10th February, 2009 Andaman Sea

As we are currently sailing up the Andaman Sea along the West Coast of Thailand to Ban Thap Lamu on mainland Thailand and it is a 30 odd mile sail I thought it is a good opportunity to update our Blog.

Next stop after Koh Tarutao was Koh Phetra and we did a bit of snorkeling around the edge of the steep cliffs and that night had a pot luck dinner on Tonic to celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary. Next day we carried on to Koh Muk (don't you love the name) - a beautiful spot with lovely clear water and we paddled the dinghy through a cave and came out into this beautiful little sandy beach which was all enclosed by the island rock - hard to describe. Some of us snorkeled back through the cave and as we got closer to the outside the water was a beautiful emerald green colour. Ko Muk was low key and did have a holiday place but they were just little cabins but no cooking facilities but they had various options for meals. We actually went to a little family restaurant that night and had a seafood dinner for $NZ6 each.

We motor sailed up to Ko Lanta where we spent one night and then on to Phi Phi Don. Phi Phi Don was really touristy and we anchored in Ton Sai Bay which was a really roly anchorage as there were so may tourist and longtail boats taking tourists snorkeling and diving, so after a swim and snorkel (the snorkeling wasn't what we would call anything to rave about) we up anchored and went around to the other side of the island and had a lovely calm anchorage with some nice snorkeling as well. We spent two nights there and did some exploring through caves etc. These islands are all made from limestone and are quite magnificent and it is fun going in and out of the hongs in the dinghy. Most of the tourists on Phi Phi Don were all young people and the place sure came alive at night.

We left Phi Phi Don on Tuesday, 27th January and had a nice sail across to Phuket where we spent the night in Ban Nit and then headed across to Ao Chalong next morning to do Immigration, Customs and Harbour Master for checking in to Thailand. We did not want to arrive in on the Monday or Tuesday as they were holidays for Chinese New Year and if we checked in we would be paying overtime rates. We were ashore by 9.30am to do this but had to wait until 11am for the relevant personel to arrive at work! The afternoon was spent having a look around the town.

Next day Tonic, Solan and us each hired motor bikes for 24 hrs for 200 baht ($NZ11) and with maps headed off to Boat Lagoon where all the yachting repair shops etc. are as well as a marina. It was a mammoth job getting there as we got lost several times and it took us an hour and a half to get there and it is only 25km from Ao Chalong. Phuket is a busy place and there certainly is a lot of traffic. Boat Lagoon is amazing and everything you could possibly want or have done to your boat can be done there. We spent several hours there having a good look around seeing what was what etc. Mid afternoon we decided to head back to the middle of Phuket City to have a look around but we just could not seem to find our way to the centre and only ended up on the outskirts. Asking was hopeless as the locals don't seem to be able to read maps and with very little English spoken we gave up and decided it would be better to be back in Ao Chalang before dark.

Next morning we were all ashore at 7am and on the bikes we headed up a steep hill to visit the "Big Buddha" and the temple below it. The Big Buddha is at the top of the hill and is 45metres high and you can certainly see it from various points on Phuket as it is so huge. Maintenance is continually being carried out on it. Roughly 95% of Thais are Buddhists. Spirit houses are outside buildings and homes to encourage the spirits to live independently from the family and to bring good fortune. Food, drink and furniture are all offered to the spirits to smooth daily life.

We had the bikes back by 10am, had breakfast in town and then Dave and I left the others and went for a 2km walk to visit another dinghy manufacturer (we had already looked at various dinghies in our travels the previous 2 days). Here we found just the type of dinghy we wanted so decided we just had to bite the bullet and get it as our Maxxon is just not holding together and requires pumping up several times a day and there is no way that one can manage going sailing without a dinghy as it is virtually our car. We also decided that it is quite imperative to have a fitted cover made for the top of the pontoons to help protect the seams etc. from the heat so had to wait a few days for that to be done.

We left Ao Chalong on Sunday 1st February and headed 8 miles around to the western side of Phuket to a lovely bay called Nai Harn Beach and enjoyed swimming in the lovely clear water. It is so nice to be in Thailand with its lovely clear water and sandy sea bottom compared to the muddy bottom we have had all through Malaysia which requires the anchor chain to be high pressure hosed every time we bring it up. We had two nights at Nai Harn and then went on to Patong Beach which is the real tourist strip of Phuket. Quite an education, never seen so many sights with topless ladies of all ages and sizes on the beach and we virtually have heard no English speaking tourists anywhere in Phuket - they are all Europeans. During the day, with being anchored off the main beach jet skis drove us mad when on board and they delight in speeding around the yachts as close as possible and showering us with their spray. On shore there are touts everywhere trying to sell you something and one always has to bargain to buy anything so just looking is a nightmare so have given up on that idea. I just walk past.

On Wednesday (4th) Tonic and us headed down to Nai Harn again as our dinghy was to be delivered their by the canvas guy and Tonic were getting the guy to measure up their dinghy for a cover plus some other canvas work they wanted done. However he was a bit unreliable and the guy and the dinghy finally arrived at 4pm on Thursday. We left their at 5pm and headed back to Patong which was a big mistake as we had one of the roliest nights we have had in a very long time but we had arranged to meet a guy at Boat Lagoon to have a look at our watermaker vane pump which was not working properly on Friday morning. Tonic and us caught a 7.45am bus into Phuket City and then another one out to Boat Lagoon. The upshot is they have changed the vane pump now for our spectra watermaker and local agents can no longer repair them so ended up buying a new Shurflo continuously rated pump,(not a vane pump) which does away with the original motor and now installed is more efficient, making more water, uses less power and is a lot quieter. We should have replaced the vane pump with a Shurflo in Australia instead of spending the money we did on getting it repaired and the hassles the guy caused us going up the Queensland Coast.

We ended up getting a Tuk tuk from Boat Lagoon to the city centre with the guy requesting we visit a silk, jewellery etc. store so that he could get a stamp for a petrol voucher. Doug had arranged the fare for 20 baht but when we got back on at the silk place he said the fare was 200 baht. He maintained it was 200 but we wonder if we had bought silk etc. at the store whether it would have been 20 baht but because we did not buy anything the price went to 200 baht. The bus was only 20 baht each so we were really ripped off so will not be going by tuk tuk anywhere again. Tuk tuks are small pick ups with a two stroke engine and a covered tray on the back with a row of seats on each side and can take 4-6 people.

From the centre of town Dave and I headed off to Immigration to see about extending our Visas for another 2 weeks but the Government has changed the rules since we arrived and we would only get a week and we would have to do it either the day before or on the day our Visas expire. Depending on where we are we may do a trip across a border into Burma but will wait and see when the time comes.

Dave spent Saturday putting the new pump on the watermaker and we went to the Carrefour supermarket to restock and what a fabulous supermarket although imported supplies were expensive but pork and chicken here in Thailand are very cheap.

On Sunday Tonic, Solan and us left Patong at 10am and moved north another 6 miles to Laem Sing in Pansea Bay. A beautiful beach with lovely crystal clear water. Yesterday we moved up another 10 miles to Ao Bang Tao and anchored off Koh Kala. The southern end had a lot of resorts but where we were anchored there wasn't any so was nice to be on a quiet beach but when we went walking there was a big development being built.

We were to be celebrating, Les on La Passerola's 50th birthday tonight but find that Colleen & daughter Amy are in Ban Thap Lamu as Les had to fly home to Australia as his father has died and the funeral is today. Will be nice to catch up with Colleen again.

We are having a mixture of sailing and motor sailing on our way up but as yet have still not caught any fish although Solan has caught a small Spanish mackerel today.