August 27, 2006
It’s only the weight we've placed aboard her which holds her down; probably 4000 lbs of our personal possessions and cruising equipment.
Without that, she gets jittery and nervous, like a mare she wants to prance and leap about.
Once in Sydney, after the big refit, when we had nothing aboard, she felt that way.
We liked it then but we haven't felt that lively feeling on Wings often. In Sydney we soon loaded all of our staff back on board and set sail again. And that’s the way it’ been for most of the 20 years we've owned this boat; she’s been filled up, full, heavy.
She moves but does not dance.
Now it may change. Since we arrived at Raffles Marina we've started to unload the cruising equipment and even some of our personal stuff.
Don't get me wrong. Wings is still filled up. If you go down below it doesn't look any different. But we've taken off a lot of hidden weight. Anchors, chain, sails, life raft, dingy, outboard motor, and a lot more. We've even moved some of our personal belongings to the apartment in Bangkok. For the first time in many years we cannot say that everything we own is aboard that boat.
Wings even has a new look:
The windvane is gone; and the solar panels. Soon we'll take off the dodger too.
OK, its an old look. Wings used to look this way, when we first bought her. But after cruising for ten years with the windvane back there she now looks naked to me when I walk to the aft end of the deck.
Why are we doing all this? We are going to race Wings in Singapore; we are not living aboard or cruising. Taking all of this stuff off will make her better for racing.
And we like to dance too.
So as I write this from Judy’s office in Bangkok, I'm thinking of our next trip to Singapore, when we will do some more offloading and when we can do some sailing with the boat in this new trim.
We are settled in Bangkok. Our apartment is now livable. The job situation is fine. I am working for an international company installing banking software here at a Thai Bank. Judy is getting geared up to providing off-site court transcription, working from our apartment.
We eat Thai food every day, and ride on the back of motorcycles to get around the neighborhood and take taxi’s or ride the high speed rail system to go farther. (The latter mode of transportation is the best way because Bangkok traffic jams are horrific; taxis are often completely bogged down.) We've done a little sightseeing, not enough, but we've been busy. We'll send some more reports and photos of Thailand as soon as we start getting out more.
Fred & Judy, Bangkok
