March 16, 2013 - CanKata is sixteen!

Dear Tehja and Taylor,

 

Grandma and Grandpa crossing the equator

 

 

Hello from Indonesia and from the southern hemisphere!  We are now on the west side of Sumatra and working our way south. We’ll be here until the end of April, and then we’ll head across the Indian Ocean to an island called Rodrigues, where we’ll stop for a short while before heading on to Mauritius, where we’ll leave CanKata when we fly to Canada.

 

This place is full of lovely children!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was an eventful Sweet 16 Day.

 

First of all, CanKata turned sixteen. She was launched sometime in March of 1997, so we picked the 16^th as her birthday. You can probably guess why.

 

 

 

Secondly, we played a game of chess (16 players on each side) and we tied. We both just kept chasing each other around the board until we got bored and said “stalemate” which is the chess term for “I’m bored and I quit”.

 

Thirdly, Grandpa spent HOURS fixing the fridge. And the good news is, he fixed it! It seems to be working fine right now, which is a good thing because we have lots of frozen food that would have been in a lot of trouble if the freezer wasn’t working.

 

The fridge motor is in this tiny engine room!

 

Grandpa resting after all his hard work.

 

Also on this day, we sailed from the beautiful bay of Babi to a pretty island called Banyak. In both places, the water was crystal clear, the trees were rich green, the sand was almost white, and in both places we were ALL ALONE. Grandpa said, “All I can hear is nature” (e.g., birds, surf, crickets, the wind in the trees).

 

 

 

 

We know it is nearly spring in Canada. Do you have your bikes out yet? Have you played a game of baseball? Is all the snow gone?

 

And we are counting the days until summer … when we will see you!

 

Loads of love,

Grandma and Grandpa Sailor

 

 

February 16, 2013

Dear Tehja and Taylor,

 

Well, this Sweet 16 day was pretty significant. CanKata is no longer flying her Thailand flag, and we have left that country for about five years. We hope to sail back to Thailand in 2018.

 

Grandma walking down
 the street of Nai Yang
for the last time in a long while

 

Grandpa taking a long last look …
probably everything will be changed in
Nai Yang when we get back.

We have been friends with
this fellow for years, and we left
our trusty old bikes behind for his grandchildren.

 

Good-bye Nai Yang anchorage. Thanks for giving us safe,
secure anchorage for so many years. (That cat’s not CanKata).

 

 

Grandpa taking down the Thai flag

 

The weather isn't always perfect
in the tropics (storm at Tarutao).

 

But even on stormy days,
we can get a beautiful sunset.

 

Sweet 16 day –
raising anchor at Tarutao, to head to Kuah.

 

Off on the hazy horizon … is that a ship on the left? No! It’s an island!

 

On February 16, we set anchor in the harbour of the town of Kuah in the province of Langkawi in the country of Malaysia. (We have pictures of Kuah in our November 2012 blog entry). From here, in a few days, we will take a 3-hour ferry to another Malaysian island – Penang - to get our visas for Indonesia, where we will cruise for the months of March and April before heading across to Mauritius. 

 

Mauritius is the place that we’ll leave CanKata when we fly back to Alberta for the summer. We’re counting the days!

 

But back to February 16:  We were “underway” for eight hours, and while we were underway I did laundry in my new machine, Grandpa was at the helm, we ate sunflower seeds and spit the shells overboard, and we had our last taste of pork for a while. We will now be in countries where eating pork is not allowed for religious reasons, so we enjoyed that last taste.

 

After we anchored in Kuah, we had visitors aboard CanKata – Ralph and Jenn of El Misti. You might remember us mentioning them before – they are the ones who rode their bicycles for thousands of miles over three-and-a-half months. They are now living back in Australia but were in Kuah to check on their boat. It is always nice to see old friends.

 

And it is always nice to see family … which we will be doing lots of this summer! Looking forward to it.

 

All our love, Grandma and Grandpa Sailor xx

(now sailing in Indonesia, and not eating pork)

January 16, 2013 from Aunt Marleen

Hi Tehja and Taylor.

I just finished my chores on CanKata and can take a moment to let you know we are having a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

January 16 was my birthday (61 years). What a wonderful way to spend the day at the helm learning how to stay on course, being careful not to hit any floating objects or passing boats.

We cruised for 5½ hours averaging 5½ knots then we moored at Nai Harn Beach. On the way we saw a huge battleship called The Amelia Erhart, also many fishing boats called “long tails”.

Today we will take the dinghy to shore for lunch and a refreshing swim. We are also learning new games such as Box Crib and Red-Green Farkle (Grandma and I rule).

Love,

Aunt Marleen and Uncle Larry
(and loads of love from your Grandma and Grandpa too!) 

Marleen and a long tail

A long tail at Nai Yang Beach

A battleship.

A birthday sunset.

Marleen at Nai Harn Beach.

Dewa cheese cake the night before.

A birthday wish fulfilled.

Taylor is Eight!

December 16, 2012

Poem by Grandma:

Dear Taylor,

It looks like you had a great 8^th year.

You travelled far, you travelled near.
You walked on beaches, saw a mountain or two.
You played in a boat like your grandparents do.

And now you’re turning 8,

With more adventures in store:
Swimming and acting and
Laughs and fun galore.

We’ll see you in the summer,

But if we could get a wish,
We’d be there right now
To give you a birthday kiss.

Happy Birthday, Taylor ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Poem by Grandpa:

Today, December 16th

is a very important date

Someone very special to us
reaches the age of eight
Although his name is Taylor
he is often referred to as Tate
So we better wish him a Happy Birthday
before we are too late
Hope you have a super day
and a cake just waiting to be ate
Wish we lived in a boat next door
and could just open a gate
To give our grandson a big hug
and say “Happy Birthday mate”

Loads of Love

From Grandpa and Grandma Sailor xx

November 16, 2012

Hi Tehja and Taylor. You’ll never guess where we are today. Malaysia! We left Phuket on November 5^th and arrived here in Langkawi on November 8^th. Thailand only lets us keep our boat there for six months (actually, this time they let us stay a year), and then we have to leave their country. But they let us come back right away.

 

Jenny the wind generator taking a rest during a beautiful sunset.

 

Another beautiful sunset on our way to Langkawi.

We will return to Phuket as soon as our boat batteries arrive (four golf cart batteries – like those that ran the golf cart we used in Costa Rica). We bought them here in Langkawi because they are cheaper. These batteries run our lights, computer and all our other electrical stuff when the engines aren’t running and making power for us. We keep these batteries charged by feeding them with solar power, or charging them with wind power, or by sometimes running the engines. We haven’t been “plugged in” since we left the Caribbean.

So on this Sweet 16 day, we are patiently waiting for our batteries at anchor in the big harbour of Kuah. There are lots of other sail boats and scads of ferries, because this is an island and the only way you can get here is by plane or boat. There is no bridge.

Kuah, Langkawi is “duty free” (which means a government tax hasn’t been charged and so some stuff is cheaper), so we have been stocking up on some boat parts and chocolate treats. So today we shopped. And we had beef – at McD’s of all places.

You’ll see from the photos that Kuah is a pretty harbour town. Lots of tourists come here to shop, so the shop owners keep everything clean and tidy to attract the customers. But with all the ferry traffic and as a result of some industries that were here a number of years ago, the water in the bay is polluted. So we can’t swim at all. So we’re looking forward to getting our batteries and setting off for Thailand again.

 

Some colourful shops in Kuah, Langkawi.

Grandpa on his way to the chandlery -
a store that sells boat stuff.

 

One of the main streets in Kuah, Langkawi.
We've walked it many times.

Kuah has a beautiful park to walk through.

Our walks are shaded by nice big trees.

Grandpa chatting with a fellow-Canadian
while a storm approaches from the west.

This evening we had visitors on CanKata – a couple from a Canadian boat, a couple and their 24-year-old daughter from an Australian boat, and a guitar-playing song-writer from an American boat. We had lots of good food, laughs and music under a very pretty sliver of the moon that also had some “earth glow” (the unlit part of the moon that glows just a tiny bit). And we thought of you. It was a good way to end a good Sweet 16 Day.

All our love,

Grandma and Grandpa Sailor xxxx

P.S. A couple of SpongeBob jokes:

 

How did Patrick find his report card on the ocean’s bottom?
He was deep C fishing.

Why did Patrick get running shoes?

To be a track star.

And another P.S.: Here are some photos from the time Kevin and Great-Grandma Merc visited us in Langkawi in 2009:

Kevin, Great-Grandma and Grandpa
at the Langkawi pier.

Grandpa and Great-Grandma and
the big bird "Langkawi"

Kevin and the Langkawi

October 16, 2012

Hi you two. We have been looking at recent photographs of you and your adventures, and it looks like you have been having some pretty good times! You live in a beautiful province.

 

 

 

It sounds like you had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend, and now Halloween is just around the corner. We hope to see photos of the pumpkins you carve.

Grandma in PEI a long time ago

 

Here’s what has happened in our “neck of the woods” since we were last in touch:

·        CanKata has been pulled out of the water to get her bottom painted. We use a special paint so that little forms of sea-life don’t attach themselves to us, which would slow us down as we sail around the world.

·        We have made a decision to leave Thailand this coming February – heading toward South Africa and onwards, all the way around again back to Thailand (we hope).

·        Grandpa has been busy working on CanKata to get her ship-shape for her next big adventure.

 

·        On “Sat Duan Sip” - a special Thai holiday which is celebrated to honour our ancestors - we went to the National Park that is right on our doorstep and saw LOTS of people having picnics and fun on this October 15th holiday.

 

 

·        As usual, we went out for a steak dinner to celebrate Sweet 16 Day.

·        We have booked our flights to Canada! We’ll be visiting you from the end of June until September 3rd. Can’t wait!!!!

It’s been a while since we had a SpongeBob joke. Here’s one that should remind you of your recent trip to PEI:

What do you call a lobster that won’t share?

Shellfish.

Bye for now.

All our love,
Grandma and Grandpa Sailor

September 16: Tehja is Nine

Hi there Tehja.

 

A Poem from Grandpa:

Oh me oh mine

Tehja is nine

Which is a sign

That she’ll soon want to dine

In a fashion that’s fine

But of course not with wine.

 

A Poem from Grandma:

 

In a place called Beaumont

On street sixty-five

Lives a lovely young girl

Who really knows how to dive.

 

Yes, she knows more than that.

Yes, the list is very long.

But this poem likes to rhyme

And “drive” would just be wrong.

 

Here’s to Tehja, who’s a swimmer

And a granddaughter sublime.

And today we’re celebrating because

Today she turns nine!

 

 

Happy Birthday, Tehja!!

We look forward to visiting you while you are still nine.

Loads of love from

Grandpa and Grandma Sailor xx