Just Cruizin On Bluemoon

Log 85

Finally …. Thailand

As most of you know … sadly this is our last trip sailing with our Teens for a while. We are going to Australia on another adventure for the kids to study/varsity for awhile, and for them to spread their wings and live with their feet on the ground ...so as a family, this trip is the last together for awhile...

John and I will come back and sail, but want to settle the basics and make it easier for all of us going our own roads for awhile … so we decided to soak up every moment and every memory …. and it is amazing how the days can pass so quick and just blend into each other like they do ….

We, Tiare and Bluemoon finally lifted anchor and managed to leave Telaga, Malaysia on the 13th December, and head for Ko Taratoa, Thailand which was about a three hours sail. A huge black cloud gathered and threatened us yet again,though headed on over the mountain to drop on Telaga … our tankswere fill so we were quite pleased to still be dry. … the wind inyour face – choppy swells ... but who cared – we were sailing!!We dropped anchor at 16:50 yet had to log it at 15:50 because of thetime difference!

Headed the following morning to KoBulan which we had not been to before … and what a great day itwas. The kids enjoyed swimming and enjoying the kayak war which waspushing each other off the overturned kayaks, then standing tall asthe winner till they were taken out with a new winner standing tall …way too many jelly fish for my liking! Thousands, with noexaggeration!

While watching them all having such funand me having a really good laugh … It makes it so much more realthe wonderful and amazing moments like this which I can see runthrough my mind of the memories … of all the laughter and funtimes we have all had … now … my babies are all beautiful youngadults .. getting ready to leave home!!! It has just gone SOOooo veryquick!!! I guess my heart is heavy yet happy too … still a littlemore time ….

Koh Phetra was our next destination sowe all had another great day dancing a new step with Jusitne, makingwater and enjoying being on the water sailing again … just alovely and perfect day.

Had to re-anchor as we were almost ontop of Tiare LOL!! Looks like we are really enjoying their company!LOL Though it has truly been wonderful sailing together. They havebecome such lovely friends!

Stunning seeing a dolphin with lots ofsea gypsies dotting all around us. Anchored with just the CQR whichheld so nicely! Then to everyone's surprise, being totally thrilledto bits, we caught not one, but two reasonably big fish!!! And at thesame time!!! Wow! Had three bungies out including the rod! Wowwee!!!What an awesome feeling and also confirmation that there arestill some fish in these parts of the world!! So when we had anchoredin Koh Muk which had some Hong's and looked really great after twoyears, Daniel and Heromi came over and we discussed our catch of theday. To our absolute delight they were going to make the rice andcook one fish as they wanted and we our way then share! It wasawesome! Such a wonderful treat! We had the afternoon before wecooked supper to meet Rainbow Gypsey, a SA s/v. Strange and wonderfulhearing our accent again! Really funny actually as the familiaritymakes you feel quite connected! Also swam through the Hong which waslovely and refreshing along with the dozens of other tourists comingon long tails, dive boats etc! Had a stunning evening with Tiareeating such delish fish!!! It was quite nice waking up early, headingfor Koh Lanta. Stunning watching the day wake up with a good cuppaclearly noticing the Thailand Mountains with their mystical touch!Then everyone had a great time swimming and the kids body boarding.Thoroughly had a brilliant time sailing with no motors too Koh MiThon – Mia bay was jam packed again and we decided to not stop by.All went snorkelling and John and I took the duck around the cornerto where all the tourist boats were anchored while everyonesnorkelled. It was truly magnificent!!! John had to eventually dragme out the water otherwise I could easily have floated all eveningtoo LOL The coral is pretty dead with just a few patches of livecoral, yet the array of fish!!! Wow! The schools of them wereswimming inbetween me and past me. One little fishie seemed to turnaround and google at me then swim off infront of me, then turn aroundand come and google again! Such a touch of magic being soooo close tonature like that! After a good nights rest, we headed for Ao Chalongso we could sign in. We had been warned that there was an increasein dingy theft, so had her tied up along with many others on the longpier. We signed in, headed off to the the shops for a few provisionsand a walk about when Jono decided to head on back to the dingybefore us and bring her to the beach so we could pack our shoppingpackets easier. John was busy finding out about some stuff he neededfrom the dive shop, to which the girls and I headed back to thebeach. Jono had just arrived looking rather ruffled! He thenproceeded rather calmly to tell us that when he arrived he saw a longtail towing our dingy away!!!!!! So Jono then shouted at the driverwho turned around, noticing another duck coming to tie up …. theguy realized he would not be able to get away with stealing our duck,so promptly turned around then kicked the duck towards Jono thenheaded off. Jono told the other couple arriving about the guy whotried to steal our duck!! I went back up the steps to the securityright there and told them about the situation and alerted them thatit was the locals with the long tails – Hopefully they would dosomething to prevent others actually being stolen! John arrived back,so we were all so very grateful to Jono for saving the day and to theLord for protecting our duck while we headed back to Bluemoon. Westayed the night keeping an eye on the duck LOL Tiare and Bluemoondecided on some of the time sailing that we leave when we wake up …which could be sometimes 9 or 9:30 LOL So we left lunchtime for NaiHaan and were surprised to see that the beaches were packed tocapacity!! Full! Full! FULL!!! John and I went over to Tiare whilethe kids headed for the beach. Every now again we were checking themout with the binoc's when we spotted someone on our duck!!!!!! Nextthing we see Justine swimming out at a speed to the duck which theyhad anchored just off shore and realized it was the life saver tryingto save the duck and the people swimming because of the change incurrent which was now ripping through. She came back to the boat,John dropped her off and we would fetch them when they signalled,which we did a few hours later. It was quite delightful watchingeveryone having such a nice time. People of all races and sizelaughing and having fun.... We lifted anchor the next day beforeten and headed around the corner to Patong. Now the last time we camehere, we felt so harrassed and bothered that we honestly left withsuch a bitter taste in our mouths, so were hoping we did not have thesame experience. Also, up till this point, we found the water inThailand in general to be so much cleaner! The people we had met onthis trip so far was honestly such a turn around so were very happywith the experience so far. We all went into Patong after droppinganchor just to look around and do some shopping before Christmas.This year we decided to make home made gifts which we thoughtappropriate that the kids could take with them and use for many yearsto come, which took quite abit of work on our part. Anyway, what adifference! Justine, Jono and Sam decided they were going out thatnight, which was going to be (my kid's first Disco event ever!) LOL Sadly Jess could not go with because of the lights – the strobeswhich would affect her, so she stayed and watched a movie and wasquite happy with that as she is not quite the dancing type. Wedropped the kids off at the jetty with strict instructions on whattime (2am) to meet back at the jetty. Well! They all thoroughly had abrilliant time!!!! Went with all their free tickets for the freedrinks and danced their little feet finished! Justine makes us laughso much as she really loves to dance and knows how to have a reallygood time without drinking to get happy. Jono gets pushed to danceand have fun because Justine knows how and when he needs to getrocking LOL though he is not as dance active as Justine unless he ison the floor with her!! The following morning, with two tired teenswe headed off to Nai Yang where we spent Christmas for a few days.Great day!

Jono and Sam met two lovely ladies whowere on holiday from Singapore – ex pats from Ireland. So thatnight they all went out with Justine to play pool, but ended upcoming home past two from meeting a few other people and having afabulous time. Swimming in the middle of the night – all of themplaying different games. Wonderful that they all had a good time andJohn and I laughing for at least an hour afterwards from theirexperience. After all the fun John decided to spoil me by taking usboth down the street full of masseurs … mmmm … my choice – soOrchid massage parlour we arrive in and ask for a full body massage,the both of us … well! What an experience!!! Who would havethought!!! After washing our feet we have to almost strip! Not quitewhat crossed my mind when I decided on the FULL side of it! Anyway,all seems to be going well, John is on the bed right next to me witha Thai lady, a very flexible and strong woman let me tell you isdoing his massage and I have a katoy! (she man) who is being rathergentle with me. John is making these incredible sounds which startleme so I turn my head to see if he is still okay and here is thiswoman on top of his back with her feet hooked on the wall bending himdown so his spine clicks into place!!! My golly the sight wasabsolutely frightening! LOL I was worried she was going to breakit!!!! And so it went right through out his massage! Relax, calm,peaceful, enjoyment – NONE seemed to be working for me!!! I too washaving my bones crunched and my neck and head almost ripped from theskull!!! I too was a little worried that she or he put something intomy baby toe!! It felt like acupuncture! I tried to wobble my foot tocheck and feel as the position I was laying blocked my vision andwhen I asked, she he could not speak English, so I left it – but Ihad an incredible head ache and felt nauseous which was odd!!! Inever had time to actually discuss it because I got a call from thekids that a big storm had rolled in and we needed to meet them on thebeach to get back to the boat, so we left without me asking.

Sadly we lifted anchor the next daywhile Jono and Sam said their goodbyes to Aiylee and Emily, thenheaded for Ban Bang Yai which was a real pretty quite little bay.Then we were off to the Surin's. Beat, Beat beat all the way! Thoughwe sailed or rather beat all the way there without motors!! John hadto fix the alternator as it was giving us a problem so we could notcharge up, but not for long …. he had it all good to go again x

Tiare had a friend from NZ fly in andhave a holiday with them, so they too beat, along with us all the wayto the Surin's. Dropped anchor in a B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l spot – KoSurin Tai. Spent a few days here including celebrating the new year2011!

We all had a wonderful time snorkellingand swimming. Sadly the coral was in most parts really dead andothers quite alive with some really lovely coloured fish. We hadboth, Tiare and Bluemoon, taken our ducks around the islands checkingfor some good snorkelling spots, then we would get into the waterwhile holding the painter and swim, pulling her along. At one point,John and Jess were in the boat, while Jono and Just were near Tiare,and I was snorkelling and pulling them along till I honestly got thefright of my life!!!! I came face to face with a lion fish!!!!Ribbons and all!! I dived right out the water onto the dingy yellingto them with my snorkel still in my mouth!!! They had no clue as towhat was happening – looking over the side they were expecting ashark fin!!!! LOL Anyways, after I stopped hyper ventilating andcalming down I was able to tell them how awesome it look close up!!!! But with them being so dangerous if they strike you, being sofar away from any help, it was a big shock to my system! Now lookingback, I am thrilled with the experience!!!

We all had a great time playingbalderdash old years eve! What fun we had!! After playing cranium afew days back with Tiare, which was also such fun, we have decidedthis is the best way to have some really good belly laughs!!!Especially after a drink or two! Daniel turned out to be the biggestbull$%#^*# hehehehehe We all sang along to Sam, Tom and Jono playingon the guitars on a very dark night with a stunning galaxy as ourbackdrop!!! Then after celebrating the new year, we were blessed tohave a competition of fantastic firework displays from the policeboat and another two diving boats!!!

There were no other boats besides us!!!It was stunning!!! For at least a half hour we watched thesebeautiful and different huge displays of fireworks!! I know we allgave thanks to the Lord for blessing us more than we ever feltpossible – what a great memory burned so strongly in my mind … Icannot put into words how much I adore the Lord Jesus! He hashonestly taken me on an amazing journey where I have changed andgrown in ways I never realized could be possible either! To Him Igive all the Glory and Praise!!!!!!! The only new years resolution Imade which is a difference for me cause I don't usually make them, isto have real fun this year! To make the most of every opportunitylife has to offer! To live for the moment and capture it all! X

After lifting anchor and going one baydown, around the corner where the snorkelling was way better, we metanother couple who came with their driver to Tiare, where we had beenvisiting with them and their friend Veronica. Tim and Merike who owna 80 footer swan, live in Hong Kong, New York and the UK. Whatinteresting people!!! They offered us a drink on their yacht and sowe all got into our ducks just before dark and headed out a very longtwo miles in the dark to their yacht! Wow! How happy I was we do notown that boat – even being such a beaut as she is! The amount ofwork would never allow me to have any fun!! LOL She was a stunner!!They have a cook, Julia whom we met in Langkawi with her husband whowas ferrying them around in the duck. Then they have a skipper whoslept most of the time we were there and a deck hand, Thomas whomJono got on well with because he just completed this years Raja Mudawhich Jono went on last year. All in all we all had a really stunningtime, especially Heromi as Tim's wife is also Japanese so it wasgreat watching them enjoying the pleasure x

Early the next morning we lifted anchorbefore the sun rose heading for the Similian islands which turned outto be absolutely awesome!!! It was true paradise!! Crystal CLEARwater!

We tied up to a buoy put on oursnorkelling gear and dived in! Wow!! Wow!! WoW!!! Fish every where!So much colour!! Eels, fully grown and huge slinking away under livecoral!!! Awesome! The best we have ever seen since the Maldives! EvenSeychelles does not come close! We spent a good few hours thoroughlyenjoying every minute!!!!!! Another huge diving boat anchored rightnext to us and so we climbed out the water as if that boat justtouched ours we would be going no-where as the hole would be huge!!Luckily they posted on of their staff to fend off so we could relax alittle.

John went over to chat to the main guyand ask if Jono could go on a dive as that was one of his Christmasgifts we gave him for Thailand. What a success and winner! We paidthe guy, and off Jono went with the duck and the divers out the bayto another stunning area. He saw so many things and could not stoptalking about how awesome it was! We are so glad that he enjoysdiving and so far has got his padi's and is going up the ranks.

Tiare left the following morning backto Nai Haan as Veronica needed to catch her plane, while we decidedto stay and soak up the privilege of this five star holiday while wecould. I would definitely come back to the Similians! You all shouldtry if you can someday to holiday in Thailand and get a boat to takeyou out here! You will not regret it!

Headed back to Nai Yang feeling in aweand so blessed!! Then to top it off a whale shark!!!! What ablessing! I was trying to tell Jono who was outside with me but hemissed it!!!! John then got to see it later on which was awesome!! Sofeeling totally content and blessed we sailed off enjoying the sail.Went through a squall which took us all the way almost, to Nai Yang,where we passed Tiare anchored and surprised to see us after eight pm– also, we knew he arrived in the dark as he was anchored right inthe middle of the channel! LOL!! Was sad to say our farewell toVeronica as we thoroughly enjoyed her company!

Headed out a few days later and reanchored at Patong with Tiare, which turned out to be such great funfor us adults as we all had a good few drinks on our boat, then gotdropped off by the kids on the jetty and we hit the night life! Wetoo went around Patong going from bar to bar drinking our free drinksand dancing like we have never danced before!!! We were all reallytaken back by the night life … Really taken back!!!!! Not sure ifone could possibly call this Sodom and Gomorrah... talk about an eyeopener!! Go-Go girls, or rather pole dancers in open bars was quite asight. Different actually. Some dressed really colourful and somenot.... they also have pool bars where the girls swim and play ballwhile you can watch above you through the glass roof from theunderneath bar … festive! A lot of Katoys dressed as woman whichwas shocking as these woman were huge! Tall! So they looked reallyodd! Anyway, we landed up at Banana and enjoyed the night jiving tillwe could not dance a second later! Around 2/3 am we headed for adrink at Mac Donalds, and then had a banana fritter from an open vendor. Could not get hold of Justine, so Sam came to fetch us andwas not sure about the lot of us LOL I think we made up for all thetimes of not going out and having some real fun!!!

Daniel had to fly to Bangkok so couldnot come with us to Racha Yai for my birthday. So headed down to NaiHaan for the night then on my birthday headed down to this lovelylittle island. Looked really just like the Similan! Crystal clearwater, and so pretty!!!!! Wow! I must admit that I felt really goodturning 44! Like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders … I wastotally spoilt and had such an awesome day with John and the kids,losing badly at cards to John! We always play for something, like afoot massage or coffee etc, and I lost terribly so I told John hewould not get a single reward on this day, so we snorkelled to thebeach and found surprisingly the coral was dead! Not many fish …but still the place was really pretty … So many boats coming inwith motors idling so the tourists can jump off and have a swim. Wewere all anchored like Sardines!! Really cool! Will post pictures onmy facebook so if any of you have not added me yet then feel free. Ihave not had time to sort out the photos yet … and also to finishthis blog … so more to come!