10th February - Nai Harn Bay (Phuket) - R & R

Monday 10^th February

Yesterday was a day of R & R on 2XS.

I did some first aid on Pete early in the day – an Ace pressure bandage, and a sling.  He was then relegated to the beanbag and directed to stay there, reading, and taking regular anti-inflammatories.  Early days but…I think there is just a slight bit of improvement.

Royal Phuket Yacht Club - so pretty

The sea was so inviting, in the morning.  Smooth and calm, and warm.  I went for a long swim from one end of the beach to the other, looking, in vain, for coral.  There was evidence of a once-abundant reef along both shores but…just a few sad remains.  It takes a long time to recover from a major tsunami.  Encouragingly, there were lots of fish, including some big bright coral trout.  (Visibility not good enough to take a photo; you will have to take my word for it.)

I swam in to the beach and walked along for a while.  2XS looked lovely, from the water.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of people in the sea, mostly Russian.  Many women wearing bikinis… Maybe a mistake, for some of them… But never mind, they were happy and cheerful and healthily splashing in the salty water.

At 5pm Pete was allowed to arise from his convalescent position, so that  we could go for dinner on Settlement, with Andrew and Sue.  Sue is a wonderful cook.  She did NOT cook anything like this ghastliness…

Diner was totally delicious – salmon steaks with Greek salad.  Perfect!

Suzanne (Thylacines) 

told us a funny story in the taxi coming home from Old Phuket Town after the New Year Festival.  She and Jerry (who is originally from Tasmania) sailed around the West Coast of the state a few years ago.  They had a wonderful time – everyone loves the West Coast, so very stunningly beautiful, so many generous and hospitable people.  They asked an oldtimer on a boat to leave his masthead light on for them one evening, because something was wrong with their torch, or dinghy light (whatever…)  Sure thing, not as problem.  But…he didn’t do it and they had to make their way back to Thylacines in the pitch dark.  The next day Suzanne (who is a forthright chick) asked why he hadn’t done it.  Oh, he said, It is f-f-f-f-f-f…broken…

Facebook moments...

A 2XS blast from the past… Kate Headlam and Kelli Gray, aboard and having fun…(We miss these family times in Hobart...)

A photo of my sister Monique’s latest little grandson, Blake Marcel Malas, now back in Vanuatu.  And what a splendid baby he is!!

And yet again – a fabulous photo on Facebook, taken by my VERY talented brother Pete Harmsen.  He rolled his ankle, got very little sleep, but took a fabulous photo from the top of Mt Maria (Maria Island, Tasmania.*)  And then his horrid inconsiderate sister rang him at 11pm (TasTime) to burble on about the music she was playing Sunshine Superman, of course - while cooking dinner.  In Thailand, on a boat…)

* When my Claire was in Grade 5 (Margate Primary School) her class had a relief teacher, who insisted that this island is Maria Island, pronounced like Maria in Sound of Music.  It is, as WE ALL KNOW pronounced Maria, as in, They call the Wind Maria, rhyming with Uriah.  My poor Claire, like her mother, hates to be WRONG when she knows she is RIGHT and the whole class was kept in for detention, which still makes Claire seethe with the injustice of it all.