Captain Scott's Log ~ March 16th 2008

In 2008 we will go from here to Vancouver via Langkawi, Singapore, Borneo,
Philippines, Tawian, Japan and Alaska. Aboard now is Scott Piper, Mark
Jones(Capt), Jeff ( mate & engineer) and Tip (advice giver). We have gone
north to Phangnga Bay. I was here in '99 with Gill and the Nances. With the
aid of my old log book and charts we are revisiting the best of the area. We
left the southern tip of Phuket at dawn and beat north into 25kts of
headwind--not fun.

By early morning we were reaching at 10 kts; the high
spires of the islands filling the horizon ahead. These are limestone
monuments that rise 1000 ft or more, often perfect phallic replicas. At Ko
Phrank we sailed under the 385 meter high cliffs and noted a cave entrance
that I had not found in '99. By dingy we entered the cave and soon all
outside light was gone. Canoes from a tour boat paddled by us. Their
flashlights showed us the way as well as the bat colony overhead. We finally
saw sun light from an exit 100 meters ahead. This exit gave us only a few
inches of clearance so we layed on the floor of the dingy as we entered into
an open-top sea chamber, a lagoon surrounded by 1000 ft cliffs of vines and
ferns. A true lost world. Our exploration was short as the tide was rising
and the exit was getting smaller by the minute. Back on the boat we anchored
here for the night. Eagles screamed and wealed in the heights at sunset and
dawn. Truly a great start to our trip back to America.