Another very hot day. It started with a huge breakfast in the hotel, as I wanted to not have to worry about lunch later, then a taxi down to the boat in Batu Uban. As soon as I arrived I headed off with Erik to check out the boatyard at Batu Maung, where we will haul-out for a jet wash and a visual inspection of the hull. I think Batu means rock or stone in Malay. We had to drive through a building site on the way, quite crazy, the Chinese are building everywhere, huge, huge skyscraper tower blocks with gigantic shopping malls, in the middle of nowhere, I think they plan to create a whole new society in that area, that was before a very sleepy place with a craggy coastline and a little boatyard. Erik thinks they build them and th Chinese buy the properties as an investment, but they mostly sit there empty. Renting is really cheap as a consequence.
We have problems because we cant leave the marina until we are near high water and we can’t get to the travel lift at the yard much after High water, and it’s a couple of hours away, maybe more depending on how fast we can go with a crabby bottom.
A haul-out was provisionally booked for Monday, and we headed back to Wanderlust to see if we could fix a few problems that were an issue for the passage, like no VHF Radio and the alternator not charging, once sorted we called it a day. I managed a good walk around the old part of town before it all shut up and managed some pictures.
So…you haul on Monday? Make sure to watch for saltwater blisters, especially very small ones at the water line. Looks like a great buy, but needs work so far from home. Hope you get her ready to sail by February. Which route would you take?
Thanks Bruce, the route will probably be, Malaysia -> Sri Lanka -> Oman ->Red Sea -> Med. But maybe not till Jan 2017