Post RideForCambodia...SEA ride continues

[Digiamo]

Nice pics!

Danny - I bet your seasickness will fade quickly once you get your sea legs! I'm sure the skipper can give you some tips. Cats are a heck of a lot more stable than single hulls, that should help too.

Somebody needs to start feeding George! Dude is skin and bones!

I appreciate the vote of confidence, Smash. Though I've been sick on two cats before, they may have not been cooked right.

George has been consuming caloric volumes in solid and liquid forms as well as any of us. Maybe the jogging he's been doing is the difference.

Droid S3 & TT2

Well hoping you have a fair wind and smooth seas Danny sailing is a lot of fun!

I've always loved boats, especially the wind driven ones. Such a sense of adventure and romance with even a glance at a picture of a sail boat under way.
It's like having an allergy to a favorite food or a lover.

Oh well, it's my turn to get sick. With some luck, I'll skip.

Droid S3 & TT2

when I was thinking it couldn't get any better ( other than Me being along) I am drooling in anticipation of this sea ride!
there are some seasickness drugs Danny, being scopolamine in small pads attached to the mastoid area ( behind the ear) the most useful, if not available, dimenhidrinate ( Dramamine) would be useful also.

Thanks Jose, I have two tablets of Dramamine but it never work in the past but made my head feel like a cinder block hanging over the rail.
I tried Bodine, Ginger, and pressure point rigs.
The Dramamine tablets say to take it 30 mins before exposure to motion. I don't remember doing that before. I wonder if that's the difference?

Droid S3 & TT2

Wishing you all calm seas and also looking forward to this new phase of the adventure! Have fun, take a lots of pictures and above all wishing you a safe journey.

Thanks Fali, I think ill be able to take pics even if they are a bit crooked.

Droid S3 & TT2

I see it now.......they'll come back to the States and sell their bikes to buy boats.
Have a great time, I'd love to spend a week on a cat.

Thanks Jim. You're right this could be a game changer.

Droid S3 & TT2

 

[George]

Good times yesterday, as reflected in Danny's pics. The road along the shore and over the mountains on this end of the country are well worth the ride despite the heavy traffic. The little Yamaha scooters we're riding have great power but don't get as good mileage as the Hondas we had up in Chiang Mai.

The beach we went to yesterday is called Leam Sing, it's just north of Kamala, about 10 Klicks north of Patong. Secluded, nothing "official" but enuff resource to keep us well fed and massaged. Only a dirt track from the road to the the sea. Only about 200 yards long, big rocks n' bluffs on each end to separate it from the bigger public beaches.


This cat was anchored near the north end, similar to the one we're considering renting next week.

 

[motomano]

Thanks Jose, I have two tablets of Dramamine but it never work in the past but made my head feel like a cinder block hanging over the rail.
I tried Bodine, Ginger, and pressure point rigs.
The Dramamine tablets say to take it 30 mins before exposure to motion. I don't remember doing that before. I wonder if that's the difference?
Droid S3 & TT2

Absolutly! Dramamine only works that way, prior the motion, 45 minutes would be better. Long ago I tried the scopolamine patch a heavy storm shaked the tugboat I was into, the captain said a few more tilting degrees and the boat could be turned over. No sea sickness for any of the few whom used the patches.

 

[Digiamo]

when I was thinking it couldn't get any better, other than Me being along.........

It's not too late! Grab a ticket to Phuket and come with us. We could use a ships doctor .... and another hand on deck ....

Anyone ? Applications are still being accepted.

We are 90% sure this is the actual cat we'll be taking out for a week. If it's not, ours will be very similar.



Droid S3 & TT2

 

[Digiamo]

A few pics of us doing the border run.

Here we are in Myanmar.

This is the hotel on an island just inside the Myanmar side where they serve us a lunch with a view.

Well, that was a tease...Gotta go back now. Seeya!

Droid S3 & TT2

 

[Indian Express]

That water sure looks inviting!

 

[Digiamo]

That water sure looks inviting!

Sure does. Even with the ocean motion effect, I am looking forward to Tuesday mornings tide and off shore breeze.

Droid S3 & TT2

We lost a day somewhere. Tomorrow we set sail, not Tuesday.
I am in search of Scopolomine as per our vertual MD, Dr. Jose Luis Vasquez
out of Puerto Vallarta, MX. ( AKA: Motomano)
Not happy about the possible side effects but nobody complains that it doesn't prevent sea sickness.

Droid S3 & TT2

 

[Scooter]

Youse guys need to get that cat (not Catt ) up on one hull...

 

[Digiamo]

Youse guys need to get that cat (not Catt ) up on one hull...

It may happen unintentionally, that'll be fine.
Here we get the crash course on cat sailing and the particulars of Max's boat.

We are going over last minute items with Max now and should be underway within an hour.
It was a successful first night for all of us as I took an ambien and stayed on deck watching the horizon until I couldn't stay awake any longer.
More later...as WiFi becomes available.
BON VOYAGE!
Droid S3 & TT2

 

[Digiamo]

We have limited internet so real quick note...
Out of the gate the sailing learning curve got about as steep as a cliff. Just outside the safe harbor and as soon as we got a sheet in the wind, the swells became high enough to bury the hulls and come surging out again. I was sure I'd get sick but as I was holding her steady into the swells I had a sense of control that helped to prevent more than simple nausea. That whole first day, I felt like I was going to throw up but by the time we got anchored at a deserted beach island I felt better. In fact, While I was feeling horrible, I realized that I was more afraid of puking than actually sick. From that point on I was much better. It was the first time I ever didn't get sea sick while rocking as much as that. Having the helm helped enormously.

All this without any medication because after checking about a half dozen drug stores for the Scopolomine that Jose suggested, I came up empty.

I wish I could say we all faired as well as I did.

We are having lunch at Ao Nang now. A great little sea side town that we need to explore a bit after we eat.

Yesterday we were at such a pretty place called Ko Hong that had me so excited that I ran into the ocean to snorkel with my Samsung phone clipped to my swim suit. About a minute later I realized it and got it opened up. It's about 24 hours since we put it into a Tupperware of rice to try to dry it out but it only made a crackley noise while trying to charge.
Was thinking it might need to be dropped into distilled water to rinse the guts.

Anybody have any suggestions? I do have a replacement plan on that phone but it's my only source of pictures.

Additionally, I can not find the SD memory card as it is not in the slot it belongs in. It may have gotten dislodged from the open phone somewhere between the beach and the boat as I did not close it up. I don't know....it's just not anywhere to be found and it has hundreds of great pics on it. I'm surprised how little it upset me though as we are having an absolute blast on this little boat named "Vene Vedi Veci".

We all now have sea legs and don't want this chapter to end.

Stiil trying to get the phone up and running to at least keep the pics flowing. I'll try to get George and Joe to fill in on the pic sharing.

Is anyone following Georges or Joes SPOT? You may be able to see the close ups of the island from Google Earth.

Thanks for the comments as always. Glad to be able to bring y' all along.

George and Joe say hey and wish y'all were here physically.

 

[motomano]

Nice you didn't get sea sickness at all. after a week you will be a skilled sailor I'm sure.
sorry for your loss, no way you can recover anything from the Samsung, trust me I know from first hand, ( 10 years ago ) sea water is conductive and corrosive, only way it has a chance if it were turned off before the diving, that way you would wash it with fresh water and do the rice thing, mine even the SIM card was useless.
Amazing: if you all tried to pick any boat with a more proper name for you than this one, you wouldn't success, this is really the perfect name for you 3 Adventurers.
shall be a message from the Universe: "Vene Vedi Venci " Great!

 

[Digiamo]

Thanks Jose, It is indeed a perfect name for our stout little ship. We only grounded it about a half dozen times too.

I am at the phone shop in Ao Nang now and the tech fellow just showed me my dismantled Droid...It looks like it has mold inside it. With the language barrier, I am not sure if he is cleaning it or reassembling it to give back.

We got an extension of one day on this cruise so we are happy about that.

This area of the world is simply the most beautiful place I've ever seen. To be sailing here is particularly special. We've spoken to other sailors and they say it's where many RTW sailor have settled down since it has so much of what they look for.

I just wish I could get the pictures I have up here so you can see it.

Short of that, George and Joe have a lot of pictures and I have a lot of GoPro videos to deal with, including underwater shots. I'm half relieved to not have to sort through and caption all those pics, but I still wish I had them.

 

[motomano]

Danny, great the tech guy was able to fix your phone, as for the extension on the cruise, and the beauty of the surroundings, I am sure we all had a glance from some movies, or documentarie films.
so you all keep sailing and enjoying as much as you are able to.

 

[rulbe]

Danny.

Glad you and the gang are having a great time! Thanks for sharing! Hope to be on an adventure with you someday !

Randy

 

[Digiamo]

Thanks Jose and Randy for the vote of confidence and yes, I also hope to adventure with you too.

Stepped off the Vene Vedi Veci for the last time but still I am feeling the table rocking under me. I am sure it will stop soon.

What a great new experience for me and George. I was going to surface dive at Maya beach, where the movie "The Beach"was filmed, to try to recover Joe's sunken sunglasses when we spied a neighboring sailboat tied to a near by mooring ball. It was fully equipped for SCUBA dives. Kraus Kruger, German/Austrian captain and crew on the Calistra Austria not only offered to look for the glasses but asked me if I'd like to come along, since I have an open water certificate which hasn't been used for about 20 years. All I could think to say was "I'd love to".

Klaus invited me onboard and suggested I feel free to walk anywhere on his boat. He is a dive instructor who has four passengers who apparently don't dive at all, which would explain Klaus's enthusiasm to take me down.

Once fitted and equipped, we descended under the high speed screws of the massive speed boats bringing to throngs of crowds to the famous beach for the day. It was very difficult to to stay on mission to find sunglasses since there was so much to see and experience under 15 to 20 meters on water with Joe on the surface trying to mark where he dropped his prescription sunglasses. We were side tracked by beautiful Angel fish and a few Morey Eels, including a Zebra Morey. We brought the GoPro but of course missed some of the sights since we tried to conserve the battery and memory. Some other distractions will be apparent in the video. It's uploading to YouTube now. Here I am showing off my new hat, found in about 15 meters of water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqfS1byqdgc&feature=youtu.be

Today I had to surface dive to about 15 meters to dislodge our anchor from under a large rock. That was fun, even though we knew it would be the last time we hoist anchor on the Vene Vedi Veci.

 

[George]

Joe and I are here too, all is good in Thailand. Danny is my hero for pulling the anchor from under the rock. This trip started out as an adventure and turned into a SCUBA dive.

Danny got the best and worst, what with losing his Samsung 'Droid but also getting a free SCUBA session while looking for Joe's glasses. Joe may have gotten the worst from dropping his prescription sun glasses over board (which weren't recovered and I may well have gotten the best by misplacing my camera at Ao Nang but recovering it next day. I luv my Canon.

Here's a couple preview shots 'til I get my Picasa album updated. These are from yesterday.

 

[Indian Express]

Wow! You guys are having a terrific time! Thanks for sharing your adventure and I look forward to seeing more pics. In the near future. Safe travels to wherever your agenda leads you next.

 

[970mike]

Danny and George,

It is good to hear from you guys and that you made it back to dry land! Looks like you guys have made this one heck of a ride! Good on you guys for making this happen. Looking forward to more adventures!

 

[TipSTer]

Sorry for glasses Ole-Joe, if Danny didn't bring that BIG hat down during scuba dive he may find your glasses Looks fun! :bow1: Korp Kuun Krup for pix!

 

[Digiamo]

Thanks so much for following along with us. Hopefully, the next trip will have at least a few of you along with us since we talked about getting a bigger cat sometime in the future.
We had a debriefing" dinner with Max and Sarah, his boarder, who is quite a sweetheart. She's been in Thailand for 9 months teaching English to 5 year olds.
Today we hit the ATM's and look for a new navigation device since my Droid was our only practical GPS until it came snorkeling with me.

Here is a quick pan of Maya Bay and is pretty much where Joe dropped his prescription sunglasses in the drink. Thanks again, Smash, for insisting on sending me your GoPro to take along on this trip.

Sorry for glasses Ole-Joe, if Danny didn't bring that BIG hat down during scuba dive he may find your glasses Looks fun! :bow1: Korp Kuun Krup for pix!

As mentioned, I found that hat at a depth of about 15 meters, along with a Phi Phi Hotel towel and a fishing lure. The anchor we found was too much to bring up.

So there were a lot of distractions to our sunglasses finding mission, but all is well as I gave Joe my magnifier/reading sunglasses that seem to work perty good for Joes far sighted eyes.

I have a second pair of those in my gear bag somewhere.

The floor is starting to stabilize more now that we are on land for almost 24 hours