Coromandel Quest

After filling up with diesel at Telaga, we motored over to Dayang Bunting, near the Lake of the Pregnant Maiden, where we dropped the pick in the western corner of the bay, adjacent to an intriguing little passage between the main island and a small outlier.  It would have been fun to explore it, but we had the bone between our teeth and wanted to move south.  After a peaceful night our first day was a mix of motoring and sailing, with a huge swell from the north west.  We briefly considered stopping at Penang, but by then we could sail, so we moved on down the Straits towards Pangkor, thinking that we would get there at first light.  Well, we did, but by this time the wind had gone, the swell had increased and the only yacht we saw at anchor was rolling wildly from gunwale to gunwale.  So we could either move into Selat Pangkor itself or carry on: we carried on.  The day was both hot and still, with a huge swell on a glassy sea.  The temperature in the cabin reached 34°C and we both hid under the bimini, with me using my big coolie hat outside.  The engine chugged away and we sweated.  In the mid-afternoon a breeze came along from the north east, and we were able to set sail and dispense with the engine, and then sailed on for most of the night, past the shoals off Port Klang, keeping the One Fathom Bank light to starboard, beyond which we could see the merchant ships in the separation lanes.  Our new night-vision binoculars got some good use as we checked out fishing boats and the like.

Rock Stack near Daytang Bunting

Abandoned Resort on Pulau Besar

Phuket was a big disappointment - far too touristy, and after the clear waters of Indonesia was definitely second rate.  The worst part, though, was the standard of the work done on Coromandel Quest when the teak deck was removed and replaced with a fibreglass non slip.  I'm preparing a webpage which will show some of the things which went wrong.  The highlights of Phuket were our visits to the Big Buddha, which looks down on the anchorage, the bright temple of Ao Chalong, and our elephant ride.  We had supper with Jim and Marion from SV Balu on Christmas Day and watched the fireworks on New Year's Day, before moving over to the beach at Panwa.  This suited us better than Ao Chalong; there were some very pleasant walks around and getting to and from the beach was a more pleasant affair - no more ankle deep black mud at low water. On one of our walks we came to a small market where we found a wonderful snack, made from a potato, sliced horizontally in one piece, threaded on a skewer and deep fried before being doused with a spicy salt - delicious!

One day we visited the beaches on the west coast of Phuket, but were disappointed to find them a cross between Blackpool and Benidorm, and not our cup of tea at all.  It was also more expensive than the little Chinese place we found in Phuket Town which served Tom Yam soup and other Thai dishes.  We got quite used to having whatever soup was on offer, knowing that it would be tasty, not too spicy for my delicate taste bud, and filling.

In the meantime we had been investigating companies and boatyards in which to have the work done on Coromandel, finally having her slipped at the Asian Phuket Boatyard to have the work done by Rassada Fibreglass.    The problems arose when the man supervising the work, who had been recommended to us, turned out to use workers who were less than competent, and did not do a good job of supervising what they were doing, so we had to cut short our visit to the north of Thailand to keep an eye on what was going on.

Kampheng Phet and Chiang Mei  We travelled overnight by bus to Bankgok, then took another bus to Kampheng Phet the following day, a journey of some 18 hours through some very boring scenery.    We found a nice hotel in the town, then set off to find out about the Historical Park, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We really enjoyed our three days there visiting the park, full of the most glorious temples, despite them being ruins.  There was a wonderful sense of calm around the buildings, though I found it sad that there were so few people there to enjoy it.  Those we met  were friendly, there were few tourists, and we enjoyed walking through the streets.  

From there we went another six hours north to the city of Chiang Mei, a city where the old part is enclosed by a canal, with quaint little streets, intriguing little shops and accommodation more used to tourists of the backpacker variety than either Phuket or Kampheng Phet.  I took the opportunity to see an exhibition of Chinese textiles, visited two places where I could see silk-weaving, and had a suit - palazzo pants and a top - made from burgundy silk brocade.  We also took a trip to the far north of Thailand, visiting some of the indigenous villages - the Hmong, the Akha and the Long-Necked Karen, whose women wear brass rings around their necks.  I felt rather uncomfortable here and made up for it by buying a large number of silk scarves from one of the ladies!  I was enthralled by the handwork of the women from these villages - the reverse appliqué of the Hmong and the cross stitch of the Akha.  Needless to say, some found its way back onto Coromandel.

Although I had been disappointed in the scenery in most of Thailand, it being very flat with little to excite the imagination, the north was much more interesting, with its hills and dramatic cliffs.  We visited an orchid and butterfly nursery, and I don't think I've ever seen such a wonderful array of colours.

We were thoroughly enjoying ourselves when a text message from Rassada Fibreglass put paid to our enjoyment.  Had we got a photograph of the deck, it asked, so that they would know where to put the bits?  After a very brief discussion, we left Chaing Mei the next morning and made it back to Phuket in 24 hours.  There we saw the full extent of the lack of supervision and for the next two weeks Andy spent most of his time in the yard, trying to explain how things should be done - ie cleats needed to be straight and no, a split toe rail would not be all right.

Sadly our enforced stay in Phuket, coupled with the disappointing work done on the boat, put paid to us wanting to do any more touring or sightseeing, and coloured our view of the place in general.  As soon as Coromandel was back in the water and we were satisfied that the rigging wouldn't fall down, we cleared out of Thailand and returned to Langkawi, stopping overnight at the islands of Koh Rok Nok and Koh Rok Noi in a very tranquil anchorage.  I needed to get back so that I could get my flight from Kuala Lumpur to Cape Town to spend some time with David.

While I enjoyed myself in Port Owen, Andy removed all of the deck fittings and replaced them, making sure this time that they were straight, and sealed properly.

Two examples of the shoddy work done by Rassada Fibreglass in Thailand; the incorrect positioning of the pushpit left the lifelines slack and forced the stanchion at least 4 cm out of alignment: the stanchion is fixed to the pushpit by a rigid metal bar

He had a very hard time of it in the humidity of the marina at Rebak Island and the work took so long that he did not have the opportunity of visiting Cambodia, which had been on his wish-list.  By the time I got back he was well ready for a change of scenery - and in even more need of the tender ministrations of his missis.  So as soon as we have our CAIT for Indonesia, we'll be off towards Bali and the South Indian Ocean.

Ao Chalong Temple, Phuket

Christmas Day with Jim and Marion of the SV Balu, aka The Baluvians

An Elephant Ride

The Anchorage at Ao Chalong

Phuket's Big Buddha

A Potato Stick

The Elephant Temple, Kampheng Phet

Another Temple

Wuppertal was a very intriguing settlement - more than a village, but not quite a town.  It was founded by a Moravian pastor in the late 19th century and is now the site of a boarding school, a shoe factory, a company which dries and packs rooibos tea, and a shop which makes and sells body care products scented with rooibos - very luxurious.  Feeling desirous of supporting such good community projects, I bought shower gel, shampoo, body lotion and a rich gel - it was beautifully fragrant and I had a lovely pampering session when I got back to Port Owen.  It was interesting to see mules being harnessed to wagons for the long pull up the hills out of the village, and we had some delicious scones and rooibos tea at the small café there.

Wuppertal in the Cederberg

Another of the highlights was David's 70th birthday when a large group of friends joined him to celebrate.  I had frantically finished a cross-stitch picture of magpies and honeysuckle at Kuala Lumpur airport whilst waiting for the plane, and Anne du Plessis, ex-Commodore of the Port Owen Yacht Club, had kindly organised to get it from me and have it framed, so the first I saw of it was when Anne and Theo brought it to the party, wrapped up in a duvet cover.  For David, it was a lovely surprise and we both thought it looked splendid.  At David's party I was delighted to meet again Bob and Avril, two Mackems - inhabitants of Sunderland to the uninitiated - and also Bob and Lorna, who surprised David by turning up from Johannesburg, who David has known for about 40 years and I must have known for 20!  So what with his old friends - like Annie, Alan and Val - and the "new" ones from Port Owen, he had a lovely birthday.

Pelicans on the Berg River

Aerial View of Port Owen

Cederberg Rock Formations

Fog along the Coast

Dawn over the Berg River