This and That - Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket, Thailand
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 20 Apr 2011 02:04
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08:10.221N 98:20.406E
March 16, 2011 - March 23, 2011
After the treehouse, we spent the next week in Yacht Haven
Marina taking care of this and that before heading off on another land trip to
northern Thailand.
So, first up on the 'this and that' list was a trip to
Rolly Tasker. The good thing about Phuket is it's not only stuffed
with tourists, but zillions of boats as well. Boats requiring
all manner of maintenance, new pieces and parts, sails, etc. As
a result, the products and services needed to support the boating
industry are readily available - not always easy to locate on the sometimes
winding, always crowded and mostly unmarked streets of Phuket - but readily
available. Rolly Tasker claims to be the biggest sail loft in the
world, so it's the one place on Phuket that is not difficult to find. The
place is huge, perfectly built and beautifully organized, making us wonder if we
were still in Thailand (we are so used to cramped shops with no signs plopped
down in places making no logical sense that a prominent, organized structure set
in plain sight on a main thoroughfare came as quite a
shock). Along with our sail advisor (John), Don and I sat down
with a member of the Rolly Tasker family (Rolly Tasker is the name of
the company's founder, an Australian who is well known for
his sailboat racing exploits of the past and his sail designs and sail
production of the present) to discuss a new mainsail and new, smaller
headsail for Harmonie. Since our mainsail has about seven repair
patches, plus an additional five small holes still held together with sail
tape, we decided it might be a good idea to replace it before crossing the
Indian Ocean. Also, because the Indian Ocean crossing will most likely not
be a straight downwind run, and could possibly involve some, ugh!, upwind
sailing, we are contemplating a new, smaller headsail, which would allow us to
point into the wind more effectively without overpowering
the boat. The only problem with this scenario is storage
of our current headsail, which we would most certainly keep as it
is best for beam and downwind sailing. It sounds trivial, but storage of a
giant headsail weighing several hundred pounds in the limited space
available on our fine vessel requires some serious thought. The good
news is we received a reasonable estimate for both the new mainsail
and headsail, and Rolly Tasker only needs three or four weeks to get the work
done once we give them the green light. We've decided to do this in
the fall after we take our current sails to Rolly Tasker for
inspection and repair (and most likely disposal in the case of our current
mainsail).
Second on the 'this and that' list was
new lifelines. Harmonie has a permanently
mounted stainless steel railing around her perimeter, but
strung below the railing and
above the deck is white vinyl coated steel cable, which was
looking very old and decrepit. Don dropped our old lifelines off with
Rolly Tasker's rigging department, and poof! new ones were ready two days
later. Harmonie now sports her new, shiny, white vinyl coated steel
cable attire with aplomb.
Next up, new muffler and vented loop for the main engine. Ever
mindful of next year's plans, Don decided it was best to have a
new muffler fabricated since the old one had developed a few small leaks
(which Don had repaired with silicon). Also, although the vented loop was
functioning fine, it was getting rusty, and that's never a good thing on a
boat. Based on recommendations from other boaters, Don went to see Wiwat
(pronounced 'Wee-wat'). Wiwat was found in a tiny, dimly lit shop down a
side street with no sign just outside the Boat Lagoon marina and boat yard
complex. Wiwat promised a new muffler and vented loop, "12,000 Baht, done
next Friday!". Don figured $400 was a fair price, and told Wiwat he
would be back next Friday. Next Friday came and Wiwat wasn't
available. Neither were the muffler or vented loop. The staff in the
shop contacted Wiwat by phone, and after some back and forth in broken English
and hand signs, Don came away with the explanation, "Machine broke! Wiwat
say next week same same!" The next Friday we were in northern
Thailand, so John kindly picked up our new muffler and vented loop,
reporting that Wiwat gave us a 1,000 Baht discount for the delay. Not too
bad. Since then, the new equipment has been installed and we mostly
motored back to Langkawi and Rebak Marina, where we are now. After a close
inspection, Don found two small leaks in Wiwat's muffler. Not a big deal,
but we'll be paying Mr. Wiwat another visit next fall when we return to
Thailand. We're looking forward to Wiwat's response - it'll probably be
something like, "Will fix same same! Done next Friday!"
While all this boat stuff was going on, we managed to fit in some
resort-hopping. Like Singapore with its wall-to-wall shopping malls,
Phuket has so many resorts you could probably walk the entire perimeter of the
island and be in, or least within sight of, a resort the whole way (with the
exception of a small bit of coastline on the northwest corner belonging to a
national park). Of course with Sue, our trusted tour guide and resort
aficionado, there is never a lack of places to go for eating and
drinking purposes. Let's see, there was La Sala resort for lunch, the
Marriott for swimming and happy hour, several other restaurants for lunch, and
the crowning glory? The Indigo Pearl resort for Sunday brunch. It's
the sort of five-star place you go to at one in the afternoon and plan
to stay for awhile since your dining ticket includes an endless supply of ginger
martinis, champagne and good wine. We don't do it often, but it was a nice
way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Phuket - especially since the seating
area was very swanky, and more importantly, air-conditioned.
Needless to say, that particular Sunday was not one of our most
productive.
Last, but not least in the 'this and that' category:
healthcare. Don and I have healthcare insurance, but it's
international insurance that covers us for all disasters including costs
associated with helicopter rescues and medical repatriation to the US or
other western world country if necessary for medical reasons, but it does a very
poor job of covering us for preventative care procedures like general
physicals. Lucky for us, Phuket is not only a tourist
destination for its beaches, but also for its healthcare. Tourists
come for the less-than-western-world healthcare prices (plastic
surgery being the most popular option). Don, Sue and I decided to
take advantage of Phuket's top-notch, low cost healthcare and had a battery
of tests done including full blood work, chest x-ray, abdomen ultrasound, urine
analysis, liver function, gynecological exam (nope, Don didn't go for that one),
etc., etc., etc., getting it all done in half a day and paying only about $500
each for the whole shebang. At home, any one of the ten tests we
had done probably would have cost $500. Yet another example of US
healthcare costs run amok. Anyway, we all passed with flying colors, and
almost enjoyed our half-day of semi-pampering. As soon as we entered
the hospital lobby, we were ushered up to the preventative care ward by a young
Thai woman dressed in a smart uniform complete with high heels. We were
then ushered and shuffled and smiled at throughout the various tests by an army
of young Thai men and women, all smartly dressed in similar pristine uniforms,
the women wearing the peaked white nursing caps of old. There was not a
single dumpy-looking, sour-faced nurse, doctor, aid, technician or
administrative assistant to be seen anywhere. Wait a
minute - Don is telling me that the EKG nurse was sour-faced. Ok, but
at least she wasn't dumpy looking. I'm not sure we'll ever have another
chance to say we spent a half-day in a hospital getting tested, poked and
prodded for this and that, and came out feeling like the whole experience
was pleasant. Pleasant!
Speaking of healthcare...
A full fourteen months after Don's encounter with Australia's Queensland
state government healthcare system, we have finally received a bill. The
total bill for Don's ambulance ride to Brisbane, emergency room care, initial
ankle cast, surgery to insert the plates and screws including an overnight stay
in the hospital, all the medication, many sets of x-rays, moonboot, crutches,
and follow-up doctor visits was, get this, $2,500. $2,500! That
might have covered the ambulance ride and emergency room care at home, but
that's about it. Our insurance company covered everything but the
deductible and the bill we received from Queensland was for that portion.
Our only complaint is that the Australian dollar has grown so much stronger over
the past year that we ended up paying more than we would have had the Queensland
government been slightly more efficient in its billing process. But
really, who can complain? Don received excellent service and has
healed well - all for the low, low price of $2,500. Somebody please tell
congress that Australian healthcare costs are one-tenth that of the US!
Ok, ok, enough ranting about healthcare.
The day after receiving our glowing medical reports, Don and I flew from
Phuket to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand leaving Sue and John to live on and
look after Harmonie while Storyteller was on land getting a face lift on
its bottom. More about our 10-day Thailand temple tour and earthquake
survival story later.
Anne |