Settling In

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