So Friday morning arrived and the wind had calmed and it was now a lovely hot morning. The constant buzz of long tails racing back and forth was a bit irritating so I phoned the Krabi boat lagoon to see if they had a berth, and I was advised to be at the entrance at 12:30 in order to get over the sand banks that surround the estuary entrance. So we had a slow breakfast while I worked out a route to get to the marina, however a quick estimate showed me it was 3 hours away and it was already 9. So up with the anchor and off, if we got there too late we would risk going aground. As we left Ao Nang bay, (Ao actually means bay, so that reads bay Nang bay) we hit some headwinds and the sea was still a bit rough, our speed dropped and I had to motor at max revs to get there on time. The marina is located in the mangroves some distance up a river, off another river, but before that there is a very shallow bay/estuary to cross. We had to motor very slowly over the sandbanks, most of the time in 3 metres of water. Once we were in the river it improved to 4 metres and everything was easy then
The marina is very quiet, situated in the mangroves and surrounded by salt pans, just down the road is a little fishing village, village might be overkill, about ten houses and some makeshift jetties, all on wooden sticks.
Once we had settled in we organised a car and went off to explore the area. It’s about 30 minutes drive from here to Krabi town, typically Thai, with markets and stalls. The river is very beautiful, and we drove on to a secluded beach another 30 mins past the main resort area. It’s a strange place, it seems most of the best beaches are only accessible by boat, many have hotels and resort complexes, all supplied by boat.
From a pleasant lunch at the beach we spent the evening in Krabi town, looking at the various stalls and picking up some fresh fruit.
I had to buy some new distance spectacles on account of my advanced forward planning strategy. Basically in the event of an afterlife existing, I figure Davy Jones will be involved, so I have sent a few items on ahead. I’m hoping to be reunited with them later, as I’m not sure if they have opticians, or a spannerworld in the afterlife. I know I’m going to be OK for caps, and now I definitely should be fine for specs after sending my last pair over the side last week!! So it was interesting going to an opticians to get an eye test when she didn’t speak any English. It all went well, I saw her on Saturday afternoon, and collected my new specs on Sunday morning, at a reasonable price too.
After collecting the specs, we went off to a hot water spring spa, that was very pleasant, a series of pools where very hot water cascaded down the hill passing through the various pools, each pool a little cooler, or should I say , less scalding, than the one feeding it. The first pool was stated to be 49deg C, too hot for me. I did like the 39 deg one, and spent some time relaxing in that.
Back on the boat now and we have a new neighbour who arrived while we were out, a Cabo Rico 38, this is a classic boat, very much in the style of a Baba, but a bit more classic looking, with a very fancy bit of scrollwork at the bow.
So Keith, the owner, and I discussed varnish, as you do, then we went for dinner at the marina (me and Kathy, that is)
Tomorrow we cast off our lines and head out back to sea. Ko Yao being our first destination, but because the high water tide is now a couple of hours later than when we arrived, and not as high, we won’t get out of here till after 2 pm and may have to anchor somewhere locally for the night. We want to be back in Phuket, no later than next weekend as our visas expire soon and we have to get sailing south to Malaysia.
Paul Collister