Friday 8 April 2016

Last installment carried good news. This one is the yin to that yang. Mr. Chang did a fine job of welding cracked winch body after destroying a bearing, a seal and 6 screws holding it to base plate. Once off, the plate is seen to be remarkably corroded, particularly where the shaft seal keeps water out of the motor gearbox, and should be replaced. Added highlight: Can't figure out where the destroyed bearing goes and Lewmar documentation is unhelpful. Port sheet winch remains a box of parts on the sole of forward head.

Silver lining is that aft head now has a wonderful postmodern look sporting visible utilities and a skylight to brighten the shower stall. Seems a shame to close it back up when there's a smaller secondary winch that wind allowed use of yesterday afternoon. Of course having the big genoa rip it off, leaving a large jagged hole would be inconvenient, but then there would be more light over the nav table. How bad could it be?

Weather remains hot and, incongruously, both humid and dry in Thailand and Malaysia. Smoke, just detectable in Pangkor, has become steadily worse as we proceed toward Admiral Marina just south of Port Dickson. Apparently Smokey the "only YOU can prevent forest fires" Bear didn't get through to to somebody. Perhaps we'll run out of it by Singapore.

Speaking of that town, desire to take the boat has been thwarted by boat show over-populating close-in marinas and the one with space demanding use of clearance agent who charges $200 for the pleasure of his business before he does anything. Although somewhat more convenient than staying in Johor, we'll sail into Puteri Harbour in Malaysia, bus over for a few days and save a ringgit or two.

Ill advised night passage of Kuala Lumpur's Port Klang was an interesting game of dodgem, although staying awake during watch is a real pain in the posterior. BUTT (Big Ugly Tourist Transporter), Queen Mary II, one of the biggest (.186 nautical miles) and ugliest cruise ships in the universe, aimed for us and missed. The refined British accent on VHF seemed to suggest that they don't use Filipino or Ukrainian crew and that we should be honored to get run down by such a magnificent vessel.

Jack