Off to the Surin Islands for a few days - hoping for some nice snorkeling & diving

Arrived into Koh Phayam after a pleasant overnight sail & motor from Phuket. Glorious full moon. Will spend a few days here over Christmas with a few other boats we know. Merry Christmas!!

The wind changed more northerly last night and our anchorage became rolly and uncomfortable. So upon first light we up anchored and headed off. We had a favourable breeze with a good enough angle to make our way to Nai Harn Bay just SW of Phuket. It was nearly 60 miles and we were sailing along quite nicely until the main sail fell down. The webbing holding the top of the sail to the aluminium headboard gave way. Not impressed as we had just recently taken our sails in for a check.

Another great day of sailing finds us at Koh Rok Nok. We had a new auto pilot computer installed at Langkawi so have been kept busy figuring it out. Calibrating, adjusting etc. to stop it alarming and over correcting especially in following seas.

Park fees here are 400 baht per person & 100 baht for the boat - valid for five days. So we have decided to stop a day & enjoy the place. No use getting to Phuket too early as we will get charged extra if arriving on the weekend.

Checked out of Langkawi yesterday & today we find ourselves in Thailand at Koh Lipe. So nice to be in clean clear water again!! Had a glorious sail here & the weather forecast looks conducive to more good sailing for the next few days to get us up to Phuket to check in. Bridget joined us a few days ago in Langkawi and will accompany us to Phuket. Now to get ashore & find us a Thai restaurant.

Had a pleasant overnight sail to Langkawi. Plenty of lightening and dodged a few rain clouds along the way in spite of 'No Rain' in the forecast. Had hoped to spend a few days at anchor before checking into the marina to have a few electrical issues attended to. But discovered our anchor winch is good at letting out the anchor and chain but not happy bringing it back up again. So... here we are ... happy to be in the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Marina. Oh and another thing to fix - the autopilot.

We are anchor down about 20 miles S of Pangkor Marina and shall head in first thing in the morning. Had a good run up the Malacca Straight. Had some heavy rain and nasty winds last night during the Captain's watch but otherwise a good trip.

Had a nice run around Singapore yesterday with helpful currents and a pleasant S breeze. We overnighted at Pulau Pisang. Departed early this morning with a favourable tidal flow but the forecasted S wind seems to be coming from the N. And did I mention our fridge quit yesterday...

Just leaving Tioman Island. We were here a bit longer than expected. The 'little black boxes' on our new engines decided to fail so we have been waiting until today for Volvo to supply replacements. The little black box aka MDI aka mechanical diesel interface controls the start, stop and all the sensors. First one failed then a few days later the other one. Tioman was not a bad place to be stranded and we had company. First Donna, our friend from Townsville, then several rally boats and other cruisers visited the anchorage. We checked out most of the restaurants ashore.

Now we'll head towards the Singapore strait and then make our way up the west coast of Malaysia to Pangkor Marina. We're motoring into a light southerly and will hope for some favourable winds after we round the corner

Had a lovely sail from Sebana Cove to Tioman Island with 15-20k SSE for most of the night. Arrived into a glassy calm anchorage & ready to dive in.

A bit of a bash and plenty of motoring to get us back from the Anambas Islands via Tioman Island. We shall leave Icaros in Sebana Cove Marina while we fly back to Canada to visit family & friends.

Arrived into Tarempa in the Anambas Islands after motoring most of the way. Found some wind as we approached the islands! Some rally activities here tomorrow with 26 boats in attendance. Then we shall spend the next couple of weeks exploring the islands. Their communications cable has been broken so only basic internet, emails and SMS messages going through sporadically. Not sure how I am going to cope with being offline for the next three weeks...

Left Kuala Terengganu yesterday afternoon and have stopped at Kapas Island. Enjoying this lovely spot again and waiting a day or two for some wind to develop to take us the 215 miles to Tarempa, Anambas islands, Indonesia.

After several glorious days at Redang Island, we actually had a couple of hours sailing towards Kuala Terengganu - before the wind faded. A large city with lots to see and do in the area - could certainly spend more time here. A good spot to provision before heading off to the remote Anambas Islands on Sunday.

Woke up about midnight last night due to mosquitoes feasting on us. Noticed a nice breeze blowing so brought up the anchor and now we find ourselves at Redang Island. Rally events will include a visit to a turtle sanctuary, games on the beach and a high tea / reception at the Taaras Resort.

Overnight motor/sail from Tioman Island to Kapas Island was quite pleasant until we got soaked first thing this morning. Kapas Island is quite picturesque with a few resorts & supposed to be some good snorkeling & diving. Rally get together tomorrow for a cricket game & BBQ on the beach.

Arrived into Tioman Island first thing in the morning after an overnight motor / sail from Sebana Cove. Had a couple of thunderstorms with lightening and heavy rain along the way. Lost the AIS for about a half hour but thankfully it recovered.

Sailed around the south side of Singapore yesterday from west to east. A bit nerve wracking at times with a couple of ships coming quite close and giving us a warning honk. Hundreds of ships on the AIS making the screen too cluttered to be helpful so needed to keep a close lookout. Many ships at anchor and hard to differentiate the ones coming at you compared to the ones just sitting. Now we are at a quiet marina resort several miles up a river called Sebana Cove. It was built many years ago to be a gambling get away for the Singaporeans - then Singapore legalised gambling.

Caught a large plastic tarp in one of the props near Pangkor Island and Bob went for a swim to untangle. The rest of the two day motorsail from Pangkor Marina to Puteri Marina was pleasant and uneventful. A bit nerve wracking going under the Johor-Singapore Second Link Bridge with its 25m clearance. Made it into Puteri just before an afternoon thunderstorm. We are here for the official start to the Sail Malaysia - Passage to the East Rally.

Arrived back to Pangkor in time to score the last available berth in the marina and attend the rally dinner / briefing. Good to catch up with many from our Sail 2 Indonesia rally. 38 boats registered so far in the Sail Malaysia - Passage to the East rally. Shall be here a few days. Time for the engines first oil change and also installing a new trampoline.

Berthed at Royal Langkawi Yacht Club Marina for a week or two. Rewiring the boat with Mastervolt / C-Zone system.

Arrived into Chalong Bay, Phuket last Friday after a pleasant 3 day motor & sail from Langkawi. New motors working great !! Since then have caught up with several of our Sail 2 Indonesia & Malaysia mates in Nai Harn Bay, done a few dives on Koh Racha Yai and now anchored on the S side of Koh Hi. Shall head north into Phang Nga Bay tomorrow and visit some 'hongs'.

Had a great overnight sail from Pangkor up to Langkawi. Didn't get much of a chance to test out our new engines - but they'll be plenty more opportunities for that !!