Road Trip Part 2: Vietnam

Sunset in the Mekong Delta

The Vietnam War makes Vietnam part of the American lexicon in a way that Cambodia isn't. We noticed some movie-fueled familiarity: Non Las, rickshaws, rice paddies, and scantily-clad young women offering massages (not exactly 'me love you long time' but a little imagination and artistic license will get you there).

Road trip to Cambodia

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

Our visa run to Cambodia, which we ended up extending to also include Vietnam (pictures to come in the next blog post) because we have to wait for rigging parts, was a nice break from boat work. In Cambodia we spent our time in more citified and touristy areas than we normally visit with the boat. There was no ocean or beaches, though we did end up on a couple boats on the Mekong when we were in Vietnam.

Now what?

Fun with cellophane and LED
fairy lights

With all our out-of-water boat work nearing completion, we scheduled a splash date on December 25, which would have meant finally getting back in the water. Even with our eleventh hour decision to get our standing rigging replaced, we thought we could make the date.

Still here...

The view from the top at
Perak Cave Temple. We took
a side trip when we got our visas
renewed in Ipoh.

Yes, we are still here at the boatyard, but we (mostly Matt) have made a ton of progress since my last post. Our rudders are done! All they need is some bottom paint.

Wax on, wax off

Perry all dressed up with mesh for
the painters, who are also sanding our hull

I like to think that we're not just sanding the bottom of our boat, we're also learning karate.

Goodbye Aunt Francie

Matt lost his Aunt Francie (Francoise) to cancer last month. She was 93.

When you assume...

by Pel Laurens

Everyone knows what happens when you assume. Apparently, we have not learned this lesson well enough.