Still Working on the Boat

Boats "on the hard" at night.

We've been here in Phuket now for about 11 days, and are still working on the boat. This is very typical with boats, so at this point we still have a pretty good attitude about it.

The Captain and CJ work on the anchor chain.


When we arrived to Phuket the boat was out of the water "on the hard". We needed a few days before putting into the water to clean and paint the hull and install a feathering propeller. The prop was rebuilt 5 times before it finally feathered correctly. We weren't yet ready the second day here to be put in the water, so we stayed on the hard over the first weekend. This was kind of a pain, because we had to climb a ladder to get on the boat, which just wasn't convenient. Monday morning the crane came to lower us the 15 feet or so into the water. The whole crew was enjoying the cool morning at the marina cafe. One of us went back to the boat to get shower supplies but returned quickly to say that The Captain is alone and the boat is ready to be put into the water. We all ran to the boat and barely jumped on in time to help with the lines. Once in the water, the engine didn't start. According to The Captain, this is the first time ever that it didn't start right up. It is now 7 days later, and we still don't have a working engine. The Captain is working on it right now, seems there is air in the line somewhere. We stayed at the service dock for a few days, then were towed and pushed expertly into a slip much closer to the bathrooms:) We need to leave the marina by the 8th of February because the channel is shallow, and we need the highest tide of the month to get out.



In the meantime, we've been installing a new windlass (equipment that lowers and raises the anchor), a new autopilot, wiring for a new chart plotter that we'll install after India, doing some provisioning, cleaning, taking inventory of supplies already on the boat, and getting to know each other. So far so good, we really enjoy each other's company.

Susie making grilled cheese.