Koh Racha
05 December 2014 | Koh Racha, Thailand
We left Phuket on Wednesday for a few days cruising around tropical Koh Racha Yai and Koh Racha Noi which are located approx 12Nm due south. Here we'll spend a few days at anchor enjoying the Andaman Sea diving before we head for Satun and the PSS shipyard for the haul-out. There are a few resorts and restaurants here so it attracts the tourist snorkelers and divers with the varied water taxis. Just before we left Phuket we had delivered our new dingy (Dragonfly) covers and awning - to give us a first layer of sun protection.
A number of months back I raised a question in Cruiser Forum about injuries aboard yachts and what yachties do to mitigate risks. Well after an informative discussion there were lots of good ideas such as risk assessments, how to kit out your 1st aid box, safety walk-arounds and table talk discussions, etc. Well I'm feeling a bit of a hypocrite these days, as a week ago, while rushing around the boat, I stubbed my baby toe and fractured it (ouch). This could have been completely avoidable if I simply slowed down - there never is a need to rush around - right? These days I tend to it dearly, protect it as I would a child and am paranoid that someone will step on it! But its healing well.
On another medical issue and advise from my good sista, I had acupuncture for my right arm tennis elbow over this last week here in Phuket and that has definitely shown some positive results. I could only attend 3 of the recommended 5 sessions but if it acts up I will return to the Alternative Medicine Clinic upon our return to Phuket.
Back to Koh Racha...the water is the best we've seen here in South East Asia so far and its topped off with stunning sunsets to the west as we enjoy our evening sundowners. 30-40m visibility and a more varied marine life adds to the experience. Today's dives yielded young barracuda's, scorpion fish, lion fish, puffers. And my first working dive in 20 years....to clear my anchor chain that wrapped around a coral head - which was home to a lovely scorpion fish so it was done carefully.
I continue on the Indian Ocean crossing preps and will blog this shortly.