Author: Kathy Scott

Sunday 21st May – Tulai

A voice outside could be heard repeatedly calling ‘Sister Midnight’ as we sat eating breakfast late this morning. It turned out to be the lady from one of the neighbouring catamarans. She had swum over to invite us, along with the crew from two other boats in the area, to a get-together that evening on their boat Backchat. We were all to bring along some food and drinks, so I spent the afternoon preparing a rice salad and some roasted cashews and peanuts for our contribution. We had little else to offer, not having done any shopping for a while. Paul took the dinghy out to snorkel and film in an area a bit further off while I got on with that. At 6 o’clock we got ourselves and the food ready and rowed the short distance to Backchat. It made a change to sit and chat with other ‘yachties’ and swap experiences, and past and future destinations. I did zone out a little during the more technical conversations, but Paul picked up some useful tips for catching fish that he is keen to put into practice when we get out on the sea again. Four hours later, after ending the evening playing a complicated mathematical dice game that was way beyond my understanding :-), we dinghied back to our boat under an exquisitely black, starlit sky. One of the many pleasures of life at sea is the sight of a non light-polluted night sky.

Monday 22nd May Juara Bay

It was a lot cooler this morning, and time to move on again. Juara was to be our next port of call, on the eastern side of Tioman. It’s described as having just one long white beach and no coral reefs, and is also the destination reached at the end of the recommended jungle trek across the island (I was pleased to be reaching it via the water, though where it’s blissfully millipede-free). During this passage Paul tried out one of the surefire tips for catching fish, using a wooden lure shaped like an aeroplane. Still no takers, though – maybe because his plane has no wings on it (!). We arrived in the bay just after 1 o’clock and anchored in 8 metres of water – it was a doddle with no coral to worry about.

Crossing a rather choppy sea early in the evening, we beached the dinghy, collected some water for the tanks from a tap at the end of a pier and set off to check out the village. Lush green rainforest rose steeply on one side of us and on the lower slopes, raised, chalet-style accommodation lined the main pathway. There is a distinct ‘hippy’ vibe to the place, largely due no doubt to the fact that it is geared towards backpackers. The accommodation is interspersed with cafes offering western food and all day breakfasts. People were gathered, commune-like on the nearby beach smoking and chatting: it’s an ideal cheap resort to live the simple life for an extended period. No alcohol is served in the cafes but like many places in Malaysia there is no objection to bringing your own cans of beer or some wine as long as you ask first.

We ate in one of these beach cafés and made do with guava juice to accompany our meal (chicken wings and tofu burger with fries). While we ate, two female travellers from Sydney on the next table were getting to know, and swapping stories with, a guy on holiday from Kuala Lumpur.  He told them that Tioman, especially Juara, is a popular spot for rest and relaxation with stressed out workers from Malaysia’s capital city.

Tuesday 23rd May

The sea got decidedly choppier during the night and I woke up several times due to being jolted roughly from side to side in the V berth. Paul hadn’t fared too well in the cockpit either and we were both awake early – up in time, too to hear the dreadfully upsetting news about the bombing in Manchester. Much of my thoughts for the rest of the day were taken up with it. The time difference, climate and location felt so far removed from the awful event but were no less distressing, especially with family and friends caught up in it. It rained on and off all morning. We sat in the café from the previous night watching the showers while we had breakfast and then walked along the beach to have a look at the turtle hatchery, one of several projects set up by volunteers to help wildlife and nature on the island. The hatchery is a fenced structure where eggs laid on the beach by the turtles are placed and monitored, away from predators and poachers so that they can be released into the sea when hatched. It’s possible to book appointments to see this but we needed to get going. Hopefully there will be other opportunities because it’s something I’ve always wanted to see.

We were on our way again by 1 o’clock, heading back to Tekek on a blustery afternoon. I had another sailing lesson on the way which if nothing else, at least focused my mind on something constructive for a while instead of dwelling on the events in Manchester where I was helpless to do anything. The lesson took the form of steering into the wind and keeping the boat there while Paul gets the sails down. It’s the ‘keeping it there’ part that I struggle with but with perseverance and practise using techniques that aided my understanding, I managed to do it (I just need to keep doing it correctly now). On reaching Tekek we anchored in the same place as before. It was in a very sombre mode that we went ashore for provisions that evening, after learning more about the casualties in Manchester. Little Saffie, the youngest victim was the best friend of my granddaughters back in Leyland. Heartbreaking news to take in, and it’s tough being so far away from family at times like these.

Wednesday 24th May –Tekek

There was quite a fierce squall during the night. Paul had put the engine on in case we had to move apparently, but I was so exhausted I had slept through it all. We woke to a drizzly, cool morning that felt more like an English spring than a tropical Asian high season but it was a welcome respite from the intense heat. We had a lingering breakfast of toast and coffee while discussing where to go next. It looks like we’ll be visiting a group of islands called The Anambas on the northern tip of Indonesia. The internet was down all day so we couldn’t look up any further details about them, and since it was cooler, there was nothing else for it but to catch up on chores. Paul worked on attempting to get the watermaker to work and I did some cleaning…and some reading. We went for dinner at The Coral Reef in the evening where the internet is good and I was able to phone home to at least give some moral support. While we were waiting for our food there was an invasion of flying ants. It was quite an amazing sight, especially when hundreds of them fluttered in front of the lights hanging just outside the restaurant – like black snowflakes. One of the guys came and fixed up a sticky insect ‘catcher’ in the end because they were all over us and the table. The girl who served us told us it often happens after a rainy period. We were joined by some infinitely more welcome cats after the meal. One of them was keen to get closer to see if there was anything left for him :).

Thursday and Friday were lazy days on board with a few trips ashore to get essentials. There was quite a squall on Friday afternoon which had everyone on the boats out checking that their anchors were holding in the strong gusts. It didn’t rain, but the force of the wind threatened to carry our canopy off the top of the boat and we had a bit of a struggle to get it folded up and put away. While we were doing that, the dinghy started bashing against the side of the boat and the rope that was tethering it pulled a stanchion with such force, it broke at the bottom. We could see at least one boat getting assistance from the harbour master because of the problems they were having and it struck me that squalls can be just as troublesome and alarming at anchor as when out at sea.

On Saturday, which marked the first day of Ramadan for Muslims, the humidity drove even me to have a swim when we took the dinghy to the beach opposite to us (I don’t like to swim in the deep water round the boat, especially after Paul’s painful jellyfish experience). It was fine in the water for a while but we could still feel our skin burning and we left it until late afternoon before going out again. Our intention was to have a walk before buying some provisions and going for dinner in one of the restaurants. The look of the beach much further along the coast had appealed to us when we’d first arrived but it had been too far to walk in the heat. In fact, it was still humid when we set out but the sun wasn’t far off setting so we strolled slowly up the steep road to start with. The area is where all the monkeys gather in the trees and foliage on either side of the road. They were everywhere when we looked up, staring back down at us defiantly (and possibly aggressively) from branches and power cables or grooming each other on the grass verges.

It was a pleasant walk once the sun had gone and we headed for a holiday resort we’d spotted on the beach to have a look around. We passed family groups enjoying the seafront in the cooler evening temperature, and then we came upon an actual beach bar. Not just any beach bar (it was empty, due to Ramadan probably), this bar served alcohol! It would have been rude not to stop and become its only customers after we’d sought out the sole staff member to ask if the bar was open. We sat at a table with a great view, watching the antics of the kids on the beach until the inevitable flying insects drove us on. We’d spotted a Chinese restaurant earlier so we stopped there for our dinner: seasoned vegetables and rice, with fish of the day for Paul.

The broken stanchion was repaired over the next couple of days. I helped when it needed to be held steady while Paul applied the sikaflex – in the sauna-like heat on deck! I went from reading a book set during a particularly cold winter where a woman resorts to warming her frozen hands on a hot kettle, to cooling my hands and body down using an icy cold bottle of water on the bow. On Monday evening, taking a short cut through one of the holiday resorts on Tekek, Paul noticed the fabulous sight of a fruit bat colony hanging from the branches of trees in a small clearing. Unlike the ones we’d seen in the Hongs in Thailand, these bats were silent but not any the less fascinating for that. I wondered what time of day they all set off for food and what it would look like when they did, and received an answer the following evening at sunset when we were travelling back to the boat in the dinghy. We saw hundreds of them overhead, all flying in the same direction – to where the food is presumably. It was an amazing sight, made all the more wonderful because a storm was brewing and the dark clouds and rising moon created an authentic gothic image in the eerie twilight. The ‘echoey’ mournful call to prayer provided an apt soundtrack to the scene. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera to hand to capture it all, but Paul took this great shot of them in the trees. The cat caught my eye because he looked to be in a bad way but just after I took the picture, he jumped up to run another cat at quite a pace :0)

Kathy

Sat 13th May To Jason Bay

We were back out in the middle of one the world’s busiest shipping lanes (between Malaysia and Singapore) at 8 30 this morning. It was already hot, with very little breeze. We drew near to a huge oil platform not long after starting out, and the noise it was making sounded more ominous as it grew louder: a rhythmic sonorous drone of metal churning and drilling as it pumped up and down in the water.  At 11 30 Paul declared that we had crossed over from the Indian to The Pacific Ocean and I couldn’t help but wonder how the sea and oceanic borders came to be defined. I suspect books have been written that might enlighten me, or I could just ask Paul :).  The heat got a bit too much for me during the afternoon and I went below to sit by the fans – and then the rain began to fall.  It was refreshingly fine and cooling to begin with but by 2 o’clock we were in the middle of a full on squall. The waves increased in size surprisingly quickly and soon we were lurching from side to side; there was thunder, lightning, strong gusts of wind and very heavy rain which caused poor visibility. Paul was soaked within minutes, hand steering in the cockpit, but it wasn’t cold and we guessed he’d dry out quickly enough ;).

An hour later, when all was calm again it was a lot cooler and squalls at least do a good job of washing the decks. For the rest of the way we had to keep our eyes peeled for all the fishing buoys that were in the area so I went up to the bow to be sure of spotting them in time. By 6 pm we were anchored in Jason Bay – not the prettiest of bays but it was peaceful and sheltered and it had a perfect bottom for the anchor to grip. During the evening we were visited by lots of flying insects in the cabin (I’m pretty sure they were flying ants) but importantly, they weren’t mosquitoes so we ignored them and they were gone by morning. We had the vegetable soup I’d made the previous day for dinner, another favourite meal for short sea passages, and afterwards I read more about Tioman.  Named after the Malaysian for mynah bird (tiong bird), it boasts ‘idyllic beaches fringed by swaying coconut palm trees, coral reefs in a myriad of colours and is great for diving and snorkelling’. More fanciful is the belief that the island was created when a dragon froze into rock while waiting interminably for its mate!

Sun 14th May Pulau Tinggi

There was no hurry to depart this morning so we had a leisurely coffee, enjoying the sun in the cockpit before it got too hot. The sea was flat calm when we motored off at 9 30, but not long after that the wind was strong enough to put the mainsail up and the engine was turned off, which is always nice. Captain Mainwaring took over the steering and we made good speed. I love those conditions, it was very relaxing lying on the cockpit cushions, reading and feeling the fresh breeze on my face.  I kept watch while Paul had a break and it wasn’t until 3 o’clock that the peace was shattered by the approach of another squall. Paul quickly got the mainsail down and we headed for the other side of the island where it was likely to be less rocky for a night’s anchorage. The rain started as we were doing this so hatches were battened and windows shut tight. At 4pm, taking advantage of what we thought was a lull in the rain, we dropped anchor just as it began to pelt down again so we had to do the whole process in a torrential downpour.  This made it difficult to hear each other from stern to bow but we have some hand signals to use on these occasions (polite ones, naturally ;)).  It was a lovely calm spot and the view was great. Paul went for a snorkel to check we were secure and discovered that we were indeed secure – the chain was securely wrapped around beautiful living coral formations. This is a definite no-no so we had to disentangle the chain and move to somewhere further out – deeper water but safely anchored in sand this time.

Monday 15th May To Tioman

The headsail and the mainsail were up helping us, along with the engine on a hot, sunny and fairly windy morning. It was only a short passage to Tioman and inevitably, a squall appeared at 11 30, with the usual race to get the sails down before it hit. I’m getting better at guiding the boat into the wind when this happens – it’s a case of having to! We made use of the strong wind behind us post-squall, and turned the engine off using just a bit of headsail to propel us along. It’s interesting to listen to other crew chatting on the VHF during our journeys. Yesterday as we listened, Paul told me that ‘over and out’ is an incorrect term: it’s either over or out.  It’s useful to hear when others who are nearby spot an approaching squall or any other relevant information, although I think Paul was slightly envious when he heard that someone in the vicinity had just caught a huge tuna ;).  The aftermath of the squall left us with huge waves and a swell that made for a very rocky rest of the journey. Paul put the wind vane (also known as Uncle Arthur) up this afternoon to test it out in the windy conditions and we were pleased to see that it performed well, which will be a huge boon on longer Pacific passages.

Tioman came into clear view at 3pm as we steered towards its south side.  Even from a distance it was easy to see that it’s a holiday island. Chalet-style bungalows line the beaches, with larger accommodation in resorts nestling in the thick forest of casuarina trees behind them. We spotted the small (full) marina and a few boats at anchor once we were in the western bay, and Sister Midnight joined them, opposite the village of Tekek at 4 30. We decided to leave going ashore until he following day when the immigration building was more likely to be open. Paul launched the dinghy and went for a row in it just to check all was well.  The cabin seemed to have retained all the heat of the day so we stayed up above until long after sunset making the most of the cool evening breeze.

Tuesday 16th May Tekek, Tioman

We dinghied ashore late morning to check in with the harbour master. There is a place for small craft to tie up to not far from the marina so we left the dinghy there while we went to do all the official stuff.

In the baking midday sun it was tough going walking even a short distance, and the few people we saw on the dusty main street weren’t doing a lot. Most people were underneath the shelter of roadside huts and shops and cafes. Lots of motor bikes were going up and down the road, and as in Thailand there is no requirement for crash helmets. Tiny children are perched precariously on the saddle in front of the drivers (who are quite often to be seen texting or chatting on their phones). The guy who checked us in told us we should visit the waterfall nearby and that the jungle trek through the rain forest to the other side of the island is worth doing. I’m not so sure about that, after past experiences in jungle foliage!  We explored the main road area after checking in. The tiny airport is on one side and the ferry terminal on the other, so a large duty-free shop is a little way down the road as well as some mini-marts, smaller duty-free shops and souvenir shops. It was very hot to walk around but we wanted to look at the airstrip – the very short runway that the weekly plane uses. We found out that Friday is its scheduled arrival/departure day and resolved to watch it land and take off if we were still in the area.

Thinking a map might be useful we went to one of several stalls with ‘Information’ as a heading but it turns out that these headings would be more accurate if they advertised ‘Boat Tours’ since it was mainly about the times and prices of various boat tours around the island. Our request for a map was met with a gesture at the laminated one on the desk, which showed where the boat tours could take you. Back at the jetty we went inside to see if the customs desk had reopened. I was beginning to feel the sun burning my skin because I hadn’t thought to put any sun cream on when we left the boat. I’d also forgotten to bring water, so when Paul returned from seeing the customs guy we went to a little café on the riverside for a drink. Paul had a fresh coconut with a straw in and I downed a bottle of icy cold water in one almost. There were lots of flies and ants around the table on the grass and then Paul noticed a wriggly black creature on his leg. I was out of my chair and onto the bridge faster than roadrunner! The people in the café must have been most perplexed by my hasty departure, especially as I was slapping at my legs and arms as I ran!

Wednesday 17th May Tekek

Woke up to a much cooler morning which was a welcome relief. With cool air flowing through the cabin it was possible to get a few cleaning jobs done. The temperature tends to hover around 30 -35 degrees on average but any exertion causes you to break out in a sweat and we need to use the fans sparingly in order to save on battery power. As the day wore on, it got too hot to do very much at all so it was another lazy, languid day. We dinghied over to say Hi to Deb and Bruce on their boat, Matilda at 4 30 and then went on to the village. Clouds had been gathering and the sky was darkening but we managed to tie the dinghy and get into the street before the rain started. It didn’t last long and the cooler air was good to walk in. We walked further up the road leading away from the airport and found more shops and restaurants. We also saw some monkeys running on the road and swinging on telephone lines and in the trees. One side road led to the beach and a pier near to the marina so we walked there to have a look at it. It’s small compared to most marinas we’ve been in and it seemed to us that most of the boats were long-stay ones.  The construction of the marina had caused some controversy due to the fact that it smothered the coral reef off the shores of Tekek with sedimentation.  Plans to extend the airport runway were shelved due to opposition from nature lovers though, so protests are sometimes successful.

We went for dinner in The Coral Reef Café which is next to the beach with a beautiful view overlooking the sea. The guy who served us was lovely. He understood my request for no meat and fish and advised Paul on the catch of the day which was Marlin. Later, Paul was certain they’d gone out to catch one judging by the time we had to wait before our meals came, but it wasn’t a bad place to wait after all, and the food was lovely when it did arrive. I had a veggie version of a dish called Nasi Lemuk which came with coconut rice, a spicy sauce and peanuts instead of anchovies.

We were joined by several cats during the meal and one of them jumped onto a vacant chair for a better look at what we had. As we left, the owner/waiter had just arrived back from somewhere with a huge bag of cat food under his arm. He told us he feeds them – I was very impressed.  Our dinghy ride back was hampered slightly by vision problems. Paul had broken his glasses and the torch didn’t work so I kept my eyes peeled more closely during the short journey back to the boat.

Thursday and Friday – more laziness

We spent the next two days anchored at Tekek, enjoying the relaxation and the chance to catch up on a few things. Paul fitted a useful piece of elastic in the galley to prevent bottles sliding and crashing into the sink in rough sea states. I defrosted and cleaned the fridge, and washed the walls on the port side.  Deb and Bruce invited us to join them for dinner at a place that had been recommended to them which served good pizza, so at 6 that evening, the four of us headed across the bay in their dinghy for pizza on the beach. It was a pretty spot and the pizzas were great: cooked to order so I was able to have a roasted vegetable one without cheese. The only drawback to the day was that we had no internet and it’s frustrating being out of touch with people, and not having information to hand when you need it.  We intended to leave on Friday but the weather looked a bit threatening when we woke up and without the internet we hadn’t had access to a reliable forecast so we decided to stay another day.  This meant that we could watch for the plane in the morning. Unfortunately we missed its landing, mistaking the sound of the approaching plane for that of a boat’s engine. We did see the take-off though, and the little plane looked like a huge moth emerging from behind the trees – it was mostly empty, too from what I could see as it glided over the boat.

Did a lot of reading today and the internet came back in the afternoon so there was all that to catch up on too. We went ashore at 6 30, just a quick trip to get water and bread. It was time to move on in the morning.

Saturday 20th May Monkey Bay and Beyond

We didn’t move very far to start with – just around the corner to have a look at Monkey Bay which is one of the places advertised on the boat tour.  It didn’t take long to see that it was a sandy beach populated with day-trippers and monkeys. We had intended to stop and maybe have lunch and a swim,  and to go ashore and snorkel but there was a lot of coral on the sea bed which makes it tricky to anchor, and we guessed there would probably be more monkey beaches to see as we travel around.

I took a few pictures and we motored on towards Tulai Island, a short distance further on. It looked delightful as we drew closer, enhanced as it was by the early afternoon light. The sun was fiercely hot and as soon as we picked up a mooring buoy and were securely tied, we retreated below for some lunch under the cool of the fans.  Two scuba diving school boats were next to us having their first lesson by the look of it. They were having great fun egging each other on to flop backwards into the water but the equipment they have to strap to their bodies looks so restricting and cumbersome – it’s not something I would fancy trying. We did think the water looked cool and inviting, however so we got in the dinghy to check out the beach opposite to us. Paul taught me how to row and I actually managed to get the hang of that! The beach was fabulous, the water was clear and there were no big waves – ideal conditions for me to swim in. We stayed for an hour until we felt our skin beginning to burn, then rowed back to the boat to slap on some factor 30 before getting back into the dinghy to cruise around the bay a bit to photograph the coral and marine life in the clear shallow water.  Some pics below of a great afternoon on the beach.

 

Wednesday 10th May – A day in Johor Bahru

Late in the morning we booked an Uber taxi to take us into Johor’s capital: Johor Bahru. Our stay in the boatyard was to be slightly longer than expected due to a public holiday and an emergency job taking precedence over others. To break up the monotony of being on the boat we thought it would be good to visit the town, since we needed to get a few things anyway.  I had read the section on it in our guide book the night before and picked out some places worth seeing. One of these was The Grand Palace. It used to be the residence of a Sultan (a word that still has fairy tale connotations for me), and has hosted such illustrious names as Queen Victoria’s son, Prince Alfred, Franz Ferdinand and King Edward VIII. The palace was opened to the public in 1991 and turned into a museum to celebrate Johor’s golden age. It is, says the guide book, reminiscent of rural England’s aristocratic homes and ‘there is no other museum in Southeast Asia quite like it’. Well, that description was too alluring to ignore so that was where we asked the driver to take us.

I thought the driver seemed a bit unsure of the destination but Paul showed him a picture on his phone and gave him the location to put into his satnav. Foolproof, I thought and sat back to relax. On the way Paul asked him what the public holiday was in honour of, but all we could make out from his mumbled reply was something about India. The street he dropped us off in looked promising. We found ourselves by a large impressive-looking mosque and walked around a bit expecting to see signs for the palace. Plenty of cars were parked on the roadside and families were walking towards the nearby petting zoo which we could see through the trees on the other side of the road. No palace here, however. Paul asked a lady with a clipboard who was addressing a small group of people if she knew where it was and she led us to the driver of a parked car who was sleepily reclining in his seat, and with a few words, unceremoniously passed us on to him. Probably feeling indignant at her for foisting confused Brits on him during his afternoon break, he pointed vaguely in a direction straight ahead when we repeated our query. I was beginning to think a museum to celebrate Johor’s golden age hadn’t been received, or indeed, advertised very well judging from the blank looks and lack of interest we experienced enquiring about it.

We were near the water by now and tried finding the elusive palace by looking at the picture on Paul’s phone. When this failed and we’d pretty much checked out the whole area we decided to hail a taxi and try again. The driver nodded enthusiastically when we told him where we wanted to go and then proceeded to ask us questions about where we were from and about our boat and what we thought of Malaysia as we drove along. Things got confusing when he asked where we wanted to be dropped off. Out came the phone again with the picture of the palace, and I repeated the name of the sultan (Abu Bakar) and the street name. He then told us that that was where he had picked us up from and assumed we wanted to go into town. He turned the car around and drove us right up to the palace gates (a bit further back from where we’d been looking). The ornate palace gates were firmly padlocked and the grounds were deserted. It was closed due to the public holiday! We gave up on the idea of sightseeing after that and got him to drive us to the mall at the ferry terminal, thinking we’d take advantage of the resort comprising ‘integrated hotel, duty-free shops, dining, bars and cafes’ that were promised in the guide book. Admittedly, this was recommended at night when Singaporeans flood there, attracted by ‘cheap drinks, a liberal atmosphere and a lively nightlife’. I didn’t expect it to be quite so deserted during the day, however. Only a handful of people were in the building, the shops on the top floor were all boarded up, and the small duty free shop had four people in it – all of them staff. The goods on offer were bars and packets of chocolate that were more expensive than the supermarket.  Clubs and bars were visible outside in the courtyard but were obviously closed. It was hard to imagine that the place would turn into a lively hub of fun and action later.  All that was needed to complete the picture of sheer desolation in the afternoon were some tumbleweeds.

We entered the hotel next to the mall, the spacious reception area was empty apart from two Japanese girls in the lobby and two staff on duty behind a desk.  They were only too pleased to help us when we asked where we could find a large shopping mall with a supermarket, and provided the names and locations of two. So, into another Uber taxi (lucky they are so cheap) and the driver took us to one a couple of miles away. This one had a bookshop, coffee bars and quirky shops that sold products like ‘armpit masker’ instead of common old deodorant…and of course, it had a huge supermarket. I was happy to amble around for an hour while Paul got yet another taxi back to Puteri to collect a parcel. When he returned we had a late lunch of veggie burgers in a fast food veggie outlet I had discovered (Paul wasn’t overly impressed but I loved it). The menu is below. I couldn’t quite bring myself to trust that food described as goose/lamb/chicken free are actually meatless but I may be wrong. Fortified, it was time for the Tesco shop for wine (very expensive free of duty-free) and a few other (less important) items before heading back to the boatyard – in a taxi.

Thursday 11th May –

Holiday over, the marine guys arrived promptly at 9 am to continue working on the propeller shaft. We didn’t have to get off the boat, and Paul took advantage of the haul out to do other tasks, as well as being on hand to help the guys.  They are all lovely – very friendly and cheerful, they all get on well and you get a sense of community in a workforce that lives on site as they do. It was a hive of activity all morning in the cockpit, with the lads clambering around in the lockers and up and down the steps, banging and sawing. The worst thing here is the prevalence of flies and crawling insects. It’s to be expected in a hot, dusty tropical environment where puddles and rubbish accumulate but at least there haven’t been too many mosquitoes to bother us. The work was finished just after lunch and it had all gone to plan. We were ready to set off the following morning.

After I helped Paul put all the stuff from the cockpit locker away we got ready to head out into town to find an ATM because Paul had to pay for the work in cash, so Uber was called upon again to take us there. We’d spotted an Aeon supermarket fairly close by and intended to go there.  While we were waiting near the main road, a motley pack of dogs we’d encountered there a couple of times began their usual barking chorus, sounding a lot fiercer than they actually are. Any attempt to approach them saw them backing hurriedly away. In the taxi, we told the driver that we wanted to go to Aeon, but it turned out there are two to choose from, so there followed another convoluted interaction involving pictures on mobile phones, both of us saying ‘nearest and closest’ a lot before we realised that he’d already entered the destination of the one he expected to take us to and he wasn’t going to change that. He barked a curt ‘NO’ at our requests, and we watched our chosen supermarket fade into the distance behind us as we sped along at an alarmingly fast rate. The roads here aren’t as bad as Thai roads but still have a fair few potholes and each time we went over one we almost literally hit the roof! It was a long journey in more ways than one.  Screeching to halt 30 minutes later, we saw a huge complex of shops in front of us and I was thankful to get out and bid the driver farewell. Inside, it was amazing – a very well put together mall, with one section dedicated to Japanese products. It was a shame that all we needed was cash but we had a good look around anyway.  It was a relief to get a more chilled out driver for the return journey 🙂

Friday 12th May – Launch, Dalac Marine Boatyard

Paul was up very early this morning to see the sunrise and took a walk around the yard. I was very envious when he told me he’d seen sea otters frolicking around in the shallow water. He also took a fabulous picture of the yard cats waiting for scraps from an early morning fisherman – they remind me of the cats on the 70s cartoon series Top Cat.

The lads arrived at 10 30 to begin the process of getting us back in the water.  We were allowed to stay on board throughout the whole operation, which would never have been permitted in Britain.  It was a thrilling and fascinating process. Away went the chocks once the hull was secure in the sling and slowly and surely we were driven towards the water, while looking down from the cockpit. Hovering over the travel lift dock, we were lowered gently and slowly down until the hull was sitting safely on the water.

There were a few things to do before we could set off, like filling up the fuel tanks and refitting the backstay. The guys were only too willing to help with everything and when we left they all stood on the side to wave us off and wish us well. I wanted to take a picture but I had to have my eyes glued to the depth readings as we went through the shallow channel.  So at midday we were off, back on the water and making our way to our first stop en route to Pulau Tioman. I’d read that this island (one of the most beautiful in Southeast Asia according to our guide book) was the location for Bali Hai in the film South Pacific: yet another place in a favourite film that I never expected to see, but I later discovered that this is sadly not at all true. Four uneventful hours later we arrived at Kuala Lebam and were safely anchored by 3 pm, just opposite Singapore.

Kathy

The combination of the brilliant but tiring trip to Singapore, the jet lag and the humid heat meant that I was good for nothing for at least two days. I gave in to lethargy and sat in the cabin under the fans, mostly sleeping, reading, writing and listening to the radio. Not a bad way to recover ;). On Saturday I roused myself enough to take a bag of washing to the laundry and to have a look at the marina’s library. It’s basically a book swap facility from what I could tell, the difference being that the books are organised and they’re in a room (which also has admiralty charts and a table and chairs) instead of randomly piled on shelves in the bar or clubhouse. There was a wonderful old book in there on the development of literature but I couldn’t bring myself to take it without a book to swap. Unfortunately I never got the chance to take one up there again, so missed out on that delight. I wonder if it will still be there when/if we return.

We went for dinner that evening to one of the food outlets overlooking the marina. We thought it was an Indian fast food type of place (always good for veggies).  Before we even got to the counter, a lady descended on us as if they might be just about to close or something. Anyway since she was there, waiting for us to order, we questioned her about the choices listed on the menu. Quite a lengthy interaction took place about whether certain dishes had meat or fish in them (I know I should make an effort to learn the words and phrases regarding this but believe me it isn’t as straightforward as it sounds). I wasn’t convinced by her assurances, but when the chef came out and reaffirmed that he would prepare a noodle dish with no meat or fish, I gave him the go ahead. When it arrived, there was a huge pink, glistening prawn on top of it, so back it went.  After apologies and a bit of a wait, the second attempt arrived and as soon as I tasted it I knew it contained fish. I couldn’t eat it but didn’t want to send it back again. The reason I said it’s not easy to get across vegetarianism and veganism in Asia is because of their interpretation of it. Cooks and chefs in many places don’t count seafood or chicken in the meat/fish bracket, particularly if the sauces are made from stock using them (it’s just for flavour they claim (!)) so to explain preferences in Malaysian would be quite a convoluted affair. I think I’m safer (along with anyone allergic to seafood presumably) just having chips or plain rice when eating out, so when we stopped for a drink at the nearby Harbour Bar I had a nice bowl of fish-free spicy potato wedges.

We had another lazy day on Sunday (7th) due to the energy-sapping humidity. Paul checked us out at the office so that we could leave early in the morning, so we got the boat ready and planned the route to our first stop. This was to be just outside the boatyard where Sister Midnight would be hauled out for repairs to the cutlass bearing, caused by what will now forever be known as ‘the fishing line incident’ ;). We left the marina as planned at just before 7 am, with me steering us out. It was cool and cloudy – even a bit chilly – as we left the harbour and entered the open sea. By the time we approached the Second Link Bridge that links Singapore and Malaysia, it had warmed up and was fully light. We could see the traffic crawling along the road above us in the morning rush hour.

Paul had already been under this bridge when he journeyed to Puteri in April so he knew it was possible.  As with the one in Penang, however, it looked wholly impossible to me. Even when almost directly underneath, it seemed that the mast would hit the top. Apparently the best thing to do if the mast is set to break is to get as low as possible. It was fascinating to watch, and there really wasn’t a lot of spare room between the top of the mast and the underside of the road.

The bridge cleared, it was time to watch out for other potential obstacles. This list grew as we motored into the busy shipping lane just after 9 am. Paul brought his laptop up to the cockpit to study the AIS screen that displayed the location and direction of crafts in the vicinity and I took over the steering. As well as looking out for fishing buoys and fishing boats, other things to watch for and avoid were:

• Fish sticks
• Fish farms
• Marker buoys
• Floating pontoons
• Ferries (car and passenger)
• Dredgers
• Oil rigs
• Tugs
• Cargo/container ships
• Police and coastguard boats
• Cruise ships
• Large pieces of floating debris

We swapped roles after a while so that I could get the hang of how the AIS reports worked. It’s great once that ‘light bulb moment’ kicks in and understanding how it works becomes clear – it did take a bit of time, though I have to admit.

At 10 am we were approached by a Singaporean police boat. It drew alongside us and we slowed down so that Paul could help them with their enquiries ;). It turned out they weren’t too keen on us cutting the corner that took us into their patrol area, and what’s more we didn’t have our AIS transmitter on. They were very nice, actually. They gave us advice, confirmed our AIS was now doing its job and even escorted us for a short time until they were satisfied we were heading in the right direction.

By lunchtime we had the Singapore skyline on our left and Indonesian islands on our right, while all around us we could still see huge container ships and ferries.  A wide assortment of debris floated past us amid all this. Along with the usual organic clusters of reeds and leaves, tree branches and coconuts, I spotted several shoes & sandals; a crash helmet; carrier bags full of rubbish; large polystyrene boxes; rope and various sports’ balls. We’re both very wary of anything getting tangled in the propeller again but it’s also a sad sight to see bags of trash, food containers and hundreds of plastic bottles littering the sea. It was a lovely day to be out on the water, though: sunny but with a cooling breeze and it felt good to be on the move again.

Before anchoring near the yard, Paul wanted to get fuel from a nearby dock but it proved quite difficult to find and then when we did, there was no place to tie to. Time was getting on and we wanted to anchor before dark so we left and headed for the boatyard.  It was a beautiful evening. At 6 o’clock, in watery sunlight, we saw eagles soaring overhead, becoming completely still before dropping into the water to bag the fish they’d spied. We were both tired by the time we got to the outside of Dalac Marine Boatyard and the sun was about to set, but we managed to anchor in between two fish farms in 7.5 metres of water.

We were able to enjoy a lie-in on Tuesday morning because we couldn’t enter the yard until 10 30 when the tide would be high enough. It was a bit hairy motoring through the shallow river entrance. I had to shout out the depth readings as they changed and at one point it was down to 1.8 metres! I thought we were all set to go aground but the boat skirted along the soft mud and we made it to the wall where marine staff were waiting to take our lines.  We stood and watched them lift the boat out and then I had a look around the yard that would be our home for the next couple of days. It wasn’t much to look at, but then I wasn’t expecting it to be. It’s a hot, dusty yard where major repairs are carried out on vessels of all shapes and sizes. Still, it had toilets and we didn’t need to buy anything so it wasn’t a lot different from being berthed in a marina – we would just be up high, supported by chocks (providing an irresistible temptation to yell ‘chocks away’ when it was time to go).

The guys provided a set of steps so that we could climb up.  It was a bit vertigo inducing to start with but I got used to it.  Standing up on the bow just before sunset I looked around me and it struck me that the yard had a kind of beauty. The combination of evening sounds (crows cawing mainly), the fading light, the sight of the feral cats going about their business near the lake, and the marine guys chatting, laughing and listening to music, all combined to create a scene that appealed to me. The cats who roam around the yard seem healthy and the workers appear to be fond of them.  One cat was brave enough to climb the steps to our boat but could not be persuaded to come on board. Paul managed to get us some internet so we were able to listen to the radio and catch up on the news…and social media of course ;).

Kathy

 

I had been excited about this trip ever since I’d learned we would be going there.  This is mainly due to my fascination with Raffles Hotel. It featured in Somerset Maugham’s short stories, a great favourite of mine, and also in the 80s drama series Tenko which told the story of a group of women who were taken prisoner in 1942 after getting caught up in the Japanese occupation after the fall of Singapore.  As with the location of ‘The Beach’ in Thailand, I never thought I would have the chance to visit it. So, despite the lingering lethargy from jet lag and heat, I was eager to get going on Tuesday morning. Thwarted in our intention to travel the short distance across the water via an Uber taxi, we asked the driver to take us to the Malaysian immigration building where we could get a bus across the Second Link Bridge which traverses the Strait of Johor. The taxi driver was most apologetic that she couldn’t take us (she hadn’t brought her passport and Uber drivers don’t necessarily know the destination when they take the booking), but she told us the bus service is regular and efficient. Once inside the building we joined a queue, our passports were stamped and we walked outside to wait for the bus. After a journey of about 5 minutes, we had crossed the mile long bridge into Singapore and we all trooped off the bus straight into another building to queue for the Singapore immigration process. This took slightly longer, especially as we had to sidestep the queue while immigration forms were found for us to fill in. This slight delay meant we missed the first bus into Jurong where we needed to be to get a train to our hotel in Chinatown.  It was raining heavily by then, so our first day in Singapore began somewhat unpromisingly in a cheerless, barn-like bus depot with several other people, wondering when the next bus would come along.

The first part of the journey to Jurong took us through through an industrial landscape of factories, trading estates and multi-storey office complexes. As we entered more rural areas, I noticed how well-maintained and wide the roads were. Further on, the views confirmed Singapore’s reputation as one of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest countries. The cars and motorbikes are mostly new and modern, while roadside shops, cafes, houses and even billboards all convey high standards of living and general affluence. The contrast to Thailand is staggering: there, the roads are bumpy and rock-strewn, cars and particularly motorbikes are often dangerously dilapidated. Singapore, at 580 square km is only slightly larger than the Isle of Wight but as the bus drew into Jurong and more and more skyscrapers appeared, it seemed incredible that we were in a small country. Its airport alone is a major hub for flights all over the world; one of the world’s busiest in fact. Looking around me at the huge town that isn’t even the capital I found it amazing to contemplate that the two islands are similar in size.

Navigating the MRT subway system proved to be gloriously simple. We bought cards that provided unlimited travel and boarded the train bound for Chinatown. Needless to say, the stations and trains are clean, spacious and efficient (chewing gum and eating on the subway carry sizeable fines).  It was 1 pm by the time we got to our hotel but we couldn’t access our room until 2 so we left our bags there and went for a wander around the area. The black and white-themed Mono Hotel is in the middle of charming Mosque Street which has some beautiful colonial-style buildings.

Chinatown itself was a delightfully busy hub of noise, colour and appetising smells, much like Chinatowns globally tend to be I guess, but this one seemed to me to convey an additional upmarket, wealthy vibe in its streets. One street we passed had a plaque displaying information about its history. Boon Tat Street used to known as Japanese Street because it was the street where the Japanese brothels were located. It states that in the early 19th century, the prostitutes ‘plied their trade in an oddly noble effort to finance their country’s military campaigns’. Other streets used to be full of opium dens and illegal gambling venues. It was all happening there!

It got steadily hotter as we walked so we went for lunch in an air-conditioned mall which offered an abundance of food options.  There were a lot more healthy choices here than I’ve seen in any other part of SE Asia. We opted for a place that was a bit like Subway but which used flavoured wraps instead of bread. After a bit of confusion and dithering on our part about how to choose from the options and deals, which the server handled with admirable patience and good humour, we ordered spinach wraps and chose from a delicious array of fillings (including a ‘protein’ section).  Back at the hotel, soon after we checked in, I felt ready to flake out again so Paul went off to buy some of the items on his list from SIMLIM, a huge shopping complex solely devoted to selling technical parts and components, while I slept for a couple of hours.

Chinatown had really begun to liven up early in the evening when we went out again. People were filling its prettily-lit streets looking for places to eat, or browsing the stalls and street markets. We headed for the waterfront, a short walk from Chinatown where the Singapore River runs through the central area of the city and empties into the ocean at Marina Bay. The river was lined on both sides with plush bars and restaurants offering al fresco dining where the average price for a glass of wine was, we worked out, £8 a glass! We bought a small bottle of wine, some water and a coke for half of that price in a Seven Eleven and sat on a riverside wall – thus achieving the same effect for a whole lot cheaper ;).

We ambled around the bay area and bought vegetable samosas from one of the street vendors to munch on as we walked. There was a warm wind blowing across the river but it was the coolest we had felt all day. Singapore’s skyline is famous for three buildings with what I think looks like a plane but is in fact a ship lying across the top of them. We hadn’t seen it during the day but came upon the view of it by chance further along the riverside. It’s quite striking in the dark, the blinking lights on the ‘fuselage’ giving the appearance that it is still operating while stationary in its incongruous position.

The structure as a whole is The Marina Bay Sands Resort, completed in 2010, with a state of the art hotel, shopping malls and casinos – the ship on top is a 340 metre SkyPark complete with a 150 metre infinity pool! Would you fancy a swim in there?!

As the hotel didn’t include breakfast, we went out to find something nice after having coffee in the room.  It was quite late by the time we hit the streets so when Paul led the way to a Chinese vegetarian place he’d found online, I was hungry enough to agree to the prospect of what was bound to be more substantial fare than cereal or toast.  It turned out to be absolutely amazing! Everything in the bain-marie dishes on display was vegetarian and the helpful Chinese lady who served us explained what all of them were (although it has to be said we were none the wiser with some of the dishes). We were both game enough to try anything, though so we simply pointed and she heaped our plates. We took them to a table on the pavement outside and ate like the locals. It was unusual and delicious and vegan and it set us up for the rest of the day.

I needed that sustenance for the next venture. After a quick change in our room we headed for Little India on the metro to collect more of the things Paul needed for the boat.  I got to see the SIMLIM complex that had impressed Paul the previous day. Keen to save my flagging energy for Raffles, I elected to stay in a café nursing a single glass of coke and reading while Paul browsed and shopped to his heart’s content. I think I even dozed off at one point I was so relaxed in there. I soon woke up when it was time to head to Raffles. It was only a short journey on the metro and a five minute walk from the station before the legendary beautiful building came into view. I still smile when I think of how pleasurable that sight was. Surrounded as it is by modern high rise apartments and hotels, Raffles shines both literally and metaphorically. The sunlight lit up the brilliant white façade and emphasised its immaculate, elegant appearance. The hotel doormen, dressed in Imperial Indian soldiers’ uniform, who were helping people out of a limousine as we approached completed the impression that this is still a place of opulence and luxury.

Visitors are welcome in the grounds and certain parts of the hotel but there is a dress code for specific areas. For afternoon tea it is smart casual – no shorts, bare shoulders or flip flops. We weren’t interested in that (especially at £36 a head), although I couldn’t resist a peek through the window at the three tier cake stands on tables loaded with dainty sandwiches, scones and fancy cakes and pastries. Refurbishment is taking place in some of the bars and restaurants so The Long Bar, where the famous Singapore Sling is usually served is closed and has moved to The Bar and Billiard Room, where there is thankfully no dress code. Before going there, though I had a browse in the souvenir shop while Paul sat in the courtyard to take a phone call.

There were enticing items in there (none of the usual ‘tat’ but the prices reflected that) and some intriguing books with information on the hotel’s development and history. I contented myself with some bookmarks and a small print of the building in colonial days. That it is expensive is not surprising – its reputation is built on its exclusivity: room rates here start at around £400 a night. I had wanted to see The Writers’ Bar but one of the doormen we asked explained that we couldn’t go in because it was open to residents’ only. Seeing my disappointment, however, the smartly dressed Indian doorman offered to escort me inside to show it to me (Paul couldn’t because he had shorts on). So I entered the palatial lobby and he led me over to the surprisingly small but stylish bar where writers, including Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Noel Coward and Rudyard Kipling used to drink, and it’s largely unchanged he told me.  It was really kind of him, and it also gave me a chance to see the beautiful grand staircase in the lobby (I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside unfortunately).

On we went to get a Singapore Sling – well it would have been a shame to miss out :). Immaculately dressed staff wait to escort people to a table where they are then presented with a menu listing the drinks and snacks on offer. The prices were eye-watering! I knew Paul wouldn’t have entered the place had it not been for me, and since even the soft drinks were extortionately expensive, we ordered just one Singapore Sling for the princely sum of 31 Ringgit (about £6). I just hoped they wouldn’t bring two straws! The bar reminded us of some that we’d been to in London and, it has to be said, some Wetherspoons’ pubs – except that guests were provided with complimentary sacks of peanuts in their shells and were invited to follow the custom of throwing the empty shells on the floor. The floor was littered with them and we added to it by consuming copious amounts of those nuts – they weren’t just any nuts after all, they were ‘Raffles’ nuts.

The drink was nice enough, a bit sweet for my taste and it may have been the sweetness which masked the alcohol but I’m not convinced there was much alcohol in it at all. The ingredients are listed on my souvenir bookmark, shown below, but I would have got more from my usual white wine and soda. Still, it was nice to sit there people watching for an hour.

On the way out, I paid the cashier 36 ringgit (the hike in price was for service apparently) while Paul took a few shots on the billiard table. The story goes that in 1902 a wild tiger had found its way into the hotel and was hiding underneath a billiard table in this very room. A local man was called upon to remove it and fired five shots under the table before finally hitting it between the eyes. It’s said that this was the last tiger to be shot in Singapore, but the hotel claims that the tiger was not wild – it had in fact escaped from a travelling circus. I couldn’t resist looking under the table and trying to imagine the scared tiger cowering under there :(.

Returning to Chinatown late in the afternoon, we collected our bags from the hotel, got the train to Bugis and walked to Queen Street near the border control to find a taxi rank. It was a huge relief that Paul was able to get a taxi to take us all the way back to Puteri. My legs and feet were really aching and we had heavier bags than we’d arrived with.  All we had to do once we were sat in the back seat was hand our passports to the driver who presented them at the immigration and customs points along with his own. The immigration officer looked at us closely from his booth and held our passports up, said our names and we nodded.  Paul was questioned about his immigration stamp, probably because it wasn’t from an airport like mine was, but we were waved through with no delays. The boat was like a furnace after being shut up all day when we got back on board in the evening but I had a feeling we wouldn’t be awake long enough for it to be too troublesome.

Some more images of Singapore below

Kathy

At midday on Friday 28th April I left my flat in Liverpool after a great month spent with friends and family in Liverpool, Wirral, Swindon and Milan to begin the journey back to Malaysia. From Lime Street I caught a train to Manchester Airport for my connecting flight to London. Luckily (for me at least) it wasn’t too hot and sticky a day because I was pulling a suitcase weighing 22kg, containing not only the usual clothes and toiletries, but also several items Paul needed for the boat and a fair few food items, including packets of vegan cheese and jars of peanut butter.  It was a relief to check it in at Manchester where I wouldn’t see it again until it was time to collect it from Kuala Lumpur Airport the following day.  It was late afternoon local time on Saturday 29th April when Paul met me after a 12 hour flight from Heathrow. My body clock was still on British time where it was mid-morning, and I hadn’t slept much on the plane so it was disorienting to say the least, especially when we went for dinner when I’d not long had breakfast on the plane! Still it felt good to be back ‘home’ and to see Paul again. I had been looking forward to being back on board Sister Midnight and seeing her new berth right on the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. There was one more flight to do before that, however. From KL we had to fly to Johor Bahru, a journey of about 45 minutes, but this flight was delayed for an hour and was followed by a 30 minute taxi ride from the airport to the marina, so it wasn’t until the early hours of Sunday morning that my journey back to SE Asia came to an end.  Walking along the pontoons in the dark I felt the residue of the day’s heat and it struck me that the journey had taken me from the comfort of a hot water bottle and heavy duvet at night in England and brought me instead to the relief of cooling fans and cold showers. Paul had added another fan to the boat in my absence which is set up to rotate above us like a ceiling fan to circulate the air more effectively.

I hadn’t been able to see much of my surroundings the night before, and when I woke up I almost expected to see the familiar sight of Langkawi’s Royal Yacht Club from the last time I’d woken up on the boat.  Talking to Paul and reading his blog posts about Puteri (pronounced Pootree) I was prepared to be unimpressed because he’d been fairly noncommittal in his descriptions. It had looked pretty enough all lit up in the darkness, and the short walk through the marina reception had revealed a clean, newish building leading out to a courtyard with bars, palm trees and benches overlooking the harbour. From the cockpit, viewing it all in the light of day, I was pleasantly surprised to see a hive of activity in the marina complex and resort. Music was playing from a stage on the second storey of a shopping mall where activities for children were in full swing by the sound of it. The marina was full of people who would be taking part in the Sail Malaysia ‘Passage to the East’ Rally the following week, and the associated festivities had culminated on Saturday night with a jazz festival (I wasn’t too disappointed to have missed that ;)). It was a bank holiday weekend here in Malaysia too so visitors had come to stroll around the complex and have their photos taken against the harbour background.  The semicircle of land around the public marina is taken up with attractive blocks of serviced apartments and a huge hotel, the marina clubhouse with its services and facilities (including a library), and several smart-looking bars, coffee shops and restaurants.

The floor above, accessed by an escalator, is signposted as a shopping boulevard.  I saw all this as we took a walk around so that I could get my bearings. Paul was right to state that the shops aren’t much to get excited about. They are mostly retail outlets for designer brands and a string of shops and stalls selling children’s toys, clothes and sweets. Quite a few units in the mall are still waiting to be sold. Hello Kitty is very popular here – there is a ‘land’ devoted to her somewhere close by and the hotel offers trips to nearby Legoland. The convenience store on the ground floor sells plenty of chocolate, crisps, and fizzy drinks but little else. Still the atmosphere was good and everywhere is very clean and well maintained. It’s a fairly new resort so it’s still being developed but it seems to be a popular destination for daytrippers at weekends and holidays already. Staff, especially the gate guards, are very friendly according to Paul. They are employed to let marina patrons in and out of the pontoons, but they also spend a lot of time blowing whistles to tell people not to stand on the marina walls. It’s a long drop down into the murky water but it’s a popular place to pose for photos and naturally, children can’t resist climbing them even though there’s a play area right next to them.

It was too hot to linger outside for long – it will take me a while to become reacclimatised to the heat and humidity I expect. It feels a lot more humid here than it did in Langkawi, but it is the height of summer and we’re that bit closer to the equator. Most of Sunday was spent unpacking and sleeping off more of the jet lag. Early in the evening we went to a shop inside the ferry terminal which is a short walk from the marina, to get some bread. Thunder was crashing around us and it had grown very dark. Paul told me storms are frequent here but they are over quite quickly. There were some interesting sculptures made out of bamboo in the green areas next to the path, and a quirky swing that I was keen to have a go on but it was full of people and we needed to get back to the boat before the rain fell. I did get to go on it a few days later though as the pic below shows (it looks better than it actually was).

On Monday I still felt very lethargic and only felt up to doing a bit more unpacking, looking up information relating to Singapore and Raffles Hotel on the internet, and lounging by the fans dozing or reading. In the evening we went for dinner in one of the waterside restaurants called The Olive Kitchen, although it specialised in Indian cuisine with not an olive in sight. TV screens were showing music videos featuring songs from The Eagles, Pink Floyd and The Bee Gees. Paul wasn’t impressed but I loved it, and the food was good too. Back on the boat I packed a small bag ready for our visit to Singapore, the third and smallest South East Asian country on our journey so far.

 

Apologies to Robert Browning for rehashing the title of his famous poem, but April is here and I am in England. It’s almost time for me to return to Southeast Asia for more adventures but before I left Malaysia I didn’t get a chance to post my blog entry about our final few days in Thailand so here it is with accompanying pictures of more gorgeous places.

Wednesday 15^th March – Ko Lipe

During the night I was woken by howling! It was very loud and sounded just like the wolves in horror films. As I came round a bit and heard barking too I realised it must be coming from the stray dogs we had seen on the beach. I went into the cockpit to listen some more, hoping it wasn’t howls of pain I was hearing but they stopped after a few minutes. Paul told me he’d heard them too and decided the dogs probably just followed suit when one of them started making a noise: ‘oh, what do I do, shall I howl or bark – I’d better do both, that’s what all the other dogs are doing’  :). The strays appear to be very well looked after here. I saw a few signs on display on the island advertising the charity that cares for them (Animal Care Lipe), and the ones we saw looked well fed and content. After a lazy day on board we had a look at the other beach (Sunrise Beach) late in the afternoon. There were even more dogs on this beach and it was a lot less touristy. The bay was full of moored longtails and as its name suggests, it’s the beach where early risers can see the sunrise.  After an early evening drink in a bar, where a gorgeous little pup wanted to make friends with Paul, (see pic) he went off to a beach bar while I browsed the shops.

Since it was probably going to be my last chance to do so and also because I’d backed out so many times before, I braved having a Thai massage. I’m very pleased I did – it was wonderful. For an hour, you just lie on a mattress where incense is burning and soft music is playing while a professional masseur kneads and bends, manipulates and even walks on, your muscles and limbs. The price (£7) includes head, feet, neck and shoulders – very relaxing, and highly recommended. I met Paul in the bar two hours later just as the beach nightlife was starting to heat up. Fire dancers were twirling blazing batons to a growing crowd of onlookers on the sand, beachside clubs were booming out music and staff from bars and restaurants begged passers-by to choose their establishment. It was back to the boat for us sleepy party poopers, though :).

Thursday 16th / Friday 17th March – Lipe, Barat and Rawi

We decided to leave Lipe mid-morning. Not to go very far, just to have a look at some of the other  islands around us. Paul’s makeshift gearstick worked well and we arrived at Barat at noon.  There wasn’t a lot to see there, apart from a few divers on a nearby man-made pier, but at least there weren’t as many longtails racing past us. Once we’d secured a mooring buoy, Paul took the dinghy to check whether the island had anything on it that might be worth a closer look. It didn’t, so we had a leisurely rest of the day and prepared for a rocky night because the weather began to deteriorate early in the evening.

As it turned out, there was a storm in the night but it wasn’t a bad one, compared with others we’d seen in the Tropics but the sea state caused quite a bit of rocking. The swell made the boat rock from side-to-side, so sleep was disturbed by some items becoming dislodged and falling and we had to close all the hatches and windows when the rain got heavy. Paul went for a snorkel with the Go Pro this morning because the water is so beautifully clear here, but with the rocking making everything that bit more difficult we decided to slip our mooring and move on.

Hardly a minute had passed when we experienced an alarming jolt and heard an awful grinding noise -one that I don’t want to ever hear again.  I was convinced whatever it was had gouged a hole somewhere in the hull and ran to the bow to look over the sides to see if I could see anything. Paul has described the sequence of events in his post. At the time, I just followed instructions as it happened. One of these was to lift up the floor hatches in the cabin to check if water was coming in!  I don’t mind admitting I was scared then because I had no idea how serious things were, or might get. The situation was made worse because the swell kept making the boat jolt and crunch as it repeatedly came into contact with what turned out to be a boulder directly underneath us. I had to suppress the urge to squeal each time it happened in case water was about to gush in. I was actually planning what to try and grab to chuck in the dinghy when I heard the longed-for cry from Paul ‘it’s ok, Kathy we’re clear’! The swell had finally pushed us off the boulder. It wasn’t until later, though after Paul had checked all around the hull that I felt completely secure. He really does know exactly what to do in any crisis, and more importantly, he does it without panicking. He did say that I reacted very well though so maybe I’m getting better at remaining cool, calm and collected :).

After that drama, we didn’t move very far but we moved to the wonderfully peaceful and picturesque location of Rawi. No longtails at all here and no rocking, which was just what we needed. It was too hot to do much else but sit by the fans until the sun lost its fierceness.  At 5 we set out to explore the serene-looking island, marvelling at the clear water on the way.  The pictures show just how fabulous it was, all the more so for being deserted and quiet.  We clambered over rocks, paddled in the warm water and watched the living shells and crabs scurrying along on the sand. Paradise found!

On our way back to the beached dinghy we spotted a few uninvited guests investigating it.  The monkeys we had seen when we arrived had evidently heard us and had emerged from the woods to see if there was any food going. One of them picked up a mosquito repellent spray, and threw it down in disgust, while another was taking great interest in one of the oars. Seeing us approach, and hearing Paul telling them to clear off made one run at us – it looked aggressive and I reacted by running into the sea to escape its wrath but it was all bravado because it thought better of tackling Paul and scurried away. My fear came from reading a sign on the beach that warned people not to feed the monkeys because they can be dangerous, but the picture below shows their possible reaction to it.

We took our time getting back to the boat, lingering in the dinghy to look at the incredible scenes of the marine life under the surface of the water. It was so clear it was almost better than snorkelling. While the monkeys scrapped and chased each other on the beach, we watched sea urchins, vividly coloured tropical fish and living corals. It was the ideal antidote to the anxiety we’d experienced from the rock collision earlier in the day.

Saturday 18th March – A bit more Lipe

We returned to Lipe this morning, mainly because it’s a good point to leave for our next stop -Telaga Harbour in Malaysia, and we also wanted to take a look at the island’s other coastlines. However, after motoring around and assessing (and rejecting) the suitability of various likely spots we ended up in the same place we’d anchored at before. Same 23 metres of water but this time using the makeshift gearstick, which is becoming more familiar now that I’ve had some practice. The humidity forced us to relax in the cabin all afternoon and it wasn’t until 6 30 that we ventured out in the dinghy to get provisions. Walking Street was hot and sticky and crowded so we got what we needed pretty quickly (I tried not to flinch at the cost of five pounds for a jar of peanut butter) and headed back to the cooler shore. Since this was our last night in Thailand, we went to The Paradise Bar at the end of the beach that we’d become fond of, and had drinks while listening to great music and chatting to the friendly staff.  It would have been lovely to stay longer but as the only drinker of alcohol I had to remain ‘steady’ enough to help carry the dinghy to the water, and more importantly, be able to get into it in a graceful manner.

We had a somewhat disturbed night due to loud music from the bars wafting over and the fact that the wind had increased in strength.  There was a possibility that boats moored or anchored nearby could swing and hit us and we were concerned that we, too might drift if our anchor dragged.  Typically, that had to happen while we were both asleep so we had a rude awakening at 7am when a strong thud jolted the side of the boat. It was better than any alarm clock – Paul was up above in a matter of seconds to discover that the anchor had dragged and the boat had struck the ferry that had been quite far away when we went to sleep! Thankfully, though it wasn’t too serious a collision, just a scratch on the paintwork. As we made a sharp exit out of the bay, I saw a sleepy looking crew member from the ferry looking slightly bemused.

We made it back to Telaga Harbour without any further incidents, and from there back to Langkawi’s Royal Yacht Club.  There was a maritime festival going on not long after we arrived. The boats in the marina were festooned with artwork, flags and lights and there was a party atmosphere in The Deck Bar as well as in the local cafes and shops. We walked to Eagle Square and watched the parade of boats on finale night. It was quite a sight: flashing lights, dancers in national costume, music and a spectacular firework display at the end. In a few days I would be leaving these hot, sultry nights for the more temperate climes of the UK and Italy and would not be seeing Langkawi on my return at the end of April.  There are other countries and waters to explore and navigate then, and I’m thrilled at the prospect of seeing our first one at the beginning of May: Singapore – and the famous Raffles Hotel beckon.

Kathy

Saturday 11th March   The Stony Magnificence of Koh Pethra

We weren’t in too much of a hurry to move on from Koh Muk this morning, so it was 10 30 before we weighed anchor and began the journey to Pethra. Not far into the journey, however, Paul noticed the instrument panel wasn’t showing any life so we couldn’t monitor the temperature or the engine revs. We had to stop so that he could do checks on it until he fixed the problem (the sealed fuse was intermittent apparently).

It was midday by the time we motored off and by 2 o’clock we were once again able to have all three sails up and no engine. The next three hours were very chilled. Captain Mainwaring, our trusty autohelm performed well with the steering while we watched out for marine traffic and life (no dolphins at all have been seen yet, although they are around apparently).  Pethra from a distance was long and large with high, undulating rocks. We motored around it to locate the most sheltered area.  The steep side of the biggest mountain on the island’s eastern side blocked the sunlight and gave us instant relief from its heat and glare.

It was 5 30 by then and we also felt the benefit of a cooling gusty wind. There was only one catamaran in the distance and a couple of longtails moored near a tiny fishing village on the beach further along. The sea swell made it a bit rolly on board but, not unbearably so and it was peaceful enough for an overnight stop. Paul had the rest of his squid for dinner along with some of my homemade veggie burgers. We were able to eat in the cockpit and watch the moon rise.

Pethra’s steep rock faces are home to thousands of sea swallows and it’s a protected island, so it isn’t possible to go ashore. We heard all sorts of different bird calls after the sun had set. With the time, and the silence to actually listen instead of merely ‘hearing’ them in the background, it sounded almost as if they were communicating with each other. It’s nice to think these birds have the island to themselves. Not all the birds of Thailand’s islands have been so lucky. The delicacy known as bird’s nest soup comes from the dried saliva the swallows or swifts use to build their nests and these have been illegally plundered, threatening the birds’ habitat as well as the environment. The nests are mostly commercially produced now but some guide books warn that rangers on protected islands are armed with guns to deter nest thieves.

Sunday 12th March  Tarutao National Park

We set off for Tarutao at 8 30 and on the way I read up about it in our out of date (1999) pilot guide. It was described as old, mysterious and primitive with sea turtle nests, a library and a museum. No wonder Paul had told me it would tick all my boxes. The sea was virtually deserted and very calm with diamond-like sparkles on its surface, and watching them was almost hypnotic after a while. At midday Paul pointed out Malaysia coming into view in the form of Langkawi Island and I realised how much I’m looking forward to seeing it again. It was the first place I spent any length of time when I came to Asia last August so it feels a bit like a home environment if that makes sense. Meanwhile, we had western Tarutao to explore. This island was our first port of call back in October when we left Langkawi but we had stopped on the eastern side when the weather had been windy and rainy. This time we picked up a mooring buoy in weather hot and sunny enough to require putting our canopy up for protection.

We pulled up on to the main beach at 4pm so that we could check in at the ranger’s office. Tarutao is a national park so there is a small admission fee (about £5) that goes towards its upkeep. It’s also an eco-tourist destination and is popular with backpackers because the basic accommodation is cheap and tents and sleeping bags can be hired for sleeping on the beach. After a brief chat with the ranger we went for an exploratory walk. The chalet-style accommodation is scattered throughout the wooded area, which also has shower facilities and a restaurant. We came upon the library which contained some intriguing old books, while a few modern paperbacks formed what was probably a book swap facility.

There was what looked like it might have been, or about to be, a games room but was full of dusty table-tennis tables, and abandoned bats and balls. Other buildings that might have once been intended as shops or cafes were in a neglected state. Walking down the centre path we saw some guests outside their chalets painting and meditating and a few people were cycling and jogging. It seemed to be an ideal ‘back to nature’, ‘away from it all’, ‘meditative retreat’ resort, it just doesn’t seem to get the amount of visitors it expected.

On the beach we saw a group of Buddhist monks sat around a couple of rudimentary tents and a little further down a couple of girls sharing one of the camp’s camouflage style tents. These few people had the whole beautiful seafront to themselves. The long white beach was populated only by sand crabs when we walked along it (signs warned of box jellyfish in the water and of monkeys from the forest who like to pilfer belongings). The tide was coming in, creating warm rivers to paddle in and it was blissfully quiet.

As it was almost sunset we bought a couple of drinks from the mini-mart and sat on a bench to watch it.  We had intended to eat in the restaurant but I didn’t fancy navigating the dinghy over the rocks in the shallow choppy water in the dark, especially as it had proved tricky enough spotting them in daylight!

Monday 13th March   Cruising Through the Mangroves

We had to endure the heat of the hottest part of the day but it was a trip that had to be done! A river wends its way through the lush mangroves and thick forests on Tarutao. We’d seen it when we arrived and knew that it was possible to dinghy through it but the tide needed to be right. 10 o’clock was the best time according to Paul’s research so we slapped on factor 50, donned hats and filled up with fuel for an ‘African Queen’ style trip through the jungle and swamps of Southern Thailand. Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration but as we got further in it did remind me of a jungle heartland. It was fabulous. The pictures show it better than I can describe it, although I can relate that the sounds of birds and monkeys added to the jungle-like atmosphere. I half expected to see crocodiles poking their heads up out of the still, murky water. At times, the tree branches were so low we had to duck but they did at least provide relief from the searing heat of the sun’s rays. We spent two hours enjoying the stunning scenery on that river and we had the whole place to ourselves. Below are quite a few pictures of the trip 🙂

Our next destination was to be Ko Lipe but it would be too long a journey, leaving at 12 as we were, so after slipping our mooring Paul looked for a suitable halfway point. Fifty one islands near to Tarutao form the National Park so there were plenty to choose from. Ko Tanga looked ideal but it turned out to be very deep close to the shore and then went shallow very suddenly so it took a fair bit of negotiating and a few attempts before were secure in 20 metres of water (all good practice). We could see an island called Ko Khai not too far away. This island has an arch which is popular with couples who want to walk under it to prolong their relationship or something. Anyway the island we chose was a lot more peaceful for the lack of any arch (fewer longtails and dinghies racing past).

Tuesday 14th March Koh Lipe (pronounced Lippy)

Both of us were up in time to see the sunrise this morning, but unfortunately it was blocked by clouds when it rose. We set off For Lipe not long after that so that we’d have more chance of picking up a buoy if there were any available.  Koh Lipe is a picturesque holiday resort and the bay looked crowded with a variety of vessels as we got nearer to it.  Quite a few boats and ferries were already moored or anchored and we took some time to suss out an appropriate spot. We thought we were in luck finally finding a free buoy after we had motored around and decided that it was too deep to anchor in most parts, while some of the free buoys were too near the coral for our boat. The free buoy turned out to be too good to be true because as we were tying to it a guy came over in his dinghy to warn us that it wasn’t safe – his boat had drifted off it the night before. Back to the drawing board then and after one failed attempt to anchor in 23 metres of water, we had just got it set and I was putting the gear into reverse when the gear lever went loose in my hand. I called out this news to Paul, expecting him to say it does that from time to time, and to fix it immediately but when he looked at it he said it was well and truly broken. I wasn’t sure how serious this was and tried not to imagine all kinds of disastrous scenarios. After three hours of investigative work in the midday sun with noisy longtails racing past us, Paul managed to construct a temporary solution in the form of a very rudimentary gearstick made from wire and a bolt! He worked at it in his usual calm, methodical and logical manner. I have to confess that the combination of noise and the sticky heat, as I fetched tools from the cabin and helped to test various parts as he compiled them, stressed me out quite a lot (to put it mildly). A relief then, when just before 5, with all the tools put away, it began to get cooler and we prepared to go ashore.

No surprise to find there were several longtails and daytripper boats near the shore, and as the water got clearer, lots of jagged rocks came into view and had to be negotiated in the dinghy. Our first impressions of Lipe weren’t very positive. The path we took from the beach trying to locate the shops led us onto a dusty and smelly building site, teeming with flying insects. When we eventually came upon walking street though, it was a vibrant and colourful area, full of backpackers and hostels and shops (including a couple selling second hand books :)). There were pubs and restaurants, Thai massage rooms, tattoo parlours and quirky cafe bars where customers can lie on comfy loungers and watch films. Vendors stand outside their establishments beckoning you inside, and all the time motor bikes roar up and down the crowded streets. We bought a few provisions, browsed some of the shops and then went for a much-needed drink and dinner on the beach.

Kathy

 

Monday 6th March Koh Jum

I had intended to get up in time to see the sunrise and have another look at the deserted beach in the morning light, but was disappointed on both counts. It was too cloudy to see the sun in all its glory, and boats had already begun to arrive by the time I woke up at 6 o’clock. I made a coffee and sat in the cockpit watching longtails head for the shore one by one, much as I had watched them depart the evening before. We didn’t linger long after Paul woke up because we were both keen to move on, so at 8am we slipped our mooring and motored off.  As we passed slowly by the rest of Phi Phi Lee’s coastline we remarked on how much more attractive its other beaches looked – and they are probably a lot more peaceful too.

They will have to wait until we visit these parts again, however, because we were steering towards our next destination – Koh Jum.

We’d heard lots of good things about this island, mainly from the sailing vlog ‘Follow The Boat’ we’ve been following on the internet but also from a couple of people who have been there. That it is beautiful and well worth seeing was confirmed from a bit of online research. Praiseworthy descriptions like the ones below from Travelfish and Rough Guide were the norm on several other independent travel sites (I guess ‘thin’ in the second description refers to the amount of people rather than their size, but who knows!):

Jum is a favourite with guitar-strumming beach bums and families looking to side step the party crowd.

 Jum strikes an ideal balance of great beaches, thin crowds and ultra-relaxing atmosphere. 

So enchanting is Ko Jum that we’ll go out on a limb to call it one of our favourite Thai islands. 

Jum is the sort of laidback spot that people come to for a couple of days, then can’t bring themselves to leave.

The morning was overcast but hot – we refreshed ourselves with a breakfast of fresh pineapple that had been sun-ripened in the cockpit.  On a very calm sea, all we saw for almost the whole way were a few fishing buoys and one or two other yachts.  As we got nearer to Jum at about midday it looked a lot bigger than I had expected, and was also a lot flatter than the towering islands we’ve been used to seeing. Covered in a forest of varying shades of green, we could see tiny chalet-like buildings nestling among the trees and the shore was lined with long white beaches. No other yachts were at anchor so we had the pick of the spots in this peaceful location: so far so paradisiacal then.

It wasn’t until we went ashore in the dinghy that the stunning beauty of the place really hit me. It’s high on the list of one of the most gorgeous places I’ve seen anywhere in Asia (I wonder how any more times I will state that – lots I hope). The afternoon light only enhanced its appeal, creating a clear contrast between all the colours on show: turquoise sea, green forest, blue sky and white sand. Again, I’m not sure that any pictures I took will do the scene justice. Not many people were around, just a few sunbathers and swimmers – very serene, and very hot, so we climbed up some steps to the first beach bar we saw. It was called Mr Boy Bar and the guy who served us (who may well have been Mr Boy himself) was chatty and friendly, although most Thai people are so it’s not that noteworthy. He told us the wine he had in stock was not good enough (!), so I had a gin and tonic instead; well it seemed rude not to in such a setting :). We spent an hour there taking in our surroundings and it struck me that it would be pretty hard for anyone not to feel relaxed in this tranquil environment.

Mr Boy, who turned out to be from Bangkok and had been in Jum for 12 years, told us the season had been notably quiet this year. This isn’t such a bad thing in terms of ambience for visitors like us, but not so good for the bars and resorts in the area who rely on tourism. We decided we would stay for two nights to make the most of the place. We chose to have dinner sitting at a table on the beach very near to the water’s edge (see pic below) and ordering it was an amusing interchange both for the young waiters and us as we all tried to make ourselves understood. I was proud that I managed to get a vegan green Thai curry and Paul had the catch of the day (Barracuda – the waiter’s arm gestures indicated that it was a very big fish :)). Little white sand crabs scuttled past us – fascinating to watch them, though I felt sorry for them when a couple of cats began pouncing on them, seemingly just for sport.

Tuesday 7th March

It was nice to have a leisurely morning instead of preparing to move on. In fact most of the day was spent in a leisurely manner because of the heat. Some days I find it more physically draining than others and my energy is sapped (it feels almost like being put ‘on hold’ until cool enough to move again) so while Paul got in the dinghy and cleaned around the hull, all I could muster the strength to do was soak some clothes ready for washing and type up a bit of the blog. When it had cooled down a bit, we went through some safety procedures, such as ‘man overboard’ with the lifebelt and new dan buoy Paul had bought (hopefully we’ll never need to use them!!).

After I’d summoned enough steam to rinse out the washing, we went ashore, walked the length of the beach and ended up at another bar, strangely enough. This one overlooked a more rugged terrain that reminded me of the Cornish coast – huge rocks, rock pools and waves crashing onto the shore instead of gently lapping on it. In keeping with the overall surroundings, though the music was ambient – some reggae, some instrumental, no ‘muzak’ – and to complete the perfection a lovely black dog joined us and allowed me to fuss him for a while.

 

Paul had forgotten to put the boat lights on, so while he went back to do that in the dinghy I waited on the sand watching the sand crabs scurrying around and darting into their holes. We went for dinner in a nearby restaurant that was part of one of the resorts. It was high up, lit with fairy lights and had a great view over the bay (shame that my pineapple rice had bits of chicken in it though).

Wednesday 8th March Koh Lanta

An early getaway (8 30) to make the most of the cooler hours. There were lots of fisherman in one particular area so we had to watch out for their buoys and net markers for a while.  Within an hour the wind had got up and we were able to put the sails up and turn the engine off. For two hours we enjoyed peace without the noise of the engine and made good progress with the sails. The coast of Lanta looked empty of people as we drew closer, but it was full of resorts similar to those in Jum. The island is very long and we were heading for the far end of it, so it was a good opportunity to see the whole of its southern coastline.  A small fold-out map we’d been given advertised a plethora of clubs, bars, restaurants and beach party venues, complete with fire dancers! It’s a popular spot for young holidaymakers but we knew it wouldn’t be as manic as the hotspots of Ibiza or Cyprus – Thailand generally winds things up at 1am – or 2am if it’s a full moon party. We dropped our anchor at 3pm in Kantiang Bay among quite a few other yachts and catamarans.

When we went ashore at 5 we were met at the shore by two guys who turned out to be Glaswegian and they offered to help us carry the dinghy up the beach. They were just off fishing for their dinner they told us, in the cheerful manner that is the norm on these islands: everyone is so happy!  Sometimes it’s like we’ve been transported to the island from that old TV series, Fantasy Island, or Shangri-La maybe…nice though ;). My initial impression as we walked along was that it had a Mediterranean feel. It was clean, with a café and bar-laden prom offering everything from crepes to cocktails. Families and couples on the beach were either lounging in deckchairs or paddling and swimming. We headed for a bar with the apt name of ‘The Why Not Bar’ for a drink before walking along the shore as the sun was getting lower in the sky.

When we reached the spot opposite Sister Midnight we noticed there were comfy-looking loungers on the sand and thought it might be nice to lie on those and have a drink in the dusky light. Despite the bar associated with the loungers proclaiming that it was ‘happy hour’, the offer being ‘buy one get one free’, the cost of a glass of wine was around £9, so not caring that we might be thought cheapskates we had a glass of diet coke each (one being free) and were happy with that.

When we got to the dinghy to return to the boat, the two Glaswegians reappeared as if by magic to help us carry it to the water. They proudly showed us their catch of the day – an impressive bunch of squid. Paul is still having a run of bad luck in his attempts to catch his dinner so a tin of tuna had to suffice for him that evening.

Thursday 9th March Passage to Muk

There had been strong gusts of wind all through the night – not enough to make it rocky but Paul let more chain out on the anchor to be on the safe side. It was still gusting in the morning when we decided to go to Ko Muk, which had been described as another ‘must see’ destination, with the added attraction of a Hong that you have to swim through a dark tunnel to access. I told Paul I’d look forward to seeing the pictures he took of it! Before all that, however, we had a more pressing problem to deal with.  The anchor had been pulled tight due to the wind and in order to free ourselves I had to manoeuvre the boat a little bit at a time while Paul gave hand signals from the bow to indicate where to steer and when to stop and start until the chain pulled free. There was also the need to flake the chain so he had to come down to the anchor locker a couple of times to do that too. It sounds more complicated than it actually was and we managed it well, motoring off into 20 knot winds at 10am. It could have turned into a rocky ride so I stayed below to check on the stowing while Paul put sails up to utilise the wind.  We reached Ko Muk at 3pm and anchored in another lovely sheltered spot. Not long after we got there, a fisherman drew up with fish to sell (squid to be precise) and Paul bought some from him.  He then asked if he could come on board and look at the boat – he seemed suitably impressed with it. For the next hour Paul was on deck preparing the squid for cooking later – I didn’t know so much dark inky fluid could come out of one small creature, and Paul had several!

It was 5 30 by the time we went ashore, and still very hot. We went to the place where all the kayaks had had been gathered earlier in the day. Only one was left and the owner was nowhere in sight. A sign in front of the rocks informed us that this was ‘Emerald Cave’, which is what we had come to look at. The tide was too high to attempt an entry in the dinghy (well I thought so anyway). I suggested Paul could swim through and I’d wait but he said we’d try in the dinghy the next day after he’d checked the tides. We headed for the little beach opposite our anchorage and passed the last kayak leaving it, so we had the place to ourselves. It was gorgeous, and warm enough to have a swim in the clear water. I never tire of looking at the intricate patterns the sand crabs make. They remind me of the crop circles that were in the news several years ago.

Friday March 10th  Koh Muk and the Emerald Cave

The little beach opposite us looked particularly charming with the early morning rays of sunlight shining on it. However, because we hadn’t yet seen the ‘must see’ Emerald Cave we needed to move so that we could be near to it for our 3pm visit when the tide would hopefully allow us to go through in the dinghy.  It seemed a good opportunity to circle round the whole of Muk slowly so that we could look at its coastline in full, especially as it was such a clear and breezy morning.  The palm-fringed beaches on the opposite coast were lined with resort buildings that appeared to be deserted. Empty sun loungers were arranged neatly on the sand which was smooth and undisturbed. It will be a shame if these places go bust, but I suppose there are so many islands with similar holiday complexes there is insufficient demand for them. When we reached the spot near the cave we had a bit of trouble anchoring because the sea bed was strewn with rocks, and twice we had to pull it up and start again. The third attempt found a space for the anchor to dig in and then we just had to wait until the time was right. We set out on a choppy sea at 4 30, guessing that all the visitors who were part of excursion tours would have left by then. There were only a few kayaks and dinghies from private boats when we got to the cave, which looked a lot more accessible than the day before. Two of them were just leaving so Paul asked if it was ok for dinghies in the tunnel. We were reassured it was fine, as long as we had a torch (which we’d remembered this time) so in we went. It was easy to see why it had the name ‘Emerald’ in its name. The combination of the water and the reflection of the colour of the roof of the cave produced a vivid green colour. We had no trouble entering and I positioned myself at the bow with the torch to light the way as it got darker. I shone it on the roof to see if any of the bats the guide book had reported might be in residence, but there were none.  I definitely wouldn’t have swum the length of the tunnel, even though it was a relatively short dinghy trip it would have been a long dark swim with plenty of unseen marine life for company. It was a little like being in a fairground ghost train, with the light that emerged when we rounded a corner indicating the exit was ahead. A couple of kayaks and a dinghy were on the small beach when we got there so we added ours to them and looked at the glorious scene that was gradually revealing itself to us.

Paul had been concerned that we wouldn’t get the full benefit of the light at the time of day we were there. As it turned out, however, the late afternoon light lit up some parts of the cylindrical scene and left others in the gloom, which created a very atmospheric landscape. Then there was the silence! Half a dozen other people and ourselves, all talking in normal tones, yet it was so still and quiet, it was akin to the interior of a church. The steep sides were lined with plants and trees, some of them quite rare according to an information sign, which also revealed that it was once a storage place for smugglers’ contraband. I thought it was an incredible place and Paul liked it, but said it wasn’t as ‘awe-inspiring’ as the description in ‘The Hong Notes’ had led him to believe. I know what he means but I’m wary of becoming complacent when confronted with beautiful scenes every day as we have been. I like to ‘see’ them as if it’s the first lovely place of the trip.

Back on the boat we freshened up a bit and dinghied over to the main beach. There was a laid-back atmosphere prevailing when we got there, and we sat at a charming little bar at the end of the beach, looking out at Sister Midnight bobbing on the anchor. We had dinner in a restaurant we’d picked out as soon as we arrived. It was set fairly high up overlooking the bay. The view was predictably wonderful and I enjoyed my spicy papaya salad but the service was a bit slow and grumpy (actually it was quite refreshing after so much smiley niceness ;)). By the time we left, it had got dark and the lights were coming on in the bars and restaurants, but it was still warm enough for people to be enjoying an evening swim in the sea. Pics below of Koh Muk Beach in the evening.

Kathy

 

It’s not all plain sailing and experiencing gorgeous tropical paradises. There are complicated tasks and more mundane pleasures involved in this nautical way of life. Time spent in marinas allow us to use their facilities and to prepare for the next stages of our travels, as the following few entries show.

Monday 27th Feb

Woke up to another sweltering morning, so we concentrated on maintenance tasks and cleaning jobs in the cabin. Paul created a rota for things that need to be done on a regular basis (see pic below) which helps us remember what needs doing and when (although my brain took a while to figure out how the dates and letters work – see pic below). It’s not a rigid set of rules and obviously there’s room for flexibility concerning frequency, but with so much to remember it’s a useful aide-memoir.  The two fans we have in the cabin have proved to be sufficient for keeping us cool, even when doing strenuous chores. The somewhat cumbersome air-conditioning system that Paul had in operation when I first arrived in Asia is very heavy and it was a faff to get it in and out of lockers and on to the deck whenever we moved on. I found it a bit too cold anyway, and I didn’t like the fact that we had to keep all the windows and the hatch closed while it was on; it’s now stowed away until we decide what to do with it. Today, the fridge got defrosted, cleaned and sorted and I washed all the mud splashes around the anchor locker in the V-berth, along with a few other chores. It had clouded over by the afternoon and then came the rain – lots of it, for a few hours. During one break in the downpours we walked to a small local shop to get some drinks, and then holed up in the cabin for the rest of the day listening to the radio and poring over our laptops.

Tuesday 28th Feb

More work today. Paul programmed, I cleaned and tidied, read, wrote and typed. It’s made life easier having a laptop of my own to work with because I don’t have to rush to finish things so that Paul can get back to work. It’s not so easy when Microsoft ‘crashes’, ‘malfunctions’ or ‘gets confused’ (insert any one of those terms) and Paul reminds me how he never thought he’d have the displeasure of having to work with Windows again ;). We both needed a breath of air and to stretch our legs by the afternoon so we went for a walk into Ban Koh En. The air turned out to be hot and humid as opposed to refreshing but by 4 30 at least we can be certain that it won’t last long. The sun starts to lose its intensity by 5 and sets at 6 45 so during that time there’s often a breeze and the dazzling glare fades. After buying some bread and collecting the laundry we went for another meal at Mama Papa’s by which time the breeze had got strong and cool and was as invigorating as having a cold shower after a long walk in the heat.

Wednesday 1st March

We’re planning to leave the marina on Friday to begin the protracted journey south towards Malaysia where I will be getting a plane from Kuala Lumpur at the end of March to spend a month in the UK. Today we did a bit more preparation for the journey. I filled the water tanks, made lists for provisions and we both spent some time staring at computer screens to make the most of the marina’s strong internet. After dinner, my laptop kept losing the wifi signal just as I wanted to upload and post some pictures on the blog. Sorting all that out took time we’ll never get back that’s for sure! It also made for a very late night and more about how Apple technology would never cause as much hassle and stress 😉

Thursday 2nd March

Collected the car mid-morning and followed our usual routine with it: Boat Lagoon, Rolly Tasker (to collect Paul’s sail – unfortunately still unrepaired despite being in there for 5 months!) and on to the supermarkets to shop for provisions.  We also needed to go to Ao Chalong for the checking out process. This took longer than expected because there was only one guy on duty in the immigration office and he was having to sort out a confusing situation for the man in front of us. We sat for almost an hour waiting patiently (good thing I have books to read on my phone). Drove to Patong afterwards and shopped in the ‘Big C’ supermarket in the mall there. Neither of us felt like another walk down Bangla Road so after a quick look round a night market (see pic below), we had a drink and some fries in Wine Connection inside the plush, cool indoor area of the mall before heading home to unload and stow (thankfully without the added drama of impromptu swims this time).

 

Friday 3rd March Koh Yao Yai

Up early and out of our berth by 10am, we had a trouble-free departure even though I (with a bit of help from the bow thruster) motored us out. There was a good wind so the mainsail went up within 30 minutes of leaving and by 11 we had the engine off and the yankee sail out, doing just over 5 knots. Unfortunately the wind stopped suddenly not long afterwards and never returned, so on went the engine all the way to Koh Yao Yai, where we dropped anchor at 3 o’clock. Ao Labu is a lovely sheltered spot which, as the pilot guide informed us, has ‘a long sandy beach fringed with casuarina and other tropical trees’. It also stated that further in the northern corner of the bay there’s a small settlement where coconut and rubber are cultivated. We never go far enough in to see these industries in action; I suspect there are quite a few tucked away behind the pretty front views of the islands that we haven’t been aware of.  Two other yachts anchored near us late in the afternoon just as it began to get very gusty but the bay was sheltered enough, so the strength of the wind caused no concern. We sat in the cockpit and watched lights on the shore come on to gradually reveal objects and dwellings we hadn’t seen in the daylight.

Saturday 4th March Ko Phi Phi Don

There had been just enough gentle rocking on the waves to ensure a restful sleep. Our destination for the day was Phi Phi Don, an island we’d visited on the way up to Thailand in October. This time we went northwest of our previous stop and ended up on the opposite side of the isthmus. It looked extremely busy with the usual longtails, diveboats and speedboats but we managed to pick up a free mooring buoy at Monkey Beach (no prizes for guessing why it’s called that). We were quite far from the beach but could see there were lots of people on it.  As it was getting on for 5 by then, we guessed they’d start leaving soon so we dinghied over to take a look. The monkeys came into view pretty quickly. It did look rather as if they were taunting the visitors instead of the other way around. I could see them running up to ‘tag’ them, or snatch something perhaps and then run away if anyone responded to them.  Reaching the beach, we parked the dinghy, intending to go for a swim and snorkel but I became distracted by events involving a group of young visitors and a couple of monkeys a few metres away from us. This time, the people were running towards the monkeys, jeering and laughing about something and the monkeys were running away. One of the monkeys had a tiny baby clutched to her tummy. I couldn’t see any overt cruelty but something made me feel uncomfortable about the interaction. I wanted to keep watching anyway and the little monkey family ran right past us closely followed by the band of people. When they’d almost reached the other end of the beach one of the men started throwing clumps of sand or something at one of them and that’s when I set off to intervene. Paul thought that maybe the monkey had pinched a camera or a phone or something. Anyway, the monkeys ran off out of the way in to the foliage and the visitors had to board their boat back. It made me smile when they reappeared a bit later (probably having stashed their loot away safely somewhere). A few pics of them are below.

We didn’t linger on Monkey Beach for a swim, deciding instead to explore a short stretch of the coastline in the dinghy. We passed by the spot we’d anchored at in October because I was having trouble recalling it (well with so many other islands we’ve seen…) and then Paul took me back to Sister Midnight while he took the dinghy to swim and snorkel near some caves opposite to us and to practise filming with the GoPro.  The beach was more or less empty by evening but the neighbouring boats livened up, as did the shore of Phi Phi Don. Screams and shrieks of delight filled the air from passengers on pleasure boats enjoying the fun of water activities. They were being dragged and bounced along at high speed on rubber sofas and chairs or sliding down inflatable slides hanging from the boats’ sterns and splashing into the water. Meanwhile, people on the big catamarans around us lit up their decks, put music on and partied – long into the early hours according to Paul. Phi Phi Don was also brightly lit and playing music. It’s high season here and we’d expected the popular destinations to be ‘buzzing’ but in fact the nightlife hasn’t been as lively as we thought it would be. It seems reports of a dip in the number of visitors and bookings this year is a fact.

Sunday 5th March Phi Phi Lee

Phi Phi Lee is only a short distance from Phi Phi Don. Our previous visit to the area had been in bad weather and we’d glimpsed the famous movie location island through a sheet of drizzle and cloudy greyness. Leaving our anchorage at 11am after a lovely long sleep, the weather couldn’t have been more different. It was a clear, sunny, blistering hot day, and in the hour it took to get there we knew we would not be enjoying anything like the solitude and peace of previous anchorages.  The sheer volume of marine traffic and the accompanying noise was no real surprise but the fact that we managed to pick up a mooring buoy was. This location was popular long before it rose to prominence as the location for ‘The Beach’. The diving school boats and the plethora of divers around them confirmed that it’s an area where sea turtles and three types of shark can be seen (Black tip reef, Leopard and Whale sharks apparently. That large ‘fish’ I saw in the clear water when I was bending to hook the mooring buoy could well have been one of those.

Once secure, we sat back and gazed at the lively scenes before us. We didn’t intend going ashore until most of the visitors had left anyway so we watched divers, snorkelers, swimmers, and an increasing number of tipsy visitors arriving on longtails. There seemed to be a required celebratory dance that no one had told us about, which involves standing near the front of the boat and swaying around with your arms up in the air while crying out something…unintelligible. Lots of people did it on arriving but we hadn’t – hope that wasn’t a faux pas ;). The beach itself was packed with sunbathers and walkers and of course lots of longtail boats. We debated whether to stay – I know Paul wasn’t keen on the fact that it was such a hyped-up ‘naff’ location. My desire to see it came not from being a Leonardo fan, although I do enjoy his films. It was more that I saw that film so long ago and remembered looking at the idyllic scenes and imagining what it must be like to walk on those sands in such a place. I never thought I would actually get to see it! So yes, I felt an unashamed thrill at being within touching distance of it. Having decided to stay, we had a swim to cool down and then put snorkels on to check out the sea life around the boat. We saw sea urchins, tiger fish and what might have been small sharks but no sea turtles unfortunately.

At 4 30 we went across to a small beach to have a look at the interesting flat-pebble structures on the edges of the sand. I’ve seen a few similar ones since then on other beaches. I don’t know what they signify, if anything – maybe it’s something like the padlocks on bridges craze that cropped up everywhere for a while.

After a quick row around to see if we could spot any turtles, off to The Beach we went. It’s proper name is Maya Bay, and in pre film days I’m sure it was more like the beautiful unspoilt ones we’ve seen on our travels around Thailand. The first thing I noticed as we drew closer was a line of signs plonked unceremoniously at the back of the sand. There was also a garish blue platform made from pontoon segments that served no purpose at all (or so it seemed to us). Quite a few of the longtails had left by then but it was still quite crowded. We found a spot to beach the dinghy on the left side of the sand and stepped over the legs of sunbathers waiting for their boats to collect them. The signs I’d spotted had intrigued me and I was keen to see what was on them. Surprisingly, none of them advertised the fact that this was the location for the film. One, rather alarmingly, told of the risk of stings from creatures known as Portuguese man o’ war (NOT a jellyfish I’ll have you know-it’s a siphonophore!) and how to treat them – I might not have gone snorkelling if I’d seen that first!.  Another sign simply said ‘No Drones!’. Apparently, these are banned due to their irritating buzz, yet that would be nothing compared to the constant drone of the longtail engines. Another sign, and this only highlights a few of them, warned that bringing polystyrene food containers onto the island would result in hefty fines.

There was a strong smell of fuel coming from some of the longtails with dodgy engines, and I was very disappointed to see so much litter: food wrappers, plastic bottles, cigarette ends and fag cartons (even though smoking is prohibited) were strewn everywhere. I’m sure rangers have a clean-up system in place, but I’ll never understand why people think it’s ok to drop or leave rubbish where they feel like it. I thought back to an interview I’d read when the film came out, in which Leonardo, a keen environmentalist, had stated that when filming was over he’d been adamant that the beach should be left exactly as they’d found it with not a scrap of litter to spoil its beauty. I think he would be dismayed to see it now. We walked along the length of the beach and back, had a look at some rocks and caves, took some photos and then headed back to the boat.

I was interested to see how deserted the place would become as the evening wore on. We sat on deck watching the boats leave one by one; it was just before sunset when they had finally all gone. Apart from one dinghy and a couple of people (rangers maybe) in the wooded area, the beach was empty. This is possibly the only pocket of time in the day when it’s a clear white stretch of sand with no people or boats at the water’s edge. The wooden signs appeared even more incongruous when unobscured by people though.

Kathy