July 14, 2026

The nightlife scene doesn't really get going till after 11pm and goes till 5 am in the Chaweng section of Koh Samui. We made our way over to the club district, and one of the hot spots called the ArkBar a little past 10pm to have some dinner, while watching the beach fire shows.

The entrance to the Ark Bar Club is very elaborate and unexpected. After you walk down a wide alley from main street, you get to lighted pathway, but this doesn't lead to the Club, right away.  First you walk through what I would describe as an adult carnival & shopping area. There is an odd mix of shops, in nice high end setting. You can get anything from clothing, custom tailoring, nails, several massage places, souvenirs, accessories, jewelry, carnival games and surprisingly even a teeth whitening spa! There was actually a girl on the table in the glass window, having it done, her mouth was so lite up, that it caught my eye immediately!

The ArkBar Club is huge and commands a large section of the beach. The DJ, who i thought was very good, played almost 100% of what I would call, American Music. People were dancing everywhere. There is a huge beach area, a giant pool with swim up bar and table & booth seating around the edges of the pool and a variety of seating areas, in the massive deck areas that surrounds all of the above. The DJ and go go dancers are up in a second floor open booth that is on top of a massive bar center stage. The lighting and furnishings are engaging, well done and comfortable. The place can hold a massive crowd and servers are plentiful as are restrooms that are clean and without lines! The prices are also really good too, because it Thailand.

We left ArkBar around 2am and walked around other club areas to see if anything was calling us in ! There were lots of choices but they were not on the beach, so no cooling breezes and the music seemed way too loud. There were lots of strip clubs and food places set up for the late, late crowd but we called it a night and returned to our hotel, before 3 am. It was a Fun Night!

KUANTAN, MALAYSIA

By Pat Patrick • October 12, 2026
Just the other day a friend asked me if I got enough down time while living this lifestyle. My answer was "you have to make it !" In the beginning, it was go, go, go, every port. We had lots of FOMO ( fear of missing out ) and we tried to cram in as much as possible at every port. Sea days, were our only down time and there were never enough. It was a tad exhausting. Now two years into this life, I can say there are some ports that just don't call me and I opt to get other things done. Kuantan, Malaysia was one of the Ports. I never got off the ship, either day we were here. I intended to this morning, but we had storms with loud thunder late into the night and then was awoken by a crew alarm around 6:45am. My energy was low, there were shuttle issues, town was an hour ride away and there is alot of air pollution, ( due to neighboring Indonesia burning organic materials, in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season ). So I bagged my plans and continued working on my never ending TO DO LIST!

Sad Passing of ODYSSEY Shipmate

By Pat Patrick • October 11, 2026
During our two years of sailing we have had several Shipmates come and go for a variety of reasons. Their health, has sadly been the reason for many departures. Cindy Harvey , would have loved to have lived out her days here on the Odyssey and even bought a second cabin and had an adjoining door added, to have a care provider, stay with her full time. However, Cindy's limited mobility, pain and confinement got to be too much - so she left us a few months ago. She went to an assisted living facility, on the coast of Oregon, to be near her family. Tragically she fell, was trying to recover, slipped into a coma and sadly passed away this week.

SANCTUARY OF TRUTH MUSEUM, CHONBURI, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 8, 2026
The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand . Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.