Thursday, August 18, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Our friend & fellow yachtie Cap'n Fatty of WILD CARD wrote another book
"There are currently around 2,000 Somali pirates actively engaged in stealing, kidnapping, extorting, enslaving, imprisoning, torturing, terrorizing, and killing innocent sailors in the Indian Ocean. Piracy in this area currently generates over $238 million annually, and costs the public around..."
| Gary Cap'nFatty Goodlander | 11:27pm Jun 12 |
Hot off the press...
Editor: How did this latest book come about?
FATTY GOODLANDER: Minutes after the news hit that the yacht Quest was seized by Somali Pirates, I was asked by an editor to write a magazine article about it. There were three obvious reasons: Carolyn and I personally knew Jean and Scott Adam, we'd transversed the Gulf of Aden the previous year, and we'd just published a book about it called Red Sea Run—Two Sailors in a Sea of Trouble. The editor and I assumed, of course, that this unfortunate situation would develop along classic lines, and that the four Americans would be held hostage in Somalia for many months until a ransom was paid. A few days later—when we heard the crew of Quest had all been killed in cold blood—everything changed for me. I was completely outraged and sad and angry and upset… so I pounded out my frustrations on the keyboard. About 70,000 words into it, my wife Carolyn gently reminded me that it was a tad long for a modern magazine article.
Editor: Where and when did you meet Jean and Scott of Quest?
FATTY GOODLANDER: In Opua, New Zealand, either in 2005 or 2006. They'd circumnavigated South island, and we were quite interested in their experiences in the Roaring 40s. And, of course, they were just setting out on their global circumnavigation—and had a few questions for us, as well.
Editor: What were they like?
FATTY GOODLANDER: They were very lit-up, turned-on sailors. Scott really loved his new boat, and was proud of its design and construction. Jean was a lovely person—brimming over with enthusiasm and love. To think that they are no longer with us because of such… high seas criminal savagery is… totally unacceptable. It took me a month or two to completely process it, to have it really sink in that… they're gone, really gone, and gone forever.
Editor: Did you also know Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay?
FATTY GOODLANDER: No, we did not. In fact, Phyllis joined the Quest at the last minute in Sri Lanka. She'd been on a different vessel, had had a serious eye problem, and was recuperating ashore in the home of a local ship's agent in Gaul. She and Bob were already good friends—from where and how I don't know. Part of the motivation of Jean and Scott to invite her aboard might have been to… well, help a damsel in distress. She was still alive when the US navy boarded the Quest, but expired soon after.
Editor: Were Jean and Scott deeply religious and distributing bibles around the world?
FATTY GOODLANDER: Yes, they were, and, yes, they did. But in our encounters with them—they never mentioned Jesus, religion or bibles to us. It certainly played no part in their being initially pirated. And whether it played any minor role at the end—well, we'll probably never know, not for sure.
Editor: How bad is piracy in the Indian Ocean?
FATTY GOODLANDER: It is bad, real bad. The true figures, in terms of loss of life, are just now beginning to emerge. Sure, only seven Westerners have been recorded in the international media as murdered—but no one is counting the hundreds of Indonesian, Bangladeshi, Thai, Burmese, Malaysian, Maldivian, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani sailors who are being enslaved, tortured, and murdered on a daily basis. Many of the pirate mother ships are now manned almost entirely with captured crews—held in brutal bondage by a few heavily-armed, extremely cruel Somalis. Thus, we can't just 'blow the mother ships out of the water' and pat ourselves on the back—because most of the people we'd kill would be dark-skinned hostages, not pirates. The leaders of some pirate mother ships just select a captured crew member when approached by a Western naval vessel—and severely beat that innocent, terrified person in plain view until the naval vessel sickens and turns away. The situation is, literally, an international outrage. There are now around 2,000 pirates in the area. They grossed 238 million dollars last year alone. It costs the general public 12 billion dollars—that is billion with a capital B! Five years ago, the average ship ransom was $150,000 or so, Now, they average over $2 million. And the highest ransom ever paid was just a few months ago, in April 2011, when the Greek owners of the Irene SL paid $13.5 million to get their VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) and its crew back after 58 days. Basically, a bunch of barefoot teenagers who high on khat have stolen the Indian Ocean.
Editor: Aren't yachtsmen sailing in that area almost asking for it?
FATTY GOODLANDER: No, emphatically no. No woman asks to be raped. No taxi driver asks to be stabbed. And no innocent working man asks to be shot or car-jacked on his way home. It is HORRIBLE to blame the victim. Jean and Scott weren't attempting to do anything that I and 120+ vessels didn't do the year previous—exercise the Freedom of the Seas as they transited towards home waters via the Red and Mediterranean Seas. I mean, should we evacuate Chicago AND New York City because some punk in Philly blew away a guy in car? Of course not. Don't blame the victim, blame the perpetrators!
Editor: Why hasn't this been solved long ago? Why not just blow the pirates out of the water—like in the Good Old Days?
FATTY GOODLANDER: It isn't that easy. If it was, we'd have solved it back in 2008 when the media first focused on the Ukrainian ship MV Faina being captured with a full cargo of tanks, anti-aircraft guns, and RPGs. First off, the Indian Ocean is a big area. It is ten times bigger than the USA, and it is patrolled by 20 relatively slow-moving ships. Just imagine if, in the continental United States, two cops on bicycles were told to patrol the entire area—and stop crime. Could they do it? No, they could not. Too few cops, too large a neighborhood. The second factor is that Somalia is a failed state. The reasons for this (which I delve into in the book) are complex and many—but the bottom line is that many young Somali men are unable to feed their families on $2 a day, and are desperate. I'm not making excuses for them, just stating an obvious economic truth. Compare this to the pirate shore teams whose members are averaging $17,000 per year per person—and the average successful on-the-water pirate earning $72,000 per. There's even a $5,000 bonus paid to the first pirate 'jumper' who gains the deck. Why, there's even an informal 'pirate stock market' of sorts in Harardheere—through which the average Somali business man can invest. And there's no penalty for piracy, for all intends and purposes. Very few pirates get caught, and 90% of them are released. Many pirates have been 'captured' or detained numerous times by various Western navies—and then returned to Somalia at taxpayers expense. Many of these dreaded pirates are, in reality, just scared kids away from home for the first time. One of the pirates on the Quest was 15 years old, and returned to his parents by the US without any punishment whatsoever. There is, of course, no justification for what the pirates are doing or the violence they engage in. But the pirates are—or think they are—acting in their own self-interests. We have to understand that. And we also have to understand and acknowledge that our current anti-piracy policies are failing dismally to combat the problem.
Editor: Why did you feel compelled to write this book?
FATTY GOODLANDER: I am, and have been my entire life, a strong advocate of freedom of the seas. I've lived aboard various small sailing vessels for 51 of my 59 years. I've sailed around the world—and then some. I believe—no, I know—that no lifestyle provides as much pleasure, stimulation, and personal freedom as that of an international sea gypsy. I do not want to be among the 'last American circumnavigators.' I want to keep doing what I've been doing my entire life—sailing offshore. And I want to leave the world a safer, more peaceful place for my granddaughter, not a more violent one. (end) For more info: fattygoodlander.com
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Monday, June 06, 2011
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Hi guys,
We are underway from Chagos to Mauritius and still have 282 nautical miles to go. Unlike Asia and the trip to Chagos (no wind or if, then definitely on the nose), sailing here is pretty much perfect. The Indian Ocean has a bit of a bad reputation, but the only thing that we don't like around here is that constant swell which is coming in from the south. Sure, there is the occasional squall, but nowhere near as bad as near Kiribati and the Marshall Islands. Instead we have strong trades of mostly 20 to 25 knots and we are zipping along very nicely. Today is our 9th day at sea and we are basically almost there!
But now back to Chagos. When the SE trades set in, the anchorage in Ile du Coin was becoming uncomfortable. Still, we stayed on a bit as there is a well on the island and we wanted to do some more washing. When one of our friends had prepared a childrens' birthday party on Ile Fouquet, we upped anchor and moved over there as well. We dropped the hook in a little less deep water than before and enjoyed a most wonderful month near the tiny motu. Twice we were controlled by the BIOT officials, but everything was relaxed and easy.
We spent a lot of time with the other children there. Bill and Marlyse of JENAIN, definite long-timers in these parts, told us that they had never seen that many children there before. It was a veritable invasion, especially if you remember that the Peros Banhos atoll is uninhabited. While we insisted on school in the morning, we went to the beach every afternoon so that Aurora Ulani definitely got what she was after. Often there would be activities organized by one of the kiddie-boats, while the boats without kids did their own thing. Once in a while the two groups mingled.
We were "parked" between IEMANJA (Hamburg) with Arne, Kati and their two children Lennard & Emily and the French boat L'INTERDIT with doctor Yvan, Anne, their three children, one poodle, one parrot and two budgies on board. Then there was MURUNGARU with Nigel, Caroline, Anne and Rea, BYAMEE with Paul, Joyce & Darien as well as GERONIMO with Thierry, Florence and their two children. There were even more children, but these were the ones our daughter played the most with. Amazing!
The other yachties organized a little birthday party for Liping and she organized a play with all the children. There were cooking classes, walks across the reef to another island, a camp was being built, a swing was set up and so on. Unfortunately, there were some activities I could not join as my boil acted up again, so that I couldn't go into the water. So I went fishing instead. Bill had shown me a few tricks and I managed to catch fish to order from the very first day on. On top of that Graeme of LISTOWEL LADY, Bill and Paul gave us fish as well. Liping played around with a lot of recipes, so that she even managed to make the Bonito taste excellent (remember to bleed it right after you've caught it). We ate Rainbow Runners, Jobfish, Groupers, Coral Trout and so on pretty much for every meal. Fish balls, fish dumplings, fish this and fish that. (So long, and thanks for all the fish!)
Just after we left, it got even more fishy. First I caught a 73 cm Yellowfin Tuna, then hooked a Mahi Mahi (Dorado, Dolphinfish), but unfortunately our autopilot went on "Standby" and we lost that one. A while later I caught a 65 cm Bonito (also a kind of tuna) and that's when I decided that we had enough fish on board. Sharpening the knife (I got really good at that) and filleting the fish took quite a while and when we tried the first Sashimi with proper Wasabi and soy sauce, we both agreed that we had rarely had Sashimi that tasty. Just what we had for that dinner would have cost at least NT$ 1.000 as Liping told me later on. After all these days, we still haven't finished half the fish. Thanks be to our two fridges...
While the sailing and fishing were excellent, we still had plenty to do. I had to replace yet another bilge-pump when we noticed that the port forward compartment was full of water again. This time I was pretty sure that the water didn't come in through the hatch as we were not crashing into the waves. Maybe it comes in through the outlet, although there is a one-way valve in there. The through-hull should have been located a lot higher up in the hull. Even better, the whole compartment should have been filled with closed-cell foam. I thing the pumps and float-switches keep dying there because of the violent motion in the bows (they don't seem to die in the engine rooms, which are aft).
Then the port-alternator stopped producing power. I noticed the positive terminal was loose and had to add yet another bad repair in Asia to the already very long list. What was a lot more annoying, was that our wind-generator stopped working as well. Windpower had been the mainstay of our electricity-hungry boat, so that now I have to run the diesel when the sun doesn't shine. Too bad. We don't yet know what to do about that and I will call the manufacturer from Mauritius. I measured all kinds of stuff and am inclined to think that the internal thermostat has failed.
The computer-generated GRIB weather forecasts were pretty much useless. Although the isobars seem to be in the correct place, the wind is usually 10 or more knots stronger than indicated. In fact, for most of the trip we had the mainsail down, as we were making excellent speed just with the genoa. A lot more comfortable, less wear and tear and much easier to handle if the autopilot is on the blink once again and the boat turns right into the wind. (The autopilot does the same when no sails are set and we are running under engine alone.)
The nights were invariably pleasant, although for the first time since New Zealand, we had to dig out our thick shirts and my old trusty winter-jacket from Taiwan. Twice we could observe the artificial satellite Copernicus (OAO3) as it zoomed across the sky. Once, there were three planets aligned in such a way on the horizon, that Liping was absolutely sure it was a ship bearing down on us.
And so we are moving along and wonder whether we should pass south of Madagascar and sail straight to South Africa or follow the crowd, which this year seems to prefer going through the Mozambique Channel. One has the choice between the chance of extremely unpleasant weather or potentially even more unpleasant pirates, so to speak.
Another thought which is flying around in my head is this: Why not make a quick stop-over at Bequia and then sail across the Atlantic once more towards the Azores, Europe, Germany and my home-town Flensburg? We'll see. First we have to round the "Cape of Storms" which has winds of 11 Beaufort or more for about 100 days every year. A daunting thought. Not as bad as Cape Horn though, which has conditions like this for about 300 days a year....
First, we plan to check out Mauritius. If all goes well, we will spend about 3 months there before continuing our circumnavigation. We already know that we will meet old friends there and are looking forward to that.
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At 5/22/2011 1:18 PM (utc) our position was 18°03.07'S 059°34.74'E
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Ile du Coin, Peros Banhos atoll, Chagos Archipelag
Yo Steve,
Sorry, no Internet here at Ile du Coin in the Peros Banhos atoll. Nor anything at all but palm trees, coconuts, coconut crabs, hermit crabs and an unbelievable amount of fish. Nobody has lived here for 40 years they say. Obviously you can't buy anything at all and Liping is getting worried about our food supply.
I'm not. Drop a 3-inch hook in the water, with any kind of weird plastic on it at all during feeding frenzy and within less than a minute you've got a 2-foot bonito on the hook. Very good deep-fried, not so good as sashimi because of all the red meat.
Aurora Ulani says this is the best place yet and I am inclined to agree. It is just... All the adjectives and so on are so used up by the brochures and travel-magazine articles, they just don't do reality justice any more. This is *it* and it will never get any better in this particular department.
Just in case you think that I am losing my marbles, there is this: The other side of the coin, so to speak.
The wind was either on the nose or nonexistent. We were severely overloaded, as we knew that you couldn't buy anything here. It took 34 days to get here from Langkawi and while tacking into the wind, I developed an abscess on my hip, which finally reached the size of a child's fist. The very first thing I did here, was asking for a book like "Where there is no doctor" (www.hesperian.org) or some such. The whole thing was rather painful after all. Imagine my relief, when I found out that there was a competent French doctor on another boat.
I went for it immediately. Yvon had one look and decided: operation. That happened on the couch of my own boat, with lots of injections of local anaesthetics & the whole thing still isn't over and done with. Another thing is that we are anchored in 28 meters of water, which is way beyond my comfort limit, especially as we only have slightly more than 60 meters of chain. I have never anchored that deep before in my life.
This is one of those places you only daydream about or spend decades looking for.
Say "Hi!" to Jennifer for me and please do keep sending me eMails! During the long six-hour night watches, eMails are definitely one of the things I keep looking forward to!
Cheers!
Holg
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At 4/16/2011 3:34 PM (utc) our position was 05°26.82'S 071°45.80'E
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Greetings from DHARMA BUM III enroute to Chagos in the Indian Ocean 01=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=B043.73'N 085=B0?=23.22'E
Hi guys,
How's it going?
We are drifting along with almost no wind - very slow going here. Strong current against us, too. Surprisingly few squalls, but I guess that will change as soon as we enter the doldrums. According to the radio, Taipei is now full of evacuees from Japan. Our friends are still in Japan, but packed up and ready to fly out on a moment's notice. What a nightmare!
On a more positive note, we are looking forward to Chagos, especially as all our friends there send glowing reports. I bottled 24 liters of "Coopers Dark Ale" and and 24 liters of "Lion Lager" on this trip already. ;-) You can see big dolphins zooming around in the super-clear water. And zillions of stars at night.
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=WDC7641
http://dharmabumiiivoyage.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/KrautHolg
All the best & cheers!
Holger, Liping & Aurora Ulani
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At 3/22/2011 9:54 AM (utc) our position was 01°43.73'N 085°23.22'E
Thursday, March 10, 2011
06=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=B030.97'N 096=B0?=08.57'E Soon entering the Great Strait between Sumatra and the Nicobar Islands
Since leaving Ko Adang (Thailand), we've had light winds from behind. Almost always 4 Beaufort. The weather has been quite squally, but nothing over 30 knots yet. Saw a few ships and one fishing boat came very close for a look. They left when I made it clear that I feared to get hit by their wildly pitching and rolling boat. Now it is back to regular classes for our daughter and the pleasant rhythm of the sea for all of us.
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=WDC7641
http://dharmabumiiivoyage.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KrautHolg
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At 3/11/2011 5:27 AM (utc) our position was 06°30.97'N 096°08.57'E
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Leaving Langkawi
Sunday we will clear out here in Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia and plan to leave soon thereafter. First stop is Ko Lipe in Thailand and then on to Chagos (BIOT), where we will have to leave on 25 April. On to Mauritius, where we intend to stay for three months, then Réunion, Madagascar and South Africa, where we hope to celebrate Christmas and Ulani's 8th birthday.
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Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Holger, Liping & Aurora Ulani on DHARMA BUM III
Dear Friends! 22 December 2010
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the future bring mostly happiness and fulfilment!
Last Christmas we celebrated in Batam (Indonesia) right across from Singapore. Now we have spent more than a year with DHARMA BUM III in Asia. It is quite a different experience from living on land or visiting these places as a tourist or traveller. Of course we knew that beforehand, but it is still much more noticeable when one experiences it for a while.
Singapore reminded us very much of Taiwan and we made a lot of friends there. We had no unpleasant experiences, were not bothered at all by the supposedly draconian rules and regulations and we often think of our time there. An additional highlight was the short TV programme, in which our life was presented. A very special souvenir, indeed!
Malaysia, where we are now, is also very pleasant. We spent pretty much all the time in Langkawi, but didn't do any heavy duty work on the boat. That was reserved for Phuket and we quickly got to understand that Phuket is not really Thailand. It is a tourist enclave and many of the tourists have permanently settled down there. This is made quite easy these days, especially for those who are over 50 years old.
We hauled out at Asian Phuket Marine and Dockyard and in the beginning things seemed to go quite well. We made friends with the manager Jeab, who was absolutely fascinated by our daughter. Although the yard was quite a bit more expensive than Norsand Boatyard in New Zealand, the labourers were inexpensive. Our engines and saildrives were removed on the second day by Virat Hlanden and his crew and soon our boat was prepared for spray-painting by Khun Oz and his boys. I had intended to do this job last, but unfortunately I let myself be persuaded that it would not matter. It sure did.
Another crew went to work on the new headliner, new cushions, new curtains and so on. While I have to say that DHARMA BUM III looks very beautiful now, both inside and out, the more than five months on the hard were one of the most frustrating and annoying experiences we've had in recent years. After a while everything slowed down to a crawl and this while we were permanently living on the boat and around all the time. Also, nobody, with the notable exception of our carpenter Sutin Pensawat, had any competence in his supposed field whatsoever. The winner was the complete engine and saildrive overhaul. Although we had tested the engines on the hard, the had problems as soon as we were in the water.
We couldn't get either engine started and had to ask the mechanic for help. On the way to the anchorage one of the engines overheated while the other one didn't produce electricity. The so-called electrician cum mechanic Virat Hlanden had not installed the ground cable correctly, which destroyed both the new alternator which I had fitted in New Zealand as well as the very expensive Xantrex alternator regulator (XAR). You can imagine, how happy I was. On top of that, there were oil-leaks all over the place, both for the engines and the saildrives. At least there wasn't any water in the latter...
The next thing I noticed was that the outboard wouldn't start. When I removed the hood, I noticed a huge crack in the engine block, just below the lower cylinder. The boys in the yard must have dropped it. Of course they didn't mention it to us. Not repairable. I had to buy a very expensive new outboard engine. By then I was so angry that I was well on the way to doing something really stupid. Fortunately reason prevailed.
Another very sad thing was that except for Sutin, we didn't make any local friends. Everybody who knows us well, also knows that these friends are one of the main reasons why we live this arduous, uncomfortable and often dangerous lifestyle. In that respect Phuket was a total waste of time. Really too bad. Fortunately our foreign friends made up for all that. Thank you, guys!
What was really nice, were all the little islands between Langkawi and Phuket. Those are the places one dreams of. Plenty to see under water, beautiful to look at on land, secluded, quiet and peaceful. Before taking off from this area altogether, we hope to visit these wonderful islands one more time.
Both on the way up and on the way down we spent a considerable amount of time on these. On the way down, we were often together with Swiss-Germans Martin, Theres and Ann of the STYRR. Normally we prefer to be alone and go our own way at our own speed, so it was quite a change in our rhythm. We all got along fabulously. Ann and Aurora Ulani were playing happily together and their parents enjoyed each other's company just as much. I still can't quite get over the fact that Martin often sails this gigantic ancient square rigger by himself. And how he deals with the trusty old Rolls Royce engines is a mystery to me. I sure as hell take my hat off!
Back here in Langkawi we immediately renewed our friendship with the Chinese family which runs Sin Hwa Cold Storage. Aurora Ulani was especially happy to play again with Junxuan and Ningning. Abraham/Ibrahim, our friend with the big banana farm, was out fishing, but after a few days we got together as well. And then we had to start rectifying all the mistakes the guys in Phuket had made, but I won't bore you with all the technical details. Suffice it to say that I am now the proud owner of a brand-new 15 horse Yamaha outboard and this afternoon I have to pick up my alternator.
Soon, the STYRR should be back here and today I got my anchoring permit for the Chagos archipelago. Next on the agenda are the visas for Mauritius, Madagascar and South Africa. Once we have these, we'll set out to cross the Indian Ocean - making sure to stay well away from those areas frequented by pirates. And soon (30 December) Aurora Ulani will celebrate her seventh birthday. So far she has managed to celebrate every single year in a different country! Her schooling is going well. I have to say that it is a bit hard on her parents, though. I finish the German part around 10:00 am and then Liping does the Chinese part as well as Calvert School until lunch - and often late into the afternoon as well. Aurora Ulani is fully trilingual; listening, speaking, reading and writing. Her best spoken language is her mother tongue, Mandarin. Her best written langue is English. Her German reading is fine, but when she is speaking she often runs aground on the reefs of German grammar. Writing German is her weakest part, which is the reason why I have added yet another hour of that to the programme.
One thing that amazed me was the response I got from Liping a while back, when I asked her what we should do if we were unable to sell our boat in the Caribbean. Her answer was: "Then we just sail one more time across the Pacific. Why not?" Why not indeed?!? Liping pointed out to me that high-school in Taiwan starts at the age of twelve, which would give us another five years of time for this amazing lifestyle. If the choice falls on Germany, though, we have only three years left. We'll see. I am sure that life will continue to be interesting!
Hope that you are well and happy and that we'll hear from you soon!
Greetings, best wishes and all that from Holger, Liping & Aurora Ulani on the catamaran DHARMA BUM III, currently in Kuah, Langkawi, Malaysia
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Phone: +60175767958
06°19.15'N 099°50.52'E
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Saturday, July 03, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
By now our movie is available including subtitles
Doubleclick, if you want to see it bigger or fullscreen
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzCjUs-1z5M
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agz_9gVpf3Y
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJ5HitL85U
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEFqMLwESs
If you prefer to download it, instead of watching it online, you can use this fabulous little site:
http://keepvid.com/
Just put the URLs in the empty line on the top, let it convert and download it a little while later. Often better than watching streaming video. Also:: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11327_7-6555399-1.html
http://www.youtube.com/KrautHolg
Doubleclick, if you want to see it bigger or fullscreen
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzCjUs-1z5M
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agz_9gVpf3Y
Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJJ5HitL85U
Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEFqMLwESs
If you prefer to download it, instead of watching it online, you can use this fabulous little site:
http://keepvid.com/
Just put the URLs in the empty line on the top, let it convert and download it a little while later. Often better than watching streaming video. Also:: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11327_7-6555399-1.html
http://www.youtube.com/KrautHolg
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Phone: +66831768614 +66800383726 +60175767958
07°53.05'N 098°24.94'E
Monday, June 14, 2010
Langkawi to Phuket -- 15 June 2010
Here we are now sitting on the hard in the Asian-Phuket dockyard right inside the Phuket Town fishing harbor. We had left Kuah on the last-but-one day visa-wise. If we had waited just one more day, we would have been able to pick up the DVD with our documentary including the English subtitles. We found out because "Auntie" from Sin Hwa Cold Storage phoned us while we were sailing. The whole trip we were reachable and it even works here in Thailand, albeit with roaming charges.
This was going to be a very different trip from before. Liping and I really like long peaceful ocean passages and as a rule we never use our two diesels except for going in and out of harbor. However, since Singapore this was not an option anymore. Simply too many ships, fishing boats, long tails, ferries and all kinds of other traffic. I had planned the route, so that we only had little hops of 25 to 35 miles to do each day. There was no wind at all, but there were an untold number of nets in our way. Almost every 100 meters we had to avoid one. You better have your eyes peeled for such an exercise and after a few hours things get pretty tiring. But all went well and on this trip we didn't even get done once.
The first night we had planned to anchor off Ko Lipe, where RARE EARTH-Henry's friends Tom & Emily have a little hippy beach resort. It was too deep to anchor and so we picked up one of the two yellow moorings there and went overboard. The water was very clear and the coral was spectacular. From light blue over turquoise green, orange and yellow there was a whole range of colors. Just beautiful. We decided to take it real easy and spend another day there. That was to be our modus operandi for the rest of the trip as well. The next day we visited Henry's friends while Henry tried to clear in. That didn't work out as the immigration official wasn't there and when Henry did another trip after lunchtime, he was told that he wouldn't be back for several days. The tourist season was clearly over and the place was more or less deserted. We enjoyed it very much and were surprised to hear from other sailors that they considered it one of the worst islands. I almost imagine that they got the names mixed up.
On we went to Ko Bulon, which was very nice as well. Here we anchored at the very tip of the island and were soon joined by a whole fleet of Thai fishing boats, who seemed to be gathering for a celebration or party. Most of them were rafted together, the music started playing, and we could hear a lot of laughter and excited talking while wafts of delicious cooking smells occasionally made our mouths water. I have to say, that Thailand is probably the best place for the yachtie as far as food is concerned. Not that I suddenly dislike the Chinese cuisine, but it is rather difficult to sail to Taiwan and comparatively easy to sail to Thailand. Aurora Ulani doesn't share our enthusiasm, though. The food is invariably spicy and sometimes it is so hot that tears roll out of my eyes like crazy. But very, very tasty!
Again we spent another day at the island and enjoyed the beach, especially Ulani. I had already cleaned the bottom and on the very first day I found out that the engine-repair which Henry had done in Kuah had not been successful. In seven hours the engine lost about 3 liters of oil. Just about as bad as before. When I told Henry, he was of the opinion that the aluminum-weld of the timing cover must have failed, because it was clearly too much oil for a regular leak. All that work, money, dirt and so on for nothing... Strangely enough, this didn't really bother me. I guess the surroundings counteracted and compensated the negative stuff.
The passage from Ko Bulon to Ko Rok Nok was the winner as far as fishing nets are concerned. Maybe it is not such a wise idea to zigzag between the outer and inner islands. We did that because with only one engine operational we didn't make much speed and we wanted to be anchored or moored in daytime. Next time, I will probably take the outer route exclusively. After anchoring I went over the side, as the coral were just as beautiful as in Ko Lipe. When I noticed that I could touch the coral heads with my flippers while swimming on the surface, I decided that DHARMA BUM III might get into trouble at low tide. So the anchor, nicely buried in sand, came up again. As we were unable to find a nice anchoring spot, we decided to look for a mooring at the neighboring island of Ko Rok Nai. Very nice again, a beautiful sandy beach just perfect for Aurora Ulani, peace and quiet, no tourists, fishing boats or anything else.
After dark I noticed another yacht coming in with very dim lights and only under outboard engine. She did a few circles and soon I found out that Tristan was a single-handed sailor from Glasgow without any electrical power and therefore no main engine. I put our dinghy back in the water to help him, but he had already managed by himself. He took off his battery-powered navigation lights and soon enough he sat on our boat drinking a very cold 1°C Coopers Stout homebrew. Tristan was impressed, both with the brew and with the temperature. <grin> (For emergencies like Tristan's I carry one red and one green blinking LED sea-light, which the fishermen use to mark their traps and nets. They are very visible and the two D-size batteries last for several months.)
The next day we spent mostly at the beach, of course only after Aurora's homeschooling requirements were satisfied. Right now she is 6 1/2 years old, has about eight Calvert School lessons to go and then should be ready for second grade. This has all worked out marvelously well. In fact, I have the impression that I often don't express myself correctly, because many people seem to think that we are having a bad time with all the work, worry, expenses and repairs. On the contrary! The last 4 1/2 years were the most interesting years of our lives and the main reason for that is that we met so many amazing people. It is true that living on a sailboat can sometimes get pretty frustrating and even downright scary. But it is far outweighed by all the positive aspects. It is kind of sad that many people never get over that first hump and give up disillusioned and sell their boat.
Some friends also have a problem with the amount of technical detail and drudgery in my writing. They'd prefer if I wrote a bit more upbeat and "show" the beautiful and romantic aspects of our lifestyle - just like director/producer Derek Goh did in his documentary about us. For the fellow sailor the technical and other detail is of vital importance, though. He doesn't really need to be told about beautiful sunsets or the size and amount of the fish caught. He knows all this. He wants to know which officials to avoid and which hardware store is to be recommended. He wants to know where he can best get potable water, where to hire a cheap motorcycle and how to go about a visa extension. Difficult to satisfy both kinds of readers, but I will try.
I got up even earlier than usual the next day and we were underway just after 6:00 am. The goal was Ko Phiphi and we didn't expect much, as it is an overdeveloped tourist destination. We had not bargained for the harbor being that crowded though, and were were glad that we got in so early. I could not imagine that the unoccupied moorings didn't belong to anyone and so didn't even try to pick one up anchored instead. Although I was not happy with the situation, it proved to be the right way to go as we saw several boats (almost all bareboat charter boats) get chased away from their moorings. Also, this was the only day where there was any wind, up to 30 knots exactly on the nose.
Ko Phiphi was the one island we were actually glad to leave. I let my two girls sleep as long as they wanted while I started the engine and picked up the anchor as soon as I could see what I was doing. The wind had died down over night, there weren't too many nets and the next stop would be our final one. We reached Chalong Bay just before lunchtime and pretty soon I put the dinghy in the water to get our bearings. Aurora & I visited two boats and later we got a Thai SIM-card, a few vegetables and the like. Clearing in had been no problem at all, no difficulties, no bribes and while we only got 60 days with a possible extension of another 30 days the boat got six months. Not too bad.
The next few days we were mostly dealing with various boatyards and slipways and the happy mood of the last ten days or so was threatening to evaporate. The costs were even higher than in New Zealand which we found pretty hard to swallow. There was a lot of bargaining to do, all by phone or eMail, back and forth again and again. Other yachties and friends gave us conflicting advice, just as everybody's requirements and monetary situation is different. One guy may think nothing of spending US$ 60,000 on the hard whereas another gets by with US$ 3,000 for the whole year. One boat is regularly waxed and polished, shining clean and all tidies up like ready for a boat show whereas another one is showing signs of hard use all over the place. And every boat reflects the character of the owner. Finally we settled on the yard that David Kopec from MEANDER had recommended to us. With 30+ years experience as a single-hander under his belt and pretty much on the same wavelength as Liping & me, we gave his thoughts a bit more weight.
Apart from the price the determining factor was Asian-Phuket's attitude. Ozzy picked us up in his car at Ao Chalong, drove us over there to show us the yard and was helpful all around. They promptly answered eMails and kept phoning us to see if they could come to an agreement with us. The yard is a commercial yard, all concrete and tracks, big fishing boats squeezed in tight with just a few yachts in the front. I had my reservations about that part, especially with a little girl on my hands.
As soon as we were out on the hard, we were given a key for the staff-washroom and Ozzy showed up with the first guys to make estimates. They were right on the ball and started to work right away. Although we only got hauled out four days ago and there was a weekend in between, the engines and sail-drives are being removed as I type this, the upholsterer and vinyl-man has taken his measurements, the fiberglass works are more or less finished and I am considering to have the whole boat repainted here. Sunday there was a barbecue in Ozzy's honor, organized by departing yachties and we were invited. One of them, Dirk Mayer, had invited us out on our very first day, and to a first class Thai restaurant, too. Last night Ozzy and his co-workers suddenly sent up Ulani with a cold beer for me in her hand, so what could I do but join the gang under our boat? So far, hauling out in this commercial yard (Asian Phuket Marine & Dockyard) has been a pretty good experience. We might even have a chance to make it until the end of the year, so that we can cross the Indian Ocean this coming year. Chagos, Mauritius, Madagascar and South Africa is our tentative route. I wanted to celebrate my half-hundredth birthday in Madagascar on 18 June, but now it looks as if it will be right here. I wonder who will show up for the party...
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07°49.01'N 098°21.66'E
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Greetings from Holger, Liping & Aurora Ulani on the DHARMA BUM III
Easter Monday 2010
We have now been in Langkawi, Malaysia for six weeks and will probably stay in the Malaysia/Thailand region for a year or two. However long it takes to make our boat look presentable again. While the prices here are reasonable, progress is excruciatingly slow. Nobody ever shows up when they have agreed to and most of the time is spent waiting. Fortunately for us - other yachties are slowly going insane - we are certainly not in a hurry and we have plenty of other things to do. Of course, most of the time is spent teaching & playing with our daughter. At this moment she is taking a big test for the Calvert School. We already got the materials for the next 2 1/2 years.
I have successfully and all by myself fixed the roller furling, something that amazes me quite a bit and saved me many thousands of dollars. Even our daughter (6) can easily reef the genoa. We now have extremely bright single LED bulbs in all our navigation and anchor lights, a new wind direction indicator at the top of the mast and I have already ordered a new set of batteries as the old ones were dying as long ago as New Zealand. There still remains an impressive list of things to do. Water in the saildrive, one engine needs a new crankshaft seal, both engines could actually do with a complete overhaul, the headliner needs to be replaced, so do all our cushions, wood exposed to the sun needs varnishing, new antifouling and and and.
We have made many new friends, especially Abraham, who used to work in the merchant navy once and is now a grandfather (scarcely older than me) who owns and runs a banana plantation with 40,000 trees as well as pumpkin and corn fields. Then there is "auntie" and her family of Sin Hwa Cold Storage. Their children like to play with Ulani and everybody is happy because the are forced to practice their Mandarin Chinese.
Tomorrow Liping and Ulani will fly to Kuala Lumpur and the day after on to Taiwan. Liping has last seen her family on 20 November 2005, so it is about time for a visit. It's not all visiting friends and family, though. Aurora needs to check on her Kawasaki Syndrome and a lot of paperwork needs to be done. In fact, I think Liping will be quite busy for the 30 days she has on the island. I will try to use their absence to have the messiest job (new headliner) done. The previous owner did it by himself and it took him six weeks to do it. I hope to have the help of professional Chinese/Malay craftsmen. It seems that they consider the job rather difficult, as there are plenty of rounded or curved surfaces around and lots of the work has to be done on the boat itself. Let's hope I can convince them to help me anyway, because otherwise that particular job has to wait until we are in Thailand.
Once we leave this area, we'll go to the Chagos archipelago, then on to Mauritius, Madagascar and South Africa. With our mega-slow speed it might take us many years to get there. <grin>
Greetings from Holger, Liping & Aurora Ulani on the DHARMA BUM III
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