Boat Trip

Today, Steve invited us out on his boat for a trip to the islands and some fishing. We met at Mermaids Dive Shop (Steve's other business venture, along with TQ2), piled into 2 large vans and several cars, drove an hour down the coast, and loaded onto the middle size of Steve's 3 boats, and headed out to sea.

Along for the ride were, Steve from England, and my friend Stan,

Ray, and Steve from Australia,Fred, and his girlfriend,Steve from America, and his kids,
and about a dozen other people.We sailed out to an island, and Steve and I spent about an hour on the beach with the kids. After that, we sailed out a distance, and did some fishing, and drank copious amounts of beer.At the beach, there were millions of tiny jelly fish floating about, but they didn't sting. It was difficult for me to get used to swimming in water filled with clear... but palpable... little blobs. However, once we went out to the fishing area, some really giant (and deadly) jellyfish started floating by. (I tried to stick my hand in this photo to help with perspective, but it really doesn't work. The jellyfish in the photo is about 2½ feet by 2½ feet.) They were really gorgeous to look at too, with an appearance that would remind you of a giant brown cauliflower. Still though, getting stung by one of these would ruin your afternoon.As per usual, the Thai girls spent a lot of time sleeping, eating and avoiding sunlight. There was tons and tons of food to eat, and even more beer and soda. The weather was really gorgeous, and the waves kept the boat rocking gently. The kids all had a blast fishing, and then playing with the fish. The beach was great too, with coral, sea anemonae... and not a single person trying to sell you sunglasses.