Wings Cruising Log

If it seems like we've been neglecting to keep you updated lately it’s not that we aren't thinking about you, it’s just that our life seems to be pretty much settled right now and there isn't so much new to write about.

Other than the last three weeks when Judy has been in the US visiting her sisters, we've both been working in Bangkok now for about 10 months. Our jobs are, well…jobs. Not perfect, could be worse, and they serve the purpose; they're bringing in some much needed funds so we can continue cruising. We still don't know how long this phase of our life will continue, but another year would be good. On the other hand, we might tire of shore bound life and go back aboard Wings at any time. Don't be surprised whatever you hear from us.

We've kept Wings in Singapore all this time and we go down there once or twice a month to go sailing. There are some budget airlines with frequent and cheap flights, so this “commuting” is reasonable, and otherwise, we couldn't bear to live away from our boat.

For the past month Wings has been in the boat yard at Raffles Marina for its annual haul-out. Usually we do our own work, but this year we hired the workers at the local boat yard. It’s more than a weekend job: we're having some deck work done and had the deck repainted. We've had the engine out for some minor work that was easier done in the shop than in our living room. And then there was some new through hull fittings and sea cocks, and finally, new bottom paint. It’s enough work to take a month.

While Judy has been in the deep south of the US my last two trips down from Bangkok have been visits to see how the work is progressing. The yard is doing nice work.

But other trips to Singapore have all been about sailing, and we've had some great sailing there which surprises some people, Most people I've talked to about sailing in Singapore have expressed amazement that we have any wind at all, but since we first arrived in those waters last June we've had good sailing every day we've gone out. Mostly we've been on the #3 instead of the #1, and if you know what that means, you know we've had a breeze.

One trip stands out: That was the day we raced out of the Johore straights and over to Malaysia. It included a long beat from the P21 mark in Singaporean waters to the outer mark in the Malaysian channel.

On that beat I could let Wings go to work; I could play the shifts, work the boat speed higher, cover the competition; it was total joy. I wrote in our blog:

“There is something about the flat green water of a broad river delta on a hot, windy tropical day when you can work the boat upwind for an hour and then the mark appears out of the haze right where it should and you call the lay-line perfectly, and set the kite for the trip home.”

We’ve attached a photo from that day taken by a competitor and it’s one of my favorite shots.

As exotic as it might sound to others, for us, life in Bangkok has become very ordinary. We have our routines, our favorite shopping center, our favorite restaurant, and we have learned how to avoid the traffic jams and the worst of the humid heat.

We’ve been on diets, which will probably have to last for the rest of our lives, and we spend a lot of time at work-outs. If I’m not running 10k on the treadmill in the morning I’ll probably be swimming at least a kilometer in the roof-top pool our building has. Judy and I both get up early for our trip to the gym or the pool.

When we want to go out there are lots of things to do or see in Thailand. Bangkok being Bangkok, you can find whatever you are looking for here. We went looking for an Irish pub to celebrate my birthday on Saint Paddy’s day and found one; The Dubliner on soi 22, where we drank Irish whiskey and Kilkenny Beer.

On other occasions we've rented a car and gone on weekend trips for some sight seeing and touring.

Recently we went to the old capital of Thailand, Autthaya. This is the “City of Siam” from history and romantic lore. It is now in ruins but it is fantastic to see and walk along its old boulevards and imagine the times in centuries past when Siam was twice as big as the London of its day and was visited by merchants and explorers from Europe seeking trading rights. The purpose of this trip was to take some photos of the Buddha statues that we could turn into art for our apartment. That part of the trip was successful and we will have a finished piece for our wall. We'll show you the finished work after we get it up; meanwhile, the second photo we've attached is one of the statues we saw on that trip.

So, even though we are not sailing around the world these days, this is still part of our cruise, and our adventure.

Fred & Judy, SV WINGS

You can read this story and more at http://wingssail.blogspot.com/