Now that the mast is back in with new rigging it is time to get out of Rebak Marina and see how Meikyo sails and what work we still have to do before we head off anywhere. Before that what have we done over the last few weeks?



Meikyo's mast goes back in.

Serenity

Having arranged with a mechanic to do the needed work on Serenity’s engine Phil made a start at the light work, disconnecting wires and control cables, removing the alternator for access to engine mounts and draining oil and coolant. When the mechanic failed to arrive Phil had to do more of the work which took him away from working on Meikyo. He raised the engine, removed the sump which was then taken to a local company for welding and a new oil removal pump hose bought. The gearbox was removed for access to the drive plate and flywheel and a new drive plate ordered from ASAP in UK, it was Easter weekend so more hold ups. After phoning ASAP on Tuesday, it only took 5 days for the part to arrive, well done DHL. After removing the flywheel, he had access to the rear oil seal which was removed by the mechanic and a new one fitted. This was the last we were to see of the mechanic and Phil refitted everything realigned the engine and connected everything back up. Job done, now we wait for a buyer.

Temporary pilot berth workshop on Serenity

Sarah takes a break from working and with Penny from 'Innforapenny' tries her hand at Batik Painting.

Meikyo

We had been running out of time on our visas and were looking at possibilities for doing a visa run. We would need to be out of the country for 7-10 days but now only had a week to arrange this. It was suggested to us that we might get a four week extension to our visa if we went to immigration and pleaded. Armed with a sponsor letter from the marina saying we were staying there, a letter from the broker saying that we couldn’t sail away until Meikyo was re-rigged, photos of mast and boat and a letter from us justifying why we needed to extend we went to the main immigration office. First in on Sunday afternoon we were seen quite quickly and given forms to complete. These were handed back in with passports, copies of passports and letters and we waited. About 2hrs later they handed it all back and said sorry the officer who can deal with this is not here, come back tomorrow. Monday morning, early, we were back and handed in the paperwork, we were then told that we needed passport photos to go on the form. Luckily Phil had some tucked into his phone case. Another 2hr wait, a payment of 100 Ringets each and we had two month extensions. Much better than we had hoped for we can now stay until the beginning of July. We then rushed back to the marina to move Meikyo to the hoist so that the riggers could put the mast back in!

During all this time Sarah has been trying to sort the piles of belongings on Meikyo and make sense of the stowage. Difficult when half of your lockers can’t be used till the mast is back up. She has also been repairing and generally preparing canvas work to go back on, sail cover and cockpit surrounds needed most repair work to protect from UV and the daily rain storms.

The new mainsail is fitted

Finally last week we dropped the mooring lines and headed out. Meikyo was very slow and the engine seemed to lack power so, back in we went. We checked the fuel filters for blockage and generally around the engine for faults. Concluding there was nothing wrong except bad fouling on the hull and propellor, we set out again intent on anchoring close to Pulau Singa Besar to swim and check out hull and prop. The wind was variable and we sailed with just a reefed main.

 

Meikyo at anchor

Problem 1. The reef point on the mainsail doesn’t come far enough down the mast to hook on. Phil used a piece of tape as an extension and we managed. We would have struggled to put in more than one reef. There is a plastic track fitted to the aft of the mast and sliders go up this track. The sail maker had said that the track was too low at the top so we had raised it which now made it too high at the bottom. We spent most of a day removing the mainsail and moving the track back to its original position.

Problem 2. The anchor chain doesn’t go out or come back in easily. The windlass needs a service and alterations are needed to the stowage area to allow the chain to slide freely. This became worrying when the wind came up to 40 knots and we couldn’t let extra chain out. We decided that the best place to sort this was in a marina where we could happily disconnect anchor and chain and had access to shops if anything was needed.

Problem 3. We appear to have no anchor light at the mast head. Again best sorted in the marina.

We booked in to Royal Langkawi and made our way there.

Problem 4. The pulley arrangement at the end of the mainsheet track, one of the sail controls, disintegrated. Old age and UV.

Problem 5. The cleat for the staysail furling line came off. UV damage to a plastic fitting.

It feels at times that everything is going against us but really these are small problems and to be expected when a yacht hasn’t been used for over a year.

They say problems come in threes and our sixth problem was when we returned from having a drink at one of the marina bars. We couldn’t undo the padlock on our main hatch, a combination lock. We knew the numbers and have been using this lock regularly, tonight it decided to give up. What do you do at about 10.00 pm with no-one else on nearby boats and no access to onboard tools? Phil enquired of the security guard who pointed him to the hotel/marina 24hr maintenance, they couldn’t help only being able to offer screwdrivers, as one of the workers had taken the electric grinder home with him. We booked into the hotel for a night; it was that or sleep on deck.

We are now back sailing again, finding out at last the best ways to handle our new boat.