23 November Ao Talo Udang, Koh Taratau, Thailand
Rex1
Mon 2 Dec 2013 04:14
After arriving back at the marina we spent the next few days stocking up on food and wine for Thailand (remember Langkawi is a duty free island!) and preparing the boat. We checked out of Malaysia on Thursday afternoon (after seeing the Harbour Master, Customs and Immigration – by far the easiest country we have encountered since leaving Australia). You are supposed to leave the country right away or at least within 24 hours, however we decided to wait until Saturday because there were strong winds predicted for Phuket. On Saturday morning we got up ready to leave the marina at daylight due to the tide, but were delayed because of a massive thunderstorm. We left Rebak Marina at 8.30am with the intention of heading to Ko Lipe in the Butang Islands in Thailand. As soon as we left the confines of the marina we were hit with 20knots from the west – this was not predicted and of course we were heading west. We changed course and decided to head north back to Datai Bay to escape the swell and uncomfortable seas. After 2 hours we arrived and sheltered in the bay, along with 3 other fishing boats – we were all wrecked – it felt like we had done 14 hours in rough conditions! The anchorage was becoming exposed to the north/north west and was becoming too rolly with more storms, so we decided to travel 5 miles to the southern tip of Taratao (Thailand) for a protected anchorage. On approach we thought that there were too many rocks, but on closer inspection they were all local Thai fishing boats escaping the rough weather, wind and swell – so we joined them and had a comfortable night with only 1 big storm. Welcome to Thailand!