A trip to town
29 May 2014 | Admiral Marina, Port Dickson, Malaysia
Sunny and warm, ok, hot
We got up this morning and set about getting settled in, even if it's only for two days. I went to the office and got us all checked in and then came back with the electrician and got us all set up for power from the marina. We had to change out the plug as it seems that every marina has a different style of plug. Some bigger and some smaller and none of them look like what is just about standard in the good old USA. Once we had power{yeah!}, I headed for the hotel next door to see about the free shuttle to town that is supposed to happen five times a day. The next one was for 1145, so I headed back and let Tracy know and then headed for the showers. It's amazing how encrusted in sweat you can get sitting on a sailboat out on a bunch of salt water with the temps in the mid nineties and humidity to match. I think my shirt could have stood on it's own it was so encrusted.
Now,I like my showers in a good deal of cool water but I like to add just a bit of warm to take the bite off during the first few minutes of a shower. They had no hot, let alone warm water so the shower was quite bracing. Not down right cold as nothing is cold out here{other than the beers I'm told}. At least I was refreshed when I came back to Zephyr. Of course during the walk, I got all sweaty again.
We cleaned up a bit inside Zephyr and then hiked up to the hotel and the shuttle showed up about ten minutes later getting us into town just about noon. We had a nice lunch and then hit the two "super" markets that were downtown near the wharf. Well, neither of these could or should be called "super" as it just didn't fit. Prices weren't bad but the selection was bad in both. The worst was "Billion", the same chain that operates a store in Langkawi. We restocked with fresh fruit{had to be washed when we got back as it had ants} and veggies{same thing} but saw no lettuce. Snacks were restocked as were breakfast crackers. I've been eating "cream crackers" as my breakfast since Fiji as it is the breakfast of choice down there. Add some Smuckers Orange Marmalade and I have no problem with it and the calorie count, other than the jam, isn't too bad. Washed down with sugar free Crystal Light Sunrise Orange{used to be called Sugar Free Tang} and it's not to bad especially if you have ice for the Crystal Light. We met up with the driver at 1415 and he brought us right back to the hotel next door. We have a couple of carts that make moving the groceries not too hard. We were back on board by 1445 and then spent some time stowing the goods. One of the cans of Coke exploded when it hit the leg of one of the carts so all the cans had to be washed. All the cardboard that everything came packed in had to be thrown away as it just might carry cockroaches on board. All the boxes and flats of drinks was carefully gone through and all the cardboard was put in the trash, never hitting Zephyrs deck.
So there we are, all settled in, the batteries are now fully charged and the fans around the boat are spinning well stirring up the air making the inside much more pleasant. Tomorrow, defrost the freezer again. It's got a nice thick layer of ice all over the cooling plate and that stops it's cooling really quick. Saturday, we will be off for the last few days to Johor Bahru. We expect to be there by Monday.