Just Cruizin On Bluemoon

Log 91

Havingthe rally arriving is always exciting … it adds excitement and akind of buzz goes on where everyone feels alive … quite a nicechange – meeting so many people … watching the rugby was a greatmemory! South Africans, Australians and New Zealanders and I was theonly one making hideous sounds which John tried hard to ignore!!Somehow it brings people together who are by nature, might never be afriend … There is quiet an industry really among yachties - Entrepreneurs, authors, teachers, engineers, electricians,scientists, mavericks, artists, visionaries and much more … yet forall of us living the sailing life allows for you to learn, grow andforge deep friendships with amazing people who will help and supportyou when you need it. There is a silent but known bond between eachone ….

Beingback on Bluemoon already was an incredible feeling of freedom andwith all the work and maintenance taken care of, we had Justine comeback for Jono's 18thwhich was such a wonderful surprise for him!! That was gift one …The following morning after a good breakfast we headed off to the busstop to catch the bus into Singapore right up to the casino so wecould walk the short distance to the gates of the Universal studioswhere we spent an amazing, fun, exciting, exhilarating and veryenjoyable day!! Our legs were really unstable after some of the ridesyet we continued through each and every one of them – even fittingin a Hurricane experience among others which were just as thrillingand breath taking! Not sure about those faces of horror from us onthe photo's on some of the rides though!!!! Very happy none of thebolts loosened and we actually arrived alive … It was truly afantastic time spent by all celebrating our youngest, Jonathan, 18thBirthday … coupled with the fact that this was a very big occasionfor John and I too as we were taking on a different role now with allthree of our kids being young adults now …. I must confess that itwas a proud moment … I firstly am still surprised that all three ofmy beautiful and amazing children came from within me!! Did we coverall the bases of teaching etc … as we all want to give the best toour kids, teach them things that will carry them through life andpray that they actually live life to the fullest and enjoy and learnand achieve for themselves … teaching them wisdom and praying likecrazy that they actually understood all those years of lessons …and yes, I am honoured to say “I am sooooo proud of the youngadults my children have become” xx I am a truly Blessed mother!!

Justineheaded out again, back to Port Klang with the train this time and myheart went with her xx I never knew one could love to such adegree!!!! Yet I am so thrilled for her and so happy for thisexperience in her life x We met some wonderful ex-pats on Mind theGap … James and Lorna and were so sorry to find they had DengueFever!!! Really a nasty experience and I am quite surprised we,Justine and I actually survived it!!!!!

Ifelt like I, yet again, had swallowed hundreds of butterflies as Iwanted to just burst with joy when on the 11thNovember at 09:15 am we pulled in the mooring lines, leaving Dangabay to set out down the Singapore Strait into the Melacca Strait …meandering past all the huge ships … I felt like an excitedkid!!!!!! Bubbling inside with excitement!! It is now official … Iabsolutely LOVE SAILING!!!!! Actually moving on the water v/s beinganchored …. though that too has it's place … We were sailing withPlane sailing, Bob and Deirdre, and Mind the Gap, James and Lorna.Three cats soaking up the sun enjoying the open water and fresh airwhen we had a 'FLY attack!!!!' Passing Coup de Coup fishingvillage!!! Thankfully James had got us a new mosquito bat which wasjust shocking those fly's yet we had a hit each time as there werehundreds of them buzzing around!!! So it was one cabin at a time –then closing the door, hatching up the mosquito nets so no more couldenter, even by the front doors … and so it went keeping us verybusy till we were honestly so exhausted running around swatting andexercising at the same time!! Who thought one could 'perspire' orrather SWEAT with a full on breeze on you!!!!! Yet, the exerciseproved positive as we had killed quite a few hundred of them!!!!

Sunburntyet feeling refreshed, we dropped anchor at Piesang Island 001.27'842 N and 103.16' 144 E. We took the opportunity to clean the propsand clean the boat checking we had gathered each and every dead fly!!The wind blew hard but all was good!! Mind the gap had to stop toclean their props just passed the Singapore bridge so came happily toanchor by 18:30 pm. While sitting out enjoying the breeze, justbefore sunset, John told me to look at the bird hanging off the sideof the boat … but I could not see it … I turned around and sawthe little tiny bird in the water! Jono jumped in to save it and thistiny little thing was over exhausted … it could not even stand it'slegs were so weak …Had a great supper and slept wonderfully!! Upearly the following morning to be sailing by seven am which had afull moon still out in daylight … yet sadly before the sun came upour little blessing passed away xx

Offto Tohor it was .. Lots of fishing nets to get through … a bigsquall on land which thankfully we could bypass … put out the sails… having to tack as the wind was just off the nose so put out another line which we pulled over the coach roof and onto the winch tohelp us sail closer to the wind! Very choppy but good … anchored bythe fishing stakes … Again up early to try and catch the currentbut as usual the current was against us and strong!!!! Got caught upin the excitement of seeing a submarine being lowered into the water… quiet shallow for a sub … then again what do I know aboutunderwater boats LOL … Got some wind so it was fantastic havingthe motors off just sailing! … Really love it!! Arrived at thewater islands and dropped anchor … had a good cuppa thinking aboutthe great day and the great sail:) .. During the following day, whilemind the gap went to Melacca, we noticed the clouds building … Johnfetched Lorna and James and we all had a cuppa hearing how theirexperience went then they headed off to their boat … still theclouds were growing and the sky was getting really REALLY Black!!!!Lightning was lashing everywhere and serious bolts!!!! Coming rightfor us!!!!

Madeus think of the 'Mother of all storms' we thought we went throughcoming into Penang the last time but this was looking 'ominous' andhad all of us lashing everything down and making sure our wet weathergear was ready, torches handy with batteries … and of course a goodcuppa to sip on while we waited silently knowing this WAS the worststorm we have every faced in all our time in these parts of the world…. Each one in their own thoughts … facing the reality of howvulnerable we are … you also realize in seconds how small we areand how powerless … bobbing roughly on the water not being able tosee very much with the incredibly heavy rains and powerful windslashing heavily on everything … we switched off everything we couldthink of hoping that we had pulled up our 60 metres of chain andpraying we did not drag with our double anchor … though we knew wewouldn't there still is that doubt when you are hanging onto a tinypiece of chain facing this giant of a storm!!! It would have been aSumatra if it was coming from the other direction … It was honestlyquite frighting and I just started praying for Plane sailing as theywere dragging and fast – towards the rocks yet all their lightswere out … we tried calling on the VHF but no answer .. John phonedand managed to wake them only to find that we could not, even if wewanted to, help them with the dingy not just because of the lightningflashing so close to us and EVERYWHERE with incredibly loud strikes,or because of the heavy waves crashing about, but because with ourfive on and the wind we would never have been able to go anywhere butthe rocks … so we stood by absolutely helpless and totallyfrightened for them as there was no way they could pass those rockswithout hitting them!!! … we were really praying, each one of usfor a miracle and I swear … those prayers were answered as nextminute they swung around far to our port side and seemed to beholding on …. motoring into the wind when their anchor finally took… Jono and I were standing inside the doorway watching and passingon the info to John who was looking to see if we too were dragging,and we were pulling hard on the chain and stretching out every singlelink to the maximum!!! When we saw Bob walking onto the foredeck inthe lightning storm!!! Brave man!!! … next minute a bolt oflightning struck his mast and same time we saw Bob fly onto thetrampoline!!!!!!!!! It was like us watching a movie …. I startedscreaming!!!! 'Bob is struck' Bob might be dead!!!! It was absolutelyawful!!!! There are no words to describe that moment … thatexperience … Jono could only shout .. Whoa! Whoa! …... totallyspeechless … tears streaming down my face thinking the worst I seeBob jump up and scramble back to the cockpit!!!! “He's alive”“He's alive” was all I could shout …. The following morningwhen we went around to see if everyone was ok we found that Bob andDeirdre too were surprised they never hit the rocks … so we knowwith out a doubt the miracle that took place … Headed for PortDickson, and had a lovely day and a lovely sail … Plane sailingand Mind the Gap sailing with us … so wonderful making friends andcaring about others in the way we do … you feel a connection somuch stronger than when you are on land … is it because of the timeyou spend with someone v/s on land? Or is it the elements we all faceand so know how much we will need each other when the time comes? Icannot put into words to fully describe the unity we feel right atthis moment going through something so profound and seeing how onecould have cheated death … makes your appreciation for life so muchmore real …. and makes me even more convinced that it is onlythrough the Lord Jesus that the outcome was so good x

Somuch time to just think and appreciate everything we have, how wehave grown, how blessed we truly are … I know I am rambling now butI so wish I had the words to fully describe my heart and what I amfeeling …

Jonathanwas going to join a yacht in Port Klang for the Raja Muda … Justinewas already there and phoned to find out how we were all doing andwow … how I miss my baby!! Ok, Big baby xx We moored up along withPlane sailing and Mind the gap in Port Dickson marina which has astunning and beautiful pool so were looking forward to that. Managedto use our washing machine, clean the boat while John went to town.Lorna and I were speaking to some guys by a racing yacht ' AustraliaMaid' moored up just a few boats away from us and so managed to getJono a 'lift' up to Port Klang! He just laughed but spoke with Jedthe skipper and was happy to be leaving that same night after nine toset sail for Klang. Now we only had one child left LOL!! Mind the Gapleft the following day and we stayed to finish a few projects forJessica's 19thin a few days time. The following day we headed for Port Klang …quite different not having Justine and Jono!!! Actually reallydifferent … and the next few weeks I kept putting out 5 plates eachtime I cooked … instead of three … I think I prefer 5!!!

Wedodged a few big ships coming up the ship channel to drop anchor inthe rain in 6.3 m of water … right by the start line for the racethe following day …. 03 degrees 02' 99 N 101 degrees 20'37 E - wewere caught up in the excitement of the race - 'The Selangor RajaMuda and so lifted anchor very early the next morning with Planesailing to see how far we could go before the first yacht came alongkeeping in mind the race only started at 1pm and it was only 6am!! Wesailed really nicely till just before sunset and dropped anchor halfway to Pancor in the shallows 003 38' 550 N 100 56' 886 E where wesaw the first yachts, Jono among them racing past … there was astorm on land with lightning while we sat bobbing up under brilliantcolours of sundown .. watching all the yachts till late into thenight coming past. Listening to channel 72 which was the channel theracers were using. Two more yachts passed, then awhile later sevenmore and so it went till I could not keep my eyes open. We liftedanchor at 7am hoping to see some late comers but none were seen allthe way to Pancor. We dropped anchor right next to the boat Jono wasracing on. He sms'd us to tell us he saw us coming in, so we droppedmini moon and headed for the beach. How awesome seeing Justine andJono and hundreds of other yachties talking strategy, scores etc...it was festive and there was a buzz going on which of course got meall excited that I wanted to join the race too!!! LOL but we were notleaving when they did, we were going into the Pancor marina aroundthe other side of the island to see Tiare and for us to haveJessica's birthday among friends. We went back to Bluemoon where Jonocame over to visit and fill us in of the excitement of the race.These boats could do a stunning speeds!!!! We went over to fetch Boband Deirdre and head for an ice cream on the beach so we could pop inquietly to the prize giving to say good luck and bye to Justine andJono, yet we should have known better … things are never thatsimple with us LOL!!! It was raining … but that did not matter tous … we had our ice cream then headed to the club so we could bediscreet … next thing you know all the gate crashers were hangingaround the entrance and we started chatting with a few of them,including James and so had quite a big group of people who were NOTinvited!!! The Dato who was sitting near the entrance just lifted hishand and next thing a table is brought out for all of us gatecrashers LOL!! Jono and Justine looking to see the 'disruption'!!!Talk about shoving that pride deep into your pocket!!! We met theowner of the yacht Jono was on, and he ordered a beer for ALL ofus!!!! Now it was getting embarrassing!!!! Then we met the skipperand were feeling like we were IN the race!!! Justine was looking veryexhausted so we decided to leave, but before we did, they had anannouncement to make which made me want to die with embarrassment!!!“There is a dingy in distress” “Dingy in distress” - I lookedat John and told him it was ours!!!! James jumped over the wall andheaded for our distressed dingy which was close to going under!!!!Our petrol container was almost about to float right off into thewaves!!!!! We said our good byes and rushed to save our dingy … wehad taken her up onto beach which had a high bank and so when thetide came in all the waves crashing on the shore were crashing intoour mini moon!!!! Thank the Lord the motor still worked so we wereable to take Bob and Deirdre back to their boat while we headed backto Bluemoon to ponder about our embarrassing gate crashing evening!!!LOL

Thenext day all the yachts were getting ready. Sailing out to thestarting boat while we sailed gently to the other side of the island,watching as the yachts headed out for Penang … we headed carefullythrough the tiny channel to the marina which was quite nice. BarbaraAnn was there, having just come back into the water after being antifouled, and to meet us on our dock was Tom … how grown up helooked!!!! Wow!!! Hiromi and Daniel had gone to fetch Sam from theairport so it was an exciting day meeting up with them again x weshared a wonderful meal and caught up on the years adventures …what awesome friends they are and how wonderful it was seeing themall again xx We celebrated Jess's birthday with Tiare which waswonderful though Justine and Jono were missed – Big time!!! Danielhad to do two trips to get us all to the town to the movies … andstill I cannot get over the fact that you cannot find pop corn aseasily as you can back in SA … and the pop corn does not come withsalt – it is honey covered which is nice – but I still preferjust plain salt … the cake was absolutely delicious thanks toTiare!!! Just wish we had got two!!! LOL

Weleft Pancor around lunch time so we could cross the bar on the righttide, said our goodbyes to Tiare till they came our way in a fewweeks and headed for Penang … knowing that, the following dayeveryone from the race were heading for the last stretch of the raceto Langkawi … So we navigated down the channel and instead ofanchoring at a little island at the bottom where a few other yachtswere heading, we decided to go straight to Penang even though wewould get there early hours of the morning … The sky could goeither way … by now rain is part of sailing, it is just thelightning that is a concern, so you can imagine what a shock I gotwhen I noticed writing in the Log book that the barometer had dropped5 in just less than three hours!!!!! John spun Bluemoon around justas soon as I had told him, with a worried look on his face …. welooked at the sky … looked at the anchorage about an hour away …what to do??? yet we decided to continue to Penang … kids wanted usthere so we headed off praying it would not be a huge storm …. itrained – but that was no problem … had lots of coffee to keep usgoing … Jess was sleeping so it was just John and I and what agreat sail it was .. there was a storm going on – on our port sidebut it did not touch us! Thankfully!!! Turned out to be quite a nicerun … dropped anchor at 5:15am just outside Penang, and had thebest hour sleep ever then lifted anchor at 6:15am feeling quite goodstrangely enough … to watch an awesome sunrise and a very VERY hotday!!! Just coming around the island, Mind the Gap sms'd to see if itwas us coming into the shipping lane, to which it was and there withthem was Plane sailing, who were also on their way to Langkawi. Wetried to gain so we could get to the top of the channel but justcould not … ended up we had to go through the bottom of the channelinstead of the top …. adding 6 EXTRA hours!!!!!!! John was sleepingwhile I was at the helm. Jess and I had just furled in as the windhad died completely … also we were trying to avoid the big rockjust starboard of us … Suddenly the wind picked up so much that Icould not resist putting a sail out … we did, and Jess was thrilledas we went up in two ticks to 8 knots and climbing!!!! I had to go tothe heads so asked if she was ok and would keep an eye out … when Ihad opened the door I could hear her screaming!!!!! My word – talkabout stress levels rising within seconds … I was still tying mysarong!!!! The boat was speeding with the sail wanting to jibe and weare heading right for the rock!!!!! I knew with that speed it wouldbe more that tough to furl in on my own while she let out and soasked John rather loudly to help me furl in!! Poor guy nearly hadheart failure with the panic Jess was experiencing … lol!! We putthe sail back out, but tried dodging all the fishing boats coming outearly afternoon … when we headed around the corner at the bottom wehad strong winds and strong current against us!!!! Boy were wereupset that it was right on the nose so could not sail and really wasburning up the diesel!!!!!!!!!!! If we came in through the topentrance we would have been anchored by four thirty, but not us …NO … we anchored in the dark with no moon at9:30pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! EXHAUSTED!!!! One hours sleep in twodays … We could not use 'Fred' our autopilot, because of the strongwind and current so John and I taking turns had to hand steer all theway up the channel … with only one motor on, which took a lot ofconcentration not to go off course … as if the wind took the noseit would have been very hard to get her back on course …. Also,with the beating of the boat, something dropped, which alerted me toa noise … I went down to starboard and yelled at John earlier toswitch starboard motor off as oil was seeping out the seal at thebottom … everywhere!!!! We slept VERY well and were refreshed whenwe got up to another glorious day …. Heard Zaid was coming toAmanda's with his wife so we all headed to Amanda and Fahkrees whereZaid arrived with his wife, then Justine arrived with three fellowyachties and we all had coffee which was absolutely wonderful! Like areunion of sorts xx We all headed to the restaurant near the jetty toenjoy a stunning evening especially with all three of my children …Justine was off to get a good start to the day which was the finaleand prize giving to which this time, we were invited … We arrived,and shortly after so did James and Lorna which was wonderful beingone of the first to get food and drinks … Jono was also at ourtable waiting for his team. When he phoned he found them all atBillions provisioning for the King's cup, as they were leaving thefollowing morning early so had to go up to receive the award for histeam!!! And his team who arrived later gave Jono the award to keep!!We danced and had such a wonderful evening while it poured withrain!!! We were sopping wet, yet went looking like drowned rats tomeet Justine's boss!! You know the saying … You never get a secondchance on a first impression … Yea right!!! Yet we had the time ofour lives!!!!! We decided when it was very late and we could not findLorna or James, that it was time to head back to Bluemoon out atanchor, so Justine saw us off as she was ready to head back,sailing. to Port Klang the next day to finish up on all the paperworketc … How time has flown … sitting here writing this blog, makesme excited as Justine is sailing since this morning heading back toLangkawi again .. coming home xx

Wemoored up for a week in the marina to fix a few things that neededattention. We ordered our wind vane and are happy to see the speed ofthe wind again!!

AsI mentioned earlier about using only one motor as the 'oil wasseeping out' .. what had happened was we found the alternator hadcome loose, and a bolt came out, dropped down poking a hole in theoil filter which was the cause for the oil splattering EVERYWHERE inthe engine and cover … and thank goodness it was seen at thatmoment otherwise we could have seized the motor!!!!! We have cleanedand serviced the motor and everything else, making it look brand newagain … now both starboard and port motors run perfectly witheverything tightened and in perfect working order. Serviced bothalternators so we could charge up and did both water makers …though one needs some tool room service which will have to wait …Being back on anchor is wonderful, yet again … the sun is shining,everyone seems content and now we wait for Justine so we can headback to p

Penangbefore returning to Thailand for Christmas and partake in another setof adventures that just come our way …

WithChristmas being just a few days away, and then a New Year - 2012 ...a new era begins and with it comes new hopes and new possibilities.Every year teaches us different lessons in life and with thatlearning we look forward to put our first step into the new year!!!

Oneof my favourite quotes … The best of all gifts around any Christmastree: The presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.~Burton Hillis and another … I sometimes think we expect too muchof Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears ofkindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to takemy Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus Idrift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly -waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: "Why,this is Christmas Day!" ~David Grayson

And, when wecelebrate this very special occasion with our loved ones, thehappiness just doubles.

Wewant to take this opportunity to wish all our wonderful and preciousfriends and family a Stunning Christmas and a fantastic New year2012xx God bless you all and may you live life to the fullest!!! Maythe good times and treasures of the present become the goldenmemories of tomorrow.

Wish you lots of love, joy and happinessfrom all of us xx Merry CHRISTMAS

Love John Jenny Justine Jessica and Jonathan xxxxx