Painted, patched and powered up - Pegasos is finally ready to sail again

We had a great time in Bangkok and Vietnam celebrating Robert's 60th, spending time with Kristy and returned to Malaysia with a new 90 day visa on arrival. A lot of the parts on order had arrived while we were away and so we had great hopes of boat repairs moving ahead quickly and getting out there sailing.  As luck would have it, some boat parts turned out to be of inferior quality, most were misleading in advertised specs, incorrect parts were supplied and the usual back and forth and research on Robert's part started all over again. Very time-consuming and frustrating.

Two steps forward and one step back was the daily pattern.  Robert spent all his time fixing, upgrading and installing parts. He gritted his teeth, sweated buckets and got on with it.  It was very slow progress as not much can be done outside in the intense humid heat from about 09h30 to about 16h30 in temperatures ranging from 32 to 35 C.  Robert was the Englishman in "mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun".

One of the major setbacks was that the engine's V-belt pulley wheels had become so rusty that no amount of sanding could make them serviceable, below right, and so we replaced them all with a new and improved system of shiny new blue aluminum wheels and a serpentine belt, expensively imported from USA after a further 3 week wait.   

 

Replacing the anchor chain:

 

Replacing wiring:

Replacing bilge pumps:

Replacing fan belts in a very tight space:

 

Painting the deck:

When spring tides came along, we beached Pegasos on a nearby beach and scraped and re-painted the hulls with anti-fouling paint.  There was roughly a 4 hour usable gap between low and high tide so in three days we got the job done, albeit it not very professionally, it will suffice for another 12 months or so until we get to a proper haul out facility.

 

 

On the last day while we were waiting for the tide to lift us up, we noticed a group of people carrying their parrots down to the waters edge and giving the birds a dip in the sea.  Makes a change from taking one's dog to the beach for a swim.

In no time a couple of bedraggled polly's were brought to inspect the boat

 

 Feeling I just need an eye patch to complete the picture

 

We settled into our 5th month of marina life. We had found a decent supermarket and a very good dentist that I needed to visit 3 times.  We carried on with our vegetarian meals on board as we still couldn't bring ourselves to buy the revolting looking raw chicken or smelly fish in the shops. Fresh meat was equally off putting. Luckily the fruit and veg are plentiful. Real cheese and butter is often hard to find in these parts and alcohol is mostly beers sold in a separate section of the shop with a supervisor needing to confirm we're not Muslims at check out. We made sure not to run short for our sundowners:

Finally the happy day came when we could take Pegasos out for a test sail in the bay. Such a thrill to hoist the sails again. Everything worked well except the anchor windlass key popped out so that needed a more robust repair again.

Back in the marina Robert received more deliveries of temperature gauges for installation. There were a few more tasks, most important being installing a new membrane in the watermaker.

 

Finally a visit to the immigration, harbour master and customs for our check out (obligatory at every port in Malaysia) with our bundle of paperwork and dressed in the recommended long  pants and closed shoes.

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Our last night in the marina and excited to get moving again. Hope the weather is kind to us as we head down towards Singapore in monsoon season.

The big ships on the horizon reminding us of what's in store in the super hectic Malacca Straits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Season 5: Cruising is just boat maintenance in exotic locations

We’re back!

We left Pegasos in Port Dickson in December 2019 and had planned to be back in Malaysia in May 2020. But then Covid happened and the world changed and all our plans went belly-up. Malaysian borders seemed to take the longest to reopen and when finally it was announced that borders would open on 1 April 2022, we booked a flight from Cape Town for 1 April. It seems the April fool joke was on us as the flight was cancelled for technical problem after a 14 hour wait at Cape Town airport. The next day’s flight was full and we had to wait another 2 days.

Eventually we flew via Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and en route we were so excited to see Admiral Marina below us and to catch a distant glimpse of Pegasos. Yes still floating!

KL was very hot and humid as usual and thankfully the taxi had aircon for the hour’s drive to Admiral Marina in Port Dickson where we stepped out into another blast of hot, sticky air. After check in to the hotel we went to look at Pegasos which seemed fine from a distance.

But once we got closer, the horrors began.

The plastic cover we had left over the dinghy had deteriorated into tiny fragments and the dinghy had acquired a few new holes

 

The marina’s attempts at repairing the jetty had left steel rods sticking out of the jetty, dangerously close to the boat

The boat had been moved and re-tied to the jetty and the ropes left dangling in the water – now trashed with sea growth.

We opened up the boat and stepped in. Mould everywhere! On the floors, ceilings, sides, every surface, every nook and cranny. We had left several containers of moisture absorbing chemical which works for a couple of months, not a couple of years in tⁱhis climate.

There was rainwater partly filling the engine compartment and in all the bilges

Metal fittings were corroded

 

 and signs of wood rot in a few places

 

 

 The wood under the mainsail traveller track was soft and broke up on touch

The sails had been stored away in the side hulls and all the sails have big rusty water stains.

The gas bottles were corroded.

 

 

Thick sea growth under the hulls was to be expected

Some items had simply melted in the closed up interior heat like this sticky tape roll

 

Over the next few days Robert would come across so much more that needed replacing or repair, including pumps, watermaker parts, engine parts, 3 outboard motors and the generator had corroded, a water tank leaked, the fridge no longer worked, most electrics were corroded, the gearbox leaked oil, the anchor chain was rusted, etc.

All the battieries had died -  a good time to get a new DIY lithium battery pack, adding four more solar panels and a bunch of chargers and controllers

Once again we learned that things that seem too good to be true usually are. A water pump impeller from China was extraordinarily cheap and advertised as identical to the Yanmar original. One should always have a few spare. Robert ordered three from the same supplier. They weren't even identical to each other.

We sourced parts from hole-in-the wall local hardware stores and ordered parts from all over Malaysia and imported parts from China, America, Australia and even Trinidad (!) 

There is no chandlery anywhere in Port Dickson so most items have to be ordered online and some orders were cancelled as suppliers unable to supply (especially those from China which was so frustrating as they say they can deliver, take the payment and then cancel about 10 days later and refund). Each evening Robert had a list of more items to order and eventually the parts started trickling in slowly.

We began scrubbing and Robert got stuck into repairs to everything, replacing parts, washing and mending sails, patching the dinghy, opening up wood rot, fibre-glassing, fixing the engine and so much more. Opening up any feature was opening a can of worms. It was very slow progress in the hot humid environment with slow delivery of parts.

 A small crack in the deck ........

 ...... turned out to be so rotten underneath and Robert ended up cutting away a large hole to repair......

 

We had arrived at the start of Ramadan so there wasn't much activity during the day. After sunset the marina restaurant got busy with patrons breaking their fast. Lavish Ramadan buffets were on offer but we looked too scruffy after a day working on the boat.

Admiral Marina has a fabulous big pool and we mostly had it all to ourselves during Ramadan. After the first week we rented an apartment next to the marina which also has a fabulous big pool to ourselves – the best way to cool off

 

Then there’s the aptly named marina pub: 

 

We got Grab to deliver groceries and occasionally took a Grab taxi to a nearby shopping area for fresh produce and hardware items.

 

Delicious rambutans sold on their stalks looking like a bunch of flowers

So far it's been 2 months of fixing the boat and we anticipate another month or so. In a few days time we plan to do our visa run to Vietnam to coincide with Robert's birthday - can't be all work and no play for the captain.

A yacht in a tropical marina is not all swanning about in sarongs while sipping cocktails (I wish just once), it’s hot and sweaty while working away in tight corners. We’re getting there and soon we’ll hoist the sail (actually no - lack of wind here means crank up the engine) and get going again on real adventures.