We are back in the Talaga Marina on the main island of Langkawi, Malaysia. We have spent the last three months cruising southern Thailand. We visited the Thai islands south of Phuket, working our way up into Phang Nga Bay. There we stopped off in the Krabi area before rounding the bottom of Phuket Island and enjoying the west coast and getting out to the amazing Similan Islands. The Similan Islands have the clearest water in South East Asia. The children swam with turtles in amongst coral and tropical fish.

My niece Rebecca's friend Rachel was in Thailand with her friend Russ. They were considering working as dive masters but the political situation and economy have ruined the 2008/2009 tourist season here. The numbers to date have been cut in half from last year.

Rachel & Russ decided to hitch a ride from Thailand to Langkawi, Malaysia. We showed them as much as possible of the southern islands. We took three weeks traveling from Phuket to Langkawi. In that time Rachel and Russ taught Emma, Phoebe & Drake how to scuba dive. Emma's un-schooling approach seems to be working. The children both studied and passed. Drake is too young to actually apply for his diver card but both Phoebe & Emma have theirs. Drake had a great time doing "fun dives" with Russ.

We spent Christmas having a beach BBQ on the island of Koh Kraden with several other crusing kid boats. For New Years we went to the busy island of Koh Lipe. It's just 24 miles from Langkawi but the water is 3rd in clarity after the similans. Fireworks, Glowing Sky Lanterns, Fire twirling and music til dawn! January 1st was a very quiet day as the island emptied out and it was just Blue Sky and the locals.

More later...