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Week
Ending 5 Oct 2002 (Bob)
Instruments Back In - We had removed all of our
instrument displays so the cockpit could be painted and the bulkhead was sealed
with new fiberglass so that it looked brand new. We agonized over where to
re-install the displays so that they would:
- Be visible from the helm
- Be visible from our normal seat in the companionway
- Be visible in the dark with our eyesight (that is not quite
as good as it was in our 20's)
- Allow us to lean on the bulkhead while on watch
- Not take up too much room in the storage compartment inside
the bulkhead
Finally we settled on a cluster arrangement near the
companionway
that seems to satisfy all requirements. The total project schedule was:
- Agonizing (aka 'planning') - 90%
- Cutting holes and installing - 10%
Redecorating - While in Chiang Mai  with
Sharon and Stephanie, we acquired an exquisite leather 'carving' of a Dragon
and Phoenix. Carving art on thin sheets of leather seems to be unique
to this part of the world, and we found a piece we both liked while strolling
through a Wat in the inner city. Framing, we found out, was quite
reasonable in Thailand, and after rejecting the work of one frame-shop, we had Inter
Frame, a small shop near Robinson's in the center of Phuket, do the deed
for $25, including a double frame and custom gold paint.
Cockpit back in shape - Last week the cockpit had been
trashed because we had to remove a rotted and leaky coaming board. By the
weekend a fresh new piece of teak had been installed complete with bungs and
sealant so that it should be waterproof for a long while (knock on wood!).
We had also removed the winch pad on that (Starboard) side, and rebedded it and
its winches and cleat. Hopefully that will eliminate one more source of
leaks into our cockpit locker.
High Tide at Boat Lagoon -  Phuket
Boat Lagoon was built in a swampy mangrove, and we are reminded of this every
month as the high Spring tides swamp the hardstand, parking area, and walkways
to the docks. This month it seems to be higher than usual, and at midday
we need to wade thru calf-deep water to get to the toilets or local
stores.  They
are expanding the hardstand area to accommodate more boats, and best we can tell
it will also be submerged at Spring tides so that workers must stand in salt
water while they operate power tools. The Travel-lift bay (where yachts
are lifted from the water) is undergoing repairs, and at high water the workers
continue to operate jackhammers and pile drivers in knee-deep water. While
some work, others take the opportunity to rest in the muddy water, sometimes up
to their necks as the pix to the right will attest.
Phuket Vegetarian Festival - preview - For the last 150
years or so, a number of the Chinese shrines on Phuket celebrate a festival at
this time of year that involves abstention (from most of the pleasures of life)
and enduring pain. It started this weekend, and runs for about 10 days, so
next week we'll report on what we see.
Week
Ending 12 Oct 2002 (Bob)
Phuket Vegetarian Festival - The big action in Phuket
this week was the Vegetarian Festival, celebrated by Thai-Chinese to
commemorate the cure of an opera company from China about 170 years ago when
they used a vegetarian diet to cure themselves of a mysterious illness. Along
the way, it has developed into a 9-day set of processions, prayers, and
ceremonies. A highlight, for visitors, are the feats of the Ma Song
(literally 'entranced horses', or people who endure much pain in an attempt to
take on evil spirits, and thus remove them from the community in which they
live). The events we watched included:
- A procession from each Chinese shrine to the center
of Phuket, with young members displaying acts of self-mutilation. The
young men, and women, stuck knives, skewers, rods, and branches through
their cheeks and gave little evidence of pain as they rode to their shrine
downtown in open trucks. This was very reminiscent of the
self-mutilation practiced by Hindus in India, and Singapore. These
displays were very disturbing to many who saw them, so click
on this only if you feel you have a stomach for it.
- Fire-walking, another demonstration of the ability
of the human body to withstand pain.
The town was packed with street
vendors, food stalls, and crawling traffic as we tried to find the Jui
Tui Shrine. We learned to mistrust our watches as the appointed
hour of 8:09 PM came and went while the fire burned bright, and young men
braved the heat to stir and smooth the bed of coals. By 10:00
the crowd had swelled to several hundred and a procession arrived from the
nearby shrine to the popping of firecrackers. Many men, shaking their
heads in an apparent trance,  performed their rituals, and one by one they
walked (or ran, skipped, or hopped) over the 15'-wide bed of coals. It
was a fascinating display witnessed by hundreds of Thais and tourists, many dressed
completely in white as dictated by the guidelines for participating in
the festival.
- Blade-ladder climbing
 was the next event on our
schedule, and we took this in at a small neighborhood shrine, a short
15-minute walk from the marina. Here, the schedule established earlier
held and we waited 2 hours, but this time we sat in comfort in the friendly
company of our neighbors. Men of all ages climbed a 16-rung ladder
with steps lined with sharp blades, often bouncing on each rung to
accentuate the pain. 
All seemed to be in a trance, and finished the
ritual with a mock slaying of something with axes or hatchets. The
first man to climb up and down the ladder finished his ritual by offering
fruit to the audience, and started with Judi and our friend Jeanette from
the schooner Voyager. Other men gave strings to children and other
on-lookers as they passed on the blessings they had received by their
suffering.
- Procession to Return 9 Emperor Gods was the last
 event of the
week, and it was AMAZING! Many of the shrines on Phuket took
turns parading through the center of the city, carrying pallets with
likenesses of the 9 Emperor Gods or other figures. Audience
participation was the word of the day as hundreds of the onlookers threw
packets of firecrackers at the marchers where they exploded around their
heads, bare feet, or other unpredictable places. The objective seemed
to be to scare away evil
spirits or help raise the people to heaven, depending on who we asked.
Many wound long strings of firecrackers on poles, and held them over the
heads of the marchers, unwrapping them as they exploded. It was the
most intense blitz of fireworks we have ever witnessed; we smelled of
cordite and our ears rang as we rounded out the evening at the local
McDonalds having a mid-night snack of chocolate sundaes.
- In Review - The nine days were really fascinating,
and we saw scenes we would never have believed possible in this reasonably
progressive country (although I suppose one could say that about Mardi Gras
also). For more background and photos, check out The
History of Phuket's Vegetarian Festival.
Canvas, Canvas, everywhere! - Judi extricated the
sewing machine from the bowels of our fore-peak and has used the last couple of
weeks to good advantage making new canvas covers for most everything that could
not get out of her way. So, Long Passages sports:
- Weather clothes that now fit properly and keep spray
out of the cockpit (after we carelessly
moved the stanchions without checking the length of the canvas).
- Covers for the outboard, that fits like a glove.
- Cover for the life-raft and fuel container carried on deck.
- Sun awnings that can be moved to provide shelter for all
corners of the cockpit.
- Water-catchers
Tragedy in Bali - At the weekend came the tragic
news about the bombing of a nightclub in Bali that took the lives of 200 people
from 24 different countries. One of our friends in the marina was affected
as a friend of their daughter was in the club at the time, and died a senseless
death at a very young age. On our way through Bali we had been impressed
by the friendliness and tranquility of the Balinese people, and it is doubly sad
that they will suffer the consequences of this act for years to come. It
also spotlighted that no region of the world is out of reach of the terrorists,
and that they must be rooted out and their ability to promote violence must be
eliminated.
A corollary to action against the terrorists must be for the Western countries,
and in particular the US, to examine their interactions with other countries and
to reduce those that serve narrow and shortsighted interests. We should,
as the saying goes: "think globally".
Week
Ending 19 Oct 2002 (Bob)
Grinding and varnishing - The work continues readying Long
Passages for cruising. We have really underestimated the amount of
time it would take to wrap up the 'details'. One big project these days
has been removing and re-installing the chain-plates (steel straps used to
support the cables that hold up the mast). Several have leaked and many of
them have not been resealed since the Caribbean or New Zealand. We have 17
chain-plates, and at 2-4 hours each (with time out for rainy days) this project
has dragged on for a couple of weeks.
Birthday Girl - At the  week-end
we joined Jeanette and Peter from the schooner 'Voyager' to celebrate her
birthday at a local Thai floor show at the Thainaan Restaurant. It was a
delightful place and we enjoyed the Thai dancing with scenes from the Indian
epic Ramayana.
Week
Ending 26 Oct 2002 (Bob)
Odds and Ends - The work on the re-fit is winding
down as we finished the chain-plates (finally) and Judi got the final coat of
Cetol on the cockpit woodwork.
Visiting Yacht Haven - At the end of the week a
150' motor launch visited Yacht Haven (30-minute's to our north) and many
cruisers converged to eat, drink, listen to the band, and hope for a tour on the
yacht. We did 3 out of 4, but no invite from the yacht was forthcoming.
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