The Lushlife

Last December, long time friends Ray and Jan Pitt flew from Australia for a ten day break in Phuket.  It was their first visit to the island and they must have liked the place, because they came back again in January.  This time they stayed for a month, exploring Phuket by themselves and then joining us onboard Crystal Blues for a slow sail down to Langkawi.

What Happened to our Guest Cabin?

Over the past 2 years our back cabin has become "the shed", loaded with boat projects.  Four solar panels,  20 metres of fabric for new shade covers, various other parts, Neil's Indonesian drum, his guitar and lots more.  So we moved the goodies off the boat to our Thai girlfriend's house (thank you Kaew and Brian), so that Ray and Jan had a cabin to themselves.  They had a few days to get their "sea-legs" in the comfort of the marina, then we provisioned, Neil arrived, and we cleared out.  Let the fun begin!


Boat Jobs To Start With

Luckily for all of us Ray was keen to learn sailing as quickly as possible, so he helped out with all the jobs on deck - the best way to get to know and understand a boat.  And we had a few chores lined up!

Raising and dropping our mainsail was getting a little difficult.  For the last 10 years we've used SailKote by McLube to lubricate the track annually.  This magic spray makes the track very slippery, but does not leave any sticky residue.  Nano technology at its best - chemically milled micro ball bearings in a can.  So Ray winched Neil up the mast for a rigging inspection and then Ley slowly released Neil down, while he sprayed the track for our Antal Batcars.  Hoisting and dropping the mainsail is as smooth as silk now - right Ray?

Local Provisioning

 Our first night at anchor two local fishermen came over with their catch of prawns.  Ley swum out, completed the transaction, the next day Jan and Ley peeled the prawns on the back step. That's the way to shop.

Paradise Found

We were lucky to have great weather, showering on the aft deck with million dollar views, terrific flat water sailing, beautiful full moon anchorages and interesting snorkeling at Koh Rok Nok and in the hong at Koh Muk.

The fun for Neil ended abruptly as he had to fly out for work on February 14 from Langkawi.  The admiral, deckhand and galley bitch continued to enjoy the delights of the marina at Rebak with fine dining aboard Crystal Blues, early morning walks and of course a cocktail around the pool every afternoon.

Pounding the Streets of Penang

Our local bar, just around the corner from Love Lane, Georgetown, Penang.

We took the ferry from Langkawi to Penang and Ley had a great time in one of our favourite Asian cities.  Penang is a melting pot of different cultures, races, religions and cuisines.  Everyone is friendly and every street offers amazing temples, shops, cafes and historic landmarks to explore.  We shopped, ate and wandered and pounded the pavements of Penang for three days before Ray & Jan returned to Australia.

We're looking forward to their return ...... they're good crew and good friends in the one great package !