Rescue at Sea! - Rai Leh Beach, Krabi, Thailand
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Wed 16 Mar 2011 16:35
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08:00.147N 98:50.287E
Back to our Phang Nga Bay tour with the
Maloneys.....
We left the bay islands behind and motored 15 miles
southeast to Krabi Province on the mainland's west coast February 19th.
This part of the coast is only accessible by boat, and is a huge draw
for serious rock climbers, who generally fall (no pun intended) into
the hard core backpacker category. Other hardy, but more wealthy,
laid-back tourist types who populate the more expensive resorts on this part of
the Krabi coast mix with the rock-climbing backpackers to form a fun, low-key
atmosphere.
We were approaching the Krabi coast anchorage and were between
two and three miles off-shore when all four of us heard shouting over the
drone of the engine. Don and I initially thought the
noise was coming from a pissed-off fisherman angry with us for coming
too close to his net - but then we realized what we heard was English, not Thai,
and the words were "HELP!! HELP!! HELP!!" It was
Kathie who finally spotted the person bobbing in the sea waving
wildly. Don immediately turned the boat around and while Kathie kept
a watch on the swimmer, Don made a beeline for him, getting as close
as possible to his position. Bill threw out a floating line
while Don and I put the swim ladder in place. The very shaky
20-something young man then pulled himself over to the side of the boat using
the floating line, and with a little help from Don, climbed up the ladder
and over the lifeline to safety. Don sprayed him down with warm fresh
water and I filled a big glass with drinking water while he unsteadily
made his way into the cockpit saying "Oh my God! I thought I was going to
die! Boats kept going past me, but no one stopped! Two planes
flew over! No one saw me, no one could hear me!" We asked him what
happened and he said, "I rented a kayak on the beach and I thought I
would paddle over to those islands.", he pointed at a group of small
islands about 3 miles off the coast, "But the kayak flipped over and I couldn't
get it back around. At first I stayed with the kayak, but it seemed to be
sinking - there was a hole in the bottom. Then I thought I could swim to
shore, but it was too far. I tried to yell help when longtails and
motorboats went past, but no one could hear me. I saw your sailboat and
thought you might notice me so I yelled as loud as I could!"
It's a good thing he yelled as loud as he did, otherwise, it's
likely we never would have heard or seen him. The waves weren't big that
day, but it doesn't take much to obscure a small head floating above the
surface. Yanni (his name, we learned later) was lucky that Kathie has such
a sharp eye. He thought he had been in the water for about an hour, but
after talking it through, it's possible he was swimming for more like
two. It's good Yanni is young and in good shape (although he
claimed otherwise). A more typical tourist wouldn't have fared
so well. We like to think that Yanni would have eventually made it to
shore, but the tide was going out at the time so it would have been tough.
If not us though, surely someone else would have seen him - the boat traffic is
ferocious around this part of the coast since it can only be reached via the
water. By the time we were safely anchored in the bay,
Yanni had stopped shaking, and admitted that kayaking alone on the ocean miles
from shore with no life jacket was probably not the best idea.
Hey, live and learn, right? After all, many of us did the
same or worse when we were 20-something.
In the short time it took us to motor from where we picked
Yanni up to the anchorage 2-3 miles away, we learned that he is from
Israel, and had been backpacking around various parts of the world for the
better part of 7 months. Thailand was his last stop, and he planned to
head home in March. He also told us there was a good Indian restaurant on
the beach near where he was staying. Nearly drowning one minute, and
passing along dinner tips the next - pretty darn resilient, eh? After
reaching the anchorage, we put the dinghy in the water so Don could take Yanni
to shore. When it came time to jump in, however,
Yanni hesitated. Somehow, after the life was nearly scared out of him
in the water, Yanni didn't seem too keen on the idea of a ride in a
small, bouncing, blow-up rubber boat. Completely understandable, we
thought. He only hesitated for a moment though, and was soon
semi-comfortably installed on the dinghy floor as Don started to pull
away from the boat. It was then that Yanni moved his hands from where
he was hanging on to the sides of the dinghy, to a position over his heart
in a gesture of thanks. We saw Yanni again later that evening as you'll
see below, but it's that last receding view of him speeding toward shore
with his hands over his heart that I won't soon forget.
 A drier Yanni on the beach at sunset with Don, myself, Kathie
and Bill. We went ashore that evening for dinner and happened to see Yanni
on the beach (again, it was Kathie who spotted him). He filled us in on
the rest of the story saying he went out in a motorboat that afternoon with the
people he rented the kayak from, and not only found the kayak, but his wallet as
well. The kayak was not fully submerged, so they were able to spot it in
the water (another amazing feat given the expanse of open water it was floating
in). They confirmed the kayak had a small hole in its bottom. The
next day Bill, Kathie and I walked by the kayak rental place and saw what
we swear was a repair operation going on with Yanni's kayak. We hope
the next renter has better luck.
 The famous sunset visitors come to Rai Leh beach to
view. One of the sailboats adding ambiance to the view is
ours.
 Much like Phang Nga Bay, the Krabi coast is lined with
limestone karst formations chock full of caves. This particular cave sits
at the end of one of the Rai Leh beaches, next to a five-star resort. It's
said that many, many years ago, an Indian princess's ship was wrecked off the
coast leaving the princess as the only survivor. She took
shelter in the cave, but eventually died of exposure and starvation. Since
that time, it's thought that the princess's spirit lives on in the cave. A shrine to the princess was built and
fishermen come often, bringing symbols of fertility (slightly phallic-like as
you can see) in exchange for a bountiful catch.
 Longtails lined up and ready for tourist-toting action off one
of the Rai Leh beaches.
 Lunch anyone? There are lunch trucks all over the world,
so why not lunch boats? Wade on up and order your favorite Thai
pancakes.
 An example of the low-key atmosphere of Rai Leh beach on the
Krabi coast. Nothing says local Thai food like a restaurant called 'Local
Thai Food'.
 Hard core rock-climbing backpackers repelling down a cliff
late one afternoon.
We are very happy our first official rescue at sea
was successful, and hope Yanni is home safe with his family by now. Here's
hoping the need for a second rescue at sea doesn't arise for a good long
while.
Anne
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