Annual Summary of 2007

Our boat only moved 2052 nautical miles in 2007, as we only sailed between Langkawi in northern Malaysia and Phuket in southern Thailand. We had guests aboard twice for extended cruises around Phang Nga Bay. Jerry went back to Vermont to visit his parents for two months in the Fall, and daughter Hilary joined Nina during that time to see some of Malaysia. We did some major work on the boat, improving engines, adding more solar panels and replacing rigging, boom, mainsail and sailcovers. Our boat is now ready to go almost anywhere. We continued to work on our website, so by browsing www.arctracer.com you can learn more about our travels. Here is a summary of our year:

January - We had a Tiger Prawn feast at Kuah's "Wonderland" to celebrate Jerry's birthday. We did several little boat projects to get everything ready for a cruise with guests, and attempted to catch up with our correspondence.

February - We cruised Phang Nga Bay with Claire and Sim. These two Brits took a few weeks of their extended trip around the world to sail with us to some of Thailand's amazing islands. We met them at Satun, which is a busy commercial port but a bad place for us because it has a very long entrance channel and has neither docking nor anchoring space for yachts. Once they were aboard we had a splendid cruise up to Phuket, visiting both remote and touristy islands, hongs and caves. We could not keep up with our younger guests at night, but we all enjoyed our time together.

March - We met David Samuelson, an excellent rigger, in Phuket at Boat Lagoon to order a new boom and arrange for rerigging later in the year. Cruising back to Langkawi we stopped at several islands to relax and snorkel. We received our "snail mail" and were rudely shocked to discover that New Hampshire has a tax on Interest and Dividends which we should have been paying since 1994. This considerably increased the number of forms to file and also the amount by which our bank account decreased before all taxes were paid.

April - Both engines occasionally overheated, so we tried several remedies and eventually solved the problem by cleaning out cooling water passages. We got together with other cruisers more than usual to exchange stories. Nina bought a new laptop computer, but was frustrated by its bad wi-fi antenna which was eventually repaired free under warranty. It was a hot and rainy month as the sun passed directly overhead. The rain gave us a chance to read more books than usual.

May - The connnection of our starboard engine to its propeller shaft failed. Eventually it was fixed by an old Kuah machinist who had never been on a yacht before. A sailmaker cruiser, Chrissi on "Naga," replaced the ultraviolet protection of our roller-furling jib with new "Sunbrella." We took time to add old photos to our website for Pacific islands visited since 1998. Several engine and steering system parts were replaced.

June - With little wind we sailed to Phuket. Arrangements were made with a local sailmaker named Ket for a new mainsail. In squally weather we sailed back to Langkawi where we stocked up for a month's cruise with New Zealand friends. Fires in Sumatra were partly responsible for hazy days.

July - In light breezes and squalls we sailed to Phuket. At the Phuket airport we picked up New Zealand friends Jan and Pat and brought them to "Arctracer." We had a lovely cruise around Phang Nga Bay, showing them many of our favorite spots. Near the end of the cruise we had several squally days, with some strong southwest winds.

August & September - Compliments of our guests, we took a day-long taxi tour around Phuket Island, seeing the heavily developed beach towns along the west coast for the first time. After deciding to stay in Thailand to get our rigging taken care of, we made a "visa run" by fast mini van to Myanmar to get another 30 days in Thailand. In Boat Lagoon Marina a new boom made by All Yacht Spars in Australia was installed along with all new rigging, a new mainsail, and new sail covers. Strong winds delayed our sailing back to Langkawi. A plane crashed at Phuket airport in one of these strong squalls.

October & November - These months were very rainy with strong winds in squalls. "Arctracer" stayed in the Telaga Harbour Marina while Jerry flew to the USA and stayed with his parents. Nina stayed on board and bought an inexpensive Asian bicycle to go on daily bike rides. Daughter Hilary flew to Malaysia and toured Langkawi, Penang and Kuala Lumpur with Nina.

December - Jerry returned to the boat, and it was wonderful to be together again! Just before the holidays we sailed to Phuket. The top of the cockpit roof was painted and two new solar panels were installed there. New controllers were also installed. We brought in the New Year at touristy and crowded Patong Beach.