Zinc sailing on MUSCAT 7

We’re back. Again. 2012 was an interesting albeit irregular year for us: We lived in marinas and anchorages in Malaysia and Thailand. We lived in Spain. We weekend escaped in Europe. We squatted with family in Australia. The year ended with us having sailed far less than we’d planned, and not very far at all, in fact.

So. 2013. Take two. In April, we flew from Australia to Thailand, via Singapore. We painted anti-foul on Zinc. We sailed from Thailand to Indonesia.

SINGAPORE

SURFING. I could not bear another stopover in Kuala Lumpur — riding the hotel carts and doing an airport photo shoot — so I lobbied for a stopover in Singapore instead. My proposal was successful, and in accordance with the terms of the final agreement, we visited the Wave House Sentosa. But lightening struck again, and Dale’s session on the flow barrel was terminated due to electrical storms in the Malacca Straits. Oh well. Here’s how Dale went in the 20 minutes he rode before the storms rolled through.

THAILAND: PHUKET

LIFE. Home sweet home.

…Dale confirmed that Zinc has the best looking engines in SE Asia.

…Willow did a spot of fishing off the dock.

…We threw water to celebrate Songkran.

…We played a round of golf.

…And we sailed around Phuket on a shake down cruise.

…All was good to go. We just needed a bit of paint. Nail polish (yellow and pink) on Willow’s fingers and toes.

…And anti-foul (black) on Zinc’s hulls.

PASSAGE: THAILAND TO INDONESIA

SAILING. Well, motor-sailing to be precise. The passage across the Malacca Straits from Phuket (Ao Chalong) to Pulau Weh (Sabang) is 221 nautical miles (409 kilometers for you non-nautical types). It took us 38 hours. We left mid-afternoon on a Thursday and dropped anchor on the other side of the Straits just before sunrise that Saturday. The weather was fair, and surprisingly, there weren’t many supertankers or tree trunks for us to dodge along the way. It was a dream run, literally for me, because thanks to Dale and our trusty crew member, Dan, I slept through the nights. I didn’t have to do a night watch, not even one; day watches were Willow and my thing.

…Check out the sense of adventure on these faces… Ha!

CREW. Now Willow is on board, we’ve decided to find (whenever possible) an extra person to travel with us on longer passages, mainly to be an additional set of eyes and hands to help out as needed. Dan was the first of these lucky punters. He met us in Phuket. We were curious about how it would be to live with a complete stranger in close confines. (Remember: as far as living spaces go, Zinc is tiny. She is 12m long and 6.5m wide, which is about the average size of a cruising boat, but also about the average size of the lounge/dining area in an Australian home.) Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised. Dan was a pleasure to have on board. He set the bar high. We think he enjoyed his time on Zinc. He didn’t jump off at the first place he could have…

LIFE. On Willow’s Ark at sea:

BOAT KID. I read somewhere that boredom is good for kids. It teaches them that life isn’t always entertaining, and that they won’t always be the center of attention. In any case, we have over 80 books on board for Willow. She has no reason to be bored.

INDONESIA: PULAU WEH

LIFE. Clean, clear water.

…(These divers are 17 meters below Zinc.)

…A rusty playground.

…Hired help to push the princess.

…Playmates on the shore.