Koh Rawi, Thailand
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Tue 7 Dec 2010 03:39
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06:32.463N 99:11.018E
Tuesday 7th December
Once we'd re-fueled and checked out we
eventually left Langkawi yacht club with Sol Maria around midday. We were
on our way out of Malaysia and into Thailand, even though we've only travelled
30 miles to the Butang Island Group where the scenery is remarkably similar. As
usual we navigated our way through fishing boats, nets and traps. We even
diverted around what we thought was a floating island but when we spotted 6 of
them we decided they were strange fish traps. We had planned on anchoring
at Koh Lipe the inhabited island of the group but the weather conditions
wouldn't allow, the anchorage wasn't protected from the winds. So instead we
carried on another 6 miles to Koh Rawi where we came across Miss Tippy and Blue
Magic. We then spent the evening aboard Miss Tippy, all 4 kids and 10
adults.
 Strange fish trap?
The following morning we all upped anchor
and made our way 3 miles south to Koh Sawang (06:30.071N 099:11.018E), a tiny
island furthest south of Koh Butang, to do a dive. After a lot of jigging around
trying to find a spot shallow enough to anchor we set off in the dinghy's with
Jack and Freddie as dinghy watchmen. It was an interesting dive with lots to
see, even though the visibility wasn't the best. Possibly the best aspect was
the surge, the sea was pushing us towards the rocks and pulling us back out
again, it was a funny motion that we all enjoyed.
  There were lots of these huge
coral urns, they're quite fascinating structures
  There was what we think
was a stone fish lurking inside one....................Hundreds of
sea-urchins littered the floor and other nooks and crannies
  A lion fish floated backwards
and forwards in the surge
  More urns........A huge fish
(it's name escapes me)
  There were dozens of anemones,
some closed up like the one on the left and others like the one on the
right
  A huge jelly fish
probably half a metre in diameter, maybe more, Amy tried to get one of the
Tippy's to go alongside it so you could see the proportion but funnily enough
no-one obliged
Once we'd all finished diving and
Brian and Amy returned from a dive with the kids who are now qualified
divers, we upped anchor and moved back to anchor off the south of Koh Rawi as it
is a very pretty anchorage. The 3 mile journey proved to be rather
interesting though and we had a family bonding session, it involved unblocking
the toilet! We tried to blame Jack as the drains in Harborne blocked before he
came away so we decided he was the common denominator but we've since decided
that it's a calcium build up problem as when Paul squeezed the pipe it was solid
and he felt something crack. Anyway after an hour drifting the problem was
solved, due to Paul blasting compressed air up the outlet pipe. Oh the joys of
sailing!
Our evening was then spent aboard
Blue Magic who had volunteered to feed the five thousand with a tuna thai green
curry. There seemed to be lots of fishing boats around us this evening, all
unloading their catch from one boat to another to another, in fact we're not
sure what was going on. Anyway, Brian had some local currency on board, so he
and Amy set off to try and do a deal with the fishermen. They went armed with
300 Bhat, which is around £6, and a £4 bottle of rum and they returned with
one large red snapper, a lobster and 300 Bhat but minus the rum. The men were
originally paid the 300 bhat, then brian offered the rum and they insisted
that they have the money back. I'd say that's a good deal! The
fishermen didn't speak a word of English and of course Brian and Amy didn't
speak a word of Thai but somehow they managed to do this deal. They also deduced
that Brian could have returned with more lobster if he'd have traded
Amy.
  The goods!..............The
boats rafted up, it's a bit difficult to see with all their lights
on
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