DAY 8 - Saturday 13 February - Kuah
06°18.717N 99°50.874E
Were told that Sunday and Monday are holidays for Chinese New Year so got up early and walked to the wet market to buy fresh fruit and vegetables and then to the warehouse to buy a few cartons of wine. We caught a taxi back with all our shopping, washed and stowed all the fruit and veges then walked to the post office and then to the Chinese supermarket at the opposite end of town. Went to the night market and bought lots of yummy food from the stalls and returned to the boat to eat it. Must have walked 20ks today!!!
DAY 9 - Sunday 14 February - Kuah
VALE Cousin Noel Nielsen - found out today that Noel passed away sometime in January. Sincere sympathy to Judy and her family. A wonderful man.
All the Chinese shops are closed today. Bought ten cartons of beer (A$10 a carton) then went to dinner at a lovely restaurant with Single Malt, Cilantro and Kristie. A lovely night out.
DAY 10 - Monday 15 February - Kuah to Telaga
06°21.738N 99°40.776E
Went to the Harbour Master at 9.30am, then customs and immigration and officially checked out of Malaysia. Bought Peter a cheap guitar and Dell a bucket!! And upanchored at 12 noon. Motor sailed and anchored at 4pm in 3m. Were going to go in to Faizel's bar but the tide was way out so decided to have drinks on Kristie and discuss where to go tomorrow.
Miles: 16 Total: 5,498
DAY 11 - Tuesday 16 February - Telaga, Malaysia to Ao Sone, Tarutao, THAILAND
06°38.525N 99°36.949E
Upanchored at 9am. We now have a week to get to Phuket to check into Thailand. We have put up the Thai courtesy flag and taken down the Malaysian one which was much the worse for wear! As we were leaving we were deciding whether or not to put the main sail up when Single Malt went past and said it was gusting 28 knots so we just put the headsail out. It was so windy and lots of tipping so reefed into a half a headsail and were still flying along at 6 knots. It was scarily windy and after a while we took the sail down completely. Cilantro told us later it gusted up to 36 knots!! Anyway we crossed the 5 mile gap between Malaysia and Thailand and are unofficially in Thailand. We made our way up the island of Tarutao and at one point the wind completely died. We were making our way to E in the Sail Thailand book but went to the north of the bay as it was still a bit windy. Dropped anchor in 6.9m at 2pm. Cilantro had a problem with an oil leak which turned out to be the dipstick wasn't put back properly. Once they got over that fright they collected us and Kristie in their dinghy and we went ashore. There was a nice new ranger station but uninhabited and some old buildings in various state of disrepair (tsunami damage?). We sat in a dilapidated rotunda and discussed where to go tomorrow. We are just trying to do short day hops. Then we had a beer and a swim in that order. The water was lovely and clear and we had a lovely lazy afternoon. Single Malt went on a bit further and when they went ashore were charged 200 baht (~$7) for the privilege!! The wind howled all night but we were pretty steady.
Miles: 20 Total: 5,518
DAY 12 - Wednesday 17 February - Ao Sone, Tarutao to Koh TaliBong
06714.925N 99°22.037E
We upanchored at 8am after adjusting our clocks one hour back (I think!!) and there were hundreds of fishtrap flags in front of us. We weren't sure if they were nets or traps so we nudged slowly forward into their midst and they did in fact turn out to be traps. There are heaps of them everywhere. The wind calmed - nice breeze motor sailed under headsail. Around lunchtime the wind came up so we put the main up and had quite a good sail for a couple of hours. It was overcast and we could see rain over the mainland. The islands are very interesting being limestone rock which just rise up out of the water and they have caves in them. We were heading to Koh Phetra but when we got there it was blowing SE instead of NE and it was much too rocky and rolly so we kept on for another 12 miles and went to a little bay in the NW side of Koh TaliBong. Single Malt is also here. Anchored at 4pm and watched a video - The Quiet American.
Miles: 42 Total: 5,560
DAY 13 - Thursday 18 February - Koh TaliBong to Ko Muk
07°21.540 99°17.453E
Upanchored at 8am and had a slow leisurely motor sail across to Ko Muk. Went past the anchorage and round to where the cave to the hong is hoping to anchor just north of there but there was already a yacht in there and not much room between two high rock walls and a small beach at the end. One more yacht may have squeezed in but not three so we came back around to the first anchorage. Arrived at 11.30am. Anchored off a busy beach with resorts, boats, tourists etc. Took us three gos at dropping the anchor to get it to hold - rocky bottom. As Dell looked up to see the wind direction she saw a little swallow perched on the arrow right at the top of the mast. We then watched tiny little fish all leaping out of the water as they went along - sometimes they would split and go in opposite directions and it was like watching a water fountain. At 3pm we got in our dinghys and motored around to the Emerald cave which is called a hong (Tham Morakot). An 80m long limestone tunnel (pitch black) leads to an inland beach totally surrounded by vegetation clad cliffs. The entrance is quite small and can only be accessed by sea on a low tide. We dinghied in with our torches. Next time I think I would like to swim in. Apparently in times past pirates used to hide their loot in the cave. We rowed in and when you get past the entrance the tunnel opens out. The noise in the tunnel was pretty spooky - different noises going in and out. Probably water banging into other caves but when we came out it was more like a roar. When we came out of the tunnel it was the most amazing sight. The little beach is totally enclosed by huge cliffs. We timed it so there were only a couple of people in there but when we went to leave, a big tour boat had come along and we could hear heaps of people yelling in the tunnel and then emerged two tour guides towing a conga line of tourists all hanging on to the person in front - life jackets on. There must have been 90 of them!! When we left the water at the mouth of the tunnel with the sun shining in it was the most exquisite emerald colour. Still had to duck our heads to get out even though it was low tide. After that we headed for shore and walked down past a couple of resorts checking out the menus and prices and ended up at the other end of the beach at a run down looking establishment which sat on a cliff overlooking the bay and had a few beers and the most amazing Thai meal ever!!
Miles: 12 Total: 5,572
DAY 14 - Friday 19 February - Ko Muk - Koh Lanta
07°37.985N 99°01.547E
We upanchored at 8.30am and motor sailed under full sail past some lovely dramatic limestone cliffs. Had a slow motor sail over lovely green water arriving at 2.30pm. Anchored in 4.5m next to Bach & Byte and Single Malt. Have started doing my long stitch embroidery and am quite enjoying it. Beach is strewn with resorts and backpackers. Went in at 6.30pm with all the gang and had dinner.
Miles: 25 Total: 5,597
Special love and hugs to Rosie and Jessie
Love and Cheers
Fair winds and calm seas
Dell and Peter
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