Estrellita IP38-138: Bill and Amy Cocos Keeling

Position Report
August 2, 2012
S12 05.485 E96 52.925
Cocos Keeling, Southern Indian Ocean

Pirates - Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Down the Plain -The Other Indians - Vietnam, Cambodia - China - Alice in Wonderland - Thailand - The People you Meet - Kaa and Krap, Sounds like… Boat Stuff - What’s next for Estrellita?

Our last letter was… ready for this? Nineteen months ago! Did you miss us? Since our last letter we have sailed almost 4,500nm visited 4 countries by sea and 5 by air. A lot of travel but almost zero progress on our goal of sailing around the world. Here’s why…

Pirates of the Indian Ocean. The 4,500 nautical mile U turn
It’s a really long story and too complicated a subject for me to narrate completely. So I’ll make it short. On Feb1, 2011 Amy and I were 3 days, almost a third of the way, into a passage from SW India to Oman near a place known as Pirate Alley when we received a flurry of emails from sailing friends pointing out new information and fresh government warnings to NOT advance our position toward the Middle East. After an emotional and even tearful 4 hour decision making time, we turned Estrellita around 180degrees and headed back to India. The relief was immediate. We found that we were exhausted physically and emotionally beyond our own understanding due to the emotional strain of sailing through the world’s most prolific pirate waters.

Days later American sailboat Quest and her crew of 4 were taken and eventually murdered by Somali pirates while sailing on much the same route we had just abandoned. Soon after that, the Dutch Yacht “ING” was taken with a family and crew of seven and a third yacht was taken that I do not believe was ever officially reported. Meanwhile huge freighters were being taken left and right as the Somali pirates went wild increasing the number of attacks by 300%! Over a 3 month period. Three Hundred Percent!

Some have said, and Amy and I obviously agree to a point, that private boats and even commercial shipping should just not go there. Leave the Somali waters to the pirates. Fine. But before you abandon these waters to pirates understand that they are currently in control of roughly 3,000,000, Three Million! square miles of ocean. An area larger than all of Europe. It’s like you heard that the Arizona/Mexico border was dangerous so you resolved to avoid it and traveled no closer than Calgary, Alberta… but the pirates got you anyway. That is how far from Somalia Quest was when taken. At any given time 80 ships and 600 to 800 working sailors are awaiting ransom in Somalia. Unimaginable, unforgivable, shameful. And that’s all I have to say about that…

Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain…
The minute we turned Estrellita around we began planning our first trip to America in almost 5 years. As I said, we found that we were exhausted and relieved. We found that were tired of everything. Tired of worrying about pirates, aggressive fishermen, storms at sea, boat maintenance and just plain tired of being strangers where ever we went and by God we wanted to go HOME!

Next stop, Oklahoma! I cannot tell you when was the last I spent quality time in Oklahoma. Years. Maybe 20? Amy has heard all my tall tales about Oklahoma and Oklahoma weather. She likes to tell me that Tampa is the “Lightning Capital Of The World” and I like to tell her about extreme heat, tornadoes and softball size hail. So when we stepped off the plane at Lawton airport and walked down the steps in (literally) 116degree heat and a 25 to 30 knot breeze, I was grinning from ear to ear. And when it hailed 2 days later and covered my dad’s front yard like a fresh snow, I coulda died and gone to heaven. Oklahoma!

We went to the Rodeo! Ate the worlds best cheeseburgers at a place in Meers Oklahoma that grows their own longhorn cattle for the meat! Had Catfish for supper and chicken fried steak for lunch so many times you can’t count, saw Geronimo’s grave, visited old friends and just sat and relaxed and told stories and just, just had a blast doing almost no damn thing. It was great. Just what I needed and God Bless Amy for enduring and embracing Altus and all that it is… and is not.

A month later we did almost the same thing in Florida. You may remember that Amy and I bought a lot in Punta Gorda, Florida about 3 years ago, except for Google Earth, sight unseen. Well, we have now seen it. In fact, we have met a many of our future neighbors and have new friends in Punta Gorda. We are really looking forward to living there some day.

The Other “Indians”
We spent about 3 months in India all told. We saw the Taj Mahal, you probably didn’t know it was a mausoleum? Ya, neither did we. It’s nice. We took a trip into the mountains to tea country, we met some local folks, made a couple friends, saw an elephant or two (ok, about a hundred) and took about a million photos of Indians and Indian life. A culture so foreign to ours that we could not have imagined. To me the most fascinating thing about it is that it appears as a colonial land of 100 years ago. Still, for all you hear of India as an emerging economy that will someday overtake the US… Don’t believe that it will ever be a better place for us to live and is no place even to stay for more than a visit.

On the other hand, one of our best memories of India is the way Indian young people wanted to have their photo taken with us. One time Amy and I and friends Chris and Trish were walking along the waterfront in Cochin, India. A young lady, stepped in front of Amy put up two hands and physically directed Amy to the side of the walk where another friend was already waiting, posed, to have her photo taken with the white chick. That happened all the time. They see so few of us and are so happy to do so they want to document it for their friends! Really. Once in a very touristy (Indian tourists) area we were walking down the road by several parked busses full of Indian tourists resting beside the road. As we walked by, almost every single bus would have a group approach us and ask if they could have our photo! I mean, it’s like we were Mick Jagger and Madonna or something. It took 5 minutes to pass a stopped bus while camera phones were passed and different folks rotated from camera position to joining the photo.


Surprise! Vietnam Rocks!
Before this trip it would never have crossed our minds to visit Vietnam or Cambodia. I was one year too young for the draft but like you, have known veterans of that war and have seen the movies. I couldn’t believe that there would be anything there for an American tourist but angst, frustration and possibly even guilt. But so many of our sailing friends had made the trip and enjoyed it we thought we may as well see what we could see. We loved it.

Cambodia was a lot like we had imagined it... Poor but industrious, family loving, good and friendly people scratching and working hard for a living. The Cambodians have a long and interesting history. The temples at Anchor Watt are a main attraction. We came, we saw, we were happy to be there but…

For us Vietnam was wow!

As I said, we were afraid that a visit to Vietnam would be a visit to the war. We could not have been more wrong. No one wanted to bring up the war. I'm told they don't teach it in schools! They love the guy they call “Uncle Ho”. To the folks in the north he is the man responsible for the reunification of Vietnam. The Great Uniter. But for all we saw it is almost as if he did it without a war. As if we learned in school that Lincoln saved the union but were not told about the war between the states. Understand, I’m not saying they don’t know the war happened. But that the war itself was less of a part of their history than the reunification afterwards. This is Hanoi. Packed tight. Dusty streets, interesting architecture and a lotta. lotta folks.

Saigon is a little different. First surprise? Even Vietnamese refer to Ho Chi Men City as Saigon! A little rebellion right there. Further, in Saigon they are willing to grumble about the one party system and complain about government corruption. We met people in Saigon who were working to immigrate legally to America. Saigon is brighter, busier, and quite modern. Helpful cabbies, aggressive vendors in the market… But in Saigon and Hanoi as everywhere we have been in SE Asia, everyone was happy to meet an American. When you meet a local, almost always one of the few English phrases they know is “Where you frommm?” When we say “America” they light up! Big smiles, warm handshakes. “Amereeeca!” For whatever reason, they love to meet Americans. Go figger.

China
But the most eye opening trip was China! Somehow we expected Red Army guys posted all around and constant reminders of the Red Boogie Man. Instead we saw thousands of Chinese doing business and looking an awful lot like New Yorkers. Mc Donald's, Pizza Hut, Gucci, high fashion ladies wear, bright lights, big city. No fearful "Red Chinese" in uniforms with guns patrolling the streets repressing the people. I was stunned! I had thought, "Sure, they opened some historic sights to tourists but we will be shuttled from here to there by officials in uniform and not allowed to take out cameras until we are 20meters in front of the Great Wall". Nope. Young people in designer jeans and English language t-shirts holding hands, holding shopping bags, holding babies,... Very little English language made it harder to navigate there than anywhere else we have been. But otherwise, WOW! We really had an eye opening time in China.

Of course we saw and walked on The Great Wall. it is just what you would think only somehow less. It is significant. It goes on it’s jagged course across the mountain rige for as far as you can see, but it looks so damn modern! Looks as though it could have been constructed by a work project during the Great Depression. Still, it was something.

Much more better, we met and got to know several Chinese people and got to chat about their thoughts and attitudes on families, America, their own government and the world order. All we can tell you about it is that these people are a lot more like us than you may have believed. As I said, eye opening.

OH! And almost got scammed in Shanghai! Long story, but it involves beautiful girls
in sexy outfits and exotic Far East tea ceremonies. Cool. Google Shanghai tea ceremony scam for the low down.

Alice in Wonderland
You will not believe what happened to me in China… We are prolific photo takers. Due to the joys of digital selection we can take literally thousands of photos and do. I’m always looking for something fun so when I was wandering around the old Canton, China (now Guangzhou) I saw an old sign for a laundry hanging over a gift shop and thought I’d take the photo. Chinese Laundry in China, get it?

Amy, her dad and friend Mike had wandered off while I hung back looking for photo ops. Imagine my surprise when from inside the shop a long graceful arm attached to a tall curvy Chinese babe, B-A-B-E, Babe, with a beautiful smile waves to me and says come in! What else could I do??? I went inside for a look-around. This gorgeous 21 year old Chinese woman follows me making pleasant small talk in English. Not much English around here so I compliment her and ask where she learned. She is self taught. Wow. Like a lot of Chinese that have contact with English speakers she has adopted a western name that tourists can pronounce, Alice, and she offers to give us a free tour around town that afternoon/evening. She says it is fun for her to meet foreigners and good to help her polish up her English. I’m thinking, How am I gonna get Amy to say ok to us hanging with this wonderfully bright and attractive lady? I decided a frontal assault was the only way. Any attempt at trickery would get me nailed and the deal off so I chased Amy down and told her there was someone I wanted her to meet.

Long story short, Amy and Alice hit it off immediately and the deal was on. For the next 6 hours we saw the sights with a running narration of what was happening around us but more importantly we got to spend direct face to face time over coffee and later dinner with a young Chinese person who freely discussed her family life, impressions of Americans, American politics, Chinese censorship, the one child policy, the desire for male children in the Chinese culture, everything was open. It is a fine example of the very best part of our 5 year trip. Meeting local people.

Thailand
For five years now as we sail away from another country one or the other of us will bring up the million-dollar question. “We had a good time, but could you live here?” Thirty-five countries in 5 years and the answer is only “Yes” a very few times. We liked Grenada. Remote as it is, we thought Galapagos was nice to live if you had something to do, which is always the big problem with “the question”. We LOVED Palau. Philippines, good. Singapore of course. And now Thailand. We had a blast here. Thailand is a mostly modern country that operates largely under a rule of law that Americans can relate to. I suppose that there is more of a cast system and even some religious preference that we as outsiders do not readily see. But it is much, much more even handed than neighboring Malaysia or Indonesia. Another thing, business in Thailand is a way of life. The Thai business community is aggressive and motivated. It is much more familiar, comfortable, to us than the Malay business model which is could not be described as customer oriented.

Is it just like home? Not by a long shot. But by and large it is a clean enough, orderly enough and modern enough place that is open and friendly to ex-pats and visitors.
The Thais have the distinction of being the only country in SE Asia that was not at some time or other colonized by England or the West. As such, they have kept their separate and unique identity in tact and remain a colorful country steeped in tradition while embracing the modern world. Hey, they love the King here and that is a good thing. In Malaysia they respect the Sultan, and revere the Sultan, but in Thailand they flat out Love the King.

And as always it is all about the people you meet…
Bie (pronounce Bee) runs a t-shirt, sandal and knock-off sunglass shop on the beach in Chalong Thailand. Not a big place, but she gets a good business from the dive and snorkel trips that gather outside her store before filing onto the tourist boats that take them off to the more exotic places around. Lately she has taken up scooter rental as a sideline. For whatever reason, perhaps my enchanting negotiation techniques, Bie has decided that we are friends more than customers. Here is what happened…

One day I walked by Bie’s and asked her if she had a scooter for me on the morrow. She said sure! I reminded her not to forget me as I walked away and she gave me that big warm smile of hers and said, “I not forget you Beel!”
Hour later a guy calls on the cell, tells her he’d like to keep his scooter for another day and without thinking she says ok. Oops!

Next morning Bie is at the HONDA DEALER at 9am trying like heck to buy a new scooter for me for 10am! I had to wait an extra 30 minutes but at 10:30 here comes Bie’s husband with a big smile and a new scooter that has 6 kilometers on the odometer! Now I know that Bie was sold out of scooters and that she probably needed another anyway. I know that she would break down and get that new bike in another week or two, so I’m not saying she did that just for me, though she promised she did. But I am saying that that is either true friendship or an extreme example of customer service. You decide.

Oh, and by the way, in the months since we left Thailand Bie has called at least 3 times to see what we are up to knowing that we will likely never return to Thailand or ever see her again. OK, Now decide.

Kaa and Krap, Sounds Like…
In the Thai language there are two words that you hear continually. Kaa and Krap. They are “Same-Same, Only Different” (another great Asian/Anglo term). Kaa is used by women and Krap by men. According to our guide book the term can not be translated into English. We have come to learn that depending on the tone and whether it is pronounce with rising or falling or flat tone it can mean almost anything. It is also used at the end of each sentence regardless of it’s content like a spoken “period”. It is a sign of politeness when speaking with a stranger much like Sir or Ma’am in English. It is especially noticeable with the women and their use of Kaa. Here is the story…

I took some deck awnings for Estrellita into the canvas shop for some modifications. They had done some work for us earlier and we wanted some changes on the two pieces they had done and we wanted a third reworked in a similar manner. When I got there the English speaking manager was not in. The conversation with three Thai women who were there went like this…

Me- “Work?”
Three Thai ladies in unison- “Kaa”

I opened the two pieces that they had worked on before. I smiled real big and said “Nice.” they said “Kaa” also with smiles. I showed them where we wanted buckles replaced with clips and pantomimed an exaggerated attempt to work the buckles with a frown on my face and said, “Too hard” they said “Kaa”

Next I smiled and pantomimed the simpler clipping motion and said, “Clips?” They said “Kaa”

I opened the new piece and showed the marks for the alterations similar to the alteration they had done on the first two. I said “Same same”? They said “Kaa”

I showed where the retaining straps should go on this new piece and they said “Kaa”

I showed how this piece would need longer straps than the other and said “Same Same, only Different” and they said “Kaa”

I pantomimed how long the straps should be and one of the ladies pulled out a tape measure. I showed 18 inches and once again they all said “Kaa”

I said “Thank you, good bye” and they said, “Bye Bye, Kaa”

Another day, Same Same, only different… And by the way, 4 days later when I returned all was completed exactly as expected Krap!

Boat Stuff
Estrellita is holding up very well. five years under way and maybe 25,000nm and we have hade mainly regular maintenance stuff except we changed out the chainplates which was a real adventure. Chainplates are the stainless steel bits that anchor the cables that hold the mast upright to the deck. They are fiberglassed into the hull. Twenty, 8 to 10 hour days, both of us, going at it full time. Pulling most of the cabinetry out of the main saloon and the forward stateroom, chiseling out fiberglass, then grinding. Using a hammer to pound the old plates back through the deck... Had to enlarge the holes in the deck for the new, thicker replacements. Finally glassing in new chainplates and replacing all the woodwork, cabinetry.

It is impossible to examine the condition of this critical bit of hardware without hours and hours of work disassembling the boat and by that time you may as well change them out. What we found was expected wear but no serious flaw! Bummer. But at least now we know and can stop worrying about that.


Next for Estrellita
We are currently anchored in one of the most beautiful tropical islands in the entire freakin’ world. Cocos Keeling. We are about 2,000nm west of Darwin Australia and 600 miles SW of our last landfall in Indonesia. We are maybe a fourth of the way across the southern Indian Ocean. Then we will have longer passages to Mauritius and Reunion then around the south of Madagascar and on to South Africa where we are looking forward to discovering a new continent. Safari and the slow but doable passage around one of the great southern capes, The Cape of Good Hope, aka, The Cape of Storms. About 500 miles through the great southern ocean, our new, more challenging route courtesy of the Somali Pirates.

We actually plan on being home to Florida by about this time next year. Wow.

If you have Google Earth you can put cut and paste these latitude and longitude coordinates below and see our sailing plan for the next 6 months.

We are currently here: 12 05.485S 96 52.925E

Then Mauritius: 19 39.253S 57 41.551E

Reunion: 21 50.643S 55 41.382E

Around the southern tip of Madagascar
to Richards Bay S. Africa 28 49.455S 32 08.264E
and by this time next year we will be “Home” to the Caribbean.

Link to photos of chainplate replacement
ipphotos.com/view_ad.asp?Ad_ID=1662

Link to all our IPPhoto.com albums of the past five years in chronological order (Thanks Hayden!) ipphotos.com/view_user_ads.asp?SORTBY=Date_Created&User_ID=76