We launched back into the water on 20th December after 9 days ‘on the hard’ stacked up alongside numerous other cruising yachts and fishing boats, many of whom became good friends. We had an eventful time at Phithak Shipyard, meeting these new and interesting friends from SV’s Esper, Aldebaran Bay, Ironhorse, Full Flight, Taima, Roam II, Shambala including Jia (PSS’s manager) and his wonderful wife Julie. In addition to this, we attended a simple but sweet Burmese wedding and enjoyed a tasty seafood lunch, enjoyed 6 playful kittens, ate too much pizza, had Tyler’s 24th birthday, shared a tasty BBQ with all and consumed vast amounts of beer. Oh and the discussions were priceless! It was a very memorable time for us with a group of folks that ‘clicked’. We were quite sad to leave actually and miss them all.

PSS performed very well with good skilled labour, cost effective pricing and a reasonable schedule. Following a sanding, we put on 3 coats of anti-foul with a 4th around leading edges on the hulls (International 6800HS), 3 coats of a non-copper paint on the sail drives (International Interswift 376) and fresh anodes. The small bow hole was repaired with filler and epoxy. And the removable stainless davit frame was fabricated and installed which will save our backs as we lift off the 50kg outboard motor from the dingy during passaging. I also managed to change the engines and genset filters and oil and got around to many other preventive maintenance items. Emerald is back to 100%.

Upon leaving, we traversed the river from PSS back into the Andaman Sea, without grounding this time (!), and sailed the few hours to Telaga Bay in Langkawi where we did some duty free shopping (another word for a ‘booze run’) and fueled up (cheaper here than Thailand). After spending the night at anchorage at Telaga we sailed up to Phuket via Koh Rawi and Koh Rok and arrived on the 23rd December in Phuket.

Our plans were originally to spend Christmas at the Similan Islands but we were a few days late leaving PSS and arriving at Phuket at the end of the day on the 23rd we decided to spend Christmas day at Ao Chalong and Phuket. We will head out toward the Similans on the 26th.

The Christmas tree and lights are up, flashing away and looking joyful. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Ho Ho Ho.

NOTES

• Its imperative to receive from PSS management the waypoint listing for entrance along the coast and river into the PSS shipyard. Its also imperative to follow this route at one hour either side of high tide. The route in/out is by no means straightforward and extremely shallow. Following a fishing vessel in is also a good idea.
• The workmanship at PSS is very good and cost effective. However, the yard gets busy with fishing vessels and yachts and imposes constraints on the available workforce and as a result tasks take longer to complete than you may think.
• I would highly recommend PSS for refit work, wood work, steel work, hull work, etc. They have a longterm capable and experienced workforce that is demonstrated by the number of yachts that return here.
• I was advised from other cruisers that PSS costs are approximately 1/3 cheaper than those found in Phuket. From my direct experience, compared to Singapore, this work would have cost at least 4x more.
• If arriving from the south, note that fuel and duty free alcohol and cigarettes in Langkawi are cheaper than those in Thailand, Penang and most certainly Singapore. Stock up!