Our plans to complete a bit of shopping in Langkawi, refuel and depart all went smoothly and we departed Telaga on Langkawi Island on 21 December with just 4 days to get to our Christmas Day rendezvous. Day One was an easy passage just 25 miles to the east where we anchored at 
Ko Adang, part of the Butang Group of islands and in Thai waters. We had good downwind sailing, with the anchor down about 3:30 p.m. Right... time to get out the mangoes and get busy with the chutney. Wrong... a knock on the hull and a couple of cruisers interested in our boat, a Hans Christian 43, as one of them had recently purchased one but smaller in length, were keen to chat. Nevermind the chutney, as we invited them aboard to ohhhhh and ahhhh. They departed to join the rest of their families on the beach for a bbq to which we were invited but the chutney took priority. This would be part of the Christmas gift giving and now thoughts of "why didn't I just buy something in Langkawi" came to the fore but too late now. The chutney looked and tasted good.
Day Two started off with good winds and good sailing but it was only a couple of hours before the wind dropped off and we were motoring our way towards Ko Rok Nok. Calm seas meant out with the sugar, flour and butter and soon the shortbread was under way. It was a warm day though and working with something made from a high percentage of butter proved very challenging. Nevermind, most of it was done before it was time to prepare for entering the anchorage - the rest could wait in the fridge for another day. It was our first approach to Rok Nok from the south and although we had picked up a mooring here in August and thought we knew the place we approached the south side of the island a bit too close and soon it was knock rock as we lightly scraped a bit of rock in the reef strewn water!!! Turn to starboard says Pam, no, port says Jon and luckily he was at the wheel and he was right and we were soon in clear water and out of danger. A big sigh of relief and soon we were aboard Silver Fern for sundowners in the flat waters.
Flat waters, but not for long. Within an hour the wind picked up from the north east and we were anchored just outside the wind shadow of the island. It gusted all night from 5 to 20 knots resulting in disturbed sleep, especially as the anchor chain scraped against some
rock. We left the anchorage as soon as it was light enough to see and once we had cleared the island set our course for Ko Phi Phi Don. This proved to be a great day with good sailing all the way and we arrived in the anchorage just after 2:30 p.m. We had a swim and then decided to go ashore to buy some fresh fruit and then had an early dinner before returning to the boat to sleep.
Phi Phi Don
Day Three. It was now the 24 December so we decided on a quick trip ashore again to top up our fresh vegetables to last us over Christmas. Although very touristy, Ko Phi Phi Don has a large population of locals who work on the island so there were at least three outlets we knew of selling excellent fresh produce - much better than
Langkawi - which must be brought from the mainland every day. We soon had what we needed and were back at Tweed and getting the anchor up. We had a reasonable sail for a while and only had a couple of paired trawlers to keep clear of. We then had to motor sail north along the western side of Ko Yao Yai to our anchorage just south of the northwest tip where we were meeting with Taipan, More Magic and Jaraman for Christmas celebrations.
Ko Adang, part of the Butang Group of islands and in Thai waters. We had good downwind sailing, with the anchor down about 3:30 p.m. Right... time to get out the mangoes and get busy with the chutney. Wrong... a knock on the hull and a couple of cruisers interested in our boat, a Hans Christian 43, as one of them had recently purchased one but smaller in length, were keen to chat. Nevermind the chutney, as we invited them aboard to ohhhhh and ahhhh. They departed to join the rest of their families on the beach for a bbq to which we were invited but the chutney took priority. This would be part of the Christmas gift giving and now thoughts of "why didn't I just buy something in Langkawi" came to the fore but too late now. The chutney looked and tasted good.Day Two started off with good winds and good sailing but it was only a couple of hours before the wind dropped off and we were motoring our way towards Ko Rok Nok. Calm seas meant out with the sugar, flour and butter and soon the shortbread was under way. It was a warm day though and working with something made from a high percentage of butter proved very challenging. Nevermind, most of it was done before it was time to prepare for entering the anchorage - the rest could wait in the fridge for another day. It was our first approach to Rok Nok from the south and although we had picked up a mooring here in August and thought we knew the place we approached the south side of the island a bit too close and soon it was knock rock as we lightly scraped a bit of rock in the reef strewn water!!! Turn to starboard says Pam, no, port says Jon and luckily he was at the wheel and he was right and we were soon in clear water and out of danger. A big sigh of relief and soon we were aboard Silver Fern for sundowners in the flat waters.
Flat waters, but not for long. Within an hour the wind picked up from the north east and we were anchored just outside the wind shadow of the island. It gusted all night from 5 to 20 knots resulting in disturbed sleep, especially as the anchor chain scraped against some
rock. We left the anchorage as soon as it was light enough to see and once we had cleared the island set our course for Ko Phi Phi Don. This proved to be a great day with good sailing all the way and we arrived in the anchorage just after 2:30 p.m. We had a swim and then decided to go ashore to buy some fresh fruit and then had an early dinner before returning to the boat to sleep.Phi Phi Don
Day Three. It was now the 24 December so we decided on a quick trip ashore again to top up our fresh vegetables to last us over Christmas. Although very touristy, Ko Phi Phi Don has a large population of locals who work on the island so there were at least three outlets we knew of selling excellent fresh produce - much better than
Langkawi - which must be brought from the mainland every day. We soon had what we needed and were back at Tweed and getting the anchor up. We had a reasonable sail for a while and only had a couple of paired trawlers to keep clear of. We then had to motor sail north along the western side of Ko Yao Yai to our anchorage just south of the northwest tip where we were meeting with Taipan, More Magic and Jaraman for Christmas celebrations.Buying fresh prawns direct from the catchers
No comments:
Post a Comment