luang Pho Cham and Luang Pho Chuang, 2 monks, who led the citizens of Chalong Sub district fighting against the Chinese rebellion in 1876 and with their knowledge of herbal medicine helped the injured.”
Projects: We took Mystic out for 4 hours mainly to run the Yanmar. Our latest oil sample indicated high fuel dilution…..so we are on the hunt for a fuel leak. I changed the oil, oil filter and fuel filter, then we ran the engine for 4 hours and resampled. Now it gets frustrating……I go up to the marina office……I say I need to ship an oil sample to a lab in the USA…..OMG, the look I was given…..sorry sir, not possible……they call DHL and confirm no shipping of liquids out of Thailand…..ODG…….ok, 4 emails to various people we are working with in Thailand and they all confirm…….”Sending by courier overseas is not possible. Unless you put in our luggage”, which is what we did with 8 samples in Dec. But, the Yanmar dealer here sends samples to a lab in Bangkok and can do the same for us…….it will take about 2 weeks for the results and we will go from there!!
Headhunter XCaliber fresh water pump: more frustration…….typical boat project in a foreign land…..arghhhhhh!!!! After it took 3 hours and “every tool I own” to install the new pump, it worked for 5 days and then basically quit…..spent another 3 days trying to resolve….it would work, stop, work, stop et al until finally we gave up on it. We declared it a defective pump and good news…..Headhunter will replace under warranty….cool…..now, I’ve spent the last 5 days with 15+ emails working on shipping……OMG….what a hassle shipping into Thailand……we even looked into shipping into Malaysia and picking it up in June……but, we found a company that handles logistics and Headhunter has been great preferring to get us the pump quickly and will pay almost 50% of the pump value in freight, import duties, fees et al……the pump has not shipped so stay tune!!!
Kabola Diesel heater: did you hear the sailor language in USA:))))) Yep, if you recall, we left this project in search for a 4 bar pressure gauge…..well, we found a 12 bar gauge here in Phuket so tried it…….arghhhhhh…….there is no shutoff for the glycol liquid to replace this gauge so you just take the old one out, get a little messy while you screw the new gauge in…..ok, I’m ready with buckets and rags and take off old gauge and try to screw in new gauge……it will not seat….WTH……I had tried it on the old connector and it worked perfectly….so, tried about 3 more times……no joy…..now I’m completely soaked in the glycol solution……I can tell you the taste is god awful…….Kathy stays away but I eventually come out of the laz and say let’s be smart……so I take 10 minutes and study the old gauge and new gauge threads……I see a slight taper on the new one and none on the old one…..hmmm, light bulb goes off……maybe you have to push down hard to set the threads and then screw….and viola…we have a pressure…..but, that’s not the end of the story. We hook up the water hose to add more water and pressurize the system to about 2 bars……29 psi…….so we begin to add water and the gauge needle doesn’t move…..WTH…..eventually the safety valve on the system releases and glycol solution goes all over the laz and me……arghhhhhh. The new gauge now only reads 1 bar and we have 2.5-3 bars in the system. I’m now in the process emailing again with several techs to understand what happens if we run the system at the higher pressure. I think we will wait until we can get an accurate gauge and then try the system again…….arghhhhhh!!!!!!
Haulout: Yep, as I am writing this we are on the hard at Ao Po. The haulout was quite the experience…..we were lifted with a huge John Deere tractor and trailer lift…..not the usual travel lift we have used in all our previous haulouts. But, it all worked….although it took about 1.5 hour to get the trailer lined up correctly!!!
It’s really been “repairing a boat in exotic places” time working with various contractors in a very difficult for us foreign language. We have since hired Derani Yachts, the Selene Dealer in Phuket, to manage the work as Mr Somkid speaks passable English and then can communicate to the contractors. Mr Kid will also manage the project while we are gone to Nepal/Bhutan in a few days. This is the first time we have not been present while work on Mystic takes place……actually neither of us are that happy about it, but it really was the only way to get in some of our land travels and still be able to make Borneo this fall. So…..we shall see how it all goes….finger crossed.
We had a great first day…..all three contractors were on time and actually early…..whoa…..that has never ever happened as marine techs are infamous for never on time or able to keep a schedule…….they even work 6 days……Mon-Sat. The bottom paint actually looked in good shape when we came out of the water…..in fact, we gulped and thought do we really need to do a paint job……but, before we knew it the pressure wash commenced and we ended up with 50+ chips where the old paint had chipped off from the pressure wash. In the world of bottom painting, eventually the paint buildup from previous paint jobs gets to be too much…..too heavy….and the paint literally can detach from the primer……we saw some evidence of this last year in Australia…..but this year we said no mas……the contractor agreed as he was very concerned about paint falling off after his work…..so Mr Sans rebid the job and it actually came in lower price…..not quite sure how that should happen but we did the deal…….and for the last 2 days they are using paint thinner to remove all the old paint. Next will be a through wet sand down to the gelcoat……then multiple coats of primer/barrier coat and multiple coats of antifoul paint…..
Varnish: Mr Nu came and we discussed in detail the work….salon, galley and pilot house floors, both stairs, and several rails…….he will start next week and says he will be done by our March 28 splash date.
Cushions: We are going to have all the cushions in the saloon and pilot house and the two salon chairs recovered. We actually had enough of the original leather to do the salon but will have new leather in the pilot house. Wow…..it seems the Admiral knew how dirty/worn they were but I didn’t…….yikes……I still do not understand why we have off white cushions in a boat…..hello…red wine, chocolate, sweat, dirt…….ugh!!!!!
We also having some gelcoat dings repaired, one of the port salon windows rebedded, rub rails recaulked and the entire boat polished. For all this work, we found the Thailand contractors to be very professional, knowledgeable and maybe 15-20% less cost than USA…..some areas higher but the varnishing and upholstery work quite a bargain. We shall see in a few weeks how they do!!!
Next Tuesday, March 7 we are off on an 18 day tour of Nepal and Bhutan…..back on March 24 late at night. We are both very excited about this trip……lot’s of cultural sites, 2 national parks…..hopefully tigers, of course elephants and maybe a one-horned rhino. The weather should be decent in Nepal but we are bit concerned about Bhutan……still in the 40’s and 30’s F at night….yikes….we do not have enough warm clothes so sounds like we will be doing some clothes shopping…ugh!!!
All for now……hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Ao Po Phuket Thailand
PS: Pictures in the gallery: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/phuket-and-haulout
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