Showing posts with label Butang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Butang. Show all posts

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Captain's Blog - Langkawi - Singapore - Langkawi - Phuket

As in previous blog it ended when we arrived to the drydock in Langkawi, which lasted 14th Aug to 18th Sept and was a very tiring affair for the whole crew.

Kalizma got a fresh coat of paint on the bottom, new zinc anodes, overhauled overboard valves, some new shell plating, additional echosounder and a muffler on the centre engine. Now when we’re idling one can barely hear the engines any more, I need to look at the rpm meters to verify I have propulsion. It is so silent.

Well, for crew matters we received a new Stewardess from the Niladri household, Ms. Martula Walling, her profile is posted in the crew section. Richard came back full of energy after his long odyssey into the Indian bureaucracy and Jessica went for a well deserved vacation.

Finally on the 18th we we’re on the way to Singapore and major washing up took place to remove all the drydock dust and dirt. We arrived 1deg15’ marina on the 20th Sept and was met by ships agent Angie Ng. After clearance was done it was time to coordinate all efforts for Bosses visit. Flowers had to be ordered, carpets cleaned, food ordered, dayworkers arranged etc., we had 5 days on us.

Finally the weekend arrived and the F1 qualifications took place, on Saturday the time races and finally on Sunday the actual F1 race. The race was in fact very exciting with Force India team briefly at 3rd place but unfortunately was dropped down due to safety car was brought out. Then Sutil crashed his car avoiding another car and Fisichella finished 2nd to last, I suspect due to filling fuel too much.

When the weekend was over it was time again to pack everything away and feast on leftovers.

Next two weeks was spent repairing our radars that suddenly gave up on our arrival Singapore. During this time we had a Beer Festival at Fort Canning, delicious Pepper crabs up in People’s Park, Teochew dinner in Mong Hin restaurant, Mediterranean cuisine at Esmirada on Orchard, Kilkenny’s beer in Muddy Murphy’s and of course shopping at Funan, Sim Lim Square and Orchard Towers.

Eventually we left on 14th Oct for Langkawi and arrived there on the 16th, weather was excellent.

In Langkawi we picked up some chemicals and re-fuelled, our agent John took great care of us once again.

Vivek & Juergen Zimmerer

Crew went for a jungle canopy excursion. The operation was run by a German, Mr. Juergen Zimmerer, who had been on the Island for 16yrs. We started with easy rope walking and principles of abseiling as well as we “trollied” over a short expanse on a wire until we got to the highlight of the trek: A wire ~100m long suspended up to a rainforest tree 60m tall. The ride up there was adrenaline inducing and when all was up in the tree we got to abseil down to the ground 30m. The whole trek gave a very good insight of what mountain climbing is about.

In the evening agent John treated undersigned for dinner at Teo’s where we had squid, steamed snapper and wild boar washed down with Tiger.

On the 17th we bid Langkawi goodbye and headed for Thailand, in the afternoon we did a dive at the Butang’s at Hin Takon Chet, hopping in straight from the swimming ladder. We found 2 big shell’s that we ate for dinner the same evening. For the night we anchored at Phi Phi Island and next morning at 9am we continued towards Yacht haven where we arrived at 3pm.

Next day Monday was full with activities meeting old acquaintances, getting technicians onboard to sort out some electronic problems still pending, hiring storage space and making up shopping lists for provisions and interior stores. As of writing this we have settled in Phuket again for the next 3mths or more waiting for the Boss or guests…



Saturday, August 16, 2008

Captains blog - voyage Phuket- Ko Rawi - Langkawi

We departed Phuket on 12th of Aug for Langkawi. Weather was again fine, only when we got out of cover Ko Yao Yai did we get swell in from the Indian Ocean. We steamed on for the whole day and anchored for the night S of Ko Rawi (Butang group). Next morning we awoke to marvelous surroundings of high Islands covered in lush green and specked with white sandy beaches.

M/y Kalizma in front of Ko Rawi


Ko Rawi

Morning 13th Aug was sunny and spent making a dive around Ko Palai and another on the bay at Western tip of Ko Rawi, we saw a great deal of sea life (puffers) as well as loads of giant clams. The coral here is very nice and unspoiled, also absence of tourists is notable, it might be otherwise during high season of course. At Ko Rawi the coastal cliffs goes straight down to several metres and divers are rocked by wave surge.

Beach had a lot of hermit crabs

Afternoon was partly overcast and spent setting up for a beach barbecue on Ko Rawi and some snorkeling. The coral heads S of Ko Rawi were numerous and colorful. The beach on Ko Rawi had many hermit crabs that were running about everywhere. I took to exploring the Island and found a natural fresh water stream that I followed up to its source, the jungle elsewhere looked impenetrable, consisting of thorny brush and ancient trees.

BBQ

BBQ

The fresh water itself out of the mountain was very cool and refreshing and I took several dips in the streams naturally carved out hollows. Once back at the BBQ it was getting dark and we fired up the grill and enjoyed the sunset accompanied with dinner. When darkness set in petrol lanterns were lit and we sat around joking and telling stories while enjoying some more grilled food. At abt 9pm we packed all gear in the tender and got back onboard for an early night as we needed to haul up anchor in time for us to arrive Langkawi HW.

Seagypsies

14th morning 6am anchor was heaved up and course set for Langkawi. On the way we passed a big congregation of sea gypsies. The weather was overcast and dead calm. We arrived Langkawi at 11am and made fast sb to floating pontoon at Wavemaster shipyard. We had arrived to the purpose of our voyage – 5year class renewal survey and routine maintenance.