Out of the marina
08 April 2014 | Ko Phetra
Bill
We dropped the lines and headed out of the Telaga Marina this morning about 0845. Today we finally get to move our clocks backwards by an hour. We have been at UTC+8 for what seems like months. The Sun doesn't come up till about 0730 and never sets before 1925, so while it is nice and light late, the mornings are a bit hard to get going when the Sun comes up so late. Once we crossed into Thailand, I started resetting all the clocks. We headed north along the coast dodging different types of fishing boats all along the way. Add in a ton of flags to mark either nets or just dropped fishing traps and we were all over the place again.
It's amazing the difference in the look of the islands from Malaysia to Thailand. Here in Thailand, they are jutting chunks of rock shooting up over 1,000 feet from the water yet to anchor, it may only be 8-10 feet deep right off shore. We are sitting in just 12 feet of water right now and we have a very tall island right off our west side blocking the Sun. What a difference just a few miles makes in topography. We saw several sailboats all heading south for Malaysia since we are going against the seasons(our normal)and many of the boats are leaving. All the Sunsail charter boats have already left to the east coast of Malaysia. Even with it being off season, we expect to still find the area quite busy with tourists. Once we get into Phuket, we will join their ranks. Lots to see and do and of course eat. This island, Ko Phetra is made up of limestone and it covered in sea caves and vines and trees with a white sand beach just off the bow. Not a palm tree in sight. They seem to have vanished over the last 200 miles or so. Now just dense vegetation. White Swiftlets are darting along the water searching for food. People come to the island to collect their nests for making "Bird Nest Soup". Many places have either outlawed the taking of the nests or put regulations on when they can be taken. It's not on our menu so the birds are safe with us off shore. As we made our way north along the coast, the air was full of a haze from all the fires that are burning on shore making it hard to take nice clear pictures. Now that we have left Malaysia, the air has gotten much clearer.
Tomorrow, we will be launching Puff(our dinghy) and do a bit of exploring before we set off for Ko Muk, about 25 miles farther north. We haven't checked in yet so we must keep moving as we don't want to upset the authorities by taking to long to get from Langkawi to Phuket. A week they will tolerate, but if you take two, they get a bit upset, knowing full well that you stopped along the way to enjoy the beauty of their islands.