Back in Thailand

We left Tioman and returned to Pattaya in Thailand to take part in the final race of the Simpson marine series. We had unfinished business as El Coyote (the boat we have been racing on) was joint second in the series. Either through skilled sailing and new sails or through manipulation of results, we are delighted to report that El Coyote finished second overall. Terrific prize giving with as usual swanky food and too much alcohol in lovely surroundings. We are very lucky, sailing on a fabulous boat with great people, in a fabulous part of the world. We have to keep pinching ourselves.
Since the racing finished, we have done some cruising and larking around, including Skipper Gary drinking Garry under the table one night.
Pictures below of some of our recent experiences.


This was a beautiful, brand new catamaran being launched on the beach as it was too big to launch in the marina. Quite a complicated job with a digger a bulldozer and a tractor building a temporary roadway. The boat was left on the beach for the tide to come in and float it away.
Later the same day, this is the boat now in the marina. We were invited aboard for drinks and snacks and a look round. There was everything you could think of, fridge, freezer, underwater lights and remote controls for everything. Rather nice! (the owner is married though).

This is a monk blessing someone's new pick up truck outside our local pub. You can also see in the foreground a typical Thai family outing - four up on a motorbike, including 2 children! In view of this Thai culture, Garry has been honing his motorbike skills and is now able to ride with one passenger, 2 bags of laundry, a slab of beer and a box of wine. Still not as good as the locals though.

We don't think this bus was blessed. Can you spot the parking error?

This is a brand new Jeanneau built by our friend, Gary Baguley. It comes in a kit form that you have to put together (like Ikea furniture). It took them two weeks and looks great and goes fast.

We did a spot of sightseeing and visited the Sanctuary of Truth, a completely wooden Temple with lots of carvings.

The dolphins at the Temple have just had a baby, so you may just be able to spot the tiny fin in the background - just three weeks old.

Some sailing races are harder than others! This was the final race which was a very nice cruise up and down the beach.

This day was proper cruising, we went out to a deserted island for lunch. A couple of guys from another boat swam over to see us and partake of lunch and a few beers and as you can see a fun day was had by all.
Garry inspired by the Olympic diving.
Tony - going in backwards (although he had to do it a few times until he was in the photo).

See the yacht they swam from in the background.

Have fun

Bye for now

Sailing on the high seas - Phuket to Tioman

Sorry the Words and Pictures are all over the place this time. I think we've had too much beer. Words and Pictures hmm good name for a marketing company, perhaps? (In Joke for Arco readers).

We're sending this update from the most incredible island paradise. We're in Tioman a small island off the coast of Malaysia. This is apparently one of the ten most beautiful islands in the world. The film "South Pacific" was filmed here even though it's not in the South Pacific, it's actually in the South China seas! The story of how we got here is as follows;

We met Captain Jim at the Phuket Regatta and he was looking for crew to sail on his 42ft yacht from Phuket to Tioman. Remington is a beautiful Italian built sloop and we have travelled approximately 700 miles on her, sailing via Singapore.

We spotted this monkey eating an icecream on Tioman island. Not sure if he stole it or queued like the rest of us. He seemed to prefer the cone to the icecream.

This is the M25 or Singapore Straits. Traffic is very busy and rather imposing when only 50 feet away. Captain Jim is at the helm.
This is Garry with his injury. Slipped on deck and grazed his knee. Alison offered to stitch it but the offer was refused!
This was the entertainment at Sebana Cove. Surprisingly the bar was empty! This may have been to do with their singing abilities.
Singapore Slings in Raffles.
Arrival at Tioman Island. Truly an island paradise.

Garry at the helm during a rainstorm, Alison and Jim giving instructions from down below.
Was this a friendly Malaysian fishing boat or a pirate in disguise, one of two boats circling us when we ran out of fuel.
The beautiful yacht Remington.
Raffles Lighthouse as we sailed past.

A view of the bridge at Langkawi. You reach this by cable car and there are lovely views over the island.
Jim and Garry having a well deserved sun downer on Remington
Garry, the galley slave preparing an evening meal.
Sunset as we set sail out of Lomut, Malaysia.
Alison watching the compass bearings whilst helming.

Description of how the journey went below.

Leg One - Phuket to Langkawi.

Motor Sailed due to wind in the wrong direction. Cooked spicy fish Gumbo with some great Tuna that Jim had in the fridge.

Langkawi.

Spent most of the day doing admin whilst moored in a beautiful marina. In the afternoon, we Leg One -Phuket to Langkawi took a little trip up a cable car for the views over the island. Ate chicken fajitas on board.

Leg Two- Langkawi to Port Dickson

We left Langkawi and had to motorsail, as once again the winds were against us. The journey was estimated to take 40 hours, however there was a small problem with the engine. It decided too stop working just as we were about to refuel. For this reason, we changed course, direction Lomut and sailed, in great winds for 20 miles in the opposite direction. So some good does come from everything, no engine but beautiful sailing. Cooked mash potato and fried fish. The next

night we ate in an Italian restaurant and met a lovely waitress called Ambulance. That wasn't her real name!

Leg Three- Lomut to Port Dickson

With the engine fixed, we set off in the evening, to motor sail through the night and the next day into Port Dickson. At dawn, we had some unusual weather (see photo) and a surprise at around lunchtime when we ran out of fuel. We think the new fuel pump was causing the boat to burn more fuel than normal. The interesting part of this is the two Malaysian fishing vessels, circling us like vultures in the water when we were not able to move. Alison thought they might be pirates, Garry and Jim thought they may want to tow us ashore. We made it into Port Dickson in time to watch the grand Prix. The only problem we had was that Garry had run out of cigars.

Leg Four- Port Dickson to Water Islands

Motor sailed to the Water Islands and anchored overnight in fairly choppy conditions. Garry still hadn't bought any more cigars. Cooked Tuna and rice with a Greek side salad.

Leg Five - Water Islands to Bisang

Motor sailed to Bisang and anchored for a more peaceful night. Ran out of beer and still no cigars so we retired to watch a video on the 'puter. Captain Jim did us proud with some home made pop corn.

Leg Six - Bisang to Sebana Cove

Motor sailed through the busy Singapore Straits and past the Raffles lighthouse. The M25 equivalent on the ocean! This time enough wind in the right direction to put the sails up and sail into Sebana Cove. Garry slipped on deck and cut his knee (see photo).

Singapore

Popped over to Singapore where we went to Little India for a fabulous curry breakfast (Dal and Roti) then over to Raffles Hotel (as you do) for a Singapore Sling (see photo).

Leg Seven - Sebana Cove to Tioman

Left late in order to benefit from favourable tides. Sailed dead downwind, with around fifteen knots of wind, so we were flying, regularly hitting 9 knots of boat speed. Arrived in Tioman at 4 a.m. and now enjoying the scenic countryside and a few cigars. On the way cooked a very simple Pasta and Pesto with no side salad!

Phuket Regatta

We made our way from Kanchanaburi to Phuket by overnight bus, (not a lot of fun unless you like feeling trussed up like a turkey and watching good US movies in very loud German). We found great accommodation in Rawaii Beach, close to the Regatta HQ called "Come In" . Some of the contents of our room were better suited to a scene from Max and Paddy (bouncy castle!). Quite coincidentally, on the night before the first race, we met a fellow competitor in the Come In bar. He was sailing a pink (yes really), 21ft boat called Oo La La. He had an all Thai crew that had never sailed until a couple of days prior to the first race. He and his team were the most energetic and enthusiastic guys you could ever meet. Really up for it! With a combined weight of about 200kgs between the five of them on board!
We arrived a couple of days early, so toured round for a day and spent a day practising on a brand new, 52 ft Catamaran called Mahayana. She was a beautiful boat with a great English owner/skipper called Josh. Unfortunately for us we were not part of the team that sailed with them through the rest of the regatta. This was just as well as they broke the bow sprit (or the pointy bit) on the first day and had to pull out of the racing. Our first day racing, we were to join a french skipper on a 48 ft catamaran called Chameray. The weather was lousy and so the skipper decided he wasn't racing. Cheese eating surrender monkeys heh?
So for the first day of racing, we joined yet another catamaran called Chameleon. More news of the racing and party below!
Pink is obviously "de riguer"in Phuket!
This is Chameleon. We sailed on her the first day and scored our first ever race win in ocean multi hull class. This was a hot crew, a hot boat and a great tactician! We spent the next few days trying to beat them and boy, did we come close!
This the boat we sailed on during days 2,3 and 4 - Out of the Bag.
As two boats in the class had pulled out (not due to us!), we were "match racing" Chameleon. The crew was composed of 4 ossies, one Brazilian (nick named wax) and us two pommies. From the book of excuses, on the first day we were on Out of the Bag , the crew broke a headsail and a spinnaker, so had to finish the course with only the mainsail. Up until this point we were neck and neck, with a record speed for us of 18.7 knots! Overnight, the sails were repaired and we started with a full set of sails on a very windy day. From the book of excuses, we had some issues with the steering, but still managed to hit another new record of 20 knots. What a wild ride - nothing at Alton Towers can compare! Big, seas, big winds and dodgy steering, life doesn't get much better! However, we finished second again. Overnight, the steering was repaired and we went into the final day of the regatta confidant of getting a win. We actually lost by one second in a race that took two hours to complete! Disappointing, but we'll be back for another go.

This is Oo La La - the pink, all Thai crew boat. There was a lot of support for this popular crew.
We looked for a picture of our crew at work, but only found one! Here they are, repairing the steering. Typically blokes, they used a hammer and drill!
The entertainment was absolutely top notch - fabulous food of all types and generous sponsors of wine, beer and whisky. However, it was really hard trying to fit in racing and parties as this guy shows.
At two of the parties, there was the top Thai girl band, Unicorn singing for us. They did a cracking job of getting us all up dancing. (see later)

Team shot - the skipper of Out of the Bag, Bill, in the middle being supported by his crew, Terry and Garry. Terry is an ex rugby league player and taught Garry to wind the winches properly, not like a union player! We are missing one of our crew here, Rob had gone walk about.
Terry again with Bruno, the Brazilian, better known as wax.
This is John, another of the ossies with his pommie wife (she was a great girl). No spring chicken but he could shin up the mast, without a boasons chair in seconds and did so on several occasions.
Here are Tia and Pon, skipper and crew from Oo La La. We wished they had won something but we think we will see them around again.
This is Lesley, one of the orgainisers, who helped to make the regatta a big success and us with our winning tee shirts from the first day of the regatta when we sailed on Chameleon.

We have since left Phuket on an Italian built boat. Currently, we are in Langkawi, on our way to Tioman. Who knows what we will do next?

Best wishes to you all.

Super Furry Animals

You won't believe this as we've done it and still cannot believe it!
On our way to Phuket, we stopped off at Kanchanaburi. This is most famous for the Bridge over the River Kwai, Death Railway, waterfalls and caves. However, we were attracted by stories we'd heard from other travellers of something far more exciting. The Super Furry Animals (does anyone remember that band?) were playing at the Tiger temple!
This is in fact a Temple run by Buddhist monks, who in 1999 first adopted an orphaned tiger cub whose mother had been killed by poachers on the Burmese/Thai border. This led to more tigers and other animals being donated to the monks for them to look after. We had heard that it was possible to go with regular tourists to see the tigers, stroke them and have your photograph with a tigers head on your lap. However, it is also possible to "volunteer" for an early morning session with the tigers to feed them and tire them out ready for the tourists in the afternoon.
We arrived early for the afternoon session and were fortunate enough to get time with the tigers without the usual crowds. We played with 7 week old tiger cubs, walked the adolescents and stroked very carefully the rather large and ferocious adults (weighing over 300 pounds). Later in the afternoon, the tigers are walked down to a canyon where you can have your photograph taken stroking them or with their head on your knee. This was a fantastic afternoon and we would strongly recommend this to any animal lovers. It really is a fabulous experience.
Having volunteered (but you do have to pay) for the active morning session, we arrived at the Temple at 7am with only seven other volunteers. We were asked to bring a fruit donation as part of the morning ritual was taking breakfast with the monks in the Temple. The Abbott and the monks would walk along the line of volunteers taking the food gifts. The Abbott was particularly fond of strawberries and cherries. The Temple breakfast for us was a new experience not being Buddhists. We then followed the monks into the Temple where we found four adolescent tigers and four cubs. The volunteers sat in a circle and were given the four cubs to play with. We each also had an opportunity to bottle feed the adolescents. All in all, we had about an hour playing with the cubs whilst being being blessed by the monks over breakfast. It's not every day you have a breakfast like that!
After this, we walked the adolescents and the cubs back to their pens. The cubs were put away and we walked the adolescents down to the canyon for "play" time! One rule is never to walk in front of a tiger, as they will see you as a toy and "play" with you! In the rush to get to the canyon, Garry got in front of a loose tiger and was duly mauled, however no damage was done! The tigers then playfight for about an hour with each other in the canyon pool. You wouldn't believe how much they love playing in the water! Our role was to form a human barrier across the edge of the pool to stop them running off. This is part of their training. The photographs don't entirely capture what a brilliant experience it was.
We then walked these kids back and this time Alison got mauled, but no damage done. A quick wash and brush down of the tigers and then we got the big boys out!
They are huge!
The same routine, walk them down on leads to the canyon for playtime! Trust us, no-one got in front of these guys! Again, the photos do not do justice to how exciting it was. At the end of this playtime, the really big tiger found his toy (half a basketball) and just like all kids, he didn't want playtime to finish! He wouldn't give up his toy and in fact hid round the back of the rocks with it and then he wouldn't come out of the water. You should have heard him roar. He was only playing, so the handlers said! Eventually, they got him out of the water and got his toy off him. They had to run after him to catch him and there was a bit of a banging of handlers heads. One of the other volunteers grabbed hold of Alison when he let off another roar.
When he was finally out of the water, they put his lead on and he was as good as gold.


This tiger wanted his tummy tickling.
He really did want his tummy tickling.
In the end he got his own way.

This is the big fella that wouldn't come out of the water. More about him later.
Same big fella, enjoying some tlc.
Just to show Garry wasn't scared of him.
Go on - stroke me.
That's better.

I like being stroked in the afternoon, when I'm tired and my tummy's full.
This is during breakfast in the Temple.
Look at the expression on that face.
Seven week old cub for breakfast.
These are not teddy bears - real live tiger cubs sleeping during prayers.

This is the tiger Garry fed. Not sure what was in the food but it went a bit wappy during prayers.
How cute is this? See the blue eyes?
When you train a tiger to walk on a lead, you have to pull its tail to keep it walking on the right track. Can you see that Garry has it by the tail!
A better behaved tiger, doesn't need its tail pulling.
Two adolescents playfighting.

Adolescents playing "tig" in the canyon pool. They absolutely loved it, playing non stop all the time. Stalking each other, chasing each other and fighting each other.
They like playing ball. The one at the front is pulling tongues.
Tiger on tiger action.
What a left hook by the tiger on its back.
Another strong left hook. Seems to be that when your opponents got you down, the answer is to hook them.

They were amazingly not afraid of getting very very wet.
He forgot to left hook his opponent and found himself under water.
Have you seen the size of those paws?
This is the big fella when he wouldn't give up his toy. What about that for a sulk?
Sometimes, they would dive off these rocks into the water, on top of one another. We never quite managed to get the shot though.

Oh, and by the way, we did go to the Bridge and it looks like this.

Now we are off to take part in the Phuket regatta 24th - 27th July.

Pleased to hear that Hamilton had another win.