Some Pain, Lots of Gain

Mid September

This is a good time to let you know how the work progresses on Satori’s Facelift. It has been an interesting summer for us but not without its aches and pains.

First the good news…Satori is nearly at the stage to be put back together again. We know! At the time of the last letter we had hopes that she would be finished in mid-July. Since we are still on the hard at the marina in Phuket, that schedule obviously had to be revised. By the end of September the contracted work will be completed and we will be moving gear back aboard the boat. All of the projects have exceeded our hopes and Satori looks gorgeous. Take a look at some of the photos attached! One of the photos shows the great job done on the hull paint job. The bottom paint is finished as well.

The finishing of the teak decks coincided with another incident that we will explain below. There is one picture of the decks that shows what we mean to do with the gutters on the sides. They will remain unpainted will serve to keep the standing water away from the decks. We have installed a few extra scuppers and filed down the existing ones in order to insure that the water will leave quickly. There is another photo showing the protective covering over the new deck. For the past month the decks have looked like the kitchen table with it’s covering of oil-cloth. The prep work for the painting of the topworks began straight away. There have been three applications of primer since then with sanding in between. All the areas that are not going to be painted have been covered with cellophane wrap and the close curtains have been put back up. See the photos of the stern area and the tight fit on the inside.

The time has come and gone with some pain for both of us though. Some of you already know about the accidents. The first one was Jane’s motor scooter spill when we first arrived in Phuket. It was not a serious one, but did mean a lot of abrasions and swelling to the whole right side. By the time she left for her trip back to the States, she was in good shape…Sander was not. One week before her departure, Sander was grinding some paint off hatch doors. The electricity quit on the grinder causing him to go to the electric outlet and check the seating of the plug. When the electricity kicked back in, the grinder in his hand kicked as well cutting a deep gash in his leg.

An overnight in the hospital in order to properly clean out the wound in surgery and $2,000 later, he started on a seven-week period of recovery from the grinder wound. It meant trips to the hospital nearly every day to have the wound cleaned and dressed. Then two days after Jane’s return, we were on the motor scooter when we were hit from behind by one of the airport limousine cars. These drivers have a reputation here in Phuket for terrible driving. That’s not saying much, because most Thais are terrible drivers.

Jane came through the accident with some serious bruising, but was able to walk away from it. Sander did not fare as well. He was thrown onto the windscreen of the car breaking it with the force. When the driver finally braked his car, Sander was thrown out through the air onto the ground breaking his pelvis…back to the hospital again. The good news was that the grinder wound was finally closed! Then Sander could begin his second period of recuperation. After two nights in the hospital for observation, he learned that the pelvis break was a common one and would not need further surgery and that there were no other internal injuries. He came home with crutches and spent some agonizing weeks of healing. As was foretold the break has now healed – after seven weeks – and he is now beginning to walk again without the crutches.

We have rented a small car for the rest of the time here. We were always told that it was not a matter of whether there would be a motor scooter accident but rather, when… The hoped-for schedule has now been revised to splash the boat in mid-October and leave the marina towards the end of October. Sander will hope to get his visit to the States in from mid-November to the end of the year. We still are planning to leave for the long trip across the Indian Ocean in January.

We are working on the masts now…cleaning the lines and the stainless steel rigging, repositioning the spreader lights etc. We will send out another group letter soon with photos of the finished product. That will be an exciting time for us!

Jane and Sander