27th December - Rebak R & R

Friday 27^th December

Our sailingfriends come and go…

Jen and Irvin have gone back to Danga Bay, to await the arrival of their new engines.  

Last night they brought beer, wine, and a very well-used set of playing cards.  Fun!   We played Pete’s game, Oh Hell, also known as…many other names, many other variations.  I am extremely good at this game, and play very thoughtfully and carefully.  Usually…I also lose, very drastically.  I think last time I ended up with a score of MINUS 35.   (I made last for it yesterday and won, very dramatically, with a score of PLUS sixty.  Much better!)

Most of the rally people have left Malaysia by now, and are in and around Thailand. 

We were especially fond of John and Irina (SV Footloose) and were very sad and alarmed to hear that they had a horrid motorbike accident the day before they left Langkawi.   John has a broken and dislocated collarbone; Irina looks, I have heard, as if she has been in a very nasty punch-up, and has stitches in her beautiful face.  Oh those motorbikes!  Pete still has a scar on his leg from our very minor, slow-motion incident on Roti Island months ago.

Here in Rebak Marina life is very pleasant.  I have got used to ResortRoutine.  This morning Pete asked what I had planned for the day and was very happy when I said, Absolutely nothing.

There are still jobs to be done, things to be fixed, but…nothing urgent, nothing we can actually do right this moment.  For example, we need to replace the trampoline nets at the front of the boat.   They are shredded and dangerous and not at all inviting – no lolling around with a cushion and a book, gently lulled by the sound of lapping water!  (I have tried to find a tutorial on the internet re weaving a new net from strong, thin cord but…can’t find one.  I know one exists; Peter and Leanne made a beautiful one, for SV Plan Four.  Any suggestions??)

But…right this minute, we can’t get started on any new projects, so…it is all R & R on 2XS… 

I didn’t report back on our last few hours in our latest Mr Din Car.  It was a small, white nondescript vehicle, with no name or insignia at all so we have no idea what it was.  Other than…we do know it was a very sad, clapped-out little vehicle.  It started bravely and well the first few times, but then it developed battery problems and had to be pushed and roll-started.  It only just made it back to the Vivanta* ferry terminal, and made ominous signs of distress as we rounded the very last corner and limped into a parking spot.  We took our groceries off the back seat and found – oh no – that the weight of the bags had started a frenzy of activity in the back seat.  It was BOILING with small, angry ants.  The back seat was obviously a lovely little nest, and we had disturbed their peaceful day.

It LOOKS innocuous enough...

* It seems Rebak Resort has changed its name to Vivanta; there are new shiny pink signs