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February 20, 2000-Sarah
Leaving Thailand was, as always, a mad scramble at
the end. The fridge needed a little maintenance, the tachometer was
broken, we had to hunt down a replacement. We were also calling Asiana
Airlines on a twice daily basis to try to pressure for a settlement (only
partially successful) of our lost bag claim - all Bronwen's curriculum for
the next semester of correspondence 9th grade went missing. Details like
this become hard from a boat, it is a dinghy ride in to the beach on Au
Chalong (Phuket) and timing is required as the beach is an unusable mud
bog an hour either side of low tide. Then you have to find a phone that
works - not as easy as it sounds, then find someone that speaks English -
only to be told to call back later!!! The children and I went vegetable
shopping - hired a tuk- tuk (a small, open three wheel taxi) while Neill
went on hardware errands. We visited this occasional outdoor market in
neighbouring Rawai. The vegetables were wonderful - plentiful and fresh,
and using hand signals and a tiny bit of Thai we loaded up with all the
vegetables and fruit we could carry, and heavily laden, rushed back to the
boat to deposit our load out of the sun, and then dashed back to the beach
to meet Neill for an elephant ride. We couldn't resist having one before
we left Thailand. We opted for a quickie half hour one along a canal. It
was commercial no doubt, and the litter lining the trail was
disheartening, but it was still an enormous amount of fun. They are such
fascinating beasts, and walking along the road with traffic going by was a
kick. Then we waded out into a lake and let them have a drink. We
finished the day off with fantastic Thai food yet again and our laundry
was delivered by scooter to the restaurant.
The next day we were supposed to leave and Bronwen
and Emma and I got the dinghies on board and dismantled, and lashed down
everything that could move on deck, while Neill just had a little bit more
of boat maintenance - the head (toilet) was blocked - don't want to head
out to sea in those conditions. Douglas was wasted in bed with an upset
stomach and fever dreams. Things for Neill took a little longer than
expected - and this is not a pretty job. One thing led to another, he
completely rebuilt the innards of the toilet and flailed the hoses over
the side of Margarita to remove the salt build up. Five hours later we
decided to stay another night instead of putting to sea at dusk after not
making a passage in so long.
We are over three days into it now and it is the
calmest, kindest passage we have had. We are not breaking any speed
records, but there are no complaints from anybody. We have done enough
fast, wet passages lately. Going gently dead down wind with only mild
rolling is OK. Cooking is not a major battle and cursing is rare. Neill
and I can even sleep in the forepeak comfortably instead of wedged in by a leecloth in the main salon. School is progressing well. The
phosphorescence a couple of nights ago was remarkable - I've never seen it
like that. The wake of the boat was leaving a trail of neon white disco
lights far behind and every now and then we would go through a school of
something - flying fish or what I don't know that was like a light show.
We caught a beautiful Mahi Mahi that gave us two meals as well. It put on
a terrific fight in and out of the water, and we always feel a little sad
- but it tasted great.
love to all from all here. -Sarah and the
Margaritas
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