My charter sail in Phuket, Thailand (video included)

[Cool Hand Luke]

I know it's a little old, but I wanted to share with you guys my charter in Phuket, Thailand. I skippered a 44-foot and a 46-foot catamaran. We had the 44-foot for 5 days and the 46-foot for another 5 days, for a total of 10 days around Phuket, Phi Phi Islands, etc. There were 10 of us on the first vessel (myself included) and only 6 of us on the second vessel (even though it was a larger boat, there were less of us). We had a great time chartering from Sunsail and Moorings. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7VIrBes4rA

[Gone2long]

Just wondering. Over the 10 day time frame, hHow much sailing did you get to do as opposed to motoring?

[Palarran]

I'll forward the video on to my 20 year old daughter, she might like it. For me, too much hip hop party and not enough sailing. But I'm getting old.

[brownoarsman]

I always appreciate a good trip report from places I might go in future. How did you find the wind, navigation, anchorages, chartering scene, etc. vs. other charter destinations?

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Gone2long

Just wondering. Over the 10 day time frame, hHow much sailing did you get to do as opposed to motoring?

We spent 3 years in Thailand and figure that we spent about half the time sailing. A few people did more, most do far less. It depends a lot on which season you are in and your tolerance for slow speeds and sail changes.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by mikereed100

We spent 3 years in Thailand and figure that we spent about half the time sailing. A few people did more, most do far less. It depends a lot on which season you are in and your tolerance for slow speeds and sail changes.

Not sure how long ago that was, but do you know what the present time restrictions are for keeping a Langkawi registered yacht in Phuket?

[Greg Mason]

Great promo video, but the three seconds of sailing was a little short. Looks like you had a great time. The question I always ask is, would you go back?

[Tetepare]

Good to see there are youths who have not wasted being young.

[SV Sailfish]

Very well produced video. Looks like it could be used by the Thailand tourist office.

Hey... is it still legal to go cruising without a drone, selfie stick, posting to YouTube and asking for money on Patreon???

Just wondering because we don't want to get arrested by the PC police as we do none of that.

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Not sure how long ago that was, but do you know what the present time restrictions are for keeping a Langkawi registered yacht in Phuket?

We left in 2013, but back then you could leave a foreign boat for up to 6 months. You could get 6 month extensions up to 2 years, after which you had to make a run to Langkawi. If the boat couldn't make it the right people could arrange a "virtual" trip for a couple hundred bucks. I imagine that part hasn't changed.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Originally Posted by Gone2long

Just wondering. Over the 10 day time frame, How much sailing did you get to do as opposed to motoring?

This was in January 2016. And not really knowing it ahead of time, the winds kind of sucked. So yeah, out of the 10 days... we only sailed two days and we motor-sailed the rest. And there were days when we didn't even raise the sails. So yeah, for sailing in January it'd give it a score of 2/10.

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

I always appreciate a good trip report from places I might go in future. How did you find the wind, navigation, anchorages, chartering scene, etc. vs. other charter destinations?

Wind - see above
Navigation - pretty simple. Used the chart plotter on the vessel and used my iPad with Navionics as a supplement.
Anchorages - tricky with the HUGE tide. I believe there were days with a 6 food tidal range. But other than that, sand/silt bottom almost everywhere, so the difficulty was easy with respect to the bottom.
Chartering - not that popular. 90%+ were tourists that flew in. A few on their own, private vessels.
Vs. other charter destinations - I've been to BVI, St. Martin, St. Lucia, Belize, and Thailand. The scenery is 9/10. The color of the water 5/10 because a lot of silt coming in from the rivers. The vessels 7/10, some minor issues with the head. Night life in Phi Phi is 10/10.

Originally Posted by Greg Mason

Great promo video, but the three seconds of sailing was a little short. Looks like you had a great time. The question I always ask is, would you go back?

100% would go back!! Soooo many other places we didn't visit because even 10 days wasn't enough. I'd love to go there on my own vessel and stay a month. Food and alcohol is extremely cheap, when compared to U.S. prices. Everyone is very friendly and always felt safe. In fact... it's not that I would go back... I definitely WILL go back

And here was my 2013 from BVI:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtF9EKYK2QE

[brownoarsman]

Thanks for the further detail! Would you say the anchorages were pretty open? I've definitely sailed past and bypassed some BVI anchorages where it looked dense enough for boats to drag and hit each other.

[alansmith]

thanks for sharing your vacation video. Looks like you had a good time....

[daletournier]

Interesting how we all view things differently, no right or wrong. I've spent quite alot of time cruising Thailand, and enjoyed it. You loved Phi Phi yet I kept away from the crazy place, if you want to get a tattoo, drink heaps and be surrounded by lots of "busy" and noise then that's the place... Lol.

I miss the cheap great food and the general ease of being there.

I don't charter, but I've been to a number high charter areas, and currently in the Seychelles. Beautiful, very easy to sail, and great water, a great place to charter BUT expensive which is a bummer.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by SV Sailfish

Very well produced video. Looks like it could be used by the Thailand tourist office.

Hey... is it still legal to go cruising without a drone, selfie stick, posting to YouTube and asking for money on Patreon???

Just wondering because we don't want to get arrested by the PC police as we do none of that. [emoji3]

Not illegal yet, but I can already hear discussions in the future that "real" cruisers would never go to sea without such vital basics. [emoji6]


Now, it just makes this smell like the thinly vieled commercial post that it is....shouldnt this be in the Commerce section? Dont you need to be a registered commercial user to make commercial posts?