Similan Islands - Thailand
The Similans are about 50 miles NW of Phuket. They are piles of elephant grey boulders capped with lush junge and with pure white coral sand beaches.
The water clarity is exceptional and since the area
is a national park, and no fishing is allowed, there are lots of fish to
see.
We have dughter Jodi and Pixi's mum aboard.
They joined us in Phuket and we are seeing the sights together.
Royal Phuket Marina - Thailand
A short hop and an excellent sail on a beam reach with 8 knots showing on the log brought us to Phuket - Our new playground for a while.
We have enjoyed the sailing on our way North to
Phuket more than we expected. It has reminded me how lucky we are to have
such a big "toy" to play with.
We will be joined on the 7th by Pixi's friend Jenny
and by Pixi's mum on the 16th. Then on Xmaas day Jodi arrives - excititng
times.
]]>
A short hop and an excellent sail on a beam reach with 8 knots showing on
the log brought us to Phuket - Our new playground for a while.
We have enjoyed the sailing on our way North to Phuket more than we
expected. It has reminded me how lucky we are to have such a big "toy" to
play with.
We will be joined on the 7th by Pixi's friend Jenny and by Pixi's mum on the
16th. Then on Xmaas day Jodi arrives - excititng times.]]>
South Bay, Koh Yao Yai - Thailand
After a good breakfast in town we sailed the 14 miles to Koh Yao Yai on Genoa only at 7.5 knots.
We are now tucked in nicely out of the swell and wind, gathering our thoughts before we sail down to Phuket tomorrow. ]]>
Ton Sai Bay, Koh Phi Phi Don - Thailand
Had a rally good sail here, at 7 knots, with a nice wind on the beam.
Had a rally good sail here, at 7 knots, with a nice wind on the beam.
Only 39 miles now from Phuket and we are chilling
out in a hot holiday spot for the young.
Possibly they were drawn here after the book "The
Beach" became a film starring Leonardo DiCapprio. The bay used in the film
is on the adjacent island Koh Phi Phi Le.
checked out of Malaysia yesterday at Talaga
Harbour on Langkawi and left
at noon today bound
]]>
at noon today bound
28 NOVEMBER 2008
Ko Muk - Thailand
After about 40 miles of nice sailing we finished up motoring the last hour in the rain to reach our overnight stop at Ko Muk.
Ko Muk - Thailand
After about 40 miles of nice sailing we finished up motoring the last hour in the rain to reach our overnight stop at Ko Muk.
The anchorage is delightful with steep cliffs,
green jungle and a nice little beach. There is a cave nearby which opens
up into a beach in the jungle with a shaft to the sky - magical.
We checked out of Malaysia yesterday at Talaga Harbour on Langkawi and left at noon today bound for Phuket.
This afternoon we anchored for the first time in Thai waters. We are on the West side of the former penal colony island of Tarutao on a deserted white sand beach fringed with rich green jungle - lovely. ]]>
6 OCTOBER 2008
INTSOMI has come to Rebak marina
to have her bottom scrubbed and painted (no pictures, she's too
shy).
Langkawi -
Malaysia
17 SEPTEMBER 2008
Langkawi -
Malaysia
Arrived this morning in the marina after anchoring
in a bay last night to sleep a few hours.
This morning we woke up to see the most beaqutiful
countryside with forests stretching down to the sea.
Our anchorage was in a bay with a steepisland with
a soaring rock pinnacle - quite different from the wetlands of
Cochin.
We are here. After so long on the seas it
seems a little strange. We are looking forward to being tied to something
solid for a while and awakening to familiar surroundings.
I wonder if the wonderlust will return?
16 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
10
Today it has been almost calm except for
some rain squalls when the wind was
gusting up to 40 knots.
We have been motoring most of the time today and
are are just approaching the wooded Butang Islands, which are just inside Thai
territory.
In fact, we have sailed almost all the way and so don't feel too bad about
waking the diesel donkey after a week off.
There is only 40 miles to go to our lanfall in
Langkawi,, Malaysia tomorrow morning.
Tonight we will anchor in a
bay off Langkawi and then enter Malaysia "officially" at the yacht club in
the morning. The champagne is cooling (at least it is until the
b***** fridge stops working again - which it does regularly - and
that is why we are going on to Singapore in a few days - to get it
fixed)We've seen loads of quite big fishing boats in the last 24 hours but
none have approached us.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
15 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
9
Its been a lovely sunny fay today with no
rain. We are actually enjoying the trip, especially as the sea is quite
calm this afternoon. Its exciting being so near our destiantion after
nearly 5,000 mautical miles
.
The wind has been South West at 10 to
25 knots. Progress is good and we now have
less than 200 miles left to run. Phuket is about 100 miles East North East
of us We now expect to make landfall in Lankkawi, Malaysia on Tuesday
evening.
We've seen a couple of ships in the last 24 hours.but not as many as
we expected.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
1w SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
8
Its been sunny today with no rain.
.
The wind has been mostly South South West at
around 10 to 15 knots. As a result, our
progress is still pretty good and we now have
less than 400 miles left to run, so still expect to make landfall on
Wednesday.
This afternoon we saw land (islands) for the first time since we left
Sri Lanka behind us and soon we will be seeing a lot more (goody-goody).
We've not seen another ship in the last 24 hours.but expext to see
more as we near Indonesia.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
13 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
7
The weather today has been mostly cloudy
and continues warm and clammy, but with no rain.
.
The South West wind has held up and been pretty
steady all day at 20 knots. As a result, our
progress is still good and we now have a tad over
500 miles left to run, so expect to make landfall on Wednesday.
The nearest land to us now is Teressa Island which is about 100 miles ENE
of us. We've not seen another ship in the last 24 hours.but expext to
see more as we near Indonesia.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
12 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
6
The weather continues cloudy and rather warm
and clammy. We see lots of rain around on the radar and had one squall
earlier today.
.
The favourable South West wind has been more
up than down (between 12 and 25 knots) and overnight we were flying along
at 9 knots. Speeding through the darkness is quite exhilarating
(especially when there is nothing to bump into). Our progress is good and we passed the half-way this morning.
FAT ANNIE did over 200 miles in 24 hours - a first,
We now have about 700 miles to go.
There has been only one ship within 24 miles of us in the
last 24 hours.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
11 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
5
The weather continues a bit warm and clammy.
We had clear skies this morning and the cloud has increased during the
day.
The favourable South West wind has been up and
down between 15 and 23 knots and we have been making steady progress.
Our average speed in the last 24 hours is about a knot over the plan, so we are
still pulling ahead of schedule, albeit slowly.
There has been no shipping at all today so we must be in the middle of
BFN.
We have done over 600 miles from Cochin and should reach the half-way
mark tomorrow.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
10 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
4
It has warmed up a bit to 31 degrees C.and the
humidity is 65% so we are a bit clammy today.
Once we passed Sri Lanka, the favourable South
West wind picked up to 23 knots and we have been flying low all day at around 9
knots. We just put in a second reef in the mainsail, as the wind shows no
signs of decreasing.
There has been less shipping but we did pass two small trawlers at anchor
in 65m of water, which is very deep to anchor.
We have done 500 milkes from Cochin and have 1100 to go.
Its good to find that we are now beating our target for daily runs and are hoping to complete the passage
in 11 days, one less than planned, but its still early days
yet..
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
9 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
3
No rain overnight or today. Temperatures are
a pleasant 30 degrees C.
A favourable South West wind has kept us
ticking along nicely.
There has been quite a lot of heavy shipping - we seem to be on a shipping
route. We also came across a couple of fishing boats welll offshore, which
was a surprise.
Late this aftern0on a huge pod of dolphins - at least fifty - visited
us and played around the boat.
We are still pretty much on target for our daily
runs, so are hoping to complete the passage in 12 days as
planned.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
8 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
2
Today has been a mixture - sunny skies, overcast
and a rain squall. The rain squall was quite envigorating with wind gusts
over 30 knots for a while. We got wet but are drying out fast. The
boat is getting a free fresh-water power-wash in the rain so we can''t
complain.
Robert and Jill have been running their cruising
chute but on Intsomi we have been too chicken to fly our big
kite?!
Our progress would be greater with a bit more wind but this afternoon the
wind direction at least was favourable and we are now making 5.5 knots along the
course we planned.
With sailing, its usually possible to have a nice sail, but to have a nice
sail in the direction you want is a real bonus.
Thus far we are pretty much on target for our daily
runs so are still hoping to complete the passage in 12
days.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BST).
7 SEPTEMBER 2008
Indian Ocean Part 2 - Day
1
At 0700 local time we left Cochin after a
break of thirteen days.
So far the winds are light and the sea pretty
calm. It has been raining most of the day.
Our position is at 1200 GMT (1300
BSRT).
3 SEPTEMBER 2008
Return from Touring Kerala
While in Cochin we did a four day tour around the
region
.
First night was spent on a houseboat on the
backwaters around Alleppey.
Next night was in the hill country around Thekkady
and our last two nights were in Munnar, a centre for tea
production.
We did several long walks in the hill country
around Munnar and visited Top Station at around 7000 feet.
While walking a trail near Top Station we
encountered a wild Bison and Robert took his picture while the guides ran
off!
Fortunately this was as close as he came and the
guides regained their composure and then scared him off using their
spring-operated umbrellas.