sv Elysium… – Page 2 – Adventures and frustrations in the cruising life on the Westsail 42; Elysium.

Progress and Play

The saying “All work and no play” is what we’re living. Currently; we are stuck, stuck in one of the most sought after tourist places in the world. The boat is here, on the hard and we have others doing the work because we don’t have the tools nor the place to perform these tasks, We’ve hire Nai’s team to oversee and handle the project. Ton is the owner of the welding company and they have been doing a knock up job. We check in with him everyday and look the work over every evening. The new fuel tanks look gorgeous. As gorgeous as any Aluminum tank can be. We’ve moved a couple of return and vent tubes making them accessible once the flooring is back down. Floor hatches will provide access. We’ll have new valves for the fill and tanks that will not leak. We hope forever but hey… things happen.

While here; readers will know we’ve secured a room in the local resort with a long term vastly reduced rate. All is good. Except I’ve not found life all that “interesting”. Well, interesting might not be the correct term; maybe fulfilling or rewarding. We’re not on the water, we’re not sailing; we’re not seeing new things. We are kind of; locked down. Kind of !

W/ decided to break out. She scheduled a land trip to visit the Big Buddha, the Southernmost viewpoint on the island, a temple, and the old city. Early one morning we arrived for our trip in the hotel lobby. The driver found us and herded us into his vehicle. W/ and I surmised the two of us would be grouped at another spot and then boarding a van with several guests. Nope! Wrong again. We had; maybe our luck is improved, we had a private tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and accommodating.

The first stop the Southern tip of Phuket. There, there is a lighthouse and Buddhist shrine. Individuals from the world over bring elephants and leave them for good luck. Eventually the elephant figurines take over. The local municipality collects them, grouped them and was loading all of them in dump trucks. ALL for burying. Seems a waste to me. I asked about securing one as a souvenir and was told that would be bad luck. Not believing in bad luck; not really, I still didn’t want to insult their culture. I stood back and watched them tossed into the back of a truck. I was told they would be taking all of them; I am not sure where, and buried. I can only imagine some archeologists, millennia from now digging up one of the burial sites and finding hundreds or thousands of crafted and decorated elephants.

Our next stop was high on my list of places to see; on land. When one arrives at Chalong Bay to clear into Thailand, a Buddha statue on top of the mountain is very visible. From miles away it is visible. And for much of the previous year the statue has been closed. Rains caused a mud slide that killed several people and needed to be cleared up and reinforced. Having opened a few weeks prior we can now visit.

Not sure it ought to be called “Big Buddha”. It is HUGE standing about 150’ tall. There is no climbing on it and no ascending to the top of it. One can walk the base and learn a wee bit about the faith and religion. Our guide was Buddhist and assisted in answering any questions we had.

After our ear popping tourist visit on top of the mountain we headed to the valley to visit yet another religious site. For some reason; in all our travels; religious sites tend to be high on tourist lists. If it were up to me; I would have skipped it. I am amazed how much religion has merged into every culture we’ve shared time with.

This temple and grounds reminded me of Trump. Gold, here, Gold there, Gold everywhere. I think the Donald would feel right at home here. Except; I saw no female monks nor any golf ! 🙂

There was one building of which I had not come across before in any of the world’s religious sites we’ve visited. A crematorium. I understand that is more along the lines of Buddhism merging with the world instead of wanting to be the world’s overlords. Not really like Taoism but a combination of Christianities world view and the Taoist. We were told (I’m not wagering how much this is true) that they may remove one bone or part of a bone of the deceased and place that bone inside a wall piece; probably with a smallish donation, and then the progeny of the deceased could come when they wished and pray for, and be thankful to their kin. Perhaps likened to a cematary marker. Amazing to think that in the walls in and around the site there are bones of many of Phuket’s ancestors.

In retrospect, they might feel that burying people in boxes and building monuments or putting markers in the ground is repugnant. I’m reminded of a fellow cruiser that had the ashes of one of her parents with her in the boat. In every ocean she traveled, and many of the countries she visited she spread some of the ashes. Then she would send a post card from her parent to the family say “Wish you were here” ! A fun way to respect one’s loved ones who have passed. But too; I was amazed and appalled at the bones of the deceased being in an underground open pit in a cathedral in Peru.

Breathing a sigh of relief we left and traveled to the next stop: the old town of Phuket. There the time and atmosphere reminded us of Concubine Lane in Ipo, Malaysia. However, I saw no concubines! So much disappointment ! 🙂 What we did see was the Chinese and Portuguese influence in buildings during the founding of Phuket. Most were currently inhabited by clothing / tourist shops with a few restaurants and bars scattered between. An interesting place to visit, not one place for me to hang longterm. And we didn’t hang out there. Less than an hour later we were whisked off to a touristy Cashew factory.

Raw Cashew on Tree — A Cashew still on Tree

Yeah, we know, no one makes Cashews. They are grown. Not like Apples or Plums, the meat surrounding the seed is toxic. The seed is the nugget. The liquid surrounding the seed affects the skin; and not in a good way. The nuts are carefully extracted by hand. Our guide said there is no machine that can do this successfully. I did find one on line but it does not result in high quality whole nuts. Then the seeds are moved; where we didn’t see, to be cleaned and roasted. Those two processes make the nut edible and delicious. After which a coating is applied and several different tastes may accompany the nut. As per the tourist instruction book, we paid good money to haul several different cashew tastes back to our room.

Back at the hotel we departed with our bag of goodies, some great pics and good memories. That statue is HUGE !

That evening brought us to the boat; again, to check on progress. All is moving forward. We hope to be out of here before the next millenia begins. Just kidding. Maybe one more month. Maybe….

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

Riding a Roller Coaster

Similar to running in place, except we’re going round and round and up and down. In the end we still end up where we began.

As you know we had a leak in one fuel tank. As we believe one of the fuel tanks has reached the end of its life we thought the best approach would be to replace all three. We have three. Thus, we’re in Boat Lagoon Marina in Phuket with a highly recommended Project manager. She’s advised us on getting hauled, where to stay and who to do the work. She and her company will carry the load; at a price of course.

The haul out went smoothly with 10 individuals chattering and getting the straps set right. Then a high speed ride on the boat swinging from the lift at about 1 km / hour, to a place in the yard where she will sit for the duration of the project. We moved off the boat and acquired a long stay room in the NH hotel on site. Close but not really. It is about 1,000 steps round trip to the boat and back. Really, the only boat work in the room is research.

Westail 42 Dinette Partially out — We completed our part

Nai’s people began the process of removing the galley and a good part of our dinette from Elysium. I had anticipated the need for future removal but never hoped to do it. To deal with the tanks years ago while refurbishing Elysium I used two wood plug sizes. A larger 1/2” plug indicated that it was varnished in and removable. These could be removed to remove larger pieces of the furniture. The smaller 3/8” plugs were epoxied in and could stay.

With the cabinetry removed draining the diesel tanks were next. Two tanks had fuel in them. A drum with a couple of heavy duty plastic bags was brought in to hold the diesel. That filled up and a a couple of 5 gallon containers lightened held the rest. After the tanks were drained as much as possible the crew spent two days disconnecting the hoses and removing the tanks.

With the tanks out we’re now in the process of prepping for the new. Cleaning and painting the area would be on the list.

Westsail 42 Fuel Tank Placement — Looking Down…Painting of the fuel tank compartments

The Aluminum has been ordered for the tanks and we’ve spoken to the welder daily on how they will be assembled. We hope this is our low point and everything can move forward smoothly. We’re two weeks in. If our time refurbishing years ago is any indication of the time frame that would mean we’re 5-6 weeks out of a completed job. Round and round we go, up and down. Our roller coaster is one wild ride.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

One for Two

Currently we have two issues we’re dealing with. Our depth sounder is giving few if any readings and our dinghy engine didn’t want to keep running. There is actually a third but that one now sorted.

When we left Langkawi our sounder gave us depth then switched to a blank screen and then depth again and then none. I asked a cruising friend if his sounder was acting erratic around Langkawi and he too said he would get funny readings. I put the issue off thinking ok. With his sounder a different manufacturer and having the same issue it has something to do with the water and substrate. Not so fast.

We left Malaysia with a wonky sounder. By the time we hit Thailand it barely provided any data. Fortunately we had been in this anchorage before and knew where to anchor and the approximate depth. For caution I added more chain than usual so we could sleep well at night.

Raymarine MN 100 system details — In the Opts, Health menus

The next day; again erratic. I contacted Raymarine support and they said within three days they would respond. They didn’t. Hidden way down in the options menu I found some information. I took photos and after three days I uploaded them to their support page. At the 5 days mark; still no answer from Raymarine. We went up to Boat Lagoon (by Grab) getting our ducks in a row for hauling and replacing our fuel tanks. Remember the fuel tank leak? That was our third issue. We now have a haul out day and a dirt stay arranged.

While there we stopped in at the Raymarine electronics dealer Octopus Marine. There we spoke with the engineer. While on the Raymarine dealer site it still has parts listed for the Micro Net series. Good. We spoke of bringing the system in when we hauled the boat here. Back at the boat I wanted to do one final check. Always check the simplest first. Always! The shield wire was loose on the main unit. I reconnected it and we fired the system up. Nothing. Same, same! Time to dig out our spares and see what we have that may help identify the problem.

In our spares we have an older Airmar P79 transducer, a new P79 Transducer and a couple through hull transducers. Time to check this part of the system. I choose a new transducer with a long cable run. I connect it up to the base unit. We run the transducer out of the port and tape it to the boat hook. W/ holds it over the side and I fire up the system. Bingo ! We have depth. The display and the main board work! A little research told me that the Pizzo Electric unit in the transducers may eventually stop working. And too I noticed some companies indicate a 10 year life expectancy. Wow.

I wonder if I ought to put the new one in or reinstall an older unit I had removed? I don’t remember when I removed it or why. I decide on the new. Cut the wire to the correct length and strip the ends to attach to the main unit. Without running the wires we install it in the base in the boat ensuring that it does work. And it does. Now to run the wires.

As this was a Garmin P79 it had an end plug and heaps of wires. Which means it is thicker. Which means the holes I had used previously for a nice clean install will no longer work. More tools out, drills and bits I begin to run the new wiring. Between boat yoga and a sailors language I eventually get the wires run to the base unit. Connect it all and who would have guessed; it works. We are … back in business.

The next issue the dinghy engine. When we arrived and needed to check in we dropped the dinghy, installed the engine. It ran and stalled, ran and stalled. I pulled the carb off, cleaned the lines and the engine then acted normal. Ran like a champ. Off we went to check in. With all the paper work completed, some extra supplies, more Thai Baht we dinghied back to the boat. Again the little engine worked like a champ; until it saw the boat. It wouldn’t idle. It stalled. Restart, stall, restart, run, stall. I have some throttle but no idle. We get back to the boat and I try to understand why? Maybe dirty fuel. Part of the fuel line is old. I replace the entire line and intstall a new inline filter. Start the engine and the same thing happens. It starts and runs with throttle and when I attempt to idle it stalls. I believe it is a problem with the slow speed jet.

I pull the Carb off, clean the filter, clean the lines, clean the carb and reinstall. Same thing. I check out some vids on Youtube. One indicates to check the fuel pump and replace the gasket. I have a gasket. Doesn’t look the same; maybe redesigned. I pull the carb off again, clean, check, replace the top gasket and the funny fuel pump gasket. Same thing. Find another vid on this exact engine. I discover that under the carb float there is another slow speed jet. Not sure what the screw is for that I had been adjusting. Hmmm. That lower one must be blocked. Time to pull the Carb off … again.

Well, I did it. W/ handled the supplies and I did the dirty work. Pulled the Carb off… again. Replaced the new “not right” gasket with old gasket. And, this is the important part, I removed the float and cleaned the ports hidden by it. This video is an excellent one on the rebuilding of the 15 hp Yamaha Carb (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye_Ui9D8dBE) . He pointed out that there is indeed an idle jet hidden above the float. After removing the float and cleaning those ports I put everything back together. Pumped the bulb, pulled the cord. It popped right off and… idled! Oh what a relief it is ! 🙂 We will be here for a couple of days to enjoy this cruising life. Next stop a water fall.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

Cruising Dominoes

Long, long ago… months it seems; before we left to Thailand to haul out, we made a shake down around Langkawi. Where wished to check out our systems and ensure there were no issues. We found some issues. Fixed some issues; most of which were discussed in the blog.

While in Singa Besar for a cruiser BBQ another cruiser had noticed the exhaust from our generator as we were making water. He stopped by; as friendly cruisers do, to point out that our exhaust had a lot of white in it. Whiteish exhaust signifies an issue.

Initially I didn’t think much about it. I did however do some snooping. And indeed whitish exhaust may identify an issue with the engine. Our little Kubota generator ran fine. Ran at the recommended rpm’s. Ran the Water Maker and pushed out a goodly supply of amps at the same time. I didn’t think much about it. But; the issue stuck in my brain. Some call these helpful, unhelpful hints; ear worms. I call it a Brain Splinter.

Splinters may fester. After Thailand and back in Langkawi I contacted an excellent local Mechanic (Andrew) to check over the little diesel. At this time avid readers will remember that we also discovered and identified a fuel leak in one of our three tanks. It was the tank I used for the generator. I thought I had already shut that tank down and opened up one of the others. We did drain that tank and it had no fuel left in it. I had not switched tanks. With the mechanic standing by I started the generator. A couple minutes later it roared to a stop. Damn. I thought I had switched the tanks for the generator. I thought I had. There are three valves to switch when switching fuel tanks. Andrew was here; to not waste time and money, I opened up the other two tanks to feed the generator fuel.

He checked things out, we talked about the exhaust. Watched the exhaust and the conclusion is the white smoke is the evaporation of the water in the system. Steam. Our water maker diverts water from the cooling water that enters the Muffler it is heated up from the engine exhaust and evaporates before it reaches the outlet. Ok. Good. Great. Generator – A – Ok.

A week passes. we are ready to head to Thailand to replace all our fuel tanks. When one goes I would worry about the others. We ferry ride; grab ride to Kuah Town and clear out, Harbor Master, Customs, and Immigration.

We return to the boat; start the engine ready to leave. Sweet. Purrs like a kitten. Cast off the lines back out of the slip and head out the channel. See my mistake yet? Halfway out of the channel the engine revs for a second, then dies. OH SHIT! Drop an anchor, raise a sail, yell Help? We are still in the middle of the channel; half way out. What to do?

I look around and we’re slowly traveling down the channel. The winds are from behind. With a bit of time we will blow out the channel. Once out we can drop the hook if needed. W/ is at the helm.

As quickly as possible on a boat, I head to the engine room. There I discover I had neglected to open up the main engines fuel tank. SHIT. I open the valve. W/ turns the key. The starter engages but the iron genny does not fire. My heart is racing. I stick my head up. We’re still ok; still floating slowly out the channel. I grab some tools to bleed the fuel system and return to the engine room. Open up this bolt, turn the engine over. Fuel exits. Open up the next in line, turn the engine over and fuel squirts out. Open up the fuel line to the injector, W/ turns the engine over, fuel shoots out, I tighten the bolt and the engine fires up. Back in control. Back on our way.

I snug down all the bolts. With my heart keeping time with the engine rpms, tight isn’t quite good enough. I over tighten the screw on the high pressure pump. I feel something begin to let go. If you have muscled a bolt too much you know the feeling. I immediately stop. Not soon enough. There is a small leak. Really small. A leak still. We figure in Phuket we’ll address the issue. We continue up the coast and anchor for the night. We called the mechanic about the leak and he too suggested we head to Phuket. There are more Perkins parts there and easier to get. Nice night. Beautiful sky, good sleep. In the am we wake for an early start.

W/ turns the engine over and it does not start. DAMN. Again I go below with some tools. I bleed, W/ hits the start button. Fuel to the pump, good. Fuel to the injectors, no. BAD! We try several times. We call Andrew (the mechanic) and discuss with him. Best to head back to Rebak. We sail back and anchor in 50’ of water near the entrance. Call Derek; the marina manager, for a tow in.

We could launch our little dinghy and maybe tow with the 15 hp but it would have been dicey. No need to take any risks. The winds were up and the water choppy. A crap shoot till we enter the channel. Best to let the marina / yard staff do it.

Five hours later they show up. The yard boat too actually had a fuel issue. With Derek’s help they acquired the Harbor Store supply boat. The marina assigned us a slip (in Australia it is called a pen) A07. The crew tows us to the end of D dock. The marina office is not happy but we are. We’re back tied to shore. I connect with Andrew and he hops on board 15 minutes later.

First thing he checks after hearing the story is the stop lever. I had this issue years ago in a remote anchorage in New Caledonia. Dirk; on Lison Life, had suggested I check the stop lever. I had forgotten about that incident. Andrew flicked the spring, the lever retracted and the engine started. Yeah, we’ll be out of here tomorrow. No need for any of the bureaucratic formalities. An extra day no one worries about in this area of the world. The sailing life is not like flying, not as timely.

But; let’s check that little, little leak. Andrew looks at the schematic. The outer bolt is separate from the inner and has a squash washer. Without touching the outer he thinks we ought to be able to tighten the inner with the squash washer and ideally; stop the leak. A spanner goes on the nut and off the bolt falls. No turn, no pressure, just a few extra grams. Damn, we’re not leaving tomorrow. It is a double bolt system. The bleed screw is inside the bolt with the squash washer. I don’t know why but if I would have read more in the manual, not been in a frenzy and used two wrenches instead of one; maybe, maybe, then it would not have leaked and it would have been tightened without a hitch. Again Dirk has a great acrynm he always loved telling me: RTFM (Read the F—— Manual)!

Sadly; Andrew doesn’t have this part set. He checks with his contacts on Langkawi. No one has it. He finds one in Malaysia on the Malaysian ebay. Orders it. Another is in Alor Star at a large Chinese engine warehouse. An interpreter he uses says they have that part. It is ordered and shipped. Further to ensure we have one that fits, I order another from Trans Atlantic Diesel in the States. That and a new spring for the Solenoid. Of course, the spring comes with the Solenoid. I expect one of them will fit. With the arrival of the first that fits we will be on our way.

The following day we asked Derek if we need to recheck back in. Yep, highly recommended. Again we ferry and Grab to Kuah. There the port Captain said “no problem” and removed our Port Clearance, we went to Customs and returned our clearance form. Immigration wanted a note as to why we returned. More stamps went in our Passports and we were good to remain for our initial visa time and repair the diesel.

Three identical parts ordered and now we wait. We had no idea how long. But we waited. And waited. On Friday one of the items ordered arrived. Andrew came by the boat the following am and within minutes we had Elysium’s engine again purring like a kitten. Everything checked out. We were good to go. That afternoon we headed to town to resupply. The following a.m. we again did the bureaucracy dance; visited the Port Captain, Customs and Immigration. Back at the boat we started the engine. I paid our restaurant tab at the office, wished them well and said we would see them in a couple of months. Right now; Rebak is our home base. At the boat we collected our lines, W/ pointed Elysium South out of the channel. This time… no drama. Around the islands we head North to Thailand.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

On a Treadmill

It has been awhile. We’ve made progress. Yet the progress has been one step back, one step forward. Odd that we consider running in place; progress. And yet running in place can be progress. Just a different sort. Getting fit, staying fit. Not everything we do cruising will show huge results. Cruising is like that.

As we were refurbishing the boat everything we did was big and new. We removed the old formica, WOW! Added the new… Wow WOW! We painted lockers that had never had paint and they looked amazing. It is nothing like painting a wall in the house with a new color. More like painting it with the same color. Our old locker was white and the new paint is white. Not a lot of – wow. Varnishing a bulkhead, beautiful. New hand rails. Ahhhh…. Now however when we repaint a locker it is simply; repainted.

We’ve identified the leaking tank. finished the base coats of revarnishing the cap rails and the forward hatch. Set up the Aircon differently to be more effective, had the mechanic check out our generator, visited the dentist. Basically doing much the same as anyone simply living on the dirt.

Varnish Removal — Varnish removal with Heat Gun

Sanding Teak — Varnish removal with Heat Gun

Yacht Raw Water Filter — PITA Perko Raw Water Filter

We stripped off the varnish / epoxy coating of the forward hatch and revarnished it. All told about 20 hours of labor and we are back to a nice looking hatch with the teak protected. But, for years it has looked that way. We updated the rest of the Alpenglow lights to LEDs. Replaced the valve on the Water Maker, rebuilt the TipToe pump, replaced the Raw Water Filter. We could not however find the older TipToe pump that we kept. Searching for that one had us emptying out two huge lockers of all their gear, then repacking them. Inventory error! On the boat it will show up. Replaced a water filter. Fixed a floor cleat that was falling apart. And finally, replaced all the bolts on the tranmission coupling. All really… heaps of work, with very little to show.

AlpenGlow Light Upgrade — Not easy, not exceedingly difficult

No big adventures, no drama, just living. How is cruising any different than living on the dirt. Really not a whole lot. Our bed gently rocks, we can move if we want a new view, or if the neighbors party more than we can take and the music is not to our liking. We have less to mess with, fewer things that own us. We feel freer. But still, we all are bound to the earth, all wrapped up with the grind of daily living.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

Shit, Shit, Shit !

No, it is not about anything Fecal.

I am 99% sure we have a fuel leak in one of the tanks.

I’ve been collecting fuel from the bilge. When we hauled out we had heaps of water in the bilge with other fluids. I expected this as our shaft seal was leaking and that replacing it was high on the priority list.

After replacing the shaft seal the liquid in the bilge still increased. We were hauled out of the water. Yeah, it rained a lot but there ought not be any real accumulation of fluids in the bilge from any rain. Where is it coming from and what is it? First I thought it was a build up of old spills mixed with leaked coolant. I found an empty upside down coolant container in the engine room locker. We hoped that was it. After more days of removing 2-3 liters of fluid a day we concluded it was that it was more than I had thought.

It appeared that during the day the fluid level in the bilge rose more during the day than at night. A week later I had my head down in the locker / bilge area and noticed water dripping from a fresh water line. Our Whale Tip Toe pump was leaking! I love the flush fitting pump. I do not like the leaking. We pulled off the hoses to that pump, plugged them and no more water dripped into the bilge. The level in the bilge still rose. Damn! Now it seemed to be more diesel with a wee bit of water. Earlier we had filled a glass container with what we had collected and the substances did not appear to separate. The conclusion was mostly water mixed in with the coolant and other minor spills not fully cleaned up.

We repeated the process and now we were getting a separation of fluids. I didn’t vocalize this; but it was going around in my head “^$%%@W $$^$@@“.

I hoped it was only a leak in our tank inspection ports. I had over filled a tank off and on. And one tank was full. I transfered fuel out of the full tank to one of the other tanks. One great thing about this boat is that we have three tanks. I can with the fuel polishing system transfer fuel from any one tank to another. The fuel in all our tanks is now below the “full” mark. We’re collecting fuel from the bilge. I made a Willy Wonka pump setup to remove the fluids and store them in a container. We do NOT want to pump any overboard.

Next I thought maybe as I ran the engine the return fuel line leaked. There was no relationship there. Now it appears it is what I feared most: a leak in one of our three tanks. I feared it most because to fix a tank, cabinetry must be removed. A lot of it.

I’m going to order an endoscope so I can get under the flooring and see if I can suss out which one might be leaking. If it is one of the wing tanks I can shut it down and not use it. If it’s the center tank that’s a bigger issue.

While waiting for the endoscope I decided as we are below the half way mark on our fuel I could transfer fuel from one tank to another with the idea of emptying one tank at a time, checking after to see if the bilge fuel is increasing or stopped. I first transferred all the fuel from the starboard tank to the center and port tank. The following day we still collected a couple liters of fuel. That evening I transferred from the port wing tank to the starboard wing.

Bingo! Very little fuel in the bilge and the following day no change. We have identified the culprit. Our port wing tank must be leaking.

Repairs will be a real PITA ! A REAL PITA!

We will need to move off the boat to effect any repairs. A real speed bump.

We’ve decided to use a company in Phuket. We know several cruisers that have used Nai and found her work and timing to be spot on. The question will be when.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

A Most Obnoxious Night

We picked up a mooring at the Emerald Cave (Ko Muk). Paid the ranger for our stay here 200 Tbt / person and 100 Tbt for the boat on the mooring.

For the most part, all seemed good. The reflected waves were… ok. Reflected off the rock wall and the breeze; as little as it was; seemed fine. We spent some time watching the locals harvest Jellyfish. You read correctly… they were collecting Jellyfish. We don’t remember it on the menu but I did see that is one of the consumables in Thailand. We retired at the usual time and were awakened during the tide change. And that; is when Neptune’s demons struck. Not with unimaginal force but with an itch that can not be scratched.

The reflected waves with the swell moved the boat in an unnatural way. Every so often one wave would strike the stern splashing water in every direction. With our Elysium’s stern we rarely, I mean rarely have any wave slap on the bum. But; now we did. Two three in a row and then quiet. A minute later one or two more and then quiet. Repeat ad nauseum.

Couple that event with one of the demons playing with our mooring ball. No matter what I did, like teens in love, the mooring ball would kiss our hull. As they kissed, a rather loud thump could be heard throughout the boat. The light wind, really light wind would blow the boat over the mooring, the waves would then rock the boat and mooring ball continuously kissing the hull. As the breeze dropped to less than a puff, the minimal current would drive the boat; you guessed it, to the ball. At times the two demons would tease us; appearing that we would sit behind the ball leaving us in a peaceful quiet place. Not so. The ball and boat just kissed in a different place.

I tried shortening up the scope. No good. I tired lengthening the line to the mooring, no good. When daybreak hit, we left. It was not a good night. The irony is: had we simply gone around the S end of the island there was a much nicer, as picturesque of an anchorage.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

Haul Out List

Yearly or bi-yearly maintenance is important for a cruising boat to stay in top shape. Some people try to cheat Neptune and buy bottom paint that works for years. Few of those gimmicks ever work. More people I know that use / have used the “Coppercoat” system are disappointed in the results than are happy with it. And cruisers talk. Talk, and talk.

We’ve needed to pay our debt to Neptune for a couple of months. We planned on hauling in Krabi Boat Lagoon (KBL) after our Visa run in February. KBL was our pace; relaxed, a clean yard, and someone we could communicate with to match our needs. Added to that, there was a place off the boat we could stay while the boat was on the hard (with Air conditioning) , a good restaurant on site, and quiet. The only thing missing, the only thing! Was a marine store with yard materials. Bring your own. Or you can order from East Marine Asia and it would arrive one or two days later. Lazada was another place to acquire parts but take up to 2 weeks for delivery.

So we hauled the boat. We hired Jack (the marina manager) and his crew to do the bottom work and polish the hull. Our jobs were inside the boat.

Service all the seacocks. (Completed)
Remove the broken bolt from the AutoProp. (Completed)
Replace the Zincs. (Completed)
Replace Water Maker Pre Filters. (Completed)
Removed Tiptoe Leaking foot pump from system. (Completed)
Change galley sink filter. (Completed)
Clean and apply Prop One to the Propellor. (Completed)
Replace the Seal on Tides Dripless Stuffing Box (Completed)
Clean the bilge (Minimally Completed)
Add an Anchor wash down pump. (Completed)
Strip the old varnish off the hatches and revarnish. (Not Competed)
Add Wind Indicator to Masthead. (Not Competed)
Finish Varnishing Cap Rails. (Not Completed)
Replace Bilge Pump Sensor Hose. (Completed)
Update a couple of our rigging wires. (Not Competed)
Add SS countertop to sink area. (On hold)
Build out Rub Rail. (On hold)

My head plant on the tile floor slowed us down. W/ took up much of the slack in my hiatus with what she could do. We will do the Wind Indicator when back in Langkawi. The rigging is not critical. We’ll also continue to work on keeping the teak varnished. Varnished teak for us looks good as well as protects it from the effects of age.

We’re back in the water today, moving to Port Takola Marina where the depth in their harbor is more to our liking. There we will clean up from being off the boat and in the yard. Add to prepping for our return to Rebak Marina.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

KO’ed

For you non boxing, non hockey fans. KO stands for Knocked Out. That was me.

Capsule at KBL — Minimalist Accommodation

We hauled the boat in Krabi Boat Lagoon, Krabi, Thailand. All was well, we moved off the boat into what they call a Capsule. The following day it started to rain. Then again the next day and the next day etc. Around the 4th day I got antsy. Frustrated. We had lubricated all the seacocks and I changed the shaft seal. Other little things were getting accomplished. But, we had to do’’s more on our list. Seems that when we haul Elysium out of the water I never accomplishe what I envision.

Tides Shaft Seal Replacement — Replacing the Seal

Old Worn Tides Shaft Seal Removed — Tides Shaft Seal Removed

After a few days of this we were taking it easy in the am. We ate breakfast, W/ was browsing the internet and I got up walked over to the sliding glass door. The next thing I knew W/ was beside me asking if I was alright. I said I needed to sit up!

Hammering the floor with my head — A Crack on the Back of my Head

I have no memory of going down and hitting my head. Considering the pull of gravity and my huge (not) height it would have taken about 0.2 of a second for my head to be 6’ above ground one moment and banging on the tile floor the next.

W/ had summoned some of the staff and they were assisting. It took me a few minutes to realize where I was, where the boat was and the why. I didn’t want to get an ambulance to the hospital. I could speak, see, and knowledge was returning. Also, a good hospital here is a ways away. We do not hang in the most populated areas cruising.

We have heaps of medical resources at our fingertips. A huge part of W/s family, cruising friends and other close friends for years are medically trained. From an ER physician to ER nursing staff to an EMT. And yes, like most people in their profession they suggested it would be wise to get checked out

Another cruising friend got smacked in the head while out and about. He did go to the Physician when they returned a day later. The Dr said “Yep, you have a concussion”.

Using Dr. Google and our medical contact resources by all accounts I now have a concussion. Two symptoms, when I cough my entire head speaks to me and if I move too quickly, turn funny, look up, look down, sometimes too fast, the world shifts dimensions. Yep; vertigo. So I’m moving slowly, and then even slower. The shifting world is odd for me. The brain too big for my head is odd for me. I do not believe, with all the crazy stuff I’ve done in my life I have ever had a concussion before.

Near as we can figure. I slipped. When I went to the sliding door I reached out to open it and check how bad it was raining. W/ wasn’t paying any attention to me…. at that moment. The next thing W/ heard was my head hammer the floor and she saw me laid out like a cadaver. Not too nice for her to experience. I had no idea! She and the staff said there was water on the floor where I was standing. One of our medical consults indicated that if people faint they tend to crumble in place. Good or bad, I don’t know. For me; better that I slipped than fainted. Fainting means I would be wise to get a scan. I just need to get to the right place and have it done. Where we’re at it is a full day away- if we hurry and “hurry” is not now in my vocabulary.

Can you see the broken bolt — One diver broke the zinc away leaving the botl.

For the next couple days W/ wouldn’t let me climb the ladder to get on the boat. She was able to continue some of the projects. Luckily all the Seacocks have been taken care of. The broken plastic bolt for the zinc in prop was removed. It is the first time in 30 years I have had to use the Easy Out tool again. We cleaned the raw water filter for the forward head. And I was able to get the shaft seal replaced prior to my head hammering adventure. There is a lot of twisting and turning, laying down and looking up in keeping the boat functional.

We hired Jack; the manager at Krabi and his crew to prep and paint the bottom as well as polish the hull. W/ and I have done that enough in our lives we don’t wish to anymore. If we’re lucky, the boat and I will be ready in another 10 days.

Our medical resources tell me it takes a full month to heal. One even got cheered me up saying as you get older it takes longer! 🙂 We’ll see… till then….

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

Commuter Cruisers

Cruisers are referred to in many ways. High rollers, Double Wides, Mega Yachts, Weekenders, and Commuter Cruisers. Lastly; just plain Cruisers. At times we might change from one group to the next. Rarely however do we see super yacht owners moving to a smaller boat or visa versa 🙂 . High rollers have figured out what they can spend on and not and don’t worry much about finances. Double Wides are Catamarans that can travel shallow waters easier and have a party on the aft deck. On Mega Yachts; you never meet the owners, their staff shop for supplies by the truck load and use more fuel while at anchor then others do an entire year. Commuter Cruisers spend half a year on and off the boat allowing them to make all their medical appointments and renew friends and family relationships.

We align more with full time cruisers and one good friend calls us High Rollers. This last year we’ve spent a good deal of time in marinas and when tied to shore we enjoy the local eating establishments. However, that means for any medical stuff we need to suss out where and who. If we stay long enough in an area; and we often do we can visit the Doctors on an almost regular basis. For example we found a good dentist in Langkawi.

However spending time in the tropics and having orbited the Sun multiple times more often than we would like to admit, we needed to visit a Dermatologist. I’ve reported in the blog on other visits to them and the successes as well as at times the cost. Here in Thailand again we both had some items of concern pop up on our largest organ, the skin. Thus, we decided in Phuket to seek a dermatologist and have them cut or freeze any of the problems. This turned into more of a process than we had hoped.

We picked a semi secluded marina and scheduled a visit at the Bangkok Hospital Phuket, Dermatological section. The Grab ride was one of the biggest obstacles. Phuket Yacht Haven Marina is on the N end of Phuket and the hospital is in the S third. We didn’t figure it would be a big deal. It ended up bigger than we imagined. Driving N to S or visa versa there is one main highway. Everyone uses it. Everyone. There are few to no short cuts or detours. On a light day at a lucky time the ride would be 20 minutes. Some days for us it was over an hour.

The Hospital is awesome. Not like any we’ve been to in the states. They have a concierge, a piano player playing in the registration area, and staff assisting you every step of the way. We filled out the paperwork and were escorted to the Dermatological section. There they checked our vitals; yeah – we’re alive! And then took a look at each of us. W/ right away was sent to the surgeon to have three spots removed. Me; well, the Dr. didn’t just want to cut it out, he wanted to Biopsy it! That would then take another week to get the results. Well, what else do we have to do, play tourist in Thailand? 🙂

So I walked away with two stitches and then headed down to the surgery center to see how W/ was doing. There she met with a plastic surgeon and he scheduled her for surgery the following week. Follow up would be a week later. As I said; what else do we have to do?

We had expected to be in Krabi hauling our boat on the 1st of November. It doesn’t look like that is going to happen. We emailed Jack our contact in Krabi and told him of the situation. He was understanding and said “not to worry”; he would take care of it on his end.

A week later W/ went for the surgery and I to get my follow up. Damn follow up! The biopsy came back positive and they couldn’t say if they had it all. It was diagnosed as Basal Cell Carcinoma. The new Dr; a female, not that it matters, suggested I needed surgery and she was pushing MOH’s – for a heap of money. For those that don’t know: MOH’s is where they take a bit, check, if they didn’t get it all take a bit more, check; and repeat. The process lasts about 1/2 a day.

Down to see the Plastic Surgeon W/ had and explore my options. The BCC I had was thought to be quite small -two mm; about what they removed but the biopsy couldn’t show any “clearance”. That means there still could be some left there. I was told that BCC’s grow about a one mm / month. What do I know.

This physician suggested that MOH’s wouldn’t be any improvement over the simple removal and if they don’t get it all after one shot, the second shot would still be less than the total MOH’s cost. He told me that he would tell his father in the same situation the same thing. So…. we scheduled the surgery the following week. Medical stuff here keeps eating away at our time in Thailand! 🙁

Now, when W/ returns to have her followup; stitches removed I will be on the table, head up; eyes closed with a knife at my check. Yeah, I didn’t tell you; it was 1 cm away from the nose. Back to the boat. We would work on our varnish project when it does not rain and otherwise just hang.

We returned, I lost 5 grams of weight, had a 1.3 cm hole in my check with 19 stitches holding it all together.The surgeon was excellent. The care fantastic. The pain; well what can I say, it is what it is. Five shots in the check to eliminate my feeling of his cut, dig, stitch. I walked out with a bandage on my nose like I just finished a prize fight with the surgeon. He won. My instructions were simple: Do nothing. Damn, not good when we have boat work. I reluctantly followed them. Two days later W/ I were to return. Her stitches would be removed then and new bandages, and my disfigured face would be cleaned up some. Back to the boat.

Back to hospital. They cleaned me up, removed W/s stitches and showed W/ how to care for and replace my bandages. Then; you guessed it… back to the boat. Now at least we could work on the varnishing. We had a few rainy days, a few good varnishing days and then; finally, the last visit to the Hospital and surgeon.

He pulled out 19 stitches. I was… almost back to normal. Some swelling yet and free do most things. Getting in the water was not one of them. He applied some super glue along the cut line to assist in recovery. Finally, back to the boat. We contacted Jack at Krabi Boat Lagoon and told him we were on our way. His sister turned in the paper work to reposition the boat from Phuket to Krabi province. And off we went. Next stop Krabi to haul the boat and complete the much needed maintenance.

Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long

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