Jeff's Log ~ Friday, January 4th 2008

January 4, 2008
Time is flying by for some reason. It seems like New Year was yesterday. For New Year’s Eve, I went out with Jimmy, my Taxi guy. We went up to Kata Beach, which is not far as the crow flies, but about twenty miles due to elevation changing winding roads. In the center of town, there is this huge cluster of bars, and we sat down at one where he knew the owners. I was introduced to Monty, the chief owner and had a very good time with him and his guests. He is a retired lawyer from England, and his wife is from Thailand. We laughed a lot and swapped stories, and he kept buying rounds of drinks for the whole group of about eight people. We came back to the boat before midnight so that I could see the fireworks. The owner of the resort on the beach where I am anchored spent the equivalent of a half million dollars for the fireworks. I sat on the foredeck watching from my ringside seat. It was a very impressive display that lasted until 1:30AM. There were always several blasts going at once at three or four different levels with no pauses. I was very impressed. New Year’s Day was fairly quiet. I went into Chalong and got something to eat, and had a few beers at Coconuts.

Yesterday was errand day, and I went to boat Lagoon for equipment and supplies. On the way home, I went to a real supermarket, instead of the outdoor Thai markets that I have been going to. Things were more expensive, but I needed household things like garbage bags and vinegar for cleaning the floors. It was nice being in a place with a deli, and a meat department.

When I got back to the boat, I tripped and fell, catching the side of my tongue between my teeth. Boy did that ever hurt! I was lucky, it could have been a lot worse. No groceries went overboard either. I got a good bunch of cheap towels to clean up the generator and engine room. The leaking oil seal on the generator is next on my hit list, and I want to really clean well before work begins so that I don’t slime the boat that I have worked so hard on to get and keep clean. I also got the mainsail stack-pack back from the repair shop and reinstalled it. All that is left to do with that is raise the sail and do some final adjustments, but it has been too windy for that. At least it’s on and the sail is protected from the sun, it just has a funny bulge from the way the sail is laying. The neighbors were impressed with the fact that I did it by myself, and sat on top of their boat and watched the whole process. The job went very smoothly, I’m happy to say, and they stopped and congratulated me on their way by.

It is now Saturday, Jan. 5. This morning, I had a bit of an upset stomach so I stopped at the pharmacy on the way to get propane and scuba tank filled. Things are pretty cheap in the pharmacy. She gave me a prescription for Imodium and two sleeves of antacid tablets for 120baht. That’s less than four bucks US. While there, I noticed a scale in the corner. I weighed myself and was pleasantly surprised. Weight is down to 202. When I left, it was 238. The best part is that I am still eating quite a bit and still drinking tiger beer! I do think that I’ll finally have to tone down the spices a bit for a while though. Yesterday I did get carried away with a lot of chopped red and green chilies and garlic in the stir fry pork that I made for dinner, but boy was it goooood.
Wishing a very special Happy Birthday to Marylee on Sunday, Jan 6.