We have escaped the Crab Trap!
18 February 2015 | Krabi Boat Lagoon Marina
Bill/sunny with rain in the forecast
We have escaped the "crab trap"!!! That's what we refer to marinas as since it's easy to get in but hard to get out. I paid the bill for our stay--a total of $28000 baht or $860US. A bit more than I expected but given that everything got fixed, we are quite happy with everything.
It broke down as follows: berth: $6930baht--$212Us
Travel lift: $20250baht--$621US
These two get a 30% discount
Pressure wash: $2925baht--$90US
Cradle: $4000baht--$122US
Add on electricity for $177baht or $5.50US
Water for $80baht or $2.46US
And there is your breakdown. Not cheap but a nice quiet place to have your boat worked on. On the plus side, they have two restaurants that are great. Great food at relatively inexpensive prices.
I checked the water before we decided to fill our tanks and the results came back with bacteria in it so we passed and will refill in Yacht Haven when we get there.
In discussions with the other cruisers, none of us could figure out why this place had ever been built. It's in the middle of a mangrove swamp and the mosquitoes are nasty and bug spray is a must in the evening. There is nothing within walking distance and some times you can rent a car and sometimes not. There may be one available or it might be already taken. For a nice get away with decent labor that can get the job done, it's the place to go. Unfortunately, only at high tide as the sand bar and muddy bottom stop your entry during much of the day. We cleared in with just 1.5 feet when we came in last week and that was close to high tide at the time.
For those of you that have followed us for a while, you know the "fun" we went through just to get to Krabi Boat Lagoon Marina. We had winds in the 20+ knot range and normally straight on the bow making it impossible to sail. We crash through waves burying the bow and drenching me at the bow as I worked there tying down the anchor so it wouldn't go off the bow as it had earlier in the day as left our anchorage. We, you guessed it. Mother Nature is back to her silly games. Today, the forecast was for winds from the east at 11 to 17 knots. Perfect weather for a nice downwind sail back the way we came. Hey, guess what??? We had just about no wind at all, not from any direction. We ran the entire way to where we had anchored previously at 07 53.504N 098 35.341E. We dropped anchor at just about 1400 and settled in with rain in the forecast to start about 1600 so we are anxious for it as it would be nice to feel the coolness of the fresh water as we sit on deck. After our launching this morning and the sweat it produced, it will feel great.
On a positive note, the through hulls that I fixed--took apart, cleaned, smoothed the metal and slathered in water proof grease don't leak. The engine appears to not having dripped a drop of oil. The pads under the engine are nice and clean for the first time in a long time. All it good, at least as of now.