Diving Ko Rawi

Our time was up once again and Saini's visa expired so we had to leave Malaysia for Phuket. We left late on the 27th in the afternoon as Chan was tweaking our new CCTV and radar installation and we still had some stuff to pick up before departure. Once on our way we steamed towards the Butangs for night anchorage. We arrived just with the last rays of the sun and anchored just south of Ko Rawi.

Morning in Ko Rawi

During the sailing the boys had setup our dive gear and as we stopped engines we lowered the tenderboat for a night dive. From our last visit we knew that south of the Rawi Island was great corals to be seen we plopped in the drink armed with our new underwater flashes. At first we did some test flashing at he surface and when we were satisfied that all was working well we went down, me, Saini and Dubey. At first we encountered strong current against us but as we swam closer to the Island the current subsided as we reached the coral heads.

We were photographing anything that was worth a pic, but then my flash started acting all strange, at forst the flashes came long after the picture was taken and soon enough it stopped working altogether. Saini's flash was working alright and he was shooting away like a lightning thunderstorm. The corals we saw were very nice but the fishlife was very scarce for some reason (maybe all fish were sleeping).

Soon enough it was time to surface as we had exhausted our airtanks and back onboard we went. I discovered my flash flooded by brown freshwater, so I guess the batteries had warmed up during the last few days and accumulated condesation inside, the color of the water was from rust. Needless to say I will take out any batteries from my underwater gear when not in use.

Dubey had kicked a sea urchin while diving and he counted abt 17 pinpricks on his leg, he spent rest of the evening soaking his leg in vinegar.

Captains blog - voyage Phuket- Ko Rawi - Langkawi

We departed Phuket on 12th of Aug for Langkawi. Weather was again fine, only when we got out of cover Ko Yao Yai did we get swell in from the Indian Ocean. We steamed on for the whole day and anchored for the night S of Ko Rawi (Butang group). Next morning we awoke to marvelous surroundings of high Islands covered in lush green and specked with white sandy beaches.

M/y Kalizma in front of Ko Rawi

Ko Rawi

Morning 13th Aug was sunny and spent making a dive around Ko Palai and another on the bay at Western tip of Ko Rawi, we saw a great deal of sea life (puffers) as well as loads of giant clams. The coral here is very nice and unspoiled, also absence of tourists is notable, it might be otherwise during high season of course. At Ko Rawi the coastal cliffs goes straight down to several metres and divers are rocked by wave surge.

Beach had a lot of hermit crabs

Afternoon was partly overcast and spent setting up for a beach barbecue on Ko Rawi and some snorkeling. The coral heads S of Ko Rawi were numerous and colorful. The beach on Ko Rawi had many hermit crabs that were running about everywhere. I took to exploring the Island and found a natural fresh water stream that I followed up to its source, the jungle elsewhere looked impenetrable, consisting of thorny brush and ancient trees.

BBQ

BBQ

The fresh water itself out of the mountain was very cool and refreshing and I took several dips in the streams naturally carved out hollows. Once back at the BBQ it was getting dark and we fired up the grill and enjoyed the sunset accompanied with dinner. When darkness set in petrol lanterns were lit and we sat around joking and telling stories while enjoying some more grilled food. At abt 9pm we packed all gear in the tender and got back onboard for an early night as we needed to haul up anchor in time for us to arrive Langkawi HW.

Seagypsies

14th morning 6am anchor was heaved up and course set for Langkawi. On the way we passed a big congregation of sea gypsies. The weather was overcast and dead calm. We arrived Langkawi at 11am and made fast sb to floating pontoon at Wavemaster shipyard. We had arrived to the purpose of our voyage – 5year class renewal survey and routine maintenance.