SV Crystal Blues

Settling In

2011-12-15T17:50:00.001+08:00

Orchid shopping (Photo SV Catchastar)

The Job List

For cruisers, one of the big attractions of Phuket is the quality marine services and trades readily available. Fortunately our list for this year is very short.

The first things on Ley's list was to buy another orchid. So with Cathy (SV Catchastar) and Lyn (MV Mandella II), we visited our favourite orchid lady. Three flowering orchids, planted in a coconut shell with hanging wires, cost 170baht - around $6.00. With a little TLC and orchid food we hope to have blooms for months to come.

Our aging Caribe dinghy was repaired by Cholamark Boat Company. It needed new handles, new valves and strengthening at the transom/tube connection. The dinghy was returned to us yesterday and now has a new lease of life. It's 11 years old now and our "car on water" has carried us through many adventures, with hundreds and hundreds of sea and river miles under the keel.
It says a lot for Caribe boats !

Crystal Blues dwarfed by super yachts (Photo SV Catchastar)

Yacht Haven Marina

This is our first visit to Yacht Haven Marina and we are enjoying it. There is a good breeze most days and the clean, fast flowing water is alive with fish. Friendly staff and security guards, good wi-fi and proximity to local restaurants all make it a great place to call home for awhile. We are surrounded by Super Yachts, one even has its own helicopter on the aft deck. The most common language spoken at our end of "A Dock" is French, certainly a change from the Singlisgh at One 15 Marina.

Fire On Board MV Grey Pearl

A few weeks back we were invited to the Haven Restaurant here, and with the crews from Catchastar and Mandella II, we sat on the balcony and watched a beautiful sunset over Phangna Bay.

A short while later the Captain from super yacht Michaela Rose asked us if we had boats in the marina - his crew had called to warn him that a boat was on fire on D Dock. They reported the fire under control and we could see fire hoses spraying water over the fire. Unfortunately the fire soon raced out of control and the flames leaped brighter and higher.

Damage to other boats was minimised as the blazing boat was towed out by Yacht Haven Marina Manager Nick Wyatt and staff. That was a gutsy move, given the likelihood of propane or fuel explosions. It was somehow manoeuvred onto a deserted beach nearby, where the fire eventually burned itself out. Due to the courageous effort by Nick and his team it appears that only one other boat was slightly damaged in this incident. MV Grey Pearl was a well proven and well loved 62ft Nordhavn motor yacht.

MV Grey Pearl - Skeletal Remains

Sleigh Ride to Phuket

2011-11-26T12:10:00.001+08:00

Rebak Retirement Island!
In early November Neil was busy working in India, so Ley filled her days with a typical Rebak Retirement Island lifestyle. A walk, swim and water aerobics in the early mornings, cooking classes, fruit and vegie ferry runs and then provisioning.

Hard to take......

With Crystal Blues fully loaded with fuel, water & wine, we departed Telaga Harbour around 14.00 hours. The wind always gusts strongly around the top end of Langkawi as there are many mountains and high cliffs, so we motor-sailed through the gusts and then turned off the engine. 16 hours and 120 nm later we arrived at our destination, Phuket. Both crew and Crystal Blues had a fabulous overnight sail. Winds were just forward of the starboard beam, blowing 10 to 23 knots. For hours on end we were flying at 8.5 knots or more. As the wind crept up to 23 knots I prepared to furl in the head sail, but the sea state calmed down and we kept flying with full genoa and mainsail. I had decided to let Neil sleep longer, but he woke up early, as he didn't want to miss the best sailing we have had in years. Wind at last !

Squid boat - lit up like a Christmas tree.

Very Scary! Around midnight I saw a shadow of an unlit yacht sailing off our starboard bow. I raced down below and switched on all our lights as this ghost ship silently tacked and glided by 100 feet off starboard. The only navigation light was a stern mounted red fishing light, flashing dimly. The sailor had a small flashing strobe in his hand. I tried to make contact with him over VHF radio, but no reply, so I told anyone else who was listening on radio what I thought of his irresponsible sailing.......a very frightening experience!

Up until then all I had to dodge were lines of anchored squid boats, as in this photo, which are lit up like Christmas trees.

Checking in to Phuket. There are new check-in procedures for Phuket / Ao Chalong One Stop Shop. If you have Internet access before you arrive in Thailand, it expedites clearance if you register and check in on line. All your information online is printed out and is chopped with your boat stamp and signature. Port Captain and Customs also require a lot of paper work still. The new system is in trial mode and hopefully once the system is fully tested, maybe the paper work mountain will diminish.

A New Home We had a delightful sail up Phang-Nga Bay toYacht Haven Marina and are now comfortably settled into our berth on A dock, mixing it with many of the Super Yachts that are based here. Neil has been busy with work - systems design, emails and conference calls each day. On the weekend we took time out to show friends, Ray and Jan Pitt, Phuket through our eyes. I think the highlight of their trip was the fun and games we had at the LadyBoy (Kathoey) bar on Saturday night in Patong. We have also managed to share a few meals with them at our favourite restaurants and cafes here.

Fun and games with Ray and Jan

A Night to Remember!

2011-11-26T10:54:00.001+08:00

Lucky us!

Silence

I was off watch and woke to hear the engine being shut off. I listened for the sheets to be released and the mainsail raised, but only heard silence, not good at 4.40am. We were drifting with a fouled propeller, with Neil sitting in the cockpit locating the fishing boats on radar. The pitch black predawn and an oily black sea surrounded us, and we decided to wait the few hours till dawn before diving under the boat.

The PowerDive Hooker was set up on the aft deck. Neil donned a pair of leather gloves and armed with a very sharp knife he dove overboard. Five minutes later he hoisted up a floating fishing net that he cut from around the propeller. We were on our way again....

Exactly two hours later the engine came to a screeching stop again, but this time we could see the culprit. We were trailing 6 metre loops of thick rope, which also wrapped around the propeller. Fortunately we had the hooker set up, so Neil went for his second swim in the Malacca Straits, off Pangkor Island, Malaysia.

Strikes and Boom

Just like this!

The net and rope fouling on the prop was really just a minor annoyance after a bad night of electrical storms. Around 20.00 hours Neil was preparing to go to bed when we noticed a large storm on the radar. Lightning and thunder was focused on the mainland and we continued to move ahead of it. Or so it seemed at the time. As the storm slid behind us it moved out to sea and then began spawning storm cells all around us. Soon we were at the storm's epicentre , the lightning was spitting and hissing all around the boat, lighting up our world, the thunder booming overhead. Luckily we had just managed to weave through a fleet of anchored squid boats and could see them eerily highlighted with each flash.

We searched the radar looking for an escape route but the storm was traveling with us and growing in momentum, so we decided to turn tail and run away. The rain pounded down and with each lightning strike it illuminated the white-out conditions that surrounded us. We were not having much fun, but were relieved that we had an escape plan. After 3 hours the storm moved out to sea and we turned back to our original heading. Neil went to bed, and for the next few hours I watched the storm angrily boom and flash out towards Sumatra.

The Great Escape

At the Shade Tree Cafe, Penang

Apart from rope, nets and storms we had a dream run up the Malacca Straits! We are heading, via Penang and Langkawi, to Phuket, where we plan to base ourselves for awhile. With positive current and tide for most of the passage and no wind at all, we were really looking forward to a change of scenery. We stayed at the new Straits Quay Marina in Penang, for 4 days and caught up with Kathy and Mark on SV Catchastar.

Crystal Blues is now berthed in Rebak Marina, Langkawi. Neil has flown to India for work for the next two weeks. Ley has been challenged to stock the boat with all things duty free in his absence.

Changing Cultures

2011-10-05T22:48:00.000+08:00

Wanting To Ship To Turkey?

SV Skedaddle Again being loaded in the Maldives 2011

We have posted this on behalf of Pete and Kathy on SV Wave Runner :

"We have negotiated a discounted rate of $800/foot with Sevenstar, sailing early March from Phuket, Thailand, to Marmaris, Turkey. This is the same company that shipped so many yachts from the Maldives early this year, and from Phuket later in the year. We have had good reports from people who shipped. To take advantage of the discount, please contact Pete Jamieson, SV Wave Runner waverunnerp@gmail.com who will put you in touch with the agent and note you are part of the group." See here to read of SV Skedaddle Again's shipping experience from the Maldives to Turkey.

A Cultural Exchange

Based in Phuket for our last refit, the boat work left us little time to cook at home. There was fabulous Thai food available almost everywhere - from the back of motor bikes, street stalls, local cafes to silver service dining. A few of our favourites are Mama's Cafe in Boat Lagoon, Chili's, Raya's and the Thai House.

We've been away from Phuket for 18 months now, but still crave the freshness and flavour of Thai food. Luckily for us Ley has two Thai friends who also live in One15 Marina. They had a cultural food exchange......Ley taught them to bake bread and they are teaching Ley to how to cook Thai. Larb Goong, Chu Chee Pla, Takrai Pla, Phad Thai and Yum Woon Sen and hopefully lots more to come!

Dee and Somkuan with their bread Ley's Larb Goong (Cold prawn salad)

The refrigerator is now loaded with Thai basil, lemongrass, bunches of mint, Thai chives and coriander, ginger, galangal, kafir lime leaves and green peppercorns. All these and more are readily available at Thai Supermarket in the Golden Mile shopping complex in Singapore.

Never Leave Port On A Friday - With Bananas Onboard

2011-08-09T10:55:00.002+08:00

And never sail with a woman onboard - well we won't go there. So we broke all the old rules last Friday and were severely punished!

We cleared out of Singapore heading for a 4 day break on the Johore River in Malaysia. We anchored over night and departed just before dawn with favourable light winds and current. Then the dawn peace was shattered by an engine alarm - coolant temperature was high. Despite having the necessary parts on board we soon found ourselves limping back to Singapore under dinghy power.

Crystal Blues Uses Dinghy Propulsion

When the alarm sounded we shut down, quickly hoisted the sails and slowly made our way through one of Singapore's big ship anchorages. As we sailed we started stripping the engine cooling system, starting with the gearbox oil cooler - if the impeller had failed the parts would be pushed through the system to that point.

A handfull of rubber bits confirmed our assumption, so we then started removing the seawater pump. We kept sailing, letting the engine cool down and when the breeze stopped we dropped anchor just east of Changi airport. The water pump location on the Cummins is tucked well forward, where access is mainly by feel, not sight, through a small opening under the galley sink. Our 11mm ring spanner was too long for Neil to use in such a confined space, so on the back step we used the angle grinder to cut it down. All was going well until the last bolt head sheared off as we released it. Now we had no wind, no motor and 9 nautical miles to return to the marina.

Dinghy Propulsion

A handful of impeller blades

With the dinghy sprung with long lines, just aft of midship, we hung all our fenders overboard to protect the hull. Well smothered in sunscreen and holding an umbrella we did shifts in powering forward, sitting in the dinghy. Steerage was via the autopilot as we moved at 3.5 to 4 knots back to the marina.

Half way back the 18hp Tohatsu outboard motor started cutting out. It would start again after a few squeezes on the inline priming pump, but it was quite stressful as we were drifting in a ship anchorage. We were sun burned, dehydrated and not having much fun! Fortunately our good neighbours, Peter and Somkuan of MV Inn Lieu came out in their large RIB dinghy and towed us the last few miles home. Once inside the marina we maneuvered under dinghy power and quietly slipped into our pen. Now the "holiday" can begin again.

We passed two Dockwise boat / yacht transport ships in the anchorage - maybe we could have asked for a "lift" home?

B.O.A.T Day!

2011-08-01T22:30:00.000+08:00

We had a B.O.A.T (bring out another thousand ) day, yesterday. Fortunately these don't come around too often, but when they do they are nasty.

1. The Genset Saga Continues

Our dear Onan - a love hate relationship

Ley had noticed that there was a light grey, dusty film in the lazerette. Installed here are a myriad of pumps, washing machine, genset, watermaker, inverter, charger and house batteries - each and every component could be guilty......so we checked everything. Two Jabsco pumps and a magnetic (refrigeration) pump were recently replaced, the washing machine just over a year old, the batteries were clean and dry, so we pulled off the cover of the genset......a light grey film of dust had delicately settled over its innards, not good. We started the genset up and saw a puff of grey smoke waft out from the back of the Onan. Why is it that when something fails the problem is always at the back of the machinery, deeply hidden? We have pulled this genset apart too many times to count for other problems, see here, the exhaust system will be a new challenge.

2. Followed by the Battery Charger

Mastervolt Mass Charger on the right

But this was just the icing on the cake. Early in the morning we started the genset, and if you are wondering our latest impeller (30 hours of use) is doing fine, but we didn't seem to be charging our AGM house batteries via the Mastervolt Mass 12/80 battery charger. We could see spasmodically just a few amps of charge, not the 60 plus amps that are normally thumped in. The 240 volt refrigeration system was working fine, so we knew the gentset output was okay. After checking the Mastervolt service book, Neil pulled out the giant tool box and other stuff that is stored in this section to make a pathway for him to lie side-on, over the house batteries and the look at the charger. The Mastervolt charger was bolted in position when this aft section of the boat was not fully populated with stuff, and as it is a low maintenance piece of equipment, we thought this location was okay. After a few hours of observation and testing we decided that the charger was faulty.

The burnt electrical socket.

3. Seriously Sad Wiring

As Neil was lying across the batteries he noticed that the 240 volt plug from the air conditioner was loose in the GPO socket. He tried to push it back in, but found out that the plastic fitting was melted, brown and deformed - a very lucky discovery. So we totally removed this piece of wire, reinstalled and terminated the connection from the GPO plug to the air con unit.......this was the only bit of wiring on our boat that we had let a contractor do. We supplied the wire, double insulated, the black cable protector and the Australian approved 240 volt plug, sloppy workmanship was provided in Thailand.

On Monday we talked with Bob Wisniewskii from Power Protection Solutions in Australia and ordered a new battery charger. We have also sourced Onan manifold and exhaust gaskets locally and from Australia for the genset.

Practice flag carrying for National Day

Ah, a Long Weekend

Of course none of this would be so urgent as most of the time we are tied up to the dock, but next weekend we have a four day holiday to celebrate Singapore National Day and we hope not to be tied up for a few days. Instead we want to be anchored off Telok Sengat and Sebana Cove in the Johore River in Malaysia.

B.O.A.T.......

Happy Days

2011-07-17T23:27:00.004+08:00

Celebrating 90 years

Four Generations

Ley's father, Ray Worrall, celebrated his 90th birthday on June 21, just a week after the Gemini duo (AKA Neil and Ley) celebrated their joint birthdays.

Ninety years is a sensational achievement and we had a very pleasant Sunday lunch at the Royal Motor Yacht Club of Victoria in Williamstown. With four generations present Dad quietly blew out his candles and smiled.

Neil's parents also joined in the celebrations - we both feel blessed that we could all celebrate his amazing journey.

Servicing the Whale pump

Pumps R Us

We think our Whale Titan manual bilge pump is around 20+ years old on Crystal Blues. Luckily we have only had to use it once in earnest, when our gear box oil cooler developed a serious leak. Just recently the pump developed a small squirt when being used so we replaced the neoprene casing. Getting 20 years out of a product that is only guaranteed 1 year is amazing - thank you Whale.

Over the past year we have replaced three pumps - our 12 volt Jabsco fresh water supply, a Jabsco macerator and a 240volt magnetic drive for our refrigeration system. The Jabsco salt water deck wash pump also needed a switch replaced, luckily we had a spare in the cupboard.

Our friend Kris on SVTaipan suggested we add up how many pumps we have on Crystal Blues, 16 at least, we think, all moving fluids here and there. No wonder we have a whole cupboard dedicated to pumps and their spare parts!

Space Matrix Sail Away

Last Saturday we celebrated a visit to Singapore by our good friend Prasanna from Space Matrix's Bangalore office. As Prasanna and Praveen arrived at One15 Marina, they noticed a famous Bollywood movie star, Sameera Reddy, in the club lobby. They even managed to get their photo taken with Sameera!

Ley cooked up a multi cultural feast, catering for vegetarian, no pork and no beef diets! Dinghy rides, floating lessons and lots of fun filled our afternoon in the Singapore sun.

Space Matrix Sail Away

Cold & Getting Colder

2011-05-16T19:00:00.003+08:00

Back in December 2009 we commissioned Siam Cooling to upgrade our 240 volt refrigeration systems. A new Hermetique compressor was installed as well as replacing all the 20 year old copper tubing. Stephan and his team did a fabulous job and the refrigeration and freezer has been running perfectly ever since.

Neil planned to build a new control system himself, using electronic sensors in the cold boxes, to give us finer control over the system. We sourced Elliwell controllers from Singapore, and stainless thermo-couples from Stefan at Siam Cooling.

Old contacts in Melbourne helped with a laser cut and engraved stainless panel to mount the electronics. Over the past 16 months he has slowly completed this project. Today was the big day, power, sensors, solenoid valves and the controllers were finally all hooked up and the system commissioned.

Now Neil is pacing the cabin, fine tuning the set points, differentials and controller parameters. It works ! Yep - it looks like a mini disco is happening in the corner of the galley with red, yellow and green diodes. One more job from our last refit has been completed.

The Tempting Tiomans

2011-05-09T00:18:00.000+08:00

View from Crystal Blues in the channel between Pulau Aur and Pulau Dayang

Easter holidays offered us a few days away from Singapore, so we decided to explore the Tioman Island group. After clearing out with Singapore Immigration at dusk we motored east through the busy Singapore Straits and then continued on north overnight.

Crystal Blues arrived at beautiful Pulau Aur just in time for breakfast. There are three low key dive resorts here and a small Malay village spread along the two sides of the channel. The anchor dropped between the two islands and we went for a swim in clean, clear water. The cooling breeze, the towering rock escarpments and swaying coconut palm vistas enthralled us. Hard to believe that such pristine beauty can be found so close to Singapore. Early next morning our neighbours and friends from Singapore arrived on MV Saraburi, so the partying quickly began - oh we really miss the cruising life....

Sweet sailing - Photo by Rod Steel

Sunset Sailing

Next day we moved on to Pulau Tioman. Flat seas and a steady beam breeze of 10 to 15 knots showed Crystal Blues off at her sweetest point of sail. Lucky for us there were a few avid photographers on the top deck of Saraburi. It wasn't long before Crystal Blues was sailing off into the sunset, with the log reading 8.5 knots for the next few hours.

Pulau Tioman

Sailing under the dragon's horns of Pulau Tioman. Photo by Mel Dow

According to local legend a Chinese dragon princess flew over these pristine waters on her way to visit her prince in Singapore. She stopped here for a rest, fell in love with the beauty of the area and took on the form of an island. Her horns are the peaks rising up through the mist, her scales the luxurious, green, leafy foliage and her claws are the grey boulders scattered along the shoreline. She also vowed to give shelter and comfort to passing travelers.

Like the magical Chinese dragon, we too were cast under the Tioman spell. As always Malaysian check in and out procedures were quick and easy. We anchored off the marina and dinghied into to have lunch and explore. The main town is a sleepy village beside the (tiny) airport runway. A host of small cafes and duty free shops were spread out down the single central road. As we walked a passing motor bike with side car stopped and gave a lift to a Chinese cafe. We decided to taste a few bottles of duty free wine with our lunch and the cafe owner freely brought a bucket of ice, glasses and a corkscrew to the table. Malaysian hospitality is really hard to beat. Dinner time saw a regrouping of the crews and we headed for a Chinese Seafood feast. After a late start on Sunday morning we headed back to Singapore. The wind was there for us again and after 18 hours we were back at One 15 Marina and soon fast asleep, dreaming of cruising.....

Milestones

2011-04-18T21:44:00.000+08:00

A Different View

View from the cockpit at dusk.

This month the Singapore Yacht Show came to One Degree 15 Marina on Sentosa Island, and wouldn't you know it, quite a few of the resident "super" yachts had to vacate their berths for a month. Crystal Blues was moved to a temporary berth and although the change of view was great, the long walk along the dock was not appreciated.

When we first arrived in Singapore late in 2005 there was not a single building around the One 15 Degree Marina pond. Now the whole basin is surrounded by apartment blocks, a soon to be finished "W" hotel, a multi-story car park and the One Degree 15 Marina Club. Back in 2005 the marina was "occupied" by international cruising sailors (paying peppercorn rents), and then we had a lot of fun .... now it is a floating parking lot full of large white motor boats which are maintained by permanent crew. We're glad that cruising yachts still visit on a regular basis to enjoy the luxury of One15, and the ease of shopping and provisioning in sensational Singapore. It is still great value.

OMG - My Younger Brother is 50 !

Happy Birthday Pete!

Peter turned 50 in March, and we flew back home for ten days.

What a party that was - the time flew by - only my brother Pete could have three different parties on three different days at three different locations, for three different groups of friends - and every party was great !

Here is a link to Pete's birthday photos.

We still found time for visiting our friends, some shopping and of course playing with our gorgeous grandson, Harrison.

Happy grandson

Ain't he cute....

Harrison is now 6 months old. He wakes up with a smile on his face and it lasts the whole day through - such a joy for all his family.

His first tooth was cut whilst we were in Melbourne and his mum Sarah tells me that the second one is on its way. Harrison is moving backwards, a precursor to crawling forwards ...another milestone soon we hope.

Although he's challenging his parents with his sleeping habits, Harrison's wake up cuddles and smiles just melt your heart.

Celebrating Life, Boats & Women

2011-03-10T22:57:00.013+08:00

13 Roses

Valentines Day and our wedding anniversary

Valentines Day and our thirteenth wedding anniversary was celebrated Singapore style this year.

Neil arrived at the boat with a beautiful bouquet of 13 roses and after dark we celebrated at a seafood restaurant that is famous for its live crab and fish. We were joined by Steven Shaw, who was Best Man at our wedding, and his wife Carol, along with several other local and international crab lovers.

The beer was from Singapore and the live crabs were from Sri Lanka. Those crabs, plus a large Grouper fish, were selected from huge glass tanks, scooped out and dispatched to the kitchen. We patiently sat and waited for the feast to begin, and we were not disappointed.

Mumbai Boat Show

Just what we need - an on water couch!

Last Saturday we happened to be in Mumbai and so we just had to visit the 5th International Mumbai Boat Show.

Although India has a long maritime history, recreational boating is a fairly new concept there, so the show was low key. It was focused mainly on new power boat owners, boats available for charter, a few stalls with marine bits and bobs and two marina design and construction companies.

There are many marinas planned for India, but until a few more are built India will be hard pressed to grow a pleasure boating industry. We did chat with the builders of the Cochin Marina. This new marina has proved extremely popular this year as a stop over for cruisers heading towards the Red Sea and the Maldives. With at least three sailing rallies using Cochin as their Indian base, this marina is planned to double in size as soon as the paperwork and permits are granted. With the recent unfortunate turn of events in the Gulf of Aden, their planned extension may be lacking in visiting International sailors until the Somali pirate issues are contained.

Women Working In India

Our most recent trip to India included both Mumbai and Hyderabad. With two major AV projects underway for Space Matrix, Neil's time was spent on building sites, co-ordinating services and AV installations. Both of these projects are fascinating in their scope, budgets and expectations. Being on-site is like being in the middle of preparations for an Indian wedding - or the Delhi Olympic Games - with its "it will be alright on the night" attitudes. However the headaches along the way are of migraine proportions!

How do all the building supplies get delivered - on women's heads, up the back stairs of course! Such a contrast to the mega$$ high tech video wall that Neil is building.

Of course the biggest headaches are probably felt by the women on site, like those in this picture, who carry all the building supplies and construction materials up the stairs (all day long) on their heads. The women in this image had never had their photo taken - ever! Seems appropriate to view the James Bond video here, in support of International Women's Day.

A Story With A Sting

2011-02-05T17:26:00.000+08:00

MV Saraburi, photo by Brendan Pollard

Our favourite weekend anchorage is St John's island, a short 15 minute journey from One Degree 15 Marina in Singapore. Most weekends you'll find MV Blue Steel, MV Saraburi and SV Crystal Blues anchored in this bay.

Late Saturday afternoon, two weeks ago, our friends Rod and Angie, (Blue Steel) and Al and Mel, (Saraburi) decided to go ashore in their tender, planning to swim and walk the beach at St Johns Island.

They had just got out of the tenders for a swim when Al unfortunately stepped on something in the shallows that sent an immediate searing pain from his second smallest toe up his leg. He hobbled to the beach, expecting to see a major laceration to his foot. Mel and Angie could only find the tiniest puncture wound in his toe.

Al's swollen leg, 3 days later

Because of the intense pain they immediately sped back to the marina and soaked Al's foot in hot water whilst preparing for the drive to A&E at Raffles Hospital. Al tells us that by now the pain was excruciating and all he could do was hold his leg up on the dashboard, squeezing his leg to halt the advancing pain.

Stonefish Envonomation

Very quickly he was admitted and the doctors diagnosed Stonefish envomation. After 3 pethidine injections the pain started to subside - all the while he was soaking his foot in hot water to break down the protein in the venom. Al's foot was x-rayed and then he went under a general anaesthetic as the doctor wanted to lance the puncture site and thoroughly clean out the wound. Laden with antibiotics, antihistamines, pain killers, a very swollen leg and a hefty bill, he was discharged the following morning.

Mean Looking and Dangerous Too !

Google Images / Peter Verhas

The Stonefish is from the family Scorpaenidae, which includes a large variety of fish characterized by the ability to envenomate with various types of specialized spines. LionFish, Zebrafish, Butterfly Cod, Scorpionfish are also in this family. Stonefish are well camouflaged bottom dwellers and like to live near rock, seaweed and coral.

A quick search on the Web revealed a recent study conducted by Singapore General Hospital on Stonefish stings in Singapore. Its a common problem here it seems. For a detailed treatment regime for either a Stonefish or LionFish envonomation see the link here.

Two weeks later Al is still in pain, and his leg is still puffy from a single puncture wound. We'll all be more careful on the beaches around Singapore from now on.

Fun and Games

2011-01-30T11:14:00.001+08:00

Mussel Man

Nephew Brendan's Awesome Visit

Neil's nephew, Brendan Pollard, came to Singapore for 10 days in early January. We shopped, partied, cooked, listened to good music and were completely zoo'd out during this time. We were also able to listen to Brendan practicing on his saxophone most days - a private sax player in the anchorage.

Widening Brendan's horizons was fun - he can now make mean Margaritas and Mojitos, and he applied himself to other cooking skills. He baked bread and then moved onto scrambled eggs. In return Brendan cooked his fabulous French Toast.

Neil and Brendan spent a lot of "geek" time together, shopping and eating in Sim Lim Square- the Singapore temple of all things electronic.

But the most interesting thing we shared was our mutual love of mussels...just how many kilos did he eat?

Sailing In Singapore

Akhil Paul and Jason enjoying the sail.

Last Sunday eight of us set sail for a Sunday picnic at St John's Island. Five were novice sailors from the Bangalore and Singapore offices of Space Matrix. With a good breeze and friend Rod Steel at the helm we enjoyed a few hours of sailing before anchoring for lunch. Akhil Paul and Jason Aung (both complete boating novices) spent most of their time at the bow, reveling in the salty sailing.
After a very cosmopolitan lunch including two traditional and delicious Burmese salads, most of us opted for a swim. For once the water was cool and refreshing. With our visitors eventually free of inhibitions, Neil and Akhil were last seen jumping off the bow of Crystal Blues.

Strange but True

A few years back a large silvery white fish jumped out of the ocean and danced along our foredeck. It skidded into the side of the open hatch over our bed, but didn't go through, leaving a trail of silver scales along the deck before flipping back into the sea. On Sunday a similar fish leaped from the water at midships and whacked into Ley's calves. We heard the whack and the splash but did not really "see" our fishy visitor, just the scales in the gunnel and Ley rubbing the bruise on her calf.

A work in progress!

Crimping Again

Our refit in Thailand wasn't quite complete when we departed there last year. So last week Neil started work on the new 12 volt control system for our refrigeration system.
For the first time in many months we had the tools out and the boat looking like an electronic workshop. With the Eliwell controllers, plus many switches, diodes and Blue Seas terminal blocks, there has been a lot of soldering and crimping. This is all being fitted to a custom stainless steel panel that was cut and engraved in Australia. A work in progress to be completed....soon.

Christmas Cheer

2011-01-05T23:12:00.002+08:00

Even though Neil was in between hospital visits over the festive season, we did manage to celebrate Christmas together with good friends.

On Christmas Day Crystal Blues and MV Saraburi rafted together at St John's Island, Singapore. Our friends Richard and Susan, SV Sea Bunny joined Al and Mel on Saraburi and their friends Maria and Nick, for a shared feast.


Christmas Day on MV Saraburi, photo courtesy of Richard Kidd

Our grandson's first Christmas! Photo courtesy of Sarah Gatter.

We spoke with both our families on Christmas Day over Skype. As the phone was passed around the tables in Melbourne, we managed to share in the Christmas cheer. Looks like grandson Harrison also enjoyed his first Christmas!

Incredible India

2010-12-31T11:37:00.030+08:00


Bolgatty Marina, Cochin

Although Neil has spent a long time in India this year, very little has been spent relaxing. So early in December we flew to Cochin in the state of Kerala, "God's Own Country". Located on the south west coast of India, we explored the ancient town of Fort Cochin and the marina at Bolgatty Island. We were not disappointed in the food, the friendliness and the wonderful sights. We stayed at the Fort House Hotel with a wonderful view of the extensive waterways leading into Cochin's backwaters and lake system.

Ouch!

Three days prior to this Neil was working in Hyderabad. He was bitten by an insect whilst in a car on the way to see a client. The bite instantly became red and angry. By the weekend in Cochin the bite area was infected. Neil started on a course of antibiotics and after a few more days he contacted the company's International Travel Assistance Service. New antibiotics were prescribed but the relief was only temporary, the bite site began swelling and in a few days was the size of a half a golf ball. Neil immediately flew back to Singapore and was at Singapore General Hospital an hour after landing and admitted for surgery later in the afternoon.

Cleaning the wound site - not much fun.

One more scar added

The surgeon excised the infected area, leaving a 3 cm by 1cm wide and 1cm deep hole in his arm (only click here if you want to see the wound). He was immediately put on a course of intravenous antibiotics. The wound site was kept open and cleaned and packed daily for the four days Neil was in hospital.

Visiting Boat Nurse

On discharge a nursing service was organised to come visit Neil on board and continue with cleaning and repacking the wound. Gradually the new grainy tissue and blood vessels began to fill in this hole.

Excellent visiting nurse service

After Neil visited his surgeon for a followup visit, Ley took over the cleaning and wound packing. With a week off between Christmas and New Year we planned to relax and hopefully find time to finish off the 12 volt control side of our refrigeration, still not completed from our refit. But this was not meant to be....

One more time....

Happy New Year!

A few days later Neil was back in hospital. Another infection had flared up, this time in his nasal and sinus area. More blood tests, more IV antibiotics and bed rest at Singapore General Hospital. The infection appears to be retreating and Neil no longer looks like Rudolf's brother! But the bad news is that he will be seeing in the New Year from his hospital bed.

Wishing all our family and friends a very healthy, happy and peaceful 2011.

A Month Of Challenges

2010-12-22T22:58:00.001+08:00

Neil continues with his "other" life, working mostly in India, with ongoing AV projects in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. He had quite a few health issues over the last 2 months, but he seems to be on top of it now. But not even a red-eye flight from India to Singapore was going to deter him from his latest challenge.

Getting Knotted

Bowlines.....up the burrow, around the tree, down the burrow, back to me!

Close friend Carol Shaw is "den mother" to a group of Cub Scouts here in Singapore. The pack, 120 plus boys, were having a camp-out in a National Park and one of the planned experiences was knot tying. Being an "old boy scout" in Australia, and a sailor, pre-qualified Neil for the teaching task. But he still had to pass an online test to permit him to instruct a scouting group.

With his new certificate and a basic out line of available equipment and expectations, off Neil went to the Singapore camp out. Both the parents and the boys had a fine time learning how to tie knots, coil line and the understanding of which knot to use when and where.

Kris and David departing from One15 Marina.

Hello....& Farewell

In early Novemeber our friends Kris and David on SV Taipan docked here at One Degree 15 Marina, Singapore, just two berths away from us. Wow - "real" cruisers to do real boating things with ! David, Kris and Ley shopped till they dropped, chasing boat bits, including webbing, alternator parts, and batteries. A little food, clothes and shoe shopping happened as well.

We enjoyed many great meals and good wines, until they finally cast off their dock lines, heading for Sarawak (our favourite Asian destination). They are slowly heading northwards and our paths may not cross for many years to come, leaving us the challenge of saying farewell and safe sailing to great friends.

Continuing the Tradition

When we were based in Sydney we celebrated Thanksgiving with our American friends, Steve and Carol Shaw. After the annual Saturday feast we usually loaded all the leftovers and more friends aboard Crystal Blues for a peaceful picnic on Pittwater. We're pleased to say that this year we continued with our Thanksgiving tradition, celebrating again with the Shaw family and friends. True to form, Sunday saw us sailing with delicious leftovers, plus a bunch of hangovers. Crystal Blues sailed to St John's island, a challenging journey of at least 2 kilometers. Our taste buds and waist lines were again challenged with turkey, mounds of stuffing, plates of vegetables and Carol's fabulous pumpkin and sweet potato pies.

Allen and Neil enjoying Thanksgiving!

Steven Shaw carving the turkey.

A Little Bit Of History

2010-11-17T15:01:00.001+08:00

Trader Boat, August, 1997

Last month marked the 13th year of our guardianship of Crystal Blues. From the moment we saw her advertised in the August 1997 addition of Trader Boat we fell in love. Owners John and Jenny invited us to Townsville for the weekend, to stay aboard and go out for a test sail (motor really - there was no wind...somethings never change.) She passed our inspection and then the surveyor's, with flying colours and a month later she was ours.

A lot of water has flowed under the keel since then and for both of us it has been 13 years of fun packed adventure. Crystal Blues was advertised with "every electronic gadget imaginable" - though we don't think the previous owners imagined Neil's passion for technology!

Fortunately we both enjoy working with our hands and don't mind get dirty. We continue to enhance and titivate Crystal Blues. The worst job we have tackled on Crystal Blues was sandblasting in the forward locker and the scariest was catching and removing a banded sea snake from the machinery area, in New Caledonia. We have enjoyed sensational sailing, beautiful anchorages. Continuing to do boat jobs in exotic places is still high on our agenda!

Three blades broken.....

Something Old

Just for something different we replaced the raw water pump impeller again on our Onan Genset (AKA the Insatiable Beast). Two hours and 35 minutes of running is an all time record for such undistinguished lack of service.

Something New

Life's Good - LG 1055LDP

Our electrolux washing machine died whilst we were at Boat Lagoon last year. It was 5 years old. Unfortunately Electrolux did not support this machine in Asia and the cost of importing new parts from Australia was prohibitive. David and Kris from SV Taipan discovered a compact LG washing machine in Singapore, an LG 1055LDP.

Yesterday we installed our new washer and the lazerette is again fully populated with machinery. Even though the machine came with Singaporean plumbing and electrical fittings we had enough changeover parts to make good and within a few hours Ley was happily watching the first wash.

Keeping Busy

2010-11-08T21:37:00.003+08:00

Boat jobs in exotic places......

Work

In 2004 we installed an electric macerator to our marine head in order to comply with Australian boating standards. After much research and talking to other cruisers, we purchased the Jabsco Quiet Flush Conversion system. We also fitted a Y valve between the fresh and salt water supply and mainly run the system on freshwater, when it is plentiful.

For just over 6 years the toilet has been maintenance free. It has happily flushed and macerated its way around Australia and Asia. A few months ago we noticed that the pump was making unusual sounds - time to source a new one. A replacement Jabsco macerator pump and seal kit was supplied by Jessie at MarineTech in Singapore for 1/3rd of the price that was quoted to us in Australia (how can there be such a huge price difference?)

The whole change over took less than an hour and the system is working perfectly again. Six years maintenance free, for a marine head rates to us as exceptional service - given that we have been living aboard all that time!

More Work!

Wow another long weekend! We quickly made a plan to go back to Telok Sengat, on the Johore River in Malaysia, so we could relax and tick off a few more boat jobs. There are still quite a few incomplete projects from our 2009 refit and we planned to tackle the control side of our refrigerator and freezer system. Running the 12 volt power cables over and under and through the boat was fairly painless and we are much closer now to completing this project.

Another impeller bites the dust!

Closing the valve on the salt water inlet manifold.

Unfortunately our genset demanded our attention, by shutting down as it devoured yet another water pump impeller. Okay, it was time for an oil change, so we stripped down the genset, lavished TLC in the form of new oil and a fresh impeller. The genest ran for just over two hours on Sunday and when we started it this morning it ran for a whole 2 minutes - yep chewed up and spat out another impeller. We spend way more money and time on maintaining this genset than any other piece of machinery or equipment on the boat. Although Onan were extremely generous and helpful to us initially ( they took away our first lemon and gave us a new genset for free after 2 years of continual problems.) Yet here we are still pandering to an insatiable beast!

and Play

Good food, friends and fun in Penang

Ley's high school girlfriend Judi Scott, decided to have a pre 60th birthday bash in Penang, Malaysia last week. Neil had work plans to be in India so Ley flew north for a few days. Luckily for us there was a wonderful Indian festival happening so between temple visits, partying in the street in Little India and fine dinning at the local cafes, we all had a ball. Here is a link to some of our favourite eating places in Georgetown.

Happy Birthday Judi!

New Crew for Crystal Blues

2010-10-04T21:43:00.000+08:00

Nana Ley and Harrison

Harrison leaving the hospital, 4 days old.

Sarah, Harrison, Chloe and Shaun

Harrison Oliver Gatter was born on September 7, weighing 8lb 2 oz. Shaun, Sarah and Harrison are having a wonderful time getting to know each other. Luckily for me, I spent 2 weeks back in Australia, enjoying lots of cuddle time. We all agree that Harrison is the "spitting image" of Shaun. Our grandson is a pretty good sleeper, though he still likes to party between 1.00am and 3.00am most mornings!

What a joy it is to be a grandparent.

In India, Getting Lost Is Half The Fun

2010-09-06T23:38:00.001+08:00

Let them eat cake...!

Last Sunday we went for a drive out of Bangalore. We were headed for the vineyards we had heard about North of the city. Ley downloaded directions from Google Maps, and with the camera, books, map and iPhone, we drove off. But this was no ordinary Sunday drive....

After studying the map and Google directions we took what we thought was the correct road, but five minutes later we were lost and only a few kilometres from our hotel. Neil back-tracked and took another road, but no, we were lost again. So we continued on, Ley scanning the street scape for sign posts, business addresses - anything that would pin point our position on the map. We took some interesting roads, crossed under the train tracks a few times, saw some fascinating sights but an hour later we were still hopelessly lost!

Boy Scout Technology

Not knowing the direction we were traveling, Neil opened his iPhone and turned on the compass/GPS app. Where we wanted to go was NNW, where we were heading was due west. Compass to the rescue, we then headed north.

After spotting a road sign and matching it with the map we finally coordinated our position with the printed Google Map, and after 3.6 km the next turn was down a tiny lane and through a small village. It didn't feel right so this time we booted up the computer, plugged in the 3G cellular modem and logged on to Google earth. Technology is amazing, we zoomed in on the map and all was revealed in larger scale. So then we really knew where we were.....

Drinking chai while waiting to hear about the tow truck.

But road conditions changed and the bitumen morphed into a red earth track. Then WHAM - we hit the only rock on the road. The oil sump was pierced and oil dribbled out. We were a long way from anywhere, so we quickly turned around and headed back towards civilization. Once back on the bitumen road we came to a stop near an International school and a block of shop houses in a small village.

The oil continued to drain out as Ley walked up to the shops and asked if any one could help us. One of the shop keepers called directory assistance and then arranged for a tow truck to come. All we had to do was wait, and then wait some more.

Free Entertainment

Luckily for us one of the shops was a bakery. As we hadn't had lunch we dined on curry puffs, sweet pastries and cups of chai. We sat at the rickety plastic table on two wobbly chairs, ate our meal and read our books. The bakery had many customers that afternoon - not sure if it was the sight of us sitting there for three hours, or the cakes and chai being the main attraction.

Karma

Vineyard in Bangalore

Across the road from the bakery was a vineyard - not the one we were looking for, but luckily for us the grapes were being picked. The vines were trussed up above our heads and were supported by 4 x 4 granite posts. We tasted the grapes and chatted to the sari clad workers, noting that the picking style was very different to when we picked grapes at Hankin Vineyard in Victoria.

Three hours later our tow van arrived, complete with 10 feet of chain. A connection was made and off we went, back into town. We arrived back after dark, it wasn't the Sunday drive we had planned on, but what an adventure!

To see more images of our Sunday afternoon drive and our travel and work time in India click here.

Finding The Balance

2010-09-04T12:44:00.005+08:00

Neil with Tony Spence, David Seaman and Bas Huibers

Singapore Sailing Visitors

We've been delighted to have visitors from home during the last few months. Neil's brother Peter and "a few mates" flew in for a shopping fix and get together. All being members of the Royal Yacht Club Of Victoria, they were keen to see Singapore from the water. Included in the group was Michael McLean, talented Para Olympics sailor.

We stowed Michael's wheel chair in the dock box, cast off the dock lines, and motored out for a barbeque and swim off St John's Island. After lunch the wind picked up and the Royal's crew were getting a bit jittery - so up went the sails, and with Michael at the helm we had great afternoon with 10 to twelve knots of breeze- unusually good for Singapore ! Our good friend Cas Bukor also visited us for a week. Whilst the weather was hot and wet, we all managed to have a good time. Cas learned how to make Crystal Blues bread, and also did some quick graphic design work for Neil from the floating office.

Neil and Prasana in the Bangalore Office

At The Coal Face

Neil has been working with the Space Matrix team for 5 months now. He's hired four new staff to build the team in India and Singapore, and is constantly interviewing for more.

Multimedia projects and business growth in India are taking up most of his time, plus supporting and enhancing the Space Matrix regional IT networks. Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad are his second homes now, and he's in India more than 2 weeks of every month. He's gradually discovering the delights of India, including a vibrant live music scene - lots of rock and blues, but disappointingly little jazz.

His multimedia team are designing projects valued at more than 5 million US dollars, with clients including Wells Fargo, Axis Bank, Gartner Research, Shell and Symantec. Space Matrix is growing rapidly, so on the IT side he's also planning for upgraded IT networks plus new offices in China and Dubai.

Sailing home from Johore. Photo taken by Gordon Fraser

A Long Weekend!

Australians love a long weekend and Singapore National Day gave us a great opportunity to escape from the marina and go sailing, exploring up the Johor River in Malaysia. We were invited to join a small group of seven local yachts on sail-away to Teluk Sengat. By sundown on Saturday afternoon all the yachts had cleared-in to Malaysia and were anchored in a beautiful bay at Teluk Sengat. Dinghies ferried the crews into the Blue Dolphin restaurant (highly recommended) for a Chinese seafood banquet. The food and the company was great and the restaurant was re-booked for the following night. Sunday offered a lazy start with roti canai for breakfast and a stroll around Teluk Sengat. Sun-downers were held on Crystal Blues and this gave us a chance to get to know our fellow sailors.

A squall hit the fleet early on Monday morning and canceled our roti breakfast. Sails went up, anchors were retrieved and we sailed down river to clear Malaysian Customs and Immigration. After that we had a fantastic sail almost all the way back to the marina in Singapore. Can't wait for the next long weekend to sail away again.

A Month In Borneo

2010-06-24T21:07:00.006+08:00

I Must Be Dreaming

Birthday surprise.

Crystal Blues is anchored on the very peaceful Sungai Tulai, and the sun is just peeping through the open hatches. I'm still sleeping when I hear a choir of sweet young voices singing (very quietly) "Happy Birthday." Of course I think I'm dreaming, so I lay in bed, sleeping, drifting off. Then the choir starts up again, a little louder, and through the fog I realise - this is for real ! The singing is coming from the cockpit ! I stumble out of bed and through sleepy eyes I see nine children, a stack of gifts and a beautiful cake with candles burning. After blowing out the candles, and opening the gifts, the children paddle home in their canoes. What a fantastic way to start our birthday !

Then I turn on the computer. As soon as Skype loads birthday messages and calls come flooding in. Gary and Sue on SV Yaringa made a quick video call from Japan, just before they depart on passage to Alaska. Our Seirra Wireless modem and the Celcom data card is provividng excellent service up here in the jungle. I quickly emailed some of the birthday images to Neil, who is still in Singapore. Our birthdays will be spent apart, as Neil flew back to India and Singapore for a week of work.

Jungle Barbecue

Kikki and Betty preparing the middin fern

Jabu and Chanda suggested a barbecue in the jungle one afternoon and invited all the cruisers. A children's committee was formed, menu and costings were calculated. Coconut rice in bamboo, hot dogs, marinated chicken wings, fish bits, sausages and midden fern were on the menu. I added an Aussie touch with potatoes in foil, cooked in the coals. Next morning we speed off in the dinghy to purchase the supplies and others prepared the barbecue area and cut down the bamboo for the rice.

Two fires were prepared, one for the grill, one for the bamboo rice and potatoes. While the food was cooking Jabu, Beretin and Dominic took the cruisers to explore the jungle. The boys showed us large Nepenthes, (insect eating Pitcher plants), hanging orchids, birds nest ferns and many tall native fruit trees. We arrived back as the food was being served on large green leaves. Everyone agreed that it was a great adventure.

New reading glasses and big smiles!

Reading Glasses R Us

Kikii from SV Endelig and we on Crystal Blues had been collecting reading glasses and sun glasses. One evening whilst visiting the long house we asked for a book and distributed the glasses. Then we sat back as glasses were tested. Eventually all those who needed new reading glasses found a suitable pair. Our Iban friends will often "go without" with no complaints, but are happy to accept when the spirit is right.

Rubber Tapping Iban Style

Jampie collecting the latex

Although this was our fifth visit to the longhouse, we had never visited a rubber plantation. This year our good friend Jampie asked us if we would like to go and watch him tap and collect the white, silky latex. Robert and Elaine (SV Sunrise) joined Ley and the kids early one morning to watch Jampie. We saw the simple tool that is used to just skim open the the bark each morning. He carefully poured the collected latex into a bottle and then turned over each cup so that the mosquitoes could not breed in them.

Jentang and Asat rolling out the rubber.

The latex is then taken back to the long house and mixed with a coagulating chemical (an acid), left to firm up and then pressed out into rubber slabs. These are then dried and sold off to the traders in town. Even after four years of visiting Rumah Lidam, we are still amazed by their culture and life skills.

Borneo River Action

2010-06-05T15:50:00.020+08:00

Our Caribe "car" with a load of Iban visitors

We always think of our inflatable dinghy as our "car". Here in Borneo, on the river Sungai Tulai, it is the quickest way for us to get to town, and really the only way to move around - visiting the long houses or bringing visitors to our boat. Built by Caribe in Venezuela, it's now ten years old and still going strong. On our last visit here the Caribe carried a mother in labour to hospital - and that child was named after Ley. Last week it carried a badly injured young man to the same hospital, after he was involved in an accident in the longhouse. Bleeding badly, he was carried from the longhouse in a woven sling under a stout pole and loaded onto the floor. We hear that he survived, but may not have use of his fingers.

Local Boats

Our Iban friend Jampie made his own boat 5 years ago. He went into the jungle, cut the tree down and then cut the timber into long planks. These were left to dry out and then he built his boat. That tradition continues, though this year we were surprised to see new styles emerging - boats clearly built for speed. This year, the young men are building small racing boats, practicing for a competitive regatta to be held on the river in July. Though the designs are new, they're assembled with the same skills used by their fathers.

Each boat uses a small (standard) chinese manufactured petrol engine, air cooled with a single cylinder. Propeller selection and hull shape seems to be up to the builder. Every day this week they've been carried down to the river and tested, sometimes with dramatic results. Iban boats are usually steered by a single paddle, held over the side. These new boats have rudimentary rudders with a basic rope steering system. These afternoon practice sessions are great entertainment for the locals - big and small, old and young, the community crowds the dock, offering words of encouragement and helpful suggestions. There is always alot of laughter. Neil uses our dinghy as the "crash" boat. He has towed a few boats back to the dock and was instrumental in one rescue where the driver flew out of his boat whilst turning too sharply. The boat sped off into the jungle along the riverbank. It was totally hidden in the undergrowth and a machete was called for to hack a path into it. All the time the engine was roaring away - no safety cut out switches here.

Glamour For The Girls

There are three yachts now visiting the longhouses here on Sungai Tulai for the Gawai festival. Yesterday afternoon the three cruising women decided to add a bit of glamour for the local girls. They gathered up nail files, polish, polish remover and a splash of perfume, and headed into the long house.

Ley gave a quick talk on manicure and nail polishing techniques. Nails were cleaned and filed, cuticles pushed down and then the painting began. One coat of clear base, two coats of colour and then two top protective coats - all in fairly rapid succession. Extreme speed nail painting followed, but we all had a great time and many beautifully manicured hands were seen in the long house that evening. Many thanks to Kikki from SV Endelig and Christina from SV Roxy for helping hands and the perfume.

Sarawak Update

2010-05-28T16:34:00.006+08:00

Crystal Blues anchored in the Santubong River

After a three day passage from Singapore, we dropped anchor in the Santubong River, where we're surrounded by peace and serenity. Mt Santubong towered overhead, attracting a crown of clouds, whilst from it's slopes a chorus of jungle birds called. Malay fishermen were quietly hauling in their nets and the ever shy Irrawaddy Dolphins were quietly surfacing around us. It was a great welcome back for our 4th visit to Borneo.

Dollar and Pende, caretakers of Datu Linggi's house and dock here, were on hand to greet us. They confirmed that cruisers are still welcome to tie their dinghy to the dock and that fresh, potable water is available. A new development this year is the "No Berthing" sign - sadly some boats have abused the privilege of Datu Linggi's kindness, and have not only tied to the dock, but when asked to move on, they refused to do so. This is not leaving a clean wake for others!

Ian and Mona, the owners of the Kuching registered SV Kumang, confirmed that there is still a sunken fishing boat immediately off the large Jabatan Laut dock. Anchoring there, or too close to the fish farms, has caused problems for cruisers in the past. Employing a diver to untangle your anchor is expensive in these crocodile infested waters. And yes - we saw our first croc in the anchorage this visit!

Reviewing the Rajang River charts with the Cartographers

Ian has kindly supplied a detailed Google Map of where to check in. We also visited the Cartography Office of the Jabatan Laut, Sarawak Marine Department (Lot 683, Section 66, Jalan Utama, Tanak Puteh, Kuching) and purchased three recently updated charts for the Rajang River. Charts required are SAR 1440, 1441 and 15.

We visited the new marina on the Kuching River and were advised that they have onshore facilities and there is water and power to some of the slips. It is located some distance from Kuching adjacent to the new Convention Centre, before the bridge and barrage, but has none of the beauty of the Santubong anchorage. It really is in the middle of an industrial waste land, though when the convention centre is finished it should all be different.

Three Days To Gawai!

Crystal Blues is now anchored on Sungai Tulai, in front of Rumah Lidam long house. We have been blessed with wonderful friendships with these Iban families over the last 4 years, and have been warmly welcomed back into their homes and lives. Last night we were invited into the long house for a jam session with the band. Neil was given a few rhythm lessons by Jambar then the fun began. We also shared a few glasses of tuak, yumai Iban home made rice wine.

We carefully walked down the boardwalk to the dinghy dock only to find our dinghy beached in knee high sloppy mud. Neil waded in, pushed and pulled and finally the dinghy was freed - then we had to deal with mud caked legs, clothes and bags. A refreshing midnight swim in the river cleaned us up. Dealing with 5 metre tides makes for interesting times up river.

Back To Work

2010-05-23T12:53:00.006+08:00

Neil at work

We stunned quite a few friends with this decision, whilst others thought we had sailed off the edge of the world. We just see it as part of the adventure.

Late last year Neil was offered a position with Space Matrix Design Consultants in Singapore, to establish a new multi-media business similar to our previous enterprise in Australia. The new operation would be part of the turn key solutions that Space Martix wanted to offer to their clients. Space Matrix is one of the fastest growing architectural and interior design firms in Asia. It is Singapore based, with offices in India, Bangkok and Sydney. Our good friend (and best man) Steven Shaw is the Regional Design Director, hence the arm twisting offer.

A few weeks into work Neil added another hat to his Multi-Media role, by taking on the management of Space Matrix's IT teams. As most of Space Marix's offices and his AV and IT staff are based in India, there will be a lot of travelling involved.

So we have based ourselves and Crystal Blues at OneDegree 15 Marina in Singapore and are enjoying the change of life. Neil's wardrobe has been expanded with new work clothes, whilst Ley has taken on the care and maintenance of Crystal Blues (and Neil).

Neil started work in early March, after our shake down cruise to the Andaman islands. We still manage to cast off the dock lines every other weekend, drop the anchor and chill out with friends. One weekend our godson, Ethan Shaw and his younger brother stayed onboard, so the boat and the systems are still getting a good work out.

Najat ( dancing) at Gawai

9 Days To Gawai Festival

Our younger Iban friends have been bombarding us with text and Facebook messages, plus emails with questions and countdowns for Gawai. Neil telephoned our friend Jampie in the longhouse on Sungai Tulai, Sarawak, this week and told him that we would be there this year to share in the celebrations. For the dayak peoples of Borneo, the Gawai festival is like Christmas, New Year & Thanks Giving all rolled into one.

We don't know who is the most excited, as we have really missed all our friends at the longhouse Rumah Lidam, on the Tulai River. It will be only a short visit, due to work commitments, but we'll party hard, hopefully celebrating with lots of music and dancing.

The Joys of Getting Old

2010-05-03T22:39:00.002+08:00

Shaun and Sarah snorkeling at Roc Nok, Thailand

Our son Shaun and his wife Sarah joined us for a 10 day cruise from Phuket to Langkawi in February. We explored the delights of Phuket and then set off via Phi Phi Don, Rok Nok and the Butang Islands, enjoying some good sailing and great snorkeling along the way. Shaun even managed to catch at least 4 fish a day on our new Thai lure.

Before we left Phuket, Shaun said to me "Mum we have some bad news and some good news". I asked for the bad news first - "Mum, you are getting old!" This wasn't news to me, so after a few seconds the good news was announced - we are going to be grandparents in early September! Lots of hugs and tears of happiness followed. When they flew from Langkawi back to Melbourne Sarah's "baby bump" had already started to show. And we're still smiling!

Refitting In Thailand

2010-04-06T00:38:00.014+08:00

Are we addicted to refitting ? Many of our friends think so, yet I know I'd rather be sailing. Our recent stay in Thailand was our longest refit, lasting 16 months on the hard stand in Boat Lagoon, Phuket.

Anyone can make 8 months of work extend to 16 months - ask me, I'm an expert ! A good proportion of the time delay was caused by us going off to travel and work elsewhere .... but its still a long time to be out of the water.

The golden rule to refitting in Thailand is never leave the boat - you just have to be there every day, checking, assessing, instructing and of course trying to have fun. If you manage to find the right approach (the right attitude) you will have fun, and the local Thai workers will be responsive and friendly. If you get way too serious and way too demanding you'll lose them (literally), and find yourself with no workers on the boat the next day. This can be a serious problem ....

After 16 months on the ground in Thailand we've dealt with every type of problem, and almost all the major service providers in Phuket. Quite a few stood out, providing remarkable service, and we are confident in recommending them. Here are our Gold Star Winners :

Siam Cooling are without doubt the most competent marine refrigeration engineers I have ever dealt with, anywhere in the world. The level of expertise and standard of workmanship was truly amazing. They upgraded our 240 volt refrigeration to a more efficient system, working to my design (which would test any contractor). Then they installed a split system water cooled air-conditioning system that is first class. Introduce yourself to Stephane, a third generation refrigeration engineer who heads the company. Place your trust in his solutions - we believe they are world class. Just to visit their factory is a delight - a clean and well organised working environment, motivated staff, top class facilities, an education in best practice. The Siam Cooling team stand out as leaders in the marine refrigeration market.

Cutting out the damaged steel dodger

Luk Engineering are the best marine engineers in Phuket. Have I made myself clear ?

They can custom manufacture almost anything for boats in stainless steel, mild steel or marine grade aluminium. Their service is excellent, the team are universally friendly and if they make a mistake they fix it, no questions asked. Early in our project a "less scrupulous operator" managed to demolish our beautiful steel dodger - Luk and his team re-built it carefully, better than new. With a huge and well equipped machine shop, they tune and repair propellers, turn customs shafts and build everything from rudders to complete ships. A very impressive operation.

Precision Shipwright Services are a division of East Marine at Boat Lagoon. David Samuelson and his team provide skilled rigging services with a huge range of rope, wire, parts and spares on hand.

David supplied our new Profurl genoa furler, new forestay and rigged our twin backstays. He tuned the rig and was always there when we needed him, a rare gift among service trades in Thailand. None of this comes cheap, but its all well worth it. I wouldn't trust this kind of work to anybody else.

Do we look happy?

Morn Car Rentals Some times Thai people and culture are difficult for us westerners to understand - and at first glance my good friend Morn seems just too nice to be true. But get used used to it - this guy really is that good. Morn operates a "cruisers support service" from his small shop on the highway, just outside Boat Lagoon Marina. He rents cars and motor bikes at reasonable rates, he runs a laundry service for cruisers, and a book lending library. If thats not enough, Morn has recently started offering a Poste Restante service - you can have your mail and parcels delivered to your name, care of his address. As he's right across the road from the local Post Office the service is regular, and we trust Morn implicitly. Have your mail sent to : Your Name, Your Boat Name, C/- 12/15 Moo 2, Thepkasatree Road, Kho-Kaew, Mung, Phuket, Thailand, 83000. Morn will also collect you from the airport when you arrive, and will deliver your rental car to almost anywhere on the island.
When I landed in hospital with Dengue fever, Ley needed a car desperately but none were available as it was peak season. Morn took the bus to Bangkok (almost 20 hours) to collect a car and then drove it back to Phuket so Ley would have transport. He's one of those special Thai people who give us very happy refit memories.

Flat Water Sailing

2010-03-19T23:29:00.007+08:00

Sydney Harbour, 1997

I remember when we announced to our families that we were buying a yacht, my brother in law Peter said “Ley, you're in love with flat water sailing - wait until you find out what it is really like out there!” Eventually I did ....

Crystal Blues came into our life in 1997, and we sailed her up and down the east Australian coast from the Whitsundays to Melbourne twice, whilst working to extricate ourselves from our business life. On our second Bass Strait crossing we suffered a spreaders in the water knockdown. I was on watch by myself, at night, and when I heard the roar of a rogue wave I grabbed onto the dodger as we were pushed over to port. Water flooded into the cockpit, loose gear flew across the saloon. Neil and cousin Glen came running up the companion way to check things out. Quickly they re-trimmed sails, asked if I was okay and went straight back to bed. The autopilot didn't miss a beat, all was dry down below and I still had a few hours of my watch to finish. It was a frightening but empowering experience - definitely not flat water sailing !

Harwood Slipway, 2000

After a major refit in 2000 and our first ocean crossing to New Caledonia in 2003 (flat water again) we were ready to leave Australia and head into Asia in 2005.

On passage from Cairns to Darwin we experienced the best of fast, flat water sailing. Hour upon hour, day and night we silently flew along inside the Great Barrier Reef. Around Cape York (with the MPS flying) we raced onwards, reaching Darwin in 8 days. This year, after 16 months of refit in Phuket, we were really keen to hear water rushing by the hull and to feel the wind on our face again.

Sailing to the Andaman Islands in January we were not disappointed – scooting along at 6-7 knots in a light NE wind reminded us why we do love flat water sailing.

Off watch on the way to The Andaman Islands

Stretched out in the cockpit, our favourite jazz music playing, my orchid hanging under the boom and nothing but calm blue seas around, anyone would love this type of sailing. Our passage to Port Blair was fast and smooth, and we spent three laid back weeks in the Andmans before returning to Phuket. Flat water all the way.

Time To Go ......

2010-01-21T12:24:00.004+08:00

Our Iban friends waving goodbye on Sungai Tulai

Each departure has its own emotional signature - leaving Australia over 4 years ago was different to leaving Borneo 18 months ago. In each case the lead-up is similar - prepare the vessel, stock up, share special moments with family and friends, then say goodbye. As cruisers (sea gypsies?) we soon learn to quickly look ahead to our next destination and to savour what it might offer - that is, after all, why we do this. When we departed Borneo last time the entire community was there to see us off, and many tears were shed on the dock and on board Crystal Blues.

Tomorrow, we depart Thailand after 15 months of serious refit work, plus various part time employment in the region. We won't be shedding any tears. Its not that we don't love the people (we do), and we have made some fabulous friends, its just that 15 months is too long - our sea gypsy blood requires us to move farther and more often than we have been able.

So the past week or so has seen a familiar tension re-enter our life, as Ley tries cutting the dock lines every day and I urge caution and point out the important jobs still on our to-do list. This is a personal conflict we've waged many times. Lately, with the boat looking so beautiful, its easy to feel like I should just roll over and agree. Each time I look at Crystal Blues she seems to want to move, so it feels like both the women in my life are ganging up on me. Its difficult ....

Ready and waiting at Grand Ao Po Marina, Phuket

Yesterday we filled our tanks (fuel & water) and sea-trialled our re-commissioned auto-pilot system. Everything worked, so I declared us OK to depart. Ley baked more bread, the outboard motor disappeared into the forward hold, the dinghy was strapped into the davits and we requested yet another weather forecast. Today we drove down to Ao Chalong and cleared both immigration and customs, so we're officially on our way at last.

On the way home we purchased our final stock of fresh produce and had dinner at a favourite local restaurant - steamed whole fish, three different varieties of mushrooms and lots of lovely stir fried local vegetables. When we explained to the restaurant owners that we were leaving they immediately showered us with gifts - fresh local fruits for our voyage - the Thai people can be so generous.

We launched on December 4, so it has taken almost six weeks to complete the necessary jobs on board, working 7 days a week. Today we're sailing for Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, where we plan to spend a few weeks of well earned chill out, before returning to Thailand. Fair winds all.

A Buddhist Blessing

2010-01-09T22:15:00.011+08:00

Back in October we decided that the boat simply HAD to be in the water by Christmas, so we made a plan to achieve this, which included a long, long, long check list of all the jobs that had to be completed. This included building a new genoa furler and forestay, new backstays, installing the mast and rudder, antifoul painting, Propspeed on the running gear, and a million carpentry, painting and electrical jobs inside the cabin. In the machinery space aft I needed to recomission the watermaker and the generator - not trivial exercises after 15 months. Then the washing machine died, never to be repaired, and we found ourselves building a new stainless steel frame and deck to support the air-con equipment and a new washing machine. Our rented storage shed was still full of posessions, and these were slowly moved back on board day by day. Our contractors caught the spirit, and work accelerated to meet out launching date of December 4th.

The night before launching we organised a small function to thank our friends and contractors and to bless the boat for her new life afloat. A shy yet graceful Buddhist monk officiated, blessing the vessel and crew with sacred waters and scribing his blessings with finger paint on the new bow seat, with a crowd of friends and workers looking on.

Partying hard the night before the launch

Not surprisingly, we all partied long and hard that night, with Thai food and drinks served under the boat on the hard stand area. The man with the thumb in this picture is Malek, from Pro Yachting, who graciously organised the temple monk. The man with the food is our good friend Yat, skilled carpenter and all round nice guy. The cool dude in the black jacket is Lek, responsible for the better stainless steel work on the boat. Oh, the girl is Lek's sister Nat of course !
Next day we literally staggered out of bed to prepare for the launching, with the travel lift scheduled for 11.00am. This being Thailand, it arrived an hour early, as the yard guys wanted to be finished before lunch! It all worked out in the end, and a crazy procession of friends and workers followed the travel lift as it moved through the yard carrying Crystal Blues toward the water. So here we were launching the boat, still with a carpenter (Yat) and cleaner (Joy) working on board - for Joy it was her first boat trip - not very far! You might feel that Crystal Blues is dwarfed by the huge travel lift in this image - but thats their small lifting machine - the really big one costs more.

As she was lowered into the water we checked every through-hull, the rudder seal and the shaft log, then signalled all clear to the guys on the travel-lift.

1000 fire crackers to launch Crystal Blues

The Cummins diesel started first touch and seemed keen to get a move on. In traditional Thailand every new boat voyage is started with fireworks, to drive away the bad spirits. Yat did the honours for us that day, setting off a massive string of 1000 fire crackers, all suspended from our boat hook on the bow as we moved out of the slip.

We motored away from the dock and moved down the creek to a new berth - but the channel there is so shallow we were led by a pilot boat, and we pushed through the mud for quite a while before finding deeper water at Royal Phuket Marina.

Of course putting the boat in the water didn't mean the end of work for us - in fact our job list seemed to grow, whilst the contractors were almost finished. We spent three weeks in that marina, fitting sails, sheets, halyards, air conditioning (OK, don't laugh, its very cool), commissioning myriad electronic systems and even relaxing a little bit..... Christmas and New Year were approaching......

The MegaZip Way

2009-12-03T00:15:00.002+08:00

Zooming down a mountain at 60kmph, hanging by a single rope tether ...... flying over jungle, beach and ocean. Landing on a tiny sand island and returning to the beach for a very welcome beer .... that's the MegaZip experience ! It sure beats hanging around in a boat yard.

Sandra Stonham and Neil videoing while zipping at MegaZip

MegaZip is a thrill packed adventure park on Singapore's Sentosa Island. It has Asia's longest zip-ride plus three other action attractions - ClimbMax, Para Jump and North Face. In July this year we were lucky enough to be asked to produce promotional videos for MegaZip, which was the start of a fascinating and ongoing relationship. In the first few weeks we produced the video's originally requested, using volunteer talent and improvised "flying" aparatus. The image above shows cruising friend Sandra Stonham acting out for the camera whilst travelling downhill at considerable speed.

Robert Goh and Neil on the North Face

Our Sony CineAlta HD camera survived the experience, which was a lot more energetic than filming luxury villas, our previous gig. Another sailing friend, Robert Goh, a serious mountaineer, kindly played "talent" for our coverage of the North Face climbing wall. You can watch one of our short MegaZip video's on YouTube here. Or you can download a medium resolution version here.

As the relationship grew we moved on to designing lighting and electrical systems for the park. A range of project management and infrastructure tasks followed, which saw me commuting back and forth to Singapore quite a lot over recent months.

The MegaZip Adventure Park is now fully operational. Its located on top of Mount Imbiah, the tallest hill on Sentosa Island - don't miss it when you're in Singapore.

Its A Long Way To The Top .........

2009-11-24T23:10:00.000+08:00

If You Wanna Rock& Roll ! Aussie rock band AC/DC spoke the truth back in 1975 with their hit song (view it here). Right now Ley and I feel we're close to the top after a very long climb - Crystal Blues is progressing rapidly.

In the past three weeks the life lines and deck fittings have been finalised and we've completed all the work in the forward hold (its a palace !). David Samuelson, the rigger from East Marine, has built a new 12mm forestay and twin backstay setup for us. The Cummins diesel fired up at the first touch (thank heavens). Last Saturday the tent and frame were removed from the hull - for the first time in twelve months we had to remember to shut hatches and worry about the rain. The new rigid bimini was also installed last Saturday, and the tent was removed from the mast.

Later that same day, one of the Phuket Boat Lagoon travel lift machines (they have four) lifted us up so that the rudder could be installed. Its now in the right hole, but we can't quite get it in far enough to attach the shoe.....nothing that a hydraulic jack wont fix. Thats a job for tomorrow.

Sunday was a significant day for us - we started putting things back on to the boat, instead of taking them off ! The storage shed is now starting to look empty - lines, life jackets and water toys are all cleaned and back on board. The bitter end of the chain is attached to the samson post and we'll wind the chain and anchor on board just as soon as the rigging is completed.

The mast is rigged and ready for installation, which will be at 8.00am tomorrow if the crane arrives on time. After that we can focus on the internals, which are some way behind. Our friend Khun Nhoon has completed re-finishing of all the cupboard doors and frames, and he's spray painted the bathroom. His man Khun Jack is busy sanding and priming in the galley, which should get its final top coats this week. Then our favourite carpenter and friend Yat will come back in and finish the new Corian bench tops.

Launch date is set for December 4th, when we'll rapidly move around to Royal Phuket Marina to complete the commissioning and internal works. Our aim is to get out of the marina and spend Christmas / New Year at Nai Harn Bay, then head for the Andaman Islands early in January.

Right now we have very little time for socialising - haven't had a proper day off in 4 months - more on that in our next entry. It will all be worth it when she hits the water next week. Its rock & roll time ...

A Flying Visit Home

2009-10-18T22:54:00.006+08:00

Coffee with friends in Williamstown

Late September we flew home to Australia, to celebrate Neil's fathers 80th birthday. It was a great opportunity to catch up with family and also do a bit of shopping.... Melbourne's winter had been warm and dry, but all that changed the day we arrived.

A cold, wet wintry week greeted us, so out came our leather jackets, winter woollies and boots. We cheekily suggested that maybe the Melbourne Weather Bureau should fly us home so that we can assure Victoria of more rain!

Dean's 80th Birthday

Neil's sister, Julie, and sister-in-law, Maria, did a superb job of organising the party. Brendan and two friends played cool, live jazz and we had a wonderful time catching up with friends and relatives.

Peter Langford organised a very special surprise for Dean. Midway through the party three members of The Society Syncopaters marched through the front door playing his favourite trad jazz.

Dean has been a long time follower of this band, so when the two bands joined for a great jam session it was smiles all round... Topping all this off was the wonderful speech delivered by Laurie, Dean's eldest grandson.

We spent time with Nadia (Neil's niece) and Bonnie, (Ley's great-niece) - what a thrill to see the family expanding in all directions ! We are very lucky..

Singapore Stopover

On our way back to Phuket we stopped over in Singapore to catch up with the Shaw family. Ethan, our godson, along with the rest of the family, is moving to Singapore in December. We had an afternoon of fun at the MegaZip Adventure Park on Sentosa Island - one of our current work projects.

Ethan and Eli both rode the Megazip, while Carol Shaw romped around the ClimbMax obstacle course.

The Gadget Boat

2009-09-14T00:51:00.002+08:00

Crystal Blues has often been called the gadget boat. Neil likes to collect unusual & useful objects - a digital infra-red temperature sensor, a solder sucker, an AIS system and an onboard PC network seem like normal things for him to have around.

Last year our dear friends Gordon and Miriam Zittel (SV Anwagomi) delivered a lime juicer "specially modified" to suit Crystal Blues - complete with its own circuit board and wires. Are we really that wired ? Guess so ... the tiny gadget we used most recently had been buried in the camera box for years, but was worth its weight in gold when we had problems inside our mast. We really needed an endoscope ....

Endoscopes R Us

While re-building our mast we managed to get a halyard really neatly wrapped around the radar cable inside the mast. To make matters worse, that same halyard also managed to jam itself under a conduit fastener (so we thought) further down inside the rig. So now we couldn't move it anywhere, and we were not going to cut that radar cable - or the halyard. We needed to see what was going on.

Out came two flat scrubbing brushes, a long plastic pole, one 9 volt battery, one fluorescent work light and one tiny radio transmitting mini pin-hole video camera. Gaffer taped together, they slid gently into the mast - the brushes ensured smooth travel over pop rivets, bolts and miscellaneous obstructions inside the mast. Just like an endoscope, but up the mast instead of up the - well you get the idea..

It worked perfectly - with the wireless receiver sitting just outside the mast base we viewed the problem on another Sony camera screen - we could see the halyard wedged in between 2 conduits! Knowledge is power, and it only took another few minutes then to solve the problem. In the image at right you can see Neil's finger pointing to the tiny camera, taped to the end of the blue plastic pole.

We then enlisted a few more hands to turn over the mast again, conduits facing upwards, and re-installed all the halyards (again), this time without any jams. We lost a days work, but saved a heap of cash - that little gadget finally paid for itself.

The Painting Blues

2009-08-30T15:28:00.003+08:00

Okay, we have been very slow in updating this blogsite - but right now we're wondering just where did June and July get to ? It seems we've been working even harder, with only occasional stops to smell the roses.

The Painting Blues

After deciding to re-paint our decks, the painting crew faced many challenges right through May, June & July. The rainy season arrived early, high temperatures, strong winds and high humidity all contributed to repeated delays and failures as they repainted our deck.

But other issues were also lurking ...... contamination in the finish. The contractors (Pro Yachting) replaced the air lines, the compressor filters, the spray gun, insulated the tent lining and even brought in an air conditioner, but still no-one was happy with the paint finish. We went through the spray the paint on/sand the paint off cycle more times that any of us care to count.

The head painter (a Thai Buddhist) was so discouraged by all this that he decided to stop eating pork, on the basis that we were located on traditional Muslim land. Superstition runs deep over here.

In the end they purchased a new tin of paint - SUCCESS - really glossy paint on the deck, and no corruptions ! The painting team was so happy that after a really hard night celebrating, they all forgot to come to work the next day. No-one is sure how the original paint became contaminated, but it was an emotional and expensive time for all.

Visas & Birthdays Every three months we need to renew our Thai visas, which can only be done outside of Thailand (go figure) - so in June we flew to Penang to celebrate our birthdays and renew our tourist visas.

Visiting Penang is like going home for us - its like putting on an old (well worn) coat. We rent a motor scooter and ride everywhere, enjoying breakfast in Little India and lunches in our favourite Chinese vegetarian restaurant, where lunch is self-serve from fifty plus trays of delicious curries and mixed vegetables, with "chicken", "beef", "prawns" and "eggs". There are many of these Buddhist vegetarian restaurants in Penang and all the protein served there is made from tofu.

Penang must be the greatest food city in the world - sorry Singapore ! So many choices - and we shared Yum Cha with Bruce and Audrey from SV Envy. Neil chose dinner from trolleys stacked high with bamboo baskets of dim sum - translucent rice pastries filled with scallops, prawns, pork and vegetables.

If you would like to see where our favourite eating places are in Penang, click here .

Downsizing Way back in March we imagined that our boat would be near completion by the end of June, so we found new tenants for the house we were living in. Wrong move ....

Of course Crystal Blues was not ready by the move out date, so we had to downsize from a house with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and garage to a very small one bedroom apartment plus a four metre square storage shed, both located close to Crystal Blues here at Boat Lagoon, Phuket.

In typical fashion, our Thai friends all helped out with the move - "Aon" loaned shelving for the shed and a desk for the apartment, whilst "Ai" stored a pile of clothing and the barbeque in her spare room. "Kaew" fed us countless times during those frantic weeks - its the local people that make Thailand so special.

Recycling As part of our re-fit we replaced the genoa furler and some rigging, plus the pushpit and pulpit railings.

Gradually our stockpile of old stainless steel and aluminium built up.

Neil eventually cut all the metal into smaller bits, loaded up the back of the truck and we went out to haggle with the local junk yards. The dealers here are pretty tough - they use super strong magnets to asses everything you offer them - the small amount of residual magnetism in our old rigging wire was enough for them to say it was not stainless - sure was news to me. We tried several places but they all played the same game - in the end we managed to dine out for a few nights on the proceeds.

Our boat work is now proceeding at a great pace, and we can see the changes every single day. The freezer box had been re-installed, the mast is almost completely rebuilt and another two days will see the reconstruction of the forward hold completed. We're also still juggling our time between the boat and our video work, which we'll tell you about in the next instalment.

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

2009-06-03T12:20:00.040+08:00

The quote above (from Matthew 6) provides food for the soul, however real bread is more than soul food - in all it's varieties it has provided sustenance and joy for generations. As you can see at right, the kids at the Longhouse Rumah Lidam in Sarawak sure enjoy it.

Shortly after we bought Crystal Blues, Ley (having read mountains of cruising books), decided that bread making was a must-have boat skill. Back home in Williamstown she had access to a great range of the Simply No Knead bread making products - so, armed with bread flour, black bread tins, yeast, bread improver and the bread making bible, she started baking.

Ten years later that skill is providing great bread for our table, and is also a valuable social tool, allowing us to share a craft that is creative, beautiful and downright tasty with friends and acquaintances.

Wherever we travel, people want to know how to make real bread - not the sugary fluffy preserved stuff served up by many modern bakeries. So bread baking lessons have become a regular occurrence aboard Crystal Blues, and more recently ashore here in Thailand. At right (above) is 18 year old Charlotte Harris Neeve, obviously pleased with her new skill, baking on board last year.

This past year, Ley has taught our Thai neighbour Kaew to bake (top left), along with Filipino friend Maryanne (at left), who is housekeeper to our friends the Stonhams in Singapore. More recently it was Maryon from SV Nimbus II who tackled the task and ended up looking very happy !

For the real bread recipe that everyone seems to love, click here.

Haven't got an oven ? Too hot on board for baking ? Then try this recipe for English Muffins (or bread rolls) cooked easily in a pan on the stove top - just click here. And if you really love your pizza (like we do) you can have fun with our favourite piza recipe - we've even cooked these on the BBQ - just click here. Links for all these can also be found in the recipes section in the column at right.

From Little Things, Big Things Grow

2009-05-30T00:32:00.011+08:00

Crystal Blues pre fit-out in NZ

Back in 1980's, New Zealander Murray Yeoman dreamed of a yacht that would take him to Antarctica. Murray turned that dream into reality, launching Crystal Blues (then called Aslam II) in Auckland early in 1988. We're very glad he did.

Inside Crystal Blues pre fit-out

The hull and deck were professionally built at Greenhithe, then shipped to Murray's home where the fitout was completed by a shipwright Murray hired from Ireland. She was designed by fellow New Zealander Dennis Ganley, who had made a specialty of metal yacht design (Dennis was tragically killed in a car accident the year we purchased Crystal Blues). We tracked Murray down in Auckland in 1998, and he kindly provided photographs of the construction (above and at left). He also spent a weekend sailing on Sydney Harbour with us a couple of years later, and had some great stories to tell.

Our connection to those early days in the boat's history became a little stronger this year. During this refit we demolished the lining of the forward hold, where we found a tiny pine cone wedged in the steel frames up forward. This is clearly a blow-in from the trees in Murray's front yard. Though banged about and marked a little by primer and high-build paint, it sits safely on the desk beside me as I write these words, a tiny link with the past. Besides entering Australia illegally on many occasions, that pine cone has travelled to some wondrous places !

Just a few weeks ago we shared a lunch table with a recently arrived cruising couple, at the local Thai cafe. An hour or so later they were crawling over Crystal Blues with some joy - the world is a very small place. Our new friends are Garth and Janine Ganley. Garth, brother to the yacht's designer Dennis, had sailed to Phuket in another of his brother's designs, a Tara 39. That's Garth and Janine (on the right) with us in the image at right.

So, for the past few weeks I've been trying to track down Murray Yeoman, without much success - if you know where he is, I have a tiny little pine cone I'd like to send him.

Borneo / Sarawak Cruising Information

2009-05-10T18:17:00.013+08:00

We're still planning to visit Borneo this year, but for those who will undoubtedly be there before us, some of this news may assist.

New Check-In Procedures in Kuching

Anchoring at Santubong is always a delight, it is a very special and beautiful place (that's Samsara II in the anchorage in the image at right). However in the past the check-in procedures were always a little daunting.

I'm pleased to say that things have improved, with the Harbour Master now re-located to a building on the new Express Wharf, right where the high speed ferries berth. Unfortunately it is on the other side of the port boundary fence from the Immigration office, but it is a lot more convenient than before! To help with Check-In, Ian Robertson of SY Kumang in Kuching, has updated the procedures document for visiting yachts.

You can download the guide here, or from the Borneo Cruising Information area, lower down in the right hand column of this site. Of course if you're travelling as one of the rally boats to Borneo this year you probably won't need the guide, but then you also won't see the Santubong at its most peaceful .... I just can't imagine 40 boats anchoring in that place. The very shy and rare Irrawady Dolphin can usually be seen there, which leads me to our next story....

Dolphins In Sarawak Waters

There is a UNIMAS team doing a survey of Dolphins in Sarawak coastal waters. Ian Robertson has been in contact with the survey team and offered the services of passing yachts as dolphin spotters. Ian says the more people we can get involved the better. Nothing too strenuous just note down when / where / numbers / species etc. If possible with photos, then relax having put in a hard day's spotting for a good cause!

Information about the survey and response forms are available here. There are both online and downloadable forms for recording details.

Borneo Cruising Resources List - Updated

Over the last month we've updated and re-loaded all the major Asian marine resource directories that can be downloaded from this blogsite (check the right hand column).

If you have an earlier version of the Borneo list, or haven't seen it yet, you can get the new one by clicking here. Remember these are .pdf files, and are designed to be searched to find the resource you're chasing. If you type say "heat exchanger" into the search query box, the Adobe software will pop up with all the service options we've found and included. All of the updated guides, country by country, can be downloaded from the table in the right hand column of
this blog.

Go Backwards To Go Forwards - Refit Week 34

2009-05-03T15:56:00.032+08:00

Rugby is a football code where going backwards, away from the goal, is an accepted part of play. Despite the glossy hull and newly applied signwriting, this week our boat refit feels like rugby. "Bum" & "On" our painters from Pro Yachting, have started power-sanding off the brand new non-skid deck paint.

Two weeks ago Ley & I started re-installing the deck fittings and the new railings on Crystal Blues. Whilst screwing down all those turning blocks, jammers and line organisers we noticed a few defects in the new grey paint areas - and another defect in the white non-skid. It turns out that a thunderstorm moved through the area not long after the grey paint was applied. The winds blew dust onto some areas of the paint, whilst the moisture in the air caused the gloss to diminish. After discussing the situation with Jill & Pro they made the logical decision - to sand it off and start again. This was a fairly serious decision - linear polyurethane paint is wildly expensive.

However Pro has shown his dedication to quality by taking the hard road this time. So the guys started, initially hand sanding the grey with 400 grit and then power sanding the non-skid. What a job .... we expect they'll respray the grey sometime next week, and the non-skid a week later. Looks like we spend another few weeks in "paradise" .....

Yat lining out the forward hold

Meanwhile, work continues on other parts of the refit, where I've completed the overhaul and re-build of our steering system. This involved new bearings and sleeving for the bronze axle in the binnacle, plus a new sprocket, chain and wire. Ley is now working on the paint trim for our deck hatches, whilst I'm completing the priming and finishing in the machinery space and lazarette. "Yat", a carpenter from Pro Yachting, is almost finished re-lining the forward hold and locker area. Next week we'll start putting fittings and rigging back onto the mast & boom, whilst Yat will move into the galley to re-install our freezer and galley cabinets.

Holidays In Paradise

This is the hottest month of the year in Phuket. After starting work at 8.00am we're usually dripping by lunchtime and very glad to spend most afternoons at home, compiling and editing video for our "other life" (see the story here). The impressive website for Private Homes & Villas has now been launched (click here to link), so all 25 of our Bali villa videos can now be viewed online, along with the first few samples from Koh Samui. Next month we'll be filming more properties here in Phuket.

Our good friend Danny Kildare, a pro photographer from Sydney, stayed with us for almost two weeks last month. I worked with Danny years back, and he hasn't changed a bit. Still food crazy and an expert on fine wines. It was inevitable that he'd love the local food, but be disappointed with the ice we liberally add to our wine - both white and red. Its a Thai thing ....

Also staying with us this month was Robert Goh, a sailing friend and mountaineer from Singapore. Robert was in town to scout locations for his wedding to Elaine, later this year.

Now Its All Crystal Clear .....

2009-03-10T09:00:00.005+08:00

Forgive the play on words, but our new video enterprise finally has a name - Crystal Clear Video. OK, its not even registered yet and it doesn't have a website, but we are churning through some work, and may even pay for some of the refit to Crystal Blues here in Thailand.

We're recording everything in a very high quality, high definition digital format - our new camera has taken a while to get used to but is proving its worth. We do all the post production, video editing, titling and sound mixing on a Hewlett Packard notebook computer, linked to 4.5TB (terabytes) of online network storage (still working out where I'm going to mount all that when we move back onto the boat). The video files are huge - it takes 30 minutes to simply load a project from one disk to another, across the network.

So far everything has been working smoothly, and we've completed production on 23 of the 25 short video films we recorded in Bali. We've uploaded some of these to the YouTube video service, so now you can see some of the early edits (though at much reduced quality). Thanks to Jon Stonham (whom many of you will know from SV Tui Tai), CEO of Private Homes and Villas, for permission to post these.

My favourite place was Villa Pushpapuri, in Sanur Bali - watch that video here. The very modern villa style can be seen at Villa Asante, close to the famous Echo Beach in Canggu, Bali - watch that video here.

For those interested in the technicalities, the original video was recorded at 1440x1080i PAL format, and the files uploaded to YouTube were 720x576p PAL format. I absolutely promise to film some sailing video as soon as I can, hopefully to make this dry topic a little more interesting to our world of cruising friends. You can also expect some nice images to come out of Borneo this year. We just have to get the boat put back together ....... in the interim we leave Phuket today for two weeks in Koh Samui, filming nine more villas there.

The Brightest Star - Ali van Os

2009-03-01T18:05:00.014+08:00

Ali van Os, the daughter of Lex Silvester and Joanne van Os, died last week, five days after receiving terrible injuries in a tragic marina accident. Lex, Joanne and Ali had anchored their yacht SV Malaika (website here) at Chalong Bay in Phuket. We had planned to share dinner with the family when the accident occurred, and were shocked when Lex called to tell us that Ali had been hurt.

Whilst visiting friends at Yacht Haven Marina, Ali went to watch the berthing of a large (50 metre) super yacht - the motor yacht MY JeMaSa (image below). I've been told that the JeMaSa berthed perfectly, and was stationary with all lines firmed up on the dock when the accident occurred. Apparently the master had berthed the vessel using remote controls on a wing bridge on port side. After berthing he left the wing bridge, however the engines were not shut down. A crew member then came along to replace the weather cover on the controls and pushed the throttles forward as was required to fit the covers (!). It apparently took some time for the engines to surge to maximum revolutions, during which time the onlookers on the dock were desperately trying to raise the attention of the crew on the vessel. As the tension increased people started to move away - someone tried to warn young Ali but the cleat on the dock failed first, releasing the loop in a heavy spring line that whipped past Ali and threw her many metres along the dock. Other people were also injured, with one man suffering a broken leg.

Despite the best efforts of local doctors and emergency services, Ali never recovered consciousness. After exhaustive medical testing, her family and consulting doctors turned off life support five days later. Ali's organs were donated via the Thailand Red Cross, and we know that one 15 year old girl who was close to death now has a new heart- and what a great heart it is ! Ali was one of the world's enthusiasts - a very bright star. She loved what she did, and tackled life head on with great enthusiasm. You always knew when Ali was in the room. As her mother Joanne observed, she was doing what she loved.

Since the accident Joanne and Lex have received many messages from friends, and some from people they didn't know - people that Ali had befriended in towns, anchorages and marinas over recent months. She was unforgettable.

Ali was cremated yesterday after a beautiful Buddhist ceremony at Wat Rattiwanaram here in Phuket. Some of her ashes were spread on the Andaman Sea today, and the remainder are heading home with her family tomorrow, for a further ceremony in Darwin, Australia. The owner and crew of MY JeMaSa, and the local agents Seal Superyachts, have been incredibly supportive since the accident, arranging medical services, travel and accommodation for the family and completing all the funeral arrangements.

For more information on this tragic accident, see the Sailing Anarchy web site, the Northern Territory News and The Australian newspaper.

Refit Week 25 - Glossy Paint At Last !

2009-02-27T23:46:00.009+08:00

The team here at Pro Yachting are doing a very good job .... despite myriad delays (all caused by us) they remain focussed on the main game, which is to put a high quality paint system on the outside of Crystal Blues.

It took five guys almost a full week clean and mask the deck before they applied the Grey deck paint - an incredibly detailed masking job, with every square inch of the deck either primed and cleaned (ready to paint) or covered with tape and garish pink (but effective) vinyl flooring. After the grey was sprayed they settled down to cleaning and masking over all of it again, for the application of the white non-skid surfaces (see the photos). The new non-skid paint is really grippy, quite a change from the ineffective surface we've lived with for ten years.

This week the deck was completed, and they'll now move onto the topsides of the hull (above the waterline), which are primed and waiting. Then they have the mast and boom, plus all the hatch covers and loose fittings to paint. However by the end of this week we should have access to the boat again, and will be able to start replacing all the deck fittings and fitting out the forward hold. Onwards & upwards ...

Bush Fire Commentary

People here in Phuket often ask us about the terrible bushfires that have ravaged our home state, and taken so many lives. For many it is difficult to comprehend how a fire disaster of this magnitude can occur. The Age newspaper (who provided the amazing little images at right) has an excellent site devoted to the fires - you can access it here, and we've now added two impressive files to our public storage site that say it all. Bu shfire Images is a compact .pdf file containing a powerful collection of photographs. Written by an acknowledged fire expert, Anatomy Of A Firestorm is a fascinating and detailed news story on how seasonal climate, geography and localised weather conditions combined to set the disaster in train.

Recipes From The Squiggly Line

2009-02-18T00:13:00.012+08:00

You just never know where life will lead. Twelve months ago I had no idea that I'd be back working this year. Never the less Ley and I were surprised when good friends Jacqueline and Malcolm Holt of SV Aeolus XC announced they were selling the boat and returning to Canada. We had met them on Sydney Harbour many years ago, and shared many strange (and wonderful) experiences in Australia and Asia.

Not ones to muck around, they made the life change happen in rapid time, then set about building new careers and a new home on beautiful Vancouver Island. Then Jacqui announced that she'd written a book (in her spare time no doubt), which was duly published. "Recipes From The Squiggly Line" is a cruising, cooking and recipe memoir, in which Jackie shares food reminiscences, recipes and travel memoirs from her nine years and 25,000 miles afloat.

From personal experience I know what a fantastic cook she is, and we were thrilled to see one of Ley's recipes included in the book. Check it out on their new website here.

Refit Week 23 - Life After Sand Blasting

2009-02-16T10:58:00.008+08:00

We're very glad that's over - for 15 days my world consisted of a hand held light, a small sand blasting gun and a tangle of airhoses. Hooded and fully clothed I worked in a confined, noisy darkness, constantly bruising myself and getting smothered in grit. Ley sat on deck, controlling the sand flow. She was sitting next to a huge (& noisy) extractor fan, staring into a vortex of sand and making sure the sand supply was working. For her it was both mind and bottom numbing - over 40 bags of sand went into the hold, and then were shovelled out again.

Now we have to finish the painting - we already have two coats of Jotamastic 87 epoxy on everything in the hold, applied with a small 1" brush, making sure we get in and around all the frames and stringers, without missing any small areas. Of course we hand sanded between each coat. The next three coats will be sprayed - I bought a mini spray gun this week and our contractor Pro-Yachting has no shortage of compressors.

Back at home, our house guests Jon & Pam Choate, SV Tweed, were a great help in keeping us fed, watered and (reasonably) sane. We celebrated Pam's 60th Birthday with a big night out at Nai Yang Seafood.

Then it ended - for the first day of no blasting or grinding we walked around the house in a daze, really feeling like lost sheep. Normality returned, and Ley has settled down to varnishing our cockpit table, bread making and turning out a great batch of Green Mango Chutney (get the recipe here, or from the download panel in the right hand colum). She also finished servicing and re-building our big primary winches. I've started editing and compiling the video from our Bali travels last year.

My bruises are slowly fading, I have a very painful trigger finger and Ley never wants to look into a bag of sand again! We both agree that this project was the toughest job we have ever tackled on Crystal Blues. With us (finally) out of the way, Pro yachting have sprayed the final primer coats onto Crystal Blues hull and deck, and are now doing the final sanding and masking. Their attention to detail is amazing - lucky for us as both Neil and Pro are very fussy! We expect the AwlGrip gloss top coats to be sprayed over the next two weeks.

Refit Week 19 - Nothing Ever Goes To Plan

2009-01-18T20:02:00.011+08:00

After a slow recovery from Dengue Fever we celebrated Christmas with cruising friends at Nai Harn Bay here in Phuket. Then our good friends Jon and Pam Choate brought SV Tweed onto the hardstand here at Boat Lagoon, and we had house guests. We all spent New Year's Eve aboard SV Taipan at Panwa Bali Bay, with Chris and David, plus Chris's parents Edna and Colin. It turns out that Chris's mother's maiden name was Langford, so she and I spent hours searching for family links. From that very calm anchorage the midnight fireworks and floating lanterns were brilliant.

Pro Yachting, our painting contractor, was closed for 10 days over the New Year break, so Ley and I caught up on painting projects inside the boat. Ley completed painting all the saloon lockers and lids, using 2 pack polyurethane inside and out, and they now look spectacular. Meanwhile I finished blasting and priming in the aft machinery space, where the heat from welding had blown the paint off the inside of the metal. Then I moved to the forward hold and chain locker, expecting to do some more touch up work.

Unfortunately I found some decent corrosion sites where salt water had come into the boat, before we fixed all the leaks during our last refit 8 years ago. I first cut out some small inspection panels in the lining of the hold, and then decided the strip out the entire thing. The carpenters from Pro Yachting ripped it out in 3 days, and then I spent a whole week angle grinding all the dirty bits and cleaning off as much paint as I could. This was VERY MESSY work, and I resorted to using our Powerdive hooka (an underwater breathing system) to supply breathing air. Try chewing on a diving regulator for 7 days straight - your gums and teeth get really sore.

Then, for the last 8 days, we've been sand blasting all the frames, stringers and adjacent hull areas, taking it back to that lovely dull grey colour before priming with 2 coats of Jotun Jotamastic 87. The team at Pro Yachting have been kind enough to provide all the compressed air we need, and they've obtained over 40 (!) bags of sand for us to throw at the steel. Each day the guys lift 5 fresh bags onto the deck and then shovel out the 5 bags of sand sitting in the bottom of the hold from the day before .... then I dispappear into the hold, which is now fitted with a mega extraction fan and disappear under full covers. With a small hand held fluoresscent light I can see what I'm doing, and so we start. Ley keeps the suction tube clear and sand feeding to the gun - she pulses the power to my light to communicate in primitive code. After 4 hours we stop, clean and vacuum the surfaces, then paint. Another 5 days will see us complete, then we'll spray a third coat overall and put the lining back in.

I had planned to be editing video for all of January, whilst the painting team finished the deck preparation. Of course that hasn't happened, and I now have a backlog of editing to get into as soon as we finish the priming. We're looking forward to some clean work for the next month or so, and the video will fit the bill perfectly.

Thanks to all the people who've emailed, called and even visited the yard to see how we are going. Between the Dengue Fever and the steelwork our web updates have had to take a back seat, and some folks were worried about us. We do appreciate your concern - fact is we are both fit and well, and several kilograms lighter.

Video Work In Bali Leads To Dengue Fever

2008-12-17T20:58:00.004+08:00

I'm writing this update from a hospital bed in Phuket, where I'm being treated for Dengue fever. This is not a lot of fun.

Ley and I have just spent three weeks filming (high definition video) in Bali, working with our friend Jon Stonham, CEO of Private Homes and Villas. We managed to cover 25 luxury villas in 21 days, working at a cracking pace. OK, so we did enjoy the services of a private chef and a butler at almost every villa, and the food was fantastic. However the pace of work prevented us from relaxing at all, and the delights of the villas flashed past us without being sampled.

We captured lots of video, requiring over 200 gigabytes of hard disk storage space. Our new camera equipment records onto solid state memory cards, instead of video tape. At the end of each day we download from the camera directly onto a laptop computer. The high definition video is good enough to extract decent still photos - thats where these two images have come from. Whilst it was great to be behind a viewfinder again, the last few days in Bali proved difficult.

I started showing a range of symptoms including fever, joint pain, lethargy, headache and dizziness. A subsequent week in Singapore brought no improvement, and I spent our last day there in the "fever" department at Singapore General Hospital. Then it was straight to the airport for our flight back to Phuket, and then straight back into hospital again. This morning the doctors assured me I would be out of this in 24 hours or so. Both Ley and Jon also managed to contract the virus, with Jon spending several days in hospital in Singapore. Ley is made of tougher stuff - her symptoms were very mild until the last day of the fever when she broke out in a typical Dengue rash.

After six days in hospital it will be nice to feel normal again, and I'm very keen to see Crystal Blues. So, apologies for the delay in refreshing this weblog. We do have lots of updates to post, but they need to wait until I'm clear of the Dengue.

Refit Week 11 - Good, Bad, & Then Very Different

2008-11-08T00:38:00.024+08:00

Just over 11 years ago we bought a boat, and yes, it was life changing. At the time I thought I was quite the technician - I even owned a (small) tool kit. Nowadays my assembled tool collection will only just fit into the trunk of a modern car (see the photo).

So here we are in Thailand, and for once we are enjoying the refit process ... obviously we have the tools, and the local contractors have the labour and tools whenever we don't.

Living ashore, in a house, is a bit weird for us - who ever imagined they needed so many keys to live a normal life ? Onboard Crystal Blues we have just two keys - one that starts the engine and one that does everything else. Now we've got house keys, car keys, shed keys, window keys, safe keys and the rest. Its way too confusing....and every time we drive into a parking lot, or even into the marina, they give us another security pass.

This place is security crazy. We live in a gated & guarded community, but Crystal Blues is even better off - she gets guards on patrol, guards nearby with 2 way radios, guards on bicycles and of course guards asleep - oops !

Life ashore is very different to life afloat, though its amazing how fast you adapt (regress?). I "go to work" at 8.00am every day, not even thinking that I'm supposed to be retired ... OK, that'll come later. So I dodge the Soi (street) dogs, the buffalo, chickens, children etc until I hit the main road, when all hell finally breaks loose. This I can deal with - its only traffic. Except that half of Thailand's drivers think they're Ayrton Senna and the other half can't find second gear. Did I mention the motor bikes ? It seems that road rules, traffic lights and road markings are only "a suggestion" here... you can drive down the wrong side of the road, you can drive through a red light or cross straight into a busy traffice lane without looking. Thats life. Your periheral vision gets a good work out here!

Its only 3km to the boat from home, though in the mornings we divert to dodge the heavy traffic and its then about 5km, but a relaxing and scenic forest drive. Which is just as well, because the boatyard is not relaxing. Phuket Boat Lagoon has a massive hardstand (right now its kind of empty - only 98 boats on the hard). We're right at one end, under a big tent and sweating it out as the last of the spot blasting and priming happens today. Tomorrow the sides will come up and things will cool down on deck.

Steel Work Problems

In our last blog posting we said that the steel work was almost completed - unfortunately we spoke too soon. Our "friend" Mr Nop, who had made new stainless railings and parts for us, managed to mess up his final job on deck. His boys put way too much heat into one area and severely distorted the roof of our hard dodger. The really unfortunate part was that he wanted me to pay him to fix it ..... extortionate stuff. Clearly, I can't recommend him to anybody now.

Much embarrasment among our Thai hosts, and with their help we found a better contractor, Mr Luk, who has a skillful and patient metal working team that are Lloyds certified. After cutting out the mess, they've created a very beautiful replacement, better than the original, as its now all built in 316 stainless. A work of art, pity we had to sandblast and coat it with 4 coats of epoxy. If you're planning any sort of steel or stainless work in Phuket, Mr Luk is definitely your man (details in our Thailand Marine Directory - download it here).

Divide and conquer was our war cry over the last 2 weeks. I went to the boat each day and worked with the guys on site, sandblasting, welding, painting and expoxy fairing. Ley became the winch wench, stripping and servicing all seven Wilkie winches in a week, as well as completing sewing work on the boom bag and a million other jobs. Some folks have written to ask us for a list of the work we're doing - if you're interested there are now two documents you can download. Firstly, the Main Contract Works schedule, being carefully undertaken by Pro Yachting. Secondly the Other Works schedule, most of this undertaken or at least project managed by us. Read 'em and weep. The hull is now completely sealed, primed and partially faired, and we certainly don't need to tell Jill & Pro (or their team) how to finish the topsides - they're experts.

Something Different

This week, we're entering a new and exciting mind space, leaving Thailand for a month to do something different - we're producing video recordings in Bali, Phuket, Koh Samui and Sri Lanka. We have 3 days in Singapore to collect, test and commission our new video equipment, then 3 weeks in Bali filming. This will be followed by 5 days in Singapore working with the client's production team, before returning to Phuket on December 9. The other regions will follow over the next few months, in between the boat work. Wish us luck ... if the web posts are slow over the next few weeks it's because we're busy !

AIS Part 3 - Safety At Sea, With AIS Onboard

2008-10-27T08:04:00.022+08:00

AIS helps us avoid the cruising sailors greatest danger - a collision at sea. Of course the system isn't perfect, however it is a powerful ally in collision avoidance and I wouldn't want to be without it. Our previous two stories (read them here and here) introduced the system and discussed a typical cruising boat installation - in this story we share our operational experiences.

The Singapore Straits is the busiest shipping lane in the world, and the nearby Malacca Straits are not far behind in the traffic stakes. These two waterways provided a strenuous testing ground for our new Comar AIS installation. Our very first test was conducted on a three day passage from Sarawak (northern Borneo) to Singapore. Departing Kuching, capital of Sarawak, we tracked several ships on screen that were well over our visual (and radar) horizon. We also noted a fixed AIS base station on a mountain top near Kuching, reporting itself as being highly accurate in its position. As a newcomer to AIS this puzzled me, however we could see that base station for over 100 nautical miles into the Sth China Sea, so it was a welcome reference. You can see it in this image, the purple dot near the bottom, with its own MMSI number of course.

Travelling from Borneo to Singapore there are not a lot of ships - hence not a lot of AIS traffic and therefore a great signal to noise ratio. In that low noise / low traffic environment our system was receiving and plotting ship locations more than 120 nautical miles away. It was great to know well in advance the traffic that was likely to cross our path. We also noted that military support vessels don't have to run their transponder all the time - we passed within 1/4 mile of a small fleet oiler that didn't exist on AIS - though I'm pretty sure they knew where we were, and we had her on radar for hours. Whilst military vessels have a nominated identity in the AIS world, they don't always broadcast their location, for obvious reasons.

As we approached Singapore the traffic density (and target numbers) increased, and the maximum receiving range fell off. This is a logical consequence of the increased traffic levels, and illustrates how good the system really is - when traffic is dense the closer vessels dominate - which is exactly what we want for effective collision avoidance. In this image you can see vessels arriving and departing the Straits (red & green triangles) plus anchored vessels (purple triangles).

Departing Singapore for Langkawi, we cleared immigration at the Western Quarantine Anchorage. Already we had hundreds of vessels showing on our display, but the software handled things well and it was never confusing - at all times the closest and most threatening targets were clearly visible. In a dense traffic situation (harbour / river / channel) it pays to zoom in close on the chart plotter display screen, so that only local targets are visible - the ones that matter. One hour out we plotted a Class B transponder, the first we'd seen on screen, and watched this small motor vessel cross two shipping lanes and then run past our port side. Despite several hundred Class A transponders broadcasting close by, the Class B vessel was consistently visible. The 30 second reporting frequency of Class B systems was just evident - this was a quick motor boat, and the Class B position updates were just a little lumpy.

Moving into Malaysian waters we headed north west up the Malacca Straits, estimating three days for our passage to Langkawi. This was our sixth transit of the Malacca Straits, but our first with AIS, and what a great difference it makes. Every large commercial vessel showed up on our chart plotter, giving us very early warning of their speed and course. We habitually stick to the eastern edge of the main shipping channel in the straits, hoping to keep out of the ships way and also to avoid the fish nets and fish traps that pepper the inshore waters. Passing Port Klang has always been a challenge - it's a major shipping port and many ships turn into and out of the Straits channel, but this time it was easy. This image, zoomed out on the chart display, shows the traffic density - we're the black circle and arrow in the middle. Seriously, the traffic just parted for us - ships running up the straits turned early or late and always gave us plenty of sea room - it was very clear that our AIS transmissions were being watched. What a joy. We usually keep a dual lookout in that region, one of us on port and the other on starboard, however this time it simply wasn't necessary - I slept soundly for that part of the passage. Amazingly, in that three day transit the AIS system logged over 2000 targets. That's a lot of ships.

I've always found that most commercial mariners will try to be cooperative if they have the right information - AIS certainly gives them that. More importantly, on most large vessels the voyage data recorder (info here), like the one at left, will securely record your yacht's transmissions - no one can deny your existence. This has to encourage larger vessels to comply with SOLAS rules. The recording of AIS targets is very useful - should your tiny sailboat go missing one day, every big ship that you've passed will have a time and date stamped record of your past position to assist the search authorities. Furthermore, many shore based AIS stations (and there are thousands already in place) will see you as you pass within range and report your position - check it out here.

In my last story I mentioned that the AIS transponder provided a GPS position output in standard NMEA format. It is tempting to think of this as a useful backup to our primary GPS receivers, but think again. It seems that the AIS GPS positions are often fine tuned with differential information broadcast by local AIS base stations (hence that "high accuracy" base station we observed in Borneo). Also, AIS GPS hardware is built to far more stringent standards (IEC61108) than conventional receivers. This means that your AIS GPS system is most likely more accurate than your existing primary GPS in many coastal situations - so you should use the AIS position data as a first preference !

On Crystal Blues our AIS data is received and displayed by our PC based chart plotting software - Transas Navigator Pro. The software displays our vessel, plus all the AIS & MARPA radar targets, as live moving indicators overlaid onto the electronic chart. This is an incredibly powerful tool, derived from commercial shipping software.

AIS is in its infancy, but it clearly has a future on your boat. Thousands of aids to navigation already carry AIS transponders, so that you can see them even when the weather is thick. Some are suggesting that "virtual aids" will soon appear on your AIS display - electronic marker buoys that can be placed rapidly if a new wreck or other danger appears. These can be activated almost instantly by maritime authorities, well before a real buoy can be positioned. And in a distress situation, any commercial vessel can accurately locate Crystal Blues with ease, once within range.

This week I received an email from Jeff Robbins, developer of the highly rated Vesper Marine Watchmate AIS display. The Watchmate is a very simple (low power) LCD screen that interprets data from any AIS unit and displays it essentially the way you need it. To quote Jeff "Watchmate prioritises targets ... the most important collision risks appear first. It also filters the data to eliminate false alarms when operating in harbour or crowded situations. And it has a user selectable "profile", that allows the user to select with a single button their sailing situation (eg. anchored, harbour,coastal,offshore)..."

Phew - Jeff has done his homework, and his display screen seems probably the best way to handle AIS information if you don't already have a compatible chart plotting system, and a very smart way to go even if you do. Of course it works with transponders or simple receivers.

Whilst we don't have Jeff's screen we're pleased with the extra safety and navigational information we receive from our AIS sytem, and even more pleased that the big boats out there know exactly where we are, day and night - rain, hail or shine. AIS transponders are a great advance in safety for both coastal and ocean sailors. Cruising author and boat designer Steve Dashew says of AIS "I would put an AIS B way ahead of most other “necessities” for a cruising yacht, especially when cruising in areas with lots of rain".

Refit Week 6 - The Bug Fixes Begin

2008-10-15T21:17:00.013+08:00

You might ask who chose that delightful new colour scheme - hey everyone else is ! Truth is, we're six weeks into refit and starting to deal with the "unexpected". That is PVC floor covering taped over the topsides to protect them during the sand blasting. Woops....

Soon after hauling the boat from the water we noticed a reasonable number of small blisters under the waterline - we'd seen them before, as they started appearing about 5 years ago. The last few times I've spent a few days grinding them back and rebuilding the base epoxy coat on the steel. Whilst it only affected small areas, it was a real pain in the ***.

This time things were more serious - they've been breeding ! So we called in Jimmy Watt from Siam Surveyors, a local and knowledgeable marine surveyor. Jimmy scraped a couple back and offered a depressing explanation. It seems that the last time we sand blasted right back to bare metal below the waterline (at Harwood Slipway in NSW), there was possibly a malfunction somewhere - oil droplets were probably sprayed onto the hull, most likely from a leaky seal in the compressor. Where was the oil filter in the line I ask ? These small droplets of oil were effectively propelled onto the steel and then the epoxy coat was sprayed over the top. The result is that the epoxy is now releasing from the surface, where the oil interfered with the adhesion. Its easy to see the splatter pattern of the oil droplets when you look at the partially sanded hull - the blisters clearly occur in obvious groupings.

Some areas of the hull have almost none, whilst in other areas the groupings are depressingly frequent. Coincidentally, we have good friends sailing a beautiful composite hulled yacht whose steel keel has been exhibiting similar blistering. Guess what - that keel was blasted by the same contractor around the same time. Oops.

In the end we decided to sand blast the hull again - something we thought we'd put behind us. Pro-Yachting offered a revised contract price to include the necessary work, and we found we could blast the hull clean here in Phuket for a very reasonable cost. We had no hesitation in accepting the proposal. To minimise the blasting time, the Pro-Yachting team started with paint stripper and scrapers - a team of five guys worked for 2 weeks, working there way through 14 one gallon cans of paint stripper. Back braking work.

For the past 10 days they've been blasting and priming, working their way along each side of the hull and keel. It is slow, dirty, noxious and tedious work, but we're impressed with their dedication and attention to detail. The blasting and priming are now finished - we have one coat of zinc rich epoxy (Jotun Barrier 77) and two coats of high build protective epoxy (Jotamastic 87).

Incidentally, we also asked the surveyor to test and inspect Crystal Blues hull, as she's almost 20 years old now. So Jimmy used his ultrasound testing equipment to survey the plate thickness. He checked all the likely "weak spots" - bottom of the fuel tank, the chain locker, bottom of the rudder, shaft log area, as well as numerous random samples. Whilst he did find two tiny pinholes (welding faults) he also said it was one of the best survey results he'd seen for a steel yacht. Happiness is a sound hull ! Jimmy has also shown us that she's built of Cor-Ten steel, something we did suspect but could not confirm. Cor-Ten steel is a step up from standard mild steel - stiffer and more corrosion resistant - some good news to balance the bad stuff.

Internet Afloat - The Story Continues In Thailand

2008-10-06T23:04:00.016+08:00

We've recently posted quite a few stories on the use of 3G, GPRS and Edge mobile data services here in Asia (here, here & here). These are all broadband data services that piggy back on the GSM and WCDMA global cellphone standards. Consequently, if you equip yourself to operate here, your equipment will also operate in almost every other country (you just have to subscribe to a local service provider - buy a SIM card).

Whilst we operated in Malaysia using the excellent DiGi service (it was GPRS) here in Thailand we've purchased a "1-2-Call" SIM card. The service is almost as good - and it costs about the same. For about Aussie $1.00 a day we're getting unlimited internet access - its online all the time. Plus we get a generous SMS allowance as well.

Local testing here in Phuket has proved that the 1-2-Call (Edge) cellular data service is actually faster than the local ADSL fixed-wire broadband service. Yep, for a buck a day we're getting faster and more reliable internet than those who pay for fixed line ADSL broadband. Amazing.

But be careful here - if you subscribe to a service that is over-sold and under provisioned (like Celcom in some parts of Malaysia, and recently I believe Optus in some parts of Australia), your data rate will suffer, and connections will not be reliable. Consequently we look for services that are not over-sold, like DiGi in Malaysia and 1-2-Call here in Thailand. I'm sure its the same in many other parts of the world - large or dominant service providers deliver sub-standard service almost as a default. Oops, did I really say that ?

Fact is, even at GPRS or Edge speeds, the service is clearly faster, more reliable and much less expensive than the wi-fi internet services offered by marinas in this region. It really works well here. Since our original post on this topic many have followed our example, and the results have been generally good. Ian & Mona Robertson in Kuching (Sarawak) are now using DiGi (Edge Service) for their second business office, whilst Jon & Pam on SV Tweed are also delighted with Celcom's service in Langkawi. SV Taipan (David & Kris) have also written to say how happy they are. SV Aku Anka (Arja & Glen) in Langkawi read our stories and also made the jump. All these folk are using Sierra Wireless AirCard modems. We're expecting this service to keep working wherever we travel, though with variations in service cost. Right now its the best value internet access around, and it works surprisingly well for a considerable distance offshore.

July 2009 Update / Current model USB Modem is Sierra Wireless Compass 885 or 888.

Refit Week 4 - Steelwork Completed

2008-09-27T17:19:00.013+08:00

Its just on a month since we sailed into Phuket Boat Lagoon, and three weeks since we hauled out of the water. On deck we've been concentrating on steelwork - changes and additions to improve the boat and reduce maintenance in the future. Inside the boat we've started painting - with the lockers empty its a pefect time. Two coats of Jotun Penguard high build primer and two coats of Jotun Hardtop polyurethane and our old cupboards start to look like new again. As you can see in the photo at right, Ley just loves painting....

The guys from Mr.Nop's stainless steel fabrication business have been working very hard. They've fabricated beautiful new pulpit and pushpit railings and completely rebuilt the stern fuel locker in 316 stainless steel. This area was previously fabricated from timber, which was bolted and glued to the steel hull, and it was always a source of rust and maintenance work. Now its fixed and there forever, and our aft railings run forward past the cockpit for additional security.

We've also improved a number of the hard point areas on deck, the ones we didn't tackle in our last refit 8 years ago. This basically involves welding thick 316 stainless plates into the deck, drilled and tapped to take our fittings. Because the holes don't go right through its impossible to get any leaks. The plates are faired into the deck and painted over. Last refit we welded shut 210 (!) holes in the deck, and fitted these welded blocks as hard points instead. For this refit the count is only 53, but it still feels good. The tough one was the mainsheet traveller - 24 precisely drilled and tapped holes in a 10x50mm 316 stainless bar, curved to match the roof of our steel dodger. The guys were having trouble tapping into the hard stainless bar, until Ley's father Ray suggested using Carnation Condensed Milk as a lubricant and cutting compound. I'm sure they thought we were crazy when we brought the can out to them, but after the first hole they'd changed their mind - it really works. All the big 316 bar and plate stock has to be ordered from Bangkok, but things happen pretty quickly here and the job is virtually done.

Our PowerDive hookah gear gets a lot of use cleaning the boat, but its often needed quickly if we pick up a net or line on our propeller at sea. Getting the gear setup on deck in the middle of the night at sea proved kind of frustrating, so we're installing it inside the boat permanently. A fixed airline will run to a new stainless stell compressed air socket at the stern - now we can just throw a switch and plug in a hose to get underwater quickly. We've also put in a new stainless penetration for our aft deck shower hose, and added a welded hardpoint for a pasarelle at the transom. The cost of all this is not insignificant of course, but even with Mr Nop's best "creative" margins in play it is great value, and the local workmanship is outstanding.

AIS Part 2 - The Installation Experience

2008-09-23T08:24:00.014+08:00

AIS stands for Automatic Identification System, an active primary safety system for vessels at sea. The black arrow in the photo at right, captured from our PC screen, is Crystal Blues. The red arrows (targets) are ships we want to avoid. Clicking on a target reveals the data box seen at bottom left - lots of information on the ship in question (click the image at right to enlarge).

I met a cruising sailor last night who said that my first AIS story (here) was very technical - oops, I guess it is a technical subject. Not sure that I can eliminate the technicalities, but I will try to explain them. First though, an essential technology primer .... I strongly recommend you spend time roaming the excellent PANBO website, specially the AIS pages. Also, here are links for two very informative and useful documents, covering co-axial connectors and co-axial cabling. OK, on with the story ....

We purchased our Class B AIS transponder from Oceantalk in Singapore - in fact we bought four of them, as several other boats wanted to install the system. The unit is a Comar CSB.200, manufactured in the United Kingdom. It was supplied by Oceantalk with a Shakespeare VHF whip antenna and a Sanav GPS antenna.

All Class B AIS transponders require a dedicated GPS receiver and a dedicated VHF antenna. No arguments please - if you want this powerful safety system, you have to install the extra antennae. No, you cannot share signals from existing systems, however the AIS derived GPS position information is available to you as a separate NMEA signal, for chart plotting purposes. You'd better plan carefully for antenna locations, bracket positions and cable runs.

The GPS antenna is a simple patch antenna with a low noise amplifier that sends the received signals (as RF) direct to the AIS system for timing analysis - in other words, the external receiver is just an amplified antenna, and all the complex decoding and mathematical computations to derive your vessel position occur inside the AIS transponder. This is a specific requirement of the IMO AIS regulatory framework - it basically ensures that no one can feed fake vessel positions into the system. That is good to know ...

On the VHF side, AIS Class B uses just 2 watts of radiated power to send its reports outwards (the big ships get 12 watts). It is easy to receive signals from big-ship class A systems, however you better pay attention when installing your VHF cables, connectors and antenna. You want to ensure that all of your 2 watts is actually radiated into the ether. Robin Kidd from Oceantalk stressed this point - make sure your VHF cabling and connection work is good. Installation requires the following :

- Physically mount the AIS box. A U-bracket is supplied, but we used industrial strength adhesive Velcro to mount it on a vertical bulkhead (see photo).
- Run the cables for VHF and GPS antennae
- Install and connect both antennae
- Run cable for DC power with a fuse in line
- Run the data cable to the chart plotter/display system
- Terminate everything and then commission the system

Of course your chart plotter must be compatible with AIS messages in NMEA format to display the targets and information. If it isn't, you can use this very neat AIS display from Vesper Marine, the AIS Watchmate, or a more serious display (with charts) made by Comar, the CSD.200.

Back to the installation. If you power the box from a shared DC circuit breaker (ours is on our navigation instruments circuit) you should include a 5amp fuse in the power feed. Be careful with the VHF antenna cabling - OK, its just RG.58, but you've only got 2 watts to radiate, so make sure you use high quality connectors and fittings.

The GPS receiver supplied by Oceantalk is the RV-76, made by San Hose Technology in Taiwan. It includes a nice 10 metre pre-terminated cable. Its very thin, and easy to run through the boat, but it turns out to be RG.174, which has very high losses (attenuation) at these frequencies (1.5ghz). If you use the supplied cable as-is, with its existing terminations, it will work just fine. However if you need to cut, join, extend or splice (as we did), then you'll have to use a more suitable cable (RG.223). After attempting to extend the supplied cable, and getting no satellite signal, we changed to a Bedea RG.223 with Telegartner crimp connectors - voila, tons of signal. We purchased the cable and connectors from Coastal Electronics in Singapore, though similar cable is made by Belden and others. Make sure you use the correct crimping tool (see photo).

On the VHF side, the Comar AIS box will actually measure and report the SWR (reflected energy ratio) on your VHF transmission line during commissioning - you'll soon know if your VHF cabling and connectors are good or not. Click on the photo below at right to see typical values.

With all that hard work done the rest was easy - plug the box into our PC using the supplied cable and configure the COM port on the PC (baud rate etc) . Then load the Comar software (supplied) and configure the unit. At this point you'll be asked to input your vessel identifier, which is the unique "MMSI number" issued by your National Marine Authority. If you don't have an MMSI number you'd better apply for one now, because you cannot transmit using AIS without one. A Comar Class B transponder will stay in "receive only" mode until you give it your MMSI number. The real trick is that this number can only be entered ONCE by the user - mess it up and you have to send the box back to the dealer for resetting.

I've just learned that Class B systems are FINALLY approved for use in the USA (story here), but that they are not allowing users to configure the MMSI identifiers. I bet that will be fun to administer.... seems the installers or retailers will have to configure the box before handover. The Comar configuration software is simple to use, neat and logical.

So, use only good cables and connectors, get yourself an MMSI number and enjoy the results. Our next story on AIS will conclude the series with our user experiences.

A Working Holiday In Phuket

2008-09-14T23:18:00.024+08:00

Most people come to Phuket for a holiday, but we've come to work - Crystal Blues is here for a major refit. After arriving on August 18, we anchored in Chalong Bay and completed clearance with Immigration, Customs and the Port Captain. Now, four weeks later, that arrival seems like months ago - we've done so much in the past month it's scary. Ley says that it's beginning to feel like real work again - up at 5.30am, breakfast, drive to the boat yard. Of course the drive to work here is a little more interesting than at home in Australia - the local villages, caged monkeys, water buffalo and rubber plantations give this commute a different feel.

Two days after arrival we'd rented a car for six months and were on the road house hunting. Four days later we signed a lease for six months on a large three bedroom home (air conditioned & furnished throughout), in a quiet private estate. Then the fun began - how long would it take to empty the boat of everything ? The answer is forever - we're still not done, though I can say that 95% of the contents were removed in 25 car loads. Half those car loads were filled using the dinghy as transport to shore (it took 2 dinghy trips to fill the car). The rest happened after we moved into the Phuket Boat Lagoon 0n September 4th, where just 3 trolley loads could fill the car. It was messy, hot, sweaty work, but its done.

The ocean tides are big here, which is just as well, as the channel to the marina is dry on the lowest tides ... we motored in on a 3 metre tide but still saw less than 0.5 metres under the keel. They badly need a suction dredge.

We've been lucky with the rental house (check the photo's here)- besides being comfortable, nicely furnished and "homely", its got a SHED ! It also has shelves, a work bench and even a Gerni (high pressure water wash). So the 25 car loads became 1 house load, which we're still trying to sort out. Seriously though, the house is lovely. Lots of light, space and a garden. The neighbour's dogs have adopted us (Lucky, Blacky, Red and Grumpy), and the locals are friendly as well. There are several good restaurants within a 5 minute drive, all very economical. The boat yard is a 10 minute drive.

We've now started a Picassa Web photo album, so family and friends can see the refit as it progresses - you can view it here.

Crystal Blues was hauled from the water last Thursday, September 4. Prior to haulout we'd taken so much gear out of her she was riding over 100mm above her normal marks. The Boat Lagoon crew are really good at this work - Mr Sin runs a very tight ship. They held her in mid-air whilst we disconnected and dropped the rudder out, before expertly blocking her right in front of our contractors shed. Two days later, last Saturday morning, a huge crane truck arrived on schedule at 10.00am and lifted the mast out.

Within an hour the Pro Yachting team had moved a massive frame and tent into position and the boat was covered. Of course not everything went well - we were incredibly lucky that the monsoon rains held back whilst we emptied the boat contents, but the moment we were lifted the heavens opened, and they haven't closed yet. Its raining every day and night. Thank heavens we have that tent over the boat.

And just who ordered these political protests ? No sooner is the boat out of the water than suddenly there's talk of a people power revolution. Politics in Thailand is almost unfathomable - one side (the democratic party) is suggesting democracy be abandoned, whilst the other (the ruling coalition) is determined to re-nominate the prime minister who was sacked yesterday by the courts, basically for corruption. The coalition says he didn't do the country any harm - sure he did, he just stood up and lied in a court of law. Guess that doesn't count if you're a politician. The last prime minister, Mr Thaksin, is now exiled in London. When he was questioned about corruption (by the press) he basically said it was OK because it was everywhere. What a guy.

The political action in Bangkok has left Phuket quite untouched, except for a peaceful sit-in protest that shut down the airport. However last Friday a local friend called early and said he'd heard that the schools might close and that we may lose power if the government workers go on strike. In Phuket no power means no water, as almost all the water is sourced locally from wells. He recommended stocking up on drinking water, washing water and petrol for our portable
generator. So we rushed out and bought two 100 litre plastic containers for washing water, re-filled the water tanks on Crystal Blues, and moved our 200 litre Turtlepac water bladder to the back porch of the house. We now have 1400 litres of fresh water on hand plus 120 litres of petrol in jerry jugs in the shed. We're ready, though I doubt we'll need any of it. The Thai people are too smart to mess with the tourism cash-cow - I'm sure Phuket will remain peaceful.

Over the past 5 days we've stripped the deck of all fittings and have also stripped the winches, tracks and fittings from the mast, boom and spinnaker pole. Mr Sung, the stainless steel expert from Nop Stainless, has demolished our wooden transom fuel locker and re-built it in 316 stainless steel. Next he'll move onto the deck, where we're adding more stainless attachment points and some electrical and air penetrations. The staff at Pro Yachting have been very helpful, every request has been rapidly supported. Right now we're ahead of our program, and very happy with the service here. If only it would stop raining !

AIS Part 1 - A System Primer

2008-08-23T23:55:00.024+08:00

My father taught me to sail when I was about 8 years old - he's the worried one in the old photo at right (probably because my brother Peter is on mainsheet). With great and delightful understatement, he always said that "a collision at sea can ruin your whole day". He's absolutely right of course, though nowadays we can use AIS technology to help avoid those "ruined days". This is the first of three posts regarding the system, and basically describes the technology. Future posts will cover our installation experiences and the system in operation.

Some years ago the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) ratified a standard requiring all ships over 300 tons to carry an Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder. This was a major step forward in collision avoidance for ships at sea. The system really works - AIS equipped ships constantly transmit information including name, MMSI number, position, speed, course, rate of turn, cargo carried etc etc. Commercial vessels within range receive that data, which is then displayed on dedicated screens or (in most cases) overlaid onto radar or chart plotting screens. The result is that AIS equipped vessels are readily identified, tracked and avoided.

This is a significant primary safety system, and many in the yachting community have taken advantage by purchasing low cost AIS receivers - these display ship locations on navigation chart plotters, or on suitably equiped navigation computers. Whilst an AIS receiver system is a good thing to have, I always believed that the best safety system required the big ships to see me as well - I wanted a transponder that would transmit and receive.

Nowadays we can all see and be seen, with low cost AIS transponders available to the cruising and pleasure craft community. The "big ship" Class A systems are expensive, so the IMO has also ratified a simpler version called AIS Class B, for pleasure vessels.

There are important differences between the two, however they are designed to work together. Class A systems use dedicated GPS receivers for position information and system timing. They then transmit a wide range of vessel data, and do so quite frequently, using coded data bursts on VHF channels 87 & 88. The system uses a protocol called SOTDMA to keep everything organised, with GPS derived time managing the broadcast slots. With 2250 time slots on each channel every second, the dual channel system provides up to 4500 time slots. Class A systems transmit at up to 12.5 watts. A ship travelling at more than 14 knots will transmit dynamic data every 6 seconds. A course change increases the burst rate to every 2 seconds.

Thats us in the chart plotter image at right, the black circle and arrows on the lower right, moving west. At left of the image are AIS equipped ships entering and exiting Singapore Straits, into the Sth. China Sea. Click the image to enlarge.

Class B systems also use a dedicated GPS receiver, but transmit a more restricted data set (no rate of turn, destination, ETA or cargo information) and do so less frequently, using less power (maximum 2 watts). The control protocol is CSTDMA (Carrier Sense Time Division Multiple Access). Basically the Class B systems listen for a gap in the Class A traffic, then transmit. There is no guarantee that any individual data burst will be successfull, however the system transmits a burst every 30 seconds when underway. Even in Singapore, with literally hundreds of ships transmitting close by, I've watched very solid returns from Class B equipped vessels in the Singapore Straits. The system can certainly process lots of traffic - our transponder identified over 1000 targets (!) in 48 hours on our recent passage from Singapore to Langkawi.

Most of the approved Class B systems use a common internal circuit board, made by Software Radio Technology (SRT) in the UK. SRT was part of the IMO advisory panel that set the standard, so its no surprise they have complying product on the market. Our Comar CSB200 AIS transponder (user manual here) uses the SRT circuit board.

AIS is already compulsory on pleasure craft in some parts of the world (eg South Korea), and I believe it will become mandatory in many countries. In Singapore, pleasure craft must carry either an AIS-B transponder or one of the local HARTS transponders that use cellphone technology as the data link to shore based monitoring stations (more info on HARTS is here - thanks to Terry Sargent on SV Valhalla for the document).

For more background information on the politics, technology and products behind AIS, I suggest you spend awhile reading the AIS links on the excellent PANBO blogsite here. A very good background story, published by Yachting World, is also available here. Our own installation experiences will be posted next.

Coastal Internet Update - Google At Sea

2008-08-21T20:05:00.008+08:00

We continue to receive questions about internet access afloat, so an update seems appropriate. To my delight, our Sierra Wireless 3G/GPRS modem continues to provide amazing service. With a DiGi sim card installed we had perfectly reliable internet access for more than 70% of the voyage from Singapore to Langkawi. Service dropped out at One Fathom Bank, north of Port Klang, but came back in again as we approached Pangkor Island and held the coast to Penang. It dropped again for a few hours between Penang and Langkawi, but we have seen the service running quite well more than 16km offshore. In Malaysian waters we certainly don't bother with wi-fi anymore. Whilst true 3G and/or Edge service is hard to find, the DiGi GPRS is fast, stable and incredibly widespread. At about 2 ringit (70c) per day, we love it. The Sierra Wireless modem will work anywhere in the world, though costs will vary in different countries. For more detailed information, click here & here.

1000 Miles To Phuket

2008-08-18T16:09:00.021+08:00

Latitude 06 degrees 32.31 North, Longitude 099 degrees 25.16 East. The Southern Andaman Sea

Its 1000 nautical miles (just under 2000km) from our long-house anchorage in Borneo to Phuket in Thailand. Right now we're just 90nm from Phuket and should arrive there tomorrow morning. Then we start work in earnest, as Crystal Blues will come out of the water onto the hard stand for a six month intensive refit and paint job.

We departed Sarawak, Borneo, on July 23rd, and paused in Singapore for a 4 day break that (typically) turned into a 2 week layover. Why does this always happen to us ? Catching up with friends is part of it, and being thoroughly entertained by the Stonham family (we call it being "Stonhamed") also took its toll. However we did spend a lot of time checking out equipment for an upcoming video shoot, completed our AIS transponder installation, re-installed our wifi antenna system to the davits aft and purchased a lot of the materials needed for the refit.

Our good friend Robert Goh, who lives in Singapore, is a newly initiated cruising sailor. He's also a 1st rate alpinist and mountain climber. Unfortunately he was caught up in the sad disaster that engulfed the climbing teams on K2 in Pakistan this season - Robert wasn't hurt, he was below the ice fall and he returned to base camp safely. Check his website here. His summit attempt has now been cancelled and he's naturally very disappointed. Robert's partner Elaine spent time with us as the disaster progressed, and is naturally quite relieved that he's on his way home.

We escaped from Singapore on Wednesday August 13, heading north up the Malacca Straits and arrived in Langkawi (Malaysia) exactly 2 days and 11 hours later. Every hour of that passage was on the engine - the "new" Cummins engine has now clocked over 2000 hours. There was no useful wind for the entire trip. The even newer Comar Automatic Identification System also proved its worth - more on that in a future story. 36 hours anchored at Kuah town in Langkawi let us abuse our credit cards whilst stocking up on essential duty free "beverages" and adding further to the collection of refit materials now clogging the boat.

Stashed below are 2 sheets of Dow RTM Styrofoam insulation for our new freezer box (each 2.6m long), plus a roll of vinyl marine hooding for Ley to make new covers. On deck we have a new aluminium extension ladder for access to the boat on the hard. A deck mount air-con unit loaned by SV Tweed fills the salon, thanks Jon & Pam (thats the Tweed crew in the image at left, breakfasting on Roti in Langkawi). Our aft cabin is full of grog, hardware, stainless steel angle, paint and spare parts. Its now a big floating hardware store, and it all has to come off the boat and go into storage when we arrive, along with everything else on the vessel - food, clothing, utensils, parts, tools, mast, rigging etc. This will take a while, though we hope to complete the transfer before we haul out on September 4th.

We departed Langkawi this morning and have a fine weather forecast for the next 24 hours - a little wind this time, so we're now motor sailing with 7 knots of breeze just aft the beam. Flat seas and sunny weather, little rain, its unusually mild for the South West monsoon. Ley and I expect to be in Thailand for 6 months, and will be renting a house for the duration, somewhere close to Phuket Boat Lagoon. Friends and family are always welcome, so please email or call us if you'd like to visit.

A Cruising Life For Sale ...

2008-08-06T16:58:00.009+08:00

We met Jon & Sandra Stonham in Borneo two years ago. They've became fine friends, and we've travelled extensively together (see our Andaman travels here). They also have a terrific website - see it here. However they've decided its time to stop roving and put the girls (Nicola and Alex) into "real" schools. So they're settling here in Singapore, where Jon is starting a new business and Sandra has accepted a position in the finance industry. All of which means that their beloved Tui Tai, a centre cockpit Tayana 47 designed by Robert Perry, is for sale.

The family moved off the boat three days ago, into a lovely big apartment, and the girls are learning to sleep in a "real" house again. Jon and Sandra haven't been getting much sleep at all, as their beds arrived from Hong Kong without mattresses. Oops.

Tui Tai was launched in 1993, is registered in Hong Kong and now waits patiently for a new owner at One Degree 15 Marina here in Singapore. She has a fabulous inventory, and has never wanted for maintenance. Download the inventory document here. She sails very well, is quicker than Crystal Blues in light airs, and sleeps six in three cabins. Tui Tai has air conditioning, a 6kva generator, an R.O. water maker, substantial systems and lots of comfort. Many of the electronic systems have been upgraded in the past two years. A solid cruising boat with impecable credentials. Interested ? An email to jon"at"thestonhams.com would kick things off nicely.

Kuching to Singapore, With AIS Onboard

2008-07-31T18:00:00.008+08:00

After two months with our friends on the Tulai River, Crystal Blues departed Santubong (Kuching) at 11.00am on Tuesday, bound for Phuket (Thailand) via Singapore, Penang and Langkawi. As I write we are just 125 miles from One Degree 15 Marina in Singapore - it has been a magic run across the South China Sea. We covered 180 nautical miles in the past 24 hours.

Good winds have kept the boat speed well over 7 knots for hours at a time, and the forecast is for these conditions to hold. Right now we have 11.5 knots of true windjust aft the beam, boat speed is 7.5 knots and a favourable current is giving us 7.8 knots over the ground. Magical sailing, although its pitch black outside and the new moon won't rise for another hour - just before dawn.

On this voyage we're testing and commissioning our new Comar AIS (Automatic Identification System) installation. The system uses small vessel mounted VFH transceivers to transmit and receive vessel data - position, speed, course, name etc. This data is automatically received by other AIS equipped vessels, and the data is displayed on dedicated screens or overlayed onto electronic chart displays.

In our case the AIS targets and data are available on our Transas Navigation software chart display - so we can see our own vessel, plus all AIS equipped vessels as real time targets on the electronic chart. Check the image at right - or click here to download a larger hi-resolution screen image. Radar targets can also be overlayed and compared, making this an ideal active safety system. Right now we're receiving data and safety messages from vessls over 100 nautical miles away, so I'm very impressed. Its a real step forward in collision avoidance, a major concern for all cruising vessels. More on this in a future story on the web, once its fully commissioned.

AIS is already compulsory on larger vessels, and is moving into the recreational boating area. It's now compulsory on all private vessels in Singapore, and we think it will become compulsory in many other countries quite soon.

We should arrive in Singapore late tonight, with a planned stopover of four or five days. Our telephone number in Singapore is +65-9122-8094 (see the right hand pane).

Cruising Internet Access Improved

2008-07-29T14:38:00.004+08:00

fiogkaomjonDiGi have simplified registration requirements for "foreigners" who wish to take advantage of their excellent 3G / GPRS data services here in Malaysia. You can now buy a post-paid SIM card for only MR$100.00 up front, from which the first months service charge will be deducted.

You'll need your passport and a Malaysian billing address to sign up, but you don't actually need the monthly invoice .... just remember to go to any DiGi office each month, quote your service number and pay the bill. Sixty six ringit for unlimited and reliable data access is great value. We departed Santubong earlier today, bound for Singapore. The DiGi service has worked continuously since we weighed anchor, and we're now more than half way to Tanjong Datu - its rock solid. Click here for info on the system and the equipment we use. We've noted some folk using 3G cell phones are having trouble with access - 3G service is limited to the big cities, so you must configure the phone to down-shift to GPRS if you want wide area coverage. If your phone can't do that then you should consider a stand alone modem that will.

Births, Deaths & Marriages

2008-07-28T23:18:00.011+08:00

This is our third year visiting our friends on the Tulai River, and we thought we'd seen it all....regular readers will already know about the marriage, however life here has a way of grabbing you by the throat and forcing you to face reality.

A few days after our Aussie visitors headed back to Australia we were relaxing in the cockpit when a local longboat approached ... "Uncle, can you help us ?" they asked. "Of course, what is the problem ?" we said. "My wife is having a baby" he said ... "When ?" I asked ..."Maybe now" he said !!!

Wow .. They needed a fast trip to the clinic, and our Caribe dinghy is the fastest boat on the river. Quickly I threw some clothes on, Ley checked the fuel tank and the wife and husband climbed aboard. The grandparents were left in the longboat to travel down stream at a slower, traditional pace. So off we went, with me busily thanking God that we'd serviced the Tohatsu outboard and there was good air pressure in the tubes.

Always the wise one, Ley had spotted the storm clouds in the distance and thrown in our largest umbrella. As the rain started I slowed the boat and set the umbrella up as a kind of dodger ... mother-to-be and father sheltered behind that and off we went again, flat out to Bintangor town. Dodging logs and flotsam at 20 knots in a rain storm proved kind of challenging, but we got there OK. The clinic put them in an ambulance to Sarikei Hospital, and a healthy baby girl was born about two hours later. Thank heavens ! That's Grandmother at left, in the photo above, with a nervous mother at right.

The following Sunday Ley set off to church early, and was immediately aware of a loud keening and wailing coming from the longhouse. On arrival she learned that our friend Lucy had passed away in the early morning ... suddenly everything had changed in the longhouse. Lucy was 60 years old, had eight children, the youngest being only 13. She was regal and proud, a beautiful woman. Unfortunately she had high blood pressure, as many Iban do, and suffered a stroke in the early hours. With no transport available, the family sat with her until she passed away around 6.00am.

Lucy was laid out in the public area of the longhouse for two days while visitors and family arrived from all over Sarawak and Malaysia. We sat with the family, next to Lucy, while friends and relatives arrived and completed there lifetime relationship with her. Each person was able to sit with her, to talk, to sing their memories and to hold her hand. The family never left her side, sang to her, burned candles constantly and still managed to look after the dozens of visitors.

Frankly I've never been so moved by a social process - the ability of these folk to deal with death and face it positively, actively combining Christian and traditional practices, was awe inspiring. After 48 hours so many people had gathered it felt like a party ... the locals erected a special kitchen just to cook for the visitors, who all slept in the public space of the longhouse.

For three days no one in the longhouse worked - no fishing, no agriculture, no hunting. Then Lucy was buried by the community and her family, who asked specially that we take the final photograph of her, as seen above. As a practicing Catholic her final resting was organised differently to traditional Iban practice, which would have seen her laid out on a platform above ground. For another two weeks, the children in the longhouse must now be careful - no running, no music, no television, no entertainment. Life will be quiet.

We departed the Tulai River last Wednesday, on the outgoing tide. Given our close relationship this was a very sad departure - many tears were shed for days before, yet on the day our friends were all there on the river bank, wishing us safe travel. We really do love this river, but we love the people even more - they're family now, and it is very hard to leave them.

Crystal Blues is now anchored on the Santubong River, near Kuching, and will depart for Singapore tomorrow morning. The passage should take three days. Our next six months will be spent in Phuket, Thailand, refitting and painting Crystal Blues. Our refit booking starts in September, so we need to get a move on ... we have to cover 1000 nautical miles (about 2000km) in the next 2 weeks.

Did We Tell You About The Crocodiles ?

2008-07-27T21:41:00.006+08:00

Late in May, Crystal Blues returned to the Tulai river, and found the children surprisingly reluctant to swim in the river. Then we discovered they had spotted some juvenuile crocodiles living down stream. It looked as though swimming was off the activity list, which was quite annoying given our hassles with crocs in Santubong.

Next day, the afternoon heat and the lure of the cool river overcame the crocodile fear. We all swam then, two or three times a day and our friends from the longhouse came down to the river each afternoon to bathe, swim and socialise. The crocodile threat appeared to be forgotton.

One night in the longhouse we asked if there had been any crocodile attacks on the Tulai River. The answer was a resounding NO - crocodiles are friends to the Iban people, and they live in harmony with the crocodiles. One day Ley, with young Jabu and Beretin, was coming back from town in the dinghy. They passed one of the smaller crocs sunning itself near the river bank. Jabu waved and said hello to the crocodile, maintaining that respectful relationship. Note that it took us five days of serious effort to eventually capture a photograph of that animal (about 2.5m long), as seen at right.

The Iban don't kill crocodiles, unless absolutely necessary. When we said we had actually eaten crocodile flesh (back in Australia) there was some consternation amongst our hosts....was this a bad omen ? The Iban who catch fish further upstream told us the crocodiles up there often damage their nets - so now we knew there were beasties both up and down the river. Yet we continued swimming, as did the locals, content that the respect between the animals and the people was real. Sitting back now, I can't tell you how we rationalised that, but it worked for us.

Service That Shines .... From Pelican

2008-07-27T18:35:00.006+08:00

About 6 years ago we purchased the first of three Pelican re-chargeable torches. They're waterproof, lightweight, robust, very bright and have a lifetime guarantee. Best of all, the model we chose comes with a small 12volt re-charging cradle, which we installed at the Nav. station and wired into the switchboard supply. So the torch was always fully charged when we needed it.

After several years of service we experienced a few charging problems, and one torch stopped working after its first salt water immersion. So we sent all three units back to the manufacturer. To our delight they agreed to replace all three units at no charge - and they let us upgrade to the new LED versions for a small fee. Full points to Pelican for honouring the lifetime warranty without any questions - service like that is hard to find these days.

We use the Pelican Stealthlite 2460 Recoil LED (see the manual here). Its waterproof, though they say its not a diver's light - they have other models for that. Our thanks to Pelican Australia for the prompt service and great support.

BIYC & Borneo Cruising Update

2008-07-25T23:40:00.019+08:00

With a little under 4 weeks to go, preparations for this years event are moving ahead. Two local entries in the racing division will have local Sarawak Sail Team crews on board. A record number of visiting boats (over 20!) were anchored at Santubong for the Rainforest World Music Festival, with most now heading on to Miri and Labuan for the race start.

Dancing On The Tulai River

SV Harrier and SV Quoll 2 visited Sungai Tulai late in June for the "End Of Gawai" celebrations at longhouse Rumah Lidam. The local population worked hard to welcome everyone, and the Tuak was flowing. Harrier have moved on to Miri after Dennis stole the show with his own unique Ngajat (dance, at left), while Quoll 2 moved back to Santubong for the music festival. Ask Tim about his sumpit (blowpipe) skills - he placed third in a competition among many locals last week.

Unusual Weather

Some boats have experienced unusually heavy conditions on the crossing from Singapore and West Malaysia, with some damage to sails and canvas reported. On the Rajang Delta we've had an unusually wet two months. I'm told the south west monsoon is stronger than usual. Some dry season! With only two sailboats registered in the whole state, there are no sailmakers or sail repair services in Sarawak. Canvas workshops are available in Miri and Kuching, but straight stitch only. If you want zig-zag, you'll need to find a boat with a suitable machine onboard.

Santubong Wrecks

SV Blue Tango, one of many vessels to visit this year, had the bad luck to pick up a wreck on their anchor chain. We're told this happened off the Marine Police jetty, an area suggested to us for anchoring by the locals....and we've seen fishing boats anchored there in the past year. Never the less they had a serious problem, resolved only after hiring a diver and barge etc. Most unfortunate. We're now told there are two wrecks in that area, plus a sunken Japanese aircraft on the other side of the river.

A Visit To Sibu, Sarawak's Second Biggest City

Anchor opposite the express boat terminal, immediately downstream of the sawmill on the opposite bank. Sibu produce markets are exceptional, with unique packaging for live chickens. We recommend a visit to The Fisherman Restaurant, on the waterfront near the water taxi depot (downstream from the express boat terminal). They serve a unique blend of Chinese and Melanau cooking, lots of seafood, and the special Assam Prawn Soup is a must. In daylight hours your dinghy can be left safely on the long express boat pontoon - go around the upstream end of the pontoon and then come back towards the terminal building between the river bank and the pontoon. However that dock is locked up each evening, so at night we use the public dock immediately downstream from the water taxi depot (its right opposite The Fisherman Restaurant). Again we use the shore-side of the floating pontoon, leaving the river side open for commercial traffic. Be sure that your dinghy is locked in both places. Fresh water can be obtained from a tap at the water taxi / fuel depot - if you go in at high tide the tap is only a few metres from your dinghy (I wouldn't recommend putting your yacht anywhere near that dock).

The night market in Sibu is a delight, with many types of local food, clothing, jewellery, gadgets etc. We shop at the council market in the heart of town for vegetables and fruit - the range is fantastic. If you want to see the country further up river, you can take an express boat from here to Song and Kapit, 120km inland. I recommend a visit to the Tun Jugah Museum at Fort Sylvia in Kapit. Coincidentally, it is Datuk Linggi, son of Tun Jugah, who makes available the floating dock at Santubong that is so valuable to visiting cruising boats.

Haul Out Facilities

SV Court Jester arrived in Santubong with a persistent leak - they needed to dry out to access the source. In the end they careened on the piles at Santubong, quite successfully. There is a concrete hard stand area at Miri Marina, serviced by mobile crane. Whilst it is quite full at the moment, Captain Fin advises they would do everything possible to help a distressed vessel. Next stop after Miri for haulout is the big travel lift at Kudat. Prices there have risen recently, but are still reasonable. Check our Marine Services Directory (right hand column) for contact details.

More Boats Visit Sungai Tulai

Whilst the annual Gawai festival is officially over, our Iban friends on Sungai Tulai continue to extend hospitality to visiting boats. Last week we met cruising yachts Circe, Dream Catcher, Millenium and Callala in Bintangor and arranged for them to visit. They came up stream in convoy the next day. Donations from the boats to the fire victim at Rumah Suring were graciously accepted, then the crews were hosted with traditional wine, music and dance at Rumah Labang. That evening the Rumah Lidam families provided a traditional Iban meal inside the longhouse, followed by hours of conversation and tuak (rice wine).

Miri Marina Arrival Information

Head for the giant Seahorse - if you miss that, the next most obvious landmark will be the big smile on Capt. Fin's face (just joking). We sounded the entrance to Miri Marina on October 10 last year, and measured 1.45m on a 0.0m tide (this depth occuring well within the sea walls). Captain Fin recommends using a minimum 1.0 metre tide for entry, and believes there is more water now than we measured last year. The bottom shelves gradually on approach to the entrance. We recommend keeping around 75m clear (SSW) of the sea walls before turning into the entrance. Plenty of water in the pond itself, but don't swim there - I've personally seen a crocodile in the canals beyond the marina, though Capt. Fin tells me thay caught that one a few months ago....

Brunei Anchorage Update

Patrick & Elizabeth on SV Labarque have confirmed that Allan Riches' notes (offered via Sailmail and also included in Envy's compilation) seem to be out of date. According to the Brunei Police, the only authorised anchorage in the Brunei River is now off the Royal Brunei Yacht Club at Serasa (05-00.2N, 115-04.1E, or thereabouts). Labarque tried anchoring up river (in town) but met problems with garbage, officialdom and locals. The holding at Serasa is very good and the club welcomes visitors. From the anchorage you can take the dinghy to the ferry terminal to check in.

Fuel is available at the Shell marine station some five miles inland from Serasa (04-55.98N, 115-01.12E). Subsidised fuel is no longer available. Diesel for foreign vessels costs B$1.30 a litre. You'll need a barge board to lie alongside the fuel wharf comfortably. We've re-fueled Crystal Blues there many times - best to arrive at high tide, slack water. Brunei is well worth a visit. We know of one boat that was hit by a barge when anchored in town, so the yacht club anchorage at Serasa is definitely the place to be. Do lock your dinghy and outboard motors though .... we lost an outboard motor there last year. See our stories here & here.

Blowpipes, Mushrooms & Friendship

2008-07-12T18:38:00.013+08:00

Seven weeks have passed since our arrival on the Tulai River. The first few weeks were frantic, including a wedding here at longhouse Rumah Lidam plus the Gawai Dayak celebrations. In early June we were also invited to our first Gawai Antu (Festival Of The Dead), held at nearby longhouse Rumah Labang. The images from Gawai Antu are available here, and in the photo gallery in the right hand column.

Life settled down just a little after that. With help from local friends Hillary & Jampie we were able to acquire a good quantity of hand made "laja" (blowpipe darts), and the people of Rumah Lidam turned their hands and lungs to a very unusual competition. This was a first for almost all of them - a blowpipe hadn't been used by these people for more than a generation. After the first day's entertainment several old blowpipes appeared out of the local biliks (homes), though all were warped or damaged, and unuseable. Using Neil's new (& straight) blowpipe, the competition final was held on June 30.

On June 28 the world turned upside down again with the arrival of family friend Diana Farrell and her friend Charlotte (at left). Two 18 year old aussie girls certainly caused a stir on the river, and in the local towns. They were delivered to the longhouse in great style, carried aboard an Iban longboat. That night was the end of Gawai, and the celebrations included dressing Ley and both girls in traditional Iban costume. Thats "Princess" Ley in the photo at right.

Our friends here keep us well supplied with local foods and are eager for us to sample everything from local river snails to Pangolin and tapioca leaf. The wild mushrooms shown here look red and dangerous to the newcomer, but taste delicious when cooked (lightly spiced). Last week Jampie cut a large bunch of fruit from the Napa Palm along the river bank. The nuts were separated from the bunch and then cut open on the dock. Inside is a delicious clear milk, just like coconut milk. Surrounding the milk is a clear gelatinous layer that can be scraped out with your finger nail. To our surpise it tastes like Lychee fruit, only milder. Two days in a row we slurped and scraped our morning tea of fresh nappa fruit, sitting on the dock, with Jampie wielding his long knife to keep everyone fed. Incidentally, if you want a knife sharpened really well, give it to an Iban ... Jampie has honed our large galley knife to a very fine and dangerous edge. His own long knife knocks the top off green coconuts in a flash, as Charlotte & Diana saw last week. The girls returned to Australia yesterday, though the local boys are still asking after them...see the photo's here, or in the gallery at right.

Our presence on this river sometimes generates an unusual amount of interest - in the past month we've been visited twice by local Chinese language newspapers, who each devoted a full page in colour to our presence here. Read about it here, & here. The courtesy and generosity of the local people is difficult to describe - I've lost count of the food and drink we've been offered by locals, both Chinese and Iban. Even in local restaurants we sometimes find our meal is paid for before we even finish it .... Sarawak is unique.

A River Clean Up Leads To Wasp Attack

2008-06-27T13:19:00.005+08:00

Afternoons on Crystal Blues are usually busy with "boat school" (English & Mathematics) for the local children. However after the jungle around the plankwalk was cleared (see the story here), we noticed that quite a lot of plastic and other trash had accumulated along the boardwalk.

So the following day we cancelled school and asked the children to help with a big clean up of the river bank. This went very well, with lots of enthusiastic helpers, and we planned to burn what could not be recycled. As I was lighting the fire I noticed the clean up team suddenly slapping at their limbs, yelling and screaming, and then running flat out to the river .... they'd disturbed a wasp nest under the plank walk. This wasn't funny - the wasps pursued them to the water before returning to the nest, and many children were bitten (Ley scored a few bites as well).

Of course now it was retribution time - young Jabu said we must burn the nest, it is the Iban way ! With newspaper from Crystal Blues, he and Beretin lit torches of rolled paper and placed them under the nest. Thats them sprinting away from the burning nest in the photo at right. The last few wasps were subdued with spray from Crystal Blues, and the plankwalk was then safe for the children to return home.

A Boatyard In Borneo

2008-06-25T22:53:00.008+08:00

A rickety elevated plank-walk connects the nearby longhouse to the river, crossing wet padi fields and pushing through a jungle margin at the river bank. That jungle is constantly trying to claim back the plank-walk, along with the weeds and grasses in the fallow padi fields. One afternoon last week the entire male population of the longhouse appeared, all armed with long knives. They slashed their way from the longhouse to the river, clearing a wide swathe through the undergrowth.

Next day the job continued, and only then did we discover what was really happening. It seems that many of the local long-boats have not been out of the water for some time (some for more than twelve months), so they need to be dried out and re-painted.

Our friends were busy clearing a hard stand area, though on this flood prone river bank you'd have to call it a "soft" stand. The boats will be floated up on a high tide, and then lifted clear of the mud onto simple wooden supports. After several days drying they'll be scraped, painted and launched again. The river tides here are rarely less than 2.5 metres, and often run to more than 5.0 metres, so finding a really dry spot is difficult - even the long houses are built on stilts to allow for the periodic flooding.

These Iban river craft are a curious mix of modern and traditional design. Long and narrow, with natural "grown" knees re-inforcing the chines, they are easy to paddle and fast under power. Our good friend Jampie has a nice little single cylinder (4 stroke) Honda engine powering his boat, complete with a 1/4" stainless shaft and 6.5"dia. alloy propeller. However when he set out to build the boat he headed up river to a virgin jungle area - there he selected and felled a suitable tree and sawed the planks in the field, whilst living rough. After a couple of weeks he was able to head back down river with an almost completed boat .... traditional skills survive.

Thats Jampie in his boat at right (above), showing the dinner he'd caught for us - a giant freshwater prawn. As the jungle was cleared, we noticed that the felled "Rasau" palms were being collected. Everyone was energetically extracting the heart of the central stalk, which is sliced and cooked in a light curry.

Borneo Cruising Update

2008-06-22T20:24:00.016+08:00

The south-west monsoon "cruising season" has been unusually wet so far - not that we mind, the rain fills our tanks, the clouds keep the temperature down and its good for the crops as well. Rain up-stream means the Rajang River is carrying a bigger silt load than normal for June - we can see the difference here on the Tulai, where the incoming tide brings silty water from the big river.

Traffic On The River

A few days ago we were delighted to see another yacht on the Tulai River - SV LaBarque had come to visit. Patrick & Elizabeth were only able to stay one night, but the locals put on quite a show for them ..... that's Elizabeth with her new Padi hat at right. If you're planning to come up here in the next couple of weeks, be aware that a special celebration for the end of Gawai will probably occur on June 29 or June 30. Call us on 017-425-6960 for pilotage from Bintangor, or email us at the address above. Check out the happy little group at left (click to enlarge). Anyone would think they'd been drinking tuak ...

Borneo International Yachting Challenge, 2008

Today I spoke with Bruce Chai, a member of the BIYC organising committee in Miri. Bruce confirmed that final planning is underway, but that the event dates have changed again (!). They are now finalised as :

23/8/08 Assemble in Labuan, Opening Dinner
24/8/08 Labuan Harbour Race
25/8/08 Passage race to Miri

Just a day earlier than before. Details for Miri races and functions I don't have, but the event now finishes on August 28th. The race website is up and running again after a recent technical blackout. Check it out here.

New Sarawak / Rajang River Charts

Patrick on LaBarque showed me new charts of the Rajang, just published by the Sarawak Hydrographic Office. I had a quick look at them and they do seem more up to date than the old British charts we're using. From the comprehensive offering you'll probably get by with the following :

SAR1440 Rajang Entrance to Bintangor, SAR1441 Bintangor to Sibu, SAR15 Sibu to Kuala Paloh

That last chart is an overview of the ship route, that is also covered as a series of close-scale charts that are probably not necessary for a sailboat. However it doesn't cover the Lassa River entrance to the north of the delta - best coverage on that is the Malasysian chart MAL7257. The Sarawak charts are available at MR35.00 each from :

Sarawak Hydrographic Office
Lot 683, Section 66, Jalan Utama, Tanah Puteh, 93619 Kuching.
Tel: +60 82 484159 Extension 167.

Kuching Check-In Procedures

Dennis & Pat on SV Harrier were in Kuching, and commented that the Kuching check-in procedures take half a day, even with a car, and they're absolutely right. Without a car it would take all day. It helps to have the paperwork ready - download all the forms from this website (right hand column) and you can print as many as you need.

First stop is the port captain, Jabatan Laut. Its a decent drive out to the new "Senari" deepwater container port at Sejingkat. Drive towards Bako National Park - its over 20km from town, on the right. You'll see the container cranes on the right hand side of the highway. On the ground floor of the main administration building is a little office (hard to find, right-hand back corner) where you can check in. Here you need crew lists and Sarawak MSS.1 arrival forms. You could check out at the same time (they'll let you if your departure is within 24 hours) and for that you'll need the MSS.2 departure forms.

Next is the Immigration office at Pending. You must go to the Pending wharf area, and in through the security gate at the traffic circle. Ask for directions to the Immigration office. There you'll need the usual crew lists, passports etc. Depending on who is working that day you may be asked to complete other Sarawak specific forms, but the service is always friendly. You can download a map, showing the location in Pending.

Lastly you must go to customs, as you depart the Pending port complex. The customs man is located in the main security gate building, between the truck entry and exit lanes. Here the reaction varies, depending on the staff rostered. Many aren't sure what to do. I give them a copy of the MSS.1 check in form, crew list and my clearance form from the last port. Walk away, you're done.

To make this process easier, Ian Robertson (SV Kumang / Kuching) has prepared a thorough guide on the topic, complete with photo's and maps, like those at right. You can download it here. Thanks Ian !

Sea East Asia / Maritime Mobile Net

If you were a fan of Richard's safety net each morning, the good news is that he's back .... same time and same frequency, according to the latest Noonsite story. Propagation on the 20 metre band has apparently improved to the point where Richard is stirring up the airwaves again. Catch him on 14.323Mhz at UTC 0025 for position reports, and UTC 0055 for weather.

Internet Afloat - An Alternative To WiFi

2008-06-05T12:42:00.007+08:00

In previous entries we reviewed a long range wi-fi transceiver - read the stories here, & here. That system works very well, however in many parts of the world wi-fi just doesn't exist. After two previous seasons in Borneo without internet on board, we decided that this year we'd lash out and try the new 3G cellular networks. These offer very fast connection speeds where the network is 3G capable, principally in the major cities. Outside the cities the system winds back to GPRS speeds, still useful. The really good part is that a connection can be purchased for not much more than 2 Ringit per day in Malaysia, with unlimited download access. We understand that its also affordable in Thailand.

We've used GPRS before, but found it prohibitively expensive in Australia and Singapore. This time we purchased a Sierra Wireless Aircard 875u 3G modem, which connects via USB. We fixed on this unit when we realised it was useable worldwide, and that it could be used with an external antenna in areas of marginal signal strength (note that the 875u has now been superceded by the 880u - now with GPS(!) onboard). Click for product data sheet. The external antenna capability is of course very useful on metal boats. Selecting a service provider proved more difficult. Celcom offers a 3G network with very wide regional coverage, whilst DiGi offers a 2G (Edge) service with less regional penetration. Whilst locals in Kuching believed Celcom was sure to be better, we'd heard from data specialists in West Malaysia that the DiGi service was far more reliable. With this in mind we signed up for both - a side-by-side test was sure to be revealing, and so it turned out.

DiGi was the first tested, at the anchorage in Santubong. To our delight we had access speeds superior to many wi-fi networks, and rock solid reliable performance. The Celcom card arrived the next day, but wouldn't work...that would require dealer intervention we were told on the helpline. By then we had departed Santubong for the Rajang, so we continued using the DiGi service. We had reliable internet access for almost one third of the ocean journey to Kampung Rajang, and once in the Rajang River we never lost signal all the way to Bintangor. Leaving the Rajang we headed up the Binatang and then the Tulai Rivers, carefully watching the signal strength drop as distance increased. Anchored at Rumah Lidam it fluctuated between one and three bars, averaging 2 bars. Despite this we have a perfectly reliable (though sometimes slow) GPRS connection, and are delighted with the DiGi service.

After some prodding the Celcom dealer in Kuching advised they'd forgotten to activate the card - duh - and said it would start working soon. Testing the Celcom SIM card the next day gave a different error message (incorrect profile). I figured the APN was wrong in the profile, easily edited if I could find out what it should be. There followed a week of hopeless telephone traffic with Celcom "careline". Eventually an engineer did call, but it took a week. By then we'd got it working with the help of Ghuftrade, a dealer in West Malaysia. Unfortunately, the Celcom service is virtually un-useable up here. Great signal strength (as expected) and great coverage (the 900Mhz Celcom network spreads better than the 1.8ghz DiGi system). However the internet provisioning on the Celcom network (in GPRS areas) we've found to be extremely unreliable and inadequate. When it works the speed is no better than DiGi, but it resets frequently. Earlier today I gave it one last try, and could not get it to hold up a service for more than 2 minutes. DiGi will work solidly all day long - we've even downloaded software updates that take hours to transfer.

Click here for the Celcom GSM coverage map in the Rajang delta - it may work for voice, but I wouldn't trust it for data. Click here for the DiGi coverage map of the lower Rajang delta - these guys really are too modest - it works in most places along the river, and will work in much of coastal Malaysia, I'm quite sure.

Conclusion ? Go for the DiGi service - it is solid, reliable and works whenever you can get a signal, which is a whole lot better than not working when ever you can get a signal (sorry Celcom). Click here for links to Ghufran's 3G business - he can supply everything you need via mail order and he is, in our experience, absolutely trustworthy (you just need to visit a MayBank to deposit the funds). He's the only person we know with external antenna's in stock. The specialist DiGi dealer we used is identified in the displayed card image (click the card to enlarge) - they'll install the software for you and make sure its working, unlike Celcom. As a foreigner DiGi will insist that you sign up and pre-pay for six months - but do the maths - it's still a good deal, as it will work all over Malaysia. Thanks to Ian & Mona in Kuching, for lots of support and encouragement with this story.

The Fire At Longhouse Rumah Suring

2008-06-03T20:06:00.006+08:00

Yesterday afternoon we visited Rumah Suring, the longhouse that burned down earlier this year. It was very sad to see the ruins of this once beautiful longhouse. All the large heirloom pots, beautiful pottery, were sitting among the burned ruins - apparently if moved they simply collapse. All 43 families have built small shacks around the remains of the old building and they're waiting to build a new longhouse once suitable land can be found nearby.

For the past two months we've been collecting donations for these people - clothing, books, games, utensils, tools etc - and our aft cabin was full when we departed Singapore. Late this afternoon Tuai Rumah Suring (the longhouse chief) came to visit Crystal Blues in his longboat, and collected the donations. He was extremely gracious and grateful, and headed back downstream to distribute the goods among his people (a task I'm glad is his). Within days we noticed a large number of people in the district wearing sailing regatta shirts and carrying Raymarine shopping bags - the goods were in use. Thanks to all the boats that donated - your generosity is appreciated here.

Soon after the fire we sent a cash donation to the emergency appeal that had been setup. Tuai Rumah has held these funds, and wanted our permission to spend a portion of them on replacing the traditional musical instruments lost in the fire. Knowing our love for the local music it was a perceptive and appropriate request and we were delighted to approve. The balance will go to the re-building fund. If you're heading up river this season please think about what you can donate to these unfortunate families, who lost absolutely everything in the fire. Donations can also be deposited with Ian & Mona Robertson at Mona Medical Supplies in Kuching - if you've anchored at Santubong you'll know Ian and Mona as the people who own "Kumang", the yellow yacht moored in the river near Datuk Lingi's dock.

Its A Girl !

2008-06-02T08:01:00.006+08:00

We're thrilled to announce that Peter & Maria Langford (see their wedding blog here) have a daughter. Nadia Grace Eve Langford was born on Friday May 23rd, weighing 7lb.6oz.

Peter says the the arrival has been "absolutely life changing", and we can tell he's a different man ! Both Maria and Nadia are healthy and (we're told) very relaxed, and the family is getting regular sleep. Long may it last.

In true Langford family style, the just-born Nadia has already received her first life jacket, a miniature device provided by friends who really understand her family - she's ready for the sailing life. She's also a fully paid-up member of the Sydney Swans football club - yes the Langford's are just a bit fanatical.

55 Passengers On Board - Gawai Dayak Is Here

2008-06-01T19:08:00.010+08:00

Gawai Dayak is the major festival of the year for Iban people - imagine Thanks Giving and New Year rolled into one. They celebrate the success of the rice harvest and the continuation of life, whilst looking ahead to the new planting season. Its joyful, exciting and in some cases a little bit drunken. Distant family members come home by ferry and long boat, as both school and public holidays are planned to coincide with Gawai.
Preparations go on for days - all the long house women were involved in plaiting decorations, making tuak, and preparing food. The last days before Gawai are busy, with major expeditions to the nearest towns, laying in supplies for a festival that can last for weeks.

On May 30 at 9.00am we loaded 55 people - men , women and children - and proceeded downstream to Bintangor town. It was raining quite heavily, so more than 35 were crammed down below, with all the hatches shut. It was like a sauna down there. Fortunately the skipper had to steer the boat, while the admiral stood watch on the foredeck and spotted for logs. The passenger load submerged the waterline, and the Cummins was working quite a bit harder than normal to achieve hull speed.

Anchored just off the town dock, we added to the festival atmosphere as our passengers spread out through the shops and markets, returning with boxes, bags and traditional woven baskets full of produce and supplies. For the return jouney we loaded goods on the foredeck - sacks of rice, corn, vegetables, 12 boxes with live chickens and several freshly slaughtered sections of pig. After 4 hours we chugged back upstream against the current, after being photographed for the local Chinese language newspaper. Anchored back on Sungai Tulai, many long boats came out from shore to carry the load back home. I watched an 84 year old woman leap nimbly into a long boat and paddle out to Crystal Blues on her own, eager to help in the unloading. Hope I can still do that when I'm her age.

Salamat Hari Gawai

Gawai happened on May 31. Invited to the small Rumah Malaya longhouse (13 doors) that afternoon, we visited with families and were hosted by the Tuai Rumah Malaya (chief). Many of the people there are quite old fashioned and lead a very simple life. We were the first white people ever to visit this long house. Of course we had to drink, dance and then eat. The chief paraded up and down the verandah with a very good looking chicken under his arm. Finally it was waved in circles over Neil's head and then taken outside for a quick kill (big knife). They prepared 4 plates of traditional foods, beautifully dressed with bloodied feathers from the sacrificial bird. Thankfully it was a traditional ritual, and we didn't have to eat it - in fact no one did, the plates were simply acknowledged then removed.

Back at Jampie's long house, Rumah Lidam, we shared a meal with our friends, taking two bottles of wine and some beer as a contribution. Dinner started at 7.00pm and by 8.00pm we were sitting cross legged on matts outside, on the communal verandah, listening and dancing to the gong and drums. Many people got up to ngajat (dance) - including Neil. We had to dance around a "palm" tree. Hanging from the tree and around the base were symbolic harvest decorations and food and drink. This was eventually all chopped down by Neil, with an Iban parang (long knife) after much dancing. Neil then had to "chop" the tree down with the parang, just before midnight, symbolising the end of one season and the start of another. At midnight the chief of the long house banged the gong and we all called out to welcome in the New Year.

Then something fantastic happened - almost immediately 37 individual parties were set up. Each door (family) in the long house put food and drink outside there bilik (home). As guests we were expected to eat and drink at each door. Neil and I bagi (shared) our glass of tuak and nibbled here and there, 37 times, down the length of the long house. The residents then started a procession of house visiting that went on for hours. We left just after 2am, but there was no rest for the wicked as we were expected at church at 8.30am that morning.

Peace & Quiet, plus Gongs & Knives

2008-05-29T22:03:00.002+08:00

Coming back to the Tulai River we're reminded of the environmental noise we live with. There is very little human background noise here, so every insect, bird, reptile and animal makes its own contribution to the symphony as we wake each morning.

That all changed last week, as the sound of discordant gongs and drums floated across the paddy fields to wake us. Our friends were practicing for the wedding of a local girl, taking place the next day. It was a big thing - hundreds of Iban guests arrived by lorry from the groom's longhouse. Whilst nominally a Christian ceremony, when the two longhouse groups met, they shared a slurp of whisky and then with gongs and drums playing they slaughtered a pig at the entrance to the longhouse. The guests then paraded the length of the long house, with gongs and drums accompanying. Eventually the pig was cut up (very interesting video, see the photo top right) and then things went quiet for a while. Makai (dinner) was served to all, though we were invited into Jampie's house for dinner with the extended family - probably 30 of us. A real feast, huge river prawns, many vegetable dishes, chicken cooked in bamboo, rice in bamboo and of course no Iban feast would be complete without "babi" - the pork!

After makai the bride and groom arrived in modern dress, white long bridal gown, white long bridesmaid dress and the groom in full suit, collar and tie, but only socks - no shoes. The bride, bridesmaid and the best man were bare-foot, like the rest of us. We were the official photographers - took lots of stills and video.

Then the speeches, ceremony and music happened. An Iban gong band played constantly, with Neil's new Bali drum included. Another 80 feet down the long house was a live Malay band - playing music at the same time . It was noisy! One end had people doing the traditional Najat Iban dances, the other doing the modern Malay male shuffle (so boring).

Lots of fun, lots of tuak (rice wine) and a good time was had. We left at 2am, but they went on until dawn, when peace and quiet eventually returned. We didn't hear the roosters at dawn, but the kids swimming after breakfast eventually woke us .... we really do love this river.

The river tides are big at the moment, ranging around 3.5 metres. We try to be on board for the swing as the tide changes, just in case any wind should push us close to the bank. We sit here with 50 metres of chain out in a river that's only 40 metres wide - but the current always wins, and centres us in the stream.

Tradition Survives, Despite The Fire

Despite the proximity to town (only 20 minutes by fast boat), and the influence of the missionary churches, this long house group is still a repository of Iban tradition. Some of that disappeared when Rumah Suring burned, with the loss of many artifacts including valuable long swords, many that had taken heads in the past. Locals still say that if you have a rash on your body, then you wipe the blade of an "experienced" long sword across the skin and the rash will be cured. Fortunately other long blades survive here, so we don't see too many rashes....

Last week we delivered some photographs to Rumah Labang and watched a traditional medicine man examine and probe every rib, muscle and intestinal bump of his patient, who was lying prone on the floor. He then applied a special white paste, finger painting the patient's body in half-moon swirls. Try claiming that on Medicare ...

Two nights ago we watched the yellow/white lights of an aircraft seemingly hover low above the river, as it approached Sibu airport (30km away). Our friend Jampie, sitting with us on the transom steps at sunset, said that many of the old people here still believe the lights are the eyes of the Antu (ghosts). Its taken a little time for these traditional practices and observations to be shared with us - we saw and heard little on our first few visits.

We're very pleased to see traditional music now being played by the younger children, something we've been encouraging for the past two years. During the wedding I was able to play in a spirited gong band, made up entirely of young teenagers, both girls and boys. This would have been impossible two years ago - its a joy and privilege to see it happening now.