Fortunately we received another phone call from Keenan to occupy us for an hour or so. He had finished his first week of training and was driving to visit friends for the weekend. Tyler, also a pilot at Delta Airlines, was our “inherited son” throughout their college years and we hadn’t realised so much time had passed since Keenan and Tyler had last seen each other, albeit they’ve stayed in contact via social media and are now both husbands and fathers. Of course, the pandemic has added to that lapsed time too, not only for them, but for everyone. It’s hard to believe more than two years have passed since we last saw our loved ones in the US and Ireland. We’ve never spent this much time apart and there’s still no end in sight!
After breakfast, while Elaine settled down in the cockpit to tackle her mountain of paperwork regarding medical insurance claims and updating her medical notes in preparation for her consultation with a specialist in Thailand, Roy decided to spend his morning baking bread; a gluten-free soft white loaf for Elaine and a crusty loaf for himself. With time on his hands he also decided to make a few “fun” enhancements to the Anchor Plus application.
Elaine, on the other hand, had no sooner settled down for a wee afternoon nap when she heard a distant thunder clap. Not too perturbed initially she ignored it, but when the next one was a lot closer, she jumped into action. Within seconds the usual drill had started; start the engines, to be sure, to be sure, close all the hatches, stow all the cockpit cushions, roll up the side-shirts and wait for the wind. It was barely a few seconds later when the anemometer hit 29 Kts, but strangely enough, there wasn’t much rain associated with today’s storm and, fortunately, we didn’t drag either. However, a new arrival, another Dream Yacht charter yacht did, but the crew were quick to let out more chain. That about summed up the entertainment and excitement in the quarantine anchorage for Day Six, besides the enormous jellyfish that paid us a visit.
This evening, we passed the time by enjoying a movie; the first in a few weeks and what a waste of time that was; a drama with no finite ending. Hate those kind of movies!
After a light breakfast and while we awaited the arrival of the medical team at around 0900, we enjoyed a nice long chat to Keenan, which continued after the medical team had left. It was lovely to just sit and talk to him, something we haven’t done in a very long time.
Today’s medical team was compromised of a different group of professionals, but they were just as efficient and proficient, with both tests completed within a matter of seconds.
Afterwards, a mid-morning coffee and a baked delight went down like a treat, following which we had to decide what to do for the rest of the day. By then, though, Roy had almost completed his one task for the day; replace the temperature sensor on the generator, another job that had to be postponed due to our hasty departure from Malaysia.
By 1100 Elaine still had no idea what she wanted to do for the day, especially since it was rather overcast and hazy, not to mention, a tad rolly in the anchorage, so she enjoyed a nap in the cockpit instead. When she surfaced it was lunchtime, the sun was shining, the temperatures had reached 35C, the water was calm and there wasn’t a breath of air. It was the perfect reason to have lunch and return to her spot in the cockpit to while away the afternoon too.
By this stage Roy had joined her, but around 1730 we happened to look out to the east and spotted a rather ominous looking squall approaching. A mad dash ensued to close up everywhere and stow the cockpit cushions just as the heavens opened. What we weren’t expecting was the 30 Kt winds and seconds later the anchor alarm signalling a warning, then alarming that we were dragging; only the second time ever on our ground tackle.
A mad dash to the helmstation to start the engines followed, so as to hold us off the fishing pods to our stern. Completely amazed that we’d actually dragged, along with at least one other yacht in the anchorage, we concluded that we must be anchored in a less than ideal bottom, so a whole lot more chain went out when we re-anchored. Having a live test of this Anchor Plus feature was excellent, though! We were both delighted at the results, albeit that it was associated with more than enough excitement for one day after a very lazy and relaxing afternoon, although a beautiful sunset put the world to rights again!
After breakfast and tidying up, Elaine completed her final edits on our latest video: “Magnolious Malaysia - High Tea at the E&O Hotel”, something we are so pleased we got the opportunity to do again before having to depart Malaysia under less than desirable circumstances.
With the time to reflect on the events that unfolded, it is staggering that even ongoing medical care for Elaine was an insufficient reason to obtain a visa extension and that sending an unvaccinated, immunocompromised individual out into the great unknown in the middle of a pandemic, was perfectly acceptable to the Malaysian authorities, never mind the disregard of the benefits that our foreign currency contributed to the economy during our stay, at a time when the economy of many countries are in free fall. In the time we were in Malaysia, we had an extensive amount of work completed on Paw Paw amounting to thousands of USD, in addition to the amount of money spent on medical expenses as a result of unforeseen circumstances, as well as preventative care, dental care, eye care, etc, all at fabulous medical facilities with wonderful staff, contributions which would have continued, since Elaine still had upcoming hospital appointments with three different specialists and plans were underway to have Paw Paw hauled and the antifouling work undertaken as well as to have the outstanding engine work completed, amounting to a few thousand more USDs.
Regardless, it’s fair to say, we enjoyed every minute of our time in Malaysia, we loved the people and everything the country had to offer cruisers; world class in every which way, but the sudden announcement that we had to leave and with such short notice, has left a very bitter taste in our mouths. Being in the middle of our circumnavigation, and en route to Thailand when the pandemic was declared and countries closed their borders, we were immensely grateful for the safe haven Malaysia offered at the time, but to have it so suddenly rescinded with no explanation and no options that could be pursued to permit us to stay, has left us utterly astounded and rather bewildered, especially since we’re now reading accounts of other individuals who have been far less fortunate than ourselves, all having to leave Malaysia at the worst possible cruising time of the year with regards to weather and finding themselves in great peril, all while foreign embassies sit on the sidelines and let their citizens we tossed out of a country, when many of those countries are providing a safe haven for Malaysian citizens who are stranded because of the pandemic, not to mention, the complete and utter silence about this fiasco in the international press.
The irony, though, is that, like most other cruisers, we would gladly have paid for a visa to stay until it was safe to continue our sailing adventures, but, many months ago, when we suggested this to one of the sponsors, we were reprimanded, “as Malaysia will never just throw the cruisers out”; all a mute point now, of course, because, thankfully, Thailand opened their borders to us, for which we will be forever grateful and it was a huge relief to receive copies of all the clearance documentation this afternoon, indicating that we are “bonafide”, giving Roy a great excuse to crack open his bottle of Laphroaig Four Oaks whiskey!
It was also interesting to see a flotilla of Dream Yacht Charter yachts arrive in the quarantine anchorage this evening from Langkawi. It’s rumoured the company has decided to move their business out of Malaysia, given the developments.
However, floating just off the island of Phuket, our minds have also wandered to the events of the 2004 tsunami and the devastation it caused. We remember exactly where we were when we woke to the news on that Boxing Day; at our log cabin in the White Mountains of Arizona, enjoying Christmas with Justine and Paul, who had arrived from the UK a few days earlier. We understand from some research that the first location where the tsunami was noticed, was on the Similan Islands, when strong currents were reported by divers underwater who felt as if they were in a washing machine.
Although the west coast of Phuket Island was badly hit with floods, killing 250 people, including tourists and causing damage to almost all the major beaches such as Patong, Karon, Kamala, and Kata beach, places we’re definitely looking forward to visiting later in the year when the northeast monsoon returns, it was the smaller, but increasingly popular resort area of Khao Lak, some 80 Km north of Phuket, which was hit far worse, with 3,950 confirmed deaths, including Bhumi Jensen, grandson of Thailand's King, Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Since there was no warning of the first wave, although these days, like most countries, Thailand is better equipped with warning systems, people had no idea it was coming and, due to the topography of the seabed, coastline and reefs offshore, the tsunami waves piled on top of themselves, thus creating the infamous “disappearing sea effect”, also known as the “tsunami drawback” which, in itself, enticed many tourists to their death.
On the island of Phi Phi hundreds of holiday tourists were washed out to sea, although apparently “tuk-tuk” drivers were quick to offer assistance, driving victims to hospitals, higher ground and away from the surging waters.
As with every natural disaster, there is also a miracle that occurs; on one of the beaches, a man was leading an elephant to entertain tourists, when the tsunami hit. Because the elephant's natural instinct was to flee the sea, it saved the life of a young girl who was on its back. Talk about being in the right place, at the right time!
Roy’s task for the day was to revive our chain counter for the windlass which had decided to stop working just before we left Straits Quay marina, forcing us to install our spare which doesn’t have a chain counter. Although our chain is marked, having a chain counter is just far more convenient. He also took the time to install our new wifi antenna after the previous one simply rusted away; gotta love these so called stainless steel yacht items we pay good money for!
Since Roy cooked breakfast, Elaine offered to cook dinner, a rare occurrence indeed, but, to be honest, it helped pass the time and it was something she could actually prepare; cottage pie!
Another beautiful sunset, followed by our first rain shower in days topped off our day.
A cooked breakfast of freshly made crumpets, served with bacon and honey, accompanied by fresh pineapple set the stage for another day in quarantine.
Although the sun was shining brightly again, there was very little breeze, making for a very hot, sticky day, but, thankfully by late afternoon a few scattered showers in the distance brought some relief as the breeze picked up.
Elaine spent most of her day cataloguing all our latest photographs and getting them ready to upload to our website once we have decent connectivity and then decided to start work on another video, which now only requires a few minor edits before it too will be ready to be uploaded.
Once Roy has completed the fuel polishing installations, he also reconnected our battery charger to the generator AC power, which had previously been disconnected last year when we were in Rebak Island marina, thinking we would have to leave Paw Paw and wanted the option of connecting the charger straight to shore power without having to leave our transformer on the dock. As Roy succinctly put it: “We’re de-Malaysia’ing our yacht”!
We also received word this morning that we’ve been cleared in by Immigration and the Harbour Master, but await Customs clearance, which usually takes 3-4 days. Additionally, we were informed that, due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Thailand, the quarantine period is being extended to the original 14 days, effective 1st May 2021, but, at this time, we remain unaffected, although there is a possibility that could change in the coming days.
In the interim, we’re continuing to enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer us; beautiful sunrises and sunsets, a full moon shimmering off calm waters, peaceful starry nights, sunny days, cool breezes to keep the temperatures at bay and afternoon rain showers to wash Paw Paw down or to fill a bucket of water to aid a cleaning exercise or rinse out Roy’s sweat-drenched work clothes.
Then, once we had breakfast, Elaine’s task for the day was to tackle the pile of laundry that hadn’t been done since leaving Penang Island, as well as to wash all the bedding and towels. Fortunately it was the perfect day for this activities, given the blue, sunny skies and not a drop of rain anywhere.
Roy decided his task would be to clean the igniters and burners on the stovetop, but he also had to fix a toggle switch on the watermaker before that could be run, following which he baked himself some baguettes and spent some time playing with his new toy. He also had a chat to Craig, off Il Signo, who is still in Langkawi at the moment, but apparently, by the weekend, there’s expected to be another gaggle of yachts arriving in the quarantine anchorage from Malaysia. Guess we’ll know soon enough.
This evening, we chatted to Keenan again to wish him good luck as he was getting ready to do his “Systems” Test; always a major hurdle to overcome at the start of any aircraft training.
Other than enjoying a family Zoom meeting and separate phone calls to the family in Ireland, life in quarantine has been quiet and relaxing for the most part.
After breakfast, we each tackled our one task for the day; Elaine created our next video, which, unfortunately, cannot be uploaded until we have decent connectivity and Roy cleaned all the fasteners on the helmstation weather-guard as well as on the blind in his cabin so that they all clipped up properly again, although Elaine added a second task this afternoon and baked herself a loaf of bread to accompany our homemade chicken soup for dinner.
It’s fair to say, though, that not much has changed for Elaine being in quarantine compared to our stay on Penang Island, other than her daily mid-morning walks are being replaced with daily stretch exercises. However, since Roy was the one out and about every day, either doing the grocery shopping or dealing with the marina office, the various delivery services and the workmen and visiting the various hardware stores, etc, he’s starting to resemble a caged animal pacing up and down, pottering around and munching on sweeties and this is only Day One!
By 1330, though, we’d received the news that our COVID-19 tests, conducted onboard yesterday, were negative; this meant we could be checked into Thailand by the agent today and receive the first 90 days of our 270 allocated days under the STV (Special Tourist Visa). We also received word that Keenan was en route to Atlanta to start his training on the Airbus A-320. Another significant step in his career, one we’re especially pleased about and hope it will go a long way to ease the upset of loosing out on his captaincy last year because of the pandemic. Best wishes sweetheart. We’re thinking about you!
Regardless, it wasn’t too long after we had anchored, that the medical team arrived and before we knew it, had departed too. In full PPEs (Personal Protection Equipment), our original documentation and passports were handed over to one of the individuals and bagged, who then provided us with our sim cards and GPS tracking devices, following which our swabs were conducted by the doctor and placed in a cooler box, carried by the third individual. While it felt like the back of our eyeballs were being prodded, the entire procedure was completed in less than 5 minutes. Written instructions indicated that the tracking devices were to be worn at all times, except between 1400 and 1600 when they are to be charged. Now we await the results of our COVID-19 tests after which the quarantine clock will start to tick. In the interim, the GPS tracker is also monitoring our temperatures, heart rate, blood pressure and any physical movement ie steps, exercising, etc.
Delighted that the hubbub of the past 3 weeks were eventually over, we found a comfy spot in the cool breeze of the cockpit to enjoy a mid-morning nap and to while away our day. We napped to the sounds around us, synonymous with the sailing lifestyle; the water lapping against Paw Paw’s hulls, birds chirping as they come to take a peek, the wind generator spinning in the cool breeze, the distant roar of a powerboat’s engines, the putt-putting of a fishing boat passing by, the sunshades flapping in the breeze, the VHF radio crackling to life, all the unmistakable sounds of life on the water.
