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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

Alternate titles:
“Don’t Panic”
“If something’s going to break, then it will wait for the worst time”
“I really should have sorted that out earlier”

Yes we had a bit of a problem today, while Kathy was reversing on the anchor rode, to get it to really dig in, the morse cable snapped on the transmission meaning we were stuck in reverse, with not much we could do about it. But more on that later.

We spent Sunday and Monday on Ko Tarutao, a large island, which makes up the largest National park, and the first in Thailand, back in the 80’s I think. It’s a very beautiful spot, but unfortunately the wind has been unseasonal again, it’s meant to be from the NE but in fact has been blowing a steady 10 Knots from the West most of the time, this made our mooring very rolly and we couldn’t stop as long as we would have liked, so we took the dinghy up a large winding river inland and explored a very pretty river / creeks. I made a couple of videos, but until I get a proper wifi, they won’t get uploaded.

From Tarutao, we headed west into the wind and to a lovely little island called Ko Tanga, I think this is part of the Butang group, we were heading for Ko Lipe, a popular holiday island at the southern end of the Butangs, from here we can see Malaysia. All of the islands on the Butangs suffer from the same problem, the beaches are lovely, but go from very shallow to very deep in no time at all. In a boats length it can go from 8 meters deep to 20 metres deep. This make anchoring very difficult. So at Ko Tanga, we had to drop our anchor in 21 metres of water, This meant I had to lay out 60 metres of chain, then another 50 metres of rope, I haven’t done this before and was rather nervous, the previous night we were being rocked a lot, and although we were on a national park mooring I had fretted over how much the rope chaffed (rubbed) on the bobstay and fittings. Now the rope could chafe and if it snapped, not only do we get washed onto the very rocky shore, but I also lose a very expensive anchor.
Anyway, the wind was very light and all was fine, with no chafe to worry about. I am going to put a plastic tube on the bobstay now to help, I didn’t want to, as they look so ugly, but I need to sleep at night.

Ko Tanga, has this arch on one of its islets, you are meant to walk through it with your partner to ensure everlasting something or other, people were actually doing it too! (Eat your heart out Malta)

We left Tanga early, it’s lovely and cool at 7am and the 2-3 hour trip to Lipe was easy into a headwind of about 5 knots. However when we arrived we found the same problem with a very deep shoreline, no chance of getting close in as the day tripper boats had laid moorings everywhere decent. We spotted a national parks mooring buoy, and tied to that, we were just getting the ropes tidied up and about to turn the engine off when a dinghy came speeding to us, it was an Australian skipper who was keen to point out that there was no connection between the mooring buoy and the sea bed, just a rope catching in the rocks, and that he had almost ran aground yesterday when he tied to it. We were very lucky, as it looked great when we tied to it, we might well have gone below for a drink and not realised we were dragging to the shore! You learn something every day in this game. So off we trekked again, looking for somewhere not too deep to anchor, eventually we had to settle on a spot 23 metres deep, this is getting serious, we anchored, let out 110 metres of chain and rope, but by the time the anchor had set (got stuck in to the ground) we were too close to another boat, so we had to pull it all back in and start again. Second time we seemed to be doing well, the anchor was holding, we seemed to be in a good spot when Kathy declared the gearstick was flopping around doing nothing. I waggled it and it seemed to be disconnected, so either it had come lose at one end or the other, or it had snapped. These cables are like big versions of the brake cable on a bike, they often fail, and just a few days ago I noticed the gearstick was quite stiff and I was wondering whether it had always been stiff, or if it might be getting old. I have had very bad luck with these cables breaking on me, so I was thinking I really need to sort them out, or at least carry a spare. So a quick ripping apart of the steering binacle, were the gear and throttle controls live and the cable is attached to the gearstick lever, so into the engine, upside down, head first, as Kathy waggles the gearstick, no sign of life, noise, twitching or anything in fact, so that means cable broken. We are now swinging on 110 metres of cable, in a 10 knot wind, not 100% sure we are dug in properly. I like to reverse with a lot of revs for a few seconds to make sure the anchor is fully set, and I’m wondering what the correct procedure is for such a situation. We can’t go anywhere, but I have a few more anchors I could throw over, I could force it into ahead on the gearbox, and we could motor out, I think. By the time I have gone through all these thought, I realise we are holding well, the forecast is for the wind to drop now for a couple of days, so I decide to stay put and try to fix the problem. So apart comes the binacle, fully, the throttle cable has to come off now, that makes my means of escape harder, but when I realise I also have to take the steering chain off the wheel to get access to the broken cable, I sit down and have another think. No steering, gear or throttle, in a crowded anchorage! I fit the emergency tiller, and realise I can control the throttle with a pair of pliers once the cable is out, so off we go. 3 Hours later, I have it all back together, minus the gearstick cable, which now sticks out of a locker, and has a new control lever. Pic below.

Kathy wants the old control back, I quite like the new one, but it’s going to make the marina entrance more interesting. I’m hoping I will be able to pick up the cable in Langkawi when we get there. Kathy likes it here so much she wants to stay for a few days. They have lots of shops, bars, bakeries and book shops!

It’s bed time now, we had a lovely dinner ashore, the boat stayed just where we left it, but I have just been up and checked everything, the tide has turned and of course with 100 metres of anchor warp out, we have moved 200 metres to the other side of the bay, unfortunately, the guy next to us, has a much shorter warp out so didn’t move away that much, if he gets much closer I will be able to step aboard his boat and wake him. However his short warp might mean he drags away from me anyway.

Just a couple more years and I might get the hang of this boating thing.

Paul Collister

We are working our way south, and seem to be encountering some very nice beach resorts on the way.We came to this island, Ko Muk, mainly to see “The Emerald Cave” which is actually a hong, accessible via an 80 metre long tunnel. Normally you have to swim in, but we were lucky to catch the tides right and get in with the dinghy.

Once in it was quite spectacular, a lovely sandy beach with trees growing all up the vertical walls. The Emerald bit was lost on me, must be my colour blindness, but Kathy understood.

I made a short vid of the trip.

 

Later we sat on the beach and watched the sun set behind sister Midnight. I was hoping the other beach goers taking pictures were thinking, ‘how lovely to see the sun set behind such a classic stylish yacht’, but they were probably thinking, ‘shame about the yacht getting in the way!.

Tomorrow, Saturday, we head for Koh Nok, a three hour sail I hope, then on Sunday a 6-8 hour sail to the Butang island group, and the island of Ko Lipe, for a few days, then a day sail into N Langkawi, Malaysia.

Paul Collister

 

 

Friday 24th Feb

By 10 30 we were motoring away from Koh Panyee with the mainsail up, the intention being to head straight for Koh Phanak, the island we had first visited when we began our Phang Nga Bay excursion earlier in the month. Looking at the map, however, I noticed we would be passing near to Koh Khai and remembered it as a place that was highly recommended in the Hong guide that Jack had given us. Paul made a quick course change and we arrived there at midday. Koh Khai is shaped a bit like a snail when looked at from a distance and the nearer we got to it the prettier it looked.

The guide stated that we might need to swim into the Hong, which was fine by me as I was really feeling the effects of the heat by then. Paul rowed us over to it while filming and commentating with the GoPro which is proving to be a great asset for recording events and places. It became clear as we got closer that small and low as it was, we would be able to take the dinghy under the rock entrance and right on to the tiny beach. Once inside, it was deliciously cool and we could see that this fabulous little Hong with very steep sides was similar to the ones we’d seen before, except this one was in miniature! We parked the dinghy and waded into the clear water for a swim and a closer look at the amazing rock features above our heads. As it was such a pretty and peaceful spot, and we were in no great hurry to reach Phanak we stayed a while longer and had lunch when we returned to the boat.  The heat hadn’t abated by the time we set off again so I sat on deck to get as much of the breeze as possible for the rest of the journey to Koh Phanak.  There aren’t many anchorages around Phang Nga Bay that don’t have a picturesque view and our next one was no exception. Paul went out in the dinghy to check out the area for our visit the next day. There were several kayakers with guides exploring the caves and the coastline. It’s always useful to watch them because the guides know the locations of the entrances of the Hongs and the best and safest times of day to enter regarding tides.

Sat 25th Feb

At 10am with the sun already hot but with an accompanying cool breeze, we set out in the dinghy to look at our final Hong of the trip. The choppy water made for a bit of a bouncy ride but it was lovely to sit gazing at the beauty of the scenes around us. People on the kayak in front of us were pointing and smiling at something on the cliff’s ledges which it turned out to be a solitary monkey who was doing a pretty good imitation of us gawping at it! It sat and stared blatantly back at all of us watchers with our phones and cameras aimed at it, completely unfazed. A bit further on, Paul slowed the dinghy so that I could photograph two more who looked like they were having a chat on their ledge. We got fairly close and I grew alarmed by the look on their faces, convinced they were going to jump into the dinghy with us, much to Paul’s amusement.

The tide was quite high by 11am and the Hong entrances didn’t look as though they could take a dinghy. We did, however, spot a cave that looked promising – dark and low and twisty, but promising. In we went. I had to use the flashlight on my phone as we went further in because we’d forgotten to bring a torch. There was an extremely pungent smell inside – musty and slightly sulphurous but at least the walls were dry, and I used them to push us away from some of the jagged rocks in the shallow water. It was exhilarating even when it was dark in front and behind us. Paul rowed when the water got deeper and we saw a glimmer of light ahead but the roof was so low we almost had to lie flat at one point. When we reached the light we could see that it wasn’t a Hong, more a cavern with a slit in the roof. Paul swam a bit further on while I held the dinghy steady with a rope attached to an overhanging rock. He was only gone for a minute but it felt eerie sat there alone…in the darkness…in total silence.  I was glad to hear him come back – he said it was a dead end but that it had been a thrilling swim. We had the current with us on the return trip and I positioned myself flat on the bow with the phone’s light to guide us back.

At midday we left Phanak and set the course for Yacht Haven Marina, but first we wanted to find somewhere nice to stop and anchor for lunch. With everywhere as far as the eye could see looking gorgeous, there was a vast choice on offer. After picking out Koh Wa Yai, we anchored off its coast and dinghied ashore for a walk. It’s not a resort, but luxury holiday bungalows are advertised for £25 a night and we’d spotted people on the beach and children playing on swings so we hoped that there might be a beach bar or café there. There wasn’t, so we had a short ride along the coast to have a nose at the accommodation (elegant chalet-style bungalows, an ideal place for an away from it all break).

After lunch on board we motored on to Yacht Haven and anchored outside the marina at about 5 30. The Deck bar beckoned before sunset, so back in the dinghy for a drink there and then on to Mama Papa’s restaurant for dinner. It’s definitely the best place I’ve eaten at in Thailand and each time we’ve been it’s been busy, mainly with yachties of all nationalities. It’s always the same friendly lady who cooks the meals, and she often takes the orders too! She does an amazing job, helped by only a few other family members. A varied choice of meals are freshly cooked in a small open kitchen, so the chips I have there – with a spicy cashew salad – are delicious, and a welcome change from the ‘fries’ most places serve.  We had to navigate our way back to Sister Midnight using my phone as a torch again in case other dinghies were heading out from between the boats and pontoons. Back to a berth on the marina pontoon tomorrow.

Sunday 26th Feb

It wasn’t until 2 o’clock that we weighed anchor and were guided to our pontoon by staff on a marina dinghy. It was very calm, so berthing was easy and we wasted no time getting connected to power and water and wifi. The rest of the afternoon was spent getting the boat shipshape and catching up on internet stuff. Later Paul went to check us in and I took a huge bag of laundry to the marina facilities at the top of the hill. Paul had lots of computer work to catch up on in the evening and I had a bit of reading to do ;). Inevitably we both fell asleep in the cabin, waking up in the early hours to walk the half dozen steps to bed. Almost time to check out of Thailand and begin the leisurely journey back to Malaysia.

Kathy

Not really, but we did do some practising.

We left Phi Phi Le, the setting of “The Beach Movie” on Monday 6th, I was glad to be away, a lovely location, but totally spoilt by the hordes of visitors, in contrast, we arrived at Ko Yum, a 4 hour motor away to find deserted beaches, with very tasteful resort chalet nestled in the trees. We like it here so much we have decided to stay a few days, before sailing south. The wind has gone away this week, 5 knots, and we are anchored just off a lovely beach in 5 mtrs of water.
I have been doing boat chores, and today I rigged up the danbuoy and lifebuoy in their designated spots at the stern of the boat. I manufactured holders for the danbuoy from plastic piping bits I bought in the hardware superstore. These are devices that are thrown to a man overboard to help in his survival and recovery. The danbuoy is basically a floating flagpole with a flag and light on the top, however ours is without the light at present. The lifebuoy is what you grab hold of to stay afloat, that comes with a very modern flashing light, automatically activated when it hits water.
So once it was all fitted in an easily accessable spot, I threw myself over the back of the boat shouting “Man Overboard” and waiting in the icy treacherous waters for help 😉
Kathy chucked the lot over and I was saved. Let’s hope we never need to do that for real.

Kathy loves the ramshackle beach bars here, it’s a very chilled spot.

Tomorrow, a short hop down the coast to Ko Lanta, then a larger hop down to Ko Tarutao and the Butang group of islands.

 

Paul Collister

Thursday 23rd Feb

It was hard to believe we were anchored when I woke up this morning – it had been such a calm, still night there was no movement at all on the boat. I was up at 6 30, in the cockpit with the binoculars watching the bats soaring above the peaks of the Hong in the early morning light. When Paul got up around 7 30 he said it was time to get going – this happened to coincide with our neighbours on the catamarans doing a jolly morning workout routine: facing each other from the decks of their boats, they sang and chanted whilst dancing and exercising and cheering each other on. We weighed anchor and moved on.

For most of the morning, the autohelm and I took on the steering and watching while Paul tried to get a signal to send his work reports.

We were heading for a small Muslim fishing village called Panyi which has quite a fascinating history. Two families from Java, Indonesia set out at the end of the 18th century to seek a suitable place to settle and make a living from fishing. It was agreed that whoever found such a spot first would raise a flag to alert the others, which is how the village came to be called Panyi (panyi means flag). All the families living there today are said to be descended from those original settlers. We had read up about it and looked at images online. It looked an incredible place – a village built on tall wooden stilts at the foot of a limestone cliff and boasts a market, souvenir shops, seafood restaurants and a notable mosque.  As we got nearer to it a longtail boat followed us from behind until it was close enough for the guy at the helm to gesture that he would show us where to anchor. We weren’t sure if we had a choice or not, and he led us to somewhere different from where we’d intended to drop it, but there were fishing buoys around and he may have been keen for us to avoid nets so we stopped where he’d indicated. The area was full of other longtails and motorboats carrying visitors to and from the piers of the village. It’s a popular destination to visit for lunch in the seafood restaurants or an afternoon of browsing the stalls.  After we had anchored the guy in the longtail drew alongside to tell us he would take us ashore and guide us around the village (for a fee, naturally). He didn’t really want to take no for an answer until I made the universal sign for sleep and even then he said he’d come back later.

We wanted to wait until all the day visitors had departed anyway.  He returned as promised at 4 o’clock just as were getting ready to go across. He got the message when he saw the dinghy but we thanked him for the offer and had a friendly chat with him about the village.

It was short hop across to the visitors’ jetty and some small boys came running up, eager to help Paul tie it up. I was struck by how flimsy the structure seemed as we walked off the pier and into the ‘streets’. The stilts are wooden and are sunk into thick, smelly mud teeming with all kinds of wriggling creatures. I couldn’t help thinking how awful it would be to topple in; the walkways are fairly narrow, often with no barriers on the sides.

Luckily there was no risk of being jostled because all the day visitors had gone and we seemed to be the only visitors there. This fact made me feel slightly awkward because it felt like we were gawping at people’s houses at times, especially as you could see right inside to their living area while walking by. The central part of Koh Panyi is a concrete floor that connects to a row of tiny souvenir shops, and from there a narrow maze of uneven planks leads to the villagers’ wooden homes.  It would be easy to become disorientated in the network of walkways and small shops, all of which sell gifts such as tee shirts, batiks and handmade items made of shells and coconut shells.

Away from the centre, the space opens up between the wooden houses and you can see the seafront where all the restaurants are…but the smell lingers. We ambled around the souvenir stalls, had a look at the grand and gleaming mosque but were unable to go inside because only Muslims can enter it, and then on to the floating football pitch, built out of bits of wood and fishing rafts by local children back in 1986. Football is popular here despite the confined space, and we saw a group of boys playing it underneath the cliff.  We had intended to eat here but we weren’t hungry enough and as it looked as if it was about to bucket down with rain, Paul was keen to get back to Sister Midnight in case the anchor dragged. The dinghy trip back was a wet one: the heavy shower and a strong wind started just as we were getting in it, and we felt quite cold by the time we reached the boat (feeling chilled really is a novelty here). The anchor had held well despite the strength of the squall – we hadn’t moved an inch. Some more pics below of Koh Panyi Village.

Yes it continues, lovely unspoilt beaches, crystal clear waters, relaxing sails, blah blah blah. Nothing really exciting to report.

We spent Thursday in Phuket town, checking out and picking up spares for the trip, we restocked at a few stores on food and drink, and went to immigration, Harbour Master and Customs to check out. Back to the boat, and a very low spring tide, so everything was exactly the same as the last time we loaded up the boat bringing the trolley down a very steep ramp to the pontoons, however this time I stayed out of the water. One thing I realised, is that as I fell backwards into the water, I pulled on the trolley to try to stop myself falling, and that’s what helped bring it onto my head. I should have pushed it away from me, that way I would just have got wet and the trolley may have stayed ashore. I wonder how fast your brain would have to work to suss that out in the split second you have. Obviously faster than my old grey matter.

So Friday morning we left early on slack water, 3 hours before high tide, and headed off to Ko Yao, a big island with a few villages and had a lovely overnight stop, Saturday we left early without going ashore and continued straight on to Phi Phi Dom, arriving an hour or two before sunset.

We were lucky to pick up a mooring buoy here, as anchoring is difficult, the waters very deep off the coast, and is sandy, which isn’t the best for anchors, they prefer mud. also as the water gets shallow, there is lots of coral you could damage, or even get your anchor stuck under. I have a system ready to deploy when I drop they anchor, that will allow me to get a stuck anchor out, but I haven’t tried it yet.

We are here primarily so Kathy can visit ‘The Beach’. If you don’t know what ‘The Beach’ is , then you’re probably not a Leanordo fan. It’s going to be very crowded, but it has to be done. Later today I hope we can scoot across the rest of phang Nga bay to Ko Yum, just off the mainland Thai coast where we continue our journey south to Malaysia.

I have some good footage of fish I shot yesterday with the goPro, will try to edit that up.

As far as our position goes, there is little AIS coverage on the internety around here, but I self report to Marine Traffic via my mobile phone each day and on passage. If you want the latest position, check us out here.

AIS Position details here

The Autohelm is behaving well since I fixed the rudder feedback, so fingers crossed. Everything else is working well. so All’s good here in Paradise 😉

 

 

Monday 20th February Krabi to Koh Dam Hok

We had to wait until the tide was right before leaving Krabi so it was late afternoon when we got to the fuel dock to refill for the passage.  Anyone fed up with me relating how hot it is yet? Well…it was hot and very humid too so once we were out of the river and back out on the shallows it was such a tonic to feel the sea breeze on our skin. The mudbanks were much more visible on the return trip but Paul was more confident this time and we made it across much quicker, with no threat of going aground.  Paul chose a great place to stop for the night, just as the light was beginning to fade. Several mooring buoys were available near the small, charming island of Koh Dam Hok. Through the binoculars I could make out a long strip of white sand and what might be a ranger’s hut. A few longtail boats were anchored near it but it clearly wasn’t the busy thoroughfare for marine traffic we’d experienced at Ao Nang, which we could see lit up in the distance.  I picked up a mooring buoy (have I mentioned that I can do this pretty skilfully now ;)) and we were securely tied on to it before sundown – in fact we sat on deck in the cool evening air to watch the sun set and as it was such a clear night we lingered up there until it was full dark, enjoying the peace and the starlit sky… such are the simple pleasures of this sailing life 🙂

Tuesday 21st February Koh Hong

The security of the mooring buoy and the serene location proved to be ideal conditions for a deeper and longer sleep. However, I was glad to be up in time to see the sunrise when Koh Dam Hok was revealed in all its glory: shades of green from the dense forest behind the spotless white sand, a turquoise sea and a clear blue sky, were all enhanced by the pinkish early morning sunlight. I could have admired it for ages. Paul went for a swim after breakfast to check the condition of the hull and we slipped our mooring at 10 o’clock to journey to Koh Hong. We were able to have the sails up for a while during this passage, although it’s never long before they start flapping and the engine is turned on again. I keep forgetting to mention that the fishing line is usually trailing behind us on these trips (once, it even caught a juicy bit of seaweed).

At 1 30 we arrived at Koh Hong and after sussing out that there were once again plenty of free mooring buoys, we motored around the triangular-shaped island for a better look at it.  One side was quite lively: two long beaches with lots of day visitors and associated longtail boats. The water was busy with divers, swimmers, snorkelers and kayakers. Round the corner was a smaller, more peaceful beach with fewer vessels so that’s where we (I) picked up a mooring buoy after we’d been round the whole coastline. This is flagged as another ‘must see’ Hong and it was easy to see why.  The binoculars showed steep, rust-coloured stripy cliff sides, surreal rock formations, sea caves and intriguing creeks and inlets. Add to those the gorgeous beaches, lush vegetation and the awe-inspiring Hong itself, and this Hong’s got the lot! The day visitors begin to leave from about 4pm so we waited until 4 30 for our dinghy trip. Our first stop was a cave behind the trees on the beach which could have come straight out of the kind of Enid Blyton adventure stories I devoured as a child. It was dark and eerie inside. I couldn’t see any bats – lots of stalactites and stalagmites and dark corners dripping with water though. Paul went further in but it didn’t lead to another Hong so we left and dinghied round the corner to the main one.

Taking the dinghy into the Hong’s lagoon was delightful (to begin with). It’s huge, and I kept seeing beautiful blue birds flying off the branches of the trees on the sides of it. My mission then was to get a picture of one of them. Part of the enjoyment of being inside a Hong is the tranquil setting, the bird calls, spotting wildlife and taking in all the nature on display.  The general advice is that outboards should be turned off when inside in order not to disturb the wildlife and to respect the surroundings. It’s nice to row around it in a leisurely manner anyway. Pictures from inside Koh Hong below.

Unfortunately, despite almost having it to ourselves, we were subjected to calls and screeches of a human kind when a motorboat carrying about a dozen tourists (either French or Russian) entered the lagoon and began whooping and cheering and jumping in the water, and then compounded the rudeness by playing loud, ghastly Eurotrash music. I was seething with indignation and would have loved to let them know how ill-mannered they were (I tend to go into grumpy old woman mode a lot more frequently these days ;)). Anyway I know it wouldn’t have done a lot of good to confront them. I did manage to get a picture of one of the pretty blue birds on our way back to the boat though (it can just about be seen).

Wednesday 22^nd February Koh Roi

It’s a smoother and faster exit from a mooring buoy and not having to flake the anchor frees me up to get things tidied and sorted below. It doesn’t take long for the cabin to get cluttered and for items to go astray if the rule of ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’ isn’t adhered to :). We also need to keep up with charging phones and various other devices so we make the most of the power inverter while the engine is running. Up above, scenes straight out of the glossy pages of travel brochures were coming into view on the port side: golden beaches and palm trees with luxury holiday accommodation nestling in the jungle-like forest. There is nothing garish about these resorts, the buildings blend in with the surroundings and they are designed so that it never becomes too crowded.

We arrived at Koh Roi at about 2pm and decided we would visit this Hong earlier. From our anchorage we could see the arched, cave-like entrance to the Hong and looking through the binoculars I could see that people were stooping underneath it to get in. Paul checked the tides and worked out that 3 30 would be a good time to visit. As luck would have it, it looked as if the beach was deserted as we approached on the dinghy. Looking around me I was struck by the sheer beauty of our surroundings. It’s hard to describe in words, I think the pictures convey it well, but it’s the very size of the rocks, and their solid, molten shapes that look almost too crafted to be natural that inspire such awe. Travel writer Thomas Swick sums it up well in an excerpt from his book, The Joys of Travel: And Stories That Illuminate Them:

No technology can replace the visceral experience of arriving in a new place, the moment when you step out of an airport, or off a ship, and subject yourself—body, mind and heart—to a strange land. You’re attuned to everything: the sights, the sounds, the smells, the textures, very soon the tastes.

Leaving the dinghy on the beach we headed straight for the cave, sweating profusely from the heat and humidity and when we stepped into that Hong I did indeed subject myself body, mind and heart to the strange environment before us. The first thing that hit me was how gorgeously cool it was in the dim cavern after the searing heat. Then I noticed the mangrove trees, their dry roots on show without the water we usually see covering them. I was aware of screeching noises and assumed they were birds or monkeys. I kept looking down to paddle my way through the shallow, murky pools of water we had to negotiate to get further in.

 

When I looked up the sight that met me was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. The noise we heard came from bats – the fruit bats I had been so keen to spot, and there they were in the tall trees in the Hong, hundreds of them. Hanging upside down from the branches, their black wings were either wrapped around their bodies cocoon-like or stretched out as they opened them one at a time, but it was their dark beady eyes that fascinated me. Like portraits hanging on walls in stately homes where the eyes appear to follow you, each bat I looked at seemed to be staring back at me. The noise was deafening as we went further in. Strangely, it built up to reach a crescendo and then gradually subsided until it was almost silent before slowly building up again. I could have stood there for hours looking up into their cute furry faces. Picking our way over the rock strewn floor with its gnarled and tangled tree roots and swampy mud, this Hong was like a Gothic grotto, complete with a colony of bats. It wouldn’t have looked out of place in scenes from Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings. I loved it! More pics below but unfortunately the bats didn’t photograph very well.

Back onboard, we sat at the bow watching the people from the two catamarans that had anchored near us, swimming over to the Hong as the sun set. By then, the tide was in so far that it was impossible to see the arched entrance, but I could still hear the bats clearly.

Friday and we left Pan Yi just as the day trippers started arriving around 11 and decided to have lunch at Ko Khai as Kathy believed there was a good hong there. From there we would travel south to Ko Phanak, the island we started this trip around the bay from a few weeks ago.

Above you can see the route we took. Below I have zoomed in on a section not long after we left Pan Yi. You can see the course goes off in a swinging sine wave motion.

This is caused by the Auto-helm throwing a wobbly, It’s been doing this randomly for a while now and I have no idea why. It can be quite unnerving depending on where you are, and very annoying if beating with the sails close hauled and it causes you to tack and back the sails. The only thing that was a clue was the ERROR 67 that flashed on the screen every now and then, this error indicates the rudder feedback is missing. The unit should operate without feedback, just not as well. Anyway, as it was such a calm day, I thought I would investigate, and sure enough the weight of the cable loom in the rudder area had pulled a wire off the sensor connector block. An easy repair, the harness secured better and no more error 67. I also had no more wild course changes, but that may just be a fluke.

With that fixed we arrived at the Ko. It’s only a small island but it turned out to have an exquisite little hong, easy to access by dinghy.

There’s a little video here. Don’t poke fun at me leaving the sail up. For non yachties, it’s a bit like leaving your engine running with the keys in the ignition and the door open on the exit ramp of a multi storey car park, oh, and with an iffy handbrake. What could possibly go wrong. In actual fact there wasn’t a whisper of wind at all for a few hours around then.

Today we had a great trip into a long tunnel at Phanak, we forgot the torches, so that was fun. more on that later. No we are off to the Yacht Haven anchorage, then chilling, restock, and exit via immigration/harbour master early next week.

 

Paul Collister

 

Friday 17th Feb

As usual we were up early, having adapted to the routine common in most hot countries: to rise early in order to make the most of the cooler hours, and rest during the hottest part. Sleeping in would have been impossible anyway as we were in the middle of a busy longtail route and they start ferrying passengers back and forth early! The constant drone of their engines was beginning to get beyond irritating after an hour or so.  It was a relief, therefore when Paul was able to confirm a place at Krabi Boat Lagoon and we moved off immediately so that we would avoid the lowest tide on the route. It was a bit hairy anyway with mudbanks either side of us and the depth monitor showing mostly 3 metres but dropping to 2.8 at times. It only needs 1.5 for us to go aground and although it has happened before and Paul says it’s nothing to be scared of, it’s an unnerving sensation. Anyway we kept to the ‘path’ (mostly – Paul took a bit of a short cut to speed things up a bit) and then all we had to do was identify the entrance to the river.  Spotting things on the horizon at sea, it’s easy to become confused regarding perspective. We could see no way in even with the help of binoculars until we were fairly near. The landscape is a lot flatter in this area and there was a long row of trees forming part of the mangrove swamp at the edge of the marina entrance and they carried on almost all the way to the pontoons.  We were guided to our berth by Ben, the marina manager and once securely tied up we checked in with him at the office. Ben gave us some useful information and maps on the area.  By then it was 1 30 and too hot to do much else than work or read with the fans on in the cabin.  We went for a drink and dinner at the bar later (where they were more than happy to cater for my vegan, and Paul’s non-spicy requirements) and Paul arranged a hire car for the following day.

Saturday 18th Feb

The early morning chorus of birds here makes you look up (or wake up) and take notice. Their cries are so different to those of the seagulls or wood pigeons back home. One bird’s very loud call sounds exactly like Mr Punch from Punch and Judy. I really thought it was someone on a nearby pontoon practising for that act (in Thai, naturally)! Paul, hearing it just as he was waking up, sleepily asked ‘is that a bird, or a screeching woman’?  The morning after that, Mr Punch’s cry was responded to by an even louder bird call similar to that of a jammed car alarm and this time Paul muttered ‘Crikey, I wouldn’t want to mess with him!’. Try as I might I could not get a glimpse of the birds so I have no idea what they looked like.  Anyway we collected our car on a very hot Saturday morning and drove out on to a village road bordered by lush, jungle-like vegetation. We also passed salt pans, which Paul explained are huge ditches filled with sea water and left to dry so that the salt can be collected and sold.  Further on, I noticed that Krabi Province differs from Phuket in quite a few ways. Tethered cows and bulls are a common sight: they graze in gardens, on roadsides and in fields –  but there are never more than two. The roads are considerably wider and colourful flowers often form part of the verges. Houses and gardens are well-tended, there are fewer shacks and roadside cafes appear smarter. There is an air of affluence here and yet it isn’t as much of a tourist destination as Phuket.

Our first stop was Ao Nong Beach which didn’t impress us much. It was crowded, tacky in places, and felt soulless, or maybe we expected more after observing the smart towns and villages we’d driven through. A little further on, though we found a fantastic café bar on the brilliantly-named TubKeak Beach. The view from the tables was glorious and we sat at one of them for a late lunch of Calamari and fries and a tomato sandwich for me. The guy who served us was a typically friendly Thai gentleman who couldn’t understand why I didn’t want any chicken in my sandwich. It was a lovely location to sit out the hottest part of the afternoon before heading into Krabi Town. Purely by chance we parked outside a gift shop that doubled as a second hand bookshop. It was a real treasure trove full of crime and thriller paperbacks…so Paul went off to look at the river for half an hour or so :).  In the town centre, we had a walk around and caused a bit of entertainment buying bread from a bakery. In quite a few shops and stalls in Thailand there is a system in operation whereby if no one is around or behind the counter, someone will suddenly appear, acknowledge us and then go off to fetch the owner/assistant. Admittedly this time we’d entered the cafe next door instead of the bakery but when we found the correct place, someone had to come and explain to the confused baker that we wanted to buy the big brown loaf we’d pointed at and we didn’t want it sliced. Both the lady baker and her helper thought this was quite amusing and got us to confirm it twice in case it was a joke. All I can think was that it was rather a large loaf for two people and as they don’t really go much for bread in Asia, we had probably stumbled into the bakery that provides for the cafe rather than a shop. Anyway it was very tasty bread.  Next it was on to the market in Krabi Walking Street. I found this much better than Patong’s larger street market, which can get a bit manic. This one reminded me of the kind of stalls and street food found at music festivals. After ambling around for an hour or so we were tired and still had the Tesco shop to do, but luckily we only had a few fresh items and drinks to stock up with so that didn’t take long. We used Google Maps to find our way back to the marina – sometimes it’s quite nice to get lost and come upon interesting places, but we were eager to get back for a rest and to plan where to go on Sunday.

Sunday 19th February

Before succumbing to sleep, we had looked at a few recommended places on the leaflets we’d been given, and on Trip Advisor and all of them praised a place called Tiger Cave Temple, which doesn’t have any real tigers thankfully, just the footprint of a very large one that is said to have lived in the caves at the top of a very high mountain and it came to be thought of as a sacred place. All recommended the stunning views from the summit and the beautiful golden Buddha statues –  and all warned of the strenuous climb to reach them. There are 1,237 steps to the top but they are very high steps apparently and the monkeys there can be vicious according to one lady on Trip Advisor whose review stated that she saw:

‘two monkeys attacking a lady descending a very steep ladder. We had to stop there as I didn’t want to risk my life’. (!)

Advice for visitors included the caution that the challenging climb is only for the very fit, puts a lot of strain on leg muscles and should definitely not be attempted on very hot days. It was a very hot day, and neither of us could be described as fit in the athletic sense. All the same I was quite tempted by the challenge and the promise of those views…until we contemplated the other place we’d looked at. Ben had urged us to visit Krabi Hot Springs, he had even marked it on a map for us. I had nodded politely at the time because I didn’t really know what a hot spring was. I’m not keen on saunas and hot tubs and assumed it was something like that. Paul explained that it would be relaxing, it had a pool – it even had a bar! Well it was getting a bit late in the day to attempt such a steep climb and as I’d never experienced a hot spring – ok I admit it, I was feeling too hot and lazy to tackle all those steps!

We set off for another brilliantly-named place: The Nattha Waree (not to worry?) Hot Spring Resort. Set in tropical gardens interspersed with nine hot spring pools, it’s a hotel resort and spa but welcomes day visitors for 300 Baht (about £7) each. We were given a towel and a bottle of cold water each when we paid, and once in our swimming gear we were free to roam around the lush gardens all day. It was practically deserted. We only saw two families the whole time we were there. The springs are graded by temperature, going up to 49 degrees and we started with the lowest one which was 39 degrees. Paul went in first and said it was really hot but felt wonderful. He immersed himself straight away and waded through the long pool with the water up to his shoulders. I could tell it was hot from the steam and I couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would want to get into such hot water when it was so very hot anyway, but since it wasn’t fair to deride it without trying it, in I went.  It was like a very hot bath, and it did feel nice but I still felt like I needed cooling off not heating up. We walked into most of the pools but baulked at the hottest one – it felt like boiling water just dipping a toe in.  The highlight for me was the fish therapy pool. I had seen them in shopping centres where people were queuing up to plunge their feet in water for fish to nibble at them and it hadn’t held any appeal. Here, no one else was around and I thought I might as well give it a go. At first I pulled my foot back out because it felt so strange but I gradually got used to it and loved it. It was like having my feet gently brushed with soft bristles and was very relaxing. Paul couldn’t get past the ticklish feeling so he left me there while he went to the pool for a swim. Once I could tear myself away I joined him there and spent a pleasant afternoon reading, swimming, and relaxing. The only thing missing was a massage facility. I think we made the right choice for the day though.  I had a look at some online images of the Tiger Cave Temple when we got back, and they weren’t exaggerating the steepness of those steps!

Before returning to Boat Lagoon we stopped at a tiny fishing village very nearer to the marina and took some pictures of this lovely place in the early evening sun.

Kathy