Fortunately, though, by the time the boatyard workers arrived, it had cleared and a cool breeze helped dry the surfaces, aided by some elbow grease. By 1100 everything was completed, the yacht ahead of us had been splashed and our trailer was moving Paw Paw’s towards the slip; no bees, no mishaps, just gently settled in the water, as the line handlers held Paw Paw in position and the trailer was removed from below us. Although exhausted, we were delighted to have actually got this major undertaking completed, given how busy the boatyard was, never mind the fact that we’d set a new record for a haulout, amazing everyone in the boatyard, including Derrek, the Marina Manager. Add to that the sight of two “farangs” slaving away, certainly created a large degree of astonishment amongst the locals and tourists alike.
A few other happenings caught people’s attention; Elaine having her own chair to sit on while she worked on the saildrives, to the extent that, before we were splashed, one of the boatyard workers asked Roy if they could have the chair; delighted at the reply.
The next item which created a fair degree of fascination was our paint mixer which attaches to a drill and does an excellent job of mixing the antifouling; an item we definitely weren’t prepared to part with. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if a replica is fashioned within the week!
Of course, the “empty” paint cans, including about a quarter of the last can, had some thinners added, everything consolidated and repurposed for a fishing boat, again bringing much delight when Roy indicated that they could have the leftover paint, given that enquiries had been made earlier as to whether or not we’d purchased the paint in Thailand and at what cost.
Also, a while back we mentioned the “gardener” of Ao Po Grand marina, who is very spoken and, in fact, could well be a botanist or a horticulturist. Well, he paid us a visit as well to say hello, but specifically to give us a good luck charm for our onward journey from Thailand. This was completely unexpected and quite touching actually! Such thoughtfulness and kindness! He’d remembered we would be setting sail in a few weeks.
By 1500 we were re-anchored in Panwa Bali, both needing our beds; it had been a very long 36 hours! Our thanks, however, go to Derrek, who squeezed us into the busy schedule, keeping us on the trailer overnight to get the work completed.
Today was an easier day. Under sunny skies, Elaine had one more document to amend and sign for our yacht insurance, before we both got stuck into sanitising and stowing everything we’d used during the haulout; hosepipes, hosepipe fittings, extension leads, torches, spotlights, scrappers, spare paint brushes, masks and gloves, protective glasses, etc.
By the time Paw Paw was somewhat organised again, although in desperate need of a good cleaning inside and out, with dead bees, leaves, dust and light blue footprints everywhere, the latter thanks to Captain Roy, it was time for our celebratory lunch ashore at My Beach Resort. It was also the first time in two years that Elaine had a pizza and it was well worth the wait!
A long walk on the beach, followed by an afternoon nap, a light dinner and a movie completed the day.
However, as delighted as we are at getting this haulout completed in record time, it is fair to say, that Thailand has been an extremely expensive stay for us; the most expensive of any country. The cost of our quarantine of $4500USD, having a botched haulout in May that cost us $6000USD, the cost of this second haulout, required within a 7-month period, at $3000USD, 4 months of a tablet that, not only nearly killed Elaine off, but cost us $6400USD for which our health insurance is not paying and which excludes all the other medical expenses incurred because of all the infections this awful medication caused and the cost of $2000USD for the two visa renewals we required under the STV (Special Tourist Visa) programme in order to remain in Thailand, never mind the very expensive and unexpected spare parts we’ve needed due to the high import duty and sales tax and now the upfront costs of $4500USD required for Elaine’s supply of medications, ~$5000USD required as an earlier payment for our yacht insurance to coincide with a January departure and a 9-month earlier than expected medical insurance payment of $4500USD to extend our coverage for a year due to the pandemic, we’re lucky we aren’t getting a lump of coal each for Christmas!
