Beez to 03/02/19

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 3 Feb 2019 23:57
Beez Neez to the 3rd February 2019
 
 
 
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Monday 28th. Hoping this will be our last full week in Rebak Marina....... We started the day catching the 08:45 over, Mr Din’s friend ready with the keys to an old favourite, the little blue car that protests if you go up through the gears too quickly and the while engine rattles in neutral at the many traffic lights you cannot help wonder if you will make it back to the ferry port at Cenang. All well with dentist, the plucky little Mrs Chew who fitted my second and final bridge and crowns wants me back on Thursday as she is making me bleaching trays.
Shopping in the various centres was a delight as the shops were selling all things decorative for the forthcoming Chinese New Year. The biggest spinning, lit lantern was going for a whopping thirty pounds. The canned music on the other hand was somewhat spanky. Quick stop for me at the barber for a very Shaun the Sheep to keep me going until South Africa. Last stop was for Bear to jump out at the airport to buy US dollars to use as Agent’s fees in Sri Lanka and The Maldives. We will need more for diesel and bits so more cash out to change on Thursday methinks...................
 
 
Shopping
 
Sadly, not an uncommon sight is how we roll back to Beez from any given shopping trip. A long one today as we left on the 08:45 and came back on the 17:45 ferry heavily laden. Today with twenty five drinking vessels, sunglasses and sweets for a group of boys my friend looks after at an orphanage in Sri Lanka. Sweets I hear you gasp....... as requested - and don’t tell me a sugar fix once in a while is all bad. Usual victuals for a week plus a few things to go into stock for forthcoming passages. No sooner than we deposited everything aboard than I needed to finish my stomps, have a quick dip before cleaning the fridge and stowing ‘the cold stuff’. Definitely time to fall into bed with an episode or two of NCIS New Orleans. Night night all.
 
 
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Tuesday the 29th. Bear put the top coat of paint on his air con hat, moved our grey cover back a few feet and started to replace the deck switches. I began sorting the water bottles, shades and sweets for the twenty-five orphan boys my friend looks after, clearly I hadn’t considered what space all this would need to take on a train across Sri Lanka from Trincomalee to Colombo but it won’t be the last time I only pack a clean pair of knickers and a credit card........Next, admitting I had to get back to seeing if I could, in any way, fulfil Bear’s wish to get to Chagos and gain cover for Beez Neez down the East Coast of Africa. Our insurers made a late play to cover Chagos, BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) and our new potential chap to fit in behind for ongoing passages. A late runner in the form of Richard emailed and may have the perfect solution - the whole lot under one policy – fingers crossed and short pants, more to follow, more form filling...........with hope. Very late to stomping, pool just before seven. supper just before eight followed by an episode or two.
 
 
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Wednesday the 30th. Up early to hit the spreadsheets to incorporate new (potentially and with fingers crossed) insurance and Chagos fees at seventy-five pounds a week to a maximum of four weeks. After checking credit card and paying it I settled to writing blogs, trying to finish Hong Kong just now. Bear went back to his anchor switches at Beez beak. He came in to do some research for ‘stuff’ and looking up said do you fancy a coffee. That would be nice, arrr, I need mine and yours out of stores. Whilst rummaging for his caramel cappos and my (currently) hazelnut cappos - but I do need a half a spoon of coffee as well – bit too nutty otherwise I asked what was in his cereal pot. Mmmm less than half full, blog writing stopped, out came the washing up bowl and ‘that time of the month’ job. Mango and guava slices cut, lookalike Smarties, sunflower seeds and Craisins made up ‘is mix and was added to ‘is crunchy muesli with chocolate bits.
 
 
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Thursday the 31st. My final trip to Mrs Chew was an easy one, a quick polish out of some out-sticking glue on my right bridge and a lesson in bleaching with my new kit. Shopping done, yes, three crates and two bags.........seems to be the norm – with one final trip on the 7th to log out YAY and YAY. Today was especially lovely as we met Chris and Steve (Scott-Free) for lunch. At long last they have new ‘stuff’ on order to deal with their lightning damage. Sad we will not see their lovely girl on the water but we wish her all the very best with Safe Winds and a Following Sea. Hope to see Skipper and First Mate in the Caribbean next............fingers crossed, we only have just over twelve thousand miles to do. With so much stuff on board for our villa, Sleeping Indian we had better get there................ Today we bought new pans............ Tonight I randomly fancied boiled eggs for supper. I had just a tiny mention of an egg event but.........
 
 
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..........but the hard boiled eggs for later in the week proved the skipper had not lost his touch. Marvellous.
 
 
 Kerri  Dolce Casa
 
Friday the 1st February. Bear finished wiring up the deck foot switched for the windlass, just have to finish fitting the switch bases on the deck. YAY I get the en suite back from a serious pile of tools. My EVisa for India arrived YAY. Spent the morning chatting on Messenger with Kerri, a Liverpudlian now living in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is a good mate I worked with, cannot remember how many years ago. Weird, spooky or what, I happened to mention having a carrot and Fybogel for breakfast and she sent me this picture. Tell me I’m wrong but amazing to see, the only difference is she has lemon flavour Fybogel, I have orange. We booked our digs to visit Kerri, hubby Nessanka and son Harrison – cannot wait. Also a few nights in Galle to see the fort. We think the train journeys are about two dollars – bring them on, apparently we can sit like locals with our feet dangling out of the side doors.
We had a wonderful supper aboard Scott-Free to celebrate Chris’s birthday. Happy Birthday Special Lady.
 
 
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Saturday the 2nd. Bear fitted his white hat, sold our Fluxgate Compass and settled to do a million updates on his Vintage Mac (Mac words not mine) and his IPad. I did admin, put some washing in to soak and housework.
 
 
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Sunday the 3rd. Perfect eggs, no events and straight to work. Bear working on Baby Beez, preparing to glue new handles. Daft he should need a heat gun outside when the cockpit temperature nudged just over forty degress Centigrade....... After an hour he came in all unnecessary and worked on fitting our Red Box – a thingy that will let the computers connect at the same time. I cleaned and sorted and can admit to the bedroom and en suite being ship shape and ready – errrrrrrr.............pity about the rest of her.
This evening we met Our Majesty (if Her Majesty can have two birthdays so can Maj), the second birthday girl had and Steve at the Hard Rock Cafe – it’s actually The Hard Dock but........ Maj had burger with trimmings. Steve had fish and chips, Bear had korma (written kurma here) and I had chicken satay sticks and a portion of chips.’
 
 
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Everyone had two scoops of ice cream, I was a real baddie and had two chocolate, two vanilla and a baby custard sponge. Too draughty under the full-pelt fans, we had to find a leeward area in the cafe.
 
 
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Maj posed with her ice cream, cake and candle as we sung Happy Birthday. Tomorrow Scott-Free will have a break before men and new electrickery clamber about her as her crew are off to Bangkok in the morning.
Delighted and sad at the same time – delighted that Chris and Steve will be on their way for a break, a bit of a holiday and a change of scenery - sad we won’t see them for our final days here and perhaps not until we meet up in the Caribbean or UK but as not to get all daft I’m just going to say “on the morrow”. So until The Infamous Four reunite....................
 
 
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ALL IN ALL A WAY TO GO FOR BEEZ AND HER CREW
                    GETTING A BIT MORE EXCITING