Finishing off the last of the varnishing

Saturday 25^th April arrived and we weren’t ready to go back in the water; still a few more jobs to finish off so we postponed our splash until Monday, definitely Monday. I left Bill to finish off a bit of varnishing and took the ferry across to Langkawi to do a bit of shopping in the local shops; sometimes it’s nice to get off the boat for a while.   When I got back Bill wanted to run the engine to check everything was ok. Difficult because the engine needs water to stop it from overheating. I had to be in the cockpit to start and stop the engine while Bill held a hosepipe in the engine intake. Camomile did not sound happy and when Bill wanted me to put the engine in gear to check the prop was turning she made a horrible noise but apparently all was ok.

Bill relaxing

Sunday 26^th we could relax a bit so we treated ourselves to breakfast in the resort. While Bill put a final antifoul coat on the keel I spent a frustrating day trying to download photos of my sisters wedding. The internet here is incredibly slow; it’s the only real downside of this place, oh and the mossies of course. We spent our final afternoon in our ‘garden’ and went to the pool for a nice cooling swim.

Ready for the off

Monday 27^th I took my bike on the early ferry to go and get some cash to pay our debts. On the way back my bike broke. Several of the spokes snapped on the front wheel and the sides of the tyre were also perished, they wobbled from side to side as the wheel went round and it was rubbing on the brake pads. I had to walk it back. NO comments on the weight it was carrying!!   When I got back Bill had packed all his tools away and we stacked the rest of the woodwork up on deck, I gave our chairs to another cruiser and we were all ready for the off.

Up she goes again

We were third on the list and they came for us just after 11am; Camomile was dying to get her keel toes back in the water.

Camomile couldn’t wait to get in the water

Slowly lowered in

Bill watched cautiously as they drove Camomile around the yard toward the splash point. They put a ladder up so we could get on and we were slowly lowered into the water.  Quite nerve wracking – would the engine start? Would the prop shaft or rudder bearings leak?  Everything went smoothly until a last minute gust of wind blew us dangerously near to the wall. We are so nervous of scratching the new paintwork. Bill had a quick check round – no leaks!

What do you think?

We arrived at our berth and tied up bow in, we had wanted to go in backwards but Bill didn’t want to risk it with the gusts we were getting; we’ll turn her round in the morning when it’s calm.

Plug the power in

First things first get the power back on for the air con; it’s better back in the water but still hot.

We left it tidy

I walked back up to the hard to fetch our bikes.   You would never know we had been there for 12 weeks.

It was great to be in the water. I had so many jobs I wanted to do. The first one was empty the fridge, clean it out and switch it back on. Its water-cooled and had protested at not having water to cool it (even though the water is warm) and had to be turned off on the hard. I reloaded it with the beer first in the bottom then some nice salad on the top. I emptied the freezer too and defrosted it so it could be turned up and be a freezer again. Both the heads (bathrooms) were given a good clean down with nice fresh water; felt good to have everything clean and working again.

Bill removed the compass

Tuesday 28^th I finally managed to post my blog then continued to clean the boat although it will probably get dusty again when Bill starts rubbing the cockpit down. Bill spent the day stripping the cockpit. The compass came off, wheel off, binnacle stripped down, cockpit locker lid off, rev counter out, so we couldn’t go any where if we wanted to now. Bill filled any redundant holes with epoxy resin. I wonder what the mystery objects are doing there?

Spot the mystery objects

Setting up the grab handles

Wednesday 29^th Bill started fitting the grab handles. I asked him if he could do them next because every time I went out on deck I either stubbed my toe on the spikes or trod on them. He worked for a couple of hours then we caught the ferry and took one of Mr Din’s cars into town to get some resin, do some shopping for the freezer, get my bike mended and have a Starbucks of course.

The bike work shop

This is the little workshop we took my bike to. Two new wheels, two new tyres with inner tubes, fitted and the gears fixed cost RM180 (about £30) pretty good value.  How he finds anything I don’t know but it was ready for us to pick up on our way back.

Fitting the grab handles

We got back at 3.30 and Bill continued with the grab handles, he likes working that time of day because the heat of the day has passed.

Grab handles finished

Plugging the holes

Thursday 30^th After fitting them the holes were plugged with the wooden bungs and resin. This is the problem with working out on deck, he’s in the sun, his back is twisted and we still don’t have stanchions and guardrails on yet. Later rain was forecast and he wanted to finish before it started to rain. Water in the holes would be a bad thing and take a long time to dry.   I held an umbrella over him for the last few but he managed to finish before the heavens opened.

Bon Voyage Keith and Christine

Later in the afternoon Keith and Christine came to say goodbye to their boat Poco Andante and hand over the keys to the new owners having managed to sell her. They have a wonderful adventure planned to get back to the UK by train through China, Mongolia and Russia. They joined us for a glass of bubbles to welcome Camomile back in the water and wish them good luck on their travels. Stay safe guys. x

Parcel from UK

Just as they were leaving there was great excitement because we were informed the box my sister Amanda had sent only 6 days ago had arrived so I went to collect it from security.

The contents of the box

She had sent out a couple of bits I had left behind because I couldn’t fit any thing else in my bags like the new kitchen tap, a spare steering flange and a pressure relief value for the immersion heater!!!!! Also the guard rails were in there and the new control switches for the anchor windlass and a winter jacket I’d left behind which I might need when we go to China later in the year.

Rubbing down the cockpit

Fri 1^st May While I did my usual Friday run to see the ‘Chinese man with the van’ Bill started sanding down the cockpit so he could get on with painting it, he’s now gone from black feet in the boat yard to white ones. Everything was covered in a layer of dust. I stayed down below to work on our China trip. Bill asked me to start making a list of outstanding jobs – it covered an A4 page and a half!

Mystery object in situ

So these are the mystery objects, glued and filled, in their place.