Beez to 03/02/19
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 3 Feb 2019 23:57
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Beez Neez to the 3rd February
2019  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...................
 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.
   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.
  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.
 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.........
  ..........but the hard boiled eggs for
later in the week proved the skipper had not lost his touch. Marvellous.
  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.
 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.
    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.’
  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.
   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....................
 ALL IN ALL A WAY TO GO FOR BEEZ
AND HER CREW
GETTING A BIT MORE
EXCITING |