July 11, 2024

The dreaded Rudder Stocks!

So completing the installation of the new Rudder Stocks, continues to be the critical path for getting the ship out of drydock. We found out today that this is a unique situation because rudder stocks typical last the life of a ship or 60 years! So the delicate machining needed to get new stocks made and retrofitted into our ship is not among the common practices in a ship's scheduled maintenance.  Therefore, VVR has had to fly in some experts, to help get this done and this translates to additional time waiting in drydock. Lots of other improvements and retrofits are still on going, but the two rutter stocks being milled and fitted into the existing housings is the critical component to getting the ship in the water. Once the ship is floated, they have testing to complete to get the final ok's to sail!

The VVR staff are still hopeful that all this will come together and the Ship will depart from Belfast on July 20th. However, another new

wrinkle discussed today is that Northern Ireland celebrates a Bank Holiday called The Battle of the Boyne and this is a four day Holiday starting this Friday 7/12. Supposedly, this is a Protestant Holiday and the Irish Catholic workers in the shipyard will still work. But it is unknown right now, if that will be a big enough crew, to keep progress on the rudders! Please say a wee pray! As my Dad would say "it is, what it is!" Life goes on, I'm enjoying time at home in Philly, back to the rooftop pool and yoga classes. All good here!

TIOMAN ISLAND, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • July 7, 2026
Today, I braved the heat ( it's a blazing 84) to walk around a little bit and get the feel for life on Tioman Island, Malaysia . The Village of Tekek is where we tender to and this is where the Ferry , the Island's National Secondary School, Health Clinic and Airport (really just a strip) are located. The most notable feature is the Rainbow Bridge over the inlet.

TIOMAN ISLAND, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • July 6, 2026
Fun day in the waters of Tioman Island, Malaysia snorkeling with friends. Life is good! It was nothing fancy, a boat & captain, who spoke minimal English and barely interacted with us, for roughly 7 hours. We started the outing spotting a group of dolphins and was quickly at anchor drop 1 of 6. The distances between the 6 snorkel spots was minimal, which gave us lots of time in the water (at least 45 minutes, at each spot) with an added stop for a lunch break at local restaurants. Even the restaurants were fast and efficient, definitely used to catering to the boat crowd.

HAPPY 4th of JULY from SE ASIA SEA!

By Pat Patrick • July 4, 2026
Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July! Here on the Odyssey we celebrated in the SE Asia Sea on our way to Tioman Island, Malaysia . We have such a talented and dedicated group of residents here, they put together a fun hour of things to celebrate and embrace a lot of what we collectively love about the USA. Even our residents from other countries - Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany , etc. joined in the fun! ( I lent my flag below for decorations)