It was, however, Elaine who had had a terrible night’s sleep on Thursday night due to Paw Paw rolling around with a side-to swell, while Roy slept through it all. Regardless, we’d already made plans to dinghy across Chalong Bay on Friday morning for a walk to the Village Market mall, primarily to visit the hardware store to determine whether or not they stocked everything we needed for the haulout, but, while there, we took the opportunity to enjoy a coffee and to top up on our fresh produce. We were, however, horrified to see the complete lack of social distancing on the “Songthaews” servicing the Chalong Pier and used to ferry tourists back and forth to the day trip yachts, especially with the Omicron variant spreading like wildfire in various parts of the world and given the news today of eight Omicron cases confirmed in Thailand, not to mention, the first death in the UK associated with this variant.
Back onboard, we both got stuck into continuing our efforts on our Passage Preparation To Dos List. However, while enjoying a chat to Craig, off Il Sogno, play was interrupted on both yachts when a sudden squall blew through.
Saturday brought a sunny, windy day and cooler temperatures, so, while Elaine reviewed the latest yacht insurance quote and policy updates, Roy completed a cleaning task he’s been working on for ages; the rubber trim on Paw Paw and then finished cleaning Paw Paw’s bottom, the latter of which is taking an immense amount of time now, infuriating us, given the fact that the antifouling is barely six months old.
Yesterday, after another rolly night, we decided to have a break from all the To Dos and, instead, enjoyed a lovely chat to Andy and Paul, off Talulah Ruby III, over breakfast in the cockpit, before dinghying ashore for our walk along Panwa Bali and Ao Yon beaches, stopping to purchase an ice-cream along the way. By the time we returned we both needed a swim, but Elaine decided to clean Paw Paw’s waterline while she enjoyed the cool water. Roy, on the other hand, took his day off literally and just soaked, following which he enjoyed a chat to Terence in Australia.
Today, although cloudy initially, Elaine decided to still do the laundry as planned, while Roy took a very lumpy, bumpy dinghy ride back across Chalong Bay in search of jerry cans and to fill up with dinghy fuel. By this afternoon, though, we both needed a nap, although Elaine also started downloading additional Navionic maps to her tablet, a task she thought she’d completed, but, given the possibility of other routes, additional maps are now needed.
Our evenings have been spent watching Christmas movies in the hopes of getting into the Christmas spirit, but as yet, neither of us seem to be overly excited this year for a host of reasons. The fact that we still don’t know what we’re doing for Christmas Day, says it all. Missing family and friends, the discovery of the Omicron variant just when we could see light at the end of the tunnel and distracted by thoughts of what 2022 holds for us, etc, have all melted into a mishmash of heartache, trepidation and anxiety; not exactly the ingredients for festivities. There have, however, been a few sunset weddings on the beach, which have provided some interest and we spotted the first super-yacht lit up in twinkle lights in the anchorage last night.
Tonight our day ended in the best possible way; watching the beautiful display from the Geminid meteor shower which was visible over Thailand from around 2300. Brilliant!
