Thailand Aggressor Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Captain’s Report June 16 – 22, 2013

This week we welcomed onboard Aggressor Fleet President Wayne Hasson and his wife Anne, who is Aggressor Fleet Vice President of Marketing and Reservations. Joining them were family and friends from Naples, Florida along with Jennifer from the United Kingdom. Our trip this week had a delayed departure due to some bad weather in the area, but by Monday afternoon we finally welcomed everyone onboard. Once all were settled, and wasting no more time, the Thailand Aggressor headed for the Phi Phi Islands with a strong sea coming from the rear that moved the vessel swiftly along. We arrived at a sheltered bay in the islands a few hours later, and just in time for dinner.

We spent Tuesday diving around the Phi Phi Islands’ numerous dive sites and found lots of marine life such as nudibranchs, morays, and lionfish. We ended the day with a fourth dive at sunset, as we watched the marine life getting ready for the night. After dinner a few of our divers went to shore to explore and enjoy the local Phi Phi village.

We awoke on Wednesday and the winds were still strong, but the rain definitely showed signs of improvement. We decided to hang around Phi Phi for another day, and headed the Thailand Aggressor towards two of the small islands that were close by. The muck diving here proved extremely interesting with encounters with rare types of sand sea anemones, cuttlefish, seahorses, and multiple nudibranchs. After we finished diving for the day, we cruised back to Phi Phi’s Tonsai Bay for a calm and restful night.

Thursday arrived and we were greeted with beautiful weather. The Racha Islands were our destination of choice. This area is a group of islands located south of Phuket and just a few hours cruise away from Phi Phi. Racha Yai and Racha Noi are granite in nature and provided a change to the limestone of the Phi Phi Islands. The underwater topography here is rocky with sloping reefs that are full of fields of hard corals and colorful marine life. Morays, cuttlefish, squids and a turtle regaled our dives.

Friday we enjoyed five dives in some of the bluest waters of the week. A large sea snake and big schools of fusiliers accompanied the divers on their underwater adventures. We ended the day devouring a delicious BBQ together before heading back to Chalong Bay in Phuket after one final night dive.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Captain’s Report July 14 – 24, 2013
Jim Church School of Underwater Photography - Unique Charter

Air Temperature: 85- 88F
Water Temperature: 84F
Exposure Suit – Board Shorts to 3mm Full
Guests from USA and Brazil

The winds blow and the skies are grey, but spirits are high onboard the Thailand Aggressor. The smell of the ocean breeze casts a bright image of adventure in the minds of novice to experienced underwater photography guests who are joining us for the “Jim Church School of Underwater Photography” charter. The temperature is mild, enough to bring sweat to the brow when setting up your dive gear, and enough to remind you that you are travelling, finding your passion, and alive. Making a quick check after all gear is put into the place, it’s time to settle into the air-conditioned stateroom. The boat slides off the dock with little notice. Keeping the speed low we cruise the long circular bay with a toast of champagne as the traditional fireworks show on the bow of the boat is a signal to the ocean asking for a safe passage on our adventure. The ship’s horn signifies the last firecracker pop and dinner is served. Flavors of sweet basil and parmesan meld with salmon in a fine dining treat prepared by our trained chefs. The moon hides behind the cloudy sky, as a small mist of warm rain is ever present in the night.

Waking at the five small rock formation jutting out of the water some 100-foot to the top, Koh Ha begins the dreams of all guests. The formations surround a white sandy beach while the lagoon is perfect to immerse our excitement into. Two of the formations climb like pillars 50 yards from each other. In between lies a sand bed with corals heads arising from the pearl white substrate. Two pairs of blue polka dotted harlequin shrimp are found resting just under coral ledges. The magnificent color contrast of eggshell white and big round blue dots that cover the shrimp are exactly what we are looking for to photograph. The sand moves in a waddle fashion. A closer look and this waddle is coming from the winged sea moths. The white of the body blends well and the maroon brown-checkered pattern over laid on top of the white makes the creature virtually invisible. Retracted to its sides is a set of translucent wings only splaying out when it feels threatened. In a small patch of sand there are 6 to 7 of these two-inch long oddities. Wrapped around a staghorn coral stalk is a spotted moray eel and coming across the sand is another free-swimming moray, but with no place to go it turns back and out of sight. The sand bed drops quickly into the deep. The towers of coral on each side of the sand bed harbor small bait fish and jacks along with rainbow runners that hover close to the rock formation.

We head south during the night to the islands of Lipe, Adang and Rawi. Koh Talang has many different selections from macro to wide angle. Cuttlefish rest above small rocks that have tangled growth that make the cephalopod blend in well. Flamboyant tassels of electric purple cover the nudibranchs that seem to cling to every piece of algae. Squat anemone shrimp skip across a tan and white-circled anemone. Wiggling their spotted abdomens continuously, the shrimp have no problem with divers coming close to get the close range shots. An up and down motion of elongated flippers and the rustic algae encrusted shell tell the tale of a hawksbill turtle fleeing from our bubbles.

With each dive, more cuttlefish are seen until we have a cluster of cuttlefish. One dominant male huddles close to a small female. Less than a foot away, two smaller males try to over take the larger male for rights to mate with the female. The large male flares his tentacles in a waving pattern to ward off his advancing adversaries. The guard of the female never tires in his defense.

The southern islands have a combination of small animals and large masses of rock formation covered by pink, white, and purple soft corals. Stonehenge brings thoughts of formidable stone weather by time but still held strong. The dive site with the same name brings similar thoughts. Rising out from the craggy ridges are vertical pillars engulfed in bouquets of the afore mentioned soft corals. Fragile by looks, the hardy corals keep a constant blossom. With a light current we soar above the meadows of corals. In the middle of the pillar structures are a bed of green-tipped anemones with not so common red saddleback anemone fish. The center of the fish is a darker maroon with the color lightening like a sunburst with radiant oranges transforming into tips of yellow. These fish become a quick favorite for all the photographers. Juveniles have a small white stripe cresting the top of their head and darting from anemone to anemone. A curled tail of yellow wraps around the dark forest green lattice hard coral. The yellow body of the seahorse stands out from the rest of the colors. With small fluttering fins, the seahorse moves from one stalk of coral to the next.

The island chain is clumped together with long sandy beaches making up a majority of the coastline. We get to stretch our legs on one of the beaches. A native to the island is a macaque monkey looming in the green leaves. Relaxing in the shade the monkey poses, and then shows teeth to assert his dominance on his island.

The sun is setting and we take the advice of our divemaster Bai and jump off the back of the Thailand Aggressor to search for tiny nudibranchs and macro delights. Sure enough the nudibranchs move across the rocks and sand in 50 feet of water. Staghorn coral grows out of the sand in the shallower waters. Mantis shrimp no bigger than a pencil eraser head find little holes to back into to hide. As the sun fades into the horizon a great surprise for all divers. Our Brazilian photographer Braz swims over a set of eights legs perched high with two small egg shaped eyes and two little tassels coming off each eye. A mimic octopus is found. Not known to be in this area, the octopus bends out of its perched position looking for a hiding hole. The octopus keeps its eyes out and when it feels comfortable, it brings forth its tentacles and begins to glide over the top of the sand. Changing shapes and colors, the octopus even changes its texture of the body. Algae looking appendages emerge from all over its body. Moving from white and brown stripe to reddish color it is joined by another mimic as they begin to walk across the sand. All tentacles are brought up, as two remain pushing off the bottom. This behavior goes on for almost an hour. An incredible unanticipated treat for all.

Waking up to no sight of land, we have small rolling seas. A few random plastic bottles seem to stay in the same place continually. A small peak of rock with waves crashing over it lies close to the bottles. The bottles are attached by rope that dive down deep below the surface to connect us to mountains set alone in an oasis of corals and fish. Hin Muang and Hin Daeng pinnacles open a new world in the open ocean. Eels are plentiful and fusiliers surround us as we circumnavigate the twin rocks.

We head back to Koh Ha for some unfinished business of diving the lavender fields. The soft corals blossom like a meadow and our divers get to frolic in the pink and purple beauty of the stalky soft corals. Getting our fill of the purple majesty, we venture under a rock archway blazon with orange clustered hard corals. Venturing up the rock face and making a right turn we drift over sand with multiple terraces of coral falling down to the sand bed at 70 feet. Two spot grouper and yellow snapper group together in a cloud of fish. Our experienced diving photographers make it to the south side of the rock ridge and plunge down again to find a channel with the lavender soft coral colonies clinging to the mini sized rocks. More two spot grouper rest on the current side of the rocks and in the small channel that the rock formations make.

Phi Phi Island is known for its beautiful sheer rock faces island walls. Underneath these walls lies another world of wonder. Small creatures take refuge in broken corals. White eyed moral with eyes as round as a cigar gape with their mouths open. Brilliantly colors peacock mantis shrimp build a tunnel for a home with two distinct exit points. Usually the shrimp keep a close watch out one side of the tunnel and they always make for great shoot subjects. Several different species of nudibranchs roam the sand and we find an enormous orange spotted one on a boxed metal structure. A land tour treat is planned with the nighttime festivities of fire dancers lighting up all the beaches at Phi Phi Don. It is a chance for our guests to get a local flavor as well as find time to buy some curios before the trip home.

Our last full day of diving and a good day is planned. The King Cruiser Wreck has plenty of fish and an amazing blue coral growing from the structure. The structure is still well intact and the fish love it. Anemone Reef is teeming with life. Foot long squid in a large school of 50 mingle with the two species of fusiliers. Two yellow seahorses and butterflyfish hover around pink lattice sea fans. The rock of the reef cannot be seen from the anemones that cover every square inch of rock.

A special thanks goes out to Mike Mesgleski of the “Jim Church School of Underwater Photography” for coming to Thailand to enjoy yet another Aggressor trip, and to all the students that graduated this week from the school.

For The Ocean,
Lowel

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Welcome to the Thailand Aggressor dry dock.

We are upgrading many areas of the vessel to make your stay safe and more comfortable. A new bathroom upgrade is already in full swing with an elegant modern style and look. We spare no expense to make our vessel safer by adding a fully equipped Global Maritime Distress and Safety System onboard and on your visit here, the Thailand Aggressor crew will be happy to show you how to use the VHF or single side band radio so you can talk to some one half way across the world.

Ever want to be a Captain? Come sit at the helm and drive using our new plotting aids to get us safely to the dive sites!!!. We have some incredible plans coming up so keep checking our dry dock blog and pictures on facebook or at Welcome to Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet - The Ultimate in LiveAboards since 1984!!!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Dry Dock Day #5 for the the Thailand Aggressor.


First coat of hull paint.


We are looking to be back in the water by mid week next week and we will continue to make improvements in our wet dock portion of the construction when we are afloat again.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Drydock Update: August 2, 2013

Freshly polished propellers to finely honed shafts gleam in the over cast light while the crew does a little scouting of the north of Thailand for new horizons and adventures.

The exotic cuisine of Thailand draws tastes from each the land and sea. Deep purple mangosteens and the hairy red outer shell of the rhumbutan bring a sweet sensation to the taste buds and the ever lasting aroma of the durian fruit is something no one will ever forget, but the flavor is a favorite amongst the locals.

The north area of Ranong is a eco-expedition in waiting. Elephant trekking tours with white water rafting, waterfalls, caves, and natural hot springs will keep you busy before or after your visit onboard. The sights, sounds and tastes of Thailand beckon the adventurer in all of us and what could make this any better? Diving on the Thailand Aggressor.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Dry Dock Update: August 6, 2013
The hull is fully painted and with a few more improvements to the dive platform it will be time to go back in the water in a few days. Very excited about the excellent high paced job the workers have done to the boat. Once we are back in the water, we have a new schedule of projects to do and keep on making the boat better.

Thailand Aggressor Dry Dock Update: August 5, 2013
The light rays from the sun break through the hazy clouds that linger from the two days of heavy rains. It is a welcome sight for the Thailand Aggressor. Local Thai and Burmese works cover with long sleeved shirts and hats to continue the under coats of paint on the hull.

We are on schedule for being back in the water for the wet dock portion of upgrades on the 7th.

We have a special exploratory charter coming up soon to expand our itinerary so look for updates on where the Thailand Aggressor will be in the near future!!!!

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Dry Dock Update: Aug 8th


The night was filled with a heavy mist layer which seem like it would dissipate. The early brought more of the same as the tropical sun rose the following morning with a sense of success. Piercing the mist with its visibile heat, the mist slowly clears. It's 11am and the clanging of metal to metal echos through out the ship yard. The reenforced steel beamed cradle with the Thailand Aggressor resting upon it shuffles its way across the railing to be positioned in the channel ready to go back into the water. With a little readjustment of the railing system slowly the yacht is lowered into the water.


Just as though we are headed out to sea again, the traditional ceremonial offerings are put on the bow. A bouquet of exotic fruits, a fresh coconut with the top cut off and milk of the nut splashing over as the boat pauses. The long line of firecrackers positioned on the bow bursts to awaken the sea gods to let them know that the Thailand Aggressor is back in the water.


Thank you to all the crew that has labored long days to make this happen.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Wet Dock Update: Aug 12, 2013

The crew is in full gear as we have turned from the dry dock to the wet dock. Each day we are getting closer to completing projects and upgrades. It is mid wet dock on the boat and outside. The weather was great in the morning then some late afternoon showers brought our grinding to a halt.

Our improved dive platform has been completed which will make it easier for guests to enter the water. The new shelving system in the staterooms is nearly completed with bathroom modifications close behind in completion.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Dry Dock Update: August 19, 2013

Things are looking good.

Our wheelhouse is now fully equipped with an AIS, SSB, VHF, Nav Tex and what all that means is the navigation system on the Thailand Aggressor is loaded with the most up-to-date abilities to navigate and receive national and world weather reports sent right to the bridge.

The crew is honing their skills in AED, CPR and Emergency 02 in between bouts with the walls prepping for paint. What do all these letters mean? That your great adventures aboard the Thailand Aggressor will be had with a well-trained staff and highly equipped yacht for your safety.

The big projects are becoming smaller and smaller. The crew is ready for the up coming season of Eat, Sleep and Dive.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Thailand Aggressor Wet Dock Report: August 21, 2013

It's good to be back out on the sea.

We have taken the yacht for our sea trial after all the work that has been done in both the dry and wet docks.

The yacht is steaming at 9 knots and looks great - and the view isn't so bad either.