The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Posted: 15 Oct 2012 04:44 AM PDT LAST month, we had a very exciting month with Edu-Cat, our Lagoon 500 catamaran. Let me explain: boats need lots of TLC (tender loving care) and regular maintenance if you want to keep them in good shape. One of the most important things to do is the periodic anti-foul. Sounds pretty bad, but it is actually a maintenance process to protect the boat and prevent it from getting damaged below the waterline, where a vessel is constantly exposed to shells, worms, barnacles, dirty water and other rubbish. That's why there is a protective paint coating, which needs to be renewed periodically, usually every 12 to 18 months. In order to renew this protective coating, the boat has to be hauled out of the water and that was our project for September. Well, our catamaran is pretty big, about 51ft long, 28ft wide and weighs about 30 tonnes. There are not many marinas or shipyards that have the facilities to haul out a boat of this size. One of the best is the Ao Po Grand Marina in Phuket, Thailand, and they offer very fair prices, so that's where we went. We sailed from Langkawi up to Phuket, a wonderful five-day island- hopping trip via Koh Tarutau, Koh Phetra, Koh Lanta, Phi Phi island and then on to Phuket. At this time of the year, the weather can be quite wild and a few times we had storms with torrential rain and winds of around 35 knots. We were very pleased with our brand new Rocna 40kg anchor which held very well and we were able to ride out the storms safely. The real adventure began at Ao Po, Phuket, at 8am on the morning of Sept 14 at high tide, when the huge trailer behind a massive tractor towed Edu-Cat out of the water. The challenge was to support the boat sufficiently with rubber bars, huge foam blocks, supporting poles, ropes and lines so as not to damage the hull. When out of the water, the 30-odd tonnes are not floating softly in the water anymore; instead the boat sits on its two keels and they have to carry all the weight. It took five hours before Edu-Cat was safely parked on the 'hard-stand'. I have to say, that David and I were a bit nervous and very relieved when she was finally in her 'parking lot', where she looked even bigger than in the water. Then an intensive week of interesting work began. A high water pressure system cleans the 'boat bottom' first. If there is any damage in the fibreglass, it needs to be repaired at this point, but fortunately Edu-Cat was fine. Then the old paint coats need to be sanded off before a new two-part epoxy primer undercoat can be applied followed by at least two coats of 'anti-foul' paint. We were quite fortunate that it did not rain too much that week. Although the anti-foul paint dries very quickly, it can't be applied in the rain. The sail-drives and the propellers were serviced, the swimming ladders got new steps, the TV satellite system was set up (yes, we now can watch Astro channels on our boat everywhere) and we finally got our water-maker installed. The water-maker desalinates sea water and produces good quality drinking water via a reverse osmosis process. Now, our guests can take showers as long as they want, as there are no more restrictions on water supply. And finally the whole boat got polished and looks like new again. Wow, what an experience. We were happy to see her safely back in the water at the end of the week. It will be at least another year before we have to do it again. My second topic this month is the 'Clean Up Malaysia Day' project. You may remember, last year on Oct 15, Edu-Cat-Malaysia together with the Rotary Club of Bandar Bukit Tinggi organised a 'Cleaner Marina Day' in Port Klang with 100 fishing boats and more than 1,200 volunteers to clean up the Klang River under the umbrella of the Australian initiative 'Clean Up The World' (www.cleanuptheworld.org). This year we plan to organise three or four clean-up campaigns simultaneously to make it a nationwide event on the same day, Nov 3, together with our partners the Malaysia Australia Business Council, The Expat Group and the local Rotary Clubs. The good news is that we will have four events, but unfortunately not on the same day. Never mind, please help us to save our environment, particularly our waterways, rivers, oceans and marine life by creating awareness among the general public to keep one of our most precious resources, water, clean for the next generations. The clean-up dates and locations are: Oct 20 — Klang River clean-up Clean-up area: Esplanade at Jalan Tepi Sungai Klang. This event is organised by the Rotary Club of Bandar Bukit Tinggi. To register, go to www.rotarybukittinggi.org/registration.html Nov 3 — Gombak Clean-up area: Sungai Tua in Gombak from 9am to noon. Collection point: 9am at the second carpark by the river in front of the gazebo. Participants will be briefed about the do's and don'ts and will be provided with gloves and garbage bags. They are to ee-assemble at the briefing area at noon with all the rubbish collected. This event is organised by the Rotary Club of Bangsar. For details, visit www.cleanupmalaysia.org and register under 'Participate'. Nov 3 — Langkawi Clean-up area: Pantai Cenang. This event is organised by the Andaman Hotel at Datai Bay and is supported by the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada). For details, visit www.cleanupmalaysia.org and register under 'Participate'. Dec 1 – Port Klang Collection point: Port Klang Jetty from 7.30am – 12.30am. This event is organised by the Rotary Club of Bandar Bukit Tinggi. To register, go to www.rotarybukittinggi.org/registration.html Dec 9 or 16 (to be confirmed) – Penang Clean-up area: Gurney Drive This event is organised by the Rotary Club of Penang and includes beach clean-up, tree planting, promotion of health, safety and good clean-up practices. For details, visit www.cleanupmalaysia.org and register under 'Participate'. We hope to see many of you at one or more clean-up locations over the next few months. Check our website regularly for updates and you can also find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EduCatMalaysia. Gudrun's love for Malaysia brought her back from Germany three years ago, after a nine-year absence when she resided in KL holding a senior corporate position. She and her husband are serial entrepreneurs and are passionate about staying fit and healthy, and promoting an environmentally sustainable lifestyle. |
| Posted: 15 Oct 2012 04:42 AM PDT It is obvious that residents of Petaling Jaya have welcomed the one-way loop proposal for four major roads as they are really fed up with the traffic mess they have to face daily. With the expected national annual increase of 600,000 vehicles on the road, there would have been no respite to their commuting woes. However, I would like to suggest to the authorities that a good system is only as good as it is maintained. At present, traffic on this 'loop' can be much improved if the authorities would maintain strict vigilance against haphazard parking at the following areas: Jalan Yong Shook Lin, the stretch from the TNB building to the overhead pedestrian bridge near the former National Registration Department, Jalan Semangat, outside Jaya 33 and Jalan Barat, from KFC to Courts, opposite PJ Hilton. If these stretches are diligently cleared of illegal parking, which blocks up to half the road stretches sometimes, traffic would be eased. Can we do that, while we continue to debate on the "proposed loop"? Tam Yeng Siang |
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