Hi All,

Here we go with yet another episode in the life of "Two Up" on tour!! Our travels must sound a little like a soap opera at times and if that is the case, this one will fit right in. A little "family" stuff, some social events, travel to exotic places and of course, some drama. Now, where to start?

How about we start where we left off last time. As I recall, we were heading to Langkawi in Malaysia were Donna was leaving the scene while Pete got stuck in doing a haul out and repairing our crunched keel. The idea of some land travel was bandied about and we had intended to be in and about Langkawi for some months, leaving the boat for long trips to Northern Thailand, Laos and inland Malaysia. Well as you can imagine, the trip home was a lot more fun for Donna then the haul out was for Pete. Donna enjoyed shopping, coffee mornings, long chats with all the "girls", movie dates, air conditioned comfort, more long chats and family gatherings while Pete slogged away in the sweltering equatorial heat, with mozzies, fiberglass, epoxy resins, epoxy rash, sanding, bogging and anti-foul paint. He did have a couple of visits aboard "Two Up" from the resident monkey troupe here on Rebak Island while on the hardstand. They managed to scoff all his lolly supply leaving only the wrappers for him to clean up but did no other damage thankfully. Pete also had the company of several other cruisers also with boats on the hardstand to help (or sometimes hinder?) with getting the work done. The repairs came up a treat and the photos are on our web site for those interested.

Once Donna was back with her sister in tow to enable them to continue their "talk time" and we managed to separate our selves from the marina berth, and spent several fun weeks sailing,(read motoring) around this part of Malaysia. We had a date with many other Oz and NZ cruisers for an ANZAC day gathering in one of the many anchorages around Langkawi, and made a great day of it too. It must have something to do with being so far away from home but it seems that as expats, we are more patriotic than we would be otherwise and vegemite sandwiches, Anzac biscuits and billy tea was savored by all. The B-B-Q got a workout with snags and onion sandwiches for lunch and of course there was plenty of beer and a game of Two Up in honor of the day. An afternoon storm cooled things down and livened things up when some of the boats dragged anchor but thankfully we were all in site of the boats and no damage was done. Well at least on THAT day! Unfortunately for those of us who stayed on, the ANZAC day storm was just a forerunner to the storm that came through the very next day. Now that one was a ripper! Winds over 50knts and horizontal rain were the order of the day and although the storm was short lived, it left us with a parting shot. A lightning strike! We realized that the big bang we had heard was a direct hit on us when we saw the smoke rising from the top of the mast and the bits of charred electrics splashing into the water all about us. It was about then we noticed that distinct smell of fizzled wiring in the saloon and we knew that our immediate plans for the future would include a good deal of new electronics and quite a bit of expense. A month later and we are still counting the cost!

After yet another haul out to repair six small burn hole in the hull we are now sitting in Rebak marina again, awaiting replacement bits. The holes were thanks to the lightning surging down our shrouds and carbon fiber chain plates and exiting through the hulls at three points on each side to ground. Although they were only small "bullet" holes, they had to be repaired a.s.a.p to prevent the timber core of our hulls swelling or rotting. The list of electronic goodies that need replacing is oddly selective. For example our VHF antenna disintegrated after taking a direct hit but the VHF radio works fine with our stand by antenna hooked up. Of course as luck, or Murphy, would have it, the selection includes most of our more expensive bits. Battery charger, regulator, radar, 240v inverter, one alternator(not both), chart plotter, depth, wind and speed log, solar regulator, AM/FM radio, nav lights, some LED lighting, deck lights and a few other bits and pieces like diodes, resistors, gauges and relays and the list goes on and on and on.

All the bits that we know about are now ordered and rather then just sitting waiting, we have been off doing some land travel. You may know that there has been some political unrest in Bangkok and we chose to avoid all that and headed for Sumatra for a while instead. We flew to Penang and then across to Medan before heading to Bukit Lawang in north Sumatra to spend some time in the Gunung Leuser National Park. The national park is a huge chunk of Northern Sumatra and home to Elephants, Sun bears, deer, wild pigs, tigers and numerous types of monkeys. Of course our main aim was to see Orangutans in the wild and we were in the right place. Our guest house looked out on a vast wall of rain forest just a short walk from the park entrance. Each day we watched the coming and goings of several types of monkeys including Orangutans. We also had success in viewing many different animals on a day trek into the forest. In all we are pleased with our first attempt at this land travel business and look forward to doing it again soon.

O.K. We have kept you too long,

Till next time

Love Donna and Peter.