Hot, hot, hot!  Day two continued the pace of BIG crazy chop and moderate and shifty breezes.  WE were better in some aspects today with some great starts and a 7th to the Windward mark but still are suffering elsewhere.  Thank the Gods that this is the tune-up regatta and the Winter cobwebs can be shaken out.

The sun-burns that have appeared are beyond belief.  Watch burns are popular as are the red knees and lower thighs (no matter how many damn applications of screen you make!).  A couple of crews decided to do it shirtless under the gear the first day and in fact one of the Brits tried it for 2 in a row with catastrophic results – oh yikes.  Best though is the new form of burn acquired by Noah but confirmed to exist previously by the Mosers – Skipper burn.  Noah is burned at the bottom of his back to his bum-crack in a very bad way.  Must be why plumbers work inside.

Today is a lay day and we’re off to some village north of here to hang out.  More later and much, much better results to talk about!

Day 1 of racing was a good start to the regatta.  Nice light oscillating breeze, increasing current across the course, and 57 boats on the start line (there will be more and more in the coming days).  The committee ran 2 races, but 5 starts.  The first was postponed to reset the course, then 2 general recalls (too many boats were over the line early), and then, after raising the black flag (if you are over early you are automatically disqualified), 2 clean fair starts.  That’s one for each race, if you’re counting…  Imagine 60 top notch boats, thats 120 top notch sailors, all trying to set their boats stationary in the best spot on the line at the same time, just in time for the GO signal after a 5 minute countdown.  Pretty intense…

Our starts were very strong and we seemed to have very good boatspeed upwind, especially considering we’re racing a 30 year old “classic”boat.  In big races like these you inevitably start counting boats ahead and behind to figure out where you are.  We were ahead of alot of boats, but a tactical error on our part left us about 10 or 15 around the windward mark.  We were sailing a triangle-sausage course, and by the bottom of the first triangle we were the first Canadian boat and still maybe 15th overall.  Our second mistake was a tangle while taking the spinnaker down, and we got swept by the current off the course and let about 10 more boats go by (including the 2nd Canadian boat)  Oops!  They shortened the course and finished us after the 2nd upwind, and we ended up placing 25 in that race.  Very good start to the regatta.  The second race wasn’t quite as fast for us, but a 29th place means we’re in close contention pointswise for a low 20s placing.  Of course, there’s still lots of racing, and lots of opportunity to move up and down.  Hopefully we can pull off some good results in the next couple days…  We’ll see!  Some of the other Canadians (especially Maddy and Gregg) didn’t have a very good day, but they’ll get it together.  I can vouch for the amount of adrenaline and excitement you feel in these first starts… Especially with all the recalls!  It seems like a very aggressive and competitive fleet, so it should make for some very tight racing.  Objective 1:  Get in front!  Objective 2:  Stay in front!!

In case you were curious of the title, sunburns were abound.  I burned my thighs under 2 coats of sunscreen, but 4 coats seemed to protect my shoulders.  I think I’m going to have to wear more clothes!

 In other news, this regatta had THE best opening feast I’ve ever seen at any regatta EVER.  Huge buffet line with many of the delicacies we have enjoyed over the past week, but plenty new food to try too.  And for dessert:  Ice cream and fresh tropical fruit.  The mango and pineapple is to die for!  I for one was still full at breakfast time the next day.  Oh, and the beer was free too.

So that’s my report for day one.  So far, so good.  Wish us luck in the upcoming days!

Until yesterday, we felt as if the Royal Varuna was our own private hideaway. Lots of quiet hanging out, getting to know the staff and the few members around, and having the whole foreshore to ourselves when we went sailing.

It was not to last. With over 73 boats registered for the competition, it was only a matter of time until everyone else arrived. And arrive they have.

The energy level has spiked. Taxis arrive every few minutes and the bar and food staff, although anticipating an onslaught, are caught out trying to keep up with the thirsts of the over-heated sailors from afar. The smiles stay on their faces and both food and service are awesome despite the 14-plus hour days they are putting in.

They were putting smiles on our faces as well. The bar was running its own version of ‘wheel of fortune’ where you would place an order and then spin a pointer over a board. If you hit a green sector, the drinks were on the bar. Although drinks here are of GOOD VALUE, our competitive nature got the best of us. Our little group couldn’t be beat and not a drink was actually paid for last night. Ah, those big bottles of Singh beer!

If that wasn’t chaos enough, registration and measuring kicked off this morning. The Race Committee is well organized but there was a palpable level of stress in the air with people jostling for slots with the measuring crew and then getting their boats either together or apart enough for the scrutineering. Our two boats made it through cleanly but poor Frank and Sean were scrambling for 4.5kg of lead to make up a shortfall.

After putting the boats back together again, it was time for the pool, a drink, and then a mass exodus to Pattaya for dinner and some walking – through another state of chaos – evening life on the street (another post…). Tropical drinks on the boulevard and a few more while strolling for the irrepressible Mark and Frank, and then back to the calm of the club in time to wave good night to some of the awesome staff of the Sailing Club.

Today the club was a hive of activity.  Between various other teams arriving (including several more Canadians), teams unloading containers, and the club staff scrubbing every square inch of the club, it’s looking more and more like a regatta venue.

We seemed to play our cards right on this one, because while everyone was busy being busy in the club, we went out for our first sail.  Maddy has been sailing in Victoria the past couple months, and I had the chance to do a couple sessions on the water in mid-february, but for the most part we were dusting off the cobwebs.  Dust we did!  The conditions were beautiful.  Starting out with a nice gentle breeze out of the North, the wind continuously backed towards the Southwest all day, first building and then falling in the evening.

Our morning’s sail started in about 8 knots of wind, and by the time we were too hungry to sail any longer it was blowing about 12-15.  Glorious.  It was definitely a solid learning experience for me, as I’m not as familiar with this boat as the ones I sail at home, but Noah was very patient and helpful, and we got up to speed without too much trouble.  The waves were short and choppy, as apparently the area around Pattaya is very shallow, and the tides will definitely pose some unique challenges as the racing gets underway.

After lunch we located our new sails for the regatta in the British container, and then went for a second session on the water.  The wind had died back to about 8ish knots, but was still plenty for a good time.  At this point it had shifted to the Southwest, and the change in direction had caused the waves to be confused and lumpy.  Noah compared it to sailing in a toilet bowl…  But we had a good session.  Noah and I did some speed tuning with Maddy and Gregg, and we all practiced some tacks and gybes.

We snapped out of it when we sailed past a large fishing boat filled with smiling waving Thais, and realized the sun was getting low over the horizon and that we were a fair ways out.  The sun doesn’t really set here, not over the horizon anyways.  Its very hazy on the horizon, so the sun gets very low and very red/orange and pretty, and then disappears into the haze.  So the real race was on!  In the dying breeze, we got back to the beach just in time for the sun to make its last call, derigged our boats and enjoyed one of the many excellent meals we have been served here.  We’ve gotten to be friendly with the staff, and even though the club was comparatively busy tonight, as the staff left for the evening they called and waved goodbye to us across the crowd.  Days like these are why I sail.

I’ve been getting into a happy rhythm here of getting up for sunrise, working for a few hours, letting my body and mind slowly stretch and wake up with the coming of the day. It’s perfect. By the time the rest of the gang is up, I’ve gotten myself awake, and even been productive for a few hours. Turn the inability to sleep past 5:30am into a positive.

It’s actually getting past 6:30 now, and the daylight is getting much brighter. The roosters that were cock-a-doodle-doo’ing seem to be done for this morning. Perhaps their main job is to wake up the sun and once that’s been accomplished they leave the rest up to the light.

A friend of mine and I have had conversations on several occasions about the uselessness of talking about the weather. By this, I mean the space-filling, vanilla fluff that’s created when we seem to have nothing else to talk about but don’t want to sit with the silence. We always want to be doing something or be occupied by something other than the here and now, and so, silence is an uncomfortable confrontation with self. But I digress. The reason for bringing this all up is that the weather in Thailand doesn’t really change. What’s the weather going to be tomorrow? About like today. It’s either monsoon season or it’s not. (This is not to be confused with talking about the wind and sailing conditions).

One of the nice things about not having to talk about the weather here, is that the building and architecture does not have to contemplate changes in the weather. The ground floor of the clubhouse features a lounge with a beautifully tiled floor with a large compass in the middle flanked by the rising sun on the eastern side, and a setting crescent moon on the west. There are showers and washrooms, the kitchen and the office that all have actual doors and walls around them. But the main lounge itself is completely free to breath in the open air. There are some awnings that can be extended out to shield a little more sun or rain, but there are no walls or partitions of any kind. Thus, as it is, I am sitting here at one of the wicker chairs, my book and pen sitting on the accompanying teak table.

The lounge has seating for around 175, but I have the entire area to myself in these early mornings. Indeed, even during the day, most of the tables remain empty save for us and few club members. Most of the club members tend to be out on weekends, and the bulk of the Fireball sailors have yet to arrive. I’m left to imagine what the scene will look like in a few days time with 150 sailors and their friends/families gathered from around the world. All the seats will be taken. The bar at the north end of the room will be flanked not by empty stools, but thirsty mouths sharing stories and laughter. But alas, it is still quiet this morning.

The open air concept affords me to look over my right shoulder and sea the brightening sky to the east. The air is thick with humid morning mist. The dew has been dripping off the metal roofs with enough volume so as to almost sound like rain. Looking to my left I see the club lawn with the Fert’le Turtle near the top. Past the Turtle, the grass descends down to the beach and to the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Pattaya and the Royal Varuna Yacht Club are situated on a stretch of coastline and water called the Bangkok Bite.

The collection of sounds, or birds and beasts is an ever-changing chorus as the day passes through each different phase. In the dusk and darkness of the evening, you can spot the gecko’s on the walls and ceilings, and hear their clicks and calls. The cicadas take over the air-waves just after sunset and just before sunrise. I’m guessing that they are particularly happy (or annoyed thus chiming their displeasure) at the specific colors and brightness of light that characterize those times. Their celebration lasts for a mere 15 minutes, if that, and then they’re done. Amazing that such a small critter could make such a sound. Different birds are singing at different times of day. The mosquitoes, thankfully, are only really an issue during the hours of dawn and dusk.

On the program for today: after finishing a bit of work here, some breakfast, some laundry and errands, and then get out on the water for our first sail!

There you have it: a snapshot of life here at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club. Mike, Gregg and Maddy are now up and about. Time to think about some breakfast. Mmm… fresh fruit!

Well, the container is here. Not only is it here, but our boats are out (well, 3 of the 10 boats are out but the rest are the other Canadian’s problems), and we’ve snagged some prime real estate close to the water and under a shady tree.

That may not sound like alot, but just try to tell that to the buckets of sweat that were sacrificed to get to this point. Did I mention the container which transported our boats from Canada was incredibly hot? Well it was. And some lessons on the do’s and do-not-do’s of packing boats in containers were well learned. Although ours didn’t smell like mouldy tea like the Brit container did… We’ve got some sails in that one; hopefully they’re not as mouldy as their boats undoubtedly are.

The best part is that the container is here. It was supposed to be the first (of 8 from all over the globe), but ended up being the last one here, arriving in Thailand at 10 o’clock last night and at the club about 10 o’clock this morning. The rest of the containers arrived yesterday. The upside is that we got the best spot in the lot, right on the end and beside some shade. The forced downtime while we waited for our boats has meant we have had lots of time to laze about and meander through Hat Pattaya and Hat Jominten, the towns nearby. The food is delicious, the scenery… maybe not quite as delicious… We’ve pretty much seen the extent of the deepest depths humanity will sink for a buck. Maybe its something besides a buck, because it hardly seems worth it… It will be nice, once we have some more time, to see some of the REAL Thailand as opposed to the desperate and smelly streets of once of the dirtiest (maybe physically, but certainly morally) places on earth. But I digress.

At the end of the day once all was said and done we got our boats out and rigged, and all is well with the world once more (Gregg’s rudder came out of the container all wacked up so I suppose I’m speaking strictly for myself). We should be on the water tomorrow.

And I must say, after all the cooking in the container and hard work rigging, the pool never felt so refreshing.

We left Calgary on February 29 in the morning. Just past midnight on March 2, 3 flights, 3 countries and over 24 hours of travel time later, we arrived in Bangkok. We were greeted by the smiling face of our couchsurfing host, Aileen. She changed her weekend plans and took the 1 hour taxi ride to the airport just to be a generous and gracious host. How blessed are we?! But it didn’t stop there. She proceeded to insist on buying us some food and paying for the taxi back to her place, where she had more food and drinks waiting. We stayed up for a while chatting and meeting a couple of her roommates. A perfect welcome to Thailand. It’s so invaluable having a resource and contact like her to start the trip; someone who knows how to barter and handle the taxis, where to go and what to say. It helps get us into the local mode of life.

On Sunday we awoke relatively early, meaning we only had a few hours sleep; we gathered ourselves, discussed the options, and it was decided we should head to the Royal Grand Palace. En route, we stopped at an area called Khaosan which proved to be somewhat of an eye-opener. In some ways, a little disheartening. Khaosan road seemed to have more westerners on it than Thai people. It’s the place where all the backpackers go and stay and shop and party. I haven’t yet determined what part of it that makes me sad, but there’s a sinking feeling in my heart seeing shop after shop selling western goods to westerners, Thai people catering to the people with money. I also had the side-effect of feeling completely gyped for almost everything I’ve ever bought. Clothes and shoes could all be had for 75% to 95% off the normal retail price in Canada. But I can’t honestly put myself above the others there, because we’re planning to head back to Bangkok later in the trip so that we can buy some suits and other goodies. Armani suit jacket, pants, shirt and tie – the whole package custom fit and tailored for $75 – sound good?

After breakfast in a bar on Khaosan road, we headed by foot to the Royal Grand Palace, whose immaculate grounds house the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. We learned a little of the history of Thailand and did the full-on tourist thing, cameras in hand.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to the airport to meet up with fellow Calgarian, friend and Maddy’s crew, Gregg (AKA Pappa – I trust one of us will expatiate on this name in an upcoming post) who was arriving from a family wedding in Perth, Australia. Our rendez-vous worked out perfectly and we hired a car to take us to Pattaya and the Royal Varuna Yacht Club.

The club itself is beautiful and has an interesting history. It’s been given it’s Royal status because the King used to enjoy sailing and hanging out here. One funny story that alludes a little to the King’s personality is how he used to enjoy coming to Varuna, spending the day sailing, and then spending the evening playing in his band. A typical stunt would be to sit on the lawn or beach playing music, and to keep playing while the tide came in. He would finally decide to call the music quits when it was getting difficult for the rest of the band to play because the water was getting too high on their bodies to play their instruments properly.

Ahh – the life of the King. Whom, the people adore, by the way.

In the midst of our acclimatization and adventures in Bangkok, it was jointly decided that a blog must be launched to record our stories and share them. But what to call it? The stroke of brilliance that was the name ‘burningness’ came about over last night’s dinner when discussing the merits of spicy Thai food. I was fully engaged in a somewhat warmer dish, a glistening layer of sweat and the odd tear coming down my face along with my running nose and Michael said that the spicy aspects of Thai food were different than other ethnic foods – he said “You don’t get the same harsh, hot, burningness that you get with other food.”

Great rolls of laughter around the table and we all looked at each other and commented on the beautifulness of the newly coined term burningness – and our blog name was born. A fitting name for hot sailors sailing hot boats named Fireballs, in a hot country eating hot food.

Burningness.

Love it!

The containers have begun arriving now – with any luck, in a couple of days we’ll have our first post with stories of getting out on the water and sailing. Keep posted!

The first of us have arrived!  The Royal Varuna is fantastic, although getting the lay of the club’s customs has been interesting to say the least.

 As I write, the crane is moving into position to offload the first two containers.  All but ours  has made it to the Pattaya area, somewhat ironic as we’re here doing the offloading.  Oh, well.  2:00am tomorrow, and our boats will be here.

The club is an oasis from the red-hot testosterone fueled atmosphere that is Pattaya.  “Can there be any more bars on a street?”was the typical comment yesterday as we cruised through town running errands.  Eye opening, to say the least.

 Have to run to offload right now – more later from Maddy, Gregg, Mike and Noah.