Fenix to OZ

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

Now that many of you are in the middle of fall and have lost your sailing for the season I'll regal you with warm temps, partially clear skys and occasional tropical downpours.

I arrived in Panang last week. It was mostly a slow passage, fighting the tidal current 6 of every 12 hours and light winds on the nose most of the time.

I stopped along the way to anchor at some very nice small islands. On the first night I couldn't make it north of the Port Klang area so anchored in the lee of Tanjung Ru, a point to the south. I snuck in close to shore and anhored in about 20'.

2*50 N 101*18.2 E

The next leg was pretty long so I headed a bit farther offshore and planned an overnighter. The next day in the early afternoon I reached a delightful little bay nestled between two islands. Pulau Pangkor and Pulau Pangkor Latu offered good protection from the swell and sometimes strong wind and rain that accompanied the ever present doldrom weather.

4*12.5 N 100*32.8 E

This was such a great stop that I stayed another day to enjoy it. There are a lot of resorts and activities on the two islands. All day long small power boats were zipping about taking people out to see the sights.

From here it is 80nm to the NW point of Panang Island. Rather than stay close to shore and the numerous fishing boats while looking for a suitable anchorage for one night I headed out again. The passage was pretty easy until late in the afternoon. A BIG thunderstorm came up off the Malaysian coast. I would have called it a Sumatra except it was from the east not west. Some wind and rain later and we motorsailed off into the night.

In the wee hours we were nearly run down by a fishing boat. He altered course at near the last possible second, missing me by about 50'. That was too close. A couple of hours later, still in the darkness I noticed more lights drawing near. By the time I discovered it was a small ship and not a fishing boat I had to quickly alter course to avoid hitting it.

Both times the approaching boats came from my port bow. This technically gave me the right of way. But as you all know "Tonnage Rules". Those two encounters have been the closest of the trip.

Later that afternoon I finally reached Panang and the Tanjung City Marina. 5*24.8 N 100*20.6 E. The marina is in the heart of town, less expensive that Port Dickson(about US$7/day) and has power, water and showers. I have been here a week and will stay for one more before heading out to Langkawi, about 60nm up the coast.

Panang has lots of historic places to see and great places to eat as well as modern large shopping centers. Deisel is a staggering RM1.58/ ltr, that's about US$2/gal. So will be getting some during the week.

Since leaving OZ I have used the motor extensively mostly because of light or no wind. Most of northern Indonesia and Malaysia lay in the doldrums so good consistent winds are hard to find throughout the year.

By the time I reach Phuket, Thailand I will be halfway on my trip, time and longitude wise. Phuket is approx 98*E and Jscksonville 82*W, just about exactly opposed. Of course I have no intention of going anywhere near 55* of latitude some mine will be a milk run trip.

Which brings me to you all and the encroaching winter for some. I hope some of you formulate plans for distant shores while snuggled against the cold. It really is an easy trip. After all I'm no youngster and not at all fleet of foot. I'm sure just about any CD could make the same trip, though CD25D's and up would have an advantage with an inboard engine.

Dream on folks, take care,
Fred

[Warren Kaplan]

Fred,

I'm dreamin' on....believe me!! But until I actually get there I'll just have to live the long distance cruiser's life through your eyes!!!

Fair winds and a safe voyage!!!

[fenixrises]

Hl all,

Fenix and I are leaving Wednesday morning, 12-5, for Phuket, Thailand. We'll make stops at a couple of islands along the way.

Its only 120 miles to Thailand so its easy going for this leg. The NE monsoons have come in pretty nicely so there is a good breeze every day and finally clear skys.

Take care and Ho-Ho-ho,
Fred

[Dean Abramson]

Fred,

I hope you are having (or did have) a pleasant, safe passage. Those close calls you described are scary. Let's hope you have now earned the karma to be free of such incidents for a long while.

Dean

[John Vigor]

Every time I read about another of Fred's adventures with Fenix I am reminded of a piece of doggerel by that master of light verse, Ogden Nash (1902-1971):

The Phoenix

Deep in the study
Of eugenics
We find that fabled
Fowl, the Phoenix.
The wisest bird
As ever was,
Rejecting other
Mas and Pas,
It lays one egg,
Not ten or twelve,
And when it's hatched,
Out pops itselve.

Here's wishing Happy Holidays to Fred and Fenix in the heat of the tropics.

John Vigor

[Parfait's Provider]

Fred,

I've been lurking for quite awhile. I thought you ought to know, before some new found friend brings it up, that the current rage around here is "Ha, Ha, Ha!" because "Ho, Ho, Ho!" is possibly politically incorrect. I guess Don Imus has changed our culture even more than we thought.

Thanks for living your dream; it keeps some others alive.

Safe sailing,

Ken

[Dean Abramson]

That's a good point, Ken.

When I wrote in to lobby for a midweek lay day on the Maine Cruise, so that I could grab an afternoon snooze, I was afraid I might get accused of being nappy-headed.

Maybe none of this even makes sense to Fred, as he has been out of touch with our (ahem) "culture."

Dean

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

Its actually pronounced Pee Pee. The Phi Phi islands are a tourist mecca. Lying just 25 miles east of Phuket they offer white sand beaches, warm, clear water and a friendly local populace. My trip here was a bit frustrating.

Upon leaving Telaga Harbour, Maylasia I expected an easy 120 mile passage to the north, with a few stops along the way, eventually arriving in Phuket. But alas the weather gods were intent on providing me with another challange.

I left Telaga on a bright sunny morning looking forward to being at sea once more. The previous two weeks had shown a decided change in the conditions. The weather patterns change from SW monsoon to NE monsoon usually from about Sept to Nov and this year was just like that. During the change period there is a lot of rain and not much wind. So I planned on an easy sail to a group of islands about 25 miles WNW of Langkawi.

My destination was Ko(island) Rawi, 6* N 32', 99* E 12', on the south side, to be protected from the NE winds and swell. On this day the winds were light and had a bit too much N in them. That was because there was a system coming through. So clouds and intermitant rain were the order of the day and not much wind. I altered course in the early afternoon because I could see that I wasn't going to make Ko Rawi.

Instead I went to the south side of Ko Adang, 6* N 30', 99* E 18'. a sister island a couple of miles to the east. I arrived with enough daylight to get anchored and have my evening meal before sunset. Then of course the wind piped up. So in the last few minutes of daylight it was up anchor and drift sail under yankee a bit farther west, trying to gain as much protection in the lee as I could.

At sunrise the next morning I was underway again. This time I went the great distance of 7 miles to Ko Rawi thinking it would offer better protection. This proved to be true and I had a pleasant remainder of the day. That night the wind was up again. This would not have been a problem but for the tidal currents. In this area the currents change as normal, evey six hours. During slack water Fenix lies to the wind and this is often across the swell. So its a lumpy, bumpy, choppy, chunky time. And of course this happens sometime in the middle of the night. My pleasant little one day cruise was proving to be a real nightmare.

After a day relaxing I was off again. The Phi Phi group is about 75 miles to the NNW and I'm thinking that will most likely be at least a full day, it was and then some. The weather remained unsettled, or in this case settled on curbing my efforts to make good to the north. By about 2 AM I was 10 miles S and a bit too far west of PP. I hove-to to wait out the dark, moonless night. I hove-to on the port tack, drifting I hoped to the SE. This would get me a little easting, and further S by a bit, no problem. HA! The current was west setting so I gained not an inch of easting but did get 4 miles farther away to the south.

At sunrise we were underway again. Now of course the NE wind was nicely re-established and on the nose. Arghhh! Charlie Brown couldn't have said it better and I woundered where Lucy was hiding the football this time. We slowly worked our way to the NE and the pass between Ko Phi Phi Don(the main island) and Ko Phraya Nak its sister to the south. I must confess that for the last part I powersailed to get between the islands. The two island are faily high and caused the wind to do all manner of strange things, like altering direction 90 degrees from time to time and gusting to 35+ knots occasionally.

Fenix finally weathered the pass only to find the very nice bay on the south side of PP, 7* N 44', 98* E 46.3' to be un-inhabatible due to the large wind swell that creaped around the eastern point and the constant chop induced by all the long tailed boat taxis. So I ran away!!

Long tailed boat taxis are not some sort of strange asian avian species. What they are, is about 25' long, double ended, open, carvel planked boats. Their owners find a good used car engine and couple it to a very long drive shaft that projects 12 feet or so aft over the sternpost of the boat, basically hanging in the air and counter-balanced on a sliding, pivoting mount. No shaft log to worry about and very good for shallow water. A large two bladed prop is driven through a simple reduction gear,no reverse. They are water cooled and unmuffled. Wonder what the life span is with all those aluminum heads? Some are sporting whale tails to help them plane better but I can see that the idea of building a boat with a broad transom to really utilize all that horespower is still a ways off.

Off we went back south and then west and then north up the west side to what looked like another good bay on the west side of the island. It was! Hoo-rah! By this time it was late afternoon. I poked my way into the bay, really no problem as the water
was fairly deep, and dropped the hook in 40',7* N 44.6', 98* E 46.3'. I tidied up a bit, had a meal and crashed, a bit tired after 3 nights without much sleep.

The next morning I inflated the dingy, sleeping for the last three months on the cabin top, and went ashore. I fell in love! PP is a tourist mecca. Filled with tacky touristy things as only the third world can do. It was crawling with 20 somethings from all over the world. All manner of places to sleep for a day, a month or longer I presume. And it had wonderful, cheap eateries. Sidewalks crammed with push carts, no cars here or even motor bikes to speak of, crammed with the things to keep all those 20 somethings fed and lubricated, pushed by energetic draft animals, local Thais for the most part. I loved it all. There is an energy here, a sort of vibrancy that makes the place very likable, to me anyway.

PP was one of the islands devestated by the Tsunami. If you look on a map its easy to see why. That bay on the south side funneled the wave into and over the ithsmus where most of the people reside and almost all the businesses. The water went right over the middle and into the bay where I am now anchored. But from all this, the island seems well recovered. The businesses are booming, selling everything you can imagine, necessary to support the transient tourist populace. Pirated CDs and DVDs abound. Food and drink of all sort. Tacky tourist stuff, carvings to t-shirts, sunscreen to goofy hats and lots of booze and my favorite, "COLD SODA".

I had a pretty good pizza my first day. I tried to do this message at an internet cafe on day two but two wrong key strokes erased the whole thing, damn, so I consoled myself with a very good fettucini! On my way back to the boat, a local fellow helped me drag the dingy down the white powdered sand beach about 10~12 feet. As I got ready to board the dingy, he asked me if I wanted "Samookie". Samookie? what was that I wondered? I asked him to repeat himself. Again he asked me if I wanted "Samookie". Then it dawned, oh Homer Simpson where are you? DOH!! He asked me if I was on a yacht and if I wanted "Samookie". Have you figured it out yet?

What he wanted to know was, did I want "Some Nookie"!! Having just turned 59, not dead you realize but still, I told him I was a bit old for that and had a very good chuckle to myself. The joys of SE Asia, he, he, he. OWM and BSGs still alive and kicking in this area of the world as I have evidenced quite frequently.

OWM and BSGs? You ask, what is that? One of the very politically in-correct realities of our everyday world. Old White Men and Brown Skin Girls. 50 is young to be an OWM and 18~19 not too young to be a BSG. I have met quite a few couples that fit this description. One of note told me he recently turned 71, his companion wasn't a day over 25, more likely 22~23.

So its still Ho, Ho, Ho and take care,
Fred

BTW the new wind vane worked splendedly, out of the box as it were.

[fenixrises]

Long Tails

Prop



Crew


LongTail



Reduction



Steering



Different Boats



Have fun,
Fred

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

Just arrived in Phucket. Still have to check in but offices not open 'till 9am tomorrow.

Had an easy powersail over from Phi Phi in a very lite N breeze.
When leaving the bay at Phi Phi I crunched a coral head pretty good. The impact brought Fenix to a complete standstill in about 6 inches. Since water didn't immediately start pouring in I figured all was well.

I still have to go over the side and check the crash site to see the extent of the damage. If not severe I'll wait 'till next haul out for what I hope is a minor repair.

Will be here for about 5 weeks 'till its time to head out accross the Indian Ocean and further adventures.

Take care,
Fred

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

I am in Oa Sane, that's a beach in Naiharn(?) a small town located at the southern end of Phuket, Island, Thailand.

Xmas eve will be celibrated ashore. The locals, although Buddists, put on many festivities for all the visitors.

I have been invited for XMas dinner aboard Phoenix, a 50 foot sailboat with husband, wife and two sons. I first me John, Linda, John Jr. and Garrett in American Samoa last year.

John is from Chester originally and Phoenix is registered out of Philadelphia. Small world!

I will probably be here for a least three more weeks. Then off to the Maldives, I think?

Take care: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,

Fred

[Russell]

Any plans to hit BIOT? Shame to pass them by, but the cost to go there now is absolutely nuts. After maldives is your intended route towards red sea or south africa?

Enjoy Phuket!

[Warren Kaplan]

Nice to be able to enjoy the holiday with friends met sailing. Enjoy!!!

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

Fenix and I are back in Ao Chalong.

Had to do a number of maintenence things and will have to go on a shopping spree for provisions before departure.

A note to you MD-7A folks. I had some serious overheating problems. A new(?), at least still in the package, impellor I installed in Langkawi broke 3 vanes during the trip from Telaga to Phi Phi. It was one of those black rubber type impellors. I had 2 more spares of the blue plastic type, made by Globe. I think they are made of a far better material and will run dry for a bit without deterioration.

Anyway even with the new impellor the engine was still heating up. I had to use the dingy w/outboard, lashed to the port quarter, to get into Ao Chalong. For those of you who think you need big engines think about my 2.5hp Tohatsu running at 1/3 throttle pushing my 9,000+ lb boat, maybe not fast but we did move right along.

The water system was clear all through the hoses and such but did not seem to be going through the engine. So I removed the exhaust manifold and sure enough the water passages in it were gunked up with black stuff(?). Cleaned it all as best I could with what I had and re-assembled. Water circulates very well now and the engine still runs great.

The old Volvo may be a clunker and have expensive replacement parts BUT it does take a lot of abuse and still keeps working, do I hear a Timex commercial here? To the best of my knowledge it doesn't burn any oil between changes, that's usually 50 hours.

I also splurged and bought a set of dingy wheels. Great idea! They bolt to the tramsom and are lowered when coming ashore so I can pull the dingy above the tide line without dragging it over the sand, hard to do myself, plus doing it has rubbed the paint off the bottom of the aluminum hull.

As a belated XMas present to all I have uploaded some new stuff to the website. Have patience again as it takes 12-15 minutes to upload one video file. So I am doing that chore at the rate of a file a day or so, started today.

Will be leaving about the 14th, that's on the first quarter moon. That way I'll have moonshine(sic) for half the night or more for two weeks. And that's about how long to Mauritius, 1,600 miles, a bit south of west.

Decided against Chagos(BIOT) because of too high fee and non-sense instituted by Brits starting 1-1-2007.

Will then work south and plan to be in or near Cape Town about this time next year.

Take care,
Fred

[Russell]

For those of you who think you need big engines think about my 2.5hp Tohatsu running at 1/3 throttle pushing my 9,000+ lb boat, maybe not fast but we did move right along.

Oh I have used my dinghy to tow my CD36 a few times, lashed alongside, its pretty remarkable how well a 8hp outboard not even at full throttle will move such a big boat. So long as its not blowing a gale!