Just Cruizin On Bluemoon

Log 68

We had gone into Yacht Haven with the help from their crew thankfully asthe current rips through there, and berthed on the outer wall on the?windward? side.... guess we should just have anchored out!!! Thestress was worse and so were given two fenders which were about thesize of Bluemoon and so felt a lot more relieved and were sooverworked as with the wind and the current we were glued to thatwall and would not have budged off it!!!

We went ashore a little but with the weather it was a shame! Had Jenaincome over which was real nice seeing them again. Also checked outthe gypsy and chain and gave his opinion which was much appreciatedas we had no real clue...

Wedecided we were in the middle of no where only because we needed togo ashore and get to the chandeliers which were a distance from wherewe were so decided to go to Phuket Marina where Derrick was workingand being close to all the chandlers and town ? it was a betterchoice. We got ready to leave yet had the marina staff tell us it wasnot possible as the wind was way to strong and the current and so towait a while and try again, which we did three times!!! We tried thedifficult task of walking Bluemoon back so we could have enough spaceto manoeuvre easier.. yet what a difficult task pulling her with thatwind and rip!! The whole day and we managed to move her only half aboat space!! LOL The whole day we could not get off the outer walland so landed up spending another rough night!!

The following morning, just after the crack of dawn we managed to get offthe wall, to our absolute delight!! Only to go through a rough squalljust a few moments later, which we were all happy about, enjoying areally good sail through some strong winds instead of being stuck onthe wall which we would have been if we never left when we did. Wephoned the marina to let them know we had left. The wind is the normthis time of the year which goes against the ads of 'sail all yearround ' LOL

We anchored on the east side of Rang Yai which was so much calmer!Shortly after anchoring Ilya anchored some distance off and came overfor some drinks which turned out to be a very nice regardless of thewind. The following morning John and I were going to dingy the fourmiles to Royal Phuket down the 'shallow' channel only to get not evenhalf a mile and totally drenched!! Just like we took a quick dipclothes and all!! heheh Facing those choppy seas and strong wind,there was no way we would arrive looking decent or dry so we wentback to Bluemoon and later realized we could not go around the islandto have lunch as planned!! John and I did kayak over to Ilya for somedrinks and also never arrived dry!!! They later lifted anchor andheaded off to Yacht Haven while we spent another 2 days anchored instrong winds. We had had enough and headed for RPM which was quitestressful not having stern in such a strong current and with strongwinds and with having other yachts coming down the channel andpassing so closely yet we arrived into this gorgeous, protectedlittle marina!! Wow!! There were maybe five crew members there tocleat and moor us on which was such a nice treat!! We were each givena very cold, jasmine smelling facecloth which was just so refreshingin the humidity and stickiness of the day!! We were just gonna lightup a smoke over a great cuppa while reading the info we were givenwith all the rules and my gosh we were just gobsmaked.... NO Smoking,no washing to be hung anywhere on the boat and, and and... well, thesmoking we clearly understood as the previous month some guys workingon the ferries were smoking as usual next to full petrol tanks andtwo men dies in a big explosion because of that so.... after lookingat the showers we felt like we were in a five star hotel!! Werealized that the rules are pretty normal but because we have so muchfreedom, it just seemed worse than what it was! We were like spoiltlittle brats I'd say!!! LOL

Wehired a car and headed for the chandeliers sorting out all our issueswith the gypsy and windlass and to our surprise we found a brand newgypsy which we compared and measured with ours and to our absolutedelight found our gypsy was just as good as new and that it was thechain that did not fit... it was stretched and so was slipping... We ordered our 60 meters of chain which we checked fitted perfectly andhad to wait for about 10 days for the new batch to arrive so weheaded off to Big C to buy lots of Pork which is real tasty and aboutthe only meat we get to eat besides chicken and NZ mince. We spenttwo days solid from very early till very late driving around and exploring, shopping and just having some fun!! We decided to go toPatong which you cannot anchor at this time of year ? being in thewrong season... HUGE breaking waves washing onto shore! So it wasquite different driving in from the other side and what abreathtaking view of the bay!! Sadly 34 tourists have drowned in thelast few weeks here!!! They have a system where if you see a red flagflying ? Do NOT swim! For these unlucky people they think it is notreally a threat.... and then find they are in trouble ? now some ofthe people have been rescued by the life guards, yet the most absurdand pathetic thing we have ever heard is that they die because thelife guards have absolutely no training!!!! No first aid ?nothing!! So they get you out the water and then do not know what todo with you so just wait till the ambulance arrives which by then youhave no chance.... The news and paper has stated that they arelooking at training the life guards... when no-body knows yet... itis in discussion. Hopefully they will get a move on with it!!!

We had been given details from Ilya about the salami which you get athalf the price in Patong... and so walked up and down streets,through side walks, up and down in and out yet could not find theplace... drove around and around then walked again and again and soit went till the girls decided to wait in the car, exhausted, whileJohn, Jono and I were gonna walk another block up just to be sure....so while walking an Indian guy on a scooter stopped and asked us ifwe speak english to which opened a very frustrating events thatfollowed..... he gave us a card each to scratch to which John and Jono had won a t-shirt, and me... I won a cam corder, laptop, or aholiday at a 5 star resort... STOP LAUGHING!!! We all know the drillhere....the catch ?.you had to go back to the club and watch a 90minute video of property etc., etc... I wanted my gift and so John reluctantly thought OK and got the guy to wait till we all piled intoour rental and followed him right around town on his bike till wearrived at the office... to cut a very looooooooooooooooooo ng storyshort.... we landed up with this Italian guy, Alberto who was such acolourful character, just like a rainbow and could he talk!!!! Thingsyou never ever tell a stranger... we got to hear all about it and hewas very expressive which to my surprise was strange seeing someoneelse so dramatic for a change!! hehehe He was telling the kidseverything a good mother would stomp out!!! John was so amazed tofind someone who way passed me on talking so much, and non stop!!!LOL We never did sit for 90 mins, it was definitely more and we hadgot no closer to even start the seminar so we kindly excusedourselves and left.... without even the t-shirts! We never let thatdampen our day and soon caught up with getting back into the swing of Phuket.

The following morning we pulled the mooring lines in and headed out thechannel at high tide which still seemed so shallow... We anchored outat another really calm and cute anchorage where we made a bonfire onthe beach and had sundowners with Christian and Vivian and their twosons, Adrian and Aaron, from Ilya who had anchored yet again, shortlyafter us. It was a real cute place and had a nice time till we had toclear out as it was mozzie parade!!! We left early and had abrilliant sail to Ao Chalong, where we dropped anchor and headed forshore to look around. Cannot believe how calm and peaceful theanchorage was for a few days!!!! Bright stars, some wind but nothingto complain about.... just perfect! Saw Giovanni from Mescalito whowas heading out for a few days with some friends... so will catch upwhen we meet up.

Being in Thailand again, we had time to just relax now and explore while wewere waiting for our chain, and our props, which we still werewaiting to reach Durban... then we could organise them up toMalaysia. ? and what we have found is that for us Thailand does notcompare to Malaysia ? or rather Langkawi which has become ourpearl... it is just so different... the people, the way of life, justthe attitude...

Tomorrow,John and I are heading off for an all round thorough medical check upwhich they do at the Phuket International hospital... ( having hadcancer and bilharzia before and not feeling so great) then we willwait for the chain to arrive then head off back to Langkawi, yetwith Sanyati coming across we will spend the next season here and sohead back to Thailand around December, January, which we are soexcited about spending with them.

We gave Justine the option of deciding where she wanted to spend her18th Birthday in September and so wants to spend itbackpacking through Vietnam.... so we are busy making plans... and sowill catch a train up to Bangkok spending time there, then catch a bus to Cambodia, explore then head off to Vietnam.....so anotheradventure to look forward to in-between the one we are alreadydoing!! Travelling is just such an awesome way to spend your timealong with your family.

Wehave also spent a lot of time dreaming... planning and just lookingat ideas....as the kids will also be finishing school some or othertime and would be starting their own lives... so have been thinkingabout where in the world we could go to next ?.backpacking throughEurope... or a road trip through USA or Canada... or evenAustralia.... So many things to do....

Well,as most of you already know, John and I bought an Ice-cream Kombie,which we rigged out, fully carpeted, with stove, fridge, bed,cupboards, the works...resigned from our jobs, sold everything we hadand just hit the road... We travelled all over South Africa ? downand up the Cape coast, In lands a bit, the to Durban and up the southcoast and north coast as far as we could and would just stop when wewanted to ? made coffee, cooked, swam in the ocean whenever wewanted... spent a few months cruising and exploring with our twoMaltese dogs, Bubbles and Cheeky ?. it was such an awesomeexperience... and that was in the days we had no cell phones!! So wehave also looked at doing that here in these parts... yet you knowhow quick things can change and still having time we will continue tosee what we will eventually land up doing.... Yet it is alwayswonderful to dream ?. as one of the things we have learned is ?If you can dream it you can reach it.. and have learned to follow ourdreams... they are not for everybody else... so that is how we havealways lived our life... or rather have tried by giving it all wehave, knowing that we only have one short life to live.... and don't want to spend it regretting all the things we never did! And so wehave made a list of the 'Thousands of things to do before you die' LOL!

We have been going down memory lane looking at all the places orcountries we have been to and all our experiences we have hadincluding the sailing... USA, California, where John and I went withour kids for the international karate competition ( Jonathan was theyoungest to ever receive a medal) Egypt (brilliant!) India... andjust so many other places.... yet so many we still have not beento!!! And may never get to! So though this is quite a small world, itis also just as big!! Clearly I am just rambling here...

AsI am sure most of you may already know, since the catastrophictsunami in Dec 2004, the Thai authorities installed a sophisticatedwarning system to alert the public of possible incoming tsunami's towhich the USA had paid for the 1st battery which has sincegone flat... and has not been replaced!! It is only because we had asmall tsunami in the Andaman sea where the warning was cancelled,which was all over the news and in the papers that we found out aboutall of this.. including the tsunami!!!! It is amazing that no one hasbothered to travel the distance to the device to change the batterywhich actually costs very little! It is the trouble of taking a boatthree days to get there that is the problem for them!!!! There aresigns all over the place showing a warning sign of tsunami ? run tothe hills... go to higher grounds.. yet sadly if one does come likethat one but of much bigger proportions then those sign posts meansquat without the signal!!!

I am hoping that you all take time out to just stop and look atnature..... really look.... at the fallen leaves or flowers; or theway sunlight places a burst of colour hear and there... you will beso amazed at what nature puts together for your daily inspiration. Itis also surprisingly beautiful! And strangely, nature tends to have ahumbling effect on us... seems like time just stands still... andsometimes I wish it did......

Funny how worry gives a small thing a big shadow!! Having had cancer beforeand being totally healed from it - Praise God! - sometimes leavesspace for a threat to rear its ugly head... and the bilharzia puttingme in hospital every two years for years and causing endless problemsalso makes one a bit nervous ? yet Praise God I am totally clear ofcancer and bilharzia! Both John and I have had the all clear so weare very happy! The verse that just pops out for me... ?Trust inthe Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your pathsstraight? Proverbs 1:5-6

Sitting here in Ao Chalong with calm waters and barely a breeze, we have allenjoyed the few days relishing in relaxation and just spending timechatting and sharing and planning our trip to Vietnam.

I did get to eventually ball my eyes out with the total relief from agrip of anxiety I never knew held so tightly..... now I am justenjoying the wonderful lightening display in the bright pink cloudsthinking of how blessed we, I, have been ...to have such an awesomefamily and such wonderful and faithful friends!!! We serve a Mighty,Awesome Father whom I give all the Glory!!!

We look so forward to mail in our in box when we manage to get onto thenet... with both our inverters not working now.... so we cannot usea lot of the power just yet... though no worries...

We managed to find a really nice and very expensive shopping centre justa little out of Ao Chalong, walking distance... where John spoilt mewith lots of essential oils which I have a glorious collection forall the projects I'm busy with and John and the kids gets some reallynice massages. Justine has got us into a nice habit of putting alittle warm water into a nice bowl (low bucket bought just for this!)with a touch of essential oils for one of us (whomever decides to dothe blessing) to soak our feet... of course we have an incense stickburning to which we also have a wonderful and colourful collection!What more can one ask for heheheh ..living life to the full withfamily... toad ally content!! Travelling in the company of those welove is home in motion!!

The Thai laws gave John and I a really good laugh!!! If you have anaccident with a legal and valid drives licence from your own country,regardless if you are right or wrong - you are Guilty and liablefor all costs. Even if you are right, you are still wrong!!

As wonderful and breathtaking as some places and views are, I do nothave a passion for this place.. and hopefully going to Bangkok,things will change our point of view... yet still I find I justcannot write with true passion about this place... the things thatare viewed as fun, easy, sizzling, or there hot night life, is justnot our cup of tea... it is quite the opposite in opinion... maybeour morals are different, maybe our rights and wrongs justdisagree... so many cultural blends and differences .. as the sayinggoes.. travellers always get experience which no book can give.....

Our chain had arrived so we headed off to hire a car and had just missedthe guy so we all sat on the side of the pavement chatting andwaiting... killing an hour, the guy showed up then we headed off toBoat Lagoon... the fit was perfect!! Boy was it heavy! That poor little car had its boot dragging down the road!! LOL

The rain came down in buckets with dark clouds hanging low yet with adouble anchor it was just 'Hakuna Matata ? for us!! No worries...we happily went into Tesco to stock up on our Pork supply!!

We got back just as the sun was going down... rain stopped! We managedto offload the chain and shopping on the baeach while john and jonogot the duck and brought her to the beach where the girls and I wereloading supplies... Jono went to drop the girls and provisions offwhile John went to take the car back and I happily sat watching the tide come in with the chain.. all went well.

The following morning we signed out of Thailand and were about to liftanchor when katrine came in to anchor, so John went to chat with themand let us know PFM had been right behind them coming to drop anchorthough have been in the squall that was now very visible with flashesof lightening! It was wicked!! PFM finally managed to get past thestorm and anchor just in time before it hit!! Heavy rain, wind andlightening.... then it was over ...just as we lifted anchor PFM cameover for a short while which was really nice seeing them before weheaded off! It was only an 8 mile run to Koh Mai Thon (HoneymoonIsland just around the corner) It was already past noon so we wouldanchor then head down to Langkawi slowly yet our utter surprise, thewhole 10 meter line was buoyed up so we would have to drop anchor inmuch deeper water and were not too happy with that as if a wind camethrough, we had not changed the chain, and could not go further in tobe protected and so felt unsure... so it was either go back to AoChalong or do an overnighter... as the other anchorages were out ofreach before dark, we decided to just carry on... we put up a sailand chugged along at 4-5 knots which was just wonderful... watchingthe sun set was just such a highlight which reminded us of the manysunsets and sunrises we have seen... we were all excited about beingon calm seas, watching the sun go down while sailing without themotors on.. the only problem we saw was all the rubbish and nets inthe water which we would not see in the dark, with no moon... yetwithout the motors on we would be fine!

Whata sepectacular sight.... lights, lots and lots of lights lining thewhole horizon!! Fishing boats everywhere!! We counted up to 70 at onetime! Dodged a few but no worries as everything looked like dusk withall those lights!! John headed off for a nap at 2:30 am while Imanaged till 6 am. Justine and Jono slept for 4 hours earlier in theevening ? so they were wide awake and fresh to go. After jibinglike 6 or 7 times I decided to hand the job over... We had like only2 knots of wind and it was right on the stern, little to Port thenlittle to SB and so it went, so instead of putting the motors on (byKoh Nok) and disturbing our calm bobbing around we just gave it awide birth and just jibed and jibed and jibed.... John was up at6:30 and me 7am and so Jono headed off back to bed while Justinestayed on till 10. Jess slept right through... Now since getting ourresults back from the hospital, Justine has decided to keep thefamily healthy by stretching every morning... and she drills us allLOL So we are up early and stretch doing different excersises for anhour then we get to eat little snacks of cucumber, chopped carrot anda fruit or olives... just depends on what we have at the time...anyways, here we all were spread out on the deck, excersising whileJohn was making witty remarks and chirps endlessly making everyoneroar with laughter adding to fun we were already having.....

Another very hot and humid day with no wind by noon...we put the motors onand furled in, what a day! Felt like we were doing a crossing! Bylate afternoon I was not doing to good... I had a temperature, feltlike I was dying... I had such a migrane ? no tab worked.... nextthing I was getting sick, was so faint and weak... I just could notkeep myself up! I had to put my sun glasses on as the glare was justSoooo bright!! The more water I drank, the worse I got!! And so I waspopping tabs left right and centre desperately!! John would not letme move! He propped me up keeping a close eye while a big squall hitand how refreshing that was! The sun's glare gone! There were twowater spouts which was stunning!!! Justine was washing me down tobring my temp down while I was shivering! And so it went for the last10 miles into Malaysia. (Telaga, Langkawi) I just could not hold downthe electolytes Justine was feeding me. The kids dropped anchor whileI just could not move and if I did I had John to contend with ?John went ashore just as we had anchored and bought 6 bottles of 100plus which is kinda like electrolytes.. I felt a touch better, had alight meal, showered and went straight to bed! Just what I needed!It rained all night... Got up feeling very weak! Managed slowly todo the excersises... to which John sat me down, gave me a book and my100 plus and told me to just relax to which I did, but as most of youknow that just cannot last too long for me!!! After getting andfeeling stronger, I headed to S/B and cleaned up while John waswashing, with the machine of course!! LOL Thinking I went to restdownstairs, he made sure the kids did not come down to disturb me LOL When he came down to check on me he saw what I was doing!! Boy canhe moan!!!! LOL ... love him to bits!!!

Spen the next few hours having John full me up with 100 plus and lots ofcoffee!! Lots of it!! I had heat stroke! John checked it out!Relaxed, read, caught up with writing the log up in my journal, hadanother squall with lots of rain! Just wonderful and we all feel sohappy to be back 'home'! Know as you may well know, when you traveland start to feel at home, it is time to leave!!! Hehe!

We have to be here though for Fakreese and Amanda's opening of their newcoffee shop!! Early September, but are trying to push it as Zaid isleaving to start his new job in KL!! Everyone is so happy for him butso sad to see him going! Then after that we will start to book theferry to the mainland, then the train to Bangkok... You do not bookyour accomodation ahead of time so that you sort out as you go along.We generally know where we are going, just need to fill in a fewthings then take it as it comes. We will all travel light... yearight! LOL

There is also a fantastic train ride from Singapore to the north which isbrilliant! So John has that one pegged for when we get there. Bigplans were made for us to braai on the beach here, with our wonderfulsosaties which John and Jono made yet with bursts of rain we won'tchance it as the squall comes so quick there is no time to run forcover! The sosaties were great either way done in the galley by Jono!The wind was up and the rain forceful! At 2am John and I were up yetagain having been up periodically with the wind alarm going off at 25knots. I jumped back into bed as I still was not feeling right yet!John called me to take a look at the building clouds and make a callof what we were going to do..... there was a very dark line of cloudswhich were building very fast which really unsettled us as we had notchanged the chain yet!!! John had a gut feel and so we woke the kidsup, lifted anchor and headed for the water dock, just to be sure...then the clouds seemed to dissipate to which John and I just laughtedat our hastiness over a good cuppa... talking about gut feelings...believing there is always a good reason for that feeling even if youcould not see the reason and to act on it ? (as we had) as younever know the reason and sometimes never will.... Well blow usdown... just as we were heading off to bed finally around 2:45am a 25 knotter came through! And we were protected, so who knows how hard itwas blowing in the bay outside! Then to our absolute horror, thefollowing morning early when we were changing the chain, we saw thelast link that holds onto the anchor was as thin as a ring!!! Wewould never have held in a strong blow if we were anchored out!! Sowe are keeping this piece as a reminder to always go on our gutfeelings!! S-C-A-R-Y!!

Wewere very happy with having the new chain on and John spliced thewarp onto the anchor chain, so all done, ready to go!! Just rainedreal hard so did washing, cleaned up, and read for a while till therain seemed to clear then decided to leave and head for Kuah, towhich somehow everyone was watching us... not just our imagination...and were kinda unsure about this... till we got to the mouth and sawa humungous black dark and heavy squall the size of Thailand (LOL)heading our way!

We had the sail up as there were good winds!! lol a little strong butno worries, as we also put the motors on and went a lot faster hopingto outrun the squall, yet not fast enough!! We were hit by a mallpart of the squall and were drenched , then when we cleared it we sawwe had not yet met with our big one, and so really started pushingit... the squalls come down this huge channel like a sprint and wewere just infront of it! Lightening flashing, and so we tried yetagain to outrun the squall again which was really fun as we knew wewould never out run it in that channel as there was no where else togo.. just as fun was guessing what the wind speed on the water was! Iwon!!! Then we would start again, and Jono is good!!! The squallfinally caught up to us after a good run and we had to slow rightdown as over visibility went down to 20 meters all round and we hadboats infront of us which we could not see. But we managed to missall of them and drop anchor, double anchor, in kuah totally sopping!!It has been raining quite heaving for 3 days now so have not got offthe boat yet! The wind whips the waves up till we were slamming!!Some boats really danced around!

We took a video of one of the long ferries coming to drop passengers off.. at our little jetty where there are maybe several mono's, a fewfishing boats and dingies...the waves were truly short and verychoppy making it really dangerous docking on.. but they did... oneperson got out at a time with the help of the crew and some werecrawling on hands and knees!!! We were very worried as the jetty wasmaking a wave action and the boats looked like wild untamed horsesthat were rearing up ready to go!! The one pontoon where the ferrywas docked broke off just as the ferry left to go and anchor out..Another boat came to remove the pontoon and take it to the beachwhere they tied it up! So we are never short of a little excitement!lol

Managed to go ashore late yesterday afternoon to visit fakrees and Amanda attheir new coffee shop which they are busy with.. wow!! theexcitement! They have painted it out in red and black which lookssimply stunning! The new lights, the coffee machines, crocery... theworks!! It is just such a wonderful feeling being part of it somehow!Looks really great and we are all just so excited for them!! Makingtheir dreams come true! Seeing them working for someone, thenresigning and setting off looking for a place, sharing ideas and justwatching them go from dreaming to reality! They have to wait for thewater to be connected which for us is quite odd as they have to redigopen a space from inside the shop to out side to connect it all up ?it is not already done, but the whole building is finished andpainted and that is just how it works here! All in all it is just thrilling! We headed back to the boat and stopped off for some coffeefirst at the resturant right by the jetty we are at....now the onlyproblem we made was John ordering coffee in Malay!! lol Justine isstudyng Malay and is quite good! So she was helping! When our coffeearrived it looked like hot chocolate or even darker than that wherethe teaspoon holds itself up in the middle!!! heheheheh

We have learnt that when you ask for kopi (coffee) you get the localcoffee which is just undrinkable unless you plan on staying up for amonth straight!! Or you get it cold with lots of iceblocks the waythey do their milo ice. So we just asked for nescafe hot which is theonly coffee we can drink here and the best part is they don't alwaysuse sugar, instead use condensed milk which is such a treat everytime! So we stayed for two extra cups chatting, laughing and justhaving a nice time. We were very happy to find after a good few daysnow of solid rain, after our exercise the sun come out in full force!Everything shone and looked so new and so much more colourful! Wewere real excited to be going ashore to get our internet connectedand to get some new books. We have seen so many new boats coming intoanchor which is so exciting seeing new faces. Last night we hadGeorge from Affirmation, a South African boat, come over for drinksand it was wonderful to hear the good old South African accent again!We shared a light supper and lots of stories and adventures... wassuch a nice evening! Every morning around four or five am we all haveto jump up to close hatches yet all of us have our water tanks filledto the brim!! How wonderful!! We have already had so many squallstoday, even now it is pouring down and we are just loving it!! Well,cannot wait to hear from you all ? hope you drop us a line when youget a chance... will keep you posted when I can of our trip toBangkok, Cambodia and Vietnam

Please drop us a line...

Lovealways, John, Jenny, Justine, Jessica and Jonathan