We are 700 nautical miles into our 1500 mile passage from Thailand to India with our actual next stop either Galle Sri Lanka 350 miles ahead, Cochin, India or an atoll in the North Maldives. Hows that for being fluid. B likes things to be planned and formal whereas P takes the suck it and see approach. In this case the
Skipper is coming out ahead of the Navigator as the reality is our next stop is largely dependent on how the winds pan out for us over the next few days.
Skipper is coming out ahead of the Navigator as the reality is our next stop is largely dependent on how the winds pan out for us over the next few days.
On departing Phuket we had no wind in the Andaman Sea until we reached the Great Channel that separates the Nicobar Islands governed by India to the north and Indonesia's Sumatra to the south. We then got good winds 15/25knots out of the north for two full days which allowed us to fly our big blue and white coloured
Reacher headsail and clock up a couple of 200 mile days before this morning we lost it again.
Reacher headsail and clock up a couple of 200 mile days before this morning we lost it again.
Now sitting at the nav writing this blog with all ports open to ventilate the ship (34C at moment) its come back in again at 15 knots and we are once again blasting along at 8+knots which gives us those magic 200 mile days.
Barbara reckons its all relative and when the wind sees us flopping around going nowhere asks why we are doing it this way when we could be on a 'kerosene canary' at 500 miles per hour covering 12000 miles in 24 hours! She reasons it would be more comfortable and much cheaper. But P answers 'been there done that' and that both have their place and the very reason we are sailing is it puts everything into perspective, as we have time to think and have discussions like this.
For example why shouldn't we be receiving carbon credits for sailing ? We use wind for propulsion, we have solar panels and a wind turbine to generate power, led lights, satellites for communications, a rainwater catching system (under development), saltwater delsalinator, gas for cooking, waste treatment toilets etc
etc. In fact systems that shore lubbers will be moving toward in the years to come and you can guarantee they will demand and recieve credits for installation.
etc. In fact systems that shore lubbers will be moving toward in the years to come and you can guarantee they will demand and recieve credits for installation.
Our trouble is as sailors we are a transient lot without formal representation, the downside of which is we do not speak with a strong voice. If countries can have parsimonious portfolios for activities like Horse Racing why not a portfolio for Carbon Crediting Yachties. Alternatively maybe a seat at the UN as planet savers, or some other august body might see our calls for recognition answered.
Enough of the jest before you think we have really gone off the edge.
Preparing for a major ocean crossing creates a bit of pressure aboard. Its not like packing the car for the annual holiday at the beach because there's always a corner shop and a pub at the beach, and a supermarket, pharmacy, hairdresser, doctor and dentist at the town nearby. Gearing up for Musketelle and her 2 person crew takes a lot of planning with us breaking the shopping list down into boat, food and beverage and personal.
The boat stuff covers the basic consumables; diesel, oils, lpg gas and spare filters for not only the primary engine which is a 90hp Ford Lehman but also our 7.6kv generator. The multiple systems require spare parts for the hydraulic system, winches, freshwater system, pumps (14 in use), toilet rebuild kits, replacement plastic and rubber hoses for everything etc etc Sourcing some of these things is a story in itself with multiple circles being clocked in rental cars following well intentioned instructions from individuals who probably did not understand your request, as a result sending you to businesses that may or may not exist and if they do are staffed by personnel that seeingly know little about anything and simply smile. Which is all very well but you still need those specific metric nuts and bolts or that few metres of suncover fabric.
Food shopping is another major both time wise, cost wise and is hard work - just finding the right shops, trying to decipher and read labels. Taking risks some local products can lead to some exciting discoveries (or failures). Right now we have vaccum packed pickled radish in the fridge plus pickled mango (the mind boggles) and a whole pickled or possibly fermented fish which will not be opened in Barbara's presence if she can help it. Yes we realise this item is odd when we should be catching the fresh stuff. However despite Alf's best efforts to equip us with a full set of fishing gear we have shown a spectacular inability to catch anything.
These last comments about the difficulty of shopping could be a reflection of the most recent country, Thailand, where the written language bears no resemblence to the English language, no phone books or yellow pages seemingly exist (although they probably do). The tonal aspects of the Thai language make it very difficult to pronounce in a recognisable way even when written in phonetic English.
Nor surprisingly the one language that is clearly understood is Sex where a whole government sanctioned (blind eye) industry is thriving ahead of all else, on the island of Phuket at least. The sight of mostly middle aged plus (rather tatty according to B) Western males strutting around with 20 and 30 something Thai damsels on arm is a sight to behold. This clearly is an industry that works for Thailand and there seems no shortage of participants in the programme now or into the future as far as we could see. The situation was explained to us by a retired North of Englander who worked as a Thai consular representative as follows: Most of the women who end up marrying a westerner will already have been married to a Thai man and have children that are being looked after by extended family. She makes a concious decision to snare a westerner and move overseas with him to begin then remitting hard currency back to Thailand to support the original family. Then when this relationship fails she will hopefully be into a big settlement and return home to Thailand very well off. Its clearly a well understood business model that appeals to Thai girls.
One other sector that shines a beacon of success is Medical Tourism with three major hospitals in Phuket specialising in everything from heart and dental surgery to personal vanity operations all at costs reputedly way below western systems whilst providing a tropical holiday. The jury is out on the quality, but everything points to the latest technology and specialist backup. It appeared plastic surgery, facelifts, botox treatment, breast enhancement and penile reconstruction were services most in demand. We know this from multiple visits to the Bangkok Phuket Hospital where we both had nothing else but dental work done and from reading the local tourist mags.
On that note its time to close up and get back on deck as we are closing on our rhumb line which is on a major shipping route and a good lookout will be required again. Rotation watches 3 hours on 3 hours off as we trundle westward mean tiring days and nights, luckily tonight is a full moon. Nearly forgot to mention of a milestone passed, that of crossing through the 90 degree East longitude line which means we are now over one quarter of the way around the big blue globe.
All at Sea B&P
