Day 90, Year 4: 007 and Counting
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Weather: Beautiful Day; Very Little Wind
Latitude: 08 degrees 16.630 minutes N
Longitude: 098 degrees 29.028 minutes E
Location: Ko Daeng Yai, Thailand
We made our way north to the anchorage closest to James Bond Island and we are sadly counting down the time we have left together with Heather, Jed, and Sam. But what a surprisingly wonderful day we had today. We took the dinghy to the beach on Ko Hong early in the morning to let Sam have his beach play time. He got a bit fussy at one point, so Mark and Jed took him out for a ride in the dinghy while Heather and I walked the Tsunami Evacuation path. When the tsunami hit this part of Thailand in 2004, a number of tourists were killed here as there were no clear paths for escape. There is just a beach and then steeply rising limestone cliffs, so no one would have known where to run to escape. When Heather and I reached the evacuation destination, we both wondered if it would really be a place of refuge as it was only a ledge a hundred feet or so above ground level. But evidently 200 people made it to this ledge and survived. Just walking on the ledge was humbling experience. But it is good to know that the government here has set out evacuation routes on the islands and they have an evacuation tower to signal in case of another disaster.
On the more uplifting side of things, we left the beach and headed around the headland to go snorkeling around a rock where Mark and I had seen people snorkeling when we were here with Kevin and Claire. I guess some of the best surprises come when you are not expecting much. We got in the water and found a wonderland of brightly colored soft corals all around this little rock. There were bright red and bright pink soft corals, some of the biggest clownfish I have ever seen, and a very nice variety of fish. I had told Heather and Jed that our snorkeling possibilities ended when we left Ao Nang, but I was obviously wrong. We have only hand one or two other snorkels in all our travels to equal this one, so we were all really happy that we had decided to stop at Ko Hong.
After our snorkel, we headed further north into the Phang Nga Bay. We passed James Bond island and anchored a bit north and west. The water is VERY shallow all around the James Bond Island, so you have to anchor a bit away and dinghy in. We will do that in the morning, but once we anchored, we decided to just have a laid back evening of fun. We filled Sam’s pool on the back deck with salt water and he had great fun playing in that. Heather, Jed, and Mark jumped in and swam around Windbird just to cool down. When Heather and Mark got out, we threw a beer to Jed so he could have his sundowner while floating in the water. We had and early dinner and just enjoyed life. I know we keep saying it, but it just doesn’t get much better than this.
Tomorrow is Sam’s second birthday, so part of our day will be dedicated to a birthday celebration, but early in the morning we will explore the territory of “The Man with the Golden Gun.” I have no idea how old this film is but it still draws tourists by the thousands here in Thailand on the site where the film was shot. We will visit the island early in the morning and then move on to a different Ko Hong in Phang Nga Bay as a day anchorage. We’ll have a birthday breakfast before visiting 007 and a birthday lunch at Ko Hong. At the end of the day we will return to Ao Po Grand Marina where we will have a birthday dinner. When we return to the marina, we will have been out here sailing from island to island for ten days. Everyday has just gotten better and better. But all good things must eventually come to an end. As Mark’s mother would say, “Sadness doeth prevail.”
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| 090120 Day 90 Thailand–Ko Hong Krabi S to Ko Daeng Yai |
