With the wind in our sails...we throw caution to the Wind:)



Cody bonding with the wild island dogs that are all starving now as it is no season and the islands are closed down:(



When the sky meets the sea...

Caden telling a fishermans story:) now as we came into Malaysia.



Brent and Caden having some quality time...

Before time flies away,I must go back to my one of my previous blogs on Turtle island and finish telling you about it! Life at sea has so much happening in it in just one day that I cannot keep up! Right- now after we had caught the red rockodd, we anchored in large lumpy blue blue blue swells of crispy clean ocean between two islands

Indonesian Island Life:)

This is the real colour of the ocean at Turtle island!

Cody is surfing like a pro:) Lagundri Nias.

A Birds Eye view of Turtle island:)

Our sail back now from Thailand to Malaysia- stopover at Koh Lipe island...



This ship is one of many that we are about to find ourselves amongst again in less than 48 hours as we cross the Straitts of Malacca again. This one was less than one nautical mile away...

 There was no protected anchorage here for us three boats but we had 10 metres below us of cool aqua waters and  white sands and at least it did not look ominious. Of course we just needed a big wind and we would have probably found ourselves dragging our anchor! Barbara Ann had to put out a stern anchor too as a monohull really rolls in a swell. I was freaking out actually at the size of the swells but Brent would say -what swells?:) Anyway-the next day after I had lost the big kingfish...Brent said that he would try and get me onto the most beautiful beach of rolling white sanddunes.

 I swallowed my fears, left my precious camera behind, dug up some courage as all I could see was a powerful shorebreak rushing up the sand everywhere...and off we went to the  shore...I ended up swimming ashore. It was perfect and worth the swim. Brent and the rest of my family took the duck around the corner to go and see if the waves were surfable and to try and find a safe place to anchor the duck off shore. I was alone and it was beautiful. All I could do was dance and sing at the beauty of this beach.The sun was hot and the sand was powdery soft and snowwhite. There was not a footprint but mine in the sand... There was no litter, no driftwood, nothing to connect mankind to this stretch of beauty.I looked around and just saw huge sanddunes and turtle trails everywhere in front of me...It was such a treat to witness what I had only seen in documentaries at home. I watched the tide wash with tremendous power the ice blue waters far up the dunes and I imagined the turtles all coming up at night and dragging those huge shells and heavy bodies with a primal instinct up all that sand to bury their future...There were turtle holes everywhere and trails of  lumbering turtle "foot" prints  all the way up to the palm trees. This was the first island that I had seen this as most of the islands in indo have so little sand left as the high tides wash the islands away...I found myself in a timeless zone-a magical space.I climbed a dune and stared out at the sea. There were our beautiful yachts anchored out in the exquisite twinkeling waters- and I had no camera to capture it all. So I burnt the image into my brain to enjoy forever:) The scene reminded me of man first discovering islands just like this and how incredible it must have been for them.

The shells on this island were so beautiful. All shiny and unbroken as none of the usual reefs to smash them before they get to the sands. I needed hours on this beach:) But time was not on my side as I went to find the others. Much to my horror Brent had anchored the duck in between two sets of breaking waves...typical...and they were all swimming to shore and doing a little snorkelling on the way. My fears were for Caden as I could see no safe place to come ashore in that area...anyway despite my motherly fears- Brent got him ashore safely:)

Beautiful Cally:)

Caden with his long hair:)

Where the sky and the sea and the sun meet...

Turtle Island-a storm heading our way...

Jackie and myself after a day at a waterfall in Nias:)

Brent and Caden "training" at Koh Lipe island

We are leaving for Indo again tomorrow for our third trip there.Now we go alone...this place behind me will be our first stop-Raya island Sabang and it will take us two days and two nights straight through the most hectic shipping lanes before we get here...

God is an artist:)

Micah looking Goooood....

Barro and Barbara Ann buddies:)



Lassia or Paradise Island-all of us from our 3 yachts:)



While my family surf I do ""extreme shell collecting":) risking my life under dangerous palm trees:)
It's a fact-more people die from coconuts falling on their heads than...shark attacks.

We met the most wonderful couple on this monohull. They have been living and sailing on this yacht Barro for 30 years!!! To be admired....

My little monkey:)

My exquisite daughter-miss you cally-study hard!!

such good times with my beautiful friend Jackie

lagundri in nias!! the most perfect barrels and we should be there soon again for a longer stay:)

But then I realised with a sinking heart, that we were not the only people on this island...Standing on the beach, taking photos of cally, with their cell phones , were a group of local men. On this island that looked like paradise with only sand, palm trees, turtles and now locals...

and all my wonderful images of thousands of baby turtles scuttling down the dunes, rolling and tumbling and scrabbling their way to the ocean- were shattered as I realised in horror that those eggs never hatched! Not one of them... this island was a business for these guys. They collect all of them to sell all of them and so this island that should have been a safe haven for these beautiful islands -was a dead end, a trap, a breeding ground for a dying breed! Once again- mankind shows that greed and money are our downfall to the tragedy of those poor turtles-more innocent victims of the human display of destruction and ignorance of some...leaving behind a ghost beach and empty waters where a magnificent display of nature at its best should have been...

And so with a shadow of Sadness on my heart, I took a last look at the white ghost sands and the silent shiver of these palm trees in the consoling breeze- I absorbed the vast glittering ocean down below the dunes and whispered to the turtles to flee elsewhere. I watched a huge black cloud sit heavily over our boats threatening to tip its pails onto these defenceless oceans and on us. I soaked up the breathtaking endless view and I let the purity of the creatures of these waters and the abstract innocent beauty of this  island touch my Soul. I thanked God for this privilege of being here and I tucked my memories of this place into the jewellery box in my mind to savour and cherish later...



Turtle Island!