CanKata is on the Move

By Darrel

Picking the right route, the right anchorages, and the right time.

 

Wow, 4 years have gone by since we sailed (okay motor-sailed) into South East Asia. This is incredible, especially since we had only planned on being in Malaysia for 1 month and Thailand for 1 month. Thailand - what a beautiful place and the Thais are the most beautiful people we have come across in our travels. Thailand is a hard place to leave, but knowing we will be returning here by 2018 makes it somewhat easier.

Some of our beautiful friends from Nai Yang, Phuket, Thailand

 

More beautiful friends from Nai Yang.

We left Nai Yang, which is located at the North West end of Phuket, Thailand at 0830 on February 7, 2013. Since this will be our home upon our return we thought it should be the official start and end of our circumnavigation.

Cankata feeling at home - sunset at Nai Yang.
Photo by Ley of Crystal Blues

 

We plan to spend about 5 years to complete this circumnavigation with the following rough schedule:

2013 - Leave Phuket, Thailand and sail to Cape Town, South Africa (approximately 6800 nautical miles)

2014 – Leave South Africa and sail to St. Martin, West Indies in the Caribbean (approximately 6900 nautical miles)

2015 – Leave the West Indies and sail across the Caribbean Sea to Panama and pass through the Panama Canal into the South Pacific (approximately 2400 nautical miles)

2016 – Leave Panama and sail to Papua New Guinea, Philippians, or Micronesia (approximately 9400 nautical miles)

2017 – Leave where ever we are (as long as it is where we are supposed to be) and sail home, i.e., to Nai Yang, Phuket (approximately 2500 nautical miles)

I may as well tell you before you hear it from Loretta. The reason we have to be back to Phuket by 2018 is because that is when my Thai Driver’s License expires. Or is it really because that is as long as I can go without a massage?

Preparing CanKata for our Voyage

 Since making our decision to continue or restart our circumnavigation last June, we have been quite busy preparing for the months and years ahead. Even though we have continuously kept CanKata well maintained there were some items that we did not have to tend to since we were not venturing out far from land and nearby shops and services. However, knowing that we will be out there with no chandleries or mechanics nearby, we knew that we would have to have CanKata completely operational and have on board a variety of parts and equipment that we could use to repair or jury-rig whatever will break. As Captain Ron said “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

Our trampolines were reinforced and restrung.

 

The man-overboard pole with new cover.

Safety Items:

Our EPIRB (emergency beacon which automatically sends out a signal identifying our position and to notify coast guard of an emergency on CanKata) was still working but the battery was past its expiration date so we had to get a new battery and have the unit tested and recertified.  

The EPIRB, handy for testing and in case of emergency.

 

We had more flares than required by Canadian and USA Coast Guard but again some of them had reached their expiration date so they were replaced.

Our standing rigging is now 6+ years so it was time to hire a professional rigging inspector to determine if everything is okay. After a very thorough inspection, the inspector informed us that it is quite evident that CanKata is a very well maintained yacht. He did however find a few minor recommendations that we have since corrected.

Our Personal Flotation Devices undergo an inspection every 3 months, but one item we had put off replacing, since we were not doing any night passages, was an emergency strobe light that automatically goes off when submersed in water. So that was replaced.

Our Ditch Kit was emptied when we arrived in S. E. Asia (well at least the consumables e.g. Snickers, Kit Kats, water and hard candies so these items have been replaced.

Navigation Equipment:

Our Radar had been acting up since our mast was taken down a couple of years ago and we knew it was a damaged connector problem. We have now replaced the connector and it works as good as new again.

The screen on our chart plotter had deteriorated to the point we could not view the screen from the helm station so we replaced it with a new one. (Thanks Marleen and Larry for bringing it with you.)

Our new Garmin at the back of the "nav station".
Radar on left, SSB on right. Newest Toshiba laptop performing well.

 

Our Single Sideband (SSB) radio was having trouble getting connected through our modem which is our only means to order a pizza (oh and also to get weather reports and communicate to the outside world). So we hired the experts and after removing all of our SSB components, they were able to detect and solve the problem. “Test Test … I would like to order a pizza with half and half – one half, medium with pepperoni and green peppers, and the other half, large with ham and pineapple.”

Mechanical Equipment:

 Since all of CanKata’s mechanical equipment is needed for coastal cruising, everything has been maintained and kept in proper working order. However, since we will not have the luxury of a nearby chandlery, we had to revisit our spare parts department. Although we are still quite well off with spare parts (some of which we bought even before leaving Canada in 2004), there were some items that we felt we should add, e.g., starter motor, refrigeration motor brushes, water exhaust ends, oil, filters, sea water pump, 12 volt inverters, and belts.

The bilge is a handy place for spare parts.

 

And bilges are handy for tinned drinks too.

General Equipment:

Since we gave up on fishing here about two years ago, we had to purchase additional fishing lures, lines, etc.

We won’t be able to rely on our local laundry ladies so even though our Duo Tub washing machine was still working well, we thought we should replace it with a new one which will hopefully last for the next five years.

 

 

Provisions:

Wow are we going to miss Thailand and the Thai meals. Not that Loretta can’t cook a great meal. Whew, good comeback Darrel.

Does anyone know how many tubes of toothpaste, or number of rolls of toilet paper, or cans of tuna, corn, fruit, pop, or bags of sugar, oatmeal, pancake mix, flour, salt, or boxes of UHT milk, orange juice, tea, toothpicks, or jars of jam, syrup, honey, mustard, olives, etc. we will need to provision for our trip to Mauritius or to South Africa? Yikes, neither do we. What we do know is how easy it is to spend lots of money and have a receipt that is about 48 inches in length.  Trust me we will not starve to death.  But we will still miss our wonderful Thai meals.

A cockpit full of provisions.

 

Shirt off, making headway.

Plastic tubs helped with the organization.

 



Still room in this berth for more provisions ...
but not for visitors.

A very long grocery list ... all in Thai.

Health Care Items:

I gave it my best shot. I told Loretta that our massages were an important form of preventative health care and that we should include in our medical kit a young beautiful Thai lady. Unfortunately she did not buy into it. Oh well only five years until my next massage. Yikes – I just got a pain in my lower back.

We had to stock up on all our meds, (not including alcohol) such as antibacterial creams, pills for heart attacks – or more precisely to stop heart attacks, ear drops, antibiotics, etc.

 

.....................................................................

Well we are still floating and with one or two more stops along the way for fuel and more food we should be self-sustaining for many months to come.