Since we’d already booked a car, thinking a hospital trip was necessary, we decided instead to run a few more errands, particularly to pay Grace Pharmacy so that they could process the very large order for Elaine’s medications and to collect what they already had in stock, as well as to exchange our large propane tank, completing yet another passage To Do.
A stop at Dean and Deluca at Boat Lagoon marina for a coffee and then the chandlery to purchase a few more spare filters for the engines and watermaker before popping into Villa Market for a few groceries, wrapped up the morning. However, given that we’d hired the car in Panwa Bali this time, as apposed to Chalong, we took the opportunity to also enjoy the stunning scenery from the Kao Chad View Point, clearly showing the beautiful long, white, sandy beach we frequently walk along, as well as all the yachts, including Paw Paw, anchored off. However, we would swap this view in a heartbeat for the view Brooke enjoyed at home in Arizona, while Keenan was away at work flying passengers to their loved ones for Christmas.
We were also delighted to receive the news that our yacht insurance had been approved by the underwriters and that our medical insurance provider had decided to review our latest medical claims and have agreed to pay out, both a huge relief. Things are eventually coming together!
Back onboard, once our purchases were sanitised, Roy dinghied ashore to collect a takeaway dinner from At the Beach, bumping into Richard and Yim, off Charon, while there, who had recently returned from Krabi Province, while Elaine settled down for an afternoon matinee to get her into the Christmas Spirit.
After a delicious dinner and not wanting to face Paw Paw in disarray today, we mustered up the energy and inclination to get all our purchases stowed before wrapping up the day with another movie.
Expecting a somewhat lazy morning today, we enjoyed a cooked breakfast before dinghying ashore for our rendezvous; the delivery of our jerry cans. Fortunately we decided to wait near the entrance to My Beach Resort, as arranged, earlier than planned, because we’d barely sat down, when the delivery truck arrived. A good cardio workout followed as a number of trips were required back and forth to the dinghy as the jerry cans were hauled back down the steep incline to the beach. Elaine, however, still took the time to admire the wild flowers along the way.
With a fully loaded dinghy and delighted we eventually had the jerry cans we needed for our departure, we gingerly made our way back over the fringing reef to drop everything off on Paw Paw, following which Roy returned to shore to update his Apple development environment and undertake some regression testing on the Anchor and Anchor Plus applications to ensure everything was still functioning as expected after the latest Apple software update. Elaine, on the other hand, decided that being deck fluff was the perfect way to spend the rest of her day. After all, t’was the night before Christmas!
A scrumptious barbecue onboard, a chat to Elaine’s folks in Ireland and catching up with family and friends on social media sealed our day!
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!
Although the armageddon scenario of a cyclonic storm developing in the Andaman Sea from the typhoon in the South China Sea before heading straight for Phuket Island, didn’t materialise, two depressions developed, nonetheless; one in the Malacca Straits in the vicinity of Pangkor, Malaysia and the second towards the northwestern tip of Sumatra, Indonesia. Add the residual ramifications of the typhoon and…
Fortunately Saturday was a much better day for Elaine, who was feeling herself again after all the side effects of her booster shot, so another nice long walk was enjoyed on the beach before stopping in at the Santiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa for a coffee and chocolate cake. The latter, however, was not as good as what we’ve had at My Beach Resort and it didn’t help that the minute we sat down, hundreds of day trippers arrived at the resort, forcing us both to dive for our masks, eat up, pay and leave as quickly as possible!
We did, however, have a good chuckle after the duty manager had stopped by to welcome us and indicated that, if we were not happy with anything, to let him know. It wasn’t until he’d moved away from our table, that Roy indicated he was about to say: “Well, yes, actually, I’m not happy with my room; I keep rolling out of my bed!”, but decided it would be in poor taste and cause mass confusion.
Back onboard, Elaine dealt with the finishing touches to the yacht insurance, which hopefully will finalise that piece of the jigsaw, while Roy cleaned the shower fittings of the forward starboard head and the aft port head, as well as replaced the shower pump in the forward port head that had become lazy.
Then in between tidying up the cockpit area, Elaine enjoyed surprise calls from Justine in England and her folks in Ireland, followed by dinner and a few storms which moved north and south of us.
With the best seats in the house, our day ended watching a Fire Dance performance on the beach.
Yesterday, after another check of the weather forecast, it appeared everything was still on track for our haulout and, since we were both awake early, we decided an early morning walk on the beach was the perfect way to start our day, then enjoyed breakfast in the cockpit under sunny skies.
The rest of our day was spent preparing for the haulout. While Roy checked all the electrical tools needed and repacked the aft starboard bunk to return the space to a guest cabin as apposed to a workshop, Elaine performed a similar task with the forward starboard cabin, following which she updated the emergency contact information for the satellite phone with a few more details obtained, updated some medical notes and rescheduled her appointment at the hospital until after New Year.
By then it was time for our pre-arranged SSB/HF radio check with Talulah Ruby III (Andy and Paul) and Golden Spirit (Caroline and Michael), who are in Pangkor, Malaysia. Fortunately everything appeared to be working, albeit difficult to hear clearly on some frequencies, given the marina environment in Pangkor and the fact that we were protected by a mountain.
Today, however, was a feat against all odds.
Never mind the fact that Roy was really ill with an upset stomach just before bedtime and we both had a terrible night’s sleep when we woke to howling winds and Paw Paw bouncing around all over the show in the early hours of the morning, our sail over to Ao Po Grand marina was extremely uncomfortable with wind and waves on the beam and both of us getting more and more disillusioned about the possibility of a haulout.
By the time we reach Ao Po at around 0900 we had resigned ourselves to the fact that there would be no haulout today! A phone call to Derrek, the Marina Manager, however, indicated that it was calm and protected behind the breakwater.
Not completely convinced, we bounced around in the deeper water while Roy put out the fendors and docklines, before gingerly making our way to the fuel dock to tie up and await our timeslot. It was indeed a miracle; complete calm!
By 1045 we were on the trailer, a new way for us to haul, but not before a sworm of bees attacked the dockhands onshore and ourselves onboard along with the two dockhands onboard. It was poor Roy who got stung, however, as Elaine and the two dockhands ran for cover behind the mosquito nets covering the saloon door! We truly could not make this up if we tried!
With this delay and the time-consuming process of getting onto the hard, our concern now was whether or not we could get everything completed in the 24 hours we had before being splashed again, not to mention Roy complaining of a very painful leg, following the removal of a very large sting.
So, while the light jetwash was completed we took the opportunity to load up on caffeine at the Port of Call restaurant, then it was all hands on deck until 1900 tonight with help from two boatyard workers. However, before they arrived after lunch, Elaine scrubbed, rinsed and dried the rear areas of both hulls around the saildrives and rudders and then completed the outer port hull, while Roy sanded the saildrives and propellers, all of which were in a very sorrowful state, to the extent that all the saildrives needed was a light hand sanding to remove what was put on in June! It was definitely a good job we had decided to haulout again.
Once help arrived, they took over from Elaine to finish off the scrubbing, rinsing and drying of the hulls, while she got to work on applying the primer and copious layers of antifouling on the saildrives, taking a short break to mask the hulls ready for painting, as well as to purchase our takeaway dinner. In the interim, Roy applied the PropOne to the propellers. Fortunately by then, one coat of antifouling had been applied to both hulls, but, although it was getting dark, everyone pressed on under spotlights and torches to complete the second coat.
By 1900, everyone completely exhausted, we’d finished! Our takeaway dinner, a shower and watching the rest of our favourite Christmas movie, The Holiday, sealed off an extraordinary day!
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It started with our haulout being up in the air due to a severe tropical depression forecast to pass straight over Phuket Island on the exact day Paw Paw is scheduled to be lifted out of the water again. Then, a simple task, like ordering jerry cans, turned into an almighty cluster when Lazada decided to block Roy’s payment for no apparent reason, resulting in him having to dinghy all the way across Chalong Bay to try and pay at an ATM, another option they offer, but, of course, all the instructions at the ATM were in Thai and nobody could speak English at the bank to help him. By a stroke of luck he stumbled upon a store selling jerry cans, but, although they didn’t have the sizes we need, the owner was able to order them for us, thankfully. That was followed by a FedEx mixup in delivering two of our parcels containing the additional cruising pilot and flags we need, resulting in Roy having to drive to the FedEx distribution centre on Wednesday to collect the parcels before they were erroneously put out for delivery again. On top of that, our yacht insurance is still not finalised, after spending most of Tuesday completing the necessary paperwork, never mind the fact that Elaine’s medication supplies, getting the rest of our provisions purchased, sanitised and stowed, as well as reinstating and testing our satellite service, were all still in the works too.
By Tuesday evening we were grateful for the impromptu “Dock A Rebak Refugee’s” reunion on Panwa Beach to spend some time with cruising friends over sundowners and to take a break from the mayhem.
On Wednesday we were up with the alarm to collect the hired car and make our way to the hospital for Elaine’s Moderna booster shot, arranged by the doctor here in Thailand. Although it was another fiasco, which took more time to work through four different queues to complete administrative tasks before getting the shot, while the nurses sat idle for ages between patients, Elaine eventually emerged two hours later after being only eighteenth in line, but grateful to the doctor, nonetheless, and thankful that we got there early! It was during this time that Roy went to FedEx, setting the norm for our “divide and conquer” approach for the rest of the day, in order to get through all our errands. However, during our travels around Phuket Island, there’s always so many sights we see and wished we had a camera to the ready and Wednesday was no exception, except, this time Elaine managed to get the camera out in time to capture a man swinging in a hammock in the back of a pickup truck while it was being driven! Only in Thailand!
From the hospital we made our way to Boat Lagoon marina, where Elaine completed the last of our Christmas shopping and Roy made a beeline for the chandlery. Fortunately we made it to Ao Po Grand marina just before the office closed for lunch, so we could drop off our gifts and enjoy lunch with Derrek, the marina manager, to discuss options for the haulout, given the impending weather.
At the time, a cyclonic storm was forecast to develop from the typhoon hitting areas of the South China Sea, coming over the southern provinces of Thailand and the northern states of Malaysia and reforming in the Andaman Sea before heading straight for Phuket Island. What are the chances!
Anyway, with a plan for the haulout, we then headed back down to Chalong to the Village Market, stopping at Grace Pharmacy en route. While Roy headed to the hardware store to purchase everything we need for the haulout, Elaine headed to Villa Market to purchase some provisions we needed to tide us over until the storm passed.
It’s fair to say, Elaine had completed wilted by this point with the side effects of her booster shot kicking in with vengeance. By the time we got back to Paw Paw, all she could muster was to sanitise everything before having a light dinner, a shower and heading to bed.
With the storm still forecast yesterday morning, we were up early to weigh anchor and head north, but alas, our ground tackle was snagged again; this time with a fishing net wrapped around our chain. We’ve come to the conclusion that we should just expect a fouled anchor now and be pleasantly surprised if it isn’t!
After motor-sailing north and taking the opportunity to clean the bridle again, our chosen anchorage for last night was off the west coast of Koh Yao Yai, with a beautiful long, white, sandy beach, dotted with three resorts, the Santiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa, the Yao Yai Beach Resort and the Royal Koh Yao Yai Resort, all apparently cruiser-friendly. It was around noon by the time we dropped the hook and had barely sat down, though, when a fisherman arrived to sell us prawns and tiger prawns. Well, that was dinner sorted out; barbecued with a salad. Delicious! We also enjoyed a lovely walk on the beach to clear our heads, although Elaine’s fatigue associated with the booster forced her to bed for a few hours yesterday afternoon.
Another look at the weather forecasts this morning indicated that the armageddon scenario wasn’t going to materialise after all, so, instead of popping around to the channel between Koh Yao Yai and Koh Yao Noi, where we intended to hunker down, we decided to stay put and enjoy the surroundings. That involved another long walk on the beach, but this time towards the resorts for a snoop. We were delighted to find a selection of cafés, restaurants and a convenience store, so we’re not going to starve, not to mention, there’s a spa at the nicest of the three resorts!
Our morning, however, wasn’t as chilled out as we’d hoped after receiving an unexpected email from our medical insurance provider, initiating a flurry of activity, followed by an additional followup required on our yacht insurance, which then prompted Roy to re-setup our satellite service and a slew of testing started; checking messages, checking emails to ensure the website is updated with our blogs, checking that weather forecasts and routing information can be obtained and, finally, re-programming all the emergency contact numbers and emails for the satellite phone usage. In summary, we’re looking forward to being on passage at this rate; we might actually get a rest!
Our day ended unexpectedly; a video call from Keenan after a phone call had been made to Santa to ensure Christmas came early at the Cadman Jr household, given that, once again, Keenan will be working over the Christmas period. Needless to say, everyone was delighted with their gifts and William claimed: “Mom told Santa not to bring me a dirt bike (aka motorbike) because I might get that for my birthday, but I got exactly what I wanted; a red bike (aka bicycle)!”
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!
Tuesday was spent picking up where Elaine had left off in reviewing yacht insurance policies providing coverage for a Red Sea passage, while Roy cleaned Paw Paw’s bottom again, then downloaded satellite images of the Red Sea and updated our charts on the Chartplotter.
Yesterday we discussed the possible options and our best strategy for our fuel management, our water management, should we encounter problems with our watermaker en route, and our propane management, the latter prompting Roy to get our empty propane tanks filled. His final tasks of the day was to finalise our passage weather subscription and to import tracks from other yachts to overlay these onto the satellite images in Ovital, while Elaine returned to our passage menu and provisioning requirements, which carried over to today before it was finally completed.
Roy also spent most of this morning loading up all the likely anchorages and tracks of previous yachts through the Red Sea onto our Chartplotter.
We have, however, taken breaks from all this mayhem to take lovely long walks on the Panwa Bali and Ao Yon beaches under fabulous sunny skies, squeeze in afternoon naps, enjoy the stunning sunsets and clear starry nights, as well as chats to the family in Ireland. It’s been wonderful to lie in bed and drift off to sleep with a cool breeze blowing through the hatches and stars hanging overhead.
Although Elaine had had a restless night’s sleep due to the high winds overnight, she still sat at her computer all day yesterday to try and get this piece of planning completed. For her efforts, Roy cooked a delicious Sunday Roast, something we haven’t had in ages, given that we didn’t want to be using the oven in the heat and humidity, which, of course, has stopped our baking efforts too; probably a good thing, though! An additional reward was an absolutely clear sky, accompanied by a beautiful starry night, a first in months.
Yesterday and today was also a public holiday in Thailand to honour the birthday of the late King Bhumibol The Great, Rama IX, born 5th December 1927; an event celebrated throughout his 70-year reign and is now honoured as Thailand’s National Day and Father’s Day. Formal events started with a blessing and merit-making ceremony attended by 89 monks, one for each year of the king’s life.
Being a bright, sunny day today, we both enjoyed a lazy morning before enjoying a chat to Andy and Paul, who have returned to Talulah Ruby III in Malaysia. Afterwards, with lots to think about and discuss, we dinghied ashore for a coffee and slice of chocolate cake before enjoying a long walk along Panwa Bali beach, up over the hill, down to Ao Yon beach and back again. By then we had cemented our thoughts and, on return to Paw Paw, Elaine got stuck into completing the last of the passage planning, including some revised procedures and the accompanying To Do List, while Roy finished the route planning, downloaded a few more satellite images and sorted out some outstanding logistics.
Dinner was an interesting undertaking, since we started to sample some different options for simpler passage meals.
Our day ended with another stunning sunset, but with the bad news that Thailand had detected its first case of the Omicron variant in a US citizen, who had travelled from Spain. Not surprising really, given that this variant had likely spread long before it was detected in South Africa, begging the question: Who was asleep at the wheel?
