by Judy Handley | Dec 19, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 58, Year 4: Fantastic Sailing and Snorkeling Day
Weather: Beautiful Day, Great Wind
Latitude: 07 degrees 12.944 minutes N
Longitude: 099 degrees 03.723 minutes E
Location: Anchored Between Ko Rok Nai and Ko Rok Nok, Thailand
What a magical day! We had one of the best sails today that we have had during our entire three years of world cruising. We had 17-18 knots of wind from the ENE and were headed NNW which put the wind just slightly ahead of the beam. We were able to use all three sails and fly north. We traveled at 6 to 7 knots all day which got us to our destination by three in the afternoon. As we sailed up the west coast of Ko Rok Nok we saw many caves that look like they need to be explored, and then we entered
the pass between the northerly island of Ko Rok Nai and the southerly island of Ko Rok Nok. Just after anchoring, we headed to the north shore of Ko Rok Nok to start our explorations. Actually our first exploration was cutting Mark’s hair, so Kevin and Claire walked the beach looking for shells while I cut Mark’s hair. Kevin and Claire returned with a potpourri of hermit crabs, but I was still cutting Mark’s hair. Claire continued on up the beach to look for shells. When I finished cutting Mark’s
hair, he stood up and looked around to see a huge monitor lizard walking toward us. He stopped and stayed quite a while exploring us. He or she was quite a beautiful specimen and while watching her, a bird that looks very much like a huge crow landed on the beach to play with a coconut. I was amazed at this bird’s dexterity. She used her wings to roll the coconut and then try to peck a hole in it with her beak. She did this over and over. So we had a quite a show watching the hermit crabs,
the bird and the coconut, and the monitor lizard. Then Claire went in the water and soon yelled for us to join her as she has found a couple of zebra lionfish. This led to a further underwater exploration where we found the beginning of the coral fringing reef with hundreds of fish swimming around us in crystal clear water. This is always a very special experience and combined with the wonderful sail and other wildlife sightings, we can definitely log today as magical.
Back on Windbird we had a great taco meal prepared by Mark, Kevin, and Claire. We will stay here tomorrow and continue to explore these two islands. There is supposed to be a great walk on Ko Rok Nai and we know there is more snorkeling to be done on the fringing reefs around Ko Rok Nok. Claire’s wish for tomorrow is to go back to our same spot for snorkeling but with bright sunshine. Today was overcast, so although the water was clear, the lighting was not perfect. You can’t have it all, but we can wish for sunshine.
by Judy Handley | Dec 18, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 57, Year 4: Snorkeling in the Butang Group of Islands
Date: Thursday, December 18, 2008
Weather: Beautiful, Windy Day
Latitude: 06 degrees 31.984 minutes N
Longitude: 099 degrees 16.846 minutes E
Location: Ko Adang, Butang Island Group, Thailand
We started our day on the south side of Ko Lipe. We left our dinghy in the water overnight and somehow the dingy fuel tank got overturned and we awoke to a dinghy awash with gas mixed with oil. So effectively we had an oil spill in our dingy. Our collective minds went to work to figure out how to clean this us without getting any oil in the pristine, clear waters around us. Mark did a fantastic job of using one of our chamois cloths to soak up the mix and squeeze it into a stainless steel pot that he then poured through a funnel into a plastic jug. Then he used disposable pads to wipe up the dinghy. The final assault was to wash down the dinghy with lot of dish detergent and salt water. But the good news was that we didn’t leave an oil slick when the dinghy was pumped out. So once again life was good and we were off for a motor sail west to Ko Butang where we had a beautiful snorkeling experience. The coral and fish variety were great and the water was nice and clear. And the bonus
was the abundance of beautiful giant clams with mantles in every possible color combination that you can imagine. After snorkeling, we had lunch and then motored back east to the west coast of Ko Adang. Here we spent the late afternoon snorkeling the reef close to shore. It was not as phenomenal as the experience off Ko Butang, but we really enjoyed it.
Tomorrow we are heading north to Ko Rok Nok just southeast of Phuket. There is supposed to be clear water and good snorkeling here as well, so hopefully we will arrive in time to do a little snorkeling before the end of the day. Kevin and Claire are enjoying the beautiful weather and great snorkeling experiences. We are all disappointed that we don’t have an underwater camera. Kevin and Claire brought our underwater camera back to us, hopefully repaired. But unfortunately the underwater housing that we had ordered never arrived, so we still can’t use the camera. We will just have to use our memories.
by Judy Handley | Dec 17, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 56, Year 4: Swimming with the Fishes & Then Eating Them
Date: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Weather: Overcast; Some Wind; Sunny Late Day
Location: Ko Lipe, Butang Island Group, Thailand
Our day started with an early morning with a trip to shore. Our goal was to hike to Toe Boo Cliff Viewpoint which is a short walk up from the beach, but first we had to walk along the beach to do a little shelling as Claire is the quintessential beach comber. She found a few shells that she can add to her collection and then up the hill we went. We walked through the mangrove swamp area and then started up the hill. We didn’t see monkeys or langurs but we did see ants. We saw the most amazing army of ants marching across our path and we just had to stop and video the event. This triggered stories from Claire from Bert Holdobler, a world expert on ants. And this triggered Mark to experiment with the march of the ants. It’s amazing how four adults can spend so much time playing with ants!
We returned to Windbird and headed west to the island of Ko Lipe. We were dedicated to making this a sailing and not a motoring event, but as the arrival time got later and later, we finally turned on the engine. We arrived in the southern anchorage on Ko Lipe in the late afternoon. We immediately launched the dinghy and headed to closer to shore to snorkel. The coral here is not colorful, but there is a nice mix of fish life. For Mark and I, our find of the day was beautiful blue tangs. We saw palate tangs in the Komodos, but this was our first sighting of blue tangs. We must have spent at least an hour in the water, maybe more, because it was such a wonderful sight. We have been in marinas for much of the past two months and Kevin and Claire do not live in prime snorkeling territory in western Virginia. So after having a totally wonderful swimming experience with the fishes, we showered and headed to shore for dinner. We found a neat little place at the far end of the beach and Claire and I ordered barbequed seafood. To do this, you go up and pick out the fish, prawns, or squid that you would like, have it weighed, and then barbequed and delivered to your table. Some of the choices of fish were the same as the fish we had just been snorkeling to observe. So we carefully avoided those choices but realized that there is fine line between observation and dinner.
Tomorrow we will search for fantastic places to snorkel. We know there are places nearby with beautiful soft corals, so that will be our goal. We will probably spend another night in this area and then head north.
by Judy Handley | Dec 16, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 55, Year 4: Kevin and Claire Arrived Safe and Sound
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful Day
Location: Ao Pante Malacca, Ko Tarutao, Thailand
Kevin and Claire arrived on time and safely today after quite a long trip. But at each stage of their journey, all connections worked. They flew out of Dulles to Paris and spent a few hours walking the streets eating religieuse (chocolate eclairs in double layers) and crepes). Then it was back to an overnight flight to a quiet Bangkok airport, a taxi to the train station, an eighteen-hour overnight train to Hat Yai in southern Thailand, a mini-van ride to Pak Bara, and then a speedboat ferry to Ko Tarutao. We met them at the ferry dock and then it was a dinghy ride to Windbird. I think this was about 50+ hours of travel, but finally they were here and after the overnight train ride, they were rested and ready to go. We jumped in the water for a swim around Windbird and then got back in the dinghy to go up the river to find the Crocodile Cave. There used to be salt water crocodiles here, but thankfully no more. But the caves are still here with some interesting stalactites. It took us quite a while to find the caves, however, as we wandered this way and that through the mangroves. We finally had to go back to the national park to get directions, but we then found the caves and enjoyed the explore.
Tomorrow morning we will go back to land to do an early morning walk on the island and then we will be off for the Bulon Group of islands where the snorkeling is supposed to be fantastic. Let’s just hope that the reports are correct.
by Judy Handley | Dec 15, 2008 | Sailing Logs Year 4, Thailand |
Day 54, Year 4: Arrival in Thailand
Date: Monday, December 15, 2008
Weather: Beautiful Day-Sun, Some Wind, Light Rain in Late Afternoon
Latitude: 06 degrees 41.848 minutes N
Longitude: 099 degrees 38.380E
Location: Ao Pante Malacca, Ko Tarutao, Thailand
Today was just a beautiful day and we are now attached to a mooring in the Ko Tarutao Marine National Park in Thailand. Much of Thailand is very touristy, but the marine park is totally eco-friendly and beautiful. There are no resorts here, just back-packer accommodations. Some concessions were made in 2001 when the Survivor TV series was filmed here, but otherwise it is a quiet, untouched spot. You could easily spend a week or more here, but we will only be until for a day or so. Our friends,
Kevin and Claire, should arrive here by ferry from the mainland tomorrow on the 12 noon ferry or the later ferry at 4:30 pm. We will spend the next day exploring the island and then move on. But I can see that this is a spot where we might return.
We arrived here mid-afternoon after some delightful sailing mixed with some motorsailing. The water looked clear and clean so I decided that it was time for me to jump in and clean the waterline. We haven’t been in the clean, clear water since Belitung in Indonesia, so this was a treat. I had to fight a bit of current but I did get the waterline cleaned. Tomorrow morning Mark will dive to clean the prop and as much of the bottom as he can before we head to shore to meet Kevin and Claire.
It is beautiful here, not dramatic, but the layers of mountains and misty clouds that hang between the mountains make a beautiful backdrop. We are ready for a holiday vacation exploring Thailand and this anchorage is a perfect beginning.
by Judy Handley | Dec 14, 2008 | Malaysia, Sailing Logs Year 4 |
Day 53, Year 4: Kuah to Telaga Harbor
Date: Sunday, December 14, 2008
Weather: Hotter and Cloudier Than Usual, Rain in Evening
Latitude: 06 degrees 21.803 minutes N
Longitude: 099 degrees 40.788 E
Location: Telaga Harbor, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia
We are officially checked-out of Malaysia and will be leaving in the morning for Ko Tarutao in Thailand. It is only about thirty nautical miles, so we will be there in the afternoon. Today, we once again had to motor to get to Telaga as the winds were first right behind us but not strong to move us forward and then we turned and the wind was on the nose. So goes our year of “sailing” in Indonesia and Malaysia. We did get in a few good sails in Australia, but we also had to use the motor a great deal. So the first thing we did when we reached Telaga today was to go to the fuel dock to fill-up. Actually, we didn’t get to fill all three tanks because we couldn’t get the bronze fill-cap for that tank to open. So we filled the gerry jugs and will put that fuel in the center tank when and if we can get the cap off! Diesel here is 2 Malaysian Riggetts per liter which is about $2/gallon US. Like beer and chocolate, fuel is cheap in Malaysia. Maybe that is why there are so many people that get “stuck” here for years.
After getting fuel, we moved back out to the anchorage. The view of the mountains is beautiful from here and there is a white sand beach that sweeps around the bay, but there are also “signs of progress” that we haven’t seen since leaving the US. Little dune buggies run up and down the beach and ski jets run around the anchorage. These things might be fun but they sure spoil the feeling of paradise. I understand that this gets worse as we head get close to Phuket in the major tourist areas. Of course, those are the most beautiful areas, but I also understand that you can pick your anchorages carefully and avoid some of the “signs of progress.” A welcome sight in the anchorage was Lazy Bones. This is the boat that was right across the dock from us at Rebak with Steve and Magnus aboard. They are the father-son team that are heading to Antarctica and their first little step was to leave Rebak and check out the systems. Unfortunately, they have an alternator problem, so they will move around to Kuah to take care of that. We also heard from Shirena on the VHF radio. They are anchored just south of Kuah, but won’t be coming to Langkawi proper for a few days. So we won’t see them here, but we will see them in Phuket in the new year.
We heard from Kevin and Claire this morning when they had seven hours until take-off. So we are hoping they are in the air and on their way. They should arrive in Bangkok tomorrow and find their way south to Pak Bara where they will take a ferry out to Ko Tarutao to meet us on Tuesday. Sure hope they are having a safe trip and that they arrive in a quiet Bangkok.
Late note . . . we put up our Christmas tree today. I guess the out-of-place Christmas music in Kuah last night got us in the mood. The Christmas tree this year is artificial garland wrapped around the compression post that comes down from our mast and goes down to our keel right through main cabin table. We will wait until Kevin and Claire get here to decorate it, hopefully with shells and seed pods we find on the beach so at least part of it will be natural.
