Jeff's log ~ Wednesday, 11/21/07, 7 49.209N 98 21.272E Ao Chalong, Thailand

Today is the day before Thanksgiving at home, but here it’s just another Wednesday. Yesterday was a very successful day. Actually, the last couple of days have been good. I hired two young lads for the afternoon the day before yesterday. We started at 12:30 in the afternoon and by 4:00 had the mainsail and the #2 jib to the sail loft a few miles away to be measured for the King’s Cup Regatta, which starts on the 2nd of December. The boys worked pretty hard, and we had to use a halyard and a winch to get the #2 out of the sail locker because it was pretty jammed in there between the hull and a stainless pipe that retains the sails as well as reinforces the chain locker bulkhead.

The mainsail we removed from the boom and folded on deck. I found the upper batten broken and some seems beginning to come apart, so it’s a good thing we are doing this. The mainsail is extremely heavy. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s probably around 375 to 400 lbs.. We got it all bricked up and one of the tropical squalls came ripping through. We managed to get the sail mostly under the cockpit dodger, so It didn’t get too wet. The little squall dumped so much rain in a half hour that the dingy had about six inches of water filling it. Instead of the usual little dingy bailer that I use, I grabbed a regular full size bucket to bail it out, and it still took a little while. We then loaded the main and ourselves in the dink and took off for the beach. I’m starting to get the hang of beaching the dink to load and unload cargo. Look out Jaques Custaue. (I’m sure that’s not spelled right, but you know what I mean!!!)

We dropped the main off on the launching ramp and went back for jib and main cover. Those both fit nicely, and one of my helpers laid on top of them on the way in so that the cover would not blow out. Dave Rukker picked us up and took us to Rolly Tasker’s sail loft which has to be seen to be appreciated. The place is huge! And spotless inside and out. We were greeted at the door by an attractive Thai lady in a security type of uniform, and she grabbed the jib and put it on a hand truck by herself and took it inside. Don’t think I would mess with her, she probably can break every bone in my body with one hand. She came back out and the boys and her carried the main in because it was too big to stay on the cart.

I filled out the necessary paperwork and we were off to the neighbor of coconuts bar to get the sail cover- called a “stack- pack”- repaired. The fellow that does this is from California and actually speaks English. We laid it out and discussed what type of repairs would be done, and instead of a zipper, he is going to use those plastic snap clips that you see just about on every back pack. They of course will be sized accordingly. Then there will be a Velcro flap to complete the closure. No more messing with a stubborn, mangled Zipper, Yea!!!

Of course, by now I’m sure everybody knows what came next…… Tiger beer of course. A couple of beers and then it was back to the boat for some food, a call to Clara, and some rest.
By the way, The two guys worked for a total of 11 man-hours for 500baht which is a little less than twenty dollars US, and were very happy and bought me a beer. That’s 250baht each.
Yesterday, Dave took me back to the sail loft to drop off the batten, so they can get it right, and then we went to Phuket Town and got what I needed to repair hot water heater leak and looked around at all of the yachty stuff. This place will hold it’s own against any marina that I’ve been to in the states. Very clean and organized, and the quality of workmanship that I saw is second to none. Every worker seems to have a great pride in the job they are doing, and it really shows. I love America, but if I owned a yacht, I think I would seriously consider bringing it here for it’s refit, because of the high quality of workmanship.

On the way back, we picked up Dave’s twin, sort of adopted grand daughters, from the Montessori School that he sends them to. These kids are not five yet and are beginning to speak English and Chinese as well as being able to converse with adults in their native tongue. The school sits right on Chalong Bay, and is a very nice place with a gorgeous view of the bay and outer islands. They have a high concrete wall with a locked gate to keep the kids in and luckily it kept the tsunami out.

Then it was…… you guessed it "Tiger" time and the internet café to start getting caught up with communication.