Last Thursday we arrived in Phuket. The trip from Langkawi was a series of short sails, hopping from island to island in the Andaman Sea. A few hours after leaving Langkawi we crossed an imaginary line in the ocean into Thailand. The Northeast monsoon blew a fairly steady 15 Knots of wind, so most of our travel was sailing or sometimes motor sailing.

The steep cliffs that we first found in Langkawi continued, with rocky islands strewn over the landscape. The water turned clear for the first time since we left Singapore. At Ko Rok the underwater visibility was 10-20 meters and we snorkeled. Also a good chance to clean the bottom of the boat: I found the propellers encrusted in barnacles, and scraping them off gave us a 20% lift on speed under motor.

At Ko Bulon Le we had our first encounter with the Thai backpacker scene. Anchored off the island, we dinghied ashore for a relaxed evening with excellent Thai food at the local beach bars, with the kids playing on hammocks and swings.

South of Ko Phi Phi we anchored at Maya Bay, where parts of the famous movie “The Beach” was filmed. This alone has made it a big tourist attraction with a continuous stream of speedboats, dive boats and longtails. Last year the Thai authorities blocked off the beach to reduce the environmental impact. More than the beach the sheer rock walls dropping into the sea make this bay a beautiful and special place.

By comparison, Phuket is a metropolitan center. A big island, it is full of hotel developments, package tourists, and the associated infrastructure. Ao Chalong, where we did our port clearance and immigration, has the convenience of ATMs, phone shops, 7-eleven… but predominantly whiskey bars that open from morning to late.

Behind the beach hotels Phuket consists of the infrastructure to keep the fun going 24/7. This makes it a great provisioning center for yachts. At the Siam Makro supermarket we found the biggest selection of groceries since Singapore. The Central shopping mall with high end boutiques seemed to transport us from tropical beach paradise to the urban and commercial center of Singapore. Not really what we were looking for!

On the West Coast we have found beautiful bays with clear water, thousands of little fish swimming around our boat, fantastic beaches and hills rising from the shore that remind us of the Cote d’Azur.

We will continue to explore around Phuket and get some more boat projects done in the coming weeks. And then figure out where to go next!

In the few months since we started we have found that there is quite a cruising community, and that these other sailors often have interesting stories to share, and are quite open to newcomers.

Often we meet other boats anchoring in the same bay or staying in the same marina. Social media helps to connect: there is a facebook group for sailing families all around the world, and once a month we all exchange location information to make it easier to hook up with other kids boats.

This weekend we started the trip from Langkawi to Phuket, island hopping in a small convoi of three kids boats. The first night we had a beach bonfire and BBQ, with 11 kids from 4 boats running around, digging in the sand, collecting crabs and roasting marshmallows. We will have to work our way up to roasting crabs!

On Sunday we crossed into Thailand, ready for the clearer waters and white beaches of the Andaman Sea. The weather has turned into the steady Northeast monsoon, with winds at 15-20 Knots from (guess what) predominantly the North East. Perfect for great sailing days!

Spot the turtle:

This week our marina was host to the action of the 17th Royal Langkawi International Regatta. Staring last weekend we saw racing boats and crews arrive and prepare. The marina changed face from the home to a few cruisers and holiday sailors to a bee hive of competitive sports. And after-race celebrations.

With our starboard Yanmar engine still out of order, we took the Dinghy out several times to see the races. Yesterday was the most spectacular day: we left early to see the regatta start. There was a big Malaysian Polis ship anchored at the start and finish line, hosting the race officials. When we approached with our dinghy they first chased us away, warning us that we would be in the middle of boats vying for the best start position. When they saw the children they offered that we could tie up the Dinghy and board the big ship to watch from there. What a unique opportunity: the best seats in the house!

We were a bit nervous as this was the first time we tied up our Dinghy to a big ship, and the first time we had to climb up the side of a ship on a ladder suspended over a Dinghy bouncing in the waves… does not sound like a big thing, but one of those typical scenarios where things break, fall into the water, or people get hurt. The force of two ships moving against each other even in small seas is impressive. We were extra careful and without any hiccups we boarded.

The police crew was super friendly and invited us to roam around the boat, offered drinks and food, and started to take selfies with the kids. A nice distraction for them, after five days at anchor in the middle of regatta races that they did not seem to care about too much. For us it was a different story: we were right on the start and finish line. Racing boats were cutting left and right as they got ready. Some of them passed within centimetres of each other, and of the sides of the police ship. (Later one of them actually bumped into the Polis ship, a racing accident with costly damage to the race boat, but fortunately no injury).

Wind picked up to a good 20 knots and the waves grew over the course of the morning, so when it was time to return for lunch we had a bumpy and salty dinghy ride back to the marina. And a lot of excitement and inspiration from seeing a very different way to sail boats!

Some of our impressions are captured in this short video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/8wU0LKNrGQU

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

We have neglected the blog a bit since we arrived in Langkawi. Maybe because the Christmas and New Year celebrations got in the way. Maybe also because Langkawi started to feel like we are on holiday. We took a break. And got some boat projects done. And generally continued to adjust to our new lifestyle.

Nyala has given a high-level description of our activities in the (short) January edition of The Monthly Yacht, so I’ll just add a little detail and a lot of pictures.

Langkawi has very beautiful scenery, and is even famous for its geologic formations. It also has great beaches and hotel developments and tourists coming for their holidays. The nice side of being on our own boat is that we can get away from the crowds, and just pick a beautiful bay and beach and hang out (quite literally, on the anchor).

We did go into town a few times for the night market, which is in different locations around Langkawi on different week nights, and is great for local food, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other random assorted bits.

It was also nice to meet other boat families. Our kids are learning to more easily get to know new friends. And we can talk to other adults who think that being on a boat with a bunch of noisy kids for a long time is ok. And who think that conversations like this are normal: “We want to head up into Thailand, and then at the end of the season go back to Singapore, and then see if we head to Borneo or Indonesia”, with the reply: “You should totally do that. Coming up through Indonesia and Papua was great. Totally doable, but stock up on supplies in Singapore for 12 months. We are planning to go to Borneo, but then head up into the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan.” Interesting!

Anyway, we are in Langkawi now, and before we go anywhere (planning to continue on to Koh Lipe in Thailand) we need Yanmar to send us a technician for a warranty fix on our starboard engine. Boat life…

Sorry, it’s late because we forget to post it. Also a bit short. I tried.monthly yacht-january

We are doing very well although it has been an extremely windy day and when we checked the hardest wind was only 20 knots which we have had before though not in a marina. Hope anybody in Thailand is ok. It sounds pretty bad on the internet.

A few of you have reached out, as the news of tropical storm Pabuk have been picked up by global media.

https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/01/03/weather/thailand-tropical-storm-pabuk-intl-wxc/index.html

Generally, storms at this time of the year come from the Pacific and move from East to West. That is why we are on the West Coast of Malaysia, not the East. Most storms stay out further East, passing the Philippines and into China. Very few, like Pabuk, make it to Malaysia at all. They then hit the land on the East coast and get weaker as they cross the peninsular mountain chain. Pabuk is projected to pass North of Langkawi, so we may get bad weather and some wind, but it will not be anywhere near the force that could be expected in the East.

To reduce any risk we tied up in the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club marina today, where Rainbow Safari is nicely tied up and tucked in safe. We’ll let you know, but aren’t particularly worried. We had a little bit of drizzle this evening and there is some light wind now, but nothing unusual so far.