Cruising the LESSER KNOWN Islands of Thailand (MJ Sailing - EP 96)

[@stevecrombie5357]

Ok I'm gonna say it, Jessica you are absolutely gorgeous. Glad you guys got to hook up with this visit to Thailand. Wonderful scenery and peace in the videos I have seen of this area. Lot warmer than the Great lakes area too!

[@mattjohnson6716]

Yeah. Since we had to leave for 90 days, our options were to stay in Grand Rapids with my mom (during winter) or go some place cheap and warm.... I think we made the right choice! Matt

[@DiogenesofSinope1]

I did it. I’m a patron. Was on a sailing vessel once, asked to get off because I was scared lol. But what a terrific way to travel. No hotels! Peaceful.

[@lorenenoe4472]

As always, felt like we were together...that's what professional photography brings...time filmed jumping off the stern with new friends was awesome too...especially liked the underwater shots of those jumps & bubbles. Thanks folks. 🐠

[@mattjohnson6716]

Thank Lorene. We appreciate the kind words. Matt

[@walkerb1734]

The videos just keep getting better and better guys! Jumping off the boat looks sooo much fun!

[@raythompson5920]

After 2 weeks in Thailand, Chaing was our fav! We actually found it at a local liquor store here in Las Vegas and keep some in the frig most of the time!

[@ausbinpippin5411]

Really wish that I had visited Thailand when I had friends there that kept trying to have be come visit them. I is really a beautiful place and keep on enjoying it.

[@chuckborghoff8443]

Beautiful area. Nice Cat. You two are very adventurous. Thanks for showing us what we are missing!

[@natemcdaniel2139]

When I first went to Thailand, there were about 6 million visitors a year,...now it is over 30 million....I can't imagine....

[@mattjohnson6716]

And it just keeps increasing! When we spoke to people in the tourist business, they said they're seeing a doubling every year of Chinese tourist.... with a 1.6 billion population, you can imagine the influx that is going to bring. Mat

[@bird718]

i never wanted to visit Thailand till just recently

[@petermcnaughton9031]

Looks real relaxing sailing ⛵️

[@MJSailing]

If we had about 5-7 more knots of wind it would have been PERFECT!!

[@pauloverland8816]

Great production work and voice over by Jess....

[@haanity]

Great video and great sail. For the summer if you change your mind we await you in Greece!

[@mattjohnson6716]

Oh man.... someday we'll make it to the Med. But, I think we'd never leave, so we need to explore other areas before we get sucked in :) Matt

[@georgewcamp]

nice to actually see some healthy coral still exists!!

[@MJSailing]

Yes, we were so happy to find that!!! But just wait for 2 episodes from now, we find even better coral and fish in a National Park there!

[@garymason8191]

Stunning Thailand waters and islands guys, safe sailing!!!

[@kapekodbob]

Oh so nice ! What. Was the air and water temperatures. How buoyant is the water. What a fun day !

[@mattjohnson6716]

Water salinity was similar to what we've experienced in most of the world. Temps were warm... maybe 27-31c (80-90f). Water felt close to that. Matt

[@bandulasri]

Boy..Thailand....thats paradise...luv ya guys `

[@ryanhawthorne5732]

I was wondering how creepy the KZbin comments on this episode would be since Jessica is in a bikini most of the episode. Glad to see most everyone is behaving! You guys really need to do some sort of shout out on KZbin for your friends Bill and Grace over on Calico Skies coming to KZbin. I have been watching them since Jessica posted that their first episode went up weeks ago and they are currently sitting at a sad 205 subscribers.

[@markliesker1620]

Nice holiday charter ,thanks for the nice vid.

[@klouism1]

: Great video. Looks like a beautiful place to visit.

[@MJSailing]

It really was, I could see spending a whole season in Thailand.

[@bigt5621]

Another great video!!! Do you guys still have plans for sailing to Antarctica later on maybe after Scotland 😉😉

[@MJSailing]

2019 cruising plans are: Azores - Ireland - Scotland - Norway - Scotland - Ireland - England. 😉

[@bigt5621]

I cannot wait for this years travel plans!!!!

[@MaShcode]

I've been to five star island resorts but to be honest I prefer roughing it. Don't get me wrong these luxury resorts have some amazing things to offer like privacy, great food, beautiful locations, superb service, etc. But there's something about choosing the less pampered, road less travelled option, that forces you to interact with the local communities and have a far more interesting experience. Plus the resorts don't serve Frito pie.

[@MJSailing]

I think I could spend a night or two at a luxury resort just to be pampered *a little bit*, but then you're right...I'd prefer to be out interacting with the locals and getting further off the beaten path. 😉

[@MaShcode]

@@MJSailing Adding to that the resort crowd, well, and I don't mean to disparage or inflame, is usually paying the big bucks to *avoid* humanity. Never been my cup of tea. I seek out the madding crowd. And yes sometimes get burned but am all the wiser for it.

[@Frindleeguy]

@@MaShcode I'm inflamed!!! How friggin dare you have your adventures YOUR way!!!! I'm telling, you're gonna be in big trouble!

[@MaShcode]

@@Frindleeguy haha, my life has been a series of predicaments based on highly questionable choices.

[@Frindleeguy]

@@MaShcode Well that's the life you live. If anyone tries to tell you that you did/are doing it wrong, send em to me. I'll try to remind them that literally the only thing you have control over is yourself- so they need to stop trying to tell anyone else how to live and focus on living their own lives! But that's my two cents and I'm an idiot, so whatever ;)

[@maxlemesurier]

Another one of your sister ship was spotted in Quebec. Will try to upload a picture and link here. I am on a sailing group on facebook and there is currently a discussion about the faith of this boat. The owner doesn't want to sell it but is has been standing there for a long time, unused.

[@maxlemesurier]

Here is a picture: lemesurier.tech/images/trisalu.jpg

[@mattjohnson6716]

@@maxlemesurier - Awesome! I love the stern skirt addition! It sure would make a nice dive platform and add needed buoyancy aft to help stern squat when motoring. Other changes appear to be that the rudder was moved aft about 1-1/2', they went to a partial skeg from the full skeg in the plans (things I wouldn't mind doing to ours) and converted from a saildrive to a really nicely done stern tube/strut set-up for a shaft. Plus, the hard dodger is one of the few I've seen that looks right on this size boat. It's a great looking boat and a shame to see it sitting there. Thanks for posting, Matt

[@davidrothbart8180]

Looks like a great adventure

[@tomshively5419]

Another great video!!😎

[@sonnylange3051]

There is a British couple on utube "followtheboat" they have cruised Thailand extensively. Looks totally beautiful.

[@MJSailing]

We've heard they've done a bit of re-fitting in Thailand, which now has Matt looking for catamarans in the area, lol.

[@natemcdaniel2139]

A similar scaling up of Chinese tourists is taking place in the Philippines, but at a much lower level. On our island of Bohol, we can still find unpopulated beaches.

[@mattjohnson6716]

We went to Bali for a month and were amazed at the influx of tourist from China. Most of the Westerners we saw were more budget oriented, but the Chinese seemed to spend a ton of money and are keep the economy chugging along. Matt

[@MARTINA-gc3tq]

Phuque how did you get from the Northern Atlantic to the Far East.? What boat you have

[@mattjohnson6716]

Martin, We had to leave the EU for 90 days due to our visa running out. SE Asia was the lowest cost option for us, so we flew there for that time. We were lucky enough to arrange a charter while there, and that is what the videos are from. Matt

[@karlfair]

Good job on this episode. Also good to hear of healthy coral. I once went to a 5 star resort in Belize. Didn't think to much of it. I'd rather sail.

[@mattjohnson6716]

Jess and I often talk about what the people in the 5 star resorts are missing. We like the adventure and not knowing what is next aspect of traveling on a budget. But then again, we haven't tried travel without a budget, so just make a lot of assumptions :) Matt

[@AKorigami]

Absolutely beautiful.

[@dustinlaborde4537]

Having spent a little time sailing both monohull or multi hall? Which one do y'all prefer and why?

[@mattjohnson6716]

For sailing? I much prefer the predictable motion of a monohull... it may not be as comfortably flat, but at least I know when it's going to bump and move about. When we are done with the more challenging sailing of the North (or far South) then we'll switch to a cat. For living aboard?.... cat 100%. I really do not enjoying sitting "in" the hull all the time in a mono. Modern monhulls are much better at reducing this feeling by having large hull ports at seating level and extra beam width, but nothing beats a properly set-up cat where you can sit in the salon and get a 270 degree view of your surroundings. That, along with a generally more protected/comfortable cockpit, and I think it is a much better liveaboard platform. We tried to duplicate the view from inside the best we could with the pilothouse, but it's still a compromise compared to a cat's always "up above the water" set-up. Another thing we often think about when comparing mono to multi.... the ability to carry a ton of solar to help power our lives. We want our boat to actually be able to sail, so will not put a huge solar farm covering every sqft of space. But this limits us and makes part of our daily focus on trying to keep power usage down while still living and editing videos. On a cat, we'd be able to make enough power that it's not even a consideration... that would greatly change the liveaboard part of our life. Matt

[@rmccugh61]

I recently came across a channel that the couple apparently knew you from Indian Town FL. It seems that they haven't posted in several months, do you know what happened to the guys on TEHO?

[@MJSailing]

We do! They tried cruising for 6 months and realized it wasn't for them. Then they tried crewing on a big yacht for 6 months but didn't care for that either. So they packed up their lives on the water (for now) and moved back to Texas to save up for cruising on a trawler in about 10 years.

[@rmccugh61]

@@MJSailing thanks for the reply. I was just starting to like their channel when I realized that they were not posting anymore.

[@RichardGetzPhotography]

do you not have a tap to focus?

[@fluffybunny2710]

thank you for your videos

[@megrier]

New intro and new music are very nice!

[@KK-qb1ve]

Love your videos! Have you ever sailed into an area and got nervous or scared to travel into?

[@diggingupthepastrundgrenst7993]

Anyone else have a mad crush on this woman?

[@mattjohnson6716]

I know I do :) Matt

[@geneberry7114]

Well, that's the end of Elements, she will be for sale shortly : )

[@mattjohnson6716]

Elements almost had a sister had the broker gotten back to me (Jeffcat 44). Luckily he didn't, and it sold before I had to empty our retirement/savings account and worry about how we are going to afford storing a boat. My dream was larger than my wallet :) Matt

[@dabrte]

Beautiful drone shots! 👙👍👍

[@mattjohnson6716]

I wish we could take credit for that. They are creative commons videos shot by someone else.... we weren't able to bring our drone along with us into Thailand without a lot of red tape. Mat

[@AliasJimWirth]

Really nice. Thanks so much.

[@matthewgary1192]

Sure makes me want to go to Thailand, thanks 🙂

[@TheRocketbuilder]

7:30 hangin out with Leonardo DiCaprio ??????

[@imabeliever244]

I always "thumbs up" your videos on spec...then watch and prove my ability to make wise decisions. :-) So, do positive comments about J in her bikini merit more shots of J in her bikini? haha Talk about GORGEOUS!! You guys rock!

[@tommygunz8692]

Nice boat....Beautiful place you anchored....How’s the food ???

[@mattjohnson6716]

The food is incredible. Cheap, fresh, and great flavor. But after three months of it, I couldn't wait to get back to the West for cheese and bread. I never thought those would be such desirable items, but after that amount of time with rice and noodles, I needed western food. Mattt

[@kyleroberts3600]

Matt Johnson Had so much rice growing up in Michigan, the southeast Michigander area, near Lake Saint Clair-one of the smaller great lake. I grew up poor-with a single mother, we lived on government handouts, and subsidies, etc.,which included lots of rice and cheese, I am so sick of white maggots, I could puke from the thought! Ha Ha. I'll take good old Steak & mashed potatoes, and gravy any day of the week. Love your sailing channel so much, as a fellow former Michigander. after spending 6 yrs., in the USA Navy, mostly in the Atlantic and sunny beautiful Caribbean, I love your Style & vibe, Your lady Jessica is so pretty-but the main thing-she is a beautiful Michigander with a beautiful heart. OK--have ''Fair winds and following sea's''...

[@jastark22181]

Another great video! ;) I know i asked you before but i don't remember what you said... Are both of you from Michigan or just one? If just one of you, where is the other from? I'm from and currently live in Saginaw. And Matt, OMG you are a lucky man! ;)

[@mattjohnson6716]

Both of us are from Grand Rapids- Jess was born in Texas, but moved to GR before she could crawl. We've been together since we were 17 and got married at 22. I'm very lucky in a million different ways, but most of them are my wife :) Matt

[@paulyh4531]

Great vid 👌 shame your focus was out a bit is the camera messing about ? Cheers 🍺👍

[@mattjohnson6716]

We're aren't sure what was happening with the focus. Unfortunately, manual focus is difficult to do when shooting "selfie" style, and we rely on the camera to do its job. We've got to play with it more to see if it is an issue with the camera that needs to be fixed/replaced, or if it is a setting we screwed up and corrected with a reset. Wish us luck! Matt

[@williambremner9022]

It's a great cruising ground, no doubt about it...so many bays, palm-lined beaches and islands to explore. Such a crime though that the Gulf of Thailand is completely fished-out by a greedy profit-centric industry. We used to catch mature Spanish mackerel and tuna while trolling under sail a decade or so ago but haven't caught one in years. Massive increases in tourism to Thailand by newly rich Chinese demanding that Thai seafood experience has decimated fish populations. The Thai government has taken some superficial measures (eg: fishing moratorium in the Gulf for 30 days last year) but this has had no impact on stock re-population, obviously. Competing with the Cambodian, Vietnamese and even Chinese fishing fleets (a lot of it illegally) isn't helping matters at all either. We fear it will get worse before it gets any better.

[@MrRourk]

Alright now don't get attached! Georgie would hate all the cat in a cat jokes. ;)

[@mattjohnson6716]

She will eventually have to learn to live with the jokes... if our budget ever allows :) Matt

[@waynemcphail7825]

Love the video.

[@kdkd693]

Nice upgrade! This will blow the budget ?

[@MJSailing]

For a two week charter it was fantastic! And we managed to work out a deal with the company where they let us use the boat in return for promotion. 😎

[@kdkd693]

Ha, good trade for you :) I can’t recall their name but if I bareboat again in Thailand I’ll return to this vid

[@beardedyaker9767]

Why did you guys not sail your boat over there?

[@mattjohnson6716]

Just a little out of the way :) Matt

[@yorukkizigeziyor]

Very beautiful 😍👍

[@billa7606]

If a man goes through an airport turn style too quickly, you know he's going to Bangkok!

[@philandlyra3365]

Now I’m very curious, how did u end up in Thailand ?

[@MJSailing]

We had been in the Azores (Portugal) for 6 months with our boat, but to renew our Schengen Visas in Europe we had to leave for 90 days. Thailand was a place we'd never been before, and it's incredibly cheap, so we decided to spend our 90 days there. 😃

[@philandlyra3365]

Ah thanks, been subscribed for some time now, but embarrassed to say we haven’t watched really, but this episode got us going, lots videos I see, take awhile to catch up. Cheers🇨🇦

[@rickchollett]

Awesome!

[@aa91504]

Wow, this video has so many views ,,

[@thatdutchguy2882]

Ahh, show offs,....we haven't had sunburn since the Azore's xD. Damit,....not jelly at all lol ;). 👍-up you Legends.

[@maximcurtis2586]

you probably dont give a shit but if you guys are stoned like me during the covid times you can stream pretty much all the new movies and series on Instaflixxer. Have been binge watching with my gf these days xD

[@ahmadsebastian7633]

@Maxim Curtis yea, I've been using InstaFlixxer for since december myself =)

[@hottubz1965]

I suspect extra views and subs based upon the thumbnail. js :D Have fun guys!

[@_Willem_]

I have a girl friend who owns a bar in koh chang the bars name is beach bar.visit her and say I said hello ( from Willem, the Netherlands )

[@MJSailing]

Which area of Koh Chang? White Sand? Lonely Beach?

[@vandbaxelrad6902]

The 64000 question: mono or multi... Can't believe you didn't get to it the first day on a cat after sailing a mono for so long.

[@mattjohnson6716]

$64,000 question.... man, you just dated yourself there :) Thanks for the question. The current short answer for US is.... Cat for living aboard, mono for the feel/pleasure of sailing. We are planning on switching to a cat when we are done sailing the North and head back towards the equator... mostly we are waiting the two-ish years because the Northern waters is the whole reason we bought/rebuilt Elements and we are here now and ready to go. Well, that reason and the small fact that we can't afford one yet:) Who knows what will happen. Maybe we'll instead fall in love with a larger and more modern monohull :) Having only sailed on a few cats (and just for short periods of time), our opinion isn't really that valuable to anyone :) But, based on the number of people asking, I guess we can give our current sentiment on cat vs mono and let people filter the information out however they like. We'll do an up-date for the last video on the charter (a week and a half from now). Matt

[@TheAtma50]

In hot sun like that Jessica a shirt might be a wise choice but then you would ruin the view !!!!

[@scottmeacham1738]

So, why go to all the trouble taking the camera on shore for so little footage? I mean, you obviously have a waterproof camera capable of great footage. The word I guess best describes what I've seen here is pompous. Best of luck on your adventures. I like a little more Grit in sailing videos.

[@johndonaldson5126]

Looks like you told your camera, "focus on everything but myself." Otherwise nice video.

[@MJSailing]

It just started doing it on this trip and it was driving me insane!!

[@timbutler7433]

Little skinny concrete things! Haha

[@Bradley_Clark]

Thumbed, thanks!!

[@rodagerter7813]

How is your new boat, likes, and dislikes, ready to trade your boat?

[@Frindleeguy]

It was just a charter. They have an aluminum masterpiece- Elements is a work of art!

[@mattjohnson6716]

I started looking again at Yachtworld as soon as we got on the cat! The current plan is to finish a season or two in Northern Europe with Elements and then decide if we want to go somewhere warm (and get a cat) or stay in icy areas for a bit longer. But, I'm constantly on the hunt for another boat..... I want to try them all :) If only I had the budget. Matt

[@Ragesauce]

4:00 what's with the ASMR voice, why are you doing that?

[@joshuaslokum36]

Nice on-duty bathing suit J. 😉

[@tom2868]

new swim suit ? nice

[@dezmondweghe2588]

'We' know that you Are coping' Really well' as you go' - But' - 'we' Recommend' for What 'we' found to be Technically Sound & Experienced' boat management' & go-fix' Tips' ARE' = 'Sail-boats' - Sailing Ruby Rose' & 'Free Range' Sailing' also Nick O'Kelly' >> Lots' of Fun & Fair winds' for you All' > Shalom >

[@edhunter3276]

Wow

[@Wolf6151]

Do you worry about pirates sailing in that part of the world?

[@mattjohnson6716]

It's a bit North of those issues. Really, it's one of the safest areas we've been. The charter company doesn't even have locks for their dinghies or anything... Matt

[@kyleroberts3600]

Matt Johnson here are some of the safest country's in south east Asia: According to tourradar.com Laos. ... Mongolia. ... South Korea. ... Indonesia. ... Vietnam. ... Cambodia. ... China. It may come as a surprise, but China's big cities like Hong Kong are actually regarded as among the safest in the region. ... Thailand. Thailand has been pretty consistent as a top choice for travellers heading to Asia.

[@JimJNebraska]

There's no sharks there because the eat everything. 😂

[@ExploringCabinsandMines]

10:40 good stuff

[@sundancer4426]

Giant bathing suit alert.

[@okayfine298]

I know what you mean when I was born I wanted ugly and rich instead I got handsome and poor

[@angels814ever]

I'd like to jump off the boat too... just sayin'... X0Xo =]

[@natemcdaniel2139]

For some reason, the white girls are trying to get brown and the brown girls are trying to get lighter...

[@magaisacult2023]

3rd. But why? hahaha

[@almarofulislam3081]

2nd 😆

[@lancechristy2595]

1st ..?

[@renatotalacay8016]

Hey gay beseech my canrry to has lake at delos Palawan o Dabaw if you go Malissa is ner to Palawan end el nedo bay bay Renato

[@benshow3000]

I love Doritos I would fit in with you just fine

[@mattjohnson6716]

How about Taco Bell, Coca Cola and Corona? We like to stay classy :) Matt

[@dezmondweghe2588]

For Treating of SUN-BURN' - Take A Ripe 'TOMATO' & CUT/Break' it in Half' & Rub' Over The Burn' Parts' of Skin' - It is Almost INSTANT' Relief' & Also Halts Blistering & Painful' Head-ache's' after sun-burns' - Worked Well for us in Extreme hot Weather' Also' & you can even EAT The Rest of it' >>> Have Fun tooo - & 'we' Are Enjoying your Videos' very much' > Shalom >

[@mattjohnson6716]

Tomatoes.... never heard of that hack. Good to know now that we are out of sun belt and heading to the North for the next few years :) Thanks, Matt

[@dezmondweghe2588]

IT is NOT 'A' 'hack' - & Works' WELL' - I was life-saver in Afrika' & also sailed around many Hot places' > & it Always worked for 'us & my family' - Also There is a Triangular' 'Plant' (forgotten the Name' ) That usually grows near &/or ON The beaches' Around The tropics' & Sub-tropics' & Also in some milder Climes' - that Can be used for Jelly-fish & Blue-bottle Stings' (not sure if it would work on the Australian Box' Jelly' ) > Try IT & also ASK the Locals' - these' Really Worked for us' & was used on us' as Kids' because my Parents' Knew About its' healing & soothing Ability' > Got it yet' > Do Your Research Before Rejecting Good & Valuable advice' that you May need one day' When NOTHING else' is Available' > Shalom ??

[@mattjohnson6716]

@@dezmondweghe2588 Maybe a language issue. The term "hack" isn't used in the derogative much anymore... it now usually refers to any trick, skill or remedy that improves life with readily available items. I wasn't belittling your contribution; instead I praising your information and making a joke about wishing I knew the tomato information before- when we were in a sunny/tropical area. Thanks again, Matt

[@dezmondweghe2588]

OK - Got IT' Now' > Btw' - here in Europe' - we' have had some very vicious' Heat-Waves' Last' summer' & more expected' this year' too' - Enjoy Every Sail' in Fair winds' > Shalom >

[@darrend0]

4th

[@mtndgz2]

I gave it a thumbs down. I give everyone credit for creating things and trying. But very awkward commentary. It's trying to sound sexy and alluring like a promotion video, but your not promoting anything. Sailing is what it is. The interviews are the same way; when any one asks "hey are you having a good time" it's awkward.