Cruising in South East Asia

[Stephen McNulty]

Has anyone out there had experience in cruising in SE Asia? We're thinking of chartering in Thailand, probably Phuket. We have 2 children: 3 and 4 years old. WE've chartered a dair bit in various parts of the Carribean but never Asia.

If you have then we'd love to hear about lessons learned, fascilities, safety, tips etc.

Thanks

[CommodoreSwab]

Ive been there once before and in the future will be living over there, not in Phuket though. What kinds of questions might you have?

[Stephen McNulty]

Questions are really related to suitability of sailing there with young children.

1) Are the anchorages calm and safe enough at night?
2) Are there any security issues?
3) Is it easy enough to provision?
4) Are the charts and cruising info up to date? (cruising guides of the kind you get in Carribean don't seem to exist)
5) Anything to watch out for?

The sailing conditions at the time of year we're targeting are pretty reasonable so am not concerned about that.

Where are you planning on living?

Thanks.

[CommodoreSwab]

Around Phuket from what I saw it looked fairly bleak about anchoring. I saw several boats anchored in one place though that seemed fairly protected.
If you are concerned about piracy, I wouldn't worry. If you are concerned about theft its about the same as everywhere else, leave a dink unlocked and theres a good chance it will be gone in the morning.

Provisions depend greatly on what you intend to provision with. How are you with chilis?

I wouldnt sail at night around some of the islands with GPS, Chart books, never have seen any but things don't seem to change much. How many people have a new chart of the area where they sail. Has anybody ever seen a vessel surveying and making a new chart?

I would say watch out for Papaya Salad but that is difficult to find in the south. All in all a wonderful people and eager to do anything they can BUT around Phuket and the surrounding area has turned into a tourist trap. Beautiful scenery but I would rather be where its difficult to find Farangs (foreigners) than where its hard to find Thais that arent trying to get your money.

Our home is in a small village (about 200 homes) about an hour and a half drive from Korat in the north east of Thailand. It is considerably land locked but then I will have my boat where I will live and cruise from place to place also.

[Stephen McNulty]

OK, many thanks for the feedback. Good luck with your move to Thailand.

[Stephen McNulty]

Another quick question if I may. Are there any marinas in Phang Nga bay other than the Sunsail base on the east coast of Phuket?

[h]

Stephen,

Thailand is great for sailing and racing. They have very good regattas.

See some of the links below to start with.

http://www.phuketboatlagoon.com/

http://www.oceanmarinayachtclub.com/

http://www.acycphuket.com/

http://www.acycphuket.com/links.html

http://www.phuket.com

[Stephen McNulty]

Great, thanks for this.

[Stephen Phillips]

This is a great cruising area. The weather is really good in the NE Monsoon, Dec - Mar. If you like snorkelling the water vis is poor in Phang Nga Bay, but the islands South of Phuket have good vis as do the Similan Islands N-W of Phuket. It is a great trip from Phuket to Langkawi, with many islands to check out. Check out the Hongs, the kids will love them. We flew 2 of our grandkids out to visit while we were there, they loved it. We spent a year in the area and could have stayed much longer.

[Stephen McNulty]

Thanks. We were actually thinking of going in April as the words 'good sailing' and 'monsoon' don't sounds that compatable:-)

Doesn't it rain a lot?

[Stephen Phillips]

NE Monsoon is dry with settled weather. The rainy season is in the SW Monsoon, unsettled weather. April can be a bit boisterous. You can sail all year round, but the West side of Phuket(all islands really) is not where you want to be. With Kids it would be better December to March.

[h]

Stephen,

See this link to get the right book for your trip.

http://www.imray.com/record.cfm?i_stock_code=RB0163

h

[Stephen McNulty]

Thanks for that. Looks good.