Ferry foray

Uligan Maldives is serviced by a small ferry boat, picking up and dropping off passengers and giving "carry on" a new meaning. It hops from island to island as the main link between neighbours.

So early one morning at 06:00, we jumped aboard to see a town 2.5 hours to the south. The beamy wood boat was nicely finished and the passengers sat on rows of wooden benches open to the sea breeze or lounged on the roof deck with a very low railing.

Looks safe!

First stop was a quick one at the pier of Mulhadoo, a small island an hour to the south. We watched from the deck as a gaggle of passengers with a motley assortment of cargo joined us for the trip further south. One of the passengers was a strikingly beautiful woman who later consented to a photo ashore.

Approaching Mulhadoo Island pier

Village beauty

A type of Maldivian fishboats

Second stop, our destination, was at Dhidhdhoo Island about another hour and a half further south with a population of about 3,000. It was 08:30 and we had until 15:00 to explore. Unfortunately there was very little of interest or to discover at Dhidhdhoo, making the hot day rather long...

Commerce and supplies were still very basic. We saw a good-sized school, a clinic and hospital, a simple pharmacy, and a small bank where we got rufiyaa (Maldivian currency) from the ATM. The grocery stores we noticed were only slightly bigger than ones at Uligan with a bit more to offer. There are very few vehicles - an ambulance, police car, taxi car, small cars/trucks; bicycles and scooters however seemed to be the main mode.

Walking along a street, we came across a man looking for help. Jordan stopped to see what he needed. He had the base of a huge dead palm and needed to load it into the back of a truck. Two other men saw the situation and between the four men, they were able to struggle with big muscles and loud moans and finally get it into the truck bed!

Group effort

We found a couple of basic (with a capital B) cafes and after some enquiries found a couple of suitable restaurants of which we patronized while watching shadows move from west to east. One of the restaurants was tucked away in one of the ubiquitous, austere, back alleys. Behind the stark exterior, we found a contrast in ambiance where the cozy tables sat semi-screened by shrubs under a gazebo roof.

Upon seeing a humble shop with 4 tailors busy at their machines, we engaged them to make us a courtesy flag for Yemen as it quite likely would be our next passage stop on our way to the Red Sea. The simple horizontal red, white, and black striped flag cost us only 20 rufiyaa ($1.70).

A quick sew-up

As we walked the streets of sand, it was disappointing to see all the garbage strewn about contrasting the neat and clean Uligan Island. The seaside was even worse with disgusting piles of garbage, the dominated ingredient being plastic, primarily water bottles. This sordid legacy to nature of our era is most obvious as seen from the travels on the oceans and shores of the globe.

Garbage galore

Jordan noticed large granite boulders used in making their breakwaters and realized that the geological formation of these islands is only coral, begging the question, where did these rocks come from? The response to his enquiry is that they were all barged in from India, far away to the northeast.

From India to Maldives

The lazy day ended with the uneventful return to serene Uligan.

Paradise again

As we approached our new anchorage in the Maldives at Uligan Island on February 4th, we could tell we were once again in a paradise setting! Palm laden tropical islands ringed with white sand beaches. The clear waters were a beautiful light turquoise colour displaying a carpet of coral that seemed to be begging us to come for a snorkel.

But first we had to do the official check in. A neighbouring boat that we had been with in Galle Sri Lanka was also here and they hailed Customs for us on the VHF. We were not allowed to leave the boat until the officials had come to Sea Turtle to do the due process.

Apparently we were supposed to contact an Agent but we had not yet done so by the time the Coast Guard boat with the entourage of Security, Immigration, Health, and 2 Customs officials came out to Sea Turtle. These officials went ahead and filled out all the forms for both of us and Chanty that the Agent would normally have done at a cost of $50 US for his facilitating services. In any event, we were still required to pay a government check-in fee of $65 US. However, we were informed that we would have to hire the Agent for the check-out procedure.

With the check in done, we settled in for a peaceful dinner and cocktail in the cockpit, invaded by the lazy serenity of our setting. And no mosquitoes!! Chanty, after being relegated to the cockpit or below for so long, now strolled continually around the decks of Sea Turtle, taking everything in. Do cats also appreciate the natural solitude? We think so.

The next morning we went ashore to meet the Agent and made arrangements for fuel, obtained a SIM card for cell and internet coverage, and got suggestions of what we could do during our time at Uligan.

We accepted the Agent's suggestion of dinner at a very tiny resident's veranda cafe. A very basic affair requiring prior notice. The meal was excellent and enjoyed by both us and 2 from SV Jubilee.

Part of our day was spent strolling through the tidy, white sand streets of the village accepting pleasant nods from the shy natives. This small Island (2.5 x 0.8 km/1.6 x 0.5 mi) is very basic with 2 mosques and a couple of very small 1-room grocery stores offering the bare essentials. There are no banks, no malls, no bars (alcohol is forbidden for Muslims), no stores, and no cars (only a few scooters). Out of place were the smart phones in everyone's hands.

Sand street with Sea Turtle at end

Houses in the past were built from coral, as a building block, extracted from the sea (but is now prohibited) which was a contributor to a decline in the health of their reefs.

House built from coral

There was also the bleaching of the coral from fishermen and from sea temperature rises. There seems to be somewhat of a redemption with these recent restorative efforts.

Passage news

We broke from Galle Sri Lanka February 1st at 14:30 to continue our westward passages. Next stop, the remote Island of Uligan (aka Uligamu) in the north part of the Maldives, about a 3- to 4-day sail away west.

The Maldives archipelago is in the northern Indian Ocean just off the southwest coast of India. It consists of 26 ringed shaped atolls with 1,190 coral islands and stretches in a long chain north to south. It is the lowest nation in the world. Average height is 1.5 metres above sea level!

Our first 10 hours was motoring in calm seas, then once away from the lee side of the land mass, we had wind, substituting the drone of the Beta for the working sails. Sailing is always the more pleasant mode but also for the reason of fuel consumption concerns. So we sail as soon as possible. Fuel top-up is apparently available at our next stop, but after that, it's a long way to the next possible available diesel.

We passed through one of the world's busiest shipping routes keeping an eagle eye outside and on the AIS display. (AIS, an electronic instrument that displays the details of other ship traffic within about 40 nautical miles and overlaps onto the electronic charts. It shows ships' names and details including speed, direction, point of closest contact and time, etc.)

We do faithful checks every 15 minutes or more frequently in busy areas. It is interesting to see details on the AIS of different itinerant vessels on voyages to far off places on the globe and picturing the lonely life aboard as they disappear over the horizon.

Freighter crossing our path at sunset

We had a great beam reach sail most of the way, with winds and seas of various strengths requiring 1 or 2 reefs and seeing 7 sustained knots at times. One 24-hour period, we did 158 nautical miles, a record for modest Sea Turtle. Our typical passage average is 110 NM per day, but the following current booted us along nicely, thank you very much.

Twinkling stars covering the canopy above with their brilliance was a fine sight after not seeing such brightness for a long time. The sliver of a moon passing us almost directly overhead ushered us towards the horizon as the night progressed. Night transformed to day as the morning sun eked over the horizon as a bright orange-red fireball.

Once we were surprised to see a fishboat, not much larger than Sea Turtle, bobbing and rolling through the waves and swells 125 NM away from closest land! The crew all boisterously hollered out a greeting to Sea Turtle with lots of smiles and waves.

Finally late in the afternoon on February 3rd, the winds started to die and at 19:30 we reluctantly had to start the motor. The nice thing about no wind is the seas calm down for a smoother ride, making it easier for us to shower on deck.

Then after 3 days, it was Land Ho! We spotted 3 low lying atolls off in the distance. Passing between 2 of the islands and around to the lee side of Ha Uligan, we set anchor in 18 m (60 ft) deep of water with 9 m (30 ft) clarity at 15:00 (14:00 local time) on February 4th at N07°04.951' E072°55.126'. We shared the reef-side anchorage with 2 other sailboats making the same passages as us.

Approach to Ha Uligan

* Ha means Island

Our scoop on Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka deserves more time than what we could spare to get a full picture. But from our limited time in southern Galle (7 days) of this island country, this is what we experienced.

The people are extremely friendly and most speak at least a fragment of English which is of course always helpful in getting directions or help finding what you need. Many of the local men still wear the traditional sarongs, fabric wrapped around the waist.

Fuel and provisions are available and the plentiful, cheap tuk tuks are the way to go. For longer distances, the trains are frequent and buses are constantly available to wherever you need to go. Again, very cheap - even Express First Class (avoid the slow ones for long distance!)

Groceries and produce, although not necessarily cheap, are abundant and what limited Western food products you see are definitely expensive.

Around Galle, we would surely recommend seeing the old fort and colonial buildings within, and a visit to the funky, albeit touristy, beach town of Anawatuna for shops and eats. Then there are the gem merchants with either cut stones or jewel settings.

We wished that we had spent more time at Unawatuna. It had a nice beach and lots of skinny winding streets lined with shops of all sorts. It would have been fun to walk around but we ran out of time. However on our last night we did have a nice candlelit meal at the beachfront restaurant.

If a cruiser didn't stop at Sri Lanka, they wouldn't see the more unpleasant features. For example, the strict inner harbour control dictates many procedures. There is more officialdom than anywhere else with numerous department inspections and copious amounts of paperwork to get checked in. It's required to employ 1 of 2 available agent companies to facilitate the process. Ours cost us $300 US for that service. Others paid less with the other agent.

The visiting sailboats are ushered into the innermost part of the harbour and can either Med-moor or tie alongside of the concrete sea wall. The surge made it rough on lines, and for those who tied alongside, there was more than 1 blown bumper. We Med-moored and used our dinghy to get to the sea wall, and at low tide, it was difficult to get from dinghy to top of wall.

Sea Turtle Med-moored in Galle

The water at times was full of debris and no one would use their watermakers here. And there are no water taps on the concrete sea wall for hosing down a salty boat, etc. We were fortunate to arrive during a rainstorm so Sea Turtle was not salty. The only personal shower was pretty rudimentary and a ways away so we just did our usual on-deck solar shower when it was dark out.

Although fuel is available, getting it into your tanks is another matter. First, we had to prepay for an exact amount to be delivered. If we ordered too much, no refund, or too little, it would be extra delivery charge. Of course with a big passage coming up, we wanted to be totally fueled up. We were lucky, or should I say that Jordan is a good estimator, as we had only 5 litres extra of fuel. We put it in a large pail and gave to another boater.

To get the fuel from truck to tank is by a long hose and gravity fed. One's boat's inlet was higher than the truck's outlet so they were in a dilemma on how they were going to do it. We didn't hear the final solution. The problem for us with that system is the shut-off was at the truck, so when we knew our tank was full, we shouted Stop! but to get the hose out of our filler resulted in a lot of spillage.

Water delivery is available and as we were about to order some to top up our tanks, we were hit by a downburst for about an hour and that was more than enough to fill our tanks and jugs.

Second-hand information told us of a boat that ordered water. We don't know how much the boater ordered but a ton was delivered which was way too much for their small vessel. They were not allowed to put the water hose into another boat so they used some to wash their decks and then gave some to a neighbouring boat by using buckets!

What we must say is even though our agent was expensive, they efficiently handled not only the check in and out, but also facilitated the fuel order, delivered us to ATMs and to get a SIM card for our phone, and basically were always on call for any problems or questions.

We found out the hard way that smart phones here are cheaper than the duty free port in Malaysia. A few minutes before checking out of Sri Lanka, our near new cell phone slipped out of Jordan's pocket into the ocean! Oh no! So off to the Mobile Centre with a tuk tuk.

We saw long fishing boats with a wide bottom and narrow top that we had never seen before. It looks like you have to really squish yourself into them.

Unusual style of boat

So to sum the pros and cons, it is a place to rest after a 9-day passage, get fueled up and topped up on things, and see a few highlights, but not the nicest harbour and an expensive check in for just a few days.

Rambling around Galle

We ran around Galle (Sri Lanka) with a tuk tuk finishing up a few errands and stopped to visit the Galle Fort of 1588. Built by the Portuguese and Dutch, it stands guard at the Harbour's entrance. Within its ramparts is the Old Town, its buildings densely packed in the narrow streets.

Old Town Galle within Fort

Having received a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, a lot of the old colonial buildings have been restored to their original splendour offering eateries, boutique hotels, and shops. After a delicious lunch in the small Peddler's Cafe, we walked along the top of the old perimeter walls, at times looking straight down into the rugged sea.

Section of Fort Galle

Lighthouse in the distance

Within the Fort is also the National Maritime Museum which we strolled through. It was badly damaged in the 2004 tsunami but has since been renovated. Many of the Museum objects were never recovered. Actually in the south of Sri Lanka there was a tremendous amount of damage done and thousands died due to that tsunami.

Leaving the Fort, we hired a tuk tuk driver and tried to rent a car so we could travel up to the north end of Sri Lanka. (We wanted to see the fascinating Sigiriya, a massive sheer rock column of which you can climb the 1,200 steps to the ancient ruins of a palace and fortress. Check it out if you ever get here.)

Our driver took us everywhere and we only found 2 rental places still in business. Both were very expensive and charged extra for mileage, and as we are anxious to get sailing onwards, we decided against it.

Over the next couple of days, a few more sailboats came in. They too are on their way to the Med via the Red Sea. One old sea dog is 80 years old and has sailed several years on a boat he built completely himself. His dream was always to complete a circumnavigation so he decided to do a quick 2-year circumnavigation solo and is now heading home to his wife in Bulgaria. Never too late to realize your dreams!

Oodles of fishboats at harbour entrance

8 boats so far...

We had planned on having water delivered to fill our tanks (the harbour is too dirty to make water ourselves). But one afternoon, the skies turned dark and the lightning began and the clouds started dumping torrents. It poured. And poured. We almost felt like taking on animals in pairs! We opened up the deck filler caps to the water tanks, plugged up the scuppers, and let the flooded decks fill the tanks to overflowing.

Sri Lanka is known for the mining and production of many different gemstones. So with an excess of rupees (local currency), we went shopping. We found some interesting gems and purchased a few.

Still with extra rupees, we went out for dinner to the funky little beach town of Unawatuna, close to Galle. Love saying that name, kinda sounds like You Want A Tuna! We had a local cuisine, Sri Lankan Fish Curry, at a candlelit beach restaurant, and returned to Sea Turtle with almost no rupees.

It will be good to let off the ties to Galle as the scourge of mosquitoes that visit our cabin each night is enough to drive you mad. Even with screens, they find their way in...scratch, scratch, scratch. Along with a pack of 7 dogs and flocks of crows, all visiting the sea wall where boats are tied up to.

We let loose our lines February 1st after checking out with the officials to sail to a new destination for us, Uligan, a remote northern island of the Maldives in the NW Indian Ocean, with only about 600 inhabitants. Will it have internet? Stay tuned...

India: yes or no

Once settled into Sri Lanka at Galle, the first order of business was to apply for and get a Tourist Visa for India, our next stop. India requires a Visa in advance of arrival which can be obtained through one of their foreign embassies. It would be a last stop for fuel and top up on stuff before the big jump across the Arabian Sea on our way to the Mediterranean. So it was off to the India Embassy located in the City of Colombo about 120 km up the coast.

We hired a tuk tuk driver to take us to the bus station. There must be more tuk tuks here than cars or motorcycles, they are everywhere zipping in and out of traffic!

Tuk tuks everywhere

At the bus station, we purchased tickets for Colombo. But we did not know that we should have purchased tickets for the Express bus that took the fast toll road. So the trip took us about 3 to 4 hours to go the short distance as the bus travelled through all the little towns and villages, making numerous stops.

Once in Colombo, we were told that all India Visa centers were closed as it was a holiday in India!

Stopping for a cold juice before the return trip to Galle, we noticed how complicated the written language here is. It's a good thing that most folks here speak English.

Can you read it?

We thought it would be quicker to take the train back to Galle. But once again, we were on the slow train, not the Express train. Crowded and having to stand made the 2-hour ride seem like 4. Live and learn!

Train travel

The next day, January 27th, we gave the Colombo trip another shot but this time we caught the Express bus. It was so much more direct and quicker without any stops.

At the Visa center, we were told that it would take 6 to 8 days to process a Visa which was much longer than we wished to wait. He then suggested an eTV - an electronic Tourist Visa - which for a $300 fee, he could have it done and sent to us the next day by email. Much better.

With payment made, we went for lunch and Googled electronic Visas. Unfortunately, we discovered that they are only for travellers who fly into India and cannot be used by cruisers or land travellers. And we had told them at the Visa center that we would be cruising on our sailboat to India.

Back to the Visa center. We told them what we had found out on the Internet and they agreed to cancel the Visa and refunded our money. So for the second time, we went home defeated.

With everything against us, we have decided to forget about India and we will sail to the Maldives instead. No advance Visa is required and we can possibly get fuel there with a little difficulty.

Final answer: India no. Maldives yes.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka...it seemed like it was never going to happen. We had planned to be in this country more than a year ago, but we encountered numerous delays. As sailors say, "Our plans are written in sand, at low tide." But we pulled anchor from Chalong Bay (Phuket Thailand) on January 16th at 11:30 for, finally, Sri Lanka.

Up until now, it seemed as though we were sailing away from Victoria our home port, but now it feels as though we are heading towards it as we resume our westward-about journey.

The seas on this passage were not what we had been expecting, or hoped for. The first 2 days were great sailing and we made good time. But most of the remainder of the voyage gave us a real mixed bag of confused seas leaving us feeling like we were in a washing machine. Not a comfortable feeling at all, being tossed from side to side continuously.

Now out at sea in these conditions we had to resume the habit of "One hand for yourself and one for the ship" to avoid being tossed about. Even when there was a lull in the wind, the waves were still agitated. We were constantly making sail adjustments and did more motoring than we wanted.

We had short-period swells of up to 3 metres, although they didn't give us as much trouble as the choppy 1-metre wind waves. In spite of very little sunshine and skies plied with clouds and several storm cells, we were teased with a couple of rainbows.

Rainbow respite

Small dolphins cavorted at Sea Turtle's bow at least 4 different times that we spotted them - always a thrill to see them once again. It has been a while.

Another clue that we are once again in pelagic waters is the presence of flying fish. Chanty discovered a couple that had slipped through our slightly open pullman hatch during the night (open for a bit of a breeze). She was ecstatic and each time played with them as she jumped in the air and tossed them all around leaving scales for us to clean up (yes, we then closed the pullman hatch).

She also senses when 1 or more are on the deck and makes frantic pleas for an exit out to apprehend them. However we don't allow her out of the cockpit on passage unless the seas are relatively calm and she is escorted on leash by Jordan who says "Let's take a walk around the block, Chanty."

It's mine and I'm keeping it!

We would likely have had a sea collision 2 different times if we hadn't been keeping a close watch, which we always do. In such a large ocean with so little traffic, it sure makes you wonder - 2 tiny dots in this great big space heading directly to each other!

Using our newly installed AIS system that tracks and identifies close traffic, we radioed closing ships to ensure they saw us. In the first case, we contacted the freighter and after a pleasant conversation, he changed his course. In the second case, the tanker did not answer our radio calls in spite of calling his ship name, so we changed our course. It's always a bit more difficult for a sailing vessel to change course than a motoring vessel.

Passing after course change

Finally around 18:00 hours January 24th, the seas began to calm as we rounded the bottom of the large island of Sri Lanka and about 15 nautical miles offshore. The south point of the Island is one of, if not the busiest spots for large ships on their various destinations globally. We kept a vigilant watch out and attention to the AIS to keep a safe distance and out of the way of the big boys.

Sea Turtle (red) in a forest of freighters

We were especially on edge as the downpours at time reduced visibility to less than a nautical mile. You can imagine if we couldn't track traffic and a huge freighter came barelling head on at 18 knots out of a heavy veil of mist, it wouldn't leave much time to avoid it. Thank God we have AIS because we discovered just before leaving on this passage that our radar had given up the ghost.

It was the early morning of January 25th that we made our close approach to Galle Harbour. We contacted Harbour Control and a required Agent on VHF radio at 08:00 and then stood by at anchor (N06°02.018' E080°13.560') by the breakwater that protects the inner harbour. We were not allowed to enter until Harbour Control authorities came out a couple hours later to inspect then escort us in.

Directed in, we tied up to the sea wall to resume a parade of officials with a myriad of forms that lasted a few hours. This included our Agent, Customs, Immigration, Health, Security, and the Harbour Master. Even the head lady from Customs who wanted to see what the inside of a yacht was like.

Finally about 14:00 and $400 later (including the extravagant Agent fee), we were finally officially checked into Sri Lanka in the town of Galle and were free to leave the boat.

We moved Sea Turtle so that she was Med-moored (tied up stern to) at the sea wall (N06°01.945' E080°13.989') tucked between 2 other sail boats. The one beside us we had befriended before in Thailand. There were now 4 sailboats in Galle and more expected soon.

Hoisting courtesy flag on arrival

Langkawi daze

As mentioned before, we had to order a new second-hand SSB/Ham marine radio from the internet and have it delivered to Malaysia as Thailand does not allow them to be imported. This means that we had to sail back once again to Langkawi Malaysia to pick it up. And we thought we had left there for good!

Once we confirmed that the radio had been delivered to the marina of Telaga Harbour of Langkawi, we decided to do another overnight voyage rather than stopping and anchoring along the way as we had okay sailing and motoring weather. We pulled anchor January 5th at 10:15 from Chalong Bay of Thailand and anchored January 6th at Telaga Harbour, Langkawi at 12:30 (N06°21.785' E099°40.887').

Upon examining the radio when we picked it up, Jordan discovered that the microphone receptor on the radio had a male end where a female end was required in order to use our microphone. Also the power and tuner connections didn't match. After searching high and low for a solution, we met with a technician who gave Jordan a fairly simple way to solve the issue. Simple, but it took a lengthy period of time.

With the radio all hooked up, we next need to connect to a radio net that SV Shearwater has told us about. If successful, next is to return once again to Phuket (Chalong Bay) Thailand to pick up a new prop for our outboard engine (none available in Langkawi without a lengthy wait).

Jordan thinks that when he was trying to push and pull Sea Turtle when she was aground that the rubber of the prop had slipped. He has put pins in it so we can use the dinghy in the meantime but a new prop is needed for a permanent solution. We have found a dealer in Phuket that is holding one for us until we get there.

Some of the sunsets in Telaga were amazing, a pleasant punctuation to end the day of boat jobs...

Telaga, Langkawi

Another distraction to our boat jobs: Chanty shenanigans. Like when she tried to get too close to the fish and climbed down the step that hangs over Sea Turtle's side and fell in. She found the safety screen we attached to the stern for such an emergency and she scurried up, soaked and forlorn.

Showered and towelled off

Next off to the Mediterranean. We will post next when internet is available...

A new year

We began our sailing adventures in September of 2009 and here it is 2017. Wow, time sure flies when you are having fun. Another new year of sailing adventures to look forward to - all the excitement and pleasures as well as all the struggles and discomforts. No, it's not ALL fun all of the time!

To start the year, Jordan spent the morning scouring the internet for a possible solution of why our Frigoboat refrigerator keeps overheating and must be turned off. We just had it looked at by a professional on December 29th and thought all was solved, but apparently not.

He discovered a solution on the internet posted by others having the same problem and decided to give it a try. He straightened a specific pipe and then lightly banged on it to get a possible blockage to move. It worked, but again, for how long? Time will tell. Maybe this time we will be lucky.

After spending a quiet and pleasurable evening, we pulled anchor at 13:15 on January 1st from Koh Naka Yai on the east side of Phuket (Thailand) returning again to Chalong Bay, but this time we decided to anchor on the east side of the Bay (N07°48.865' E098°22.945') at 16:45. The west is so very busy and hectic but the east is much quieter, calmer water, and with less boats too.

Our feline Chanty is enjoying both sailing and motoring now. She came up on deck, looked around, played, and then even had a nap in the cockpit as we motor-sailed. She totally ignored the sound of the motor.

On the 2nd, we re-anchored and unfortunately in the hectic west side of Chalong Bay which is less than half an hour away (N07°49.208' E098°21.468') as we wanted to get an early start in the morning and needed to be close to the dock where we could easily rent a car. The next day we totally filled the car with provisions to get ready for our long passage coming up.

We had started to see windy weather as was predicted. To get out of the fetch on the 4th, we moved from the rough west side back to the east side of Chalong for more protection (N07°48.972' E098°22.974'). It made for a much more pleasant sleep with less bouncing around.

Koh Naka Yai

We untied from the docks of Ao Po Grand Marina today at 13:30 after getting our fridge fixed yesterday and made our longest passage ever. NOT! We only motored for 15 minutes, more like our shortest passage ever, and anchored on the west side of Koh Naka Yai (N08°02.826' E098°27.468'). Many sea kayaking tourists frequent the east side but we found the lee west to be quiet.

We were in no hurry to return to the agitated scene at Chalong Harbour (Thailand) so we just hung out in peace here for the evening.

No photos as our camera seems to be lost...

Not cool

Well, as it turned out, we were not able to do any further exploring of the areas of Koh Pan Yi (Thailand), the Muslim fishing village, as we had to rush back towards Phuket.

Our Frigoboat (refrigerator) quit, and as the holiday season was upon us, we were facing a limited availability of service personnel as this day was the only day they were available. We arranged for a repair person from Cirrus Cooling to meet us at Ao Po Grand Marina and booked an overnight berth there. We pulled anchor around 11:15 and motor-sailed the 3 hours south.

By now Chanty was getting used to the sound of the running engine. We think all of these short voyages have helped.

We arrived at the dock (N08°04.155' E098°26.732') around 14:30 and the 2 repair men promptly showed up. They diagnosed such a simple solution, so simple that we had a hard time believing that that could be the real problem.

They ran pressure tests and amperage draws to determine the cause of the compressor overheating. Finally they suggested the keel cool unit in the water might be covered with growth, preventing adequate cooling. Jordan jumped in the water with a scraper while the technician monitored any changes. It seemed to do the trick. Let's hope it stays that way.

This Marina is full of luxury yachts. One of them, Equanimity, is valued at $175 million and apparently is owned by a Malaysian billionaire and is in the top 50 of the world's largest, according to the internet. She is an impressive 91 m long (300 ft) and meticulously maintained sporting regal navy and white colours.

Equanimity (copied from internet)

Anchored offshore, as though in a competitive flaunt, were 2 other larger private mega yachts. The Ocean Victory, at 140 m (460 ft) with 7 decks and 6 pools, carrying up to 50 crew, boasts that it is one of the 10 largest in the world.

Ocean Victory (copied from internet)

That's okay, we are still happy with our Sea Turtle at 10 m (35 ft) with no pools. Ffffftttt!!! Who needs a pool with the ocean at your doorstep!

James Bond and more

This morning at 09:00, we left our anchorage at Koh Yang Thailand to dinghy to nearby James Bond Island (approximately N08°16.490' E098°29.965'). The official name of this island is Koh Phing Kan but it became a very popular tourist destination after the filming of The Man With the Golden Gun, a 1974 James Bond movie, where the villain supposedly kept his secret lair in this striking setting.  There is an eye-catching pinnacle rock on one side of the Island's beach.

We were lucky to arrive early and beat the scores of tourists who descend on the scene daily by boats from all directions and of all types: longtail boats, speedboats, day cruisers, and junk boats. We paid the required 300 Baht ($10 CAD) fee per person and walked the steps and short trails for a few quick photos to be able to say "bin there, done that" [sic]. Spoiling the setting were countless souvenier stands hawking their cheap trinkets.

Jordan admiring dramatic pinnacle

Iconic scene of James Bond Island

Once back on board Sea Turtle, we hoisted the anchor at 11:45 to continue northwards. Next stop, a Muslim fishing village on Koh Pan Yi. They constructed all their buildings on stilts perched over the shallow water with a backdrop of a towering karst pinnacle. The residents cater to about 3,000 visitors per day for lunch at the number of large open-air restaurants!!

Approaching Koh Pan Yi

We anchored across from the Sea Gypsy Village (N08°20.202' E098°30.391') at 14:00 in the estuary and of course dinghied to one of the many docks of the restaurants.

As we ate at our seaside view table, we watched the mayhem of the many large longtail boats (powered by huge motors perched on the stern) arriving and departing with their numerous hungry or satiated passengers.

Hefty motors

Longtails and Sea Turtle

By around 15:00, as though there were a curfew in effect, all was quiet as everyone returned to whence they came...

For the rest of the day, we jumped in the dinghy and tried to find a tunnel through the Island and a cave with Neanderthal drawings not far away. No luck. Maybe tomorrow we will try again or go with a tour boat.

3 strikes

13:30 we left Koh Hong (Thailand) heading due north to Khao Phing Kan (James Bond Island). This area is a large bay with a large runoff from northern lands that filter through mangrove swamps and over time has layered the shallow seabed with a sandy/muddy sediment.

Our OpenCPN electronic charts are lacking detail for this area so we would consult the depth sounder occasionally as we went. Evidently "occasionally" wasn't diligent enough.

Strike 1: Hard aground in the clutches of the soft bottom on an ebbing tide rendered us stubbornly stuck around 15:00 at N08°15.445' E098°29.928'. Jordan tried to power and push and pull Sea Turtle out with the dinghy but to no avail and we resigned ourselves to a couple of hours wait for a rising tide to come to the rescue. With Sea Turtle listing to starboard, Jordan decided to scrape off a few barnacles that were now exposed.

Aground in paradise

With the depth sounder saying "Give it a try" and with the assistance of a north breeze, Jordan furled out the head sail. Then with me at the helm giving a good burst of engine power and Jordan giving Sea Turtle a boot in the rear with the dinghy, we were finally released from the surly bonds of the muddy bottom.

The electronic charts seemed to indicate a deeper area a short distance to the west and in fact, a sailboat was anchored there as though to say "Come on over here."

Strike 2: We only went a few hundred metres and we were aground again! (N08°15.513' E098°29.550') So close and yet so far - we could see our desired anchorage. A bit of time passed while the tide was still rising and Jordan was getting worried, afraid the tide would max and then ebb leaving us aground overnight. But that wasn't the only excitement of the hour. All of a sudden he noticed...

Strike 3: ...our dinghy was adrift! It had been tied to a slider cleat on the newly extended toe rail track and the wind had pulled her right off the end of the track. It was pretty close and as Sea Turtle was still aground, he dove in and swam to it, bringing it back to Sea Turtle and tying it up to a secure cleat.

Now back at the ranch, Jordan was still worried. This called for some new efforts. So Jordan, in the dinghy, paid out a long line from a halyard off the top of the mast and pulled Sea Turtle smartly over to starboard while I, again at the helm, gunned it and broke free of the mud's grip on her keel. Free again!

This time we made it to our anchorage at Koh Yang (N08°15.907' E098°29.212') at 18:00, much later than originally planned, dropping the hook under an impressive sentinel peak and in the lea of the island.

Sea Turtle and picturesque karsk

As an afterthought, we rummaged through our paper chart inventory and found one for this area with much more detail; so needless to say, we kept it out for the remainder of cruising in this area.

Koh Hong karstness

Today we left the island of Koh Phanak in Phang Nga Bay (Thailand) at 11:00 and 15 minutes later we picked a protected and scenic anchorage at Koh Hong (N08°13.493' E098°30.174').

Towering limestone cliffs (karsts) were everywhere and shared the sky with soaring eagles cavorting in the wind and gave residency to sporadic tropical greenery that somehow found root in the crags of these monoliths.

The lure here is the enchanting caves, tunnels, and lagoons that nature has sculpted. We explored by paddling our dinghy through the passages and into the lagoons that stretched our necks to see the sky.

We again had to share the magical moments with numerous daytrippers paddling through in the blow-up kayaks. However later in the day after all had left, we had the arena to ourselves.

Exploring caves and lagoons

Itinerant fisherman with impeccable timing pulled up with fresh prawns to answer our question "What's for dinner?"

Just in time

Koh Rang Yai & Phanak

Finally after almost 3 weeks, with boat projects all under our belt, it was time for some pleasure sailing to some sights that we haven't seen around here. So we pulled anchor from Chalong Harbour of Phuket Thailand on December 24th at 11:30.

Under a steady breeze we were hoping to do the 20 nautical miles under sail. But after a little over an hour of tacking against a tide and a dying breeze, we relented and turned on the Beta motor.

We arrived about 4 hours later at peaceful Koh Rang Yai, a small but pretty island with a 1-km stretch of beach (N07°56.942' E098°26.866'). So of course, the tourist boats bring their throngs here in the afternoon to swim and turn bright red on the beach. And perhaps to spend a lot of money at the pearl farm's shop!

The next morning we took our cat Chanty ashore and she experienced her first nervous ride in the dinghy. Surprisingly she was also nervous once ashore, as she listened to the waves crash in, another scary first for her. (She didn't know what she signed on for with us!) But once back at anchor, she quickly adjusted to being a typical cat.

It's a sea cat's life

In the windless afternoon, we motored north for a couple hours up into Phang Nga Bay to a long stretch of an island called Koh Phanak (N08°11.368' E098°29.190'). The Bay is an area where huge fairytale vertical limestone rock isles protrude out of the sea, many with caves and passageways eroded throughout.

Heading up to the magical Phang Nga Bay isles

Once anchored, we hopped in the dinghy and went exploring. At first, there were many daytrippers spilling out of the tour boats and into blow-up kayaks also exploring. We dinghied in through a tunnel about 150 m (500 ft) long, at times in total darkness (but we had a flashlight) with wee bats hanging all over the ceiling. We came out to an interior lagoon open to the sky, completely encircled with vertical cliffs stretching to the sky.

Not quite the Tunnel of Love

These interior openings in the mountain are called hongs which is Thai for room. We couldn't stay long so we had to return through one spot that was narrowing and low from a rising tide.

Can we make it!

After exiting the tunnel, we headed out and around towards the north end of the island where we next found a cave-type opening about 2 m above water level. We tied the dinghy to the jagged rock face and hoisted ourselves up to the cave and walked along through the inside corridors coming out to a ledge, looking right into another interior lagoon or hong, again surrounded completely by steep verdant cliffs and open to the sky.

We returned to Sea Turtle wondering how many more yet to be discovered hongs were hidden away in these enchanting mountain islands.

Busy in Chalong

During our stay at hectic Chalong Harbour (Thailand), our cat Chanty slowly got used to the noise and waves of dinghy and speed boats and loud tour boats as they roared past our anchorage. At first she would run from the deck to down below, but now she just watches them go speeding by. Ho hum.

We had a list of boat jobs (never run out of boat jobs!) that we needed to get done before the first of the year and before our next major passage coming up. Such as installing extensions to the tracks for sliding sheet blocks up the toe rail - the tracks we have been carrying since leaving Canada!

Another job was adding a solar panel. We were amazed to find how the price of these has come down. We bought an 80-watt monocrystalline for about $100 CAD. We paid 7 times that for each of the 2 we have had since leaving home in 2009. The third one has really made a big difference in pumping lots of amps for our hungry batteries. Other jobs were also attended to like a repair to the head sail to make it last to the Mediterranean.

More power!

We discovered that our HF (Ham) radio was kaput so began an interesting search for a replacement. It turns out that Thailand import restrictions make it almost impossible to not only own or operate one in the country but ordering one sent in is essentially restricted. So we are now trying to get one sent to Langkawi Malaysia with the possibility of getting it on a yacht coming this way (HF radios coming in on yachts are overlooked by Thai Customs).

We had been wondering how Chanty would handle swimming in the event she fell in. Well one day she was in the dinghy with Jordan checking it out and got nervous when the dinghy started to drift away a bit from Sea Turtle. Unfortunately, she misjudged the leap (flexible dinghy pontoons are not a good solid base to spring from) and came up short. Splash into the water she went!

It was interesting to see that she started to swim in a circle around the boat and stayed very close to it, looking for a way up. When Jordan caught up to her in the dinghy, she frantically climbed into it on her own. Next was a quick freshwater shower which she also hated!

Now we have a plastic mesh hanging off the stern of Sea Turtle and into the water that she can climb up if she is ever overboard again.

Goodbye Malaysia

With the new Beta 43 engine installed, we left the dock of Langkawi Malaysia under the new power and took Sea Turtle out for a test run on December 1st. All seemed well except for the need of a hose strap to avoid vibration chafe and the need to bleed air from the hydraulic steering system

The only other issue was Chanty's apparent stress (Chanty is our new feline permanent crew member). Even though for most of her short life as a stray she has been hanging out on docks and other boats until we adopted her, she had yet been on a boat that moved, let alone made a menacing growl from that mechanical thing deep in the hull.

She was panting which is a sign of stress. She wandered all over trying to figure out where the dock went and why the ocean was moving past the boat instead of staying in one place. But we knew in time she would become accustomed to the engine, the moving sea, and the motion of the boat.

On December 5th, we cleared from the Harbour Master, Malaysia Customs, and Immigration at 13:00, making our final checkout from this country.

We were heading north up to Phuket Thailand, a 24-hour run. At first, at the consternation of Chanty, we motored for 3 or 4 hours in a confused sea state. But the wind finally filled in and became a constant 15+ knots on the beam, making for a great overnight sail and a nice average of 5.5 knots all the way to our destination. It took Chanty awhile to settle down, this being her first sea voyage, and accept what was going on.

She has decided on 2 favourite spots: the quiet part of the boat which is up front, either under the dingy on the foredeck or inside behind the lee cloth in the forward pullman berth.

Chanty's secure sea berth

On December 6th, we anchored in Chalong Harbour of south Phuket at 13:00 (N07°49.123' E098°21.308').

Dream come true

Sea Turtle's Perkins motor was running okay, but as with all Perkins, it constantly leaked oil in the bilge. What a mess it would leave. It was also starting to get pretty old. Jordan has dreamed of having a new motor and a clean bilge so he finally ordered a Beta 43 from the United Kingdom - and Langkawi Malaysia, a duty free port, was the perfect place to have it delivered.

The Beta 43's main component is a diesel motor made by Kubota, a Japanese equipment manufacturer. Beta Marine, an English marine engine company, buys them and then makes them marine-ready with all the systems necessary for boats and then resells as a complete unit including transmission.

It was waiting for us in storage when we returned from our South Africa trip.

Jordan labouriously totally dismantled the Perkins (the only way it could be extracted through the small companionway). To prepare for the new motor, he then completely cleaned the engine compartment and bilge and refurbished the bilge pump and hoses.

The oily beast

To accept the new motor, Sea Turtle was moved over to the shear sided seawall. There, a crane lowered the delivered motor in, but not before certain appendages were removed in order to squeeze it through the opening.

Down she goes

Now it was time to start the major part of the installation work.

In she goes

Big smiles - oil free and clean

Working for days on end, Jordan had to make several adjustments and changes to make it adapt it the uniqueness of our particular boat. An adapter to extend the prop shaft had to be machined, an exhaust high rise had to be fabricated, motor mounts had to be designed and built with almost perfect dimension for accurate alignment to the prop shaft, etc. etc. He also removed a lot of redundant wiring associated with the old motor controls.

Motor mounts - plywood mock-ups

Motor mounts - finished product

The day finally arrived to start the new red installed motor. On November 23rd, with fingers crossed, Jordan turned the key, and she purred beautifully, and running much quieter than the old noisy Perkins. A dream come true of a clean bilge!