Dear Family and Friends,
Here is the update for the new year....can't believe it's April already.....
Finally after four years we pulled the spinnaker out of the bag to see how big it is..... Ken has made some adjustments to get it to fly well.
We left Thailand in January and sailed in company with 3 boats to the Andaman Islands, it's about 360 nautical miles off the coast, the forecast was 15 knots which was a good wind strength for us but unfortunately the swell was all over the place and I was very sea sick for two days, lucky Ken doesn't get sick, the trip took us 3 days and 2 nights, I was very happy to be there finally.
A local character at the markets
They still use the old scales to weight fruit and vegetables
The British occupied the Andamans around 1900 using the islands as a base for ships in the area, also sending prisoners there from India and building the circular jail, after the Second World War England gave the islands to India.
One of the many deserted beaches we walked on every afternoon
We both enjoyed the Andaman Islands....Ken for the fishing, he caught 41 for the trip...so he was very happy. I loved the culture, it's very different from ours, the people are incredibly friendly and that makes a huge difference to the trip when visiting another country. Here's a few highlights...
The not so good bits.....there is plenty of rubbish every where, holes and cow shit where you walk either on the road or footpath, not many toilets, plenty of buildings in need of repair. Very poor phone reception and no wifi.
On Long Island is a village of 1500 people and we stopped there with Jepeda and Screensaver, it was also Australia Day and Indian National Day so the celebrations were happening on the village oval, all sorts of races and games of tug a war, football and volleyball were played, Erica and I joined in one game with the women....the oval was also popular with the donkeys cows goats dogs and chooks grazing on the grass, we had lunch and chai tea watching the games.....very friendly people and a fairly clean village we all enjoyed the day on Long Island.
The village on Long Island very happy people but very poor
As we continued north with Screensaver we planned to stop at a place called Rangat Bay, we didn't know if there was anything there but it turned out to be a small village and we heard music coming from the temple so we walked that way to see what was going on, then a man grabbed Kens arm and led us in, we first had to wash our feet and hands then he showed us how to pray to the gods....about 6 of them, we entered a concrete shed where five lines of men women and children where sitting on the floor eating lunch....the plate was a banana leaf, first you get a scoop of rice and then they come around with a big pot and dish out different curry and dahl, it was delicious and we ate with our hand....... The kids were polite and they all wanted their photos taken, everyone was very friendly it was an incredible experience we really enjoyed it.
Eating lunch with the local people at Rangat Bay
The food was good but no better than I have had in Penang...I was a bit disappointed. Because the islands are so far away from everywhere most of the food supply's are shipped in and also not many tourists go there so they don't cater for westerners.....so no coffee or chocolate etc.
The islands we saw were very much untouched by man, the local species of trees are very tall and underneath them and along the beach were pandanus, cycads, palms, we also saw orchids in the trees....most beaches had a lot of driftwood and shells....we saw crocodile and turtle tracks and elephant poop, but none of the animals....although we did see deer on a few of the islands and the kingfishers had the brightest blue wings and large red beaks.
Sent from my iPadhttp://sailingwatusi.blogspot.com.au/
The 2nd day in Port Blair....the main town and where we checked in and out of the country.... 5 of us decided to walk to the old jail which was one of the few tourist attractions in the town, it was about 4k .....on the way we stopped for coffee at a small stall, an old man also sold betal nut out the front, all the men chew it.....its crushed betal nut mixed with lime and tobacco and rolled up in a leaf. We talked to the tuk tuk drivers, met some lovely girls who put flowers in my hair, saw the fresh water dam with water Lily's and people doing their washing.....many lines of white washing drying in the sun. Found a small bar with air con and cricket on the tv and enjoyed cold beer and indian snacks for lunch....we finally got to the jail at 2pm did a tour.....it was built by the British in early 1900. It has been restored and looked after, not like most of the other buildings we saw in the town. We bought some coconuts to quench our thirst prepared expertly by a man with a machete.....its very popular over there with the locals. We were amused by all the cows and goats wandering around the town..and apparently they all find their way home in the afternoon and are kept inside the sheds not outdoors like we do. 
Washing day Andamans style
The people were so friendly almost all had a wave for us and the ones that wanted to talk could speak some English so they asked where we came from...then Ken would say something about the cricket.....well they loved it and so did Ken.
The women's sari were colourful and they wore flowers in their hair.....the school kids wore white uniforms and were neatly dressed....most men had a mustache and short back and sides and chew tobacco...I don't think we saw any smokers...all men spit and most wobble their head when they talk to you.
The people were so friendly almost all had a wave for us and the ones that wanted to talk could speak some English so they asked where we came from...then Ken would say something about the cricket.....well they loved it and so did Ken.
The women's sari were colourful and they wore flowers in their hair.....the school kids wore white uniforms and were neatly dressed....most men had a mustache and short back and sides and chew tobacco...I don't think we saw any smokers...all men spit and most wobble their head when they talk to you.
More washing...and it's so white
The not so good bits.....there is plenty of rubbish every where, holes and cow shit where you walk either on the road or footpath, not many toilets, plenty of buildings in need of repair. Very poor phone reception and no wifi.
On Long Island is a village of 1500 people and we stopped there with Jepeda and Screensaver, it was also Australia Day and Indian National Day so the celebrations were happening on the village oval, all sorts of races and games of tug a war, football and volleyball were played, Erica and I joined in one game with the women....the oval was also popular with the donkeys cows goats dogs and chooks grazing on the grass, we had lunch and chai tea watching the games.....very friendly people and a fairly clean village we all enjoyed the day on Long Island.
As we continued north with Screensaver we planned to stop at a place called Rangat Bay, we didn't know if there was anything there but it turned out to be a small village and we heard music coming from the temple so we walked that way to see what was going on, then a man grabbed Kens arm and led us in, we first had to wash our feet and hands then he showed us how to pray to the gods....about 6 of them, we entered a concrete shed where five lines of men women and children where sitting on the floor eating lunch....the plate was a banana leaf, first you get a scoop of rice and then they come around with a big pot and dish out different curry and dahl, it was delicious and we ate with our hand....... The kids were polite and they all wanted their photos taken, everyone was very friendly it was an incredible experience we really enjoyed it.
The food was good but no better than I have had in Penang...I was a bit disappointed. Because the islands are so far away from everywhere most of the food supply's are shipped in and also not many tourists go there so they don't cater for westerners.....so no coffee or chocolate etc.
The islands we saw were very much untouched by man, the local species of trees are very tall and underneath them and along the beach were pandanus, cycads, palms, we also saw orchids in the trees....most beaches had a lot of driftwood and shells....we saw crocodile and turtle tracks and elephant poop, but none of the animals....although we did see deer on a few of the islands and the kingfishers had the brightest blue wings and large red beaks.
The Andamans are very different to what we have seen in Malaysia and Thailand so I'm glad we went it was an amazing experience.
We had good weather for the sail back to the Thai islands of Ko Surin and Similans where we spent a week relaxing and swimming in the clearest water we have seen for ages.
My brother Phil and his wife Mel flew over to Phuket where we picked them up and took them sailing around the islands and down to Langkawi, we had perfect weather and we took them to our favorite places, we all had a great time.
We plan to cruise the east Malaysia coast then head across to Borneo with a rally of 30 boats in the next month, we are still enjoying our adventure and the boat is going well. Till next time take care x
Sent from my iPadhttp://sailingwatusi.blogspot.com.au/
