January 1, 2009-New Year's Morning

Kata Beach Scene

Good Morning & Happy New Year,

It is 09:00 on January 1. Wings is anchored at Kata Beach with a handful of other cruiser boats; let's see, a couple of Dutch ones, quite fancy, a Norwegian double-ender, a brit gaffer, a charter catamaran and Wings. A couple of other boats already left this morning. Of course there are a few dozen local work boats here, long tails for water taxis, double decker wooden charter boats, even a couple of sleek powerboats. I've been on deck since 7:00 watching the sun come up and observing the activity in the bay. Judy is sleeping in. The morning is glorious with blue water, clear to the bottom in 24 feet, puffy clouds, and fresh gusts of NE wind rolling off the hills and across the anchorage. Wings sways in the swell and you can hear the crash of a low surf on the beach. It's good to be here.

Offshore a parade of boats is sailing south, mostly people who were in Patong further north for the fireworks last night, and are moving on today. We had a good fireworks show here and I'd come back next year; it is less crowded than Patong.

So starts a new year. We don't know for sure what the year will bring, or where our travels, if any, will take us, but it's getting off to a good start.

Fred & Judy, S/V Wings, Phuket, Thailand