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This morning we woke in Ko Ku Do Yai and explored an old hong that had collapsed in several places and was easy to access from the sea. There were some lovely beaches within, and a little path that led to another nice beach.

This island is home to a lot of bats, but I only saw butterflies. Back to the boat and off into a darkening sky with a rising wind, The wind was from the East, and we were heading mostly South East, so I was hoping to get the new sails up and see how they worked. It would have been a three hour trip by motoring at 5.5 knots and we had 6 hours, so I figured we should take advantage of the flattish seas and a 10 knot rising wind to see how she handles.

As we headed out into the bay, we noticed lots of yachts heading down from the north, later we could see that they were all anchoring at the Paradise resort on Ko Yao, it turns out this was the 20th Bay Regatta, and looks like a great event. Perhaps we could enter this next year.

I was able to get all the new sails flying fairly quickly, the staysail wouldn’t fully unfurl, and a trip to the bow showed me the furling line had bunched up on the drum and looking closer I could see the frame around the drum was egg shaped, must have been bashed at some point. Not a big deal to sort anyway.
So straight away I could feel the difference, we picked up speed quickly and where making  great speed, quite close to the wind. Adjusting the sail trim, I found we could get very close to the wind, much better than before. The wind continued to pick up, and by the time we reached Krabi, we had 20 knots on the nose, and quite big waves, the wind had backed a bit so I had to tack for the last leg, this was great, I went further than I needed to on the first leg as I wasn’t sure what angle the boat would tack through, before it was about 120 degrees, but now it was more like 80 degrees, I need to do more work, but you can see how we easily manage 90 degrees on the track above.
I have found that my wireless wind meter on the masthead is a bit rubbish, I can’t rely on it at all, it was reading 10 knots the other night, when it was howling and the boat was tipping over at anchor, my handheld meter was registering 20-25 knots. Today I had full sail up, too much really for the conditions by the end of the day.
Arriving at Krabi was weird, seeing a road with cars on it was slightly unnerving, we haven’t seen any roads, power cables, vehicles or buildings for ten days now.  We have only seen a sprinkling of people as well, but now it seems like we are in Disney land, we can hear dance/house music blasting from a long shoreline, backlit with hotels and restaurants, fire-eaters are illuminating the beach with their dance routines and we are surrounded by long-tails whizzing around ferrying tourists to the various islands off the coast here.
We have had to anchor some distance from the shore as it is too shallow up close, and as it’s now raining, windy and the sea is a bit choppy, we haven’t ventured ashore. Tomorrow maybe. I would like to see if we can get a berth in the marina here so we can travel into the town and check out the area.

Paul Collister

 

We stayed an extra day tucked behind Ko Yang as the wind was quite strong and gusty from the north, It was a nice enough spot and the anchor was holding well against 20-30 knot gusts.
I have a system I’m using with the anchor now, it seems to work very well, but it still needs refinement. We have a problem that here the currents tend to run quite strong 2-3 knots most of the time, and I think that the long keel shape of our hull dictates that we always face into the current, no matter how windy it gets. So we often find ourselves pointing one way, say east, because thats where the tidal flow comes from, yet the wind from the west pushes us to the length of our anchor chain. This puts the anchor chain under the hull of the boat, this is worst case, more often it’s somewhere between, and the anchor chain is shooting of to the side of the boat, when it’s going to the port side , it rubs on the bobstay and makes a most unsettling noise.
The solution I’m testing, is a line of rope from the fitting at the bottom of the bobstay which goes to a hook on the anchor chain. I might have mentioned this on a previous post, This rope is nylon, about ten metres long and does several things, 1) It acts like a snubber, putting some elasticity into the system, so we don’t see any shock loads. 2) It keeps the chain away from the bobstay so we don’t get any chafing or scraping there. 3) It lowers the angle of the anchor rode to the sea bed effectively increasing the ‘scope’ of the anchor. The scope is all about the angle between the anchor rope and the sea bed, the lower the better. In 5 metres of water, we would want 25 metres of chain for a 5:1 scope, when you add another 2 metres from the water surface to the bowsprit platform, you are effectively reducing the scope to less than 4:1. Anchors work best when the pull is horizontal along the seabed, and worst when the pull is upwards. So far this works well, my only concern is that when the rope is rubbing against the hull it must be chafing on the sharp barnacles there. It doesn’t matter if it snaps, as the slack chain is still there to take up the strain.

On Sunday there was a break in the wind so we left, the forecast was for the wind to stay strong, so our visit to a muslim fishing village was called off, looking at the chart, there didn’t seem much shelter there. We headed over to Ko Yang where we had better shelter, we dinghied around a bit and I finished off the software and installed it on a server back in the UK. I love the idea of working on my two servers, one in Utah and the other in the UK from a cosy anchorage here. The time zones work out well to, I can do my work early before anyone is up back home, do some sailing through the day, then come tea time, take calls and answer emails.
We were joined in this little sheltered cove by several other ‘sunsail’ and ‘Moorings’ charter yachts, 4 boats in total, this is the most crowded spot we have been in so far!

Tuesday was still not great weather, but we decided to race across to the far side of the bay, this is in the region called Krabi, with a town of the same name. We went to the top of the area and found a lovely secluded bay on the SW corner of Ko Chong Lat Tai, where we went ashore. Most of these bays are on uninhabited islands with only access by sea, so very unspoilt, other than debris washed up. Kathy spotted a monkey strolling along the beach. I spotted that we had a deflating tube on the dinghy, that didn’t take long! I have searched for a leak and can’t find one, now I have pumped it up again, it has stayed ok. I’m trying to convince myself that the act of searching for the leak, somehow gained me brownie Karma points with the dinghy and it has self healed, I know it’s a long shot, but what else can I do.

This is a lovely island, we dinghied around the various mini islands that are littered everywhere, we motored into what was probably once a hong, but one side had collapsed exposing it to the sea, we just managed to get the dinghy in over a very shallow rocky entrance, and had a lovely paddle around. Kathy has some good pics.

The next morning (Today, Wednesday) we were approached by local fishermen offering their wares, I bought some big prawns, dinner for tonight. They aren’t that cheap, £5 for 1/2 kg, but they will make a lovely meal, and I don’t begrudge the locals some business at all. It’s not everyday you get to eat prawns that freshly caught.

So we weighed anchor and headed south, we are aiming to be in Krabi town area in a few days time, we may go into the marina there for a day, just to restock on water and fuel. We have two stops on the way, tonight we are at Ko Ku Du YaiOne other yacht just arrived but it’s very quiet here, we are wedged into a very small channel between the two islands. There is easy access to some hongs here, which we will explore tomorrow before heading of to the other famous hong that’s called Ko Hong, not to be confused the hong at Ko Hong (west). I’m getting the hang of the hongs now (groan).

Paul Collister

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 8th Feb Koh Phanak

The high-pitched whine of mosquitoes disturbed my sleep during the latter part of Tuesday night, and in the end I put the fan on next to the bed to drown out their noise, thus giving them free rein to feast on me. It’s always amazed me that such a tiny insect can create such a loud noise. The result of their attacks on my skin finally led me to get up to apply some calamine lotion to relieve the itchiness. We generally rub deet-based repellent on ourselves in the evening but thought we’d be mosquito free so far from land: apparently not! In the cockpit having coffee later in the morning, we sat looking out at the vista around us. The sea was flat calm and in the distance two men on paddle boards could be seen heading our way. It was quite a surreal sight, especially because from so far away the paddle boards weren’t visible so it looked as though they were floating on the water.  Paul was busy working on a computer programme so we stayed put and had a very relaxing day.

Thursday 9th Feb

When it was time to weigh anchor and move on, I got into position to carry out my role as anchor flaker. This involves getting my head and shoulders in the anchor locker to grab the chain as it comes in and then layer it to prevent it from getting tangled, twisted or stacking up too high. Paul washes the mud off (most of it) so it comes down wet, dirty and smelling slightly of fish – rubber gloves are essential! Before heading out to a different part of the bay we motored around the whole of Phanak Island to look at its stunning geography, which seemed almost lunar in places. The geographical features of The Hongs are fascinating to look at even for people not into geology. The whole of the Phang Nga Bay area is ideal for seeing the effect water and nature have on the coastal landscape – the caves, strata, stalactites and stalagmites, on and around the cliff faces create remarkable images, such rocks looking like candlewax which has dripped and hardened into huge lumpy dribbles. The most obvious feature is that of a Hong itself. They were discovered relatively recently by pilots during World War Two who spotted the hollowed out islands from the air. Without going into intricate detail about how it’s formed, a Hong, to quote from the Pharrell Williams song is basically ‘a room without a roof’ – a very tall, often circular, room with beautiful flora and fauna adorning its walls.

Friday 10th Feb

We’d hoped to beat the day tripper boats by setting out in the dinghy at 8am, but one had already pulled up on the beach as we were getting in. A group of about 12 people could be seen wading through the water to access a cave leading to the Hong. ‘I can do that’ I thought. Beaching the dinghy proved easy – we’ve been experimenting with various ways of launching, lifting and carrying it and are growing more competent each time we do it. The captain of the adventure boat advised us to pull it up as far as possible and warned us that it was very dark in the cave. ‘Ok’, I thought, ‘well we have a torch – it’ll be fine.’  The last few people on the tour were guided round the corner, ducking down to avoid the stalactites above their heads (all had helmets on so it seems health and safety operates in some areas). Making sure the dinghy was secure we began to wade into the water and I felt a stirring of misgiving. The water was a bit murky and came almost to the top of my legs. I had my iPhone in a waterproof bag around my neck because since Paul’s got ruined we use mine for photos but I was worried about stumbling and damaging it. As we rounded the corner the water got shallower and I could see the cave and the tunnel ahead. It looked very dark and narrow and there was no sign of the people who’d gone in before us. I had more misgivings. We walked on and I began to feel things sticking to my legs, which in all probability, were leaves or twigs but my imagination turned them into leeches or jellyfish. I bent to bat them off but didn’t want to hold on to the slimy walls to keep my balance, and by now we were having to bend down because the cave roof was low. I couldn’t see an exit ahead, the entrance was getting further behind us, it was dark and I could feel panic setting in. That’s when I knew I couldn’t go any further, especially if I wanted to get out quickly. Paul was enjoying the whole thing and I didn’t want to spoil the experience for him, so after a short ‘discussion’ about what to do we agreed that I should return and he should carry on. I gave my phone to him and hurried back towards the light. Another tour group was making their way in as I exited, so two boats were now parked on the beach when I got back. The crew smiled at me when I told them I didn’t like it. The ten minutes I spent on the tiny beach waiting for Paul were very pleasant. I sat by the dinghy and listened to the guys chatting to each other while they had their breakfast, thinking about what a wuss I’m becoming as I get older. At least I gave it a try. Apparently I only needed to go another 50 yards to have seen the beautiful Hong Paul described in his post but I have no regrets. Below are a few of the shots Paul took.

Our next jaunt in the dinghy, a couple of hours later was much more to my liking. We went slowly round the north coast of Phanak, stopping to take pictures and to take a closer look at the lush vegetation. Always on the lookout for wildlife, I was delighted to see a huge lizard basking in the sun on a ledge high up on the cliff side, and then a solitary monkey who seemed to take an interest in us from its position up in the trees. The light was perfect for this type of trip and I was captivated by the beauty of it all, especially as the dinghy is so comfortable to sit and gaze in. I took lots of pictures in an attempt to capture the picturesque scenes passing before me.

We reached our next destination later that afternoon. Koh Yai proved to be a bit of a tricky place to anchor in because there were lots of shallow parts and during our first attempt, Paul bent over the guard rail to adjust a rope and his last good pair of glasses fell off his T shirt straight into the water. He’s now attached makeshift lanyards to his remaining pairs. At least no caps have been lost overboard this time.

Saturday 11th Feb

Another early start to check out a Hong that promised to be less claustrophobic than the first one. It wasn’t surprising to see a tour boat unloading its passengers into kayaks as we neared the entrance. Kayaks or canoes are ideal for going into the narrow, low-roofed tunnels and we were asked several times if we wanted to hire one as we passed the tour companies. During the tour, the guide sits at the back with two passengers in front of him and relates information about the formation, wildlife and vegetation etc. of the Hong. We hung back and watched intending to wait until all the kayaks had entered before venturing in. Each guide who passed us delivered a warning that was either about the dinghy being too wide, the state of the tide, or the fact that we must wait until after their tour boats had gone in. It might have been all three of those, but as the last one went in he turned and gave us a beaming smile and beckoned us to follow him. I felt more secure in the dinghy despite the fact that the tunnel was narrow and low. I did wonder if we would fit through the narrower parts but by holding on to the (dry) walls and pushing ourselves along we navigated it through to the exit. We emerged into a beautiful lagoon with high sides, covered with lush green foliage and creepers; it was easy to imagine that a roof once covered the top. The tour boats were moving onto a narrower tunnel that was definitely too small for us so we rowed around the lagoon, took a few pictures and prepared to go back, just as a second lot of kayaks came through. One of the rowers looked very concerned when he saw us and gestured that the tide was rising, then another urged us to get going quickly. There followed a bit of a ‘boat jam’ where we tried to keep out of the way of the kayaks entering while pushing back along the walls as fast as we could. Paul thought they were being a bit over cautious and that they wanted us to hire one of their kayaks. The water hadn’t risen to an alarming level but it was good to back in the open anyway. There were lots of birds around and we had the binoculars so spent a bit of time rowing around scanning the trees and cliff sides for other signs of wildlife. The eagles were magnificent – soaring so gracefully above the highest of the treetops. We startled several herons and I recognised swallows but couldn’t name any of the other birds we saw.  I’m hoping we’ll see bats in some of the sea caves we visit next week. More pics of the Hong experience below.

 

Not really, but we dried out last night and sunk into the mud a foot or so. No big deal, should have read the notes I later found that said the tidal range here is a metre higher than the tide tables say. Also the charts are not very accurate in this area.

So Friday morning, up early and a dinghy ride over to our first hong. We beached the dinghy, pulled it up the beech, and failing to find anything to tie it too, I dug an anchor into the shell like sand, better than nothing. The tide was rising and the beech itself would be gone in a couple of hours, so I felt I ought to make an effort.

The entrance to this hong is through a long tunnel, the water was up to our knees, but would be closer to our heads at high water. It wasn’t a long tunnel, but very dark and my torch wasn’t really up to the job. It was a lot better though once I took off my sunglasses Duh. we got half way in, it was very disorientating, as it twisted and turned, all the time the water got deeper. Kathy decided to go back, she’s not mad about walking in water in the dark towards an uncertain future. I waited until I could see her leave the tunnel and proceeded, it was only another 50 meters and I emerged into a lovely grotto like world. An inside out island, basically a cylinder cutout from the island with a small lagoon in the middle, prehistoric and quite enchanting.

Then we had a motor around the island in the dinghy, getting close to the overhanging stalactites. Back to The boat and off to Ko Hang, or Ko Hong as it’s sometimes called.

Here is a hong everyone visits, Kayaks constantly pour into and out of the caves, you can get in by dinghy, but it’s not recommended unless near low water, but what the hell, I gave it a go. It was close getting back, as we only just fitted into the tunnel, with the rising tide. You can see the gap below, thats just about the width of the dinghy and the only way out until the tide goes out in 6 hours time.

Above we returned to a lovely lagoon where we could see Sister Midnight happy at anchor in the distance.

From Phanak, we went up towards James Bond Island, as it has become known since it starred in “The man with the golden gun”, I can only vaguely remember the film, and have no great desire to go to the island, unlike half of the tourists who visit Phuket and Krabi, the day trip boats are constantly arriving here to drop people off.

By now, Saturday, the weather had got worse, the wind was gusting 20-25 knots from the north, and we had a few rainy squalls blow through. We took shelter that night behind an island that should have protected us from the north round to the east. The wind is meant to be in the east, but the wind backed to NNW so the wind blew hard on us, We dragged our anchor, which was fine, as these things will happen, and I thought it good practice to reset it in the dark at midnight with the wind blowing hard. There was a big rock in the water behind us, but I reckoned the wind would take us past it if the worst came to the worst then we had a good mile before the shallows. We re-anchored fine, except I went a little too close to the shore, and was woken at 5am by the distinct feeling I was going to roll off the bed, we had about a 20 deg list to starboard. I checked we hadn’t moved too much, and went to back to bed wondering how 5m minus 2m can equal 1.3m, still all was fine, when I woke up we were floating again. I cooked Sunday breakfast of poached eggs, and we then headed off to the North East for our next destination, near a fishing village built on sticks, but the wind was very strong, the sea a bit rough and there was no guarantee of any great shelter there, so we swung around and came back to anchor just behind a little island called Ko Yang, which is a lovely spot. However the wind is still strong, and little blasts keep hitting us and tipping the boat around. Not enough to spill any of Kathy’s wine fortunately.
By the way, it might seem like paradise out here, but you try finding a plumber in paradise who can come out to the boat and unblock the system! The problem is the usual calcification of the pipes and fittings, blockage removed, and all is good again, but there’s a bigger job there for sometime in the future.
We are going to stay here until this bad patch of weather passes, we will dinghy ashore in a moment to explore this lovely little island and take some pics.

Paul Collister

 

On Monday (6th Feb) we set off early to collect the hire car. An early start was needed in order to carry out the series of tasks on the ‘to do’ list so that we’d be ready to depart the following morning.  The priority, and therefore first task on the agenda, was to get Paul’s stitches out. We were expecting to be in the hospital for some time, especially when we arrived there and saw how busy it was. Yet after presenting himself at reception with the medical card he’d been given the week before, he seemed to get ‘fast-tracked’ through to the treatment room. It looked to us like he’d jumped the queue because lots of people were seated in the waiting area outside the treatment room but his name was called over the tannoy before he even had a chance to join them. Paul had experienced this type of preferential treatment in Afghanistan and wasn’t comfortable with it but we couldn’t be certain that was the case and whatever the reason for such a speedy service, it meant we were out of there within 20 minutes. The next stop was a Post Office for Paul to get his damaged iPhone weighed and posted back to the UK for the insurance claim. Unfortunately, mobile phones – even those with no batteries in – are on the list of prohibited items for posting, along with live animals, drugs, pornographic material and Buddhas! On we went to Boat Lagoon to collect the penultimate item on Paul’s list of essentials to buy for the boat: a Danbuoy, a good thing to have as part of lifesaving equipment. The last item to buy is a life-raft which we’ll get nearer the time we’re due to hit the big wide ocean. Rolly Tasker Sailmakers was next so that Paul could re-buy the rope that ended up in the marina during his accident. With all that done we were free to take in some of the sights we hadn’t managed to fit in before we left for the Christmas holiday.

The first of these was The Big Buddha. This huge white marble statue sits on top of the wonderfully-named Nakkerd Hills near Chalong. We’d seen it from several vantage points during our drives around Phuket, and although a visit to it had been recommended by Giles, I thought seeing it up close wouldn’t be worth such a steep hike up there in the heat.  Anyway we were fairly near to it, and since it appears in Phuket’s Top 10 sights to see, we decided to pay a visit. Luckily we were able to drive all the way on a winding coast road which was very picturesque – although I was a bit perturbed by the sight of elephants chained and tethered in tiny enclosures outside houses or cafes on the roadside. One contained a mum and baby with a sign advertising rides on the baby elephant for children. This sort of ‘attraction’ will be banned completely one day I’m sure – I hope so anyway.

We were pleasantly surprised to discover that visiting the Big Buddha was totally free: no admission fee or parking charges. There was even a free hot vegetarian buffet near the entrance – we weren’t ready to eat at that point otherwise we would have taken advantage of it. It turned out to be well worth the visit despite the intense heat. There was plenty of information about its construction, history and Buddhism itself, along with accounts from famous devotees and how it has influenced people’s thinking. Interesting to discover that to have tattoos of the Buddha’s image is disrespectful and that you should never buy a souvenir or picture that is just of the Buddha’s head – it has to show his whole body.  We had a leisurely walk round, taking pictures and looking at the statues. Renovation and ongoing improvements are taking place and discretely placed donation boxes invite contributions towards the upkeep.  Buying souvenirs from the shop also helps so I did the shop while Paul opted for the donation box ;).

Our second sight to see was Siray Island on the east coast of Phuket.  You’d hardly know it was an island except for the road bridge you cross to get to it. One website describes it as ‘Phuket 20 years ago’ and it definitely has a completely different feel to it than the Phuket we’ve become used to. It’s a lot less touristy and parts of the leafy coastal road reminded me of Mediterranean Europe. We passed luxury villas, resorts, rustic farmhouses and exclusive private dwellings. It seems Siray is the wealthy part of Phuket. Before we saw all that though, the place that caught our attention just as we drove over the bridge, was the monkey viewing platform overlooking the mangrove swamp where they live. Locals and visitors can buy or bring bananas and peanuts to feed them. They come right up to you and take food from your hand – not aggressively, just a bit ‘snatchy’ and they are extremely quick. I wasn’t brave enough to do it but other people were and it was fascinating to stand and watch – both the feeding frenzy on the platform and the antics of the monkeys in the swamp. Good also to watch them in their natural environment, especially after seeing the plight of the elephants earlier in the day.

Back on the coast road, we stopped the car at one high point to get out and photograph the breathtaking view over Phang Nga Bay. Just as we stood wondering about an unfinished road and a plot of land that had been cleared for some purpose, a motorbike drew up and the driver came up to wish us good afternoon. He was a local man and stopped to have a chat with us. The area we were looking at, he told us, was going to have a hotel built on it. Apparently, Chinese business men had commissioned it but the deal fell through due to corruption according to him. He supposed we would be going to see James Bond Island in Phang Nga Bay and was surprised when we said probably not. He in turn surprised me, since he’d lived all his life here, when he complained about how hot it was that day – much too hot he said.

We had one more place to see before a planned late lunch/early dinner at Yanui Beach. Cape Promthep is a popular spot to see the sun set, and has stunning views across the bay. There were steps to climb and it was still baking hot but once again it was worth it when we reached the top. The breeze up there was wonderful and people were making the most of it by standing on the walls and letting the wind catch their scarves and shawls to create flowing, model-like poses. We didn’t do that ;).

At Yanui Beach we chose the restaurant we’d eaten at on our first beach tour in October. The food and service wasn’t as good this time but the setting was as charming as ever, and it was enough to sustain us during the last supermarket shop we’d do for a month or so. We didn’t get back as late as the previous week and thankfully had no mishaps getting it all on to the boat.

We left Yacht Haven as planned, late in the morning of Tuesday 7th February. Paul arranged for a marina dinghy to assist us out of the berth in case the propeller had gathered up growth in the time it’s been sitting there which would have made make it tricky to manoeuvre out. Our journey was to be a very short one anyway and the weather was calm enough for us to take our time in order to check things were performing as they should.  The prop did need scraping and when we anchored at 1pm for lunch, Paul combined his cooling off swim with carrying out that task. There wasn’t enough wind to try out all the new sails but the Yankee sail was up for a while and the sheets which had proved tough to move, were now easier to furl. Setting off after lunch provided an opportunity to use the new deck wash pump to clean the mud off the anchor chain, which is a great aid. There is a slight problem with the trip switch being underrated, which means it cuts out when it overheats but as long as it’s not running for too long it works fine and it beats scrubbing the chain with a broom and a bucket of sea water.

It was a beautiful afternoon –  very hot and sunny, so even the slight breeze was most welcome when it came at around 4 o’clock, just as we chose our first anchorage in Phang Nga Bay.  Koh Phanak loomed in front of us – a stunning sea mountain coloured different shades of green due to all the trees growing out of its rockface. The turquoise water surrounding us was mill pond calm and it was so peaceful: a beautiful location to begin our tour of the area. Anchoring was a doddle and all we had to deal with then was the oppressive heat. A cold shower soon sorted that out and as the sun began to lose its power we sat up above until it set. Lights from the coast of Phuket twinkled in the distance but Phanak Island, towering over us on the other side was totally dark, and seemed to be a lot closer in the twilight. We could hear birds chattering in the trees but apart from that, and the odd longtail fishing boat motoring by, it was completely quiet. That state, especially after the heat of the day made us feel drowsy and after we’d had a dinner of salad in the cockpit we didn’t see much more of the evening. Phanak is described as King of The Hongs in a guide that Jack from the marina gave us before we left, and I was looking forward to seeing if it lived up to that reputation.

 

 

It’s Thursday evening now, internet is poor and writing this blog is affecting our reception of BBC 6 music live, via the net. Life can be so tough at times. We are at anchor on the NE end of Ko Phanak. We left the Marina on Tuesday morning about 11 am. No problem leaving the pontoon, until I tried to motor out and the vibration was a bit much and the speed very slow. I concluded the prop was fouled worse than I thought. We motored slowly around to the fuel dock but the tide was quite low, the fuel dock is right in the shallow area. I would have to approach it from the wrong angle and do the boaty equivalent of a handbrake turn in order to go alongside without going aground, as we approached and the depth dropped to 3 metres with another 50 metres to go, I bottled out. I wasn’t sure how the boat would handle with such a fouled prop, anyway, we have half a tank of fuel, should be good enough for a while.
So off to Ko Phanak, an island with lots of Hongs (big caves with no roof and beaches sort of thing, hong means ‘room’ in Thai), Kathy is going to write more about these, and as we haven’t seen one yet, I wont say anything, but they’re supposed to be amazing.
We stopped for lunch just a little way out from the marina and I dived on the prop, I have a garden hoe like tool which I scrape the prop with, it takes a bit of time as the prop is just a little too far down for me and my snorkel, I’m practicing holding my breath. Once that was done, and we had a little lunch we pushed on. Not much wind so we continued to motor.

You can see our planned route, the black line, and our corner cutting course in yellow. Only a short journey, but it took us into a whole new landscape, we anchored for two nights at the bottom of the island and today we moved to the top on the other side. We haven’t launched the dinghy yet, mostly relaxing and enjoying not being tied to a dock and that routine. This is my favourite part I think, no need to do anything, and nobody is going to bother you, so you really can just swing on the anchor, day in , day out, watching the sun rise and set, followed by a big, nearly full moon right now. A fisherman motored past today in his longtail and waved a fish at me, I shouted no thanks back, as he caught me off guard, and my instinctive british ways have me saying no before I thought it through. Kathy added insult to injury by saying I should have bought it as it was the only way I would get one! So when a few hours later another fisherman waved a fish at me, I called him over and a deal was struck. £6 for a large fish like thing that will make 2 meals, no idea what it was, it looked rather angry, but tasted great.

That’s the moon, special effect caused by Kathy keeping a spare stock of greasy cream on her iPhone lens!

After saying all of that, I have been getting up early and working till late writing software. I took on some data processing and analysis work a few days ago, I’m talking (well my software is) to 3 big wind turbines in Eastern Europe and trying to predict how much electricity they will generate from an amalgam of various weather forecasts available. So basically I’m pulling in 4 different weather forecasts every 2 hours, and predicting the generation by the turbines and providing that data to the Electric grid so they can forward plan. I’m then pulling back the actual power generated and comparing that with the various forecasts to see the errors and trying to work out how to get the forecasts more accurate.
I did ask myself why on earth am I doing work, the answer is mostly that it pays quite well, I did a little bit of work over the Christmas period and so far I have earned enough to pay for the new sails, and all my marina fees for the last 3 months, Also I’m keen to see how practical it is to sit at anchor on a boat in Phang Nga bay, writing software and working with remote data servers and turbines. Quite practical it would appear, assuming you don’t mind paying high 4g data fees, (well £1/day, mustn’t grumble). So it might mean I have to spend a few months extra in this paradise before we move on, as I said, it’s a tough life. 😉

Entertainment has revolved around twitter of late, I’m captivated by POTUS and his tweets, each one, seemingly crazier than the last, being followed by a dissection from the NY Times and others, #FASCINATING, 🙂

Tomorrow we are up early and will launch the dinghy, and explore some hongs before the tour boats arrive and disgorge their scores of day trippers with their kayaks. Later I want to learn how to do some OPC data transfers, any of you techies out there good at this?

Paul Collister

Some time ago now, I read a book which contained a description of a woman who woke up to find that her hair had turned completely white while she slept.  She wasn’t old, she’d experienced a shocking event (I can’t remember what) and that was how her body had reacted to it. It wouldn’t have surprised me if my hair had turned white the morning following Paul’s tousle with the trolley last week. Ok, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic but it was traumatic nevertheless.  Paul’s very fond of saying ‘what could possibly go wrong’ in a kind of nose-thumbing gesture to tempting fate.  As I looked at the mass of shopping and ‘stuff’ that was gathering in the car on our provisioning trip last Monday, I mentioned a few times that it would be a mammoth task getting it all from the car park and on to the boat. Although he didn’t tempt fate with the phrase above, Paul did state that it had ‘all gone very well’ as we parked up and prepared to unload our huge haul. This haul included ropes, sails and tools as well as provisions for a month at sea, because some of the islands we planned to visit didn’t have shops.  We’d driven through the village of Ban Koh En on our way home, thinking it would probably be the last time we saw it.  As we drove over the speed bumps on the road, the bottles in the boot rattled, and I heard thuds and rustles each time the car went over one, despite Paul driving very slowly.  More speed bumps on the slip road leading to the marina car park meant the trays of glass bottles of soda water got a further shaking. Paul opened the boot and straightaway a tray of soda bottles fell to the ground with the sickening sound of smashing glass.  This caused a group of people chatting on the pontoon to groan in sympathy and someone said ‘bummer’. I think they assumed it must have been beer because they all resumed their conversation when I told them it was water. Clearing up as best we could, we loaded the first trolley and got it down the steep slope from the gate to the pontoon. An item from one of the bags fell out as the trolley bumped on the bottom of the slope and rolled into the water. It turned out to be a plastic bottle of water which floated off before I could get to it, but we stopped to secure the other bags to prevent losing anything else! At the boat, we decided Paul should go back to the car and brush up any broken glass and load another trolley while I got on with stowing the shopping. I was absorbed in doing this and beginning to prepare something to eat when I heard Paul shout for me to come back to the car as quickly as possible. It sounded urgent and by the time I got out of the boat he was already running well ahead of me. I ran as fast as I could, keen to know what had happened. I saw him with three other people at the bottom of the sloping pontoon and I could tell from their body language that someone was hurt. I thought that was why he’d called me, to assist in some way but as I got nearer I saw Paul with his face covered in blood, and our friend Jack was urging him to get to a hospital. Then I caught sight of the trolley in the water and put together what must have happened. Still concerned about the shopping, Paul jumped back into the water to carry on pulling out bags before any of us could suggest it might not be a good idea to do that. It was a surreal experience watching him grab the wet bags and lunge them onto the pontoon, with his head dripping blood, and I was uncertain how badly he was injured. He told me how it happened while he was in the water and when I heard he’d been calling for help and nobody heard him I became very upset and subsequently useless in any practical way, especially when I got a closer look at the huge gash on top of his head. Jack’s wife and son helped get the trolley out and took it, laden with soggy carrier bags, to our boat while Jack and Paul went to see if a nurse that Jack knew was around. Paul had told me to go to the car and turn the lights off and when I’d done that, I realised I had no key to get back in so had to wait for Jack’s wife to come and open it.

I can only confirm what Paul related in his post about how great the staff at the hospital were. They were efficient and calm and so friendly and reassuring, despite the language barrier. We were in there for a couple of hours and once I knew Paul was going to be ok I sat in the treatment room watching the all-female staff treat a succession of people while we waited for Paul’s blood pressure to come down. Tomorrow we go back there to get the stitches removed, another blood pressure check, and then we can carry on with our trip. Despite the circumstances, this week of taking it easy has been a good chance to catch up on lighter jobs and to research the routes and the places we’re going to. After the hospital, we’re going to shop for more provisions and this time the trolley (and Paul) will remain on the pontoon. What could possibly go wrong!

Koh Racha and Koh Rang Yai, November 2016                                        

Had we not already experienced the sublime beauty and delights of Rebak Island in October, I’m sure we would have declared Koh Racha the best island paradise we had visited so far, which is heartening in a way because of all the other places we’ll visit which may surpass those we’ve seen before. It’s a great motivation for moving on and is why I’ve come to love this nomadic lifestyle.  Walking on the soft white sand of the beach on Racha after securing the dinghy to the jetty, we noticed that the beachfront was dominated by a huge luxury resort complete with an inviting-looking beach bar. A refreshing drink while looking out to sea was not to be, however. A resort employee stopped us on our way up the boardwalk that led to the bar to check if we were guests of the resort. As we weren’t we would have to wait until 6 to use the bar. Since that was a couple of hours away, we took a walk further inland to explore the village. Predictably tiny, it consisted of a few small shops, holiday bungalows, coffee shops and outdoor eateries. We also passed stagnant lakes, dilapidated shacks and a wooded area where water buffalo were grazing.

We stopped near a narrow stream for a while to watch a monitor lizard (or an alligator!) lumber along in the swampy undergrowth. Not many people were around and I felt the place lacked atmosphere so we headed back to the waterfront to seek out a place to eat. At the other end of the beach we could see what looked like a small bar or café set high in the rocks and thought we could get a drink there if nothing else. We walked up the roped pathway and came upon a delightful restaurant overlooking the sea. It was just beginning to get dark, and the lights (some of them Christmassy), the view across the bay and the warm sea breeze all combined to create a gloriously enchanting setting. Our table was right next to a beach with several rock pools, so as we ate we could watch crabs and other sea creatures going about their business. Definitely one of the most aesthetically pleasing restaurants I’ve ever dined at, and the food wasn’t bad either.

Next morning, Paul was keen for us to get away fairly early in order to avoid some predicted bad weather that afternoon. We were away by 7 30, drinking coffee and enjoying the early morning breeze in the cockpit.  Again, there wasn’t a lot of wind so we used the engine for the four hour journey to Koh Rang Yai. Before settling on a spot to anchor, we spent an hour doing a circumference of the island, both to have a look and to decide on the best place to drop the anchor.  The smaller island next to Rang Yai is called Koh Rang Noi, and we saw some intriguing looking buildings on it for such a tiny island. They looked like a resort complex that had either just been completed or had not long gone out of business – totally deserted and no sign of life anywhere, although we did spot some jet skis on its small beach.

All the action was clearly on Rang Yai which has considerably fewer buildings.  From 1pm, when we anchored near its shore, we watched a succession of day tripper boats disgorging or collecting visitors sporting bright orange life vests. We waited until later in the afternoon to go ashore to avoid the hottest part of the day but it was still very humid which made us wary of biting insects around the freshwater ponds near the pathways. There is a pearl farm in operation which can be seen from the beach, and a rather incongruous swanky shop which doubles as a museum and sells products and jewellery made from the harvested pearls.

After browsing the pretty but pricey items in there for a while, we went for a walk along the beach and noticed that it had quite a lot of debris on it, most of which consisted of small brown, glass bottles- similar to the kind that are used for cough medicine! They littered the sand, and the sea was washing up more all the time – very strange. Before heading back to the boat we stopped for a drink at a beach bar and were entertained by a couple of the staff members dancing around to some ‘clubby’ music. Before long, some guys who’d been sitting drinking beers at tables further along had joined in and it looked as if a party might be about to kick off…except that the bar closed at 5pm and by 5 30 all was quiet again. I couldn’t help thinking how different it was to the beach bars along Barcelona’s coast.  Here, you get the best of both worlds it seems because the tranquility on the beaches from early evening onwards is a definite bonus.

 

The tide had gone out quite a way by the time we reached the dinghy – so much so that it was almost possible to walk all the way to Sister Midnight. We carried the dinghy between us for some of the way which became tricky as the water got deeper and we struggled to maintain our balance, but it was good fun. I had to wait by it and keep it steady while Paul returned to the beach to retrieve our bags.  Koh Rang Yai was our final destination before returning to Yacht Haven Marina the following day to prepare for the trip back to the UK for Christmas, so we spent the evening musing about where we might go when we returned in January. Phang Nga Bay has lots of great things going for it and Giles had enthused about ’The Hongs’ there during our conversations with him.  As we made plans I reflected how I had never even heard of these places a year ago, and how pre and post-Christmas months had habitually been cold, dark and busy with work, commuting and looking forward to warmer, longer days. This life couldn’t be more different. I love it.

 

 

 

Up early today, it was a very hot night and difficult to sleep, so I took advantage of the cooler morning breeze at 07:30 to get the mainsail on and up, it took over three hours. The bag / lazy jack system had to be installed as I had removed it for repairs, this is a system that provides a big bag arrangement on the boom, so that if I drop the sail quickly, as I might need to if a squall appears from nowhere, then the sail falls into the bag, guided in by thin ropes on each side of the sail. Without this system, the sail might end up all over the deck, and could get blown over the side, worst case.

Also, despite trying hard to get the battens pockets the same size, the new sail had smaller pockets, so the battens had to be trimmed. There are five battens, made of long fiberglass strips, about 1″ * 1/4″ in cross section and run the full width of the sail at various points. The idea is to keep the sail flat and the correct shape, even if there isn’t that much wind, and when there is a lot of wind, they reduce the flogging in the sail and hence increase its longevity.

I have luff lines, leech lines, cunninghams and maybe other bits of rope hanging out the corners of the sail. I’m supposed to be able to pull , or loosen these little ropes, that act like the string on your swimming trunks, to make small adjustments to the sail shape. Im not a performance sailer, so will have to work these out as we go along.

 

M5 ( ex Mirabella) is still here, who is rich enough to have a big yacht just sitting there week in week out not earning its keep!
I took this picture today where you can see the plane they keep on board, many big superyachts have a helicopter platform, for the chopper, which makes sense, as how else is the customer going to get from the airport to the boat! but an airplane, really. I’m assuming it’s one that takes off on water, otherwise, it’s a bit of a daft idea without a runway. I suppose it could use harrier vertical takeoff technology.
I read that no decent superyacht is seen out without its own submarine these days, I don’t need one of those, as I keep proving 😉

Paul Collister.

Kathy thought I should post something to let you all now everything is going ok. Firstly thanks to those who have sent their good wishes to me, I am making an effort to be more careful, but my Ego is already kicking in and it’s becoming obvious that the pontoon was the one at fault 😉

Actually, having gone over the incident a lot, it’s clear to me, that all that happened was I was walking backwards pulling the trolley, when the pontoon got narrower, I was at the edge and so fell in, I couldn’t see that far behind me, and didn’t expect the pontoon to narrow, in fact it’s the only bit of pontoon, in the many hundreds of yards of pontoon here, where there is a narrowing. Regardless I think I have learnt that making assumptions like that are ill advised, especially when walking backwards pulling a trolley.

Yesterday was relaxing, although a few bruises started to surface, however today I’m back to normal, assuming I don’t knock the top of my head, I had an unpleasant encounter with a sweet potato earlier that was protruding from the hanging basket of veg in the cabin.

Today we hired a car as I needed to get my blood pressure checked, it’s back to normal now. I found out that you can go into most chemists and they do it for free. We are going to buy one of the basic electronic testers for the boat, they are only £20 and could be useful when trying to get medical help over the SSB (long range radio), I also bought a load of bandages and bits and bobs, so all in all we are better prepared for any future trolley attacks or pontoon uprisings.

I had two great battery backup devices for the iThings, sadly they are toast now, Sorry Tim and Isaac. Note to self, “there’s really no need to take both out on a shopping trip”.

After the shopping we took a drive down to the coast at Ao Po and saw zillions of tourists disembarking the various day trip boats that had taken them to the islands, on the way there I saw this monkey crossing the road, He didn’t like me stopping at all and stared me out the whole time I was there. This was the first monkey we had seen here, but I gather there are a few around the island.

Just thought I would add this picture of some long-tail boats we saw today, the engine is quite big, probably the same size of most family car engines, and is counter-balanced by the prop and prop shaft and pivots somehow on the block you can see.  I think they must have evolved as a cheap way to add an engine to wooden sail/row boats, plus it has the advantage of being easy to manage in shallow waters, which abound round here.

Apologies for the pasty pictures, I have had to fall back to my iPhone 5s, which has a camera problem, I think I replaced it myself a few years back, and the quality of the replacement is rubbish. So much for ‘Genuine Apple Part’.

Heading back to the marina we stopped off at a local market setup in a roadside field, Kathy has a new book of Thai vegetarian recipes which needed some unknown ingredients. e.g. Galangal, which looks like ginger, but has enough of a difference to require us to seek it out. We did well, and now have a stack of unusual veg ready for the pot. I’m  looking forward to trying these out.

Tomorrow (Friday) I’m going to fit the new mainsail and make sure the battens fit and it goes up ok. will also start to get the boat tidied up, ready for our slightly delayed ‘off’ on Tuesday.

Paul Collister

The title should be spoken in a broad Liverpudlian accent.

I expect that got your attention, hot runners up for the title were:
a) Marinas – 2, Paul’s body – 0
b) Time to look for a quiet office Job
c) Just how difficult can you make ‘getting the shopping home’

We went shopping on Monday, a big shop, as we were leaving Tuesday morning, and would be away, mostly at anchor for 4 weeks. I also picked up the new mainsail and the repaired old sails, ropes, chandlery, tools etc. Quite a load and by the time we got back to the marina it was dark and we had three trolley loads of stuff to get onboard. ( I expect you have guessed the rest by now..)
The tide was out and as it’s spring tides now, the ramp down to the pontoons was very steep, in fact too steep for me to get a trolley down in the normal way, so I went down backwards, so I was pushing the trolley back up the ramp as it was trying to race down. This way I had more control.

The first trolley came down, and at the bottom we took it off to the boat where Kathy and I unloaded, Kathy started stowing the food and kit while I took the trolley back to the car for the second load, it was hard work pushing the empty trolley up the ramp, they are big substantial steel things.That went fine and it was as I reached the bottom on the way back with the full trolley that I tried to do a 3 point turn, and was going a bit fast, I hadn’t remembered or noticed that the pontoon narrows at that point, just behind me so I stepped back into nothingness, yet again!! This time I wasn’t so lucky.
As I hit the water, I realised straight away what I had done, I have form in this area 😉 , what surprised me though was the trolley decided to join me and tipped upside down, smashed me on the head and then pushed me underwater. I tried to swim up for air, but my head hit something hard, and I couldn’t go up, I quickly realised what had happened, the trolley was on my head, and I was inside the trolley cage/frame, so I pushed away and down, swam back a bit and resurfaced, only to find myself still under the trolley. Not so good I thought.
Actually, the next bit was my favourite part, because this scenario is one of the nightmares I used to have about being trapped underwater, and here I was, yet I didn’t feel the slightest bit of panic, I thought, the trolley’s not that big, it’s going to be simple to find the end and get out, which is what I did, another push down and sideways and I surfaced. I must say, that gulp of air I took was lovely. A quick pat on my pocket showed me that I need a new iPhone, and looking around me bags of shopping were floating away. The upturned trolley was floating, it had a buoyancy box underneath it, and lots of bags of shopping were trapped inside. It was dark, so I couldn’t see everything, but I spotted the repaired rolled up Genoa just below the surface next to me, but sinking fast. I grabbed it with one hand and held onto the pontoon with the other. At this point I wasn’t too bothered as it was just material stuff at risk, but I wasn’t going to let it get away easy, being the stingy person I am. I called out for help a few times, hoping the security guard at the pontoon gate would hear me, but no response.
There was a RIB close by, so I swam over to that dragging the genoa through the water, there was enough slack on his painter (tying up rope) for me to pull the end into the water and tie it to the genoa, this is where the ability to do a decent knot with one hand comes in useful, although in retrospect, staying on the pontoon would probably be a better skill I should work on.
I swam back to the trolley, and rested a few seconds, then I got my iPhone out of my pocket and threw it onto the pontoon, not sure why, but it seemed the most respectful thing to do, perhaps, just maybe there was a chance… Really I knew it was over, still it had had a good run. Next my money belt, which had a very soggy passport and a few Baht in it, these dry well, based on past experience 🙂 I then started getting bags ashore that were trying to escape. Finally I thought I need help with the rest so I climbed out and ran back to the boat shouting at Kathy to come quickly. I didn’t tell her why, as I ran right back to the scene, I was worried some passers by would stumble across the submerged trolley and shopping and think perhaps the owner was in the water. As it turns out, just as I turned the corner back towards the ramp, I spotted a family staring into the water. By fluke, it was Jack, Jackie and their son, on their way to dinner. We had made friends with Jack during our time here and he had been very helpful with information about the area. I explained it was my mess and asked for help getting the trolley and sail out, but Jack insisted on inspecting my head, I told him I was OK, but unlike him, I hadn’t noticed all the blood I was covered in. Jack found a hose and washed my head for me, pronouncing that I had a big gash and stitches would be needed. Bugger I thought, it didn’t feel that bad at all. Kathy then arrived, and I think was very shocked at the turn of events. I unpacked some kitchen roll from one of the recovered shopping bags, packaging is so good these days, and made a compress on my head, then I jumped back into the water and pushed the trolley up as Jack & co pulled from the pontoon, next I passed up a few remaining floating bags and we all worked to get the Genoa ashore.
Kathy took care of the trolley while Jack ferried me out to an anchored boat in his dinghy, just a few minutes away, where his friend, who is a nurse lives. Sadly she wasn’t there. Once back ashore, I sent Jack & co on their way and went back to the boat to get cleaned up.
Kathy helped me tie a bandage over the wound, I put some dry clothes on, then we drove down to the local hospital to get the wound looked at.
The Bangkok Hospital, Thalong branch is just great, they had me fixed up without any delay, 7 stitches were needed, along with a tetanus jab and a course of antibiotics. they made me stay for an hour while they monitored my blood pressure, which was a bit high for their liking, but came down over the hour. They charged about £50 for all of that, including a weeks supply of medicine.
We drove back to the boat, finished unloading the car, the ramp was a more gentle slope by now, and decided to have an early night and put the shopping away in the morning.

Two days later
My head is a bit sore now, as you might expect, but I don’t seem to have any other injuries, (self esteem took the biggest hit), most of the shopping survived, I lost about £100 worth of chandlery, and £50 of groceries, we will replace these when I go back to have the stitches removed next week.
I’m going to have to re-assess my risk taking stance, Marinas are dangerous places, I was very fortunate that this happened at slack water when there was no tide, 2 hours earlier or later I would have been swept under the pontoon, or out into the bay. I’m worried that it might be an age thing, Kathy and I think it more likely that I have too much of a ‘Gung Ho’ attitude to risk, it’s a tough one, I am much more careful/risk averse  at sea. Falling off a pontoon, is not something that really rated as such a dangerous thing in my mind before, as kids we loved jumping off them, so perhaps I didn’t take enough care, however this incident has shown me how wrong I was.

I’m taking it easy this week, and hoping we can pick up where we left off next Tuesday, just a week delayed.

On a more positive front, I have started buying fruit & veg I don’t recognise, for example this thing here revealed no clues in its name as to what it might be, until I cut it open and found it to be a sweet grapefruit.
I bought a load of Passion fruits as well, as they taste great in drinks but I have never tried eating one before.

And finally, recent events in America have persuaded me that I won’t be taking the boat there this year. The final decider was that one of Mr Trump’s executive orders removes all my privacy rights as a foreigner, and allows any US official to have the same powers as border guards to investigate/interrogate/detain? me. I hope things change and we are able to visit one day, as nearly all the Americans I know are wonderful good people, and I’d love to meet up with them at some point.

Paul Collister