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.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
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!!!!
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.
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.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Jeff's Note to Everyone
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Hey everybody, I finally got to spend some time on line and catch up with E-mails and such. Thanks for leaving comments. I really enjoy them, No-Mow, you're the best. I really chuckle out loud when I read yours. I want to congratulate my Big Brother, Paul on his impressive shooting. He and his wife Pat will be in town and I'm sure that Clara knows exactly when. He's a firefighter from Wisconsin and ya'all will be able to say hello when they are there.
I do get homesick, and hearing from you guys really helps with that, so please get some more to join in and leave comments. It's pretty cool now that the instructions for signing up are in Thai on my computer. I hope that these still come through in English!!!
mung mee sree suk............ which reportedly means everything is happy and well.
Jeff
Hey everybody, I finally got to spend some time on line and catch up with E-mails and such. Thanks for leaving comments. I really enjoy them, No-Mow, you're the best. I really chuckle out loud when I read yours. I want to congratulate my Big Brother, Paul on his impressive shooting. He and his wife Pat will be in town and I'm sure that Clara knows exactly when. He's a firefighter from Wisconsin and ya'all will be able to say hello when they are there.
I do get homesick, and hearing from you guys really helps with that, so please get some more to join in and leave comments. It's pretty cool now that the instructions for signing up are in Thai on my computer. I hope that these still come through in English!!!
mung mee sree suk............ which reportedly means everything is happy and well.
Jeff
Jeff's Log ~ Sunday 11/18/07
Sunday, 11/18/07
Sunday’s are definitely a day of rest around here. Most of the businesses ashore are closed, or if they are open, it’s just because the help lives in the back or upstairs. I was going to try to get online, but the internet café was closed. The German bakery was open, however, so I decided that I might as well have breakfast. They have a few small tables to sit at, so I ordered coffee and breakfast. In about thirty seconds the coffee was there, and in about four minutes, my breakfast was in front of me. There was not too much going on in the streets, so I went back to the boat and did some chores so that tomorrow, I’ll be all caught up and will b e working on getting the sails off of the boat for measuring. While that happens, it will be the perfect time for working on the roller furling and the mainsail “stack-pack”.
Yesterday was spent getting completely frustrated trying to speak to people who insisted they could speak English on the telephone. I basically just wasted a few hours of time and got absolutely no where. I decided the only way to find parts is to take a taxi to Phuket town and see what I can find once I am there.
I am beginning to get the lay of the land down and should be able to start getting shopping and errands down pat. Communication is mostly through sign language and pictures. Patience and humor are absolutely necessary to have in abundance. As long as you smile and be polite, the people here will try to help with anything.
Last night after dinner, I was returning to the boat to find a fellow at the dingy dock who had his hands full of five or six dingy lines. The tide had changed, and all of the dinks got tangled up together. I was pretty lucky. Our tender was one of the larger ones in the mess. So we took all of the lines loose and I went down and pulled them all over to the boarding area. It looked like a mother dink with a bunch of dinklings following behind. All of the other lines were tangled around the lower unit of the outboard. As soon as I tipped it up, it just took a couple of minutes to straighten out, and we were both on our way, after tying the other boats back to the dock.
Today, I parked on the other side so that I could keep some separation. I had lunch and dinner on the boat. Just a little soup and cheese and crackers for lunch and a fresh veggie stir fry for dinner with veggies from a small stand up the street. One strange one was like miniature eggplant, but very tasty all of them. I think that I’ll be an expert rice cooker soon, because that’s a lot more plentiful than potatoes so far. I can hardly wait to hit the grocery on Tuesday.
Tonight, I think I’m going to have an ice cream or something like that for desert ashore. I’ll have to see what the selection is like. Mmmm maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find cheese cake……or maybe some nice rich chocolate cake…..or…..
Sunday’s are definitely a day of rest around here. Most of the businesses ashore are closed, or if they are open, it’s just because the help lives in the back or upstairs. I was going to try to get online, but the internet café was closed. The German bakery was open, however, so I decided that I might as well have breakfast. They have a few small tables to sit at, so I ordered coffee and breakfast. In about thirty seconds the coffee was there, and in about four minutes, my breakfast was in front of me. There was not too much going on in the streets, so I went back to the boat and did some chores so that tomorrow, I’ll be all caught up and will b e working on getting the sails off of the boat for measuring. While that happens, it will be the perfect time for working on the roller furling and the mainsail “stack-pack”.
Yesterday was spent getting completely frustrated trying to speak to people who insisted they could speak English on the telephone. I basically just wasted a few hours of time and got absolutely no where. I decided the only way to find parts is to take a taxi to Phuket town and see what I can find once I am there.
I am beginning to get the lay of the land down and should be able to start getting shopping and errands down pat. Communication is mostly through sign language and pictures. Patience and humor are absolutely necessary to have in abundance. As long as you smile and be polite, the people here will try to help with anything.
Last night after dinner, I was returning to the boat to find a fellow at the dingy dock who had his hands full of five or six dingy lines. The tide had changed, and all of the dinks got tangled up together. I was pretty lucky. Our tender was one of the larger ones in the mess. So we took all of the lines loose and I went down and pulled them all over to the boarding area. It looked like a mother dink with a bunch of dinklings following behind. All of the other lines were tangled around the lower unit of the outboard. As soon as I tipped it up, it just took a couple of minutes to straighten out, and we were both on our way, after tying the other boats back to the dock.
Today, I parked on the other side so that I could keep some separation. I had lunch and dinner on the boat. Just a little soup and cheese and crackers for lunch and a fresh veggie stir fry for dinner with veggies from a small stand up the street. One strange one was like miniature eggplant, but very tasty all of them. I think that I’ll be an expert rice cooker soon, because that’s a lot more plentiful than potatoes so far. I can hardly wait to hit the grocery on Tuesday.
Tonight, I think I’m going to have an ice cream or something like that for desert ashore. I’ll have to see what the selection is like. Mmmm maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find cheese cake……or maybe some nice rich chocolate cake…..or…..
Jeff's Log ~ Saturday, 11/17/07
Saturday, 11/17/07
Yesterday, I took my first real day off in a long time. In the morning, I stopped at a waterfront restaurant for breakfast. While eating, some beautiful wild parrots were messing about in the trees, and all of the excursion and fishing boats were loading up on supplies and passengers. Whoever told me I wouldn’t be able to get decent coffee here was mistaken. Every cup that I have had ashore has been delightful. After breakfast, I decided that I have had it with this long hair, so I stopped at this little beauty salon up the street, and asked the woman there if she cut men’s hair. She didn’t speak a lick of English, so we communicated with gestures, and snip snip. No massage chairs for the pedicure, but she really did a fine job cleaning me up. Along with the haircut was a shampoo and head and neck massage. When she was finished with me, the bartender and customers from the little bar directly behind stood up and clapped. I guess the change was pretty dramatic. It sure made me feel like a million, I’ll tell you.
After all of that, it was time to celebrate the day with an ice cold Tiger beer. The bartender at coconuts took my picture in front of the Christmas tree that they had just completed decorating complete with “snow”. She called a friend with a car service for me and I was off on my excursion. The first stop was the Phuket zoo. It’s very small, but I enjoyed a quick walk through. I was there just in time for the gator show, and the guy was putting his head in the gator’s mouth. They had feeding stations all over where you could buy expensive food for the animals and hand feed them. The tiger photo booth was really cool. For 200baht, you can sit next to the tiger and get a Polaroid picture. I snuck around the back and took the tiger’s picture, and he seemed really interested in me as he did not take his eyes off of me while I was there. While the people are sitting with him, he is trained to growl on cue. I thought that was cool.
From there, we went up to the big Buddha that I can see from the boat. As the crow flies, it’s about two miles away. By the road it’s about twelve miles, because of the winding necessary with the elevation change. Buddha is up almost two thousand feet above sea level. The scenery from up there was really something, and the camera sure doesn’t do it justice. There were multiple shrines and a big meeting hall with photo displays. There were some pictures of Bill Clinton taken when he visited, along with various other heads of state.
After all of that Buddha stuff, it was time for some lunch, so Tu took me to a restaurant with a spectacular view of Karon Beach on the west side of the island. Food was really good too. I really like Thai food. The spiciness kind of creeps up on you slowly, and it’s a minute or two before you really taste it. So far, I think I’ll be eating good for the duration of my stay. The next stop was Kata Beach overlook. I don’t know how high this was, but it sure was great scenery. There were some guys with a sea falcon and a sea eagle there and again, for two hundred baht, you could get a Polaroid. I just took a picture of the birds. We stopped at the Phuket yacht club for a look around, but the place was way too stuffed shirt for me, so we didn’t stay.
Then, it was back to coconuts for another Tiger. I picked up the rest of the laundry, got some more time on my phone, and then back to the boat. The bay was quite rough as I was heading back to the boat, so when I got there, I just picked the dink out of the water, and called it a day. I gave Clara a call while I had the generator running to make a little water and charge the batteries, and then hit the sack for a very good night’s sleep.
Yesterday, I took my first real day off in a long time. In the morning, I stopped at a waterfront restaurant for breakfast. While eating, some beautiful wild parrots were messing about in the trees, and all of the excursion and fishing boats were loading up on supplies and passengers. Whoever told me I wouldn’t be able to get decent coffee here was mistaken. Every cup that I have had ashore has been delightful. After breakfast, I decided that I have had it with this long hair, so I stopped at this little beauty salon up the street, and asked the woman there if she cut men’s hair. She didn’t speak a lick of English, so we communicated with gestures, and snip snip. No massage chairs for the pedicure, but she really did a fine job cleaning me up. Along with the haircut was a shampoo and head and neck massage. When she was finished with me, the bartender and customers from the little bar directly behind stood up and clapped. I guess the change was pretty dramatic. It sure made me feel like a million, I’ll tell you.
After all of that, it was time to celebrate the day with an ice cold Tiger beer. The bartender at coconuts took my picture in front of the Christmas tree that they had just completed decorating complete with “snow”. She called a friend with a car service for me and I was off on my excursion. The first stop was the Phuket zoo. It’s very small, but I enjoyed a quick walk through. I was there just in time for the gator show, and the guy was putting his head in the gator’s mouth. They had feeding stations all over where you could buy expensive food for the animals and hand feed them. The tiger photo booth was really cool. For 200baht, you can sit next to the tiger and get a Polaroid picture. I snuck around the back and took the tiger’s picture, and he seemed really interested in me as he did not take his eyes off of me while I was there. While the people are sitting with him, he is trained to growl on cue. I thought that was cool.
From there, we went up to the big Buddha that I can see from the boat. As the crow flies, it’s about two miles away. By the road it’s about twelve miles, because of the winding necessary with the elevation change. Buddha is up almost two thousand feet above sea level. The scenery from up there was really something, and the camera sure doesn’t do it justice. There were multiple shrines and a big meeting hall with photo displays. There were some pictures of Bill Clinton taken when he visited, along with various other heads of state.
After all of that Buddha stuff, it was time for some lunch, so Tu took me to a restaurant with a spectacular view of Karon Beach on the west side of the island. Food was really good too. I really like Thai food. The spiciness kind of creeps up on you slowly, and it’s a minute or two before you really taste it. So far, I think I’ll be eating good for the duration of my stay. The next stop was Kata Beach overlook. I don’t know how high this was, but it sure was great scenery. There were some guys with a sea falcon and a sea eagle there and again, for two hundred baht, you could get a Polaroid. I just took a picture of the birds. We stopped at the Phuket yacht club for a look around, but the place was way too stuffed shirt for me, so we didn’t stay.
Then, it was back to coconuts for another Tiger. I picked up the rest of the laundry, got some more time on my phone, and then back to the boat. The bay was quite rough as I was heading back to the boat, so when I got there, I just picked the dink out of the water, and called it a day. I gave Clara a call while I had the generator running to make a little water and charge the batteries, and then hit the sack for a very good night’s sleep.
Jeff's Log ~ Friday, 10/19/07
Friday, 10/19/07 13 04.9N 52 00.6E
Another day of sailing in the Gulf of Aden. We had a rain shower this afternoon. It was the first rain that Pipe Dream has seen in months. It didn’t last long, but the boat sure did brighten up a bit. After the shower, when I came on watch, I noticed a warship on the starboard horizon. Our angle to the course happened to get very bad at about the same time, so we tacked and our new heading took us right past the Augsburg, which is a German warship. As we got close, they pulled ahead of our port bow and did a complete circle around us. When they came around our stern, They were less than a boat length [one of ours, not theirs.] away from us. Their crew was all on deck, and on the loud speaker they wished Pipe Dream and her crew a good voyage. The wind was up at the time, and they had to put some turns on to keep up with us. It made all of us feel very comfortable, and I was in awe from just sailing a boat in that close proximity to a beautiful warship. That was quite a salute to us on their behalf also. They gave us a big blast on their horn too. After our meeting, they went back on station, and we sailed on for the Maldives, and watched as our protectors disappeared off our transom. We should be entering the Indian Ocean tomorrow.
Another day of sailing in the Gulf of Aden. We had a rain shower this afternoon. It was the first rain that Pipe Dream has seen in months. It didn’t last long, but the boat sure did brighten up a bit. After the shower, when I came on watch, I noticed a warship on the starboard horizon. Our angle to the course happened to get very bad at about the same time, so we tacked and our new heading took us right past the Augsburg, which is a German warship. As we got close, they pulled ahead of our port bow and did a complete circle around us. When they came around our stern, They were less than a boat length [one of ours, not theirs.] away from us. Their crew was all on deck, and on the loud speaker they wished Pipe Dream and her crew a good voyage. The wind was up at the time, and they had to put some turns on to keep up with us. It made all of us feel very comfortable, and I was in awe from just sailing a boat in that close proximity to a beautiful warship. That was quite a salute to us on their behalf also. They gave us a big blast on their horn too. After our meeting, they went back on station, and we sailed on for the Maldives, and watched as our protectors disappeared off our transom. We should be entering the Indian Ocean tomorrow.
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