41 days in Thailand

Gaviota
Sat 28 Jan 2017 05:18
07:49.210N 98:17.668E

We ended up at Patong Beach for Christmas, we had thought it would be packed with boats but apart from a Cruise ship a day there were very few private boats anchored there, we tucked away on the Kalim Beach side and it was remarkably quiet with a surprisingly clean clear sea.  The only problem was getting ashore but minus the outboard, Syd rowed ashore and with a lot of heaving and dragging we got the dinghy up the beach and secured to a palm tree with a heavy steel chain and padlocks.   The busy town of Patong Beach was a 20 minute walk along the coast.
 
We joined Phuket Hash House Harriers Christmas Eve for a great run and have ended up doing several more hashes with them.  The Hash has a strong group of runners so trails are pretty long (usually over an hour of running through jungle and hills followed by plenty of beer.
 
The West coast of Phuket has some amazing beaches so we sailed up to Bang Tao which boasts a 5 mile stretch of pure white sand (great for a morning jog).
 
It was back to Patong Beach for New Years Eve and yet another Hash followed by a great free barbeque put on by the Expat Hotel which hosts the Hash.  Patong Beach was packed for NYE and crowds of people were letting off flaming lanterns from the beach which made an amazing site as they floated off (along with their wishes) out to sea – slight worry was that one would plummet onto a boat still flaming but luckily the wind was in our favour and most fell into the sea.  We got back to Gaviota in time to see 2017 in and watch the amazing fireworks over the bay with the ever drifting flaming lanterns.  Partying went on all night and quite a few people didn’t surface for NewYears Day!
 
Next stop was Nai Harn Bay at the South of the island, a well protected anchorage from the North East Monsoon and the most favoured bay on the island for yachts (we couldn’t quite work out why as accessing the beach by dinghy was nearly impossible and the only landing point was a jetty which was owned by a bar/restaurant and charged 300 Thai Baht (£6) per day to leave your dinghy – this was expensive by Thai standards but the owners did let you spend the 300 baht in the bar).
 
Wednesday, 4th January and we picked up a worrying weather warning, there was a tropical storm brewing in the Indian Ocean which was due to track rather too close for comfort to the West Phuket coast.  The local bar with the jetty made the decision for us when they said a 2-3 metre swell was due to come directly into the bay on Saturday and they were removing their jetty in preparation.  Okay time to leave!
 
The wind was blowing so we had a really nice sail round to Ao Chalong but the swell was already creeping in so after a night of rolling we left and sailed (another good fast close reach) across to the large island of Koh Yao Yai where we anchored off a resort and watched the depressed looking holidaymakers wandering along the beach with umbrellas as the rain continued (this bore no resemblance to the brochure pictures of wall to wall sunshine and clear blue seas), reality Thailand in the dry season – torrential rain, wall to wall cloud and a murky pondlike sea.
 
Friday, 6th and the swell had reached into the bay we had tucked into so it was on the move yet again and another nice sail in pouring rain over to the island of Koh Rang Yai (now this looks absolutely gorgeous in the photos posted on the internet – have a look – total paradise) but in the pouring rain with the wind battering the palm trees and the holidaymakers huddled in the 2 beach cafes it definitely did not look it’s best.  Plus the jellyfish problem had escalated on a grand scale where we lost count of them floating past the boat.
 
We tried to get a Marina berth at either Royal Phuket Marina or Boat Lagoon but both were full so we sat it out.  Weather Forecast showed no change!
 
Tuesday, 10th January we managed to get a berth at Royal Phuket Marina at great expense.  The entrance to both Royal Phuket and Boat Lagoon has to be made within one hour of the high tide as it is all very shallow, the entrance was well marked with posts but Royal Phuket sent a boat out to guide us in which was a nice bonus.  The Marina was full of large motor boats most of which had nobody on them so it was very quiet.   We had the use of a private pool at a 3 million baht villa which had not sold which was a nice bonus after a hot day of jobs.
 
It was a hectic 2 days of provisioning and seeing what tradespeople there were for future boat jobs but we did manage to meet up with a friend we had met in Aruba who now lives in a lovely house in Boat Lagoon.
 
All provisioned and re-fueled we headed out on Thursday morning and motored North to Koh Naka Yai a favourite stop for the tourist boats after their trips to Phang Nga National Park.  A totally beautiful strip of white sand was a perfect spot for a cool beer in the late afternoon when all the day trippers had left.
 
Friday, 13th (Oh no!) and we motor sailed North to Koh Hong getting very excited about the prospect of seeing our first ‘hong’ – ‘hong’ means ‘room’ in Thai and basically it is a room surrounded by limestone cliffs and open to the sky, the entrances are normally through narrow caves and some entrances are submerged at high tide.  We arrived along with a group of Japanese tourists who were being kayaked into the ‘hong’.  The ‘hong’ was described as being very beautiful, it was actually pretty disappointing as half of it was open to the sea and as we were at low tide the only entrance was from the open sea side but the karst limestone scenery was impressive and it was a pretty nice place to anchor for the night.
 
Early start next day to beat the crowds at Koh Ping Kan (Thai translation  ‘the Island that leans on itself’ named because of the huge limestone rocks that lean together) and commonly known as ‘James Bond Island’ as it was the setting for the 1974 Bond classic ‘Man with a Golden Gun’.  We arrived just after 8.00am and were not the first but it was a good decision to make the effort to be there early as the horrible vendor stalls had not opened and walking round the island was easy.  It was a ‘must see’ and having recently watched the scene where the sea plane lands and goes straight up the beach, it was great to see where it was filmed.  We managed to escape as the first large tripper boat disgorged it’s ‘Bond’ fans onto the beach.  A pretty nice little earner for the Thais at 500 baht per person (£10).
 
Up anchor and escape before the whole bay filled with tripper boats and South to Koh Rai and another ‘hong’, this hong was a much better one with it’s cave entrance and peaceful setting.  A few tourists arrived by longtail boats but it was off the main tourist track other than a French catamaran that decided we had the perfect anchoring spot and decided to anchor right on top of us – why do people do this?  Having had near misses several times during the night and having no other reason to stay we left early next morning.
 
Next stop was Koh Pak Bia a few hours motor! South.  Another popular tourist spot with a small white sand beach which became even smaller as the tide came in.   It was quite amusing watching the people all being forced into a smaller and smaller area as the sea took over.  The sea was not clean so we left the next day and motored towards Krabi where at last the water started to get cleaner.  We anchored between Koh Dam Hok and Koh Dam Khwan commonly known as Chicken Island though we could see no resemblance to poultry.  These islands were yet another very popular tourist destination with hundreds of longtails and speedboats bringing people over from Ao Nang, Krabi and Rai Lei Beach.  The larger island of Koh Dam Hok had a good sized white sand beach but the trippers all wanted to go to the small islands off Koh Dam Khwan as they were connected to the island by a sand spit which appeared at low tide.  When the sun shone this was the quintessential paradise desert island – that is if you didn’t mind sharing it with several hundred other people – from a distance it looked like a penguin colony as people strutted around the tiny island and tried to pretend they were Robinson Crusoe.  But at the end of the day when the boats all departed us yachties had the place to ourselves until 9.00am the next day when another load arrived.  The sea here was clean and relatively clear so we got swimming.
 
After 2 nights the wind picked up so we rolled the genoa out and sailed the very short distance over to Rai Lei Beach (rock climbers paradise).  The scenery here is stunning with towering limestone cliffs.  We dinghyed ashore hoping to see people hanging from the jagged overhangs and were slightly disappointed.  There were a few people climbing the huge limestone stack in the bay but apparently the Thai government has restricted access for climbers at a lot of the popular climbing spots.  The 3 beaches at Rai Lei are hugely popular and have several expensive resorts on the beach with loads of small restaurants along the path which links Rai Lei West with Rai Lei East.  There are no roads to the area and the only access for people staying there is by boat (unfortunately for them there seemed to be nobody on hand to help anyone with their cases and it was quite amusing to watch these newly arrived tourists trying to wheel their expensive cases through sand to get to their chosen Hotel.  Even funnier to watch them trying (again with no help!) to lift their suitcases out of the longtails and not drop them in the sea when they arrived – I’m pretty sure most people are not warned of this delight!   We had a nice lunch on the beach and walked across to Rai Lei East then visited Diamond Cave a remarkable limestone cavern with amazing stalagtites and stalagmites.
 
We left the next day as we had an invite to a Krabi Cultural Event which was being hosted by a brand new Marina called Port Takola which is due to open in Spring 2017, this event was in conjunction with the Sail Thailand Rally.  We anchored in the Krabi River on Thursday, 19th January and immediately a speed boat pulled up with an invite for 3.30pm drinks at the new Marina.  We dinghyed round and were amazed to see 2 elephants who had obviously also been invited!  The Marina which had recently been filled with water was a project on a vast scale and eventually would have berths for 260 yachts.  It was being built by an amazing family who had owned the land and run a coconut oil plantation until the price of coconut oil plummeted, so they had had a dream of building a Marina on the site and without any outside help were in the process of seeing their dream a reality.  The whole family greeted us including the 90 year old grandparents.  The beer flowed and the elephants ate their way through several sacks of pineapples, the younger of the 2 elephants a baby bull elephant did tricks for us including standing on his hind legs and rolling over and going to sleep in the hot sand and we were even allowed to ride them bareback.  The grand finale was bath time where the baby elephant went into the water and cooled himself and everyone watching, by showering water everywhere.  It was amazing to see and sad to wave them goodbye when they had to return to where they lived.
 
The evening got better and better as our incredibly generous hosts took us to a wonderful local riverside restaurant called Baan Ko Lek, we were greeted with garlands of fresh flowers and wine on the gorgeous terrace built out over the River (we were told afterwards that this whole terrace was constructed just for our visit!).  The Vice Governor of Krabi attended the dinner along with the local Tourist board chief and 2 tables full of prominent officials from Krabi province.  There were several speeches then the live band started and an amazing dinner consisting of delicious dish after dish of local specialities and fresh seafood was served.  The wine and beer flowed and the evening culminated in lots of dancing.  Taxis and longtail boats took us back to our boats in the early hours of the next morning.  It was certainly the best event we have attended and we hope we will be able to repay in a small way the Nagara family’s generosity by helping them get future business for their incredible project.
 
The next day and the rain fell, it poured all day.  Sadly a lot of people had booked trips to see the sights of Krabi province.  We took a trip (kind courtesy of Mathew Nagara) to the local Makro and stocked up with provisions.  The surrounding area of the Marina had turned into a quagmire of red mud – they have a lot of work still to do but having met the family - they will do it.
 
We left on Saturday, 21st and anchored back off Chicken Island, the weather had improved but was still very unsettled and as everyone kept telling us ‘totally unseasonal, this does NOT happen in the dry season!!!’
 
It seemed crazy to waste the wind so Monday,  23rd January we upped anchor and out came the spinnaker (this had laid unused for too long in the wet sail locker!), up it went and we had a lovely sail over to the large island of Koh Yao Yai and anchored in the large bay at the South of the Island.  Koh Yao Yai divides up the bay to the East of Phuket and though it does have some resorts on it, it is predominantly Muslim and does not get the tourists.  The bay was quiet but not sheltered from the swell and the sea was murky and uninviting so we moved on next day back to Ao Chalong to sort out internet which had run out – this is no easy task as the top up procedure is all in Thai but we managed to find 2 very helpful girls in the local bookshop who sorted it.
 
The wind was still blowing so after a rolly night in Ao Chalong bay we got the sails up and had another really nice sail back round to the West coast beaches of Phuket, we sailed into Kata a bay we had not been to before and found the clearest, cleanest sea we have seen.  Kata is divided into 2 bays, Kata Yai and Kata Noi, we tried both and because a Northerly wind had been forecast ended up in Kata Yai a busy tourist resort favoured by the Scandinavians as a place to live and by the Russians as a place to holiday (apparently there are direct 9 hour flights from Russia).  We spoke to a young Russian man who told us he had left -30 to come and enjoy the +30 degree sun – it must be hard for them to leave to go back!!!!!
 
We have now been in Thailand 41 days and we have 19 days left until Visa renewal, we have been on the move for most of it as so far there has not been a place that we have either wanted to stay or the weather has allowed us to stay.  Decisions have to made about where to get work done on Gaviota and where to leave her for 6 months.  The weather has not been good but we have had some wind and actually sailed.  The West coast of Phuket certainly boasts the best beaches and cleanest sea but any bad weather in the Indian Ocean that sends swell in makes these untenable, so I think we will stay this side until we are forced to move.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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