On 26th Jan 2012 we were back aboard Pegasus again after about 10 weeks in the UK for P and S’s wedding, a wonderful day.  G’s far flung siblings used the occasion to get together so we had a good family Christmas too.   The boat has been in a boat yard about half way up the west coast of Malaysia.  The yard and attached marina are part of a not yet completed complex on a newly made island just off the coast, and attached by a road bridge.  Some houses and apartments and a hotel are completed and in use and a bit of building is going on, but the rest is a wilderness of rapidly eroding sand.  Evidently a usual story in this part of the world, big ideas that often don’t come to fruition.

Marina facilities are pretty basic – 3 toilets with showers in the cubicles too.  Laundry is sent to the hotel, and shops (a large Tesco) is a 15 min car ride away.  Eating out in one of the two restaurants is very cheap, but not something we would want to do every night, plenty of monosodium glutamate.

Before returning we heard tales of rats in the area which had got into a couple of boats while the owners were away and done a huge amount of damage – wiring in one, and chewed paperwork including all their logs of years of cruising in the other.   There is a covered work area with half a dozen boats under it, and a couple of days ago monkeys were seen jumping around under the roof.  They were quite large and a bit aggressive – rats would probably be easier to deal with!
Socialising when hauled out mainly consists of comparing notes about work in progress and giving and receiving advice and information.  So it was a nice break to have an Aussie barbeque for Australia Day.  Of the 30 or so people here at the moment about 20 are Australians and they produced homemade meat pies, Vegemite sandwiches and lamingtons.   (the other 10 come from Canada, France, Belgium, UK, and a red haired, white skinned Aussie lass who has 100% Irish blood!)
The other big celebration has been Chinese New Year.  In the days leading up to the event mandarin oranges were being handed out by all shops and offices – a much healthier option than mince pies! As all Chinese try to get home to their families for the celebration roads and public transport are extremely busy, and no trucks are allowed to travel for a week.  This means that supermarkets, although open, have gradually emptying shelves.  All small businesses are closed, and factories and building sites stop work.   A ferry leaves here to nearbye Pangkor Island, a popular get-away place.  It was a busy time with much coming and going, and firework celebrations in the evenings.   There was also a free brunch provided for the locals by the government, evidently one of many around the country.  Hundreds of people were queuing up for the amazing spread.  There was also music and dragon dancing which was fun.

As for us,  after a week of work we are constructing rather than destructing.  Rubbing down the hull has been done sufficiently for the time being, though next time out all the accumulated layers of the last years need to be removed.  A small trial section cleared of antifouling this week showed spots of osmosis.  We have treated them, but next time out of the water will have to complete the job.  As the boat is about 27 yrs old, a bit of ‘aging’ is to be expected.   So today one layer of antifouling, tomorrow  a second, and hopefully we will launch the day after.

Then store all the working stuff back in the locker, get the sails back on, and assuming all systems are in order we hope to leave asap.   First stop Penang probably, en route for Th