New Teak Deck…
This is the dry season in Phuket! Since we left Sweden for our round the world sailing trip we are used to locals stating “but the weather nowadays is very strange”. When it comes to Thailand’s southwest coast this time of year, there should be minimal amounts of rain. Except for the last week or so we have had monumental rainfalls for a couple of hours every evening. Meaning it hits the roof so hard it is difficult to have a normal conversation. Good thing is that it happens during evenings and that Phuket roads and drainage systems are engineered to cope with potential flooding. If you are in doubt if it is rainy or not, just look at the vegetation. Very green means very rainy!
After Tina went up on the yard at Phuket Lagoon early January, we found an AirBnb apartment literally in the jungle, close to the Kathu waterfall. Very quiet and idyllic with hardly any traffic. Unfortunately no stove so we had to eat out a lot. We found a nice restaurant across the road in the “green vegetation”. The food was fantastic and for a decent price (cheap). We even tried crocodile (something that is farmed here), which tasted like chicken. The remote location required a car though which is a problem on its own. Anyone driving in Thailand probably agrees that traffic can be a nightmare. When the traffic is congested you get mad. When it is less traffic, immortal bikers and truck drivers makes you understand why the country has one of highest traffic deaths on the planet. Don’t even rely on that they are driving in the right direction. If it is closer to drive against traffic, of course do it. After four weeks we decided to find a new place to live closer to Tina and skip the rental car. We now have a three/four bedroom house with two baths at walking distance to Phuket Boat Lagoon. It was brand new, which meant that we had to get cutleries from the boat and use to buckets as tables in the living room. (For those considering buying a property in Phuket the price I guess is competitive. 2,000,000 Baht, 500kSEK and the property is freehold.)
During our stay on land, we have taken many car tours, walks and even visited a tiger sanctuary (which was very touching). Since we are living among the native Thailand people, we get more involved in their daily living in terms of taking the bus, using the markets etc. which is very rewarding.
One of the reasons for us to take the “de-tour” to Thailand was the need for changing the deck. Tina’s 30 years of age does show in the original teak deck. 12 mm thickness was worn down to 6 mm in places. Half a year ago we seriously looked for places that could replace the teak for a realistic cost. Before deciding what to do, we thought about different alternatives including alternative materials and also to remove the teak altogether. In the end we decided the teak deck is what differentiate Hallberg Rassy from most other manufacturers and makes the yacht unique. The amount of teak is literally covering all upper surfaces of the yacht which means about 50 square meters equivalent to 500 kg teak planks. In addition to the teak work we also decided to paint the blue stripes on deck and on the hull. The company (Interwood Work) doing the teak replacement has a solid reputation across south east Asia. We estimate that we save about 50-60 percent of the total costs of teak deck replacement compared to doing it anywhere in Europe with the same quality. Today we checked out the completed deck with deck gear starting to be fitted. Fantastic and we got almost emotional! Our plan is to be finished with the painting, repair of small damages to the gel-coat, polishing and light sanding of the bottom (we have a copper coat epoxy treatment) by end February. After a week back into the water to make sure everything is in working order we plan to clear out of Thailand (just about when our 90 days visa is running out). We plan to spend a couple of weeks in Langkawi Malaysia as next port of call.
S/Y Tina Princess 