The waiting game 

We had planned to leave Boat Lagoon Marina a couple of days after returning from a three-week break in Australia but it wasn’t until ten days after that we finally got away. 

The fitting of a new Balmar alternator and a smart regulator took time. The first alternator was apparently faulty and had to be sent back to the manufacturers and we had to wait while another one was ordered and delivered. 

Waiting was tedious but we filled the time swimming in the pool, doing other boat jobs, catching up with correspondence, doing our tax returns and all that good stuff. And there is always plenty to see and observe which can be entertaining. 

The Boat Lagoon Marina is situated on a huge area which as well as the marina and massive haul out area includes two hotels, condominiums, houses, a supermarket, several chandleries and many other shops, cafes and even a couple of massage places, hairdressers, dentist, clothes shops and a manicurist. 

Every day in the cooler air of the evening we set out on a walk round the campus. There was always something interesting to see. 

Once the second regulator arrived the fitting didn’t take long. However, there seemed to be a size issue with the two belts that were required and several times the electrician swapped the ones he was trying to fit for another size. This eventually dragged into days but then at last the job was done!

Running out of time to explore the islands over on the Krabi side, before our daughter was due to arrive, we decided to do a little shake down sail to Ao Chalong just to make sure everything that had been newly installed worked. 

We set off along the meandering creek that leads into the Phang Nga Bay, with a pilot of course. 

About ten minutes after the pilot left Capt’n Birdseye discovered the newly installed alternator  and “smart” regulator had stopped working. 

Now it is well known that yachts and other vessels with a deep keel can only navigate the approach to Boat Lagoon at high tide and even then, should only do this with the assistance of a pilot. The tide was high when we left and of course was on its way out again – there was no returning to the marina. 

We managed to get in touch with our electrical contractor who promised to send the electrician out to see what the problem was. Less than hour later he came out on the pilot boat. 

Just some fuses blown he said -so he swapped the 10 AMP fuses that had gone, for 20 AMP fuses. 

Everything worked fine again and off we went to anchor for the night nearby. But a little voice in the back of my head was saying “fuses blow when something is wrong – they protect your equipment by blowing before anything else does”. Was it wise to put in bigger fuses I wonder?