samuisteve

Am heading out to bluewater from Phuket this weekend, probably out of AoPo Grand marina in my 27 foot twin engine power cat. I will be looking for the FADS offshore from the airport and see if I can pick up some dolphin, sailfish, and possibly some Tuna. Will be tuning in my Garmin GPS, as well as trying out a new downrigger in case the fish are deep.

Am working on getting a Thai captain and crew trained up so I can charter the boat out for small fishing charters. Still some work to do to get a good book of coordinates together.

Would like to get an experienced crew member who knows how to tie a knot and not catch me or himself with a treble hook.

if interested, and can affor some gas cash, drop me a reply. Will be in Phuket on Saturday afternoon and be set to go out for Sunday-Tuesday.

Steve

we have a 5 bedroom house in Rawai off of Soi Saiyuan. you can find it on homeaway.com and see if it fits your needs.

niruk

Gray42

Talked to you earlier when I was bringing my boat into Samui. Change of plans and I now have it in Phuket. Am headed out to find some blue water this weekend, or Monday-Tuesday, and am looking for a few bodies to buy some gas. If you are in the Phuket region drop me a note and maybe we can hook up for an offshore trip.

steve

I would recommend importing your boat for NZ. Import duty is 7% on boats. However trailers are imported at a riduclous rate, so avoid the trailer if you can. There is a trailer manufacturer near the airport that could probably produce a quality trailer for your boat for less than the import duty on it.

I am importing an 8 meter power cat from the states, and have learned the costs on the trailer import through my own experiences. Even though prices in Phuket may be a bit depressed now, it seems that the financial crisis has created better "boat deals" in the western economies than can presently be found in Thailand.

If the boat and trailer are less than 7 feet 8 inches wide, it can be put in a container and shipped fairly affordably. If on its own trailer you wil have to check the RORO prices out of NZ.

My Boat should arrive in Laem Chabang end of July.

Where will you be keeping it? I found a secure storage for trailered boats in Samui for about 2000 baht/month.

Steve

Technically yes,

I am importing a boat wtih 2 VHF radios, and the importing agent is taking care of registering the electronics on the boat.

What happens elsewhere, and who enforces this law, I do not know.

Womble,

The salinity change is very interesting, and a likely fish magnet. It will almost certainly have a temperature anomaly associated with the salinity change since the different saline waters will be coming from different directions.

Charter captains and serious tournament players in the US subscribe to a service like Hilton's, with the link shown below. He incorporates satellite data with temperature, IR, wind & waves, and visual images with daily updates. The combination is good for identifying weedlines and temperature anomalies.

Hilton is an old fishing mate of mine, and I tried to talk him into starting a service for SE Asia. He is trying to determine if there is a large enough market for the service now.

Until then, I would ask anyone with some experience in computer searches and satellite imagery to see if they can download the raw temperature and visibile data that should be in the public domaing.

www.realtime-navigator.com/

Regards,

SamuiSteve

<br /><a href='http://map.seafdec.org/downloads/pdf/collaborative%20research/AreaI_GOT/SCS_FRS1_03.pdf' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://map.seafdec.o...SCS_FRS1_03.pdf</a><br /><br />The sediments : Evaluation for further application approach<br />An apparent accumulation of current-induced materials on the sea bed in the two zones has also<br />reflected a comparatively high amounts of particles in the water column. In those areas, comparatively<br />high densities of suspended particles, together with phytoplankton, zooplankton or small fish<br />larvae etc. could be reasonably observed in the water column. Accordingly, several kinds of phytoplankton<br />feeding fish may aggregate due to comparatively high density of living phytolankton. In<br />this aspect, Takahashi et al. (1984) has revealed that the planktonic organisms and fishes apparently<br />congregated in the zone near Samui Island at the optimum temperature and salinity. Hence the water<br />areas there are potentially good fishing ground for marlin, mackerel, little tuna, and other fishes. The<br />fishing grounds for black marlin, Makaira indica CUVIER, which were caught by longline locate at<br />the boundary of a high salinity water mass extension from the South China Sea with the highest<br />density in the vicinity of Samui Island. Such a distribution pattern of black marlin was roughly<br />coincide with those of mackerel. The pelagic fishes migrating for feeding purpose are, therefore,<br />have revealed to attach to the zones of densely concentrated marine organisms around there. In<br />addition, the aggregation of fishes has long been determined also by pattern of water flow.<br />

Gray 42,

When are you getting into Samui. My offshore boat should be there about August 1, shipping over from the US. Would like to catch up with you sooner rather than later.

My interest is primarily in offhsore fishing. I do not think there is much in the way of inshore fishing, once you head out of Samui, you are in blue water. Even the pass between the mainland is said to hold a lot of cuda and kings.

Check out the posts in the SE Thailand forum wher I just put up some pics of my last trip in the states and the boat that is coming in.

Samui Steve

August 1 I will have a sportfishing boat on Samui. Arrives via RORO in late July through Singapore. Boat is a 26 foot Twin 4 stroke outboard Catamaran, Glacier Bay. Not 40 feet, but the cat hull gives a much better ride than even a 35 foot center console.

Live bait well, outriggers, twin outboards, 25 knot cruising, 300 mile range, fuel efficient, T-top, radar, Furuno depth finder, 2 GPS plotters, 2 VHF's, Stereo, fresh and saltwater washdown, dive ladder, 2 in deck ice boxes the size of large coffins, T-top, crapper.

Also have several bean bag chairs. These are the industry standard for offshore fishing in the US Gulf coast these days.

As far as safety, I also have an EPIRB, two VHF's, and have rigged the cat with 4 independent bilge pumps.

My goals as far as fishing goes would be to find some decent yellow fin, if they exist in GT, blakfin, Mahi-Mahi, Cobia, the occasional kingfish for sport, and start looking for some billfish action.

As far as diving I would like to see if there are some reefs or shallow hard spots that have a few lobsters and other shell fish left on them. May be interested in spear fishing, and have an acceptable underwater camera setup now.

Not a 40' 50 knot boat, but should get to a lot of water that hasn't seen many lures or live baits out of Samui.

Sorry I missed the last tournament, but will plan on seeing lots of blue water between now and next april to get a decent book going in Samui.

I would like to find a couple of friends who can help share expenses and maintenance work. Blue water boats, even one as fuel efficient as this, take a bit of cash and labor to maintain. I will be Samui the weekend of 24 June to find a place to put the boat. Drop me a note if you are interested in meeting up at that time.

Have a few pics from my last sea trial out of Venice posted here as well.

Regards,

Samui Steve

But as she was not in USA for the 5 years you have posted, the BIG question is :

Will she still receive his Social Security benefit as Survivor spouse at age 60? I think it is reduced 70% at her age 60.

Interesting information. I have a slight twist to the above information. My wife and I have been married for 8 years. We resided in the US for 5 years, and now live overseas. We still claim a permanent residence in Texas, and plan to retire to Thailand. The concern I have is for her eligibility for SS benefits. She has her US citizenship, and as such I understood the only length of marriage requirements were to be married 10 years if you are divorced. Otherwise I understood a US citizen is eligible for SS benefits based on the spouses SS benefits. We continue to file joint US tax returns annually.

As a further complication If I die at an early age she will be the sole provider for our 3 year old. I believe both are eligible for survivor benefits of roughly 50% of my calculated benefits.

The SS publications on this issue that I have been able to find are a bit confusing. If any one has a clear understanding on the requirements for a US citizent to draw SS benefits on the spouses benefits I would appreciate clarification, as this defintiely affects our financial planning for the next few years.

Samui Steve

I am bringing in an offshore boat and still trying to work out some of the issues here. I understand that when you register a boat with the Thailand maritime authorities they issue a "license " for the boat to go a certain distance offshore, depending on the boat, Since I am importing an offhshore boat capable of 100+k runs out to the less fished waters how do I find out if I can license this boat to make use of its full range and capabilities?

I might also be looking for a partner to share half interest on the boat, and who has some experience in fishing in the GOT, or Andaman Sea. I should be able to trailer the boat to the Andaman for a long weekend, but will need some planning here.

Regards,

Samui Steve

//Powerpoint file removed and image replaced with jpg image above -- thaiphoon

Am new to the forum, and also just setting up in Koh Samui-nakhon area. I have fished for Droado in the Gulf coast of the US and know the methods there. Primary opportunity was usually under a weedline. These tend to build up where two different currents meet, one of cooler water than the other. When the opposing currents meet, one goes under the other, trapping weeds and trash along a lint. I think the shade is part of the draw for the dorado, as well as the water temperature change that tends to hold more bait.

Also had luck behind shrimpers cleaning there nets, but am not sure how that works here.

I will be bringing in a 28 foot power cat and plan to learn a lot more about the offshore fishing opportunities between Kho Tao and Nakhorn Si Tamarat?? as soon as I can, as well as further offshore to the rigs that are in the G of T.