Workers

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Smoko

One guy takes a "smoko" break while his buddy continues to make teak boards for another project.

Mali's Work

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Mali

We're pretty happy with the high gloss finish Mali achieved on our cabin sole. Next project is to redo the cockpit Skylight but Mali is a busy guy; he can't do it until August. We booked a spot.

YACHTS REPAIR Co. Ltd
141/2 Moo 2 T.Mai khao A. Thalang
Phuket 83110 Tel/fax 076-379540
Mobile: +668 1892 4438 (Mali)
Email: yacht.repiar@yahoo.co.th

Sailing North

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Judy

Nice reach up the coast. Who says the weather is not so good during the Southwest Monsoon? This is supposed to be the wet season but in fact this is sailing in Phuket at it's very best.

Tacking aganst the tide

wingssail image-judy jensen
Track

In this shot of our track you can see how we tacked up the channel. The tide was against us and this made our tacking angles a little bigger than the 80 degrees we like to brag about, but even 90 degrees isn't bad.

Bottom Job

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Ready

When we returned to Phuket we found that the workers had finished the repair and painting on Wings' bottom and moved the boat nearer to the railway for relaunching. The work looked good and the price was excellent. We're happy.

Calm Day

wendy hinman
Yacht Haven

We're definately in the low season in Phuket. Normally this sidewalk at Yacht Haven would be busy with sailors and tourists but today it is a quiet as a ghost town. Even the bay, except for some anchored craft, looks pretty empty.

Under Cover

wendy hinman
Wings

Still snug under the cover as a nice morning turns into a great day Wings awaits our orders in Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket, Thailand

Heading Out

wendy hinman


At 10:00 we got the sails up and headed out towards the shipyard 29 miles away.

Steering

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Garth

Garth takes the helm so I can do some photos.

The Day Just Gets Better

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Three sailors

The SW Monsoon is supposed to be the bad time of year, but this is a great sailing day and it's getting better.

15 Knots of Wind

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Nice Breeze

We ate up the 29 miles in no time with a good wind and favorable tide. While Garth steered, Judy watched ahead, and Wendy found some shade, I scrambled around with the Nikon looking for a good shot.

Ratanachai Ship Yard, Thailand

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Arrival
After spending the night anchored off a resort nearby, we pulled into the holding area at Ratanachai exactly at 08:00 the next morning, right on time.

Ratanachai Shipyard, Phuket Thailand

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Workers

The red shirts ready the car for Wings' haulout

Marine Railway Car

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Wheels

These are the types of cars which the Ratanchai Yard workers place under your boat to lift you our of the water. The wheels can turn to allow them to shunt you off onto a siding.

Yard Forman

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Boss

All professional, and never smiling, the boss is in command.

Hauled Out, 2008 style

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
On The Rails

After 22 years of haulouts on various travel-lifts around the Pacific here we are on a marine railway. After they got us up on dry land in the shipyard they shunted us off on a siding so they could bring the next ship up past us. For being the first time we tried a marine railway it went rather well I think.

Wings in Ratanachai Boatyard

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Wings

After they got the boat out of the water and ready to work on we started collecting our tools.

Working on the Keel

wingssail image-judy jensen
Fred Grinding

Fred used some strong epoxy filler to repair the damage. The first batch went on the same day we hauled and the next morning, and after it set, he ground it smooth with his trusty old Milwalkee right angle grinder.

Phuket Boats

wendy hinman


On the SE Side of Phuket there are a lot of boats anchored in the lee of the island during SW Monsoon

Golden Serpent, Phuket

wendy hinman

Phuket Town

wendy hinman
Thai

Phuket is a typical Thai town. However, most of the island is not like this; in most places you will see tourist hotels and flashy bars.

We prefer Phuket Town to the hotels and bars.

Phuket Turtle

wendy hinman

Wendy Hinman in Phuket

garth wilcox
Wendy
Unable to stay away from the cruising scene, Wendy and husband Garth traveled back to SE Asia from Seattle (on an airplane!) to visit sailing friends. They visited Hong Kong and then us in Bangkok and together we came to Phuket, where they toured the whole island, or as much as they could until the rain and floods made the roads impassable.

Garth and the Long Tail

wendy hinman

Long Tail boats amused us

The engines are turned around when stored so the long tail shaft is no longer sticking out the back.

Phuket Beach

wendy hinman
Karon

In the NE Monsoon season this beach has gentle waves and the ocean here is calm. Cruisers like to anchor here then. Now however the SW Monsoon is in full swing and Karon is a mean lee shore. Swimmers are cautioned against going into the waves.

Phuket, Statue

wendy hinman

Chayo Phrai River, Bangkok

wingssail image-judy jensen
Palace across the River

The busy Chayo Phrai River in old central Bangkok. The wat is across the river from town. We are looking from the wat back to the town.

Wat Buildings, Bangkok

wingssail image-judy jensen

Wat Arun, Bangkok

wingssail image-judy jensen

Wendy Hinman, Bangkok

wingssail image-judy jensen

Palace Buildings and Wat, Bangkok

wingssail image-judy jensen

Goofing in Bangkok

wingssail images-judy jensen
Wendy Hinman (center)

Flower at Palace

wingssail image-judy jensen

Palace Guard-Bangkok

wingssail image-judy jensen

Sailor Girl

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Judy

The upwind steering position on Wings: Judy sits on the high side where she can see ahead and see the tell tales on the jib. She holds the tiller extension easily in her right hand, and if it gets windy she'll put her foot against one of the battens on deck.

The tiller is 6' long and usually light as a feather. If the wind is strong and it's a bit hard to steer then its time to reduce sail.

This isn't the standard configuration for a cruising boat, and even racing boats now days don't look like this: the cruising boats have deep cockpits with seat backs and protection from the elements. On a typical cruising boat you are in a walled cocoon. The raceboats, on the other hand, have wide cockpits where a handful of people can walk around.

On Wings we have neither. Our cockpit is not wide nor deep, its not walled in and we don't have room for a bunch of people to walk around. At the helm station on Wings there really isn't a cockpit at all; just a flat wide deck and a foot well that's basically a place for the engine controls and a hatch, and a spot to throw beer cans and whiskey bottles.

So you say: we are exposed on the high side with no protection. Yes, when the boat takes a knock-down we are looking at the sea 15' below us over a long expanse of deck and not much to keep us from flying right off into the ocean. Does that scare us? Not that much. We do have a solid stanchion right at our elbow to grab, and anyhow, when we are cruising we don't steer that much; we let the windvane steer and we are in the small cockpit behind the dodger.

So you say: the tiller is too difficult on a long passage. Yes, I'll grant you that hours on the wheel are easier than hours on the tiller, but like I said, on those long passages we aren't steering, the windvane is. We carry spare parts and an autopilot and we keep our fingers crossed that we don't have to do this all the way across an ocean. In 20 years, we haven't.

The plus side is that from this position we can feel the wind in our faces and we have great visability forward. If you love sailing, you'd love to sail this boat, and a large part of the experience is steering from the high side with a tiller in your hand.

Fred & Judy,. SV Wings, Phuket

For more shots of Wings'steering position, click the links below:

When you need to see!
Everyone is on the high side!
Wide decks for working!
Great visability!

Sea Dog Takes the Helm

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Relaxed

Wings spreads some canvas

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Recut sail working well

The old #1 genoa recut into a high clewed #2 works well in light air. Because it has less overlap and the foot is well above the lifelines this sail is much easier to handle, tacks quietly, and in many ways acts like the small #4 which we love; only it is bigger. Spreading this much canvas on a light air day really helps the performance.

Heading into Phang Nga Bay

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Close Hauled

After we wore ship we came up on starboard and sheeted in, making for the limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay.

Moving well in light air

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Port Tack

Yacht Haven

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Wings

The sailing trip is over, Wings is closed up until next time.

Arrival at Ko Wa Yai

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Judy

It is just eight miles from Yacht Haven Marina to Ko Wa Yai island but we've never stopped there before. Today we came in to the middle ground between this island and three others which form a large open square area where anchoring is easy. Right in the middle we are pretty exposed but with islands on all sides it is easy to move closer to one and get shelter from any wind.

Phang Nga Bay

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Ko Phanak

On nearby Ko Wa Yai there is a good beach and many canoeists are dropped off here to explore Phang Nga Bay. The next island is Ko Phanak.

In the Water

wingssail image-judy jensen
Cleaning the Bottom

Except for the keel the bottom after one year was still pretty good, just a heavy slime which we could quickly wipe off. Judy went around the whole boat and cleaned the waterline and down about two feet. I dove under the hull and cleaned the rest square by square. The keel was the worst. Where it was damaged in Feb all the paint and fairing compound on the very bottom was chewed off and barnacles covered the bare lead already. It took nearly 20 dives with a scraper to get them off. We have to haul this boat soon and repair this damage.

Anchored

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Ko Payu
We first anchored near Ko Wa Yai but a westerly wind came up and this anchorage was exposed to the wind and became choppy. We upped anchor and move 1/2 mile to the lee of Ko Payu where it was calm.

Judy in Sunset

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Ko Payu

As the sun went down over Ko Payu things cooled off a bit and we came topside to enjoy the evening.

Sailing Junks

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
After sunset two junks sailed by.

Randy & Laura Visit

wingssail images


Our New Apartment in Bangkok