May 23 – 31
Hi All,
I am writing this blog on Tuesday May 30……..Memorial Day back in USA……we will be raising a wee dram or two for all the Veterans who have served our country well!!! So what do we do on Mystic all by ourselves in Thailand to celebrate Memorial Day……well, Dave & Dana texted us some pictures of Kennedy eating ribs….really, she is only 8+ months old……but a great pic of her knawing a rib in one hand and a big chuck of meat in the other……our other 3+ year old granddaughter also loves ribs…..or at least she did the last time we saw her……they both do make their Papa YB so proud:))))…..so inspired by Kennedy, we cooked up a batch of ribs ourselves….and had a 2004 Markham Cab Franc…….yummers!!!!
We have enjoyed our slow cruise from Phuket…..so far have been to Phi Phi Don, Koh (means island in Thai) Kraden, Koh Rok, Koh Phetra and now in Koh Butang off the bigger island of Koh Rawi!!! We had to skip Koh Muk and Koh Tanga due to weather being in the wrong direction for the anchorages. It has been a good cruise but I can’t say it has been a highlight overall. What has been spectacular is the continuing imposing limestone karsts in various places……how can rainforest trees et al grow out of sheer cliffs…..just amazing. But on the downside, there is very little wildlife…..a few birds, a few monkeys on the beach, one lonely dolphin…….and a whole lot of fisherman….like maybe 30-50 every night with their night lights on……and maybe a 1000+ flags with traps underneath that you constantly have to dodge. In somewhat of a depressing observance, I witnessed a fisherman cleaning his net and throwing back into the sea many little finger size dead fish…..obviously too small to eat/sell……this region is already overfished and to see small minnow size fish thrown back only exacerbates the overall depleted fish population.
Weather: Yes…..it continues to be hot and humid……easily 90*F+ in the boat…..it has rained 6 out of the 9 days we have been out…..usually 10-60 minutes or so…….and so far the rain has not cooled off the air or water…….the heat index is well over 100 every day and the water temp is staying in the 87-89*F range. We understand there was Hurricane Cyclone in the Indian Ocean (hitting Bangladesh) which has now started the monsoon season over India and we suspect this will help start the cooling process……of course, now that we are leaving the area:)))) And Mr Rain is having his laughs with us……no rain all day but starts to rain as I start to cook the ribs…..haha, not so funny…..then this am as we were pulling anchor it rains buckets and Kathy gets drenched….still not very funny……arghhhhhh!!!!
Wednesday May 31: not making much progress on the blog…..ugh!!!! We have decided to go on into to the Royal Langkawi Marina……a 45nm run……seas are roughed up from the massive squall this am….2-4′ wind waves abut all behind…..winds 0-10kts but gusted up to 30 kts in the 6 hour long squall!!!!
Anchorages:
Phi Phi Don: We returned to this magnificent limestone island only for a night….we did anchor in a different spot with a gorgeous view but the peaceful bay was constantly interrupted by a gazillion tourist boats coming by, waving and cheering and massively waking us……what part of don’t rock the boat don’t these guys get….arghhhhhh!!!
Koh Kraden: We had wanted to go to Koh Muk but as we approached we realized the west swell was going to make the anchorage untenable so we switched to Koh Kraden about 3 miles away. As it was, the wind and waves turned from the North and the anchorage while one of the better ones, was still a bit rolly….so out with the flopper and much better!!! There were perhaps 10-15 fishing boats also in the anchorage over the 2 days we were there. It was a bit odd, as many of them just stayed…..they didn’t do much except raft up, sing songs, drink Coca Cola and smoke……we did not see much boat maintenance…..it is still perplexing what was going on……at night we could see 30-50 other boats out fishing….perhaps each fisherman has a quota?????
We had come here to do Emerald Cave on Koh Muk….it is 250′ long cave you do by kayak or dinghy and once through you are in a gorgeous hong in the middle of the island. Well, the book says doable in most tides, so we waited until about mid tide and went the 3 nm in our dinghy…..but as we were maybe a mile out that pesky west swell got worse….maybe 2-3’….a wild ride in the dinghy for sure…..and when we got to the entrance to the cave……we both looked at each other and said “what cave”……it was completely covered by the swell…..a few other tour boats came by, did a quick look and then zoomed off to some other spot……so, we turned around and went to explore the beaches on Koh Kraden…….however, there was not a breeze and the sun was baking……maybe close to 95*F…….it didn’t take us long to say ok, enough…..back to Mystic, shade and mega fans!!!
Koh Rok: Excellent and very remote. This is a National park but it is closed for the off season, although there were still 3 rangers we guess for upkeep. We stayed for 2 nights and had an ok snorkel…….some coral damage/bleaching, mainly hard coral and some small, small fish with decent variety. The anchorage got a little rolly so we used the flopper again.
Koh Phetra: We had wanted to anchor at Koh Liang Tai and visit a seafood gypsy village but the anchorage was again not all that tenable….so we went 6 miles further south to Koh Phetra and stayed one night. The book said this was an island that locals collected bird nests….but, we saw maybe a handful of birds, no one collecting anything….hmmm. But, it was beautiful with a gigantic karst rising up over us!!! It also was a pretty good anchorage for protection from a huge squall that came upon us very quickly……we shared the anchorage with many fisherman!!
Koh Butang: This island is about 30nm off shore and in a group of islands called The Butang Group. There are about 15 small islands in a National Park, which is closed for the season. We found a fairly isolated spot, but so had about 3 other boats….but we thought we were protected from the predicted SW winds only to have E-NE winds most of the time coming into our anchorage and blowing us onto shore….ugh. The anchorage is deep…..like 85’…..not deep by PNW standards but deep when the last anchorage we were in 15′ of water. We did get close to shore on the 2nd day when we had a 15kt NE wind so we quickly reanchored !!! The waters were beautiful and I went exploring the 2nd day and found a very good snorkel spot…..yea!!! Coral was in good shape….mainly hard coral but healthy with some color with just a little damage and signs of bleaching…..wow, this is the best yet in Thailand although I still just rate it as average. And the fish life…..ugh….not so good….most fish the size of my little finger…..but, a ton of clams….some giant size….of all colors……and a lot of sea cucumbers!!!!
Thursday June 1: Hmmm….taken a while on this blog……LIG:)))) We are now in the Royal Langkawi marina safe and sound…..with the AC cranking:))))) We had a good run yesterday albeit it rained hard the whole 6 hours and kept raining while we tied up the boat and plugged in the power. We then checked into the marina and Malaysia (which is one of the easier countries to checkin). We then checked out the duty free liquor stores. The one at the ferry terminal where customs is located said the 5 liter restriction is still in force…..drats!!!! Prices…..1 liter Absolut, $7, 1 liter Grey Goose – $20, Oyster Bay Sav Blanc – $14…….not a great bargain but very rare to find in this area and one of Kathy’s favorites,……I do suspect we will make another run before we leave!!!!
And finally…..a very good cheeseburger in Paradise!!!!
The Plan…….not sure….celebrate Kathy’s birthday tomorrow…….then go out and cruise Langkawi for a week or so…..then back to the marina to cool off and get some duty free fuel…..then it will be off for the 60nm run to Penang……~June 15 +/- a few days!!!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Langkawi Malaysia
PS: Pictures on the website: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Phuket-to-Langkawi
Kennedy at 8 months loving ribs!!!!
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