Katrine's News Letter N°18 MARCH 2009
Dear friends and family..
Time and tide wait for no man – it’s true.
Looking back, its six months of time and tide since my last newsy, and so the problem arises: where to begin.
It’s also true, that “Man proposes, and God disposes” – which happened to us several times over the past months.
Our trip to Java and Borneo was incredible, and it took a while to settle back into the wet season in Langkawi. We had hoped to take Katrine out of the water for a maintenance stint but that didn’t happen. In anticipation of this, Don had removed the sliding door in the cockpit and built another seat (which gave us more cupboard space in the galley – always a welcome addition)
A new big window space allowed for more through-flow of air and the concertina
door gave us more body space to move in and out of the saloon. But the project
was set aside not quite finished because land issues suddenly took precedence
over boat issues as time started to run short. As in the start of all small
business operations, time, money and our souls were poured into making sausages.
Our little “Chinese” shop-house had a facelift a la Donovan - smashed to the ground and re-built.. Ripped out were the blue painted concertina doors; part of the veranda became my new office, and the front of the building was bricked up with a window to give more light. However we did retain a portion of the feng shui effect – bright red door frames to bring us Chinese luck!
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Maybe we didn’t have it quite right, because just when things were going well and we were into the swing of things, (no pun meant) our luck ran thin; mister put himself out of action. It happened when he was bashing down a wall to put in our new walk-in freezer. The big heavy steel bladed ceiling fan was turning to disperse some of the dust. Forgetting about the fan, he climbed the ladder and was coshed on the back of his head by the revolving blades. Bang! Besides the fright of “What the veldskoen was that!” he seemed none the worse for the incident until the following day. An excruciating pain in his shoulder and then the loss of feeling in his hand me in a right royal tizz. Des arrived the next day with feet ailments that needed attention too, so with the two invalids on board we sailed Katrine down to Penang to seek medical advice.
Des saw an orthopod who specializes in Sports injuries and besides almost having a marriage proposal from the Chinese gentleman, a few physio sessions and lots of rest would ensure that she could continue with her passion of running.
Not much success with Don’s problem though, so we sailed back, caught the ferry to Alor Setar on the mainland and saw a delightful Sikh gentleman, Dr. Singh. He looked for all the world like a character from a story book with his rotund smiling face and copious amounts of hair gathered up in a turban. But he knew his stuff alright and after an MRI and ultra sound, the diagnosis was that some of the nerves in Don’s neck had been damaged in a whip-lash action.
It has taken a few months to heal, but slowly things are coming right, and fortunately for Don, there seems to be no permanent damage.
In the meantime all work, both boat and factory, ground to a halt. Des’ two weeks flew by but with a plan to meet up with us in the Andaman Islands when we were to sail there in February, the parting still had a thread of hope attached which eased the pain. As Don’s condition improved, the factory demanded our attention with the charter season imminent, because we had to build up stocks so that our factory manager,. Fahrida could run the show while we were away. Long hours and days melded while the stocks grew,but amid all of this, we had visits from all our dear friends. Cheryl and Vere, our special South African anchors to reality, Sue, my emotional crutch and mentor and our dear cruising buddies, Cath and Francoise who had returned from France to their boat Windcall. Their daughter Gaelle and Son Olli arrived later, and so in between the hard work, we played. And was it fun! An over night cruise to the islands with Cheryl and Vere, and hours of catching up months of apartness. Sharing with Cath and Francois after work we would climb into our dinghies, motor out to sea and around to a hidden beach where huge trees shaded the white sand, their branches filled with giant hornbills, makaks and black-faced monkeys. Sheltered from the north east winds we swam in the sea and rinsed off in the fresh water stream that bubbled up from underground. Then as the sun sank and turned the sky pink and gold we would barbeque on the beach with laughter and sharing and talking and the closeness of good friends that are treasures to remember when finally they had to say their goodbyes.
Our charter season was intentionally slow this year, to give us time in between to distribute produce and keep in touch with our retailers. We had a charter trip to the Butang Islands with four South Africans and then another with a family from East London who cruised with us from Langkawi up to Phuket, Thailand. The weather wasn’t conducive to good sailing and because of the youngsters on board Don and I would begin our day at 2 or 3am to get most of the sailing over by the time the family had woken, for them to have a full day at different islands. By the end of the week we were
exhausted but they were great people and
there is nothing like the camaraderie of home-based folk.
Finally, Christmas was upon us and the joy of being with family for the first time in many years over the festive season was wonderful. Friend Gary joined us on board as his wife had flown home to Australia for the birth of a grandchild. With the peels of “Hello, Hello, It’s off to Work we go…” a good Thai Christmas carol…we met up with John and Di and their brood for some great fun and relaxation. We spent lazy days cruising around Phan Nga Bay and snorkeling at Bamboo Island, and spotted a hUGE shark on the way! then headed off to Ko Lanta for New Year. Once the family left, we hired a motorcycle and sidecar, and with Gary driving and Don and I riding at the side, we explored the island of Kho Lanta, jumping off to heave-ho the skadonk up the steep hills and jumping on to coast down the dales. It was hilarious, and we found some stunning little out-of-the-way stops to have a meal and slake our thirst.
Gary left early on New Year’s Day, and with very little wind, we hoisted the sail just in case and gunned the motors to head south back towards Langkawi. As I lifted the anchor, I heard Don yell and dive for the controls – the port engine was belching black smoke and soot. Blimey! But just then 30 knots of wind came in from nowhere. Off went the motors and we shot along at 10 knots with me hanging on and yelling in consternation and Don whooping with delight! After a few miles of my screeching, we saw two yachts heading north both with two reefs in and figured there had to be worse to come. I heaved a sigh of relief. Rounding up into the wind, I went forward with instructions to put in one reef (I’d hoped for two). With the wind eased out of the sail I lowered the mains’l as Katrine heaved up the mountain of sea and slewed down into the troughs, alternately hanging on and then trying to balance while pulling in the reefing line. It seemed never ending until I realized what had happened as the end came away in my hand. – it had pulled all the way through. Somehow the bow-line that tied the end to the boom had shaken itself loose. Don was battling to keep Katrine facing into the wind as it slewed off the mountainside and swept from all angles down onto us. I stood dumbfounded for a sec, but his yell to pull in another reef had me hopping again. Finally I had it under control and with a second reef in we were able to head off south at a more sedate and controllable pace. As normally happens, the wind died in the late afternoon and we motor sailed with our starboard engine trying to make the island of Taratao before dark. But it was slow going and even slower when we picked up a fish-trap that we dragged along hooked onto our port skeg which was impossible to release in the dark. Fortunately the fishermen lit up their squid boats as we neared so we could avoid them as well and by 10pm we edged in slowly and dropped anchor in the lee of the island.
It was only a few miles to go to get to Langkawi and the following day we had a great beam reach all the way south.
Back to the grind it was to replenish stocks, to do deliveries and to try and figure out what had happened to our port side engine before we readied to sail to the Andaman Islands. All facts pointed to the fuel injectors and pump, so to this end they were removed and sent to the mainland for inspection. But on their return, the problem persisted. Chinese New Year when the island closes down for a week was imminent, so we decided to provision the boat, fill up with fuel and head north to Phuket where a good mechanic was recommended to help sort out the problem before we headed for the Andaman Islands. Once in Ao Chalong, Phuket, the excitement and anticipation of our sail across the ocean kept us looking forward as the mechanics and Don worked on Katrine from early morning till late at night. We kept thinking, just one more day. But the days stretched into a week of taking off, putting on, reading manuals replacing, fixing, resetting and so on. And each day, we said “tomorrow”. Our friends Robin and Yan left on their boat, and then Graeme and Heidi on Persian Lady, and still we couldn’t figure out what the problem was, and still the engine belched black soot and smoke. The governer was removed (and what a job that was) and Sewit, the mechanic took it on a trip to Suritani to have it seen to. But it came back the same. No problem. We swapped parts from the good engine to the bad one, and the problem persisted and for two weeks we all scratched our heads. By this time our friends had left, our charter in the Andaman’s had faded and Desre’s application for Indian visa had been denied. It all looked as if the planets were out of line. Sixty thousand baht had blown our budget for the year and we still hadn’t found the problem. We had this gut feeling that we weren’t meant to go. And one morning after soul searching, of weeping and gnashing of teeth, we decided…WE ARE NOT GOING TO THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. We both felt heartbroken; deprived of our cruise into the deep blue sea, of our annual holiday, the fishing, the snorkeling, the clear blue water and those beautiful people whom we had shopped for and were eagerly awaiting our arrival. But whenever we have been sent the signs, we have listened. And that day after our declaration, when Sewit arrived and had put back the bits and pieces he’d taken off, he started the engine, and the black smoke and soot had disappeared. We never did find out what the problem was – it simply resolved itself and the engine has purred ever since.
Over the internet we picked up a charter which we would never have been able to do had we gone to the Andaman’s and suddenly the planets were aligned.
We sailed back to Langkawi over the next week stopping at islands we had never been to before. We met up with friends on their boat Samsara 11 whom we had cruised with before and shared our lives together with Sam their cat (who is a delightful character – who is boat trained to use their toilet!!) It was great to explore the islands and new anchorages in stunning settings. And so we arrived back in Telaga, not deflated, but rather recharged. And just as a final compensation, we hooked two beautiful Spanish mackerel just before we arrived back at Langkawi.
All was forgiven.
And here we are. Faridah had sold our two months worth of stock in two weeks, Sushi our factory cat, and Nesbit our factory dog were over the moon to see us. Our charter will replenish part of our blown budget and we will anticipate our cruise to the Islands next year.
And sitting on the back steps of Katrine last night, I wished that you could all have been with me. It’s only the second time I have seen this phenomenon since we have been cruising, when tiny organisms in the sea light up with any movement as if a neon light has been switched on. The waves lapping on the shore of the island a few feet behind Katrine sent rippling ribbons of dazzling blue light along its edges leaving the sand sparkling for a few seconds as the water receded. The fish that live under our hulls were outlined in a bright glow of fluorescence as they circled in the water and as the rain pattered gently down, each plop exploded in a shower of sparkles.
Whew! What can I say, but that we are
truly blessed.
Love and light
Don and Jeanne