May 16, 2006 - Leaving the Boat
by Al & Beth Liggett

This year we are not going out to Chagos. We are not going to the Andamans either. In fact, we are not doing much sailing at all. Sunflower will have to make do with the usual trek between Phuket (Thailand) and Langkawi (Malaysia) for now, as our major traveling this year will be by air and land. We will be going to the United States, and expect to be away for five or six months, perhaps longer.

Where do we leave the boat?

Langkawi has been our "Home Base" for several years now. There are usually several options here: three marinas, and the Hole in the Wall. However the tsunami of 2004 wiped out two of the marinas. Telaga has been 85% rebuilt, has moderate prices, and is already fully booked. Rebak is still under construction, with new management, and nobody knows what the berthing fees will be. The Langkawi Yacht Club would be a safe option despite the consistent roll coming through the marina caused by the ferry wakes (the ferry terminal is right next door to the YC) - but it is probably the priciest.

That leaves the Hole in the Wall, and that is our choice this year. We have left Sunflower there before - in 2002/3 - for a similar walkabout, when we were gone 5 1/2 months. The Hole is a labyrinth of rivers, streams and channels, lined with either cliffs or mangroves on the sides.

Al adjusting the foredeck awning, which should protect the spinnaker pole and dinghy from the elements during our absence.

Sunflower will be on a fore-and-aft mooring right in front of Rahmad's Hole in the Wall Restaurant and Fish Farm. We have known Rahmad a long time now, ever since he towed his meager fish farm into the Hole back in 1999. Since then it has expanded into a tourist attraction, with small tour boats (6-10 pax) stopping off during their "Mangrove Tours" to let the folks have a look at Rahmad's collection of fish, crabs, shrimp, etc, and perhaps have a coffee, cold drink or lunch. It's very busy during the day, but quiet and peaceful at night.

Al helped Rahmad install these particular moorings in 2002, so he knows "what's down there". We also know that Rahmad does a periodic inspection of the moorings each year. The original seven moorings have grown in number to house a fleet of 25 yachts! Even though about half the moorings are empty right now, boats will start arriving in April to fill them up. All the moorings are fully booked, with a waiting list. Knowing this, we signed up last year and gave him a deposit before we went to Phuket for Christmas. The mooring berth will cost us MR250 per month - about US$68 at today's exchange rate.

What will the weather be like in the Hole?

With all the protection of the cliffs and mangroves, the Hole in the Wall is practically bulletproof, weather-wise. About the only thing that could get you would be some freak waterspout or a lightning strike. We have been in the Hole often enough to know that the weather just isn't a problem.

April is perhaps the hottest month of the year. It may or may not be the start of the rainy season too. Our NE monsoon season was quite late this year, so who knows how that will play for the SW monsoon season. We do expect lots of rain during our absence. Rain and heat equals mildew, one of our main concerns.

How do you prepare the boat?

There is a big checklist of things to do when we leave the boat such a long time. We take much of our sailing equipment off the deck and store it below. The roller-furling sail comes down, and is folded and bagged. We will take the mail sail off the boom and put it below as well. This is a bit of a pain, as it is fully battened. Al doesn't want to undo all the hardware, which means that the whole bulk of the sail will be laying on the main cabin floor for us to walk over and around until we leave.

Mainsail all trussed up and ready to put below. Awkward, but less intrusive than I thought.

We take down all the halyards except the one for the roller-furling jib. We run messenger lines through the blocks so it is easy to re-rig upon our return. (It says here in fine print...) Likewise, the flag halyards come down. The lazy jacks, the furling line, and the traveler control sheets are also removed. All the sheets and reefing lines have been fresh-water-washed, dried, and done up for storage too.

	Foredeck awning made out of an old mainsail. Covers the whole area nicely.

The last time we left the boat for this long, the dodger really suffered. The mold attacked it with vigor! This year we will remove the dodger (and possibly the frames as well) and put it below. Another object to be in the way of traffic and our living comfort until we go.

The dinghy will live upside-down on the foredeck, just as it does when we are sailing. Over the dinghy will be our usual foredeck awning. We will put the spinnaker pole up on its track and brace the forward end on another aluminum pipe across the bow pulpit. We have just constructed a sacrificial awning out of a VERY old mainsail. We will put this awning over the spinnaker pole, tent style, and tie the edges down to the lower lifelines. Hopefully, this provides shade, some rain shedding, and mold protection as well.

Our main awning - new in October - will be taken down, stripped of its battens, folded, and neatly stowed below. The kept the OLD awning, and we will rig it up in a similar fashion over the main boom and out to the lifelines. I will be very surprised if it is still in one piece on our return.

What about below decks?

I have been preparing our living spaces for the last 3 weeks. Mostly it has to do with washing and cleaning. Mold and mildew are the ever-present dilemmas during our absence. I have laundered the cushion covers, and washed all the decorative pillow cases too. All the bedding has been laundered, the pillows aired, etc. I have gone through the closets and drawers and anything that is suspect has been washed and stored again.

The head and galley have each gotten a good scrub-down. This includes the area behind the stove. The fridge and freezer are defrosting as we speak, and I will mop them out daily until our departure. We will leave the lids open on top, and the front door propped open too. I also clean the bulkheads and wipe down the high-use areas throughout the boat. This all sounds like a lot, but we don't try to do it all on one day!

In 2002 I also tried the Clorox treatment, and that seemed to help keep the mildew away. On the day of departure I put an open container of Clorox in a bucket. Just take the lid off the bottle. One bucket goes in the head, one in the galley, one up forward in the workshop and one under the main salon table. The bucket is in case a wave or something tips the boat far enough to spill the bottle of Clorox.

Two computer fans installed in a hatchboard. Fans will draw air into the boat. Al wanted to paint eyebrows, nose and a mouth on it!

Now ventilation is really mandatory for mildew prevention too. This year we are trying a new system. Al has mounted two 12V computer fans (5-inch size) in a piece of plywood. This plywood will replace our usual hatch boards, and the fans will blow air into the boat. There is another 12V computer fan mounted on a board that sits in our forward hatch under the dinghy. We can leave that hatch propped open, and this fan will suck air out of the boat. The total battery draw for the three fans is 24 amps/day. Our two solar panels produce over 40 amps during the day. So now we have installed a solar controller as well, to prevent an overcharge of our batteries.

	Hatch on foredeck that lives under the dinghy. Computer fan in the center will suck air out of the boat. Green mesh is to prevent rats from entering. Mesh is also in each of the dorades on deck.

All systems are usually shut down. The main electrical switch and all the circuits are turned off. The bilge pump runs independently of these. The computer fans are separately connected as well. The LPG is turned off at the tank. The sea cocks for the sinks and the head are closed. The engine key is removed from the switch. We will probably disconnect the antennas from the VHF and the SSB radios, to be on the safe side, and could also disconnect the radar and the GPS unit - although if lightning makes a direct hit, I doubt that would help much. We take the batteries out of flashlights and any other battery powered items in case of leakage.

We don't have anyone come aboard to do anything while the boat is stored. We will leave a key with Rahmad in case of emergency. We leave several coils of line in the bottom of the cockpit - just in case.

Al will dive under the boat at slack water today and encase the propeller in a series of strong plastic bags to help with the growth problem. We have yet to figure out how to keep bottom paint on a prop. We tape a message to the engine starting key reminding us about the plastic bags.

Last item on the list before locking up the hatch - and this is VITAL - take out the trash!

POST SCRIPT -- Two disasters, one hiccup while all this prep was in progress:

1) We couldn't unroll the roller furling headsail when it came time to take the sail down. Seems the bearing(s) are frozen. It's a Profurl, 16 years old, no prior problems. We had used the sail on the three days of travel from Phuket to Langkawi just one month before, and it all was working perfectly. It took some doing to get the sail manually unrolled - glad we didn't have to struggle with that at sea! So I guess we are, in fact, lucky that it happened now. We have dragged the piece with the frozen bearings along with us and will get it repaired during our Stateside visit.

2) We had to leave the new awning up. I nearly broke down and cried; I know the awning is going to look AWFUL on our return. But using our old awning just would not work. The fabric is totally degraded and started to split while we were trying to put it in place. I think the only things that would have held up are the webbing reinforcements along the sides - leaving all the fabric to tear and flap and flog all the new paint on the deck and cabin top. Al says it will be a lot easier to get a new awning (if needed), rather than to do a repaint of the cabin, etc. Oh well, live and learn.

3) Because of the above, we have had to leave the dodger in place as well, another cause of concern for me. Last time the dodger really took a beating with mold when we were away. Strike three of the best laid plans...

Leaving the boat, all awnings in place.

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