All set for Sri Lanka – a catch-up

A look at the blog and it’s clearly a little dusty. Time flies! So Christmas was enjoyed in Langkawi, Malaysia, primarily meeting people doing the same as us preparing to cross the Indian Ocean this year. We based ourselves in Rebak Marina which is part of a resort where they put on a superb Christmas buffet the likes of which we have never seen before – turkey, curries, seafood, BBQ – would you like your lamb roasted or BBQ? Lovely.

Adina with her fresh top-up of coppercoat

We sailed out for a few days to explore Langkawi and then took Adina back into the marina to haul her out and get the hull in good nick for the new year. Seven days of slaving in the hot sun. Adina has an anti-fouling called Coppercoat which is a long-term antifoul rather than the traditional method of re-painting the antifoul every year. You may ask what anti-foul is? The hull of a boat makes a great home for the many and varied creatures that live in the sea – the goal is to persuade them not to make your hull their home as slime, barnacles, goosenecks, clams and all other matter of things weigh and slow the boat down. And in the tropics the water is that much more alive and you are forever in the water cleaning your hull. Now Adina has had Coppercoat on her hull for eight years we can say it is a good product. There were areas that needed topping up, primarily around the water line, the keel and the rudder. We also coated the shaft and propeller with a product called Propspeed – certainly not cheap and we will be evaluating it as the year goes on. Finally Adina was given a good polish to get her looking all sparkling.

Great friends Monique and Paul being lovebirds

Good friends Paul and Monique sailed down to Langkawi on their boat Full Circle and we enjoyed New Year with them. They introduced us to a Dutch New Year tradition whereby they make a deep fried pastry much like doughnuts called Olie Bollen which includes raisins and are powdered with icing sugar. Paul went tropical and added mango. We sat in the cockpit and he proudly showed us how the dough was nicely rising. 15 minutes later it was positively bubbling all over the table and Paul was left confessing that perhaps he had added a bit too much yeast. But we got there and they were delicious – the only question was why just at New Year? New Year’s Eve was enjoyed on a busy beach. Malaysians think nothing of setting fireworks off right in front of a full crowd. Launching a Chinese lantern was a highlight. Being a Muslim nation only the farangs (foreigners) were drinking and everyone was well behaved – bar one young Brit we saw passed out on the beach!

We enjoyed a week sailing to Thailand with Paul and Monique and exploring some islands on the way. Thailand is now a very popular destination and it was quite a surprise to see the number of visitors and the resultant power boats and jet skis in many places. Many cruisers have not enjoyed it with some even heading back to Malaysia – perhaps we’ve all been a little spoilt in the South Pacific. You have to embrace it and you can sail in the daytime and have many of the anchorages to yourself in the early morning and late afternoon. The sights are still great and of course the food is fabulous!

Dave and Ethan ready for more swimming

We ducked into Ao Po marina in Phuket where it was time to service Adina front to back – or as we call it the boat maintenance dance. You take two steps forward and one step back. Sometimes you get it wrong and you go five steps back! And sometimes you get so excited you end up five steps forward. Every cruiser knows the boat maintenance dance well – some will share it with you, others prefer to dance in private. Thailand has an abundance of skilled workers to help out. Adina now has a new sprayhood and bimini, we serviced the engine, the watermaker, the generator etc. We built a new solid epoxy floor in the anchor locker. Then we replaced the AIS and VHF antennas so we can now shout out and be seen loud and clear. We called in some varnishing experts who beautifully restored some of the woodwork that had suffered from all the sunshine – ten layers of varnish, it positively sparkles. We checked lifejackets, ensured all our MOB devices are working etc. etc. It’s hard work but we’ve always had a philosophy of ‘maintain it before it breaks’ rather than ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. That nearly backfired as we decided to check the gearbox of the anchor windlass. An area most just don’t do as it’s hard to get at. Between the two of us we managed to shear two bolts and our check of the level of the oil resulted in the oil leaking out all over the place! Five steps back! This per the local western supplier meant shipping parts from New Zealand until we met a local Thai man. Houdini-deluxe he took the whole unit out, told us he could find all the parts and service it. By gum that was one accident that paid dividends – anchor windlass now better than ever, five steps forward. We’ve learnt Asia has a real ‘can do’ attitude.

Dee and Nigel enjoying the Hongs of Thailand

Off we went again anchoring on the west coast of Phuket at Kata Beach as friends Dave, Londa, Ethan and Arabella flew into Phuket from Singapore and based themselves in an apartment there. Days were spent ‘playing’ on the boat or finding good thai food. Ethan their son is a great little boy and all the boys enjoyed jumping off the boat, swimming and catching squid while Susie ran round feeding and replenishing the boys and cleaning up after them! A wonderful few days.

Nigel and Dee then flew in from Vanuatu. Both have been a great help to us in our adventures and this year we were indebted to them when they provided much help when Tom fell ill in the Solomon Islands. Good friends are people who you feel you have just seen yesterday and so it is with Nigel and Dee. Off we sailed and in a week of a lot of sailing we visited the many islands of the Phang Nga bay with their wonderful Karst islands known locally as Hongs. Most nights we went ashore in the dinghy. The beaches sometimes have small breaking waves at certain heights of tide. One night we launched the dinghy, in went Dee, breaking wave, Dee upside down legs in the air. Susie next, another wave, another wet person. Tom made it a hat-trick as he got ready to use the outboard. We opted to row out, Susie had the oars and shouted to Nigel to jump in, he replied we were grounded, launched himself and made it a full party of very soaked people. As ever great to catch up, and thank you for sorting all the fishing kit out – we hope to be eating well this year.

The excitement of new sails!

So Adina is now in Ao Po marina, we’re into final preparations getting ready for the big off to Sri Lanka. First up was the installation of some new North Sail sails. We were measured back in Singapore and the sails were waiting for us when we got into Ao Po marina. Incredibly exciting, sails are the heart of a yacht, they take you places, they provide the joy of sailing. We’ve got a new main sail, genoa and stay sail and Grant from North Sails was on hand to expertly help bend them on. We went out for a test sail in light winds but when the winds were there in the beginning you could just feel Adina itching to take off. Simply can’t wait to try them out when we get going to Sri Lanka.

So yes, we are into final preparation phase, getting the boat ready, provisioning, pre-cooking meals, handling all the paperwork ready to set sail for Sri Lanka. It’s a whopping 1120 nautical miles to Galle located on the south coast and we’ll try and write as we go. If all goes well we hope to get there in 8 or 9 days.

We’ve enjoyed the last four months of creature comforts in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand but this boat was built for adventure and she’s ready for a new season. Can’t wait for the fun, thrills and spills ahead. Kids in a candy shop – one boat, two kids, and a full new set of sails!