by Judy Handley | Jan 16, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 86, Year 4: Paradise Found
Date: Friday, January 16, 2009
Weather: Beautiful, Still with Very Strong Winds
Latitude: 07 degrees 57.541 minutes N
Longitude: 098 degrees 48.447 minutes E
Location: Between Ko Dam Khwan & Ko Dam Hok, Thailand
What a special anchorage we found today. We are anchored between two beautiful islands with limestone cliffs that rise straight out of the sea and between the two there is a tiny little island that is the perfect day spot for beach activities. At low tide there is a sand bar that connects the tiny island to the Ko Dam Khwan, the southern island in the group. This island is also called Chicken Head as there is a rock formation on the southern tip that does indeed look like a chicken’s head and neck. It was high tide when we arrived and we took the dinghy to the small island that had a bit of beach exposed. The sand is white and the surrounding waters are that beautiful, clear turquoise color that you only get when the sand is really white. Sam played for almost four hours on the beach, much of the time under an umbrella held by either Oma or Mama. We all took turns snorkeling and after a couple of tries in different places, Heather and Jed found a beautiful reef between the two main islands and “requires” another day of exploration. Tomorrow morning we will look at our schedule and see if it is possible for us to stay here one more day. It truly is magnificently beautiful and the underwater world here is begging us to explore. Today I saw more parrotfish feeding in one area than I have ever seen before. Often we see small fish have a feeding frenzy, but we have never before seen parrotfish doing this. Our friends, Tina and Robert of Shirena, also arrived here this afternoon and they also plan to stay another day or so.
The challenging part of the day was getting here. We motored into 20 knots of wind right on the nose with choppy seas. After a couple of hours of this, we finally concluded that Sam really doesn’t get sea sick. He was a real trouper as we hobby-horsed our way here. It’s a good thing, because the northeast monsoon winds are not going to subside. When we leave here we will have to head straight into the wind to get to the Krabi area, but after things should get a bit better as we will be heading northwest and won’t have the wind directly on the nose.
So for tonight we are tucked into a beautiful spot and the anchorage is calm even though the winds continue to blow. All of us are really enjoying our time island hopping in Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay.
by Judy Handley | Jan 15, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 85, Year 4: It Doesn’t Get Better Than This
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Weather: Beautiful, Still with Very Strong Winds
Location: Ton Sai Bay, Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand
We had a wonderful day, and as grandparents, it just doesn’t get better than this. Sam really is a little sailor man, and he loves going out in the dinghy. And then he loves playing on the beach, so island hopping in Thailand is his perfect activity.
After I wrote last night’s log fearing that would be rocking and rolling all night again, the wind died down and we had a nice quiet night. Sam slept straight through until 4:00 a.m., but after that he really wasn’t interested in going back to sleep. But sleeping straight through until 4 am is a great improvement, so we’ll take it. We spent our early morning hours going to the beach so Sam could play. Mark stayed on the beach with Sam while Heather, Jed, and I snorkeled along the coast. We went quite a distance and I then said I would go back and get Mark, Sam, and the dinghy. Of course, I didn’t know how far the trip would be swimming against the currents, but I made it. We went to pick up Heather and Jed and then it was back to Windbird for naps before beginning our second explore of the day. This time we went to the town on Phi Phi Don. I guess “town” is a little misleading. Actually it is just a strip of hotels, restaurants, bars, and little shops. Again, Sam was fascinated with all the people and then sat happily on the beach and played while Heather and Jed walked around and did a little shopping. I love the fact that there are restaurants right on the beach so Sam could play in the sand while Oma and Granddad got a head start on Happy Hour. Sam chased mynah birds and loved learning to jump over the long tail anchor ropes on the beach. We all had dinner at the same restaurant and then walked further along the island path to see the sights. At night all of the little shops and restaurants are lit with hundreds of little lights and it really is quite pretty. As Sam would say, “Wow!”
Tomorrow morning we will start our trip to the mainland in the Krabi area. This is on the east side of Phang Nga Bay. We are going to make a stop at Bamboo Island to snorkel and then possibly spend the night at another beautiful, uninhabited island before going on to the coast tomorrow. Weather and time will determine whether or not we make the second stop.
by Judy Handley | Jan 14, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 84, Year 4: Rock and Roll in the Phi Phi’s
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Weather: Beautiful with Strange Winds
Latitude: 07 degrees 43.967 minutes N
Longitude: 098 degrees 46.238 minutes E
Location: Ton Sai Bay, Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand
Phi Phi Le and Phi Phi Don are touted to be in the top three of the most beautiful islands in the world. And they are spectacular. But unlike our earlier visit where the anchorages were calm, last night we rocked and rolled all night long in Phi Phi Le. We spent the day there to enjoy the beautiful beach and to snorkel, but we headed for Phi Phi Don late in the day looking for a quieter anchorage. Unfortunately, we are still rocking and rolling here. This bay is supposed to be protected in all weather, so we are really not sure what is going on. We know it is windy and the seas are choppy, but why a west facing bay and a south facing bay would both be rocky and rolly in northeast winds has us a bit baffled. But regardless, we are managing to have a great time. And Sam slept better last night than he has since his arrival, so maybe he likes the rock and roll.
We awoke this morning to a beautiful day with clear blue skies. As soon as we ate breakfast, we all piled in the dinghy and went to the beach. Sam is always anxious to get to the beach so he can “build and destroy.” We build sand castles and he knocks them down. Phi Phi Le is an uninhabited island, but come 10 am, the tourists arrive in long boats and speed boats by the hundreds. When we first arrived, there were very few people on the beach. But before long, you could hardly move, so we escaped to a smaller beach to the east of the main one. Mark, Sam, and I played on that beach while Heather and Jed went for a snorkel, and then Mark and Sam got in the dinghy and I pulled them along to find Heather and Jed. Sam really enjoys watching people snorkel. He calls them people fish and he just sits patiently in the dinghy watching the activity. I continued to snorkel while pulling the dinghy once we found Heather and Jed and we went most of the way back to Windbird this way. After mid-day lunch and naps, we all got back in the dinghy and did another snorkel around the rocks close to Windbird. The snorkeling in Ao Maya Bay does not have beautiful coral, but it is always fascinating to see the fish. And snorkeling where you can look straight up to see the tops of the limestone karsts is just beautiful.
We will start our tomorrow here at Phi Phi Don by snorkeling off Monkey Beach and then we will go ashore for lunch. We have no plans beyond that, but I do think I’ll check out an internet cafe to see what is going on with the weather. We’re hoping to get in some more snorkeling before leaving here for the east coast of the mainland. There’s no way to express how wonderful it is to have Heather, Jed, and Sam aboard. Sam’s every move is fascinating to us and we are so enjoying getting reacquainted.
by Judy Handley | Jan 13, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 83, Year 4: A Bit of a Romp
Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Weather, but WINDY; 15-20 Knots/1 Meter Seas
Latitude: 07 degrees 40.868 minutes N
Longitude: 098 degrees 45.728 minutes E
Location: Ao Maya Bay, Ko Phi Phi Le, Thailand
What a wonderful day we have had, even though our sail from Ko Yao Yai to Ko Phi Phi Le was a bit more of a romp than we had anticipated. We had a delightfully smooth sail at the beginning of the day and Sam seemed to really enjoy it. He loves to take hold of the wheel and try to steer us but we have to keep telling him that “Otto” has control. That, of course, is the auto pilot. We had a second breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup and then Heather and Sam went below for a nap. That is when the romp started. We came out from behind Ko Yao Yai and the seas and the wind picked up just as we had to adjust our course that put us on a beam reach. Heather was trying to sleep in the v-berth but every time we would hit a bit wave, she would levitate at bit. Sam, on the other hand, was in the main cabin, and was having a smooth ride. Once Heather was assured that I would sit and watch Sam to make sure he was fine, she was able to get a bit of sleep. Jed was trying to sleep in the cockpit, but we had to keep working with the sails which interrupted his nap. The reason Heather and Jed both needed to nap is that Sam has been up and wide awake VERY early the past couple of days. He sits up in his sea berth and serenades up with happy songs-if there is such a thing as a happy song at time of the morning.
We arrived at Ko Phi Phi Le around 2:30 in the afternoon, had lunch, and then hopped in the dinghy to go to the beach. “The Beach” is a 1999 movie filmed here on this incredibly beautiful beach surrounded by steep limestone cliffs. Mark, Sam, and I sat on that beach this afternoon and started building a sand castle with moat while Heather and Jed took a walk on the beach and went for a swim. When they returned, Jed helped us complete the moat and Sam had a delightful time running about in the moat and scooping sand. Tomorrow we will snorkel here and explore some of the many overhangs and caves. We’ll have a little beach time with Sam and just enjoy this absolutely beautiful place. We are on a mooring at the entrance to the bay at the base of a limestone cliff that looks to be reaching for the sky. You couldn’t ask for a more dramatic place to sit on your boat.
Mark and I are just thoroughly enjoying having Heather, Jed, and Sam aboard. Sam keeps us all constantly entertained and has adapted to sea life quite easily. He loves watching other boats and has been a fantastic second captain on Windbird. This morning when we were picking up anchor at Ko Yao Yai, Heather was at the helm as we left the anchorage. I told her to increase the speed a bit, and Sam just beamed. The faster the better for this little guy!
by Judy Handley | Jan 12, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 82, Year 4: The Adventure Begins
Date: Monday, January 12, 2009
Weather: Sunny with Increased Winds
Location: Ao Labu, West Coast of Yao Yai, Thailand
We did it! We finally broke away from the marina and have started our adventure in earnest. We only traveled eight miles, but that eight miles took us from modern Phuket to one of the islands not yet infected with the Thailand tourist craze. Ko Yao Yai is not dramatic, but it is beautiful. Heather and I went food shopping in the morning, so we didn’t leave Ao Po until well into the afternoon. Sam was taking his nap when we left and he didn’t stir until we got close to our destination. But he woke up ready to explore. We set the anchor at 3:45 pm and immediately launched the dinghy and got ready to for a trip to shore. We were all anxious to see how Sam was going to deal with climbing off Windbird and into the dinghy and then how we would deal with small boat travel. Any anxieties we might have had were certainly dissolved once we all got in the dinghy and took off. He didn’t like sitting in the dinghy waiting for everyone else to get in, but once the motor was started he obviously
loved it. The faster “bapa” goes, the more he likes it.
Our trip to shore was wonderful. It was nearing low tide when we went in and low tide had turned the shore into a long mud flat. We took our dinghy in as far as we could with the motor and then I jumped in and pulled it further into shore. Finally, the water got so shallow that everyone had to get out and we just pulled the dinghy up on the mud flat and started walking to shore. Walking on a mud flat at low tide is similar to walking on a reef. There is so much life sitting there waiting for the water to return. This mud flat had hundred of sea stars, some on the sand but most buried just beneath the surface so you could still see their outline. We’d never seen this before. And there were so many moon snails and many moon snail egg cases that look like rubber gaskets. There were crabs in abundance of many different varieties. So needless to say, we all enjoyed our explore on the mud flat and on the beach. We got back to Windbird around 5:30 and unfortunately that was too late to get dinner ready in time for Sam. He fell asleep without eating so it could be a rough night. But then it would be hard to top last night. He got up around 3:30 am and sang a concert for us for the next thirty minutes. It was quite amusing for grandparents, but probably not so amusing for parents. But he did finally go back to sleep and didn’t start his day until about 7:30 am-a much more humane time to be up and about.
Tomorrow we will leave this anchorage and head for Phi Phi Leh. This is a magnificently beautiful little island that we visited with Kevin and Claire. We only stayed overnight before, but we will probably spent a couple of days there while we wait for the wind to pipe down. We had hoped for lesser winds today, but that didn’t happen. And according to the Thai weather information, we will not have calm weather again until the 17th or 18th. But at least our sail to Phi Phi Leh is downwind and we will simply wait in that area until the winds subside some.
by Judy Handley | Jan 11, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 81, Year 4: Settling In with Sam Aboard
Date: Sunday, January 11, 2009
Weather: Sunny with Slightly Decreasing Winds
Location: Ao Po Grand Marina, Phuket Island, Thailand
We spent another day here at the marina helping everyone to get their sea legs before we take off tomorrow. We walked to Chandara Resort in the morning to swim while the sun was shining, but unfortunately it was too early in the day for the water to be warm. Instead of being in the 80’s, the water was probably in the upper 70’s and that feels chilly when the wind is blowing. So Sam didn’t spend a great deal of time in the water, but we still had fun having poolside fruit drinks and dangling our feet in the pool. All of us jumped in and swam except for Sam. I think only his toes went in the water this morning.
After our swim, we walked down the hill to the little Muslim open-air restaurant to have Phad Tai and Tom Yum Gai for lunch. Delicious! And then it was time to head back to Windbird for afternoon naps. Heather, Jed, and Sam all took a nap and I saw Mark cat-napping from time to time. But I did the laundry and worked on naming photos. Sam took an exceptionally long nap and then we walked to the beach to play in the sand. It was late in the day by the time we returned to Windbird. We decided to be lazy and not fix dinner aboard, so again we all walked up to the Chandara Resort and had dinner. The food there is good but not great, but then all food is great when you don’t have to prepare it. And the food there is presented in a beautiful manner even if it is not as fantastic as it looks.
Mark and I spent most of our time just watching Sam. Mark asked me today if I thought our children were ever as alert and inquisitive as Sam. I had to reply that I am sure they were, but I must admit that Sam has more than the average amount of charm and alertness. We are just totally loving having him with us and observing his every move.
