Saturday 17^th January   We had a lovely relaxing time for a week but once Oscar left on the 14^th to catch his bus to Kuala Lumpur where he catches his connecting flight home, we got stuck into the work.  The pilates at nine, which looked like a geriatric doddle a week ago, has rendered me practically immobile!  Whisking those legs skyward and rolling back and forth on my mat with such alacrity has strained so many muscles I can hardly move…..The lady instructor keeps urging us to engage our ‘power houses’ but I’m too embarrassed to ask where it is now………

 

We thought we would tackle the decks first – remember we had had them re-caulked and re-plugged in Bali?  Because we were on such a tight schedule there wasn’t time for them to be sanded then so that is our first job in hand – the most horrible, hot, dusty, hunched up back breaking job imaginable!  The sun is so hot we had to think up a shade plan and Heath Robinson has nothing on Paul’s ingenuity…. Both the Twistle poles lashed together are balanced on the boat hooks with makeshift rigging to keep them in place and good old Wally from Darwin’s canvass cover has come into its own, a blessing really as it turned out not to be waterproof:

 

 

…the effective lash up

 

 

………makes a perfect sunshade (see the fender stuffed down

the hole where the mast was)

 

 

….giving some respite from the sun

 

But our grinder was not really up to the job and soon caught fire!  So off we went on the complimentary speed boat to Langkawi Island to buy another – combining it with a day of boat part investigation………

 

 

Our 50 Ringgit car awaited us (10 extra for automatic) – no documents of any description required – just fill up with as much petrol as you need and leave the car back where you found it at the end of the day – door open, keys under the mat!  The lack of crime here is quite extraordinary.

 

And off we went – the Rally ‘Sail Indonesia’ has distributed a very comprehensive list of all shops with cryptic remarks so we followed their trail;

 

 

…driving through the rice paddies…….

 

 

An enormous wood yard but surprisingly no teak

 

 

Mr. Chin who fabricates most things stainless and

houses a huge selection of engines

 

 

MacPhees ‘supermarket’ with home brands and

fresh meat from Australia and amazingly Maldon

Sea Salt from Essex!

 

 

We found a Bosch grinder and sanding discs, wood trim, hatch covers, loop eye straps and a plug for our ‘new’ kayak (which on internet investigation turns out to be a ‘Malibu Two’), a new VHF aerial which had disintegrated at the top of the mast (no wonder our reception has been so poor!) new navy click-clack seats for the cockpit, fruit and vegetables, chrome spray paint for the port holes and hatch cover surrounds, matt black for the toe rail and a raft of other bits and bobs.

 

Last boat returns at 18.15 prompt and we were there in time to lug our shopping back to the boat……. an early.beef ‘randang’ with popadoms at the Hard Dock Café, byo wine/beer and into our bunk for a good night’s sleep.

 

Every day at 15.00 the resort staff put fresh chicken into a basket in the forest for the monitor lizards and as if they had watches on their wrists they turn up on the dot of 15.30 for a frenzied, throat stopping nosh up;

 

 

 

 

…..and very happy they look on their daily feast…..

 

 

….tabby having a drink

 

 

…and spot the toucan in the trees – they’re shy though and

hard to photograph…….

 

Then it’s a wander to the pool, a pot of tea for two and a game of scrabble listening to the BBC on worldspace before a sunset boules match…..