• SCH = "SCHNUCKELPUTZ"
• KRIOS = "KRIOS", March, 1998 SSCA Bulletin, p. 3. (Not completely typed)
• RR = "RAI REVA" - approx. 1996
• W'M = "WATERMELON", July 1998 trip, Draft: 2.1 meters (7’+)
• YAW = "YAWARRA", 1998. Draft: 2.2 meters.

Traveling north from Singapore to Tioman the current is 2-3 knots in both monsoons: the incoming tide runs south, the outgoing tide runs north. Can get weather for Gulf of Thailand from Bangkok Radio. 0800 - 0830 local time - 6765.1 and 8743.0 (Times: 0600-0800, 0900-1100, 1200-1400, 1500-1700, 1800-2000, 2100-2300 GMT) First given in Thai, then in mechanical English.

The months of November through February are rainy and stormy, and the locals say it is not good weather on the east coast. Some resorts are closed. During the SW monsoon, June to November, weather is generally clear and calm, but somewhat violent electrical storms will come off the peninsula. Winds can gust to 30 knots, and it can get uncomfortable. The local boats generally seek a harbor protected from the west. These storms are usually of short duration, but the seas will be unsettled for hours afterward. It is for this reason that during the SW monsoon it is suggested that anchorages be sought on the East and NE coasts of the islands. Almost all anchorages are rolly to some extent, but we did not find any anchorages that ever got as bad as Ko Rok Nok or Ko Racha Yai on the W coast of Thailand, so "rolly" is a relative term. Only after one unusual squall that came out of the east were we uncomfortable with the resulting roll, which laid down within three hours.

Prevailing wind usually SE, not SW. Squalls from SW -> W.

(W'M): We left Sebana Cove Marina late - in early July, about a month after REVERIE. We did not experience the squalls and practically daily storms that they did. NOM DE PLUME was still anchored at the Causeway near Johore Bahru and were hit by lightning that first week of July. Do provision well before leaving Singapore/Johore Bahru - you won't want to go to the mainland and there is very little to be had in the islands. Some food can be obtained in Tioman Island, see below

JASON BAY - (Telok Mahkota) 
(SCH) 1º51'N 104º09E - 60 NM from Singapore. Quite shallow anchorage. Swell does roll in from south - watch tide. 10 km of sandy beaches. 
(W'M) First night after leaving Singapore we got as far as an indentation, as described by Krios, March 1998 SSCA bulletin, (1º39.8N, 104º14.7E). Weather was calm, but overcast, so swell was irritating but not particularly uncomfortable. 
SIBU ISLAND: 
(SCH) Enter SW side, very protected. 2º10.49'N, 104º06.10E Can anchor north of island, but watch weather. Good beaches and snorkeling.
(W'M) Anchored on east coast, two beach resort anchorage. Calm, mild swell.
(RR): Really liked N. side. A few small resorts that welcomed yachties - offered to get fruit & veg. from Mersing. No problem with swell. 
PULAU TINGGI: 
(SCH) 2º18'N 104º07'E Anchor in NW bay and west side, or S side behind reef. An extinct volcano. 
(YAW) 02º16.69’N, 104º07.29’E - Anchored in 10’ grass and sand not far from jetty. Small swell. An orange buoy marks the end of the fringing reef off the small island on the SW side. 
PU. BABI BESAR: 
(SCH) 2º26'N 103º59'E Anchor SW side. 
(KRIOS) The little islands to the north are a pretty sight both above and below the water. 
PU RAWA: 
(SCH) 2º31'N 103º59'e. Anchor W side, mooring buoys, good walk to top of island. Restaurant at resort O.K. Dead coral but clear water. 
PU SEMBILANG/PU. SRIBUAT: 
(SCH) can't go in channel. Very protected. Fantastic. 
PU. AUR (2º27'N, 104º31'E) & PU. PEMANGGIL (2º35'N 104º20E) 
35 miles from Sibu to the Aur Islands. Between the main island and the northern smaller island are lots of fishing boat moorings. It is very deep, and so the moorings are a welcome resource. Some don’t seem to be for larger boats, and some would let you swing into very shallow water at low tide, so choose with care. Very clear water - good snorkeling. You should be sure to bring your dinghy with you and not count on swimming back to the boat, though the current near shore is not so strong. 
PU. TIOMAN: 
The two main bays, Juara on East, Tekek on West, are only about 15 miles apart. If swell is bad in one bay, go to other, and vice-versa.Juara Bay on E. side. 
(KRIOS) Sometimes there is an annoying swell when the wind dies, apparently if there is a storm offshore, and so it is advisable to put out a stern anchor towards the beach. Prevailing wind and swell from the East, storms from the West (though when we were there we had a storm from the East, raising a nasty chop. But these storms only last a few hours, and the roll, though nasty, lay down in four or five hours). The bay is big and lovely, there are two small stores in the village (Mutiara, Happy Cafe), with occasional new supplies - watch for the supply boat and go ashore that day. Mutiara will take orders for fruit and vegs. and get them when he goes to Mersing. There are three or four small restaurants - Ali Putra Mini Cafe was pretty good, but limited menu. Water beautifully clear, stream at south end of bay goes back about a kilometer, is clean fresh water so one can do laundry, etc. Snorkeling is quite good. It's a very large bay - on the north corner are some rocks and reasonable coral there - further in, but just out of the bay, is lots of plate coral. In the bay itself there is a great deal of coral near shore. The water is very clear. Restaurants/cafes are iffy - sometimes they don't have much in the way of food. Bushman's Cafe made dreadful pizza - that day everything was closed or had only big fish and vegetables. Happy Cafe seems to be popular because they have a TV. Long weekend for National Day, so many people that Juara Mutiara Cafe with a big group, did buffet dinners, all you could eat for RM 8.00 per person. Good food. Juara Mutiara has beach shacks, two people RM 15 - 20 per night. That was the price for the Malays. Don’t know if he has a higher price for foreigners. Nice man.
Tekek Bay At northeast elbow, the officials are under one roof at the ferry landing ...and some private, rental moorings nearby. 
(W'M) "Watermelon" picked one up, was asked to leave because owner's boat would be coming in. We had tried to anchor where KRIOS suggested, was told by the dive shop fellow that it was hard coral, we would have trouble , which we did (and anchoring is not allowed according to the sign on shore), and were told we could pick up any of the moorings - only to be asked to leave. Better is to go to see Dennis and Vicki at OctoDivers, who have several moorings and will guide you to a good one. These were free last time we were there. There are government moorings (red balls) by blue-roofed government buildings north of the two jetties (02º 49.9'N, 104º 09.6'E) which you can pick up. Gasoline (petrol) sold by "16-Hour STOP" mini-market, ~RM 3.80 per litre - second modern market when you turn west from the south ferry jetty. Fuel by barrel is available, there is a bank and limited provisions - two modern markets with limited selection, some frozen meat sometimes, but it depends on when you get there if the supply boat is coming (nobody seems to give you a good answer as to when it will arrive). Fresh veggies at Veg. shop were sometimes terrible, sometimes okay - W'M and YAWARRA were nauseated by vegetable shop - she doesn't throw out the old, rotted stuff, so the flies and the smell are terrible. There's another vegetable market on the way to the airport. There is a path, with some steps, to walk to Juara on the other side of the island, takes about 2 hours. Some people have the energy to walk back, but there is a slow local ferry that takes you back in the afternoon, which I enjoyed more. 
PU. TULAI: 
(sch) Good day anchorage on SE side. Bay at NW side has mooring buoys, supposedly good in SW blow. Not much swinging room on anchor. 
(W'M): Anchored in NW bay, 02 º54.86'N, 104 º06.12'E, 50' deep where anchor down swinging to 15'. Two mooring buoys, both taken by tourist boats when we got here, both left by 1 p.m. Check out big lizard, which comes down to the beach after the day trippers have left. Beautiful bay, clear water and good snorkeling, but we dragged onto coral when a squall came out of the west in the middle of the night. Nasty, though mostly our pride was hurt. We would have been wiser to return to Tioman for the night. Bottom is not good holding, very deep, and the waves that come in during a storm are very rough. 
KUALA PAHANG 
(sch) 45 miles from Pu. Tioman. Don't stop here, keep on to Kuantan. 
d for the Bangkok area the wet season is May to Oct. (above 9ºN). 

(W’M): Entry - we followed a fishing boat in. There are “channel markers” that seem to be poles with two styrofoam balls on them. We proceeded North in the bay until we could no longer see the river entry, the breakwater was visible and blue building bore 245º, and we continued in on 245º until through the entrance. Water gets a bit thin - down to 10-1/2 feet at one spot, down to 8 feet going out. When you get to entrance, deeper water on breakwater side until around the sand bar. We anchored well inside the harbor up the river, just off the police dock, behind Hotel Sri Malaysia (from water looks like a pink 3-story apartment building), in 15’ of water, excellent holding. SONY sign just behind us, two small jetties, one concrete, one wood, behind hotel, just before police dock. This seems to be Chinatown. There is a water taxi that drives around the river taking people from place to place - the small jetty, the wet market, the island across the river, etc., so need not put dinghy in water. Better anchorage (quieter and marginally cleaner) is just inside the harbor entrance in 30’ of water, opposite wet market and water taxi jetty. Be careful, shoals everywhere - goes from 30’ to 7’ in short distance. Three supermarkets - THE STORE in Chinatown, the EMPORIUM around the corner from Hotel Sri Hoover (?), and a modern mall-type (ASTAKA) in the blue building that is the entrance landmark - just a few blocks down from the wet market. Large wet market. Road along river in Chinatown had several butchers, looked clean. Large modern shopping mall under construction (but no work going on when we were there in 8/98) which says it will have a McDonald’s, Watson’s, etc. Check-out was time-consuming. Go to Port Office first - just down the street from Hotel Sri Malaysia - before CalTex service station. (Fuel dock is just past this). Then Immigration, in Government Offices (as on map) just past Stadium, then take taxi to Customs, which is about 2 km away on Jalan Sultan Mohamed, just past the circle from Jalan Sultan Omar. Getting a taxi to or from Customs is a real problem. We wound up hitching a ride after trying unsuccessfully for better than half an hour to find a taxi. Jeanne found three Internet Cafes, one of which did not have disk drives so couldn’t download files or transmit files w/ mail. But others okay. Suggest rising tide if you go to fuel dock - water is a bit thin, and very busy. Diesel was RM0.65 per litre, they charged us RM0.80 (total) for water - probably just to bring fuel bill to even RM40.00. Just past, but before bridge, is drydock and crane. Seems set up for heavy-duty boat maintenance, but we did not find until we were leaving so didn’t inquire if suitable for yachts.
Island 3 mi. offshore of Trengganu: P&S - great but exposed to W. so rolly if get a squall. Nice beaches & little resorts. Anchored @ N end. 
PULAU LANG TENGAH: Approx. 05º 48'N, 102º 54'E - west of Redang Island - there is a resort and white sandy beach on the east side, supposedly. A German couple who comes for vacation here every year says it's great. (08/98 info. to W'M, unconfirmed). 
PU. REDANG: 
(sch) Never a comfortable anchorage, very rolly. But a lovely scenic spot (marine park) and safe anchorage. Can go through gap between Pu. Redang and Pu. Penang. Another anchorage E of island, rolly and one on SE side. However, worth the visit! Turtle hatchery on Pu. Penang with big mooring buoys. 
(W’M): Anchored in NE bay (5º47'N 103º01E) in 15-20’, hard sand, beach SE of resort bay beach. Anchor did not set easily, seems to be thin sand over hard bottom - probably better in front of resort - seems to be deep sand there, but we felt this was more discreet yet convenient to the resort. Normally just a mild roll, would be none if there were a breeze or we had set out a stern anchor. Best diving seems to be in NE corner of bay, in a little cove. A mooring there, but not strong enough for a yacht - just a day mooring for small boat. But not as good fish or coral as Pu. Tenggol. Get water at watersports jetty - ask the watersports fellows to turn water on if not already on. Friendly fellows, came out to boat to check it out. Very polite. P&S: NE side "fantastic spot" gradually shelving bay - pure white sand. Found fruit & vegs. in village. Redang is superior place. NOTE: Dive instructor at Tenggol says that the dead coral is the result of the construction on the resort. It has devastated the bay's coral.
(W’M): A C2 fishing boat came into the anchorage. “C” boats are the largest, about 60-75'. There were at least 23 men on board the boat! How they can sleep that many people, and catch enough fish to pay that many men is beyond imagining. They are loud as they go about their work - checking and flaking the huge net, fixing what needs fixing. And we, anchored so close, are a huge curiosity to them - I can’t pop up into the cockpit without ten pairs of eyes turning to watch me. Took several pictures of the boat - SRI JATI. Hope they come out. And another fishing boat was anchored on the other side of the bay - close to a quarter mile away, but upwind of us, and the smell of rotten fish was overwhelming. It smelled as if something had died in the 'Melon. 
PU. PERHENTIAN: 
(sch) Two islands - Besar (5º55'N 102º45'E), and Kechil. Good anchorage in channel, don't anchor on village side as it is very dirty.( W'M disagrees, but the bottom is fouled with lots of stuff). Lots of diving spots. A backpacker place, really lovely. Top spot! Be well stocked up, as restaurants expensive and not very good. P&S: OK, lots of dive hotels/crowded beaches, rolly.
(W'M): Lots of dive spots - look for mooring balls or fish floats - they're moorings for the dive boats - for good dive spots. All over the place. Can get gasoline (petrol) in village store - also limited supplies - some vegetables, spitball bread - watch Use Bay date - bought some hamburger rolls that were moldy. Village is a sad affair, you won't want to spend much time there. During day, anchor anyplace along the pass between the two islands, good holding, but charter yachts suggest that nighttime anchorage in Long Bay, Perhent. Besar; NE of pass - (05º55'N, 102º43'E) to be fully protected from S and W squalls. Set anchor carefully, hard coral bottom, thin sand over until really close inshore. Comfortable, not particularly rolly.
This is a snorkeler's paradise. Although it is the least clear water we've found on this coast, it is still as good as anything we have found since leaving Fiji. The local boats take people on snorkeling excursions - the coral gardens are delineated by lines of floats. Protects the snorkelers, gives the boats something to tie onto so they aren't ruining the coral with their anchors. One spot we counted eight runabouts full of snorkelers - I was bumping into them everywhere. A good spot, but too many people for my taste. But timing is everything. Just an hour earlier there wasn't a soul there, so it's my own fault if we went during the 11 a.m. rush. However, the activity is impressive. Everyone who owns a small runabout seems to be in the snorkeling guide business. Long Bay, where we're anchored in has lots of small cabins for the backpacker trade (RM65 - 75 per night), lots of little restaurants on the beach. Looks a lot like Ko Racha Yai but without the swell. Food is reasonably priced - maybe RM 1.00 or so more than in Juara Bay, Tioman. There is a garbage boat that comes around picking up the garbage - most of the bays have a float onto which they place their bags of garbage - a most interesting and intelligent solution to a difficult problem. Everything is very busy, what with water taxis taking people everywhere. I liked it here because it is so alive and busy. Though unless you like SCUBA and snorkeling, there's little to do. But, come to think of it, it's no different than in the Caribbean islands. 
TUMPAT: 
(sch) on Thai border which is conspicuous by large white tower. You can anchor at Tumpat, just south of Sungai Golok (north of Kota Bharu) or around the sand spit. BUT - very shallow, only 2.1m. River too shallow for a yacht to go to Kota Bharu.

THAILAND

SONGKLA: 
(SCH) 7º14N 100º35'E. Busy fishing port, well buoyed if you want to go in. Lots of boat hardware available. If you don't want to do Immigration here, you can anchor off, dinghy in and get tuktuk to town. Inside the harbour there is nowhere to leave the dinghy so you need to flag down a long tail boat. European prices are applicable! Very nice town. A low lying piece of coast along here, and you can anchor practically anywhere. There are many fishermen to watch out for. Tide changes at Songkla. Now Incomings flows north and Outgoing flows south.
Note: "Schnuckelputz" often goes all the way from Pu. Perhentian straight to Ko Samui. Takes about 3 days and 2 nights. Course is well away from the coast and the fishermen and avoids some of the tide influence and drift nets. Generally follow the two lighted small islands on way up.
(KRIOS) Anchored in opening between Ko Katen & Ko Mat Sum, S. of Ko Samui. (09º23'N, 099º58'E). 
KOH SAMUI: 
(SCH) Chaweng Beach is the "tourist" beach. Very noisy. Anchor on northern side. Go to Nathon (by tuktuk) for shopping and Customs and Immigration. Good shopping here, can get anything you want.
(KRIOS) The main recreational establishments and beaches are on Samui's east and northeast coasts. We skipped the surfy Larnai Beach and went farther north to the Imperial Hotel, Chawang Noi (09º30'N, 100º03'E). The friendly Dutch manager invited us to use all facilities. In order to get fuel from a gas station close by, we anchored near a wooden dock (09 º35'N, 100º00'E) at Mae Nam in the north. They deliver by truck. 
KOH PHA NGAN: 
(SCH) Anchor at top of island at Tong Naipan. Can also anchor at Hadrin (Avoid Hadrin at full moon there are midnight parties on beach with lots of white tourists misbehaving and doing drugs!) Has ferry. Good shopping.
(KRIOS) Much less developed than Samui, the backpackers take advantage of the lower prices and more primitive lodgins in the majority at Aow Rin Nok, Thong Reng (09º45'N, 100º05'E), Thong Nai Pan and Hat Khuas, which have pleasant anchorages. 
KOH TAO: 
(SCH) 35 miles from Koh Samui. "The" place! - best scenically and diving. Mooring buoys available. Wait till dive boats go. Great snorkeling and restaurant food good and reasonably priced. Stores are expensive at Koh Tao. 
(KRIOS) Ko Tao is considered a paradise for diveres, due to the deeper water. There is one particularly protected spot, advertised as the "only place in the world with three joint beaches" (a sandbank that connects Ko Nang Yuan to two other ones). 
PATTAYA: 
(SCH) 2 day journey from Koh Samui. Always a bit rolly, and very dirty- no sewerage system. Islands around Pattaya not very exciting. However, a safe anchorage, and "Schnuckelputz" was left on anchor for a couple of days in order to visit Bangkok. A little south of Pattaya is Jomtien Beach which is cleaner but water scooters are out from dawn till dusk. 
Places of interest include:

KOH SAMET. 
(SCH) Beautiful beaches. In 1993 dirty ashore. 
KOH CHANG: 
(SCH) is a large island not far from the mainland and is in the Province of Trat. The only decent anchorage is right at the bottom of the island. Across the channel on the mainland is Laem Ngob, which is a shallow anchorage and you have to keep some distance out. From Laem Ngob buses run to the main town of Trat where there is an excellent market and supermarkets - cheap compared to the tourist islands of Phuket and Ko Samui. Laem Ngob is the take off point for ferries to the outlying islands. There is a large fishing fleet unloading "live" fish for Bangkok. A few restaurants at Laem Ngob, but no real shopping. There is talk of a bridge being built to connect Ko Chang with Laem Ngob. 
KOH MUK: 
(SCH) Is a 5-6 hour trip, weather permitting, from Laem Ngob. Very nice anchorage on NW side but if a strong NE blowing then a large swell rolls in. In NE monsoon there is a good anchorage on the South side. If very windy then it's impossible to go to Laem Ngob. 
CHANTIBURI: 
(SCH) Famous for gemstones. See lots of Cambodians here. You can go to Klong Yai at the border with Cambodia, but it's more a border crossing for local people, not foreigners. "Schnuckelputz" didn't go to Cambodia. 
BANGKOK area. 
(KRIOS) ..to the five-star Ocean Marina Yacht Club, Jonitien Beach (12 º50'N, 100 º54'E, call Channel 12). Close to the seawall you will recognixze the lighted buoys of a short fairway (travel-lift, fuel, two swimming pools). For safety and security reasons, we selected this ritzy tower-condominium/hotel as the spot to leave the boat during our tour through Indochina and Myanmar. Another possibility would be in the river Chao Phraya, Bangkok, although the projected marina near Chumphon has not been built yet. It consists of a locked inner basin suitable for boats up to 31' and "outdoor" berths exposed to the tides. This Tridhos City Marina (13 º42'N, 100 º30'E, no VHF) can be reached only when the Krung Thep (Bangkok) bridge is raised at 0500 L. From Ocean Marina it's 25 km of 4-lane highway (150 km to Bangkok) by white tuk-tuk to truly international Pattaya, where you can find many, many things, but not a proper beach. For beaches, the hordes of visitors are ferried to the outlying islands. 
Other Choices: JOURNEY FROM KOH SAMUI TO KOTA KINABALU in BORNEO. Takes approx. 10 days.

Notes: Get Current/Tide charts from Department of Navy in Bangkok (Not Satahip). Very cheap. Take No.10 bus to the end, then take ferry across River from Royal Palace to Navy Headquarters, which is just a short walk.

CLIMACTIC DATA - from British Admiralty Pilot.

Monsoons 

• NE Monsoon between Nov. and Mar., winds stronger than in SW Monsoon.
• SW Monsoon from July to August.

Seas 

• April - May has 80% smooth seas, also Sept.-Oct.; both transitional periods.
• As the SW Monsoon develops, the seas increase.
• Gulf of Thailand is fairly sheltered in both monsoons.

Tides 

• Dominated by oscillation in the Pacific Ocean. Tides enter from the north, heading SW through S. China Sea with a branch taking off at 7ºN turning into Gulf of Thailand.
• Tidal Streams of East Coast of Malaysia seldom exceed 1½ knots and set S on a rising tide and N on a falling tide - this is reversed further north on the West coast of Gulf of Thailand.
• River mouths have strong tidal flows 2-3 knots, increasing after rain.

Currents

• Influenced by Monsoon winds giving a SW set in the NE monsoon (Nov-Mar), and NE in the SW monsoon (June-Aug).
• Currents dominate the tides and when current and tides join direction the flows can be 3 - 3½ knots.

Weather 

• Dominated by the large anticyclone over S. Siberia in winter (Jan.) and the low pressure cell over N. India in July. Pressure gradients slacken during the transitional periods of May and October.
• Tropical depressions can form between Oct.-June on the east side of Philippines, and more common in March-May, and move W or NW generally north of 10ºN. However, they can move in a zone from 6ºN in March to 16ºN in August, and from 160ºE in Jan. to 140ºE in June, moving NW in spring and SE in autumn.
• The frequency of winds of 28 knots (force 7) or more in winter is 5% or less south of 10ºN.
• The wet season on E. Malaysia coast is mainly Oct. to Mar. North of Terengganu the wet is more Sept.-Jan., and for the Bangkok area the wet season is May to Oct. (above 9ºN).

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