Family visits.

We're back anchored off the town of Patong on Phuket island in Thailand and have just waved my mum off at the Airport. She and my brother 'Tom' flew out three weeks ago for a holiday aboard Blue Moon cruising the Islands of Phang Nga bay. Tom is with us for another two weeks so we're trying to keep busy and enjoying moving around more than we probably would on our own!

Yesterday we stopped in Kata Bay where the Kings Cup Regatta is being held and enjoyed a fun night out with our friends Terry and Karen off 'Sora'. However, on our way home we spent about an hour trying to rescue all the dinghy's that had been left by the race boats too low on the beach and we're getting washed out by the high tide...obviously the difference between cruisers and racers is that they have more money than sense - ever heard of an anchor guys?!!

We have Fresh Water!

After a week of frustratingly pulling hoses and fixing leaky connections we can very happily say that we have had our first glass of Blue Moon desalinated water! Yes we now have a fully functional water maker that will make life on board a lot more comfortable and Jimmy is walking around with a permanent grin on his face. It's a big weight off our mind as we carry a limited water supply and I no longer have to worry about Jimmy breaking his back collecting Jerry cans of fresh water at every port we get to...A good thing all round!!

We're still here in Langkawi doing our final stock up before checking out in the next couple of days to head north to Thailand. Caroline's mum and brother are flying into Phuket for a visit on the 9th of November so we have move pretty quickly to get ourselves into a good anchorage in time. The North East Monsoon seems to have finally set in bringing some great weather which hopefully means an end to the Rainy season!

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Getting organised ~ Telaga Harbour

Blue Moon is back at Anchor in Telaga Harbour in Langkawi after being tied to the dock in Rebak Marina while we took our inland trip to Cambodia. We're now preparing the boat for the next big leg through the Red Sea on leaving Thailand in January. Jimmy's taking on the role of plumber while installing a brand new Water heater sent in from America and a second hand Water Maker brought from another cruiser here in Langkawi (The water maker is an HRO Mini Pack that should produce us around 7 Gallons of fresh water an hour with a pull of 20 Amps).

We still have to reprovision the boat with all the things we can't get in Thailand or things that are cheaper here, it costs 50 Ringgit ($15 US) to rent a car for 24 hours which you really need as everything is so spread out here. Instead of going to one supermarket to buy everything we have to go to different shops that specialise in different things like Cheese, Meat, vegetables, cleaning goods and so on. A shopping trip that might take an hour or two at home can take all day here, plus you have to remember where all the shops are, what they sell and at what prices!! Of course the same thing applies when trying to find boat parts which can take another whole day of running around.

The important thing to pick up here is the very cheap duty free alcohol which we'll have to stock up on enough to see us through to the Caribbean as we probably won't see prices like this again on the trip. It looks like we'll be filling every spare space with rum, Jameson and wine again...a lot like being back in Panama I think!

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Penang Island ~ Malaysia

We've come full circle and even though we're back in Malaysia we're not yet back on the boat! After leaving Cambodia we spent a few days exploring Bankok, enjoying all the great street food and cheap shopping stalls, before jumping back on the overnight train to Butterworth in Malaysia. From Butterworth we caught the ferry over to Penang Island just south of Langkawi, to spend two more nights in a guest house arranging our three month visa for Thailand.

Tomorrow at 8am we're hopping on another ferry back to Langkawi where two weary travellers will be very happy to be home enjoying the comforts of a familiar 'western style' bathroom and a home cooked meal!!

Siem Reap ~ Cambodia.

We've been in Cambodia for over a week now and are loving everything about the country and it's people. Smiling faces meet us everywhere we go and it's hard to believe the atrocities that took place here such a short time ago. Siem Reap is the town closest to the Angkor temples and our home while we explored the beautiful ruines by Tuk tuk (motorbike with a covered cart) for three days. Things have changed dramatically since I was here eight years ago and the town is booming.

We took a side trip down to the capital of Phnom Penh for two nights (6hrs by bus) to visit the Killing fields and Genocide museum but are now back in Siem Reap with a bus booked for tomorrow back to Bankok (8hrs by bus).

Bankok ~ Back in Asia and on the Move!

Caroline flew back to Langkawi in Malaysia last week and rejoined Jimmy and the boat after almost three months back in the UK. Jimmy's been working really hard to get lots of jobs done in preparation for crossing to the Med in January and Blue Moon is looking in fantastic shape. So to combine a much needed break for Jimmy and also to renew his Malaysian visa we Jumped on the overnight train to Bankok and are now enjoying the comforts of a great hotel and exploring this hectic city! Tomorrow we are catching a Coach to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see the Temples of Angkor Wat and then decide where to head to next.....?

Back in the UK

I'm back in Hampshire in England enjoying the fantastic weather we've been getting and catching up with family and friends. My eldest brother's wedding was last friday and it was a beautiful day, great to catch up with so many family members I haven't seen for almost ten years. The last time I was home was almost four years ago and it's amazing how very few things have changed but still a huge culture shock from life on the boat...have to admit i'm enjoying the creature comforts!

Jimmy is back in Rebak marina after a quick trip with his mum down to Penang island to do a quick restock. Pat flew home to Florida on the 5th and Jimmy's now working hard on all the annual boat jobs that need to be addressed including Varnishing, rewiring and waterproofing. Blue Moon is scheduled for a haul out on the 30th of July for 5 days and with me still here in England Jimmy has a lot of work to do sanding & painting the hull single handed!

I want to wish our friends Eli and Jorn on the boat 'Silene' Congratulations on returning home to Norway after three years at sea! And an even bigger Congratulations as Eli is pregnant for their first child ...Good luck guys and hope you enjoy your new adventure!!!

Rebak marina, Langkawi

Blue Moon is happily tied up to the docks in the marina of Rebak island resort in Langkawi and is even more happy at finally being plugged into shore power. Caroline has flown back to England for a two month visit with family and friends and Jim's mum 'Pat' has arrived for a three week vacation on the boat.

Jimmy managed to pick up a step down transformer that takes the local 240 volt power supply and converts it down to the boats American 110 volts. So the air conditioner is happily buzzing away and the battery bank is purring nicely...something tells me they're going to find it very difficult to drop the lines and go back out cruising after all this comfort!

The Hole in the wall, Langkawi.

Current Position: North 06*25'171 East 99*51'993 - Kilim River, Langkawi Geopark.

We've moved around to the East coast of Langkawi's main island and are now anchored in the Kilim River, known locally as the 'Hole in the Wall', in Langkawi's Geopark. It's quite literally a hole in the wall as the entrance to the river is flanked by two towering cliff faces just twenty meters wide. Inside there's a labyrinth of mangrove rivers and creeks that we've spent hours exploring alongside huge limestone pinnacles filled with crevices and caves and home to hordes of Bats!

The Geopark is also home to hundreds of Eagles and from the boat we've able to watch them dive down and feed on fish from the murky river. The numerous tour boats stop to throw pieces of chicken out that they grind up in their engine propellers and create a feeding frenzy often with over twenty eagles swooping down to join the feast...quite an impressive sight.

Today took the dingy up the river to the main boat dock and from there walked up to the 'Galeria Perdana', a gallery showcasing over 2,500 Gifts that Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister received while in office. Apparently it's the only one in the world and I have to admit it's pretty interesting to see what kind of things other countries give...everything from a tiny ceramic cup from Jordan to ornate Chinese vases and a carriage coach from Pakistan. Jimmy on the other hand found the air conditioning to be the most impressive thing and with temperatures outside now up in the high 30*C/90*F range it was a god send to have a break for a couple of hours!!

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Back in Langkawi!

Current Position: North 06*21'721 East 099*40'716 - Anchored off Telaga Marina.

We made it back to Langkawi a couple of days ago and are comfortably anchored off Telaga Marina on the main island. Checking in went very smoothly except for immigration taking a very long and detailed look at our passports to see if we'd been in Mexico recently...I guess Swine flu is effecting everyone. No complaints though as Malaysia don't charge anything to check in or out.

There's not a lot here in Telaga except for the marina but it's a great place to rent a cheap car and run around into town and the surrounding shops to restock on lots of cheap goodies! We're back in the land of plenty (booze and chocolate) all duty free so we're going to make the most of it!! Our plan now is to start work on Blue Moon cleaning and re-varnishing before I fly home for a visit and Jimmy's mum flies out in about four weeks time.

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The Butang Group.

Current Position anchored off Koh Lipe Island: North 06*29'083 East 099*18'083

We've slowly been making our way south and are now anchored in the Butang Island Group just a few miles north of Langkawi and the Malaysian border. Along the way we stopped at the islands of Koh Lanta, Koh Kraden and Koh Bulon Le all of which are extremely beautiful with some great snorkeling and even better beaches.

Today we had our first taste of the South West monsoon weather after being hit by a storm with over 30 knot winds, torrential rain and rough seas, all coming from the way we were headed. Apparently we've become lazy with preparing the boat before a passage as just about everything that wasn't tied down decided to fly around becoming lethal weapons and creating a huge mess. We slowly beat our way up into the island group and finally found a free mooring in nice looking bay with lots of touristy restaurants ashore. It's a little rolly but now that we've managed to dry ourselves off and eaten a warm meal we should sleep just fine!

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Heading back South.

Current Position at Koh Phi Phi Don Island: North 07*43'514 East 098*46'239

After a hectic few weeks of exploring Phuket island in more detail on our 'Pink' rented moped and a sail up to James Bond island in Phang Nga Bay we finally checked out of Thailand in Ao Chalong bay on Monday (also Jimmy's Birthday) and are heading back south to Langkawi in Malaysia. We've been in Thailand for over two months now and instead of spending over $100 to renew our visa for another month we decided to slowly make our way back south stopping at our favorite islands on the way and some that we missed on our trip up.

Jimmy was very unhappy with the fact that it appears the whole Thai fishing fleet is here in Ton Sai Bay sheltering from the rough seas and have taken up all the best anchor spots. We had no choice but to drop ours out the back of the bay in 70ft of water as getting close to 14 huge wooden boats rafted together, a record so far, wasn't a good option ... (an electric anchor winch becomes more appealing every day!!)

April marks the change of the seasons here and we're starting to get some squally weather and a lot more wind and swell from the West. The temperature has continued to increase which has been unbearable at times, especially when trying to sleep at night with just a tiny fan moving the warm air around - making breathing a little easier. With highs around 40*C we break out in a heavy sweat doing the simplest of things and have to lather up in sunscreen before heading ashore so as not to get completely fried. It's not all bad though and on our trip from Phuket to here we were able to sail down wind the whole way which is a first for us here in Thailand and great to save on some fuel...finally the wind seems to be in our favour!

We plan to spend a couple more days here enjoying our last really touristy anchorage with all the back packer bars and restaurants and what could be the last of the clear water that we'll see until we're back up this way in October.

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The Similan Islands

Current Position: North 08*34'114 East 097*38'576 - Moored off Ko Miang Island.

The Similan Islands named after the Malaysian word 'Sembilan', meaning 'nine', are a group of nine islands roughly 35 miles west of the coast of Thailand and 50 miles south of the Surin Islands. Much like the Surins the Similans are run by the national park and beautiful green islands fringed by pristine coral reef. The water clarity is even better than that of the Surin's and are home to an abundance of tropical fish. With the diving supposedly the best in Thailand dive charter boats arrive in flocks and present a never ending stream of activity.

We've been tied to a mooring here for almost a week and have been able to find something new to do everyday from Hiking the trails ashore to discovering new little bays to snorkel and an array of fish we've never seen before! We're sad to leave but today we are heading back to civilisation and the hustle and bustle of Patong Bay on Phuket island. We finally ran out of fresh food and have been eating through our stores of tins for a while now, with both of us craving a nice big salad and fresh meat we've decided it's time to head back and reconnect with the outside world with definite plans to come back again soon!

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The Surin Islands - Another Paradise found.

Current Position: North 09*24'876 East 097*52'449

We've been here in the Surin Islands for over a week now and are loving their beauty both above and below the water. The Surin's consist of two main Islands managed by Thailand's national Park, roughly 35 miles off the west coast of Thailand and 5 miles south of the Myanmar (Burma) boarder. Thanks to the National Park the islands are pretty much untouched except for two ranger stations and camp grounds for tourists and a local 'Sea Gypsy' village which is home to the 'Mokan' tribe.
There are loads of Mooring balls provided for both us cruisers and the many dive boats that frequent the islands which helps to protect the pristine reef from badly placed anchors. The water is crystal clear and the beaches pearly white fringed by dense green rain forest stretching up to the tips of the islands high peaks. We've probably seen more species of coral fish here in one place than anywhere else we've been and all this can be seen by jumping off the back of the boat with snorkel and fins!!
The ranger stations have a small restaurant for the workers and campers which has allowed us to stretch out our diminishing food supply as we are almost out of fresh and making the most of our stored up cans. We're low on petrol for the dingy engine so we've been kayaking everywhere which has actually been a lot of fun and allowed us to sneak up on monkeys and huge lizards on the beach...the exercise is pretty good too! The Park fee for seven days for us and the boat is 500 Thai Baht which equals about $15 US or 10 British pounds and well worth every penny. Tomorrow we'll be heading 50 miles south to the Similan islands, also a part of the national park, consisting of nine islands and supposedly even more abundant in marine life!

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Almost in Burma!

Current Position: North 09*43'654 East 098*23'061 - Anchored off Ao Yai Beach on Ko Phayam island - 10 miles south of the Burmese Boarder.

In the past ten days we've slowly made our way up the west coast of Thailand stopping at some fantastic bays and only once seeing other cruisers. The scenery is beautiful with miles of white sandy beaches fringed by thick green jungle and inhabited by local sea Gypsy villages. The weather has been pretty good although it's supposed to be the North East season and the wind continues to blow from the North West making some of the anchorages a little rolly and the odd afternoon thunderstorm bringing a deluge of rain. Temperatures have been up around 35*C/95*F everyday making a walk on the beach feel like your walking in an oven...even the water temperature is so warm that going for a swim doesn't really help to cool off!
For the past two days we've been anchored off a beautiful island called Ko Phayam and a little piece of heaven just 10 miles south of the Burmese boarder, There's a 3km-long sandy beach scattered with a number of eclectic beach bungalows each with their own bar and restaurant. It has a much more laid back atmosphere here compared to the hustle and bustle of some of the more touristy islands further south but still has enough going on to keep us entertained! Yesterday we hiked the concrete moped 'highway' that crosses the island through cashew nut plantations to have lunch at the 'main' village, named this as it has the only dock that services the island, a beautiful walk shaded by the lush vegetation with some great little restaurants along the way to stop and cool off.
With the full moon the tides here are huge at the moment and yesterday we made the mistake of leaving the dingy at the top of the beach at high so when we returned we had to drag her 300 feet along the beach in the heat of the day - it took us over half an hour and we could barely breath by the time we finally got to the water. We won't be doing that again so today we'll blow up the inflatable kayaks which will be much easier to carry then rent a moped to explore some more and keeping a little cooler!!

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Patong Bay, Phuket.

Current Position: At anchor in Patong Bay: North 07*53'515 East 098*17'072

We've been anchored in Patong Bay on the West coast of Phuket Island for almost a week now and have enjoyed walking the streets of one of Thailand's most busiest tourist towns. There are more bars and restaurants than we've seen in one place for a very long time and a great place to People watch as tourists line the streets with freshly fried skin and cash to burn! Every inch of the beach is taken up with hundreds of colourful umbrellas and sun loungers with tourists getting Thai Massages as they soak up as much sun as possible in a two week period.
Just across the road from the beach you'll find vender's selling everything from dried squid to copies of DVD's and tailor made suits. At night the real shows begin with 'Lady Boys' lining the streets trying to get customers into the bars... Local Thai guys dress very impressively as Women and with all the right operations it's almost impossible to tell the difference!!

This afternoon we plan to start heading north along Thailand's West Coast to cruise up to the boarder of Burma and the off lying islands for a couple of weeks.

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Krabi - Thailands Climbing Mecca!

Current Position: North 08*00'711 East 098*49'844 - Rai Lei Beach, Krabi Province.

We've landed in a Climbers dream with beautiful white sandy beaches framed by spectacular limestone pillars covered in caves and fissures. The water is still pretty clear and the beautiful emerald green colour that we've seen everywhere here in Thailand, with so many little bays and crevices it's a perfect place for Kayaking and exploring in the dinghy. We've been checking out the beaches with lots of great little restaurants tucked back in to the rain forest and a great place to watch climbers scaling every available cliff face. They give half, full and three day courses on Climbing so we're seriously considering giving it a try as we're going to be around for a while and it looks like a great way to keep fit!
We've been trying all kinds of new Thai Dishes and love them all, it really seems like you can't go wrong if you like vegetables and spicy food! Prices range from 35 Baht (1 US Dollar) to around 150 Baht depending on the restaurant but they all have ridiculously long menu's so 'plenty' of choices... not so good for those of us who can be a little indecisive though!
Today we'll be moving further north into 'Phang Nga Bay' to check out some more islands on our way to Phuket. This area is also known as the Hong group with many bays almost completely enclosed by high cliffs and deep caves...sounds like a lot more exploring to be done.

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Koh Phi Phi Don.

Current Position: North 07*43'798 East 098*46'260 - Ton Sai Bay, Phi Phi Don.

The Last couple of days we've spent in the busy anchorage off the island of Koh Phi Phi Don. A small island with two big horse shoe bays facing North and south with long white sandy beaches and beautiful towering cliff faces. It's a really popular spot for tourists and back Packers so lots going on ashore with little lanes packed full with souvenir sellers and bars and Restaurants. The water is the clearest we've seen so far so good for snorkeling and swimming from the boat or beach and there's a beautiful lookout spot on the top of one of the hills if you can survive the steep climb in the 40*C temp's. This island was severely hit in the tsunami but you could never tell now, they've recovered really well and new buildings are sprouting up just about everywhere.

On our way here we stopped off at the island of 'Koh Phi Le' just 3 miles south to take a look at Maya Bay which is where they filmed the movie 'The Beach'. It's a really popular place for tourists and dive boats so a bit too crowded for us to anchor in the bay but we may take a long tail boat over from here to get a better look. We plan to head to the mainland next to an area called 'Krabi' which is supposed to be great for hiking, Kayaking and rock climbing so I guess we're going to have to get Physical!!

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The Emerald Cave.

Current Position: North 07*24'828 East 099*12'764 - Anchored off 'Koh Ngai' Island.

After leaving Koh Tarutao two days ago we stopped on the western side of Koh Muk off a small beach with a couple of resorts ashore. The wind decided to blow from the North West making it a really rolly night at anchor, well worth it though as yesterday morning at 7 am we dropped the dinghy and motored around to the North side of the island to visit the 'Emerald Cave'! From the outside it looks like a normal cave and we took the dinghy through the 80 Metre completely dark passage way, for which we'd come prepared with head lamps, and finally opened up into an enclosed circular 'Hong' with a beach surrounded by high cliffs and open to the sky. The sides are coated in lush vegetation and the only way in is by the cave or rock climbing! Really beautiful and we were there early enough to be the first ones that day and had it completely to ourselves giving it the feel of a natural cathederal. Apparently Pirates used to hide their treasures in the hong before moving them on to other stores...pretty amazing as you'd never expect it to be here from the outside.

Back at the boat though the rolling had become unbearable so we picked up anchor and sailed 6 miles to this island called 'Koh Ngai' and anchored on the east side off a long white sandy beach. We spent the day catching up on sleep and then headed ashore to check out the four resorts that line the beach. Surprising enough we had landed ourselves in German territory as everything was written in German, owned by Germans and all the tourist were German! very strange but we did manage to have our first taste of Thai Green Curry for just 140 Baht which equals about 4 US dollars. We made a slight mistake with the Tides though and had to wait for three hours before the water came back in far enough to cover the reef so we could get the dingy back to Blue Moon. Today we are moving on but not sure where to, there are so many islands that we'll just pick somewhere along the way that takes our fancy!!

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First anchorage in Thailand - Ko Tarutao.

Current Position: North 06*38'192 East 099*36'903

We've just left our first anchorage in Thai waters off the island of 'Ko Tarutao', the furthest south of Thailand's Islands and just 15 miles north of Langkawi. A beautiful spot with a long white sandy beaches in the national park and a great place for nature lovers with monkeys and huge eagles everywhere, there were even Buddhist monks camping on the beach...welcome to Thailand!

Checking out of Malaysia yesterday was an extremely smooth and free process and we now have 10 days before we need to officially check in to Thailand in Phuket. Today we're heading 50 miles further north to the island of 'Ko Muk' where we've been told the water is crystal clear so we can finally get back in to doing some snorkeling and check out the 'Emerald Cave'. We have very little wind so we're motor sailing while trying to avoid the hundreds of flags that mark the floats of long fishing nets, a difficult task as they're everywhere!

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Telaga Harbour, Langkawi.

Current position: North 06*21'781 East 099*40'899

We left Georgetown city marina yesterday morning and had a great trip back up north to The Langkawi Islands, stopping last night in one of the beautiful southern anchorages on Pulau Singa Besar. Today we sailed around to the North west coast of the main island to Telaga Harbour, anchored in 8 feet of water in a well protected bay just out side the marina. There are about 30 other boats anchored here but plenty of space and well protected from the south by two long islands, the view from the boat is beautiful with high mountains overlooking the bay and a long white sandy beach surrounding the waters edge. The marina itself is pretty isolated but we plan to hire a car tomorrow and drive into the town to stock up on duty free goods before checking out with immigration and heading on to Thailand in a couple of days.

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Penang Island - Food Heaven!

Current Position: Georgetown Tanjong City Marina - North 05*24'829 East 100*20'652

If there's ever been a place where you wouldn't want to eat at home this has to be it! With a great mix of Indian and Chinese cultures the selection of restaurants is fantastic and ridiculously cheap. We're in Georgetown, the main city of Penang Island, and snuggly tied up to the docks at Tanjong city Marina. We're here to pick up our Thai visas which will allow us a three month stay instead of the regular one month we'd receive on arrival. The city is like an older version of Singapore, without all the high rise buildings, and so still has all beautiful old historical buildings and alleyways packed with little shops and restaurants which come alive at night.

Yesterday was an exciting day on Blue Moon after we came to the conclusion that we must have something wrapped around our propeller and shaft as the boat wasn't handling right in reverse gear as we came into the dock. Unfortunately the water here is like mud with zero visibility, strong undercurrents from the ferries, extremely smelly and has big jelly fish swimming around (no one could tell us if they were poisonous or not)....not a tempting place to go for a dip!!

But like any good boat owner Jimmy donned his dive gear and slipped off the dock into the murky depths to feel his way to the prop (I have to admit there is no way you could have ever gotten me in there). So as he bravely disappeared with just his bubbles showing that all was still okay, I stood on the dock with the fishing gaff trying to divert any wandering Jelly fish who looked like they were floating his way. After ten minutes he surfaced with a handful of fishing net and floats that had melted themselves to the shaft! It took an hour of blindless cutting with a kitchen knife and pair of pliers to finally remove the tangle of plastic netting, with his dive tank running out of air just seconds after the last piece was cut free Jimmy was feeling very lucky!

With that drama over we hit the town for a great $6 celebratory feast of Chicken Masala, fried rice and Naan Bread...Delicious especially washed down with a mango Lassi (yogurt drink)!...no beers available at the muslim restaurants I'm afraid. Today we plan to find the Tesco supermarket, on the very confusing bus system, to restock with some products we won't find anywhere else and then back to town to discover another great place to eat...chinese today I think!!

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Chinese New Year & Australia Day!

Current Position: Rebak Marina-Langkawi: North 06*17'642 East 99*41'863

We moved out of the town anchorage of Kuah yesterday and headed around to Rebak Island Resort Marina to fill up with water and take a look at the haul out facilities. We haven't socialized with other cruisers for over three months so we were really happy to hear that they were holding an Australia day BBQ (also coinciding with Chinese New year which is huge here) underneath a catamaran in the hard stand area. We wandered up with a couple of drinks and met a big group of cruisers all hanging around this area for the next year or have been here for the last season. Lots of great information was passed around which has helped us make our final decision to spend an extra season here in Asia.

It's been a really tough choice to make as we wont be seeing many of our long time cruising friends again (now currently in Sri Lanka) and we'll be adding an extra year to our circumnavigation. On the good side though we'll be able to relax with no big passages and enjoy some of the most beautiful cruising grounds in the world. Around May time we'll haul the boat for a few months during the wet season and make a trip home to visit family and friends and hopefully build up the kitty a little at the same time. It's been over three years since I've been back to England and over two for Jimmy so we're really looking forward to having a taste of the old life for a while even if it is just to see how good we have it out here!

Tomorrow we plan to make a trip back down to Penang island, roughly sixty miles, to apply for a Thai visa which will give us three month cruising instead of the usual one month we'd get without it. Then we'll head back up here to re-stock before crossing over to Thailand.

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Anchored in the Langkawi islands!

Current Position: Kuah town, Main island of Langkawi: North 06*18'774 East 099*50'678

We made it!! After seven days on the move we are now anchored in the beautiful Langkawi islands just south of the border between Malaysia and Thailand. We had a great trip up and were able to sail most of the way, the first few nights we anchored up behind small islands but the last two nights we just kept on going. On the final night the weather turned bad on us and we had to beat into head winds and big seas while trying to avoid the hundreds of fishing boats with two mile long nets strung out across our path! It took both of us to keep a watch and try and figure out where one net would end and the next begin, if we got caught in one of the nets at night we'd have been in serious trouble in rough seas in the dark.

Luckily we avoided that situation and at 4am yesterday morning we dropped anchor in a very peaceful anchorage off one of the Southern Langkawi Islands. The engine is working perfectly although we have a little wobble in the propeller shaft which we'll look into more here and the packing in the stern tube that was put in by the yard was much too tight so Jimmy had to remove some of it underway. Other than that we are very happy with her performance!

Yesterday afternoon we moved around to the town of Kuah where we checked in with customs, Immigration and the Port Captain. They're all located at the end of the ferry terminal and it was one of the smoothest check-in's we've ever done, very quick and best of all - Free! We had just enough time afterward to head into town to pick up some duty free rum and Chocolate!...Langkawi is a Duty free port which means while we here we can buy as much duty free as we like and alcohol and Chocolate seems to be very popular here with about twenty different shops selling mostly that. We picked up a one litre bottle of Captain Morgan rum and three bars of Toblerone Chocolate for just US$10!!

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On The Road Again!!

Current Position: In the Melacca Straits - North 01*27'602 East 103*15'248

We are very happy to report that after more than two months of sitting in Singapore having repairs done of the boat, we are today finally back out on anchor off a small island on the west coast of Malaysia. It was a strange feeling to back out on the open ocean getting used to the movement and sounds of the boat after being tied to a concrete dock for so long but I have to admit we're loving it!!

The plan now is to head up to Langkawi, a group of duty free Malaysian islands just before the border to Thailand, as quickly as possible and then review our time line on whether we can still head to the Red sea this year. Our friends in Phuket will be leaving tomorrow for Sri Lanka and the season is running late, we still have to stock up on food, water and fuel and replace some rigging... It really all depends as usual on the ever changing, unpredictable weather!! We should be in Langkawi in roughly one week as long as we can keep moving every day.

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Happy New Year!

Position: Raffles Marina, Singapore.

Happy 2009... It was a quiet celebration here on Blue Moon as we counted down to midnight along with the party on the huge mega yacht 'Asean Lady' who's moored to the outside dock near us here in Raffles. Our plans have changed back and forth many times in the past few days, whenever we feel close to getting the engine fixed we dream about the next leg of the trip through to the Red Sea...but when we hit yet another set back we have to face the realization that we may have to stay in Asia for another year!

Our cruising friends in Thailand are all preparing to leave, they've re-stocked all their food and fuel, made sure the rigging is safe and everything on board is ready to head back into the big blue. For us we feel confident that the boat is ready; we just have replace the piece of rigging wire between the two masts and stock up on food, fuel and water, get the new computer chips for our chart plotter...oh and of course have an engine that runs!!
Time is our main worry now as the group is planning to leave Phuket in Thailand around the 15th of January to head to Sri Lanka, it would take us roughly a week to get up the coast of Malaysia to the duty free port of Langkawi where we would stock up on everything (much cheaper than here in Singapore) before a two day jump to Phuket. Obviously that doesn't leave us any time to see any of the islands and that would only work if we were underway by this coming Tuesday!

As for the engine the current update is that we are without a transmission at the moment, it's a long story but we hired yet another mechanic to find the cause of the grinding, rattling, knocking noise that we get when it's in gear. This guy is very sure that the problem is the clutch plate which he thus removed, however, instead of ordering the same kind to put back he somehow convinced us to get a dampener plate instead which is having to be manufactured by an engineering firm here. So at a 'much' larger expense we've decided to trust him in the hope that this will fix all our worries...except he doesn't seem to realize how much of a rush were in and keeps making the time frame longer...ahhhh!

To be honest we really don't know if this is causing the problem but there's nothing else we can do, Jimmy has already had to lower the v-drive unit as the yard never aligned it correctly as they seemed to think aligning it to the hole in the hull where the shaft goes through was adequate...not according to every other engineer we've spoken to!!
So as I'm sure you can imagine we're going absolutely crazy..we've been here over two months and feel no closer to completion than when we arrived, fingers crossed 2009 will be a little luckier for us and we'll be underway soon.

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