Fortunately there was also a nice cool breeze for most of the day, so, after dinghying ashore for a coffee and a slice of the most delicious chocolate cake at My Beach Resort, followed by a walk on the beach, although the tide was very high and we spent most of the walk wadding, we returned to Paw Paw to tackle a task we’ve both been procrastinating for months, but which had to be done before our departure, given that over the past two years, we’ve just stuffed things wherever we could find a space; it was time for a ruthless clear-out and reorganisation of all the bunks, lockers and cupboards.
So, starting in the port forepeak cabin and working our way around Paw Paw from there, we spent Friday and yesterday doing exactly that, creating piles of items we either haven’t used once on our circumnavigation or items we’ve kept because we simply didn’t want to part with them, like Elaine’s hammock and the tennis rackets, or old items that we’d replaced on Paw Paw creating an excessive amount of spares, like our inordinate number of old ropes. Part of this exercise was also to move items around to balance Paw Paw again. It’s fair to say, the two men on the fishing boat that happened to pass Paw Paw late Friday afternoon and whom we waved over, were overjoyed at all the “gifts” they received out of the blue! We, however, were just delighted to have the starboard forward cabin no longer resembling a storage room!
Overnight into yesterday, although we had thunderstorms all around us, it didn’t cool down and ended up being stiflingly hot for most of the night, probably due to the overcast skies we woke up to, which eventually cleared. However, Elaine didn’t notice the appearance of sunnier skies as she spent her day up to her eye balls preparing an electronic copy of all her medical records of care received in Malaysia and to date in Thailand, as well as compiled specific information requested, including a timeline of symptoms and medications prescribed, for her specialist in Singapore, who has agreed to review everything and conduct a video consultation; something we are extremely grateful for and delighted about, since the new medication introduced by the specialist here in Thailand and originally proposed by the specialist in Singapore two years ago, is causing significant side effects. However, at the time the new medication was proposed in Singapore, it was in lieu of all the medications Elaine was taking at the time, not in addition to all her current medications, including increased dosages on some, which is currently the treatment plan and extremely concerning.
While Elaine collated the information requested, Roy finished our clearing out and reorganisation efforts in the aft cabin bunks, producing another pile of items that can be disposed of to the next fishing boat that happens to pass by. He then dinghied across Chalong Bay to visit one of the chandleries again as well as reserve a car and collect the keys for our early start today.
After dinghying across Chalong Bay under sunny skies, we collected the car and headed back to the hospital, this time for both of us, just for a change; a regular checkup for Roy and a myriad of additional blood tests for Elaine, requested by the specialist in Singapore, which, thankfully, coincided with her regular blood tests required for her appointment with the specialist here in Thailand today. However, before returning to the hospital for her appointment, we enjoyed another lazy Sunday morning breakfast at Dean and Deluca at Boat Lagoon marina, then popped up to Ao Po Grand marina to collect a few more parcels that had been delivered.
Fortunately it wasn’t a long, drawn out day and we were back onboard by lunchtime after stopping in briefly at the Market Village mall to pick up a few more groceries.
We’d no sooner got everything sanitised and stowed, though, when one of our floating village neighbours came over to introduce himself, given that he’d seen Paw Paw in various anchorages around Phuket Island and had heard about us through Richard, off Charon, who in turn had mentioned Chris and his son to us. It was a lovely gesture, something we always used to do, and it reminded us just how much our cruising lifestyle has changed due to this pandemic, with everyone mostly keeping to themselves now. Regardless, the men enjoyed a nice long chat, albeit the safer “dinghy visit” option, with plans to meet ashore for a few drinks once Richard and Yim arrive in the anchorage later this week.
A nice long chat to Elaine’s mom, followed by a barbecue, enjoyed in the cockpit under a crescent moon setting in the west before the evening thunderstorms arrived, sealed the day.
