Waiting in Bass Harbour till ready for departure for Thailand so will just summarise the last 10 days or so.. This is the tail end of the SW Monsoon & wet season. There is no shortage of water. There is rain daily & it comes down in sheets but as soon as the sun comes out again, everything dries off; except Nick, who continually drips with sweat!
After much tooing & froing Brennan was able to collect the confiscated stuff from Coolangatta airport. Then we discovered that FedEx don't have a 'Dangerous Goods Permit' for either Malaysia or Thailand. More gnashing of teeth and after consulting a forwarding agent here have arranged for FedEx to deliver to a friend's mother in Singapore. The local forwarding agent will then arrange road transport to Langkawi. Probably means we won't have our prop paint when we haul out in November but it will keep for next time.
Nick spent two days struggling to get the cable in place for the AIS. He disappears down the lazarette & I wonder if he will come out in one piece! It is a very tight fit. All done now.
More yachts arrive daily in readiness for the new season. There is no visible difference in season changes with trees losing leaves but it shows on the weather charts! It is a continual catch-up time as we greet many who we have met in the past year. Seems like it will be one way traffic to Thailand & The Andamans soon.
There is a frenzy as everyone scrambles to get their AIS transponder in place to comply with the new Thai regulations. Frank, on 'Lilibelle' is anchored next to us & he is the unofficial consultant on AIS. Yachties will do anything for a few beers. Our extra special cheap AIS arrived & required a bit of fiddling & twisting to get it in place. With Frank & a few beers, it was soon done. Had to order another VHF antenna & still waiting for it to arrive.
Have enjoyed many meals out with a variety of people.
I had my dentist appointment & am now sporting veneers on three teeth at 1/3 of cost at home. Would never have had it done there!
Lunch on Sunday at Mangoes, a lovely upmarket eatery near Telaga. Phil 'Adagio' invited us to join them for lamb shanks. These are ordered the day before & slow cooked as they should be. Delicious. For $A34 we had a meal each, Nick had three beers (Yes three!!!!) and I had a fresh mango juice & a red wine. We had a hire car so along the way stopped off at the hardware store & bought the antifoul ready for haul out.