At Nai Harn Bay

Just imagine:A tropical night and us watching an X-Files movie at X-Mas.
And still it is spooky!
BTW, over 80 boats here in the bay, but enough space for all of us to swing around.
The shore is great for walking, running and bird trips.
Oh yes, and of course Thai Food.
The last few days of this year will see us in Patong Bay. They say it is a once-in-a-lifetime-must.
Salute for now.

sunset shot taken at Ko Phetra

Phuket

Alishan arrived in Phuket. we checked in with the officials ( it took only 30 minutes) and we are okay till middle February. The Xmas shopping is done and in an hour or so, we'll be heading for Nai Harn Party Beach. The weather is superb, nice breeze, sunny and at night it cools down enough so we sleep under a thin blanket. Just only the cats aren't too happy, but we do try to catch some fish for them.
To all of you: Merry Xmas.

KO MUK

Today we dropped the hook in front of KO MUK
7 degree 21.4 N
99 degree 17,4 E
And we do have to admit: So far this trip gave us 3 superdooper sailing days!
We left Langkawi at about 10 am and were at Ko Tarutao just after lunch time. As soon as the sun wasn't burning the skin of our bones anymore, we dropped the dinghy over the side to explore the longgggg beach. Nice. But you had to keep on walking due to the sand flies. At night our sleep was roly because of the wind bullets off the mountains.
Next day we sailed with super conditions ( 10-15 knots wind, flat seas,sunny....) to Ko Phetra. Our friends on sailing yacht Ouma showed up as well.
And today...again great saiing till here. The only thing that's missing is a ...fish on the line. Well, we'll go ashore for a meal tonite.
Salute for now

Only a few more days in Malaysia

We are in the Telaga anchorage, NW Langkawi.
Alishan is loaded up with fuel, food and fruit!
Yes we are more or less ready for The Great Cruise up North..
Thailand, here we come (again).
The last 2 weeks we filled in with reading a book or 2, going for hikes , taking (bird) pictures , socializing and getting Alishan ready. We even unloaded the "portable" aircon, so that tells you and us that we won't do any marina stuff for a few months! Poor Nori and Wakame had their last tree-climbing session at Rebak Marina only yesterday.
Tomorrow ( Tuesday dec 16) we will check out as the weather for the days after looks good. There even might be some favorable wind for sailng!
The plan so far:
Xmas and New Year in Phuket, end January we get nephew Tom on board for a few weeks and then
late February..Andaman Islands ( belong to India).
Back to Thailand, Malaysia and
middle 2009 sail towards Borneo.
Anyway, we will keep you informed while underway. ( and start working on that Q4 update).
Salute.

Back in Kuah

All the things we wanted to do in Penang had been done, so it was time to move on again.
The trip towards Langkawi was a nice one, with even some wind good enough for some real sailing.... Mind you the joy lasted only for 1 hour...then the wind shifted further to the NNE..more or less bang on the nose.
Oh well, we did make it to the anchorage before sunset...dropped the hook..and...started to role very uncomfy in the swell... (In Penang's marina it was more or less the same...but there we paid for it!!)
Next day we explored the Fresh Water Lake, read a book and slept.
Definite the NE monsoon is here:Somehow we are "cold", can you believe it..it's only 28 C.
Now Alishan is at anchor at Kuah, the Big Smoke of Langkawi. Here for some supply shopping and meeting up with cruising friends and later in the week off we go to the NW corner of Langkawi.
Hmm, hope we can fiend a spot to drop the anchor...boy are there manyyyy boats this time of the year., ( we talked to some of those boats..they are taking part in a 2-year-around-the-world-trip, so they should move on;-))))
Salute for now.