CHANGES With reports this month from Nepenthe in Malaysia; Manu Kai in South Africa; Viva in Venezuela; Windsong in Costa Rica; Elsewhere in French Polynesia; Reflections in Thailand; and more Cruise Notes than ever before. Nepenthe — Folkes 39 Tom Scott Starting Yet Another Cruising Year (Royal Langkawi YC, Malaysia) As yet another year ends, world turmoil continues unabated — as does my personal turmoil. For each morning, I still must decide whether to have coffee or champagne with my croissants, whether soft-centered chocolates are more appropriate than nut-centered ones for a post-lunch self-indulgence, and whether to have the Beef Wellington or Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner. The sailor's life is not any easy one. The post-tsunami business recovery has been slow but steady here in Malaysia and elsewhere. Tourists have begun to appear again, although not in great numbers. Regardless of where the visitors come from, most seem to be somewhat careless around the local drivers. Today, for example, I witnessed a tourist on foot foolish enough to attempt to cross the street when cars were clearly visible less than a block away. Perhaps this silly fool thought the crosswalk would protect him against the vehicular onslaught. He surely didn't realize that the traffic signs and regulations are purely advisory — like telling somebody to eat three squares a day. And about as effective. For instance, if the street is marked "one way", there is not necessarily a consensus about which way is the right way. Apparently some drivers believe the arrow on the sign indicates the direction from which the cars should be coming, while others believe it shows the direction in which the cars should be going. Some of this inconsistency in driver behavior is probably engendered by the The ever-peaceful Tom Scott strikes a threatening pose as he prepares for yet another year of cruising in luxury and ease. Hedonist!
whimsical attitude of the authorities. An example that caught my eye was a very narrow lane clearly marked "one way" — with an arrow pointing down the lane. At the other end of the lane was an identical sign with the arrow pointing in the opposite direction. In a similar case of strange symmetry, there is another short lane a few blocks away with "Do Not Enter" signs at both ends. No letter from me would be complete without some small mention of yacht maintenance. My cockpit light developed a persistent and annoying flicker. I changed the bulb. I bent the socket walls to get a better contact. I resoldered the power leads. But I still got no joy because the light continued to flicker. I became frustrated and may have used some colorful language to describe the bulb, the socket, the wiring, electricity — and perhaps the nature of the world in general — because my Malay neighbor at the Royal Langkawi YC piped up: "I see you are having a problem. Maybe I am helping?" "Sure," I replied, "come aboard." He did, and I handed him the offending light assembly. He looked at it for a bit, wiggling bits and pieces as I had done, and after a few minutes had me hold the base in my right hand and the socket in my left hand. I did this while he gently pulled on the power leads with one hand, and inserted the bulb — twisting sharply — with the other. I was astounded when the light flared to life, bright and strong, without the slightest hint of its previous flickering. I was overjoyed! Smiling brightly, my neighbor looked at me and said, "It's like you say in your country: Many hands make light work." At the request of the editor, I've come up with a chronology of my cruising adventures — and find that I've been at it for nearly 20 years: 1986 — Bought Nepenthe and moved aboard at Gig Harbor, WA. 1988 — Quit work. Sailed from Washington to Zihuatanejo. 1989 — Zihuantanejo to New Zealand via the 'Milk Run'. 1990 — New Zealand, South Pacific Islands, to Australia. 1991 — Australia to South Africa. 1992 — South Africa to Trinidad. 1993 — Caribbean Islands.
1994 — Caribbean Islands to Mexico, then to San Francisco for a long stay. 1995 — San Francisco to Zihuatanejo 1996 — Mexico to New Zealand. 1997-2004 — New Zealand (cyclone seasons) to South Pacific Islands. 2004 — New Zealand, Fiji, and Vanuatu to Malaysia 2005 — Malaysia The editor also inquired how my steel boat is holding up, and how much I spend a year on my cruising lifestyle. My steel boat is holding up poorly. The bottom resembles Swiss cheese. The proper way of handling the matter would be to gut the boat and replate her. But that would cost more than the boat is worth, so in recent years I have simply been plating over where I must. Generally speaking, the boat gear is holding up just fine — although it helps that I don't have much of it. I generally get by on about $10,000 a year. Of that, about $5,000 goes to boatrelated expenses such as fuel, haulouts, replacement parts, and so forth. The other
