Jeff's log ~ Tuesday, 11/27/07, 7:00AM

Yesterday was another busy day. I was woken up early with a phone call from Rukker. He had some things to take care of in Phuket town, so our leaving time got moved way up. I rushed to get the dink launched and in to Coconuts to meet him. We picked up some of the supplies that arrived for me over there, and by that time it was lunchtime. His girlfriend had lunch prepared at their “bungalow” at noon sharp. They have a real nice home with a small jungle in the backyard, complete with a waterfall, fountains, and coy ponds. In the morning, they had been visited by a monitor lizard, which has a very poisonous bite.

After lunch we were off again. We went to a shopping mall so that I could get a couple tools to make my work a little easier. I also got some business cards, because people have a tendency to lose info when it’s written on pieces of paper. The print shop was very organized, and the cards were ready in twenty minutes. While we were waiting, I picked up some Christmas trimmings for the boat from a selection in the middle of the mall. I’ll wait until after the regatta before I put them up.
I really got a bad case of homesick today. I really need to shake it off, and focus. Talking to Clara helps, but I am still halfway around the world, no matter how you look at it. I found myself beginning to lose patience with the language barrier.

The money is pretty neat here. The bills change in size with the denomination. A twenty baht note is the smallest, and so far the largest is a thousand baht note. The different denominations are also different colors. The coins I haven’t quite got figured out yet, but everywhere I’ve gone, I just pull the change from my pocket and they take the proper ones, while counting it out loud in Thai. The people seem very honest and good Karma is always important. After our shopping trip, I went up to internet store and Dave went home when he came back he had a prepared dinner in a picnic basket. My stomach was a little upset, so I didn’t eat that much, but it was good. Roasted pork with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. I had a glass of red wine, too. Then it was time to load up all of my stuff and return home to Pipe Dream.

Jeff's log ~ Thursday, 11/22/07, Thanksgiving in U.S.A.

Seeing as how today is a holiday, I took it easy. I polished a few of the stainless stantions and did the floors inside and then Rukker and I took off to the boatyard again. I ordered some things I need, and then we had lunch at the food court of the shopping mall. It’s pretty cool, Thai fast food. You give the cashier a hundred baht, and she gives a card that all of the food booths are tied to the computer through. You get what you want, and they take it off your card, and then when finished, you get the balance refunded.

I had roasted duck with dumplings and spinach with gravy. The lunch was very tasty, and then I topped it with a capucinno. Downstairs is the coolest grocery store that I have ever seen. It makes the nicest Publix look barren. Right outside the food store was a little dessert place, so I finally got my piece of cheese cake.

We then went to refuel Dave’s boat and proceeded to run aground about 30 feet from the fuel dock on a falling tide. We ended up sitting there and chatting for about 3 hours while we waited for the tide to change and come up a bit. After fueling and putting his boat back in its slip, we went back to Coconuts, and guess what time it was. Tiger!!!!! Some friends of his were there and we all jumped in the truck and went for Thanksgiving dinner. That’s right; we had an American Thanksgiving Dinner in Chalong, Thailand. Turkey, ham, mash, gravy, cranberry sauce (canned) stuffing, various vegetables, and even pumpkin pie ala mode was served buffet style. The cost was 320 baht, which is just about ten dollars US. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and I even snuck back for seconds on the turkey, mash and gravy. The Thai people were happy too. As they even had a turkey curry that they enjoyed. I tried it, but it just wasn’t appealing to me on Thanksgiving. Maybe some other time, although I’m not sure that turkey and curry really belong together at all.

We all rolled our way out and went back to Coconuts for a night cap. I had left my clear glasses on Dave’s boat, so going back to the boat in the dingy was a slow adventure. Pipe Dream seemed to be hiding in the shadows, and when I took sunglasses off, I had no clue where I was, let alone finding the boat. I knew that I was close, naturally, but the boats moored around us continually change, and the trip from the dock was made at a much slower pace than usual, due to the darkness. I found her though, and I do have an extra pair that I switched to before lifting the dink from the water.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYBODY!!!!

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.