A day on the Hardstand at Asia France boatyard, Langkawi, Malaysia

People often ask us "What do you do all day" onboard our yacht Erica..
They mean when we are sailing...BUT this has inspired me to post an article on a typical day here on the hard ( which means out of the water)

Erica on the right

 Here in the tropics it becomes daylight almost instantly...Like a light being switched on!

Our day starts with a walk about 1km through the adjacent Cargo Port before the workers arrive. There are often some spectacular sunrises due to smoke from mainland Malaysia or Indonesia from Palm oil waste product burn offs or smog.

The barges come in with duty free cars and trucks and supplies ordered from Thailand or Malaysia

We walk to the end of the port to watch the Long Toms( Crocodalis houndfish) herding small fish against the rocks, ready for one to stray from the others and become breakfast.

 We pass the Customs and Port operations offices and the gates for entry and exit. Each time we go out and come in we have to go through a permit procedure, unless by foot or bicycle.
 

On the way back to the yard we often stop at "The hole in the ground" as we affectionately call it!!
The fold up bike or motorbike comes in very handy during the day.... 

These bricks come in by barge and during the forklift manoeuvrings many are broken. We have cobbled an area beside "Erica" where we have an outdoors kitchen

 Around a month ago 8 puppies were born. The mother has not been able to look after them all. Those of us in the yard have become surrogate parents, giving them food and shelter and pulling them out of the drain when they fall in and enticing them to come out from under the containers on the wharf

 Following this strenuous exercise (haha) we have breakfast..At this time we often see eagles, horn-bills and monkeys in the trees and grasslands next to the port.

 This is our outside kitchen and utility area, which we used alot before we installed an air conditioner...But it's often nice to cook and eat here if there's a breeze.

 The tropical rain pours down at times and leaves us with a large wet area where the dragon flies and mayflies like to habitate

It has often been said that the definition of "cruising" is doing repairs and maintenance in exotic places around the world....How true!  We have a forever lengthening list of jobs.. 

These are some of the things we have been working on.......

 

Extending the stern

                                                         

Sanding and repainting the dinghy

                 

Painting 10m increments on the chain and moulds for the model cabintops

Painting and varnishing

                                  

New teak grating for boarding platform and model hull mould

                                        
  

Sanding and polishing the coppercoat antifouling

Servicing windlass and winches

                                    

Eric designing a fridge/freezer unit for a friend

In between these jobs there's the usual chores..   We have use of a washing machine under one of the yachts and have rigged up a clothes line alongside the fence

 

Kuah town and Matsirat village are around 10kms away.. We have hired a motorbike which is great for getting supplies.. It sure beats push biking into town in this hot and sultry wet season

 

On occasions  we hire a car with friends to sight see or purchase larger supplies

These delicious tropical fruits Mangosteen and Rambutan are plentiful at the moment.

The local young men in the yard often bring us them from their gardens

Some things from home can't be denied, so we sprout our own mung beans and make our own yoghurt

This is the yard shower which is almost a line up at the end of the day

With beer and spirits so cheap ( Langkawi is a duty free island ) a drink or 2 or several is relished at the end of the day with fellow live aboard cruising folk

Any pre dinner snacks are appreciated by the 2 boatyard animals. A very shy stray dog and a domesticated cat who just showed up one day..

                                                      
So that's a typical day out of our life right now   ........   More later