Continuation ...
2010 was spent mostly in Thailand
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| At the beginning of the year, we headed to Surin Islands |
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| While there, Darrel helped rescue a sinking fishing boat |
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| And took a well-deserved break |
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| For a few months of 2010, we were "on the hard" at Boat Lagoon |
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| Boat Lagoon Marina |
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| CanKata got some new paint (not all of her) |
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| We took a trip to Canada to see family Grandkids: Tehja and Taylor |
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| Dylan and his wife, Laura Living in PEI at the time |
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| 2010 was Loretta's last visit with her dad and mom |
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| On our way back to Thailand, we stopped in Hong Kong |
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| In 2010, CanKata got a new shade awning |
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| We got new bikes in 2010 |
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| We went to the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket Town and saw some strange customs |
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| We haven't been back to one of these festivals |
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| We got a new barbeque |
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| Boxing day on the beach with great friends |
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| CanKata, at the end of 2010, where she loves to be |
In 2011 and onwards, we posted pictures in this blog. The index on the top right-hand side of this page (Blog Archive) will take you where you want to go. You can also link to our ThaiSmiths blog (Links).
2013
After months of planning, restocking of spare parts and provisioning of food and drink, we left Thailand and Malaysia South Africa Sumatra we were forced to turn back due to a late season cyclone developing along our path. After sailing back to a safe anchorage in the out islands off the Sumatran coast we decided that we would head back to Thailand Thailand
Our Sumatra adventures are in the following blogs:
After Turning Around
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| We stayed at the Royal Langkawi Marina (Langkawi, Malaysia) while Loretta got her leg fixed |
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| We moved to Rebak Marina - much calmer - for the rest of the monsoon season |
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| Our favorite rest spot on Rebak Island |
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| The sea wasn't very inviting, so we cooled off in the pool |
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| We had CanKata hauled so we could clean and paint her bottom |
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| We celebrated our 39th anniversary at the fancy hotel at Rebak |
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| When the monsoon season ended, we headed for Thailand to settle indefinitely |
2014
After having owned CanKata for twelve years and cruised on it for ten, we sold her. We hope that the new owner can enjoy CanKata and her safety and comfort as much as we did.
Favourite place visited
Depending on how we define our favourite place changes our choice. If we base it on the most idyllic setting, i.e., remote, sparsely inhabited, great snorkelling and fishing, crystal clear water, and few other cruisers, we would have to choose the San Blas Islands off the East coast of Panama French Polynesia . It was there where we were received and treated extra special as we got to visit numerous villages and observe the dancers practising for the Bora Bora Dance Festival. Absolutely outstanding!
Favourite culture
We met many wonderful and beautiful people along our travels, but if we were forced to choose one from all we have met we would have to choose the people of Thailand
Worst experience
Our most fearful experience was when our dinghy flipped us out during a beach landing in the dark at Kupang , Indonesia Malaysia
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| and considerable swelling too |
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| More stitches on the other side, too |
Worst encounter with bureaucracy
Maybe we were just unlucky, but we had to deal with the Lady from Hell when we had to renew our passport visa at the Southport , Australia Immigration Office.
Worst leg of the passage
Before leaving Norfolk and sailing 1500 nautical miles with the West Marine 1500 Rally to the BVI’s we were informed that we could expect to be hit by a storm after crossing the Gulf Stream. The forecast was right. We encountered two days of 45 knots of sustained winds and waves that built up to 30 feet (10 meters) in height. CanKata and its crew survived the storm very well and the other eight days were fabulous sailing. Upon arriving at the BVI’s Loretta said she wished we could just keep going.
Best leg of passage
Every time we try to make a decision on our best leg it changes. Sorry we just had too many “best” legs.
Total number of nautical miles travelled
Over the twelve years we have covered approximately 32000 nautical miles. At an average speed of 5 knots that means we were underway for 6400 hours or 267 days.
Fastest sailing speed
During the storm in the North Atlantic we were sailing (surfing) down some of the large waves and exceeded 13 Knots. Yikes! We have sailed over 10 knots on a few other occasions but CanKata’s average speed is closer to 5 knots.
Total number of countries visited during our travels
During our time on CanKata we visited thirty-four countries. We have plans to visit many more by air and land.
Total number of guests who stayed on CanKata
Thirty-four different visitors, of whom nine returned two or more times at different locations along our journey.
Total number of bad days
Ten.
Total number of wonderful days
Thirty-thousand, four hundred and eighteen. Although the numbers are hypothetical, I think we have made our point.
Number of cruising boats we met with along the way
We visited with over 200 cruising boats. We shared anchorages with hundreds of others. We have developed life-long friendships with dozens of them.
Total number of friends who visited us on CanKata
Three hundred and seventy-two recorded in our guest log but we know we missed getting many to sign.
Total number of whale sightings
Five separate sightings however in most cases there was more than one whale. Our most memorable whale incident was in Tonga
Total number of fish invited to join us for dinner
Approximately seventy-six. Exact number not known, but many of the fish we caught were a good size and would fill our freezer and provide many meals. Types of fish caught included: tuna, barracuda, parrot, mahi mahi, Spanish mackerel, grouper, stingray, lobster, snapper, Dorado, and squirrel. We also caught one boobie (of the flying variety) but were able to release it so it could fly away.
Total number of fish who refused our invitation to dinner
Six. We used 100 pound test line with steel leaders so not too many fish got away once they were caught. However we did sometime pull in the line to find a clean cut through the steel leader. We do not even want to know what type of fish took our lure.
Do we have any regrets?
Unequivocally knot. We never lost our appreciation for how lucky we were to have been able to experience and see what we were able to during our 10 years of cruising on CanKata. Although we did not complete our circumnavigation, the only country that we regret missing is South Africa and more specifically its safaris. We think that 11000 nautical miles is a long way to sail to complete the circumnavigation and experience the safaris – perhaps we will fly there some day.
