Well, it has been a long time since I posted anything on the Trippin’ Turpins blog. We have been swamped since we finished our week with friends in and around Koh Lipe in Thailand. From Koh Lipe, we sailed back to Langkawi, Malaysia and left our boat in the Telaga marina and went to Penang to get our two-month visa for Thailand. At this time, much of Malaysia and Thailand were shrouded in smoke from the fires in Borneo and Sumatra. Therefore we were not surprised when our flight from Penang was cancelled, and we had to get on the ferry back to Langkawi. After which, we did a final shop and set sail to Satun in Thailand, where we would haul Thorfinn out to anti-foul her and paint her hull.
Between the barbecuing, eating and fishing, we worked tirelessly on Thorfinn. The newly painted hull looks beautiful, and we really like the new lighter colour of our interior upholstery. We had some problems with the interior varnishing, and a lot will need to be redone.
Another time worth mentioning is Dwayne’s delicious goat roast. Jia, the PSS manager, helped Dwayne to procure a whole goat. Then Dwayne set about making the BBQ into a tiered cooking station from where he cooked the goat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffed squid and roast carrots. I cooked up a big pot of gravy and corn on the cob. The meal was a success! So yummy!
We had a deadline to meet, and we were back in the water with barely enough time to prepare, organise the boat and pack for our trip to Adelaide. On our way back to Adelaide, we had a two-night stop-over to visit friends in Kuala Lumpur. We had an early Christmas dinner with the Vonic family (suckling pig) before we started our Adelaide-bound journey with an hour-long taxi ride to the airport.
After flying throughout the night – with one stop-over – we arrived in Adelaide at 0900. Dwayne was promptly whisked away to get fitted for a suit…. he was to be best man at his mate’s wedding that very same afternoon at 1600. It was a beautiful wedding, and we surprised ourselves by being able to party until 0100… then we kicked everyone out of our hotel room and slept the sleep of the dead.
The six weeks in Adelaide were soon over, and we began our journey back to Langkawi and Thorfinn. Our first stop was Phuket, where we stayed for three nights to “unwind” before flying to Penang, where we stayed another three nights to get our Thai two-month visa. A ferry back to Langkawi, and we were both excited to see Thorfinn safe and sound.
We caught up with some kiwis, Chris & Lesley, who we had met in Vietnam and invited them for a trip from Langkawi to Phuket. They jumped at the chance, and once we cleared out of Langkawi, we headed off to Koh Lipe. The weather and water conditions were beautiful. We went snorkelling at Koh Lipe, Koh Adang, Koh Talang and Koh Yang. It was, once again, just beautiful.
From there we went to Koh Rok (a favourite of mine). The water was crystal clear. After snorkelling all morning, we had a barbecue on the beach and lazed in our hammocks reading. A stop at Koh Muk followed, and we swam/paddled through the cave and into Emerald Cove to look at the hong. It was beautiful. The water was low, so there was no lake at that time but still very nice.
On our sail to Koh Lanta, we stopped along the way for another snorkel and explored some large caves. On Koh Lanta, we visited Old Town and enjoyed lunch at a clifftop restaurant.
On to Koh Phi Phi Don. We anchored the boat and went snorkelling. We found a couple of huge caves to explore while snorkelling before chilling out on the island.
Finally, we arrived and checked in to Ao Chalong, Phuket… and this is where we are now. So that is it! I am up to date!
P.S. For Bones… we have had some great sailing of late. In this north-east monsoon season, we have had a couple of excellent downwind sails, goose-winging and averaging seven knots. For the last couple of days, it has been on the nose. Tomorrow we head to the Similan Islands, and we should have a fresh 20knots behind us. (Change of plans … going up the coast to Ban Thap Lamu.)
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