Parlay - Where's Parlay

1/3/16 Yacht Haven to Ko Hong Pan Nga Bay. - About 1 week ago I suggested to Ray it may be better to drive to Al Chalong by car to do our clearances. The reason is that leaving for Malaysia from the marina would be a better angle of sail & we can stop at the nice islands in Phang Nga Bay & see a few hongs. It also would be easier for Cheryl as the access to the port wharf can be difficult depending on the weather. Ray finally agreed so we drove to boat lagoon for breakfast then to Al Chalong to do our clearance. We paid 200bht for immigration and customs and 100bht for harbour master clearance. After to completion we went to the shops to get Cheryl any stores she may need for the trip. We made it back in good time for our departure at 3pm. Note; Yacht Haven arrival and departures - because of the strong currents that can flow thru the marina, the management prefer yachts to arrive and depart on slack water. They didn't tell us this before so we were a bit confused the first time when we couldn't enter the marina when we arrived, it is best to ask beforehand and they will tell you what time is best enter/leave and it's easier to plan ahead. We left for Ko Phan Nga Bay, arriving at Ko Hong Pha Nga about 6pm and picked up a mooring outside the cave entrance. This time proved to be a good time to arrive as the day trippers had left. We went thru the hong and returned to have dinner on board.
2/3/16 Ko Hong to Laem Nang Bay - In the morning we went back through the hong as the light was better for photos. Then we left the moorings and motored across to Ko Phanak but realise that it may be too dangerous to enter the cave on a rising tide. We had a light NW wind so we motor sailed east to Ko Rio and anchored in 7 metres not far from the beach. Ko Rio Bay is quite special as it has a reef fringed beach and the access to the Hong is an easy walk. We went into the hong it was nice with bats in the trees. We decided to have lunch before we left, after lunch we tried to pull the anchor but no luck the gypsy kept slipping, we had had the chain galvanized and the gypsy rebuilt up with weld, we had only tested it by winching it aboard on the wharf, clearly with any load it was slipping. We could only get it up by me walking on the chain & Ray taking up the slack (Ray's idea) then half way thru tying a rope and shackle to the chain and using the capstan to pull it up (Shaunnaugh's idea) between both of us we got it up and headed to Koh Hong Karbi. At Koh Hong Karbi we tied to a mooring and had a swim off the beach then we went thru the hong, took some photos then headed off to Laem Nang Bay. We anchored in the first bay Rai Le Bay & went in to dinner. During dinner it was suggested that as we are on the mainland Ray should hire a car and drive to "Boat Lagoon" & pick up a new gypsy that we saw in the window. This way he could check if it is the correct size, Nathan and Jan decided to stay with me so that if I had any trouble (e.g. dragging) they could come and help me get up the anchor and help re-anchor.
3/3/16 Laem Nang Bay day 2 - We got an early phone call from Jan; she asked if we had moved during the night. When I looked out the port window they were very close to us. Ray & I went to look at "Mr. Squiggle" (the track on the chart plotter) to see if we had moved from where we had anchored. It showed that we hadn't dragged. It was still dark so it wasn't a good idea for any of us to move so Ray suggest to "Hebgb" because their dinghy was still in the water that we move their dinghy to the side to act as a fender go to bed and sort it out when daylight. When daylight I grabbed a coffee and went to have a look at our situation. To me it looked like none of us had dragged but because "Hebgb" had out a lot of anchor chain/swarp maybe 60 metres and we had only about 30 metres of chain out they had swung close to us. There was no problem and when a boat pulled anchor "Hebgb" moved a bit further away. Ray got ready to drive to "Boat Lagoon" for the new gypsy. At 8:20 I drove Ray in the dingy to Ao Nang Bay beach where he could hire a car; it was about 10 minutes one way in the dinghy. Ray hired the car for the 3 hour drive to "Boat Lagoon". I went back to the boat for boat watch. About 11am I took Cheryl and Jan to Tonsai Beach for a walk around and lunch. We had some roti pancakes and walked around the shops. Laem Nang Bay is very nice except for the long tails constantly going back and forth. It's only access for the public is by boat, the tourist come here mainly for the rock climbing. There are 2 beaches Rai Le Beach (the quite one) and Tonsai Beach ( the busier one) both have restaurants, small souvenir shops & on Tonsai a minimart. Ray arrived back around 3:30pm and immediately fitted the new gypsy, we tested it by moving the boat cross from the beach to Koh Nang this proved to be a good anchorage as it was out of the way of the long tails. We went ashore for dinner; note a lot of the restaurants on Tonsai beach do not sell alcohol.
4/3/16 Laem Nang Bay to Ko Lanta Had Khlong Dao Bay - We left Laem Nang Bay about 7:50am, we were heading to Had Khlong Dao Bay on Ko Lanta, the wind E10 knots, the wind dropped out approximately 9:30am and came back in at 10am from the same direction. I felt sick and went to bed, I got up to reef the sails & help anchor when we got to Had Khlong Dao Bay, I am not sure of what time we arrived. Ray called "Hebgb" on the radio we found that Jan had the same symptoms. It is either a virus or Pina Colada food poisoning. While I was bed ridden Cheryl took the boys out on the town. They come home pissed, noisy and full of bad manners, I could barely lift my head so I didn't care, and they stayed in the cockpit and drank some red wine, while I drifted in and out of sleep.
Rays version - When we dropped the anchor here the guy next to me was upset thinking I was too close but in my opinion being 80 to 100 metres away in 4 metres of water with only 30 metres of chain is ample space. I told him in my most Australian way "She'll be right" which I've been told Aussies often say when it "won't be right" so it pissed him off. It takes talent to piss people off without trying. We weren't as drunk as Shaunnaugh said, she was just hallucinating. We had lunch somewhere then we went for a drink at the Indian Bar which has a Thai guy dressed up as an American Indian and dinner at the easy bar. Whiskey had all the girls fussing over her so we got to mix with some Europeans and Pommy girls. There was a guy who was blowing huge bubbles some around 2 metres in diameter after this they had the fire show which was great.
5/3/16 Ko Lanta - Had Khlong Dao Bay to Hat Kan Tiang Bay - Shaunnaugh again - Today I woke up feeling weak. During the night Hebgb had dragged close to the yacht owned by the British guy that Ray had upset yesterday. We were woken up with him sounding his fog horn during the night. Maybe he should thank Ray as he wouldn't have known Hebgb had almost dragged into him if he wasn't up all night watching us LOL. Gee he was a noisy bastard. Even with the sickness we have decided to stay on schedule as we have already lost a day repairing the gypsy, Cheryl and Nathan both need phone credit so we agree to leave around lunchtime for Hat Kan Tiang Bay. This also gives Jan & me time to recover from our illness. Evolution NT came in to the bay before we left but as we didn't known he was there we had already pulled anchor we decided not to go back to meet and greet. When we arrived at Hat Tiang Bay we had a very late lunch at restaurant "Same Same but different". They told us they got the name because the owners are twins but not identical. We decided to go here for lunch as there are rocks in the water in front of the restaurant and it's easier to navigate during the day but if we want to go there for dinner we take the dinghy to the other end of the beach and walk down. Then we went back to the boat for a nap, and then we went for dinner at the restaurant "Why not" with live music, fire show and no rocks in the water at beach. There was a fire show and after a local guy was playing good music and we all danced and had a great time in general.
6/3/16 Ko Lanta to Ko Phetra East Coast - We woke at 5:30 for a 6:30 start; we are going to Phetra via Ko Muk the Emerald Cave. Wind 15 knots NE then down to 10 knots. When we arrived at Ko Muk Ray wasn't sure that we should enter the cave as it was a rising tide. We decided to go thru at lunchtime. Ray started to get the same sickness as Jan and I so now I know it wasn't food poisoning. He had a lie down while I worked out what Cheryl wanted to do; she was scared to go into the hong. We told her we had the noodles for floatation and flippers and that I can't remember it being unpleasant but she decided not to go, which is a shame because it the best hong. I told Hebgb that it look like no-one from our boat was going thru with them, I've already been thru 4 times now and couldn't see the point in going thru again if no-one from my boat was going. I told them I didn't know where they could tie the dinghy as we have only swam directly from the yacht and I would look after the dinghy while they swam thru and pick I'd them up when they came out. We were just about to go when Ray got a new lease of life and decided he would go thru, as approached the hong in the dinghy we were approached by the rangers, they were concerned that the yachters had been taking their dinghy's thru the cave and wanted to make it clear that we couldn't take the dinghy thru and there is a place just at the opening to tie the dinghy. Taking the dinghy thru ruins the whole experience anyway so we assured them we understood the rules. They told us it was 200bht each person that goes thru and I told them when we get back to the boat we will pay them. I wish I went thru now as everyone enjoyed the experience except it would have been better to go thru when we first arrived as there were hardly any people. In hindsight we could of went thru on the high tide as the cave is high once inside. Ray believes you could get in on any tide up to about 2.8meters but not if it is still rising. After the hong we went to Ko Phetra East Coast. I like this island; it has no inhabitants and is a very spectacular limestone ridge. The jungle-fringed cliffs are honeycombed with caves and overhanging. On the West coast there is a white sandy beach with some fisherman's shelters/huts and beautiful coral. This was our first anchorage when we arrived in Thailand.