Ko Similan

Mooring Ball at anchorage #8
Ko Similan
Mu Ko Similan National Park
Andaman Sea
Thailand

8'39.9N/97'38.7E

As Tom wrote in our last update, we are in Thailand's Similan Island Group. We are still enjoying the natural beauty of the islands. After a morning swim and yoga session on the beach, we left for the northern most anchorage, #8, at Ko Similan where we currently are strapped to a mooring.

It is just spectacular out here. I'm surprised that it is not more of a hyped up tourist destination on the mainland. But I am also glad it isn't. It is very nice being some of the only folks around. It is great to see that Thailand has declared this area a national park and is taking an active role in preserving these special islands.

Since the beginning of our travels you would think we have seen many areas of clear water and active live reefs. But with global warming, that is just not the case anymore. So when we do get to explore clear waters and check different fish species off our list, we must take advantage of it.

Speaking of exploring. We have been on two great hikes on both islands which have included ropes, ladders, and squeezing through some tight spots. Both hikes ended with rewarding views of the reefs and surrounding islands. Any of you that know me know that I don't do ladders, and especially ropes. So for me to say these were rewarding hikes is impressive.

Tomorrow, while most of you are enjoying Superbowl Sunday, we will be enjoying our last day here of snorkeling and exploring. According to our grib files (weather faxes) , it looks like we should have a bit of wind. So we will grab it and head west for the Maldives.

Enjoy the Superbowl, or at least the commercials and all the good junk food that goes along with it!!!

Amy

Mu Ko Similan National Park

Mooring Ball
Ko Miang (Miang Island)
Mu Ko Similan National Park
Andaman Sea
Thailand
8'34.3N/97'38.2E

It is true! We finally pried ourselves away from Kata Beach and have started our way across the Indian Ocean. We have not made it too far yet. We have this one last stop in Thailand where Sandpiper is presently on a mooring buoy, 60 miles off the coast of Phuket, at Ko Miang, one of nine islands in the Mu Ko Similan National Park. The Similan Islands are ranked among the top ten best coral reefs in the world and attracts divers and tourists from all over the world (I stole this blurb out of their National Park Guide).

We left Kata Beach right before sunset on Thursday night to avoid all the fish traps near shore. We motored through a calm, windless night arriving at sunrise Ko Hu Yong, the most southern island in the Similan Island Group. We actually arrived several hours early because we traveled a bit faster than planned. Sandpiper seems a bit faster now with her new bottom paint and properly aligned engine. Being that we did not want to arrive in the dark, we just shut off the engine and drifted offshore in the flat calm seas waiting for sunrise.

Once the sky lightened, up we pulled in and grabbed a mooring ball in clear blue water water. We watched all the reef fish swimming under Sandpiper's hull, off a perfect white sand beach. We were soon in the crystal clear water snorkeling among bright corals and reef fishes. The snorkeling here is the best that we have seen since being at Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Once we were back out of the water, we motored 2 miles north to Ko Miang where we are presently moored in a protected harbor. This is also the National Parks headquarters. All the islands here have mooring balls and anchoring is not allowed to protect the reefs. There are different sized mooring balls for the different sized boats. You just grab whatever mooring ball is free.

There are several other sailboats here. But the majority of the boats here are dive boats that have their customers stay on board for several days while diving throughout the islands. Ashore is a white sand beach. And father inland are several low budget bungalows. For the even lower budget tourist is a tent city where you can rent a tent. There are also free showers, and small restaurant where, surprisingly, an ice cold Chang is the same price as the mainland.

There is a park fee, which we paid, that allows us stay on their mooring buoys. It also lets us use their facilities ashore.

This trip is the second time we have left Kata Beach. We first departed for this same voyage on Sunday night. Ten miles out we noticed that our sea/fresh water cooling pump that we had just had rebuilt was leaking badly through the new seals. We held a quick Team Sandpiper brief in the cockpit and decided to turn around and return to Kata Beach. It will be a very long time till we will see a Volvo mechanic again.

Sandpiper arrived back in the Kata anchorage just before midnight. Actually having to come back was not to hard of a decision as we love Kata Beach so much. And our friends Ben Brown and S/V Sunburn were still there. This gave us more time to visit them before leaving again.

Monday morning I rented a small motorcycle and rode to the other side of Phuket Island to met with Mr. Suwiet, the Volvo mechanic that had rebuilt the pump the first time. He quickly took the pump apart and found a small scratch on the pump's shaft that had torn the new seal. He had the pump rebuilt in a few hours and I was on the road back to Sandpiper.

Riding a motorcycle in Thailand is quite exhilarating as half the traffic in Thailand is motorcycles. You just race along with them, passing cars on the shoulder of the road. You thread through the lanes of traffic at stop lights, then race all the other motorbikes when the light turns green. Since we had the bike for 24 hours, we decided to stay at Kata Beach one more day to get groceries. Amy ride on the back of the motorbike with a big backpack full of goodies on her back.

After saying goodbye to Ben Brown and S/V Sunburn once again, along with all the other boats in the anchorage, Sandpiper left at sunset with all systems running at 100% and with all pumps being drip free. Ben is now back to work off the coast of Australia on a oil seismic ship. S/V Sunburn is returning to Langkawi in Malaysia.

Although we love to sail and save our fuel, it was a good run for Sandpiper to test all of her mechanical systems to make sure everything is running well before we make this next jump to the west. We even made 15 gallons of fresh water using the watermaker.

From where we are presently moored in the Similan Islands we have 1465 nautical mile run to our next stop at Uligan (Uleguma) Island in the Thiladhunmati Group of the Maldive Islands. Then it is an 1100 miles sail to Oman, and then all the way up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal.

Much love to all,

Tom

Ratanachai Slipways

On The Hard
Ratanachai Slipways
Phuket Town
Phuket Island
Thailand

7'52.6N/98'24.9E
Altitude 25ft

Life sure has taken a change for Team Sandpiper.

Sandpiper was hauled out of the water at Ratanachai Slipways on Wednesday afternoon (check out the videos). We were not sure what to expect since we had not planned on hauling out before leaving Thailand to cross the Indian Ocean. But after noticing the sad shape of the waterline, and needing to do a few other projects, we decided to haul out before we left.

We anchored Sandpiper behind a small island at the entrance of the channel where the slipway is located to prepare for haul out the next morning.

One equipment failure we had back at Kata Beach was our much used and highly cherished electric anchor windless. It had failed. We removed the windless while at anchor and discovered that the problem was a pinched wire inside which we could not see until we got the windless off and was able to turn it upside down. This was a huge relief as we were afraid that we would have to buy a new windless. And that expense is really not in our budget. We decided to send it in anyway to have the motor serviced and have larger power cables installed.

At noon we slowly motored up the channel where the slipway is located. We discovered that this channel is where all the commercial fisherman dock their boats, offload their fish, and load up on ice. We arrived at 1pm, as instructed by the slipway, so we would arrive at hight tide.

As we arrived there were several other boats being launched. Once they were afloat, it was Sandpiper's turn to be hauled out. Sandpiper has been hauled many times in the past, but mostly by a boat lift with slings that go under the boat. Ratanachai Slipways uses boat cradles that are on train tracks. These tracks go all over the yard to move the boats, just like a puzzle. The yard mostly caterers to large commercial fishing boats and government ships. We had emailed the yard photos of Sandpiper's underwater hull a week before we arrived so they could have the boat cradle pre-rigged before we got there.

We drove Sandpiper into the cradle. Once she was stable, divers dove into the REALLY dirty water (dead fish, floating rats) and they secured the cradle arms to Sandpiper's hull. The yard foreman used his big Buddha necklace a plumb bob to ensure that Sandpiper was level. He gave the OK and Sandpiper was brought out of the water using a long drag cable to pull us up the train tracks. For the whole process the divers rode the cradle out of the water to make sure that we were level and secure.

Once clear of the water, the underwater hull was pressure washed clean and then Sandpiper was dragged through the yard on the train tracks to her new "berth".

As the sun set, we were gazing about our new view from 20 feet above ground, when we looked next door. There was a large chimney that had just started to bellow out a white cloud of steam which was heading rapidly towards us. It turns out that there is a fish processing plant upwind of us, just next door, that starts its operations at night. The smell it emits is quite unbelievable! This toxic cloud enveloped us and we both said "What is that awful smell?. As it got even worse we dove below to close all the portholes and hatches in order to keep the stench from getting inside the boat.

This lasted all night, every night, while we were hauled out. It made sleeping impossible since it was so hot inside while having the boat sealed up. This is something that our friends who hauled out before us failed to mention!

Also, being in the heart of the commercial fishing port within walking distance of the yard's gates is always interesting as we are not in the best part of town. The street is lined with small bars that cater to the fishermen when they are in port for a few days. At night they are all lit up with their bar girls all out front saying "Hello".

Amy dropped off our laundry. Later that day we walked into town and we saw our laundry hanging outside the shop. It was drying along the dirty road with cars passing just inches away from our "cleaned" clothes.

Early the next morning the workers started sanding the hull. In one day had the under hull sanded and painted with new anti-foul.

Sandpiper has really large fuel and water tanks. When they are filled, along with all the other stuff (booze) we have stored all over the boat, it makes her sit below her waterline. We should have done this years ago. We raised the waterline 3 inches in order to keep stuff from growing on the gel coat, as this required constant scrubbing.

One problem with scrubbing along the water line is that the bottom paint comes off. This then creates an unprotected area where barnacles will grow. A sailboats anti-foul bottom paint is soft. So when the boat is moving, anything that started to grow comes off. This also means that you really do not want to scrub the bottom as you end up scrubbing off your bottom paint.

We also had a welder come on board to fix the mainsail's boom bail that had snapped off during a bad jibe in Indonesia. We had jury rigged this with a bunch of rope tied to the end of the boom in order to hold the main sheet to the boom. He made a new one that is twice as thick as the old one. There is no way that this one will break!

Another problem that we were are having is where the main boom attaches to the mast. It was very weak with only 4 small bolts holding it to the mast. The bolts had come out before as they stripped their threads. If this happens at sea there could be big problems because there is no way to get the boom reattached unless you have a hidden machine shop below. The welder made a real beefy stainless brace that took 12 bolts instead of 4. I am sure we will lose the mast before the boom ever comes off again.

Amy finally had her cushions delivered and they look great! Only problem was that once we carried them up the 20ft ladder and got them on board we found that the zippers were on the wrong side. She went to the office and had the yard office girls call the upholstery guy back because the upholstery guy did not speak any English and we don't speak any Thai. He come back, picked them up, and said "I will have them back in 3 hours". Three hours later, at no additional cost, we got our new cushions back with the zippers on the correct side.

Another project we had was to have the cutlass bearing replaced. This has needed to be replaced since leaving California. But I had put this off as it involves pulling out the engine to pull the propeller shaft into the boat. We decided to do this since we were already lifting the engine to replace 2 of the engine's motor mounts that had been giving us some issues.

We found 2 new motor mounts at the Volvo Penta dealer. Then the machine shop at the slipway created a new cutlass bearing out of a some hardened plastic that we bought in town. I am very impressed with Thai machinists. They are able to create just about any part that we needed. And they looked better than the original.

We also took our anchor windless and sea/fresh water pump into a shop to be repaired. The motor in the anchor windless was taken apart and cleaned out. New heavier duty power wires installed. The sea/water pump came back rebuilt with all new gaskets, bearings, and impellers.

We also noticed that Sandpipers exhaust hose was almost completely worn through. I am not sure how we made it this far without it totally coming apart. This leads me to a very cool and convenient thing about Thailand... the 'Taxi Motorcycle'. I needed to get a ride into town to get a new exhaust hose. So I flagged down a taxi motorcycle.

Thailand is full of motorcycles. But you can tell it is a motorcycle taxi because the driver is wearing a red vest. I flagged one down and hopped on the back. It is kind of funny since Thai men are quite short and with me being tall, it is kind of like I am on parade while riding around.

Sandpiper's stern was also looking a bit rough. So we ripped off the old letters and repainted the stern a nice shiny white. Amy found a sticker guy and he made up new letters for the stern. He even came down and applied them to the stern for us.

As I write this, Sandpiper was just launched, and we were hoping to make a getaway from here and the stench. But we are having problems getting the engine aligned. So we will be here one more night. Tomorrow we are hoping to motor back to Kata Beach to see our friends Ben and Katie who are here on vacation from the states.

More later from a better smelling place,
Tom and Amy

Koh Phi Phi Don

Mooring Ball at Ton Sai Bay
Koh Phi Phi Don
Phi Phi Islands
Phang Nga Bay
Thailand

Ahoy from Phi Phi Don Island!

We left 'The Beach' at noon after watching the hordes of day trip boats invading our peaceful anchorage shortly after sunrise. We took a quick motor trip north 2 miles to the next island of Phi Phi Don. We really did not know what to expect here as our guide book makes it seem like there is just a few resorts here and restaurants. Turns out that Phi Phi Don is a major tourist stop and the island is covered with all kinds of different things to check out. The anchorage is quite busy with all the ferry boats coming in from the mainland, dive boats taking their passengers out to the surrounding islands, long tail water taxi boats, fishing boats, kayaks, snorklers, swimmers, sightseeing tours and other assorted crafts.

We grabbed an open mooring buoy because there is not much room to anchor due to the harbor being filled with mooring buoys. Then we dinghied ashore among the sun bathers along the beach. Phi Phi Don offers all kinds of different accommodations depending on how much you want to spend. There are simple beach huts that are quite cheap all the way up to a couple of resorts that you can spend all your money at. The island is full of travelers from all over the world and is quite busy.

There are no roads on the island and therefore no motorized traffic. There is a mini city in the center of the island with small cobblestone sidewalks with all kinds of restaurants, bars and shops. Its kind of a strange place as everything must be brought from the mainland by boat and then hand carried to its destination.

During the day most travelers are out on dive boats or exploring other islands. But at night, the island comes alive with everyone out enjoying themselves. There are also many great restaurants from basic street food to fancy beach restaurants with live seafood. There is so much to see and do here that I think we only covered only half the island.

One of our favorite new drinks we discovered was that if you wanted to save a few bucks at the bar there are small stores that sell booze 'buckets'. Basically the stores have an assortment of small beach buckets with bottle of different bottles of liquor and soda. You point at what bucket you would like and the shop owner will fill your bucket with ice and mix it all together for you. Then you just walk around town checking out all the activities sipping on your ice cold 'bucket'. You can also just hang out in front of the 'bucket' shop as they play music and you can chat it up with all the other 'bucket' customers.

We had plans to spend one night at Phi Phi Don and head to the next island 20 miles away and then motoring 20 miles every day to a new island. Once we got to Phi Phi Don we decided that this island had everything that we like and decided to stay for 4 days to save our fuel! Right where Sandpiper was moored was a really nice beach that most the tourist's did not come to so we spent most our mornings and afternoons just floating around in the warm water, or laying out on the beach under a tree.

On our last night at Phi Phi Don we discovered a whole new area of the island that we did not even know about. We got to see a really good fire dance performance. It seems like everyone born in Thailand is a fire dancer of some sort.

As with much of where we have been in Thailand, Phi Phi Don was totally devastated by the Tsunami on December 26, 2004. The island has had quite a recovery and there is much building still going on. The good part is that the tourists are back and businesses are making money. While here we bought the book 'Tsunami' written by Luciano Butti who owns the restaurant 'Ciao Bella' along the beach. He tells of his experiences in the tsunami. If you get a chance, buy this book, as proceeds go towards the tsunami victims.

[Note from Ron: The book is in Italian. I can't seem to find an English version]

Our bottom paint that we had put on in Sydney Australia last year is starting to look a bit rough. So instead of pulling into a marina in the 15th of January, we have decided to haul Sandpiper out and have here bottom repainted with new anti-foul paint. We are also having the yard raise our waterline by 2 inches. When Sandpiper is fully loaded with fuel, water and beer, she sits quite low in the water and needs constant scrubbing to keep the hull clean.

There are also several other major projects that we need to complete before we head across the Indian Ocean. We need to have the cutlass bearing replaced where the propeller shaft comes out the back of the boat. This will involve lifting the engine up to pull the shaft out. Also, we are pulling the sea water/fresh water pump off the engine to be rebuilt. While the engine is hoisted up we will replace 2 of the motor mounts that have been giving us constant issues.

Also we have to pull off the anchor windless and take to a repair shop that we hoping that can repair that motor so I do not have to pull up the chain by hand. It gets to be a lot of full hauling up the anchor by hand when the depth of water is over 50ft deep.

Amy has a few of her own projects going on and will be working hard on the inside of Sandpiper, including picking up our new cushions which she is very excited about since she has been wanting to replace these for years. We think they are the original cushions from 1976!

So much that is going on we will try to keep you all updated.
Tom and Amy

Mooring Ball at Koh Phi Phi Le 'The Beach'
Phi Phi Islands
Phang Nga Bay
Thailand
7'40.8N/98'45.8E

Good morning from 'The Beach'. Sandpiper is secure on a mooring ball in crystal clear water with shallow reefs below us and inside a scenic lagoon surrounded by high vertical limestone cliffs with 3 sandy beaches. Phi Phi Le Island was the location for the 1998 movie 'The Beach' staring Leonardo DiCaprio.

We ended up staying 3 more days anchored at Racha Yai Bay before we made the trip here as the winds would be strong in the mornings when we wanted to leave and this trip was going to be 20 miles straight into the wind. Since we did not want to take a beating motoring into headwinds and we were enjoying ourselves we decided to wait for a day when the winds were light.

There are worse places to be stuck and we met some really nice people that were staying on the island on vacation. We even had them out to Sandpiper for drinks. It was quite a contrast from day to night as during the day boatloads of tourists were dumped ashore and divers thrown into the water. Then at 3pm everyone is gone, leaving the island to us and the few people staying at the small resorts ashore. It turns out that Sandpiper was anchored in a nice patch of sand that all the divers liked for some reason. At one point we had so many divers under us it looked like Sandpiper was in a Jacuzzi!

We left at noon yesterday as soon as the winds started to die down and made the 20 mile run to where Sandpiper is now moored at Phi Phi Le Island. With perfect timing as we arrived at sunset and grabbed a free mooring ball. What movie should we watch while moored here after sunset? Of course we watched 'The Beach'. Not the best movie ever made. Even Benjamin from SV Uterus, who I always disagree with about everything, agree that this movie sucked. Go out and rent this movie and you will see right where the Sandpiper is. It is quite strange to see it on TV and then look outside and there's the beach.

It is still early morning as I write this and there is just a few charter boats on the other moorings here. But in minutes there should be a flood of boats arriving with their loads of tourists from Phuket to wreck our peace for their daytime visit.

Phi Phi Le Island is a National Park and there are no buildings ashore. But there are campers in tents that are allowed to stay overnight. The bay is shallow with reefs. There are mooring balls here so that no one will drop an anchor on the reef.

Our plans are to stay here for the afternoon to explore 'The Beach', do a little snorkeling, and then head over to the next island just 2 miles from here.

We just found out that our good friends Ben and Katie are coming to visit us. Ben works as a Safety Officer for an oil company on their ship off of Australia. He is taking a break and flying here from Australia while his new bride Katie, who works in Southern California, is going to meet him here in Phuket where we will all get to see each other. How fun!

Katie is bringing our mail with her and any other goodies anyone would love to send us. I have to put this pitch out here again as we have a 'mule' carrying for us. We are still looking for a second-hand laptop from our millions of followers around the globe. The reason we do not want a new one is that we just need an old computer that works to back up the one we are using right now for when we cross the Indian Ocean as a back up for our navigation program and email setup. We would love to hear from you if you have a used laptop or know of someone who does. We are paying top American Dollars.

More when it happens
Tom and Amy

Koh Racha Yai

Anchored at Racha Yai Bay
Koh Racha Yai
Racha Islands
Andaman Sea
Thailand
7'36.4N/98'21.9E

Greetings from Koh Racha Yai! Sandpiper finally left Kata Beach after spending the last 2 weeks anchored off its lovely beach. We sailed 13 miles south to the Racha Islands where we are currently anchored. We said "goodbye" to our friends on SV Uterus who have just departed Thailand and are now crossing the Indian Ocean.

Racha Yai Bay is a very busy place during the day with dive boats and ferries from Phuket. Sandpiper is anchored in a nice patch of sand surrounded by reefs along the edges of the bay. Today we had many dive boats anchored right next to us with divers below us and snorkelers all around us.

At sunset when all the tour boats leave the anchorage is quite peaceful. Last night 'Team Sandpiper" dinghied ashore after an afternoon of snorkeling and had a great dinner at the resort's restaurant, followed by ice cold Chang Beer at a small bar on the beach.

Tomorrow we are planning on sailing 30 miles to the east to visit the Phi Phi Islands.

More when it happens.
Tom and Amy

Happy 2008!!

Still Anchored at Kata Beach
Phuket Island
Thailand
Andaman Sea
7'49.1/98'17.7


Welcome 2008! So far our new year has been filled with happiness, joy and a lot of broken boat parts.

We spent New Year’s Eve with a few of our friends enjoying a wonderful Thai meal and a jaw dropping fireworks display here at Kata Beach. Since arriving here at Kata we have noticed these beautiful paper lanterns being sent off the beach every night. So we bought one and launched it just before midnight wishing for a ‘Pirate free year’. Just after midnight, with a few leftover fireworks still lighting up the night sky, we were back on board Sandpiper to watch the hundreds of lanterns filling up the horizon. And then we were in bed before 1am.

The next few days we started getting ready to hoist up anchor and start off on our island hopping adventure. However, with the anchor reluctantly up on deck, the engine didn’t want to go into gear. So quickly we dropped the hook before blowing out to sea and Captain Tom sprang into action. After trying to put the engine in gear we noticed that the transmission was spinning, but the propeller shaft was not. Tom was deep inside the hot engine room up to his elbows in work. The verdict: a broken shear pin. At home, a $2 part. Here on January 2nd with all the stores still closed for the holidays, $15 and hand fabricated.

With a broken shear pin there is nowhere we can go. So we had to rent a car and drive to all the chandleries. Since we rented a car, then we might as well take advantage of it and run a bunch of other odd errands. We loaded up the dingy and started off on a 24-hour mad dash of errands all over the island. We picked up our newly stitched jib and bimini top, which look fantastic. We filled our propane tanks, picked up a Christmas package, found the Boat Lagoon Marina where we had our new pin made, hit a grocery store, and then found a small upholstery shop to have a look at replacing our setee cushions.

After one hour and 7 Thai men and women, none of whom speak good English, working on the project, we finally got a quote. We were hoping to pay less than they quoted, so we loaded all the cushions back in the car. The next morning we got a second quote, which was twice as much as the first one. So we went back and made a deal. I am so looking forward to this project being complete. It has been something on my do-to-list for a very long time.

Yesterday was the real test. Would the new pin work? I forgot to mention that the real bummer about this tiny part is that the engine needs to be lifted to install it. So it’s not an easy project. And of course the motor mounts are still giving us grief. But that’s another story.

After many hours of trying to get the new pin to fit we have success. We took the boat for a test run in the anchorage and it seems to go forward and reverse just like new.

It always seems that whenever you decide to spend money on the boat that is not necessary, then something big breaks that is necessary and expensive. While moving the boat our anchor windless decided to die. This is what picks up our 50lb Bruce anchor and many hundred’s of feet of chain. Not cool. We assessed the situation this morning and it looks like it is something that we need to fix at the marina. Let us pray it is fixable and cheap!

Since we are somewhat back in working order, we are ready to try for a second escape from the happenings of Kata Beach to the surrounding islands of Phuket. We will keep you posted on all that we find.

One Love,
Amy and Tom

Don’t forget. If you know anyone who has an old, used, working laptop they are willing to part with. We are willing to pay top dollar to have it sent to us before we leave.

Kata Beach

Anchored at Kata Beach
Phuket Province
Andaman Sea
Thailand
7'49.1N/98'17.7E

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope this finds everyone well, warm, happy and healthy this Christmas morning. Since we are a day ahead of most of you, Santa has come and gone. Seems like we were both good this year as a few small treats were left in our stockings. We are thinking of all our friends and family today and hoping your Holiday is as peaceful and special as ours.

The last few days we spent anchored in Nai Harn Bay where there is an annual 'cruiser' Christmas gathering on Christmas eve. We arrived in Nai Harn the 23rd, dropped the hook, and hit the beach chairs. We had been looking forward to that moment for some time. After a few hours in the chairs, a few beers, and enough Europeans in tiny bathing suits, we headed up for a bite of Thai.

The anchorage at Nai Harn was filled with at least 80 other boats, some we traveled with through Indonesia, and a few new ones. The wind was a bit fluky which caused the anchorage to be uncomfortable. But we stuck it out for two days.

Christmas Eve we hit the beach again, in and out of the warm turquoise water. A little paddle board game. And back under our umbrellas. Dinner started 7:30 pm and with a nice buffet of salad, rice, chicken, and many Thai noodle dishes. We enjoyed the pleasant company of our friends on S/V Uterus and their guests. Entertainment was provided by a wonderful, low key Thai Reggae band complete with a fire dance show at intermission.

We were home early to find the 'piper' rockin' and rollin' all over the place so we were in for another long sleepless night. This morning we finally settled down some, exchanged Christmas presents, had a big breakfast, pulled up anchor and motored 3 miles to the next stop.

We are currently anchored at Kata Beach, Phuket's nicest beach. After playing with our new Game Boy we swam to shore, walked the beach, and a little of town. Nothing like walking through town on Christmas afternoon donning nothing but our swim suits. We plan to stay in this area for a few more days to ring in the New Year. We will be sure to keep you posted on all our beach activities and adventures.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

XXXOOO

The Larson's

Merry Christmas Tom & Amy

Merry Christmas Amy and Tom! From all of us at "home", wishing you both a very, Merry Christmas, and a continued safe journey.

With Love,
-The Shermans
-The Larsons
-et all.

Ao Chalong, Phuket

Anchored at Ao Chalong (Chalong Bay)
Phuket Province
Andaman Sea
Thailand
7'49.1N/98'21.5E

Its official. We are in Thailand!

Team Sandpiper got an intentional late start from our anchorage at Koh Lipe at 10am after a night of cold beers on the beach and a late paddle back to Sandpiper. We motored through the islands of Butang, which is part of a Thai national park, for 2 hours. Once clear of the islands, we set sail. That's right! We shook all the dust off Sandpipers sails and sailed the whole way to where we are currently anchored!! Its a miracle! We are now officially in the NE Monsoon zone and the winds should be a bit more predictable now we are farther north of the equator.

We had a great 100 mile overnight sail with the moon overhead. Just like the ones Jimmy Buffet sings about. These trips do not happen often. It was nice to not burn fuel and sail to where we were going, like a sailboat is supposed to.

We dropped the hook amongst a large group of other boats. Some are other cruisers. But the majority of the boats anchored here are charter boats and speed boats that run tourists out to the nearby islands.

Karma is weird. It caught up to us once we anchored. We anchored early and hoped to get ashore early to check in with customs. But other forces in the universe decided that they would delay us a bit. I must digress a bit here to explain...

We have not used our outboard motor and dinghy since being anchored in Belitung, Indonesia because we have been in marinas in Malaysia. After all, it was so cheap to tie up every night. On our last day anchored in Belitung I needed to go ashore, before we left, in order to return all the empty plastic Bintang beer crates that we had on board. We had stowed all the beer bottles wherever we could find an empty space on board.

Also, we had lost the fuel-tank cap to the outboard. The fuel tank sits on the top of the engine. Because it is such a small motor, only 2hp, the fuel tank is part of the engine. As a temporary fix, we wrapped some aluminum foil over the hole where the cap should go.

So I loaded the dinghy with all the empty beer crates and started motoring towards the beach. When I looked back at Sandpiper, where Amy had stayed aboard, I saw a huge storm cloud with lightning bolts zapping out all over the place. It was a really ugly cloud. But I figured that I had enough time to get to the beach to dump off all the crates. But I figured wrong.

When I got to the beach, the storm was just off the Sandpiper. The smart thing to do would have been for me to stay at the beach and wait for the storm to pass. About half way back to the Sandpiper was hit by the big storm with winds over 30 knots. It hit the Sandpiper and Amy first. Then it hit me in the dinghy.

Immediately the aluminum foil cover was blown off the fuel tank. Waves started coming over the bow of the dingy. I had to put my hand over the fuel tank fill hole in order to keep the sea water out. Somehow I made it back to Sandpiper without the engine stalling and me being blown out to sea.

So why am I telling you this story now? Just after we anchored here in Ao Chalong, we inflated up the dinghy, tossed it into the water, and mounted the outboard motor on it. As we did this the wind picked up a bit. But since it was blowing towards shore it would be OK since we would be motoring downwind. Then just as we pulled away from Sandpiper, our new outboard motor (that we bought back in Australia) stalled.

Since the wind was blowing hard, we decided that we needed to get back to Sandpiper before we were blown across the anchorage. It took us about 20 minutes of vigorous paddling to get back. For a short time were just paddling like crazy not making any forward progress.

We finally made it back to Sandpiper and pulled the motor back on board so we could work on it. We took off the fuel tank and the carburetor and discovered that the tank still had sea water in it from Indonesia when I got caught in the 'perfect storm'. So we cleaned everything out. We also decided that not only was there water in the fuel tank. But that the outboard fuel we had on board was so old that it was no longer any good. We also had a brand new fuel tank cap that Amy's dad mailed to us in Langkawi. So we could get rid of the leaky aluminum foil lid that we had fabricated.

So this left us stuck on Sandpiper unable able to get ashore because we did not want to row in such windy conditions. So Amy sprung into action. She put a call out on the VHF radio channel 16 asking if there were other boats in the anchorage that could help us to get to shore. The boat that called us back was just anchoring and they would be right over to tow our dinghy ashore so we could buy some clean fuel.

The boat that came over to tow us was a the same couple that was having trouble with their dinghy's motor back in Kupang, Indonesia a few months ago. We had towed from the beach back to their boat in the middle of the night. So karma caught up to us and now we are even! It is quite bizarre that the first boat to call us back was someone we had helped before. Small world!

We got checked into immigration, customs, and the port captain with no problems. And Sandpiper's dinghy motor is running like a champ with new, clean fuel protected from the elements by Bob Sherman's fuel cap.

Speaking of small world: S/V Ohana Kai, whom we had not seen since Tonga (September 2006), is anchored right next to us. They are headed up the Red Sea the same time we are. They also helped us out and told us where to go to get items repaired that need to be fixed before we sail across the Indian Ocean. We need to have our jib sail mended, the Bimini Top patched up, stainless fabricated for our boom that has been broken since before Bali. And seat cushions made up to replace the cushions below that are boat's 1976 originals.

Our plans are to pull off the jib sail and Bimini cover first thing in the morning. Then we will drop them off at a surf shop that also does sewing oddly enough. We are then heading out 12 miles to meet up with our Norwegian friends on the S/V Uterus for Christmas and New Years.

If you did not see our previous entry about needing a used laptop to get us back home safely , then click here.

Also we have a new Thai mobile phone number. So if you want to call and wish us a Merry Christmas, the number is +66-856-412-900.

Tom and Amy

Koh Lipe, Thailand

Anchored at Koh Lipe
Tarutao National Marine Park
Andaman Sea
Satun Province
Thailand
6'29.0N/99'18.1E

Greetings from Thailand!! Sandpiper left Langkawi at noon yesterday after we topped off the fuel tanks and got cleared out of the marina. Sandpiper is now sitting lower in the water then when we left Mexico to cross the Pacific. We are so loaded with food, beer, water, and fuel as it is cheaper to buy everything we need to cross the Indian Ocean in Langkawi rather then in Thailand.

We stopped and anchored here at this island because is was just a 25 mile run. That only leaves 90 more miles to go to get to Phuket were we need to check in with Thai customs and immigration. We just picked this anchorage randomly as our guide book said that there was really nothing here. As we approached the anchorage we could see other boats anchored. Then we saw all kinds of white tourists all along the beach. It turns out that Koh Lipe is a backpacker's paradise, with a white sand beach and all kinds of beach bars and beach bungalows.

Team Sandpiper sprung into action. We pumped up the dingy and were soon ashore having ice cold Chang Beers and meeting some of the travelers there. This is the first time we have seen white tourists in a long time. and I am sure that we will see plenty more the farther north we go.

We are kind of here illegally since as we have not officially cleared into Thailand. And we cannot do that until we get to Puket. But it does not see to be a problem here. Our plans are to leave here late this morning for an overnight sail to Puket.

Tom and Amy

Sabana Cove Wrap Up

Moored at Sabana Cove Marina
Sungai Santi River
State of Johor
Malaysia
1'24.7N/104'09.7E

"We Got Mail!!"

Ok, I know it’s been a while since you have heard from us and I’m sure your wondering, “What’s going on with the Piper?” Our last entry was about our first week here at Sabana Cove Marina, three weeks later and we are still here. We took one of those weeks and had some great experiences and travels. I had written a great entry but it somehow got lost and then I lost my motivation but with much pressure from Tom here goes the second attempt, but a much shorter version.

Last week we started our trip with a ferry ride from the marina with our friends Emma and Jim from S/V Blue Sky over to Singapore. We had a great reunion with our friends Steve and Rene from S/V Shiraz. We all checked out the crazy hi-tech Sim Lim Square shopping center, had an overpriced, kool-aid tasting Singapore Sling at the famous Raffles Hotel and ended the evening with an excellent meal in Little India. While in Singapore the Deepavali Festival or festival of lights was taking place, this is essentially out with the old, in with the new, a kind of New Years for India. Needless to say Little India was even more of a scene than normal. The main drag of the neighborhood was all a sparkle with tiny white lights, new brightly colored sari’s in the shops windows, lady’s and myself included having henna tattoo on their hands, fireworks for sale and of course many different statues of the Budda. Tom and I went back to Little India the next day for more great food and a look at a few of the temples. That night we helped Steve celebrate his Bday with a nice dinner in Chinatown and then a trip to the Night Safari. Now I’m not a fan of Zoo’s but the Night Safari is way better than any zoo I have ever been too, You actually get to see the animals close up, in a more natural setting than behind bars and their awake. We saw a great 45 minute show seeing some animals I had never heard of, next a tram ride around the park where your so close to the animals they are actually on the tram path. We saw giraffes, hyenas, deer, hipos a tiger but our favorite was the elephants. Overall, our few days we had in Singapore we thoroughly enjoyed. Singapore is an extremely clean city; you may remember the story of the young man from the US getting lashes for spray painting, with lots of culture and diversity for such a small island/country.


The next few days we spent in the large, always busy and bustling city of Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand with around 10 million people and I would guess 10 million cars, tuk-tuks and motorbikes, a true traffic nightmare. We stayed in a great neighborhood with a perfect location to all the best sites of the city and of course lots of good eats and drinks. The Khao San Road area is a carnival atmosphere of restaurants, street vendors selling everything from fake ID’s to fake designer bags and of course lots of Thai messages. Tom’s favorite part of Khao San Rd; the portable bars. All along the road folks just set up the portable bar that you can order beer or mixed drinks from, you sit on small plastic seats and people watch, very entertaining. Bangkok is a shopping paradise, with my mental list I was ready to hit the markets and do some bargaining. The Chatuchak Market is the mother of all markets, sprawling over a huge area with over 15,000 stalls and an estimated 200,000 visitors a day, the world’s largest market. Tom and I were lost in the maze of stalls for a few hours and we only made it down two entire lanes and did a half of a lap on the outside stalls. I did walk out with the most beautiful brown leather bag that I’m sure back home would go for a few hundred dollars. You can find just about anything at the market including animals of all kinds the scariest was the tiny squirrels on string leashes. We did a day tour where we went to the original floating market, Damnoen Saduak Market and the bridge over river Kwai or the death railway bridge. The bridge was built during WWII by allied prisoners of War. There is not much of the original bridge left today. On a much lighter note we also signed up for a Thai cooking class where we first visited the market to purchase all the fresh ingredients and we all participated in making several dishes, I’m actually looking forward to taking another class when we get to Phuket. Lastly, while in Bangkok your trip just wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t have clothes made. Tom left with a wool-cashmere pinstriped suit and I with a few shirts and pinstriped shorts. As soon as it’s not 100 degrees will don the new clothing and take photos.


Traveling through three countries in one day and we were back at the marina. Once settled we had the pleasant surprise of finding out we had mail. We received a great package of Christmas music from our friends from S/V Sensei who are now back in the Bay Area and a lovely letter and photo from our friend Charlie in Indiana. This was such a great surprise, getting mail is very exciting news on the dock and we LOVE it! We have been held up here a little longer than planned but due to bad weather and some unexpected boat projects we are still here but hope to leave this Sunday and head around Singapore, up the Straits and pull into Pt. Dickson for a few days with a trip to Kuala Lumpur the capital of Malaysia.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cheers
Amy and Tom