We have spent the early part of this year with the most amazing people! Thank-you brave people for sharing our lives with us!

Love-Love-Love 

Wonderful and priceless memories! The Andaman waters..ACTUALLY...where we are sitting is waist deep and then it drops right there behind me into deep water...I was not sure if something was going to come and bite our bottoms while we were smiling for the camera:)

Where we plan to take our guests!

Ah! I love a clean slate! A new blog!!!! This blog is a tribute to our wonderful friends and family who were brave enough to try out our lives on Micah:) - and patient enough to wait for this long awaited blog;)I have included a great variety of pics, from Jonty and Jackie to Indonesia surf photos to any photo from the past three years that filled me with love:)

And from the photos to follow, I think you will  agree with me- they all LOVED it!!

After reading my blogs all the way from Plett in South AFrica, Brent's long lost cousin Jonty, got told in a firm voice by his wife Jackie (love you Jacs:) ) that their next family holiday was on our yacht Soul Surfer Micah! Before Jonty knew it , they were booked on a flight to Koh PhiPhi to meet US!!

 I prayed for storms, big waves and excitement to satisfy their thirst for an adventurous holiday:)

We have had our fair share of excitement! On our first sail to West coast of Sumatra in Indonesia in 2010 September...While I was taking photos of Brent, Cally and Cody (then 11 years old) surfing at our first discovered surf spot, Cody got held under by an enormous set of waves:( 
When he eventually came up...he was blue in the face and very emotional. I felt awful as I did not even know that my son was down there almost drowning:((. Here in the photo below..Cody comes to terms with going out again as he refuses to get into the dingy much to my stress...

 A much more confident Cody above and below- Caden gaining his confidence at the fantastic wave pool in Phuket that we only discovered after Brent's family and Cally and Devon had gone back to SA:(

Caden at the Wave Park that we have found in Kata Beach:) Finding his courage:) for bigger things...

Above: Indonesian perfection and the reason we keep going back;)

Once we found Jackie and Jonty- they embraced this holiday!

They just kept grinning all the time:))

Jax where are you?:)

Cody the beast in a barrel!

Seascapes...

We are looking for YOU:)
But- Just finding them at Phiphi island -was an adventure enough...somehow I had given them the "turn left" instead of "right" when they got off their ferry...so when we got to the designated meeting place...they were not there!
WHAT?

 We had just said goodbye to Cally and Devon the day before and then early the next morning, we set sail from Phuket for a 6 or 7 hour sail to Phi Phi islands. The island was so busy with visiting tourists and somewhere on this island was a family with luggage full of goodies for me- precious cargo;)-you guys of course Jax;)...where were they?

Micah up close and personal:) 

Below: Micah from far far away- incredible how small we really are... this is the view from a stunning pool that we just found by chance when we anchored off this island one night between Malaysia and Phuket:) What a view!

Look at the amazing sunset from the island called Koh Muk...we have to bring all our guests here to explore the Emerald Cave:)

the beautiful Similan island that we love to visit near Phuket...I love those waters because they are deadcalm in the protected bay and Brent loves these waters below because they look like this!

Going back to having lost Brent's family before we had even found them:) here is Caden resting with the local elephants after we had gone on a rampage along the walkways searching bar after bar:))

 "Um...they have to be here somewhere:)"

Brent searching the ferry drop off area...

My solution worked:) I ordered a cup of tea at a little coffee shop in a busy street...and I waited:)

 Walla! Jonty and his daughter Katy whom I last saw when she was a tiny girl, came rushing past us:)...

Ah! Happy times!! Happy reunions!! But now we had to go and find the rest of the gang ...who were at a beach bar on the furtherest part of the island with all their luggage, jet lagged and happily irritable;)

Wish you were with us and the Bodleys Charl:)

Yay!! We found them and after weeks of planning and emailing...the Bodleys had arrived:)-Jackie, Jonty,Katy,Nic and Robbie:)

and so...we followed in Jonty's racing footsteps to find the rest of the party:)

and we found them...a few cocktails later- and happy to see us!! Hello Jax and Katy:)

 You have to love Caden in the background...we were on a tiny little island that took two minutes to walk from the one side to the other with nothing on it but one palm tree...and Caden had already made himself a weapon...for protection:)

Jackie embraced this

 whole holiday

 and I  constantly

 heard 

splashes as Jackie would jump in from anywhere on the boat:)

Hey... While I still have your interest:)- have a look at another one of my photos taken recently at the marina- actually this one is now while they were fumigating the docks to try and kill the many mozzies that collide into us in our sleep:) I got really really ill from Dengue Fever from a mozzie in the thai waters...so we all take it very seriously.But looking at the little raindrops that I captured on camera in a recent rainfall:) So magical!

Rebak Marina 
Life April/May 2013-where we live when Brent must go back to attend to work matters in SA:).
In the next photo- We are the second yacht here with the white dot on the navy blue stackpak...

Much to my boys surprise ( and I mean all three of my boys) , there was a beautiful naked Russian throwing herself out the sea at Kata Beach for her photographer...Brent and Cody and Caden were disgusted......;)

 Is this for real?

Yip ! It is:)

What can I say?
What can we say?

Darling I promise she looks like nothing compared to you....
I know....:)

um....9 out of 10?

On top of Sail Rock and below-after a ten hour sail from Phuket, we arrive at my favorite island and race for a mooring buoy as all the dive charter boats are also racing for their night mooring:)

Brent woke us all up early and we took the dingy into this huge beautiful hong! In the distance you can see the deep green water which is about 4m deep but this water in front is shallow. We get there first but by 8.30am the first tourist long tail and speedboats arrive and they literally force there way over the sandy water to get to the deep waters...it is like watching a piece of silk being ripped by a razor...Brent is amazing in that he always makes sure we are all up and experiencing the beauty of this place before even the sun gets to peek in over the towering cliffs!

Where is a Cat when you need one?:) On the beach of course;)

Here is Micah anchored far out when we left to go to shore and now looking rather closer to the reef as the spring tides take all the sea away:) Koh Phiphi.

 Caden makes me laugh:)))) Look at him just lying here by himself in the sand while he waits for the shore break on a wild Indonesian island...to take him by surprise...Look at Micah!

Below- reflections at Rebak marina...soon to be reflections in Indonesia:)

Nicholas trying out a freshly dived oyster:)

I think that for the two weeks that Jackie was here on Micah...she spent more time in the water than on the boat:)

Above-I cannot resist adding a precious family photo;) This time around -Cally had returned back to SA the day before Jonty and Jacs arrived.

To get up to the top of Sail Rock...we all have to go through this gap where one giant boulder lies on another...try to do this coming back in the dark;)

Sorry we did not catch any of these while you were here...but we did get oysters;)

Eating fresh Oysters for lunch!

Sharyn this is your right hand :)

 There are five cabins on Micah and each one has a beautiful bathroom:) Proper loo and shower and basin and mirror.....The only thing you may not have in your bathroom ....is water;)- ONLY joking...just not that much water if we are out at sea...and MEN...you have to hang off the bottom (;) ) of the yacht...! Ha!ha! Toasting to that -Caden who is relieved that he is still a boy and not a man;) Here is his birthday party recently in Rebak..

Or so Brent has told our friends and they have taken him seriously...I think but have never seen, that there have been a lot of bottoms hanging off the back of our boat:) Sies!

 Here below- a photo of our saloon or lounge on Micah:)

 Cally had only been gone one day and I was already emotional and feeling so down...:( Being a mother is hard:(

Thank-goodness God gave me Caden!! He lifts my spirits with that gentle little face and his chatty disposition:)

I love this recent photo-And from one little ball to another:) Having a ball...sailing on Micah! 

All the exciting things that can and have happened to us...:)

Look what is coming behind this wave...

Below and above- MY MAN:)

 for you Brent- I repeat....

 I should never listen to beautiful music and look at photos when all three of my children were traveling with us....what happened? Why are they not all sailing with us:(

 Katy and Cody long lost second cousins- I think...got on really well!

Robbie- a quiet soul:)

Treasured photos- All three of our children waiting for their wave:)

Cody finds his wave...in the wave park in Kata beach:)

and here...this is not so tame- no wave to mess with...Indo

 Here below, is Cody with our earlier Crew member 2010-Travis:)-

ah! Where has this little Cody gone:(

off to explore the  Emerald Cave!! Look how packed that dingy is?:)

our very  own pirate; Jonty! Argggg....

Jax- embracing the blues...
Below- look at this vibe taxi we hired to take us and our recently arrived family -to the shopping centers to buy some groceries as we are off to the Similan islands with them the next day:)

Cody gets ready for take-off.... Soon he will be taking off from Micah back to SA again but this time he will go to real school....:(

Maybe every boat has to have one at some time...I wish it was a CAT:) But no this time, it was a mouse:) Actually it was a controversial happening in the marina... I was in the saloon with Caden a month ago, when I heard something in the kitchen fall.

 On inspecting I saw the little porthole was open but I could not see anything...Then I heard a packet crinkling....but still I could see nothing in the little glass cupboard? Caden got scared as rats fill him with dread as I had read somewhere that they have been known to eat babies eyes when they are sleeping in African villages (true!)..To make him feel better, I closed the glass slider and said that there is nowhere to go in there so if there was a mouse in there, I would see it in the morning peering through the glass.....

 The next morning I had forgotten but while I was making tea I happened to look at the glass slider and there inside, peering at me.....I laughed and Caden cried and then I nearly cried as I knew I had a big headache on my hands...I asked a neighboring yachtie to catch it for me and he arrived with a glove, opened the door and tried to grab it...but it had disappeared and then we saw in the backside of the little cupboard was a tiny hole with wiring going down into it?....:( Oh my goodness. could it get worse? Wiring! Who knows where that hole led to but now I knew there was a rat on the loose and I could not sleep until it was caught....

 So I laid the cheese in the furtherest end of the cupboard and left it for the day...That night, we happened to peak down into the galley and there through the glass She was back!!...I managed to block the hole with Brent's good diving glove:)- His contribution;)- Eventually I caught it with the fastest reflexes ever!! Everyone told me to kill it or it would find its way back!:((((( I could not and let it go but three days later , to my horror, out the corner of my eye I saw movement come into the cockpit and disappear into a hole under the sink...There were two holes and this second rat who looked a lot like the first one...kept going in the one and out the other...What a drama! It took me four hours and three cups of tea plus lots of patience and sitting under the sink frozen into position...to trick it into getting into a bottle to get some bread!!  I really did try to kill it but I could not:(( and eventually I could not take leaving it in a bottle and Cade and I got dressed into our hiking shoes and took it far away from the marina... but still on an island:( and let it go...It was the right thing to do:) Ah- Life on Micah;)

 On a more pleasant note:) 

Thank-you again for reading this blog and sharing our memories and fun times with us!!! I loved putting this blog together knowing that If it puts a smile on one person's face...it was worth my while!! 

So as I sip on a coconut fresh off a palm and then fresh off the ground:)-on a wild Indonesian Island...Farewell until my next blog!!