USMV Alchemy

It chronicles our adventure in Iraq and at the American University of Iraq – Sulaimani.  I hope you enjoy reading and looking at the pictures of our latest adventure. If you have problems opening it please send me an email at gordon.anderson@ausi.org

I have posted some photos taken on July 26, 2007 of our beloved Alchemy being unloaded at the port of Long Beach.

July 17, 2007

As I indicated in my last posting to this blog; we were all set with our arrangements to ship Alchemy to the states.  Unfortunately all of that changed shortly after wrote the posting.

As you know, Alchemy was scheduled to be shipped on a vessel owned by a company named Dockwise.  The vessel was new and due to undergo sea trials about the time I signed the contract.

A few days after we arrive in Hong Kong we got an email from Dockwise telling us that they were cancelling the contract with no explanation.  After doing a little investigating we found that they had also cancelled the contracts of 35 other yacht owners who were shipping their boats on the same vessel.  We’ve heard two stories as to why they cancelled.

The first one was that they discovered problems during the trials.  Needing time to fix the problems would mean that they would have to delay the departure date.  Their vessel was scheduled to stop in Hong Kong, Brisbane. Auckland, Ensenada, Port Everglades, FL and Monaco where she was going to be shown off at the Monaco Boat Show.  Feeling that making the show was more important than fulfilling their contracts, they are now going to sail her directly to Monaco via the Suez Canal.

The second reason is similar to the first, but with this one they did not feel they would make enough revenue from their planned passage so they decided to go directly to Monaco.

Either way, they clearly are not concerned about customer relations or the possibility of repeat business.

As soon as we got the email we and the owners of three other boats started contacting other agents and shipping lines.  We found an agent who made arrangements aboard a container vessel (MSC Texas) to ship Alchemy to Long Beach.  The other three yachts were going to Florida so they are being shipped on a different vessel.

The Texas arrived in Hong Kong last Wednesday, Alchemy was loaded aboard and she is scheduled to arrive in Long Beach on the 23^rd.  I am flying to LAX on the 19^th to meet Alchemy and take possession of her.

When Alchemy is unloaded I will sail her to San Diego for a day or two so that brokers can see her while I interview them.  I’ve been in contact with several and want to find one and give her or him an exclusive listing.  From there I will sail her to Ensenada and put her in a marina.

Yu-ching has decided to stay in Taiwan and won’t be joining me until I arrive in Mexico.

All of this has been very stressful, time consuming and has taken its toll on us.  With Dockwise we didn’t need to have a cradle built, worry about cargo insurance, find an agent to clear Alchemy through customs (or even deal with US Customs - the Dockwise vessel was schedule to unload in Ensenada), make arrangement to have an $8,500 cradle disposed of or sail her to Ensenada.

Now you know the details and we hope you understand why we have not been in touch.

I promise to write more when I arrive in Ensenada and to keep everyone up to date with more timely postings.

I’ve posted some more pictures.  Blog 27 is of sights around Hong Kong, Blog 28 are the friends we spent time with while we were there and Blog 29 are of Alchemy being loaded on the MSC Texas.

I originally tried to post this on the 15^th of June but for some reason it got lost in cyberspace.  I guess I should read my own blog more often.

June 15, 2007

As I indicated in the April 18^th Blog posting, we have decided to end our journey and list Alchemy with a broker.  She is not the kind of vessel that is popular in this part of the world (over here they prefer fast cruisers that look more like a Nike shoe than a vessel built for ocean passages) so we decided to take her to Hong Kong, put her on a freighter to Ensenada, MX and list her with a San Diego broker (more about that later).

The typhoon season in the South China Sea begins in May so we felt, after we confirmed our booking on the freighter, that we should begin the trip to Hong Kong as soon as possible.  My brother, Keith, flew from Nashville to KK to help with the passage.  I don’t know what we would have done without him.  He was a big help taking a regular watch and keeping Alchemy running.

I plotted two courses on the charts.  One was a straight run from Kota Kinabalu to HK and the other included a stop in Subic Bay, Philippines.  In both cases we had to cross two straights that can be rough.  The first is the Balabac Straights between Borneo and Balabac Island, P.I. and the second is the Luzon Straights between Luzon Island, P.I. and HK.  In checking the weather the night before we left it appeared that we had a good weather window for about 3 and a half days, so we opted to head for Subic and stay there until we had another good window.

We, Keith, Geronimo and myself, left KK on May 4^th and arrived in SB on the 7^th.  This first leg of our trip was very smooth and we completed it a little more than 72 hours.  During our stay in Subic we spent our time catching up with old friends, cleaning the boat, restocking the galley at the duty free stores and watching the weather.

By the 11^th of May it looked like the weather was clearing so we made preparations to leave the next morning.  Everything was fine until we cleared the northern tip of Luzon.  Although the skies were clear, the seas were choppy.  We had about 30 hours of seas with waves of 8 to 10 feet hitting us on our beam.  Alchemy was built to cross oceans so she had no problems handling the waves, but her crew had an uncomfortable ride.

We reached the outer islands of HK at about 1:00 AM in May 14th.  My brother, who made the trip with us, had never been to HK so we spent the next 5 hours cruising around HK Island and Kowloon, so he could see the city at night.  During the day these waters are filled with freighters and ferry boats so you have to keep at eye on them at all times.  The normal rules of the road do not apply as the freights take a long time to change course and the ferries just don’t give a damn about who has the right of way.  It is much easier when the traffic is less and the captain can enjoy the view as well.

HK at night is spectacular.  It is a 24 hour city so all of the buildings were lit up.  We had a great time; it was a nice way to end the trip and made us forget all about the passage.

At 6:00 AM we set a course for the Gold Coast Yacht Club where we found an open berth to tie up.  When the marina office opened up we checked in and made arrangements to clear our arrival with the customs and immigration offices.

We are now spending our time exploring parts of HK that we had never visited and getting Alchemy ready for her boat ride to Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.  The vessel that will be carrying her is new and she just finished her sea trials.  Originally she was schedule to arrive in HK on June 27^th.  Unfortunately, during the trials a few small problems were found so her arrival in HK has been delayed for about two weeks until the early part of July.  When she reaches HK and has Alchemy and the other yachts loaded aboard her she will head to Brisbane and Auckland to pick up other yachts before she heads to Ensenada.  The anticipated date of arrive in Ensenada is now on or about the 20^th of August.

I will be making the passage with her, but Yu-ching has opted to stay in HK for a while visiting with friends and then go to Taiwan to see her family before joining me in Ensenada, MX.

As I said above, the boat that will carry Alchemy is a new vessel.  She was designed and built to transport yachts of all sizes.  There are ballast tanks on her that can be filled so that she sinks in the water allowing the yachts to be driven on and off of her as opposed to being lifted by a crane and set on the deck.  She has quarters for the owners of boats being transported and a swimming pool and weight room for their use.  Because of her planned far flung ports of call it will be a long trip but it should be an interesting one.  Lots of time to do some minor work on Alchemy, catch up on my reading, working out in the gym and relaxing by the pool.

We are in the process of selecting a yacht broker in San Diego who will sell her for us.  When she is sold we will return to Nashville where I will probably have my knee operation.  At this point we are not sure about what we will do next.  While we love Nashville and the loft we purchased, it is not large enough for us to live in full time.  We have been talking about purchasing a car and driving around the US to look for a place to settle down.  Yu-ching has seen parts of the US but there are lots of nice places she has not visited.  Since we are talking about a permanent place to settle down we want to make sure we consider all of the options.

I will try to post one more update before I leave HK and post some messages along the way to Mexico if I can get internet access.

April 30, 2007

Last Friday Yu-ching’s close friend from high school and college roommate, Eko Chiu, her husband David Lin and their sons Tom & Tony came for a four day visit.  The boys spent their time swimming in the pool and playing video games in the hotel recreation room.  Yu-ching, Eko and David spent their time catching up, discussing Taiwanese politics and going shopping.

On Sunday morning we set sail for Tiga Island, about 30 miles from KK, were planned to spend the day and evening and return today in time for their flight back to Taiwan.  Before we got 5 miles from KK we had several of our guests hanging over the rails so we turned around and anchored at one of the islands just offshore from KK.  Our sick guests got better as soon as we were settled and everyone went ashore to swim and snorkel.  That evening we barbequed chicken and corn on Alchemy’s grill.  Yu-ching did her magic with a marinate for the chicken and it turned out great.

We have posted pictures of their visit under Blog Photos 26.

April 23, 2007

On countless occasions people have asked me why I wanted to go sailing around the world.  I have never been able to come up with an answer that satisfied them or me for that matter.

I tried to explain that boats have been part of my life since childhood. My brother and I had a row boat that we used to explore Lake George in Hobart, IN when we were in grade school.  My family owned a series of boats that started off with a ski boat but quickly progressed to a series of cabin cruisers.  We kept them at a yacht club on Lake Michigan.  On weekends we would go cruising to other yacht clubs along the lake shore or just take them out for a ride.

When I built my first home it was on a lake in Fort Fairfield, ME.  Shortly after the home was completed I purchased a Hobe Cat that I sailed from the time the ice melted until the lake froze again.  I was teaching at the University of Maine Presque Isle and I talked my department chairman into allowing me to teach a summer course in sailing.

When I moved to Portland, OR, I purchased the first Alchemy, a 34 foot Hunter.  I lived aboard her and sailed almost everyday.  She made trips up the Columbia River to Lewiston, ID and out over the bar at Astoria to the Pacific Ocean.  Later on I moved her to Marina del Ray, CA and lived on her for three more years.

When my career took me overseas I sold her and was without a boat until I purchased the current Alchemy, a boat I had hoped would fulfill my life long love of the sea and a chance to see my dream of sailing around the world come true.

As I said above, I have never found an answer to the question of why someone would want to spend their life on a boat sailing around the world.  Until now that is.  The other day I began reading “The Cruise of the Snark” by Jack London.  It was first published in 1911 and is about a vessel he and two friends built to sail around the world.  In Chapter 1 he gives his answer to the question and it expresses my reasons remarkably well.

“Our friends cannot understand why we make this voyage.  They shudder, and moan, and raise their hands.  No amount of explanation can make them comprehend that we are moving along the line of least resistance; that it is easier for us to go down to the sea in a small ship than to remain on dry land, just as it is easier for them to remain on dry land than to go down to the sea on a small ship.  This state of mind comes of an undue prominence of the ego.  They cannot come out of themselves long enough to see that their line of least resistance is not necessarily everybody else’s line of least resistance.  They make of their bundle of desires, likes, and dislikes a yardstick wherewith to measure the desires, likes, and dislikes of all creatures.  We are all prone to think there is something wrong with the mental process of the man who disagrees with us.

But to return to the Snark, and why I for one, want to journey in her around the world.  The things I like constitute my set of values.  The thing I like most of all is personal achievement – not achievement for the world’s applause, but achievement for my own delight.  It is the old “I did it! I did it I did it!  With my own hands I did it!”  But personal achievement, with me, must be concrete.  I’d rather win a water-fight in the swimming pool, or remain astride a horse that is trying to get out from under me, than write the great American novel.  Each man to his liking.

The more difficult the feat, the greater the satisfaction at its accomplishment.  Thus it is with the man who leaps forward from the springboard, out over the swimming pool, and with a backwards half-revolution of the body, enters the water head first.  Once he left the springboard his environment became immediately savage, and savage the penalty it would have exacted had he failed and struck the water flat.  Of course, the man did not have to run the risk of the penalty.  He could have remained on the bank in a sweet and placid environment of summer air, sunshine, and stability.  Only he was not made that way.  In that swift mid-air moment he lived as he could never lived on the bank.

As for myself, I’d rather be that man than the fellow who sat on the bank and watched him.  That is why I am building the Snark.  I am so made.

The trip around the world means big moments of living,”

Recognizing this about me makes the decision we have made even more difficult.  Those of you who have been reading our Blog regularly will remember that my right knee gave out when we were in the Philippines.  In a follow-up visit with the surgeon who operated on me, I was told that it was just a matter of time before I had to have knee replacement surgery.  Despite following a rehabilitation program religiously, that time has come.  I will have to return to the states for the surgery and the rehab will take 6 months or more.  With this in mind, we have made the decision to list Alchemy with a broker.  We don’t want to leave her unattended for a year or more and thinking realistically, she is probably more boat that I could handle with an artificial knee.

While I regret the way this has all turned out, I do not regret making the decision to have her built.  We have had a wonderful year sailing her on the South China Sea.  I did not set on the shore wondering what it would be like.  We didn’t make it all the way to the states, but we certainly got a feel for what it would have been like had we completed the trip.

Our traveling days upon the sea are, in all likelihood, over but that does not mean that we are done exploring the world.  Nor does it mean that we will never own a yacht again.

April 4, 2007

This past weekend Yu-ching returned from Taiwan.  She was accompanied by her Aunt, Uncle, sister Yu-Fong and her friend Jane.  Yu-fong and Jane had spent some time with us in Hong Kong, but it was the first time her Aunt and Uncle were aboard Alchemy.  For all of them, it was their first visit to KK.

On our visits to Taiwan they have always shown us such a great time so we wanted to make this trip a memorable one for them.  To make is special, we reserved two suits in the Sutera Harbour Magellan so they could enjoy the opulence of the hotel.

They could only stay for the weekend so we didn’t have much time together.  We went out one morning for a harbor cruise, Yu-ching took them shopping and they spent the rest of the time enjoying the hotel and marina amenities.

As I said, the visit was short but I believe everyone had a good time.  We look forward their next visit and hope that they all can stay longer.

I have posted pictures of their visit under Blog Photos 25

March 27, 2007

A few days ago my old friend, and former student, Sarjit Singh came to KK on a business trip.  He is the Executive Director of the Malaysian Association of Hotels and was here to attend a meeting of the General Managers of the hotels in Sabah.

I invited him and his friends - Mohd Ilyas, the President of the association, his family, Dr. Jerry Chong, Adeline Choo and Anna Aik - to spend a day cruising KK’’s harbor.  It was a sunny day and everyone had a great time especially Fareez Ilyas who manned the helm of Alchemy for most of the time we were out on the water.

For the last few weeks our friends from Subic Bay, Sarah Hebblewhite and Clement Martinez aboard Kuro-Shio, have been tied up along side of us.  Long time readers of this blog will remember that they sailed with us from Subic to Apo Reef.  Today they are departing on a trip that will take them along the northern coast of Borneo and up the east coast of Thailand.  From there they will sail around the coasts of Cambodia, Vietnam, China and then across the straights to Taiwan and eventually up to Japan.

We wish them fair seas and good wind.  We have become good friends and hope that our sailing paths cross again soon.

Photos of Sarjit, his friends, Sarah, Clement and Kuro-Shio are posted under Blog Photos 24.

March 12, 2007

We have returned from our trip to Lebuan Island, Malaysia and the Sultanate of Brunei; officially know as Negara Brunei Darussalam, commonly known as Brunei.

The trip had three purposes; 1. To stock up on duty free items – Lebuan is a duty free island and thing are incredibly inexpensive, 2. To renew our Malaysian visas, and 3. To fill up Alchemy’s fuel tanks.

When you leave a country on a vessel like Alchemy, you have to officially clear out with the marine authorities; this is not a big problem, it just requires some paperwork.  Next you have to visit with the customs people to let them know you are not taking large sums of the local currency with you and fill out more paperwork.  And finally the immigration office to get your passport stamped.  You have you go through the same process when you arrive in a new country.  The marine officers want to see that you have officially cleared out of the last country you visited and you must register with them.  The customs officers just what to know what you are bringing into the country and immigration needs to stamp your passports.  And you thought going through this at the airport was a hassle!

We cleared out of Malaysia in Lebuan primarily because all three offices are within a block of each other.  In KK they are in different parts of the city and it takes hours to get everything done.  Checking in at Brunei is also very easy because all of the offices are in the same building.  When we began our journey home we had to go through the same process in each of the countries.

The seas on the trip over were as calm as could be.  The trip to Lebuan took a little over 10 hours.  We spent the night at anchor there after we checked in.  In the morning we made the trip to Brunei in about 3 hours.

We anchored at the Royal Brunei Yacht Club.  The folks there were really nice.  One of them took us to the port offices in his speed boat so we could check in and he picked us up when we were finished.  The club is modest, to say the least, when compared to others we have visited, but very nice.  The food in the restaurant is enough to make a stop there worth while.

Brunei is a very interesting place to visit.  It has an absolute monarch, the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin.  The 29^th ruler in a dynasty that is over 600 years old.  It has been reported that he is the riches man in the world.  Brunei has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world – 18,000 USD a year.  Its land mass is only 2,228 sq. miles   The place is incredibly clean, well maintained and the city is beautiful.

I mentioned that one of the purposes of the trip was to fill up Alchemy’s fuel tanks.  The price of diesel in Brunei is 0.79 USD per gallon and gas is just as inexpensive.  Eat your heart out.

The trip home was another story.  We got up early and headed for the fuel depot.  When we arrived we were told that the authorities were limiting non-Brunei vessels to $150 USD worth of fuel.  We needed twice that amount but no matter how much I pleaded with the owner he would not budge.  He did, however, tell me that there was another depot about 5 miles away.  To make a long story short we purchased our limit of fuel at both places, but by the time we finished checking out with the Brunei officials and reached Lebuan to check in, all of the offices were closed.  We had to wait until the next day and they did not open until 10:00 AM because it was Sunday.  By the time we were finished checking in and had pulling up the anchor it was noon.  We knew we would be going into the wind and the seas would be rough, but it was worse than the weather web sites reported.  In all it took us 12 hours of battling 10 foot waves on our forward port bow.  We were exhausted by the time we arrived.

Despite the rough trip home I would do it again.

I’ve posted some pictures from the trip under Blog Photos 23

March 7, 2007

To those of you who log on to our site regularly, I apologize for long time between updates.  No excuses, just having too much fun enjoying the sunny weather.  It is difficult to set indoors at the computer when the sun is shinning and the cool waters of the South China Sea are calling.

As I wrote in an earlier posting, Yu-ching flew to Taiwan on the 7^th of February.  I joined her on the 15^th so we could celebrate the Chinese New Year with her family and friends.  If you have never been in Asia for a New Year’s celebration you have missed something that is truly wonderful.  The celebration lasts 5 or more days with a specific event (mainly eating) scheduled for each day.  On one day the eldest son hosts a dinner, on another the Mother and Father act as host, Yu-ching and I also hosted one.  Between the great food and meeting relatives and friends, some old and some new, we were busy 24 hours a day.  It was a great time and I looked forward to many more.

One non-New Years related activity was to visit the Botanical Gardens in Tai-chung with Dr. Chin and his family.  They had a special show of Tulips from all over the world that was beautiful to see.

I have posted some pictures we took during our stay in Blog Photos 22.

I flew back to KK on February 27^th.  Yu-ching stayed in Taiwan to spend some additional time with her parents; she will fly to KK on March 23^rd along with her two sisters, mother and a friend (Joan).  I look forward to her return.  Alchemy is just not the same without her.

When I returned I found that our old friends from Subic Bay, Sarah Hebblewhite and Clement Martinez were in the slip next to Alchemy.  As you may remember, we left Subic together and traveled as far as Apo Reef.  They stayed at the reef for a while scuba diving before returning to Subic for some repair work on their sailboat Kuro-Shio.  It was sure nice to see them again.  Yu-ching and I have missed them - they have become such good friends.  It’s amazing how often this happens.  There are three other yachts in Sutera with people we have met before in other anchorages.  Small world.

A few days ago we took another crack at fishing with Steve, Clement & Sarah, this time we went out at night in the hopes that we would have better luck with both the weather and catching fish.  The swells were as high, if not higher, than our last trip and the catch was not much better.  We managed to hook 5 small sharks on one reef and on the others we tried  not a thing despite the fact that the fish finder was showing lots of schools passing underneath the boat.  I guess they didn’t like the bait we were using.

Tomorrow, Thursday, March 8^th, we are going to take Alchemy to Brunei for the weekend.  Steve and Geraline Salter and their son, Giles, will be going with Geronimo and I.  I promise to write an update about our trip as soon as I return.

February 7, 2007

Last Wednesday Yu-ching and I flew to Kuala Lumpur to see some old friends and to renew my passport.  We took in all of the sites of the city and had dinner with old friends.  (See Blog Photos 20).  Sarjit and KC were students in a class I taught in KL a number of years ago.  At that time both worked in the Ministry of Sport (I think that is the correct name).

Sarjit is now the Executive Director of the Malaysian Association of Hotels.  He arranged to have us put up in a suite in one of the best hotels in town.  The Admiral was very happy to spend the night on land and in a first class hotel.

KC has retired and was recently awarded the title of “Dato”.  It is the equivalent of being knighted.  A very great honor and one that he richly deserved for all that he has done for his country.

Today Yu-ching flew to Honk Kong to visit with her friends Cary, Wendy & Moon.  On Friday she will fly to Taiwan.  I will fly to KL next Wednesday to pick-up my new passport and on Thursday join her in Taiwan.  We will stay there for about two weeks visiting with her family during the Chinese New Year.

Earlier I posted an article from Fragrant Harbor magazine that featured Alchemy.  (See Blog Photos 4).  A few minutes ago I had a group of people from Korea stop by the boat to see if they could hire her for a day to shoot a commercial for a credit card.  They will be coming back on the 11^th with their cameras, lights and models for the shoot.  They have promised to send me a copy of the commercial as well as all of the footage they shoot of the boat once the commercial is finished.  When I receive everything I will post them on this site.

I don’t know if this is big news in the US, but last week a Malaysian company signed a contract with an Iranian company to build a pipeline in Iran.  This upset several members of the Senate and they called for an end to the free trade talks currently going on between the US and Malaysia.  These talks are taking place at Sutera Harbour, the place where we are staying.  Why is it that we always seem to be in places that are in the news?

January 24, 2007

Over the last several days I have gotten emails from friends asking how we spend our time in a port like KK.  My answer is in the form of a question to them.  How do you spend your time at a 5 star beach resort?  We do much of the same things – going to the pool, shopping in town, visiting the local sites, reading, and just relaxing.  The only difference is that we are not limited to a one or two week vacation.  We can stay at a place like Sutera Harbor Marina as long as we want.

My typical day begins around 5:30 AM.  After brewing and drinking a cup of coffee I head for the gym.  I work out (riding a stationary bike and lifting weights) and then spend some time in the whirlpool.  When I’m finished it’s around 9:00 AM and Yu-ching is just waking up.  I fix breakfast and we talk about what we would like to do for the rest of the day.

Two or three time a week we go to town to pick up groceries and anything else we might need.  Yu-ching likes to window shop so some days she goes alone and visits one of the malls.  Most of the other days are spend by one of the three pools.  I also spend an hour or so everyday answering emails and doing other work on my computer.

In the evening we either prepare dinner on the boat or go out to one of the restaurants at the resort or in town.  Although KK is not very big it is a vacation destination and therefore has a number of good restaurants.  One that we especially like specializes in seafood.  In front of the restaurant there are 50 or more tanks filled with every kind of live fish, lobster, shrimp you can imagine and some sea creatures that you have never seen before.  You make your selections and tell the waitress how you want them prepared.  You can’t get fresher seafood than that.

The weather over the last couple of weeks has not been conducive to sailing so we have stayed in port.  It has been sunny and warm, but the seas have had large choppy waves.  Actually when you are cruising and spending some time in at a marine you don’t take the boat out that much.  Once you have seen the local shore line and visited the offshore islands there’s not much else to see or do.  Cruisers don’t go out for the sake of going out.  There are a couple of boats near ours that have been here for three or more months.  In talking to the owners they told me that they only go our when they have visitors.

We are planning how and where we will spend our time during the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays.  It looks as though Yu-ching’s sisters will pay us a visit just before the New Year and then we will all go the Taiwan to spend the rest of the holiday with her parents.

Not much else is new so I will close for now and go to the pool to work on my tan.

January 8, 2007

Keith, Kelley and Gigi began their 3 day trip home (they had overnight layovers in Taiwan and LA) to Nashville last Thursday.  We received a phone call from them last night to tells us they arrived save and sound.  Life aboard is certainly quiet without Gigi.  Everyone at the Club and around the docks keep asking about her.  We miss her and her parents very much. 

Yesterday we were invited to a Malay wedding. The reception was held at the home of the Groom’s family about an hour from KK.  It was truly a family affair.  Preparation began several days before the big event with family members erecting tents, preparing the food, making rice wine, etc. The party got underway at noon and lasted until midnight.  During the day they had a traditional Malay band and in the evening a DJ played music for dancing.  We had a great time meeting everyone and the food was beyond description.

Shortly after the first meal was served we noticed that the men began drifting away.  We followed them and discovered that they were all moving to an area behind the house where a number of tables were set up for card playing and games of chance.

Today we are spending a quiet day on the boat recovering from the wedding festivities.

We have posted some photos under “Blog Photos 18” of the wedding, Keith, Kelley and Gigi and our neighbors.

Thursday, December 30, 2006

To those of you who log on to our Blog regularly, I apologize for not posting anything lately.  We have been having too much fun with our guests and visiting various places around Borneo.  Yesterday we flew to an Orangutan rescue center.  The center has a feeding station out in the jungle for the Orangutans who have been retuned to the wild but still need some assistance.  About a half a dozen apes came to the station while we were there including several young ones and one very large older male.  It was a wonderful experience seeing these magnificent animals in there natural environment.

Today we are off to welcome in the New Year at Mount Kinabalu – the highest mountain in Asia.  We will spend three days there.

I have asked Kelley, my brother’s wife to write a piece for the Blog so you will have some idea of what it is like from another perspective.

I will post some more photos when we return, I have to run now because it is time to leave and everyone is waiting for me.

Guest Blog from the Visiting Tennesseans;

We’ve been here in Borneo for a week now and loving the sun, the water, the clouds, the Malay people and our Aussie and Kiwi neighbors. Who knew?  Apparently, the Aussies knew because there a lot of them around.  We have yet to see any other Americans, which makes it that much more exotic!  For the most part, we’ve settled into the Boat – which is fabulous and very comfortable.  Keith, Gigi and I have sharing the Master Quarters and Geronimo has the guest room and Gordon and Yu-Ching are sprawled upstairs wherever they can get cool and have enough room.  Gordon mentioned Yu-Ching sleeping on the floor last night!  What wonderful hosts we have!  And, Geronimo is even doing some babysitting for us while we’re here.  They have a great little playroom where they go and play.  Gordon has prepared several wonderful breakfasts and we had a delicious turkey for Christmas, made on the boat.  One afternoon we did take the boat out to explore several islands, but the weather didn’t cooperate and we came back in a bit of a squall.  But, we loved the experience of the boat, the navigation, the dingy and all!!   We had expected to travel to Brunei for a few days, but again, the weather forecast was for 8 foot waves and needless to say, none of us where up for trying that.  So, we stayed put so far, but that’s not suffering much.  This is a wonderful resort, with several very cool pools, Italian, Indian and Malayan restaurants and even a spa, which Keith and I have already used for a Traditional Balinese massage.  We sipped ginger tea and gazed out at the South China Sea. 

Gigi has become a bit of a celebrity around the Marina so when we go walking around, we get a lot of “Hi GiGi” and smiles.  She’s made fast friends with Fizzy, the food and beverage manager who supplies her with cookies and M&Ms.  Her favorite waitress is Serina, or Rina as she calls her.   The locals are trying to figure out where she’s from.  She does share some characteristics with them, certainly hair, eyes and skin color.  But, not quite.  But as you all know, her personality makes everyone love her. 

Here in the marina, there are probably about 40 or so boats berthed here and most occupants seem to be resting and waiting for boat parts so they can be on their way, but God knows, no one seems to be in the slightest hurry.  It’s really interesting to get a glimpse into the boating life.  I still can’t fathom getting along with Keith well enough to spend 24/7 together, not to mention agreeing on how to sail, where to sail and what to do!   Yesterday; we went into the Rainforest, about 2 hours south of here.  We saw the Proboscis Monkey, a Monkey that lives only here in Borneo (and maybe Sumatra) in the mangrove trees.  They are noted for their huge noses; although we didn’t get close enough to really see the noses…We climbed into a little boat and went down the river until we saw a few monkeys.  After the sightings, we had a delicious dinner under a thatched roof on shrimp, crab, curry pork and rice.  I admit, I was a bit worried about mosquitoes.  Many others on the tour were covered from head to toe and we had our shorts on, so we were slathered with OFF.  Still, I was worried so we skipped the Firefly tour that followed dinner.  No, you didn’t misread it; it was a tour of Fireflies in the Rainforest.  We came home instead, figuring that we’d all seen our share of fireflies.   

For those of you dying to know how our flight over was with a 2 year old.  Really, not bad.  It was bad for 2 old farts like us who couldn’t get comfortable.  She slept a good 8 hours and of course, met everyone else on the flight.  Thank God we got the bulkhead seats where we had a bit more room.  When we got to the LA airport, we found out that artic winds were forcing us to land in Anchorage, AK to refuel, adding about 4 hours to our trip.  That, on top of a 1 ½ hour delay out of LA!  .  Bottom line, we arrived in Taipei about 2 am and thank God, Yu-Ching and her sister, Kathryn were there to greet us.   By the time we got to the hotel and settled it was 4 am!!!  But, its been so worth it.  We loved our time in both Taipei and Tai Chung, seeing sights and meeting Yu-Ching’s family. 

More later.  We’re off to the Handicraft Village and tomorrow, the Orang utan sanctuary! 

Love to all,

Kelley

If I did not have a current email address for you or in the event it got lost in cyberspace somewhere, I am posting our 2006 Christmas letter.

2006 Christmas Letter

December 13, 2006

Dear Friends and Family:

Those of you who have known us for a while are not surprised when you receive a card and/or Christmas letter from us posted in some far off location.  This year’s letter is no exception.  We are writing this from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.  Our yacht, Alchemy, is moored at the Sutera Harbour Marina.

This has been a year filled with adventure.  We took possession of Alchemy in May and sailed her from China to Macau and then on to Hong Kong, the Philippines and now Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo.  We have not followed any schedule, stopping along the way when we found a place interesting and staying a week or more.  When we started out we had a route planned, but kept changing it when a fellow cruiser told us about a place that was “must see”.  Now when we decide to move on we only plan our next stop, from there who knows. 

We will be spending the holidays with family.  My brother, his wife Kelley and their daughter Gigi will be flying in next week.  They will be here for Christmas and New Years.  When they depart Yu-ching’s family will arrive to spend the Chinese New Years with us.  There should be 8 of them making the trip; her elder sister, Yu-fong and her husband Johnson, her younger sister Catherine and her husband Henry, and her brother Jason, his wife Vivian and their daughters Pepe Pepe and Ting Ting.  We had hopped that her parent could make the trip as well, but health problems are preventing them from coming.

Those of you who have logged on to our Blog: http://usmvalchemy.spaces.live.com/  or web site: http://www.alchemy-trawler.com/ know all about our travels (the Blog has had over 3,000 hits simce we first put it on the internet) so I won’t go into the details here.  If you haven’t logged on, and are even remotely interested, we encourage you to do so.  We don’t update it everyday because we don’t always have an internet connection but try to post things whenever we have something that might be of interest. 

We will close now with a wish that all of you are well and have a happy and joyous hioliday season.

Gordon & Yu-ching

http://www.mesasoftware.com/merrychristmas.htm