Thailand.
What's a girl to say? It was absolutely wonderful. Everything I was hoping for. Relaxation, adventure, and fun. We are actually in the Dubai airport waiting for out last leg to head home. What a trip!
We spent one day on my cousin and her husbands 61 foot sail boat. Maybe you remember them from our trip to Italy where we stayed a few days in the town they were living. Well now they are sailing their new house (sailboat) from Cape Town, South Africa to Singapore. They happened to be in Phuket the same time we were and gave us a wonderful day out on their gorgeous boat. (Pics to come later)
( a Catholic nun and priest just walked by me -in Dubai! Go diversity!)
Have you ever been to the Lock's in Seattle? Since I was a little girl we have been going there on beautiful sunny summer days. You know those amazing sail boats that pass through? And you look at them like, 'where are they going....It must be magical where ever it is'. And you imagine what fun it would to be on the boat, and what it would be like being ON the boat, not just looking AT the boat. Well. That's what this boat is like. She. Is. Gorgeous.
Once we got everyone on, via tiny motorized dingy, we had a safety talk from the Captain. Fede. I'll admit that five young kids on a sail boat was quite brave for me. Don't worry - I hauled life jackets for the three youngest half way around the world; doing my mom proud one precaution at a time. The day was perfect and the islands dreamy. They had two crew members on board who were also great. They, and my cousin in law, are scientists doing very specific oceanic research.
We settled into a little inlet of an island about an hour and half from Phuket. It was pretty choppy - and you know what choppy means don't you? Yep. Seasick. Roo did throw up, which wasn't a total disaster. Ramen noodles isn't the worst thing to clean up. Although I think it freaked R and F out. No kids and barf is not a good combo. Peter also got quite green and had to breathe deep.
It turns out that southern Thailand has two wonderful reefs for diving. They are on opposite sides of the island and they are only open for six months at a time, for conservation purposes. Well, the reef nearest to us opened on one day that we could go. (you have to wait a certain amount of time after diving, before you can fly) AND, the reef was a three hour boat ride just to get to it. So we opted to not separate the family for an entire day, and just enjoy what we did see. I don't think anyone was too disappointed. While in the bay, we snorkeled a bit and hag a great time swimming around the boat. The fish were so attracted to it - weird. They also had a cool diving rig that you just attach to you, like a big long hose. So Sam got to goof around with that for a while, but that was about it. The water was pretty choppy and we had a squall hit us, which shortened the swimming. Still super fun and even Gid got in and looked at the fish with me.
Both Sam and Si got to steer the boat. That was really fun and they loved it. You should have seen their faces. On our way back to port, Fede and I saw a huge manta ray breach and jump out of the water. It was deep water and totally weird/cool. Neither he or I have ever seen such a thing. We had a gorgeous sunset in an amazingly tropical place. Above Phuket sits a GIANT statue of Buddha. (properly called Big Buddha) His silhouette in the sunset was right out of a movie. Super cool. Thailand really is fantastic.
Over all I will say that living on a sail boat sounds kind of romantic. Doesn't it? (Romancing the stone, anyone?). But I would say its not for everyone. It's a TON of work and oddly, I felt quite claustrophobic. There was NO rest for the crew at all. You have to be totally ON all the time. But I could see how you could learn to love it. We had a wonderful time. Thanks again to Rach and Fede!
P.S. Where are we going next year?! :)
What's a girl to say? It was absolutely wonderful. Everything I was hoping for. Relaxation, adventure, and fun. We are actually in the Dubai airport waiting for out last leg to head home. What a trip!
We spent one day on my cousin and her husbands 61 foot sail boat. Maybe you remember them from our trip to Italy where we stayed a few days in the town they were living. Well now they are sailing their new house (sailboat) from Cape Town, South Africa to Singapore. They happened to be in Phuket the same time we were and gave us a wonderful day out on their gorgeous boat. (Pics to come later)
( a Catholic nun and priest just walked by me -in Dubai! Go diversity!)
Have you ever been to the Lock's in Seattle? Since I was a little girl we have been going there on beautiful sunny summer days. You know those amazing sail boats that pass through? And you look at them like, 'where are they going....It must be magical where ever it is'. And you imagine what fun it would to be on the boat, and what it would be like being ON the boat, not just looking AT the boat. Well. That's what this boat is like. She. Is. Gorgeous.
Once we got everyone on, via tiny motorized dingy, we had a safety talk from the Captain. Fede. I'll admit that five young kids on a sail boat was quite brave for me. Don't worry - I hauled life jackets for the three youngest half way around the world; doing my mom proud one precaution at a time. The day was perfect and the islands dreamy. They had two crew members on board who were also great. They, and my cousin in law, are scientists doing very specific oceanic research.
We settled into a little inlet of an island about an hour and half from Phuket. It was pretty choppy - and you know what choppy means don't you? Yep. Seasick. Roo did throw up, which wasn't a total disaster. Ramen noodles isn't the worst thing to clean up. Although I think it freaked R and F out. No kids and barf is not a good combo. Peter also got quite green and had to breathe deep.
It turns out that southern Thailand has two wonderful reefs for diving. They are on opposite sides of the island and they are only open for six months at a time, for conservation purposes. Well, the reef nearest to us opened on one day that we could go. (you have to wait a certain amount of time after diving, before you can fly) AND, the reef was a three hour boat ride just to get to it. So we opted to not separate the family for an entire day, and just enjoy what we did see. I don't think anyone was too disappointed. While in the bay, we snorkeled a bit and hag a great time swimming around the boat. The fish were so attracted to it - weird. They also had a cool diving rig that you just attach to you, like a big long hose. So Sam got to goof around with that for a while, but that was about it. The water was pretty choppy and we had a squall hit us, which shortened the swimming. Still super fun and even Gid got in and looked at the fish with me.
Both Sam and Si got to steer the boat. That was really fun and they loved it. You should have seen their faces. On our way back to port, Fede and I saw a huge manta ray breach and jump out of the water. It was deep water and totally weird/cool. Neither he or I have ever seen such a thing. We had a gorgeous sunset in an amazingly tropical place. Above Phuket sits a GIANT statue of Buddha. (properly called Big Buddha) His silhouette in the sunset was right out of a movie. Super cool. Thailand really is fantastic.
Over all I will say that living on a sail boat sounds kind of romantic. Doesn't it? (Romancing the stone, anyone?). But I would say its not for everyone. It's a TON of work and oddly, I felt quite claustrophobic. There was NO rest for the crew at all. You have to be totally ON all the time. But I could see how you could learn to love it. We had a wonderful time. Thanks again to Rach and Fede!
P.S. Where are we going next year?! :)
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