Wednesday, July 2, 2014

4 years


Four years ago today we signed a piece a paper that would change our lives forever. 

We’d completed (and passed) our IYT skippers course, we’d been out on a sea trial on a lovely 37ft foot yacht called Pelangi, and today, 4 years ago we signed the sales agreement that would make her our own.  A lot of water has passed under the bridge (and under her hull) since that day.  Some of it calm, beautiful, clear water, and some of it stormy and unpredictable, but we’ve come away from these experiences richer in knowledge and friendships, and with a better understanding of nature and all she throws at us.  Our little boat has been our home and our adventure capsule; she’s taken us to places that some can only dream about and dealt admirably with squalls and rough seas.  She has welcomed many friends who’ve come aboard sometimes just for a sundowner, others for an adventure holiday, we had a pretend pirate outing with The Shenton Family, and even an Indie Disco when Laura was on board!   And let’s not forget the stowaway who swam to our boat for safety once night while trying to swim to shore from a fishing boat in stormy weather!! 

Pelangi has given us so much more than we can ever give back to her, but she hasn’t done too badly out of it!  To date Pelangi has had a new main sail, all new electronic equipment including new auto pilot, new windlass, she’s been re wired and has a new switch panel, bilge pumps, alarm system, all new LED lighting including cockpit light (so I can actually see what I’m eating at night!), a new set of batteries, 4 solar panels, made to measure radar arch, spray dodger and frame, new canvass work and cushions and not forgetting the cuddly toy (for those who remember The Generation Game!).  Even Dolly Dinghy has got in on the act with a new outboard motor and new chaps (cover).  We’ve also experienced 2 haul outs where she has had her bottom scraped and anti fouled, a stern paint job, gel coat repair work and professional polish, plus a galley facelift!

You’d think with all that work we wouldn’t have had much time to sail, but those who have followed our story know we have ventured on many passages across the Gulf of Thailand, Malacca Strait, Balabac Strait, Sulu Sea and South China Sea.  Sailing at night in quiet waters and under a full moon is a very gratifying experience and when dolphins appeared on the bow at first light on one occasion even I was left speechless!.

We have sailed more than 8,660 nautical miles and visited or anchored off more than 243 islands.  The amount of pollution and rubbish in our waters, the attitude of those who continue to rape the seas of all she has, and the rainforest that has been destroyed in the name of commercial gain has saddened us. But mostly we’ve felt truly blessed by the beauty of what we have seen and overwhelmed at times by the kindness of fellow sailors and the welcome from total strangers who have so little compared to us, but seem so happy with their small lot in life – we have much to be grateful for!

Since our last haul out in Penang in December we have spent our time cruising the west coast of Malaysia and Thailand.  It took us 3 attempts to leave Penang before reaching Langkawi due to rough seas and strong head winds, but once we got going there was not stopping us.  We had 15 – 20 knots of wind on the beam most of the way and did some of our best sailing ever on our passage from Langkawi, Malaysia to Krabi, Thailand where we picked up Gareth’s mum, Bev, for her second trip with us.  It wasn’t without it moments, mainly involving getting rather wet on our trips back from shore when Dolly proved just a little too small for the chop and surf that had built unbeknownst to us while enjoying dinner on the shore or duty free shopping – the whisky came in handy quite a few times!!  But Bev took all of the challenges in her stride and proved to be very worthy crew!  She was rewarded for her efforts by days of lovely cruising in light breezes and some stunning anchorages surrounded by mountains towering either side of the boat sometimes with only the moon and stars for company.  Bev abandoned ship for the luxury of hot running water and a comfy bed at a nice beach resort in Langkawi and even got to fly over Pelangi in a microlite  before heading back to NZ.  We then headed back south and left Pelangi in a marina in Johor Bahru, Malaysia (just across the way from Singapore) while we flew to Bali to catch up with our dear friends Nat and Ralph off their lovely yellow boat, Soltutu, and then onto Labuan Bajo, Flores, Indonesia for some diving and snorkeling.  It was superb!  Gareth dived deep and saw all the “big stuff” and I snorkeled and made friends with four turtles on my final swim.  We also encountered Komodo dragons, but decided not to make friends with them as human flesh is a speciality on their menu!!

A few weeks after our return we left Pelangi and Dolly once more and flew to Sydney where we spent some long overdue time with Gareth’s wonderfully entertaining Uncle Robert, better known as Doctor Bob.  His apartment on Coogee beach, just down from Bondi is a fantastic place for headland walks, people watching, cafĂ© brunches, wood fired pizza and cheap and delicious red wine, which we took full advantage of!  It was also great to catch up with good friends and fellow sailors Fred and Kat and their new crewmember; 6 month old Louisa.  From there we flew to NZ and really enjoyed quality family time with brother, sisters, nephews and nieces who seem to have eaten rather a lot of Jack’s Beans as they have all grown so much!!  We also caught up with old friends and enjoyed cheap and delicious NZ white and red wines, macro brewed beer, pies and fish and chips.  I think Pelangi’s water line was reduced when we got back on her!!

And so today sees Pelangi moored in a marina just like she was the first day we saw her only a bit more “lived in” and with more than a few tales to tell if she could talk!  And we are all the richer for our friendships and (possibly) a little wiser for our experiences.  We know that the next 4 years will bring new challenges and are planning an extensive passage through Indonesia and beyond.

I have just finished a novel and one of the lines reads “I am limited only by what I can dream and allow myself to risk”.  Dream big!!

Cheers then

Captns J and G XXX