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Rolf relays the legend of the Popemobile
The Popemobile is the dinghy which came with the yacht Yee
Lai and, in all my life, I have never seen a 3.5-metre-long dinghy
so well equipped: it has a 9.9 HP electro start, electro choke
and remote control engine, centre console, Bimini, bathing
ladder, even bilge pumps! All this, surrounded by endless
fenders even at the bow. Yet, with just two grown men—the
thing is already totally overloaded.
Diary notes from Yee Lai, previously of HHYC
tmas took a ride
even Father Chris
The Popemobile—
Popemobile是一艘跟隨Yee Lai號的小船，我從來沒見過一艘
只有3.5米長的小船卻有如此齊全的裝備。它配備一個 9.9 HP
的電力起動裝置、電抗器和遙控引擎、總控制台、遮陽薘、下
水梯和艙底泵，船的四周甚至船頭都有的防撞水泡。不過，我
們坐上兩名成年男子後， Popemobile已負苛過重了。
The new owner loved this little toy from the first moment he sat
in it. It is not the fastest dinghy on the water and, once aboard,
he would wave like the Pope—getting much attention and
laughter from members of the yacht club all with huge smiles on
their faces. And that’s how it got the name…The Popemobile.
新主人第一次坐上這艘小船時，已愛上這個小玩意。它雖然
不是最快的小船，但只要一坐上這艘小船，它就像教宗向
群眾揮手一樣，吸引遊艇會會員的注意力和笑臉，這就是
Popemobile名字的由來……
We celebrated Andre’s birthday with a fantastic sunset cruise
and a nice evening with all cushions in place. The boat was
well lit and everybody enjoyed champagne plus the last of the
Heineken and Tsing Tao beer that we brought from Sai Kung.
and will celebrate his 65th birthday and wedding anniversary in
Hong Kong and then in June he will move to our area for good.
They have a house in Maricaban village which is just around the
corner from the boat.
The next day I dived underneath the boat and cut off loads of
net which was wrapped around the shaft and propeller. Today I
will find out if this has resolved the vibration from the port-side
engine. Steve will do the last cruise with Andre for his vacation
before Andre leaves for Germany.
我們在美妙的黃昏航行，晚上替Andre慶祝生日，船上光線充
足，大家一起享用由西貢帶來的香檳、喜力啤和青島啤酒。
Words Rolf Winkelhausen
Finally, after our arrival in Busuanga, I have time to give you
an update…
We arrived from Subic on Thursday 17 April at around 10:00.
A huge swell tested the boat, crew and passenger all the way
from Subic to Mindoro. It was really a rolling home. All went well
and, after Mindoro, the sea became calm and the forecasted
weather welcomed us with sunshine and warm temperatures.
The boat did well—even our heavy loads stayed in place and
did not move at all. It had taken a great deal of work to store
the Popemobile (aka the ‘Blingy Dinghy’) on the yacht for the
voyage and with the unloading of the dinghy upon arrival my
patience was tested to the limits. Finally, however, it was off
without a scratch being made and everything is now floating in
the waters off the El Rio Y Mar Resort.
抵達布桑加之後，終於有空跟你們談談最新情況了……
我們在4月17日（星期四）上午10時左右抵達蘇碧。由蘇碧前往
民都洛島時，風浪很大，我們的船、船員和乘客受到了很大的考
驗，這真是一個搖擺不定的家。幸好一切無恙。到了民都洛島之
後，海面變得平靜了，天氣預報告訴我們，未來數天陽光以及
和暖的天氣將會迎接我們。 船隻狀況很好，雖然我們有很多重
物，重到差不多不能移動，我們花了很多功夫把Popemobile（
又名Blingy Dinghy）放在船上，在抵埗時又要把它卸下，我的
耐性受到極大考驗。幸好它絲毫無損，而所有東西都完好的運
送到埃爾里奧大海渡假村（El Rio Y Mar Resort）。
38 Hebe jebes • Jul/Aug 2014
New situations arose and, during the voyage, Steve resigned
from his job in China. He will now become the full-time boat
operator with assistance from, and swapping with, me. He fell
in love with both the boat and cruising. Now he is the happiest
man in the world because he is doing what he really likes to
do and both of us are a really good team and get on really well
together. That’s a great development because it gives me more
time for our resort project and the boat is in the best of hands.
The engine blowers are working again—just, but some weak
connections caused issues, and made the genset trip out—
we also managed to sort that problem out. David, you taught
me well.
We need some more filters for the big diesel polisher whic