Redwings Round the World

Hong Kong and Shelter Cove, 26 October - 9 November 1997

Almost ready to go....

26 October, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

We finally made it! After three months on the hard, Redwings returned to the water yesterday - and floated!

Last night was our last in a land-based home. We woke up early this morning and headed down to the boat heaped with various bits of "stuff" we think we need to have. We all worked frantically to get everything crammed on board (ok Colleen and Kerry worked more frantically than I - but I had to do important "skippers stuff" to get the boat ready). As the mountain of boxes and bits in the yard paint shop we had been using as a storage facility slowly diminished, Redwings increasingly took on the look of floating gypsy wagon with things piled everywhere. No time for neatness. Just get us out of this smelly typhoon shelter!!!

Russ Peart, who I have been crewing for on his CHS racer/cruiser Vixen over the past three years, came at 1400 to help us bring the boat around to Shelter Cove. Although I feel comfortable sailing Redwings in the open ocean I must admit I have never actually maneuvered a boat of this size in close quarters and wanted a bit of coaching on getting out of the typhoon shelter. It would not have been good for morale if we cracked up within the first 15 seconds of leaving the dock!

As it turns out, my fears of "transverse thrust" and "cavitation" were overdone and the boat was very easy to handle at slow speeds in both forward and reverse. We had to motor the whole way as our Harken furler is half apart (and the forestay is not attached) and not all of the running rigging has been run yet. It was an easy, pleasant, and relatively uneventful passage. We all had big smiles on our faces as the Bank of China building faded in the distance and I believe the trip really started for all of us then.

Everybody took a hand at steering and Kerry learned to tie a bowline. The boat handled wonderfully and the engine started on the first flick of the key every time and never missed a beat.

It was great to have Russ along as his knowledge of local waters meant we didn't have to worry about navigation while at the same time, just having another experienced person on board minimized "what if" stress.

The cats were in pretty good all things considered for their first trip. However, Sybil lost her lunch on our bedspread (and what a lot of lunch it was for such a little cat). I hope seasickness will not be a permanent feature of her existence.

We arrived in Shelter Cove just as it was getting dark at 1800, three hours after we left that cesspool the call the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter (typhoid shelter more like it). Another round of successful close quarters docking further built our confidence.

Life has finally begun. Kerry, who has only seen the dirty and depressing side of Hong Kong (i.e. the RHKYC boat yard), is starting to feel that perhaps she has not made a completely foolish and irreversible mistake in deciding to join us. We all breath in the fresh air, admire the mountains, and I enjoy my first non-McDonalds meal for two days.

27 October, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Things continue to go well. After months of endless frustration, it seems so unnatural when we can put 2-3 flawless days together and actually stick to a schedule. We moved the boat this morning to another location on the pontoon and were able to maneuver into an extremely tight spot with only a couple of feet to spare at either end. Kerry and Colleen handled the lines beautifully and I was again amazed how easy it was to get the boat to do what I wanted to at slow speeds. Confidence is on the build.

Tets Sakai, who is doing all of our electronics work for us, showed up early and started giving us lights again. We made good progress on organizing the boat. A trip back to RHKYC revealed that the B&G (third time's the charm) wind display finally arrived as well as needed spares for the radar. I was able to find the weatherfax antenna I thought I had lost in Suzy's paint shop.

28 October, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Another good day. Tets put in a full day and we now have lights in the aft and main cabin, our wind generator and solar panels are charging our batteries, and the GPS and weatherfax have been hooked up and work.

I installed the Jon Buoy, the cockpit table, a fire extinguisher, and as much of the un-installed running rigging as I could easily. Colleen and Kerry continued to make good progress in organizing the mess.

The weather is a lot cooler now, its dropped from about 80 f in the day to 70 f and its in the 60's at night - perfect. The Northeast Monsoon is also blowing pretty steady every day. If it can stay like this for awhile, we should have a pleasant and fast trip to Singapore.

The cats are getting bolder. Basil now jumps off the boat frequently on to the dock and rolls on his back looking up at the sky and mewing. He jumped out the window and got a taste of freedom a few times when we were staying at Kelli's and he seems to be really psyched to be able to go in an out at will. A dog came up the dock at sundown and Basil jumped down on the dock in front of him and tried to look all scary. Tease. Sybil is still a bit cautious. She won't poop on the poop deck (where their box is) unless I am with her. She hid when the dog came by. But in general they seem to be adjusting fine.

29 October, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

The steady stream of good luck dried up a bit today, although net net, we made positive forward progress. We were planning to finally install the Brooks and Gatehouse instrument displays, but discovered that I had ordered one of the wrong instruments and in addition, we were short one connecting cord.

The day's events took a further turn for the worse when our newly-reattached water pump caught on fire. I appears that it had been jury rigged at one point (possibly during the delivery to HK, I remember it "broke" and John got it working again) which somehow resulted in a major short circuit. Fortunately, Tets was on board and responded quickly to Colleen's claims that she smelled "something funny" and they were able to avert disaster.

I was off the scene at the time with Kerry "breaking in" (read joy riding) our new Evenrude eight hp outboard and Avon Roll Away dingy "Savvy Trio" (named after a horse the three of us won money on several weeks ago). Fortunately, I had brought another new toy along with me - a handheld VHF and called Redwings to "check in" (read get the opportunity to look cool using the radio and say "over"). Colleen came right back and gave a quick overview of the water pump situation and instructed me to head to the chandlery to buy needed parts. On arrival at the shop, Tets indicated model numbers and sized of various required bits which I bought. A minor technological victory for the crew of Redwings, but having Tets spend half the afternoon fixing the water maker was not part of the plan.

Simon Pickering and boys, who have supplied us with all of our new running rigging, came out for the afternoon to help finish rigging the boat. This was accomplished and tomorrow, fingers crossed, we hope to go sailing!

We finished off the day by bringing the boat out to a club mooring (our free three days of pontoon time are up) and then took "Savvy Trio" over to Hebe Haven to the Thai Seafood restaurant there and gorged ourselves on Tom Yum Goong and Larb Moo. On the way back, Colleen took a hand at starting and running dingy. Thank God its an inflatable. It took two rammings and four passes before we were able to stop the boat alongside the Redwings and disembark!

30 October, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Back to the dock for our 9 to 7 of "free" pontoon time in the morning where we formulated our plan for the day. Colleen and Kerry headed off into to town to try to get the propane canister filled and to try to by a new regulator for it and a fitting for the stove. I spent the morning readying the boat for our first big sail.

After 4-5 hours of feverishly stowing all of the remaining junk in progress in various convenient places (such as Kerry's head - that's boat talk for bathroom - not the inside of her skull) and finishing off rigging jobs (including my first trip to the top of the mast), we set out with Simon Pickering, who provided us with all of the new running rigging for our spinnakers etc., two of his "crew" Matt Walker (who has done a lot of the work on Redwings for Simon) and Hugh (a new addition to their team), as well as Tim Keogh from UK Sailmakers who has provided us with most of our sails.

The conditions were perfect: blue sky and Northeasterly winds of 15 to 20. The boat took to the new sails (or vice versa) extremely well and it felt as though we were a knot or so faster than before. However, the B&G speed log indicated we were about a knot slower. We need to do a measured mile to recalibrate it.

The new main and 150% genoa look great. However, the leech on the main is a bit too long and the boom barely clears / hits the boom gallows. Tim is going to bring the sail back to the loft and cut about six inches off the foot.

The angles on all of the new spinnaker gear were perfect and luckily we don't need to make any adjustments (kudos to Simon and team). The boat made good speed with both chutes up, but you could really feel the weight of the boat in puffs with the kites surging ahead and the boat slowly playing catch-up.

Colleen refreshed her spinnaker packing skills and shared this enjoyable skill with Kerry. Packed, these chutes are huge! The two packed bags would completely fill the forward cabin. We are going to have to flake them down and roll them tight or something for stowage.

The only major gear disappointment is the shaft lock which the Yacht Club fitted. Not only does it make a huge racket when the boat is in gear, it does not actually work (i.e. lock the shaft in place - we have a two blade propeller which if locked vertically reduces drag significantly). This will have to be sorted out next week by the Yacht Club.

We spent the evening trying to get the water maker going. I started off true to form over-loosening the pressure valve handle which spun out of its threaded hole and descended into the bilge. 15 minuets of groping around in water only marginally dirtier that that of the typhoon shelter in Causeway Bay turned up only an oversized washer, but no pressure valve knob. However, I found a 3/8 inch bolt that fit and we were back in business. For about two minuets. As I turned up the pressure, I discovered that my socket wrench was not quite as gentle to adjust as the original knob and I overtightened it and the pressure climbed to 1000 psi - above the recommended 800. Water was spouting out of the control unit and it was making the feared "funny noise". I quickly turned it off. After opening the box (during which I dropped a screwdriver into the bilge - also unrecoverable) I saw that one of the hoses had blown off. Back on. Try again. Another hose blew off. Ahhh, the tank valve was not open. Open the valve, put the blown hose back on and secure it with a jubilee clip, and now it looks like its going to work. But the belt on the high pressure pump starts to wine and shimmy. Needs to be tightened and probably replaced. Forget it. Lets try tomorrow.

31 October, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Halloween started out a bit of a wash, but ended up in reasonable form. The boat started the day still a complete mess but with the added convenience of two spinnaker bags, each the size of half a Michelin Man, crammed into the main cabin.

Tets did not come in the morning, and we were all sort of generally depressed / overwhelmed with the number of jobs still to do and the time to do them.

However, we made serious progress on organizing and cleaning the boat and it's becoming livable. While Colleen and Kerry were cleaning, I started to put the stove back together with the new parts which just arrived from the UK. Tets then showed up and put in a solid afternoon. Kerry's now got lights (we think) in her head and forepeak. All of the pumps are hooked up and work (bilge / water). Tets also helped me make progress on the stove. Hopefully from tomorrow it will be back in service.

Dinner at the Shelter Cove BBQ pit. Lots of ghosts and goblins running around with a bunch of local boat-kids dressed up and celebrating Halloween.

1 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Huge day. Today we finally made the boat a home and for the first time, I am really confident we will be able to make it to Malaysia in time for the Raja Muda regatta.

First bit of good news was that as it was Saturday, the club was open for breakfast and I could start the day off with a hot cup of coffee. Productivity during the morning hours was much increased. We got the two monster spinnakers folded up tightly. Combined, they now fill only 75% of one bag which I crammed into the back of the sail locker. We then got the remaining bits of unorganized stuff pigeonholed and unwrapped our new cushions. It really does look beautiful. The dark teak against the steel blue cushions is very striking.

I pushed on with the stove in the afternoon and we reinstalled it, hooked it up to a new can of propane, and presto, it works! Colleen and I were both shocked and amazed that it functioned properly the first time. I guess we have become conditioned to things not working right off the bat and or needing significant help from "experts". A definite confidence builder. I also altered the helmsman's block to accommodate the new lever in the cockpit which is used to operate the shaft lock and fitted a new belt for the water maker high pressure pump.

Kerry got some experience with tools fixing the "cat net" (big fishing net to scoop them up if they fall in) that had bent and broke. She drilled out the old rivets, drilled through a new larger hole, and bolted it tight also applying a hose clamp for added rigidity.

Matt came in the afternoon with our new storm sails (jib and trysail made by Neil Pryde) and both look good and seem to fit well. He also put the furler back together which is great because now we can sail with the 130% genoa tomorrow when we bring the boat back to Hong Kong.

Tets also put in a half a day and hooked up the remote release button for the John Buoy Recovery Module (a thing that pops off the back if someone falls over, floats, flashes, and can be hauled aboard via a spare halyard) in the cockpit within easy reach of the helmsman. For a center cockpit boat, this is, I think, very important as by the time the helmsman runs to the poop deck to release the module, the man overboard will be 50 meters away. He also finished all of the exterior wiring and got the running lights, well, running. We'll need them for our planned Tuesday evening return from RHKYC to Shelter Cove.

Minor scare filling the water tanks. Kerry had been sitting on the side of the boat for what seemed like hours with the hose dangling open into the tank port. It never seemed to fill, but hey, its a big tank and the water flow is slow. Colleen and Tets happened to have the floor open as Tets was re-attaching the masthead lights when they heard and then noticed water flowing out of the top of one of the water tanks around the seal of the large inspection port! I tightened the bolts securing it to no avail. Putting more water in the other tank had the same result. I don't remember anything like this when we filled the tanks in Singapore. Tets points out that if the bilge ever overflows (something that it on our minds as there seems to be a small leak around one of the seacocks in the engine room - got to track it down) it could easily contaminate our water supply. Looks like we will have to pump the water out, remove these inspection ports, and reseal them or something.....

...but wait, Colleen looks in the Redwings Users Guide prepared for us by the previous owner John Potter, and it appears that this is a longstanding feature of the tanks. It seems to me that we will be able to live with it. I don't want to take on any non-essential jobs at the moment - even ones that seem reasonably simple as they inevitably turn out to be the biggest headaches. We'll just make sure the bilge stays well-pumped. We also have bottled water in reserve as well as the main water maker and emergency handheld water maker - I think we'll survive.

2 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

We were supposed to get up at 0600 for an early start back to Hong Kong. Well we still didn't do too bad awaking at 0730 and getting underway at 0800. Hot coffee, thanks to the now-connected stove, again helped make the morning a nicer place to be. I decided to leave Savvy Trio (the dingy) at Shelter Cove as I thought it would be more of a pain to deflate and store and or to bring back to Kellett Island (RHKYC). So we removed the outboard and affixed it to the back of Redwings and Kerry and Colleen paddled the dingy in while I idled off the dock. They then carried it up to the tender rack for storage. On return, they reported that never again would they lug the dingy that far and that next time it would be far easier to deflate. Ok. Easy for me to agree to that. There is not going to be a next time. Time to go....

.....Sailing! Today was the first time we sailed the boat by ourselves. Conditions were again perfect. Clear blue skies and a steady Northeasterly blowing 12 to 15 knots. The swell was quite large though reflecting the steady Monsoon that has been blowing for the past 10 days.

The cats did not take to the knocking about well. Basil was the first to lose his breakfast followed shortly thereafter by Sybil. Both then went on to enjoy second rounds. I guess we will have to give them big meals the day before we leave and hope they get over their seasickness reasonably quickly. However, once they were done being sick, they seemed to enjoy the trip reasonably well. The noise of the engine does not seem to bother them anymore.

Apart from cleaning up after the cats, the sailing went well. Main and genoa went up and out no problem and we reached off into the morning. Everyone took turns steering. Our one tack was a bit slow, but there were no major cock-ups to speak off.

However, the boom vang kept blowing off. I think the line is too thin relative to the cleat and that the cleating angle is wrong. Got to fix that. Only other problem is that the auto-pilot seems to want to steer 20-30 degrees to starboard of where you set it. Probably just needs to be re-calibrated of something.

All systems should be go on the water maker. Lets try it. It works!! Water comes out with a salinity content of just 20 parts per million - good enough to clean your contact lenses in. Another minor victory in a string of recent minor victories. Wow, we really are going to get out of here! I was especially happy the water maker worked as I was afraid I did not lay it up properly in the spring. I had to siphon the biocide mix through the system as the boat was not in the water.

We arrived at the Yacht Club at 1145 - 15 minuets before our announced "Open Boat" going away party was to commence. Rush to buy ice and drinks and get the mail. Luckily, people didn't start to show till around 1300 so there was plenty of time to tidy up. Probably 30 people showed up at various stages. A very laid back, fun and easy time. Really the first non-perpetration-focused time (apart from banging out these pages) of the past week. Good to get a break and see everybody.

Its evening and Basil the Cat is doing his nightly Cry Freedom act. Without the confines of apartment walls, he is in heaven being able to roam the dock. But tonight we are in Hong Kong, not harmless Shelter Cove. He goes missing and is found hiding under the UK Sails locker hunting roaches. He makes several more escapes and seems to particularly enjoy hopping from boat to boat through the Flying Fifteen fleet which is on the hard. He squirms when its time to go home and does not want to stay on the boat with so many interesting things to explore and sniff. We'll have to close up the cabin tonight and get out on the mooring tomorrow or I'm afraid he'll go missing when its time to leave.

3 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

A relatively quiet, but successful day. The yard was ready for us and by 0900 the engineers were taking apart the shaft lock and a carpenter was moving on fabricating teak coverings for our unexpected external cabin wiring system. Other jobs underway include the installation of a divider in the fridge for a freezer, putting drainage holes in the cockpit cubby holes, reinforcing the stairs to the main and aft cabins, and fitting a new tachometer.

Tim (the sailmaker) came in the morning as well and we checked the new boom cover and genoa sock. The boom cover is about 10 inches too long and the genoa sock four feet too short. Good thing they have time to make alterations. The main goes back to get re-cut and we also measure up the cockpit for the fabrication of eight sunbrella (cloth) rope bags that will help keep the cockpit spaghetti in check. With the addition of the spinnaker and running backstays, there are now two times as many strings to deal with.

I spoke with the Chief Engineer at the yacht club, about the performance of my new prop (a 20 inch two blade model) and it sounds like it may be putting a bit too much load on the engine. At maximum revs, it was only doing 1,600 rpm. In general, an engine like Redwings' (80 hp Ford Lehmann) turns over 2,000 rpm at max revs. The engine was also churning out a fair amount of black smoke when I worked it hard, and pushed the boat at 7 knots at only 1,000 rpm. We've decided to haul the boat out tomorrow and the club will trim the prop back a bit.

The good news is Tropical Storm Linda has passed out of the South China Sea and is fizziling out over Vietnam. However, not before it took out 1,500 small fishing boats. If we'd left on time (well on time for the semi-most-recent target...) we'd have very nearly run right into it. The bad news is that Typhoon Keith, which has been brewing and building strength for some days southwest of the Philippines, has turned into a super-typhoon with wind speeds of over 200 mph. Its heading northwest at the moment, and looks likely to stay clear of Hong Kong and our path South. However, we've got to keep a close eye on it.

4 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

A very successful day - for the most part. Once again we are shocked when things get done on schedule.

We were a bit nervous bringing the boat out of the water to get the prop shaved as going back on the hard seemed like an invitation to disaster after working for five months to get off. I got even more nervous when various yard "experts" advised that I leave the prop as it was and that there was nothing materially wrong with the reported performance of my engine. A look at the notes of the previous owner revealed that in fact the engine had run at fairly low revs with the previous prop (1,750 max - still faster than the 1,600 were were getting). However, in the end, I was convinced to go ahead with shaving it a bit with the fear put in to me that if I didn't, I'd ruin my engine.

The job was done and we got the boat back in by 1500. The altered sails and covers showed up on time as well and we left on schedule at just after 1700 to return to Shelter Cove. Goodbye Hong Kong Harbor. I don't know about Kerry or Colleen, but I never looked back.

However, the 3/4 inches taken off each blade of the prop seems to have been too much. Maximum revs is now 3,500 rpm - much too high by a long shot (although I think the calibration of the "new" tachometer is off making the problem look worse than it actually is). Even though we were able to cruise along at a good speed during the two hour trip, it takes much longer to get up to speed and maneuvering power is limited. We will definitely have to put the old three blade prop on ahead of any legs of the trip that will require a lot of motoring.

Paul Duggan, our fourth crew for the HK to Singapore leg, joined us today and helped us bring the boat back to Shelter Cove. Paul has his own small racing sailboat Shiny Shovel. In addition to being a competent sailor, he is a good fixit man and reportedly a hot fisherman. If he can cook, we will have really hit the jackpot.

It is looking like we will be ready to leave on Saturday. The only question is what will Typhoon Keith do? Or that other little low developing northwest of Borneo...

5 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Another fairly productive day. Paul was here all morning and worked with Kerry to get most of the netting put up around the boat. Looks good and I feel safer already...

Tets, unfortunately, did not show till the afternoon. I fear that these electronics jobs will not be done on time and will hold us back and or / make life difficult in the future. Having said that, he did make great progress during the several hours he did work and wired the navigation lights and a remote switch for the windlass.

The new fridge does not work properly and Tets can't seem to make it go. The motor starts and it begins to get cool, then it cuts out. We'll try to contact the manufacturer to help trouble shoot.

We were very lucky that the boat on the slip at the Hebe Haven Yacht Club was due off at high tide and we were able to come in right behind her at about 2000. Tets and I quickly got the "new"-and-recently-mangled two blade prop off and fitted the old trusty three blade. Redwings was back in the water and we were away by 2200 (but not before I almost backed out with the spinnaker halyard still attached to the slipway trolley - a bit embarrassing as there was a large crowd on hand).

6 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Like the weather, life is a series of highs and lows. Today was a bit of a low for us and it looks like the much-anticipated Saturday departure will again have to be delayed. Tets did not come all day and was apparently sick with the flu. In addition, some of the parts I ordered for the B&G network still have not arrived (they sent them by air mail - not DHL as requested - arrgh). I'm not comfortable to leave with no radar and not completely happy to go without a fridge and the instrument network working properly. Safety aside, I feel that if we don't get these things done now by the people who started the projects, it will be that much tougher to get it done further down the road if I am unable to do it myself.

Ok what good happened today? I checked us all out with no problems (this was before I realized that we would not be able to leave by Saturday). I was a bit worried about the fact that the boat had changed ownership and flags while in Hong Kong but this did not phase the clerk and we were clear in about 30 minuets. From tomorrow night, we'll be illegal aliens, but at least when we are ready to leave, we can leave. The fact that we have cleared should also give Tets and Matt further incentive to finish their work as yes guys, we are actually really planning to leave.

Colleen and Kerry took our additional three propane tanks to be filled and got things further organized and stowed down below. Paul also came back and he and Kerry almost finished the netting job. Paul will be here till we leave which will be a great help.

We made list number 20 of things we need to do before we leave at dinner. Hopefully this will give us all some perspective on what we need to do, but also why it does not make sense to just leave before we are a bit more prepared.

The delayed leaving time means we will have to skip Singapore and push straight on to Port Klang if we hope to make the Raja Muda on time for the November 21st registration and November 22ond first race. Although disappointed, I am confident the decision is the right one. It should result in a safer and more relaxed trip.

The additional several days gives us time to really get the boat tightened up and also out for one more sail. I want to spend more time going over safety and hope to do a man overboard drill, practice reefing, sail changes, and heaving to. We also need to check the main now that its been re-cut. In addition, a quick stop in Singapore, even for three days, would have been pretty stressful. One day to check in, one of running around, and one to check out - what's the point? Kerry's friend Laura, who was to join us there, can easily take a bus to Port Klang.

The weather is looking much better. Typhoon Keith is moving well North and now a bit East as well. Tropical Storm Linda is out of the picture completely and there are no new lows on the chart. The Northeast Monsoon winds are moderating a bit as well down to force 4-5 from 7-8.

Basil experiences first semi-live fish

7 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron / Kerry

Aaron - Today started with a splash... apparently. At 0645 I awoke to the sensation of wet paws walking on my back. As I rolled over, I blearily saw a soaked Sybil looking very much like the proverbial drowned rat. Not sure what happened. Probably trying to grab a fish over the side of the dock or slipped running along the toe rail. She recovered very quickly and the experience seems to have bolstered her confidence. I am glad she was able to find a way back on to the dock and boat.

Kerry - This is my first go at the log - I haven't read the others, so who knows what Aaron's representation of the recent past has been. We forged ahead with enthusiasm today, aided by our new crew Paul. My assignment was to finish the safety netting attached to the life-lines. Towards the bitter end, I asked Paul whether or not this netting would really provide an extra level of safety, unaware that Colleen heard my questioning. Later, she revealed that she was praying Paul would say yes, so that I would know my work was not in vain - that it was not only to prevent the cats from slipping overboard.

When I regained my eyesight from the various knot tying and attaching techniques employed throughout the eight hour process, Paul had a compassionate job for me to take over. Re-tying the "fruit hammocks" which are essential to our culinary soirees. During this time, Colleen and Paul acted as though they were very, very busy, masquerading with miner's lights, with talk of fixing drains, pipes, etc., etc. I don't know what really happened down below all afternoon - especially after finding the backgammon board set, hidden under a tray of crackers and cheese. It does make one wonder.

Aaron successfully published this page today and arrived back home at Shelter Cove with Priyani, the latest Redwings victim. We welcomed her in true S.C. fashion with a barbecue amidst a party thrown for a visiting Cuban band - but will provide the true initiation tomorrow as the scrubbing of the decks at sunrise commences.

8 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Colleen

Firstly, an add-in for Kerry, she forgot to mention the new hunter patterns of the cats which have her so amused. Basil and Cybil insist on bringing their newly caught prey to my bed! I was first greeted with a dead fish head, and fish guts splattered across my sheet and two satisfied kitties staring up from a reclined pose two days ago. Two live cockroaches (Hong Kong breed- two inches long a piece) were then brought on to my bed while I was in it reading. Cybil couldn't understand why I wasn't more impressed with her bounty.

Now, on to the juice. Notice this is the first time I'm writing as the two computer junkies have utterly monopolized the PC to date. I had to beg for time on it, in order to finally respond to three weeks of unreturned messages. We awoke to the once a week realization that it Saturday, and the club is open for breakfast. We all tromped up for a delightful "fry" while Aaron dingied off in search of Tets.

The day was filled with lots of drilling, installing and finishing of jobs. My grand list of things to be done actually shrunk considerably. Poor Kerry was banished to finish netting all day. We knew better than to bother her as her mood was on the edge already. She did have Priyani to help though. Aaron did odd jobs including fabricating a new boom preventor, engineering a "dousable" cat poop box, and making a quick release system for the liferaft. Paul Duggan installed the stereo speakers from scratch, drilled holes in cockpit, came up with creative solution some logistics with the project etc. No accident picking a qualified furniture maker and professional special effects man as our crew. His help has been enormous. He also found a way to cover up the hole in the propane pipe I discovered that caused a very dangerous propane leak. I sanded down the floorboards that had expanded to the point of only opening with a crow bar. I considered it rather dangerous as they were coincidentally above the two new through-hull fittings. We dingied off to the chandlery midday for supplies. Tets worked very hard and accomplished a lot for us and as always his work was first rate.

Matt Walker finished off the spreader patches. In addition to these, he put leather around other fittings, such as the shroud turnbuckles, where lines could catch or things could chafe. Though it was a very time consuming job, the leather work was excellent and several of the crews of other boats around us have been admiring it and asking who did it. However, Aaron promised Matt he would not tell as we don't really think he sees his long-term future consisting primarily of hanging off spreaders sewing up bits of dead cow.

I spent much of the afternoon as drill queen; going around the boat trying to drill and screw D rings into useful places (to tie down dive compressor etc.) and putting up hooks. I was very happy to finally discover how to access the water in the second water tank. With the much appreciated help of Tets, we followed piping and somewhat cryptic (but also very appreciated) instructions from John Potter on the location of the mystery switch. Apparently, it had been accidentally turned off. I feel much better now about our water supply having solved that one. As usual, we had another frantic round of dock evacuation before the 6:55pm deadline, in the dark with loads of crap everywhere (lots of fun...). Fortunately our usual mooring gymnastics (there is no mooring rope on the mooring) weren't so bad as we're getting more experienced and we now have the extra hand of Paul, who is much more dingy motor friendly than Kerry or me.

As we truly are aiming for tomorrow to be our last day here, I insisted we list out jobs and partially assign them for the morrow to avoid the frantic twilight panic (which will come anyway, but perhaps at least won't be so severe). New challenges include, provisioning for life now without a fridge (that sucker ain't gonna work) and praying that Aaron will finally move his tools and other sundries from the floor of the main cabin so we can have enough room to walk around before we set sail.

9 November, Shelter Cove, New Territories, Hong Kong - Aaron

Hopefully, this will be our last published entry until we reach Port Klang 1,600 miles down the pike and hook back on line. Tets came early and put in a huge day. In the end, he accomplished just about everything we ever planned for him to do. Although a bit inconsistent time-wise, he has been the best value for money on an hourly basis of anyone who has worked on the refit. Lots of great additional advice and help in addition to his excellent electrical work.

We are ready. Everything pretty much works but the new US$1,000 Isotherm fridge (arrgh) as Colleen detailed. I've called the manufacturer and they are supposedly sending us a new control panel and thermostat that we can install in Port Klang.

Colleen and Kerry finished the provisioning today, Paul tidied up the boat, and I took care of a lot of last minute odds and ends. The plan is to turn in early tonight, and to leave at 0600.

I've decided to run a rather unorthodox watch system which includes two long two person watches at night and four short one person watches during the day. The sked is as follows from 0800:

0800 - 1100 Paul

1100-1300 Colleen

1300-1700 Kerry

1700-2000 Aaron

2000-0200 Paul / Colleen

0200-0800 Aaron / Kerry

My logic is that during the two person watches, one person can doze off a bit for a few hours helping as necessary and then switching roles while the two off watch will get a real solid sleep. As we have an autopilot, I don't think six hours will be too taxing. As we all build confidence and Kerry gains experience, we may move to one person three hours on nine off watches.

Cooking and clean up responsibility will be given to one person for the whole day on a four day rotation. The idea is that that person will really focus on the job and do it well, and can then enjoy three days of other people cooking. We'll see how it works.

The weather looks great. The two typhoons that have been in the region are firmly out of the picture while the winds outside of Hong Kong have calmed down to a steady force 4-5. The sea state has also improved considerably. There is one low southeast of the Philippines we will need to keep an eye on, but at the moment, the isobars are still pretty far apart.

We've got a book running for our arrival time in Port Klang as follows:

Port Klang Book - Winner Gets Massages from the Others

Oh oh... Bad omen... Kerry just handed me a newspaper with a headline that reads: "Powerful Hurricanes Blow Red Wings Away" detailing a US National Hockey League game. Yikes! Glad we're not (too) superstitious.....

There is a lot more to write, but I'm too tired to write it and really need to get a good night's sleep. So this is it.....

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