Southern Thailand 2014: Phuket

Phuket and surrounds

Sailing north and out of the Malacca Straits of Malaysia into Thailand, we encounter two sides of Phuket and surrounds… a full-on hectic international tourist destination as well as spectacular and dramatic islands and beaches.

Day 245 –  1 Jan 2014 – Langkawi, Malaysia to Koh Tarutao, Thailand
We started 2014 and spent the day as we’d like to spend the year… A nice healthy brekky with our nutty/seedy porridge and then setting off for new lands and new adventures. We had our friends from Singapore on board with us… Novice sailing cadets, eager to experience sailing and getting a feel for the cruising lifestyle. We had arranged our Thai visas in Penang, before sailing up to Langkawi, with Phuket as our arrival check-in destination. That meant that we wouldn’t be going ashore until we arrived in Phuket. We could have done one over-night sail and gotten there the following afternoon, but we wanted to meander our way up there and so we planned to take five days and as many anchored nights along the way. Our first day sail was more motoring than sailing, but a lovely day indeed. We headed for the closest island over the border in Thailand, Koh Tarutao (Koh means “island” in Thai).

Day 246 –  2 Jan 2014 – Koh Tarutao to Koh Tali Bong near Trang
We headed up to Koh Tali Bang, dodging fishing buoys and boats, then decided to anchor north of Tali Bong to get a better breeze and possibly a glimpse of dugongs!!! Well, there are supposed to be about 40 of these rare “sea cows” (cousins to the manatees) in the mangroves between Koh Tali Bong and the mainland, but they are quite shy and we weren’t close enough in to spot any. I said I’d make an apple pie if we saw any, but we didn’t.

Day 247 – 3 Jan 2014 – Koh Tali Bong to Koh Lanta
Koh Lanta is a long thin island and there were several options for anchoring. We decided on a location towards the south end on the west side. There were several resorts in the cove and it looked like it would have been a nice place to dinghy ashore and explore a bit. Unfortunately, since we hadn’t cleared into Thailand yet, we were quarantined on the boat, so we took a swim and just enjoyed the afternoon and evening.

Day 248 – 4 Jan 2014 – Koh Lanta to Phi Phi Leh
We set a course to head to Phi Phi Don, the larger of the two Phi Phi islands, but also to cruise by the east coast of Phi Phi Leh, just south, which was simply gorgeous with huge limestone cliffs jutting into the sea. Once we arrived at Phi Phi Don, however, it was so busy and such a mad-house (think Disney gone amuck) that we decided to head back down to Phi Phi Leh on the west side, where there were supposed to be some moorings and the day-boats with divers and snorkelers and beach goers would leave by late afternoon. We did get a mooring there however not all the boats left. Some were sleep-aboard, so the craziness persisted. The beach in Maya bay on Phi Phi Leh is the location where the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. We’ll have to rent that movie and see what it looks like without 700 people crowding the shore. 🙂

Day 249 – 5 Jan, 2014 – Phi Phi Leh to Ao Chalong Bay, Phuket
So, I didn’t actually know that Phuket was an island and that there is the city called “Phuket Town” on the east coast of the island. Most all of the resorts with the pristine white beaches and such are on the west coast of the island. Ao (Ao means “bay” in Thai) Chalong is on the southern end of the island and is where boats check in. We arrived mid-afternoon and lowered the dinghy and mounted the engine. One jet on the engine was plugged since we hadn’t used the dinghy in about two months… Having spent that time in marinas in Nongsa Point Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. So we decided that we could check in the following morning (which was good since the customs office closed at 3PM and we wouldn’t have made it in time anyway!)

Day 250 – 6 Jan, 2014 – Ao Chalong Bay
We checked in to Thailand and explored the little area around the customs and immigration office, which wasn’t extensive. However, we got a recommendation for a nice Thai restaurant, called “By the Grace” and enjoyed our first Thai meal in Thailand. We also got a recommendation for a place to get a traditional Thai massage, which we would schedule for the following day.

Day 251 – 252 – 7 – 8 Jan, 2014 – Ao Chalong Bay to Racha Island
We decided we’d head to an island south of Phuket Island for some snorkeling and swimming, and picked Racha Island, only 14 miles away. We went back to the same little restaurant for lunch after we arranged for snorkel equipment for our friends and had an awesome Thai massage at Dalha, where all the massage therapists are blind. I think that’s a win-win approach since blind people have more sensitive sense of touch and it is a good occupation. After lunch we headed back to the boat and set off for Racha. We arrived there late in the afternoon and found a mooring ball just waiting for us. The location was great and although it proved to be crowded with local Phuket day boats during the day, it wasn’t the hectic scene that we experienced at Phi Phi. We snorkeled and swam and enjoyed the little striped fishes that were hiding under our boat. The coral was disappointing… Almost completely dead with only a few spots of life here and there. Too bad.

Day 253 – 260 – 9 – 15 Jan, 2014 – Racha Island back to Ao Chalong and anchored by Panwa Bali (East side of bay)
We headed back to Ao Chalong to relax for the afternoon and then allow our friends time to get packed up before leaving for home the following morning. We took the dinghy ashore with their bags and caught a taxi to Phuket town and the bus station. We shared the cab with another couple who wanted to go to the Boat Lagoon and the boat show that was opening that day, so we decided to head up that way with them. We caught up with cruising friends Tom and Colleen whose boat is on the hard stand there and joined them for lunch then a look around the boat show.

We relaxed a few days, went provisioning at a lackluster Tesco (though to my surprise and great delight they had mini tetra packages of goat’s milk… Something I’ve not seen anywhere else to date!), and then a few days later found the Holy Grail of grocery stores, the “Villa Market” with all sorts of western food items for the ex-pats, retirees and tourists… What a find! We splurged on some wonderful things including fresh Norwegian salmon. This was also the only supermarket since leaving Darwin that had chili of any variety… Not our usual Stag’s lean, but we’re trying their Hormel turkey chili… Can’t be too choosey now.

Day 261 – 263 –  16 – 18 Jan, 2014 – Ao Chalong bay to Koh Yao Yai
We decided we had spent enough time lolling around Ao Chalong bay and wanted to explore some of the islands just east of Phuket. So we set off for Koh Yao Yai, against the current and into the wind, of course! With an average speed of 4 knots, it took us quite some time to travel the 15 miles, but when we arrived, we were rewarded with a lovely anchorage off the beach with a nice resort on the cliff. There was a wonderful breeze, so it was comfortable and no mozzies (yeah!)

Day 264 – 265 – 19 – 20 Jan, 2014 – Koh Yao Yai to Hong Island Group
We beat up into the wind and current again, 13 miles north in the Phanga Nga bay, to the Hong Island group. We anchored on the south side to get some protection from the N/NE winds. The winds were blowing with gusts up to 30 knots the second night. We dug out the kayaks so that we could go exploring the caves and “hongs”, through the caves into small pools with steep limestone cliffs surrounding them… Absolutely beautiful! The only distraction was dozens of tour boats with hundreds of tourists and kayaks. It was like Grand Central Station with trains of kayaks dodging and jockeying to get in and out of the narrow cave passages. We watched them come and go, and were quite impressed with the efficient, exacting process and timing of these tour boats. By the time the boat’s anchor touched the water on the bow, there were kayaks flying off the stern and guides hopping on them. The tourists weren’t paddling themselves, each kayak had a guide/paddler, so they were just reclining and watching and taking pictures.

My poor little kayak split a seam, which made me very sad indeed. But Roger came to the rescue and glued it back together. So far it seems (or “seams”) to be holding air and hope that we can repair any other glue seams that give way in the future. Kayaking was a blast and look forward to doing more of that over the next week.

We’ve been talking about plans for 2014. We don’t really have any yet. We had a complete plan and schedule for 2013, which at times was a little aggressive and overwhelming, which ended with our arrival in Thailand at the beginning of this year. We both have been a bit disappointed with our stay in the Phuket area so far. It isn’t the calm laid-back friendly place we had anticipated. It is full-on packed with tourists and ex-pats. Granted, we’re here in the high,  high season and Phuket is the tourist hub of Thailand, so perhaps we’ll find other places in Thailand more to our taste. It may also be that months in remote Indonesia and Malaysia have gotten us more accustomed to an easier-going pace.

In any event, it started us both thinking about what we are doing (cruising and ongoing tourists) and whether we needed more of a life balance and life purpose. We’ve found it overwhelming to be continuously on the move and seeing new places. It is absolutely wonderful for some time and then we need to stop and rest. We think that perhaps cruising for part of the year and then working for part of the year might be the thing to do. It would give our cruising kitty a boost and give us some time to absorb the sights and scenes from cruising a while before heading on to the next wonderful places. One thing is for sure, since we’ve decided to stay in SE Asia for at least another season and maybe two, we will need a way to deal with the heat. If we work, we’ll be in a marina and will get an air-conditioning unit for the boat without question. If we don’t, then we’ll need to try to find locations offshore (so there aren’t mozzies) and with a good breeze. We’ll explore the options and see what we find. Right now though, we’re both feeling a little bit at loose ends and without a compass, not knowing what we really want yet.

Day 266  –  21 Jan, 2014 – Near James Bond Island and down to Koh Phanak
We anchored just to the west of James Bond Island, where they filmed one of the 007 movies, but not right off the island… Way too many tour boats and tourists. Unfortunately, we tried setting our anchor in back of a nice little island but started dragging, so we wound up in a very open area and the winds kicked up significantly. With wind against tide, we were spinning back and forth. Roger didn’t get much sleep, and I slept blissfully, though somewhat guiltily, through the night. At the change of the tide and after lunch, we motored with the current down to Koh Phanak. We anchored in a good protected spot for the North Easterlies and plan to go kayaking and cave exploring in the morning.

Day 267 –  22 Jan, 2014 – Phanak Island
We caught the ebbing tide and headed south, past the Hong Island group and over to Phanak Island. There were two anchorages on the west coast that looked promising, one of which had a cool cave to kayak in. We didn’t want to anchor overnight at that location as it was too shallow closer in and two exposed where the depth was good. So we anchored at the southern anchorage, and although protected, we wound up dragging a bit. We motored the mile or so back up the next day to do some kayaking and anchored a little ways out. We found that once we entered the cave it was really, REALLY dark and we needed headlamps, so we paddled back to the boat against tide and wind and then had a bite of lunch before paddling back in to explore. It was very cool and there were heaps of bats hanging from the ceiling. Unfortunately, the tide was high and we weren’t able to get all the way through the cave and into the hong. We decided that the anchorages on the island weren’t good enough to want to stay there another night and catch the tide to go all the way through… Another time, perhaps.

Day 268 – 269 – 23 – 25 Jan, 2014 – Koh Yao Yai (again)
After leaving Phanak, we sailed (yippee, yes we actually sailed!) over to the anchorage on Koh Yao Yai that we liked so much. It had the four things we want in an anchorage… No bugs, a breeze, flat water, and no other boats around. Well, there were the usual “long tails” going by fishing and this time a very large motor yacht was anchored there, but well away from us and further off shore, so they wouldn’t be able to see us taking our showers up on the back deck. We love showering up there if the wind isn’t too strong and making it too chilly… Ah, the simple pleasures in life!

Day 270 – 277 –  26 Jan – 2 Feb, 2014 – Back to Ao Chalong and Panwa anchorage
We returned to Ao Chalong to run some errands… Bring our dive tanks in for inspection and servicing, provisioning and going to the Bangkok Phuket Hospital for various check-ups. We also wanted to attend a party hosted by Sail Malaysia and Seven Stars boat transport. We not only wanted to meet up again with some of our cruising friends who will be there, but also hear the presentation on the Sail Malaysia Eastern route, which is one of our options for 2014, if we don’t find work that appeals to us in Penang or Singapore. There wasn’t too much to the presentation, though it sounds like a more relaxed schedule than Sail Indonesia was and after the sail down the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula the stops will be more remote and less touristy… Honestly, we are over all the packed beaches with roasting white people, the thousands of speed boats back and forth (and cutting too close across our bow), and not really being able to connect with anyone local. We had a chance to visit with Marieke from Seven Star boat transport, which was nice. We walked to her home from the beach and had lunch of fresh yummy bread she just baked and a lovely salad.

Day 278 – 281 –  3 – 6 Feb Sept, 2013 – Ao Chalong to Nai Harn anchorage
We did the laundry, got fuel from the dock and provisioned up all in one day then took off the following day… Just a short trip (about 7miles) south and around the corner to the SW side of Phuket island. Nai Harn is a nice little anchorage and more settled than Ao Chalong. Still a busy place, with resorts and lounge chairs lining the entire beach, but nicer for anchoring. We took the dinghy ashore and walked along the beach, then up to the street where we bought some fresh mangos and had BBQ chicken and corn on the cob from a local vendor… Lunch at 11AM, such was the draw of the savory chicken-roasting smells. 🙂 I inflated my kayak and went paddling around each day. We dug into a boat project, cleaning and re-greasing 7 of our 8 winches. We ran out of grease so couldn’t fully cross the project off our list as “done”, but I erased the “es” from “winches”, so that felt like some accomplishment, anyway.

Day 282 – 7 Feb, 2013 – Nai Harn to Patong Bay
We planned on spending a few days in Patong Bay so that I could take the bus over to the weekend market with friends Colleen and Tom. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and joined friends Jackie and Jake, and Jackie and Gary that evening ashore for drinks and dinner. Patong was unbelievable… I have never seen a tourist spot like it. Lots of prostitution here and Thai boys dressed like girls, shows of every sort, drinking, loud, fireworks, crowded… You name it. During the day the lounge chairs are 6 deep all along the lovely beach. There is barely enough room to get in between them from the sand to the water. We had a few happy hour drinks and then went to a buffet dinner. I shouldn’t have had 2 margaritas on an empty stomach and then gone to eat a heavy big meal. I got terribly sick that night and the entire next day. At first Roger thought I just had a hangover, but it was clear eventually that it was more like food poisoning. No need to elaborate on that.

Patong bay had fireworks every night well into the morning and the bay had a terrible sewage problem as well, so it smelled very bad at night. During the day there were huge numbers of jet skis streaking about all of which seemed to like using the anchored yachts as pylons. With that glowing review, we decided to head out the very next morning and make our way north. Crazy, crazy, place Patong is… THE tourist place in Phuket.

Day 283 – 8 Feb, 2013 – Ban Thap Lamu (Navy Base)
We headed about 45 miles up the coast to a little bay which houses the Thai navy. It was nice and quiet (so that I could recuperate from Patong illness) and flat waters so Roger could sleep.

Day 284  –  9 Feb, 2013 – Koh Ra
Another 45 mile day up the coast to some islands. We anchored in the breeze on the east side of Koh Ra before continuing our journey north. We will go just below the Burma border and then head offshore to some islands for diving and snorkeling.

Day 285 – 287 – 10 – 12 Feb, 2014 – Koh Phayam south anchorage
30 miles north, we anchored at Koh Phayam on the southwest side of this island. It has a long smooth sandy beach with little bungalows, eateries, surf bars and places to get an outdoor massage. I inflated my “alter ego” (my kayak… Cute model name, eh?) and went for a paddle over to the beach. The kayak was a LOT easier to drag up above the waterline at low tide than the dinghy. Several other boats from our cruising group showed up a day later and we hope to travel with them on to the Surin and Similan islands for some exceptional diving. They went on a trip with a dive boat from the mainland and saw manta rays! We rented a scooter and toured the island with Jake and Jackie. There are no cars on this island and the roads are more like wide sidewalks than proper streets. It was a blast though. We went up to explore the north bay and the beach, where we were told not to miss “Hippy Park”. It was notable and we decided we needed to go to the bar there for a drink when we were anchored here. We then headed to the east side of the island where there was a small, small, small village. We had the best Pad Thai ever there for lunch, all for about $3. We walked along the water to the temple pier and climbed up to a huge (relative to the size of the island) golden Buddha on the hillside. The entire day with the scooter cost only $10… Can’t beat that with a stick! 🙂

Day 288 – 290 – 12 – 14 Feb, 2013 – The north anchorage on Koh Phayam
It was only about 3 miles to the anchorage on the northwest side of the island. This bay was a bit smaller than long beach on the southwest side. We dinghied in to the Hippy Bar and enjoyed a margarita (once we told them to leave the OJ — actually tasted like Tang — out). We then walked down the beach to a local restaurant and had dinner with several of our cruising friends. The food was fine but my coconut fruit shake was killer good! Yum. We met two new cruising couples and caught up with a couple we had met at the Straits Quay marina in Penang. We enjoyed a Valentine’s dinner at Mr. Gao’s restaurant, where our host spoke German and the servers didn’t speak any English. The wine and food were both good and we had a nice evening. We had been told that the Hippy bar was going to have music that night but we were misinformed. There was a party about 20 minutes’ walk away, but since we (and two other yachts) were heading out early the next morning for the Surin Islands, we decided to pass and just head back to the boats.

Day 291 – 294 – 14 – 17 Feb, 2013 – Surin Islands
With great anticipation, we sailed (well motored) 40 miles offshore to the Surin Islands. There were supposed to be great diving and snorkeling spots along with Richelieu Rock (10 miles east of the Surins) and the Similan Islands (50 miles south of the Surins). The islands and shores were beautiful and we found three lovely mooring balls on the west side of the narrow pass between the two islands, just right for our three boats. It was calm water, sweet breeze and no bugs. Also, being on very sturdy moorings, we didn’t have to worry about our anchor dragging. Roger slept very well. 🙂

As it turned out, after trying several snorkeling locations, all the coral was dead, so no good for diving. The snorkeling was nice and there were some cool fish, but nothing super spectacular. On the last day there, we decided to try for a dive at Richelieu Rock. If we couldn’t pick up a mooring ball (only 2 there), we’d have to anchor in about 130 ft, which would be challenging. So we decided we’d all go on EQ and Jackie (who isn’t a diver) would stay on board to watch the boat and provide surface support if needed. This location was reputed to have significant currents, being a pinnacle in the middle of deeper waters, so it was important for us to time our dive at slack water. It was a 2-hour motor ride out there and Roger wanted to get an early start. Good thing that we did, since we had awesome mooring karma and one of the two mooring balls was free. We nabbed it and waited about 45 minutes until the tide slacked. Within that time, at least a dozen boats arrived, dumping dozens (each) of divers into the water. We had a wonderful dive, with all sorts of lovely coral and fishies. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whale sharks or manta rays, both of which frequent these pinnacles during Feb – April. Still, it was wonderful. The next day we were off to the Similans, which are really supposed to be some of the best diving sites in the world!

Day 295 – 296 – 18 Feb, 2014 – Similan Islands – Similan Island
We arrived at Koh Similan in the Similan Islands at about 3-ish and picked up a mooring ball in front of a beautiful white sandy beach with large interestingly shaped boulders protecting the north side. The turquoise water was incredible and we put our fins and snorkels on and hopped into the water. We swam over to our buddy boat to check out their mooring and then headed over to the beach to see what was up there (besides a few speed boats with beach tourists). There was a campground with tents, a little bar that served beer and water, and a little restaurant that did a buffet dinner… reservations required! We checked out the menu and were uninspired, so decided on pizza and a movie! I’m sure that was the tastier and healthier choice. 🙂

Day 296 – 297 – 19 – 20 Feb, 2014 – Similan Islands – Miang Island
Just a few miles south of our anchorage on the north end of Similan Island was Miang Island and two small islets just to the east of them. The dive boats seemed to be just to the inside of the islets, so we picked up a mooring there after one of the dive boats left. The water was turquoise blue and simply lovely, over white sand. Roger was fighting an ear infection, so I jumped in the water for a solitary snorkel tour of the little bay. What coral was there seemed to be dead, but there were a few schools of big colorful parrot fish there and not much else. The following morning, I went for a dive with Jake and Bill. Roger manned the dinghy and followed us around. It really was pretty disappointing. This was not the gorgeous diving that has been hyped about these islands. Weather was expected, so we planned to leave the next morning and head back to the mainland.

Day 298 – 21 Feb, 2014 – Similan Islands to Kamala Bay
We had a long hard motor ride into the wind and waves back to the mainland. Roger was not a happy camper, as the boat doesn’t sail well to weather and that’s what we had for the 45 mile trip back.

Day 299 – 301 – 22 – 24 Feb, 2014 – Kamala Bay
A nice little spot one bay north of the tourist hysteria of Patong, Kamala Bay is quiet and we were able to provision up at the Big C and enjoy a few nice meals. I also found the Thai t-shirts/dresses I was looking for… Very cute for less than $10 ea.

Day 302 – 25 Feb, 2014 – Nai Harn
We headed down the coast to the SW anchorage of Nai Harn, mainly to pick up some of the amazing grilled chicken from the street stand there. One night and 4 chickens later we headed out for Ao Po on the NE corner of Phuket Island to visit friends.

Day 303 – 305 – 26 Feb – 1 Mar, 2014 – Ao Po
We picked up a mooring just south of the marina and in view of the lovely apartments that our friends Bruce and Alene are renting while they work on their boat. We enjoyed spending two evenings together and taking advantage of the pool at the apartment. We met another couple who were visiting on their yacht (next mooring ball over) and rented a car with them to go visit the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, which although not a huge facility, was nevertheless impressive in what they are trying to accomplish to save these very endangered apes. Everyone seems to know that orangutans are endangered, but not nearly as many people know about the plight of the gibbons, which are illegally kept and worked in the tourist trade.

Day 306 – 309 – 2 – 5 Mar, 2014 – Ao Chalong
We headed back to Ao Chalong, planning to do some provisioning, check out of Thailand and then head south. Well, plans change as all cruisers know. We went from heading south to Danga Bay by Singapore to only going as far as Langkawi (friends Ruthie and Neal were going to stay there and we decided to stay put rather than cruise around Borneo or up the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula. We decided against trying to find full-time jobs in Singapore, both because it seemed difficult and because we really only had 9 months before we would start cruising again. We decided against going around South Africa this season and felt that it was important to honor our dream of circumnavigating the world, so even circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean was taken off the list for next year… We will “Head to the Med through the Red in 2015”.

When Telaga Harbor informed us that they didn’t have a berth for us for the season, we regrouped and Roger suggested we drive up and check out the Yacht Haven marina on the north shore of Phuket Island. It seemed like a nice place and when we heard that they only had one slip available (and we jumped the waiting list by a number of boats because we were there in person and would stay 9 months), we decided to stay. So, despite Roger’s frustration with the tourists and the fact that Phuket was nothing like the Thailand he had envisioned, and even though he couldn’t wait to get out of Thailand fast enough, he now willingly and happily decided to stay the entire season. We’ll do some much needed work on the boat, some land travel to places we couldn’t reach by sea and take a much needed rest. We will, however, need to buy an air conditioner for the boat. We’re heading into SW Monsoon season which is summer and wet and hot and muggy, and… Well, you get the picture.

On Sunday, I finally made it to the weekend market, something I had been trying to do for just about the entire time we’ve been in Phuket. We rented a car with Ruthie and Neal and set out for a fun day, first to the Tiger Kingdom to play with the large kitties, and later to the market, which starts in the late afternoon. The Tiger encounter was awesome and the photos splendid!

Day 309 – for 9 months – 5 Mar – 28 Dec, 2014 – Yacht Haven Marina, Phuket
We arrived at Yacht Haven on the 5th and got settled in. We’ll be Traveling some, doing some boat projects, and taking some time for rest and relaxation.

Yacht Haven is located on the northern side of Phuket Island and is basically tucked in with no open water, which means no breeze. HOT HOT HOT!!! We’re talking sweltering summer months. It became immediately clear that there was no way we would survive 9 months without air-con on board. We bought a used window air-conditioner and Roger designed and crafted a cowling for it so it could sit on deck and the cool air would blow into the main hatch in the salon. We thought we were being thrifty, but the unit died after less than two weeks and we wound up having to buy a new one. Luckily, and after much discussion with the shop, they credited us the amount we had paid for the used one towards the new model.

So at least we were fairly comfortable on board. However, there is NOTHING near Yacht Haven Marina save for two tiny locally-owned restaurants. The marina itself has a tiny pool and an equally tiny (yet thankfully air-conditioned) fitness room, which allowed me to keep some semblance of sanity during this period of time. Provisioning required the rental of a car, so we coordinated an excursion with Ruthie and Neal every other week or so. Needless to say, this was not my favorite place in the world.

One highlight in all this was the discovery of what qualifies as THE best movie theater ever. On one excursion into town, we decided to go to a matinee and see, “Interstellar”. The ticket cost $20 USD (what?) but worth every cent. First, the ticket includes a bowl of popcorn of your choice (they had at least 5 different types) and a large drink. The seats were individual luxurious Lazy-boy type over-stuffed chairs with foot rests and little tables in-between each set of 2 seats. The air conditioning was set so cold that they also provided blankets to snuggle under (really?) and the sound system was crazy good… when the rocket launched you felt the vibration through the seats! What an experience!!! We went twice more during our season there and just loved it!… perhaps we would have gone more often if it didn’t involve renting a car and the films showing were more interesting. Still, highlight of my time in Phuket, lol!

We didn’t cruise at all during this time, it was so stifling, that the thought of anchoring out and not having aircon was simply too daunting. But after a planned haul out in December, we’ll be ready to go again for the next chapter of our journey… sailing off into the sunset, west towards India, then we’ll “Head to the Med Through the Red in 2015” with our convoy and security team… stay tuned!