November was beaches and marinas and old sailing friends, a mix of the yachting, tourist, and expat life in Phuket.
THAILAND: PHUKET
LIFE. Calm anchorages.
…Beaches.
…Fruit.
…Parks.
…Carnival rides.
…Water parks.
…Mini-golf.
…Elephants.
MARINAS. We ran errands, cleaned, fixed bits and pieces, and swam.
BOAT KID. Dale has Willow in training for something. What exactly, I am unsure.
…But it seems to be working. These days she is helpful, occasionally.
TRAVEL. Dale flew to Kuala Lumpur for two nights. Home alone on Zinc, Willow and I ran amok; we visited Santa at Tesco Lotus…
…and decorated a Christmas tree (which we went on to re-decorate and re-decorate and re-decorate — is this normal?? I am new at this decorating-a-tree-with-a-kid thing).
STORM. Dale arrived home just in time for Phuket’s storm of the decade. It was a tropical depression that went on to form a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The conditions were hectic, but were forecast a week in advance, so we were prepared; we were tucked and tied nice and safe in a marina berth.
…Unfortunately, too many other boat owners missed / ignored / didn’t believe the forecast. Forty odd boats ended up on beaches and rocks around Phuket.
BOAT KID. Marinas are thrilling,…
…albeit unforgiving, scooting grounds. There was an incident involving the ramp below, where it was confirmed that mini-micro scooters don’t float. It went something like this: Willow raced down the ramp. Dale and I remained frozen (in shock?) at the top. Willow commando rolled on the cement. The scooter flew off the dock to the left and sank to the bottom. Free-diving extraordinaire, Dale Rowney, recovered it. Everyone laughed and laughed. Phew. Willow only cried when Dale rinsed her scooter in fresh water. We can’t work her out.
THAILAND: ISLANDS IN THE ANDAMAN SEA
LIFE. Blue skies.
…Grey skies and ‘horses’. (Willow pretends the fenders are her team of horses. NEIGH!)
…Dominoes. (Willow won her first game of anything. Dale and I even cheated. We couldn’t help it. We could see her pieces.)
…Hiking…
…with a backpack containing all the essentials…
…and a belly.
…The Beach, literally (i.e., as in the movie).
GENERAL
THE LITTLE CIRCLES OF LIFE. As we prepare to end this sailing adventure, we have found ourselves playing with our very first cruising buddies. Buddies whom we met at an anchorage on the Gold Coast, 15,000 nautical miles, five years, and five countries ago. It is a small world, especially on the sea.
Zinc sailing on MUSCAT 7 