by Judy Handley | Dec 15, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 5, Thailand |
Day 50, Year 5: Day Trip to Phuket Town
Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Weather: Weren’t Here So Don’t Know-But Quite HOT
Location: Ao Chalong, Phuket, Thailand
Is it true that there are only nine more shopping days until Christmas? I have set Christmas as my deadline for having all shopping done for upcoming crossing of the Indian Ocean, except for fresh food that will be bought at the last minute, so the pressure is on. Our friend Cory from Increscent Moon came and towed us to shore at 8:30 so we wouldn’t have to have our motor with us when the dinghy shop came to take the dinghy for repairs. On time at 9 am, the guys from the dinghy shop came in a truck and loaded our dinghy in the back. We then went to get the rental car and drove to the jetty to pick up Tina and Robert. They had hoped to check in this morning, but the office is not really open at 9 am as stated on the door. They decided to wait until tomorrow to do the official business, so off we went in the almost new Toyota. It is the first rental car we have ever had in this part of the world that was actually new and insured. And this is a good thing.
Our first stop was the huge Rolly Tasker sail loft to buy bits and pieces, and then it was on to Phuket Town to E-motion Travel where we applied for our Indian visa. It is just now sinking in that we are actually going to visit India. We will probably travel only in southern India, but once we get there, who actually knows what we will do. I’ve given up on making predictions! We will get our visa and our passports back on December 30 and will then be free to leave Thailand when the weather permits.
Next stop was Super Cheap. This is like an enormous combination of Sam’s Club and Super Walmart with no air conditioning and hundreds of people looking for bargains. It is truly overwhelming and HOT but we spent an hour and a half there filling our carts. By this time it was after 1 pm and well after lunch time for us, so we went straight to the food court at the Boat Lagoon. It was quite nostalgic to return there. We lived there for two months and we really became attached. We had a fantastic lunch, went to East Marine to see our friend Larry Mims who works there, and then continued our door to door shopping in the hard dock shops for bits and pieces that we needed. We saw Judy and Dave of Freebird, but no other yachties that we know. So on we went to the Yamaha shop back on the main road to get oil and spark plugs for our dinghy motor, and then to Central, the huge shopping mall in Phuket. I wanted to go to the bookstore there to see if they had any Lonely Planets for the parts of the world we have now decided to traverse. They had India and South Africa, but not Mauritius and Reunion or Madagascar. We’re either going to have to hope they have these in India or order them and have them sent there. By this time, we were running out of steam and time. We needed to be back in Ao Chalong by 5 pm to pick up our dinghy, but we made one last stop at Farang Foods. This is a food distributor for restaurants, but they have some great and interesting buys for cruisers. We will probably go back there one more time before leaving Thailand, but we did make a couple of purchases this afternoon.
Traffic was terrible on the way back to Ao Chalong, but we will made it by 5:05 pm, paid for the dinghy work, and then they promised to have the dinghy down at the dock by 5:30. Without an engine, it would have been quite a row back out to Windbird, so Robert towed Mark out to get the engine while Tina and I relaxed on shore with a beer. It was dusk by the time Mark and Robert returned, but we had another beer for good measure, and then hauled our bags of goodies from the rental car to the jetty. We decided to pay the 10 Baht each for the trolley as it is almost a quarter of mile out to the dinghy dock. There are many things we didn’t get done today, but I think we all felt good about what we did accomplish.
Tomorrow Mark and I will go in early to get fuel for the rental car and return it, and then we will head to an internet café. While we are doing this, Robert and Tina hope to finally officially check in to Thailand. Then tomorrow evening at 7 pm, our friend Larry from East Marine will meet us on the jetty. We will get to meet Peg, the love of his life, while having dinner together. Peg was actually a personal secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy and is a bit older than us or Larry, but I have heard from many people that she is quite the woman. So we look forward to meeting her and having dinner with good friends.
by Judy Handley | Dec 14, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 5, Thailand |
Day 49, Year 5: Arrival in Ao Chalong
Date: Monday, December 14, 2009
Weather: NNE to ENE Winds 15 knots
Latitude: N 07 degrees 49.196 minutes
Longitude: E 098 degrees 21.521 minutes
Location: Ao Chalong, Phuket, Thailand
Just ten days shy of one full year ago, we arrived in Ao Chalong once again. Our first arrival here was on December 24 last year with Kevin and Claire aboard. It really doesn’t seem like it has been a year since then, but I guess I have to believe the calendar.
We had a decent sail here today with winds behind us, but unfortunately it was a little too rough to stop at Hin Mu Sang to see the leopard sharks. So by 3 pm we had arrived, gone to shore, and checked in. We arranged for a rental car tomorrow with Robert and Tina of Shirena, made arrangements for the dinghy shop to pick up our dinghy and do a few glue repairs tomorrow while we are shopping, and then we walked to the new supermarket and the Home Pro (like Home Depot). On the way back down the main street to the jetty, we met Barbara and Cory of Increscent Moon and stopped to have a couple of beers and dinner. It was a full day and we are exhausted. So it is early to bed tonight to get ready for an even fuller day tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Dec 13, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 5, Thailand |
Day 48, Year 5: Not Yet in Phuket
Date: Sunday, December 13, 2009
Weather: E Winds 8 knots
Latitude: N 07 degrees 44.700 minutes
Longitude: E 098 degrees 45.692 minutes
Location: Ko Phi Phi Don, Yongkasem Beach, Thailand
Here we still sit off Monkey Beach in Phi Phi Don. It was a beautiful day and we just decided to stay. This was precipitated by a call from Tina saying she would like to stay another day and it didn’t take too much arm twisting to get us to go along with this.
Mark had an agenda anyway. He wanted to work on our electrical system. We have not been able to get enough of a charge out of batteries as we thought we should and Mark thought it was because there was a problem with the way our two alternators are tied together. But when he started investigating he discovered that our largest alternator wasn’t working at all. So as always with boat work, one thing led to another and he replaced our 220 amp alternator with a 125 amp spare. Our little one is an 80 amp alternator and thankfully it has kept us going for the past couple of weeks. Once the replacement was made, Mark tried to start the engine. Nothing. We kept trying and kept getting nothing. And then he realized he had pressed the emergency stop switch on the side of the engine to test it, but it must have stuck. Once he joggled that, the engine started right up and we seem to be charging once again. Mark also installed some hardware on the mast that has to do with our lazy jacks, and it was now lunch time.
While all of this was going on, I assisted Mark when I could and worked on cataloging the last bits of food onboard that hadn’t already been put into the spreadsheet. At the end of the day, I completed that job. So now I know what is here so I can make better decisions on what needs to be purchased.
One of the reasons we decided to stay today was to make a trip ashore. On this north side of Phi Phi Don, you can only go to shore on a rising tide so we had to wait until 4:30 to go in. While waiting, we tried out the new underwater housing for the Sanyo video camera. Mark was able to get some shots of the pink and red soft coral here. Tomorrow when we download the photos and video, we will evaluate the quality. I am just happy that we got any shots underwater, but hopefully the quality is really good. So camera tested, and tide rising, we headed to shore. There is a very deep area of reef off the north beach of Phi Phi Don, but we went slowing and finally had to row the last bit. We immediately met Robert and Tina onshore and Tina and I did a bit of window shopping while Mark and Robert tagged along and talked only of boat repairs. When we had checked every little shop, we stopped at the same restaurant that we had dinner with Heather, Jed, and Sam last year. With Sam we had picked that restaurant because he could play in the sand on the beach just inches from our table. This time it was nostalgia that led us there. We just pretended that Sam was here and playing in the sand!
Early tomorrow morning we really will head for Ao Chalong in Phuket. Unless we can think of another excuse to keep ourselves out here in the islands.
by Judy Handley | Dec 12, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 5, Thailand |
Day 47, Year 5: Ko Lanta to Ko Phi Phi Don
Date: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Weather: E Winds 20, 30, 40, 30, 16-22
Latitude: N 07 degrees 44.700 minutes
Longitude: E 098 degrees 45.692 minutes
Location: Ko Phi Phi Don, Yongkasem Beach, Thailand
Winds increased overnight and we left the anchorage at Ko Lanta with 20 to 25 knot winds. We decided not to fight getting the mainsail up and just rolled out a bit of the headsail. For a while we were getting gusts to 30, then 40, but as we pulled a little further from the island, the wind settled at 25 to 30. The wind was behind us, so we were fine, clipping along at over 6 knots with what looked like a little handkerchief of a sail. But as the morning wore on, the winds died down to a range of 16 to 22 knots. We rolled out the headsail and the staysail and thought about raising the main. But we were just too lazy, so we did the wishy-washy movement toward Ko Phi Phi (pee-pee) Don. I worked down below editing photos taken since our arrival at Rebak in October as we sloshed north. So tomorrow when we reach Ao Chalong, we will be able to go back and insert the photos with the appropriate logs.
Shirena left Ko Lanta after us, but in the late morning, they went flying past. They had up their main and they are a much lighter boat. So we reached the Yongkasem Beach (locally known as monkey beach) anchorage on the north side of Ko Phi Phi Don about thirty minutes after they did. As we were beginning our final entry, we saw a boat beside us that I recognized. I got out the binoculars and read the name, Monkey’s Business from Denver, Colorado. Mark remembered that we met the young couple in Vanuatu. They anchored quite a ways from us and we didn’t launch our dinghy, so maybe tomorrow morning we will do that and go by to say hello.
This anchorage was a zoo today. We’ve never seen so many tourist boats and privately owned motor yachts in one anchorage. Swimming to the snorkeling area would have been easy from the boat, but much too dangerous with all the traffic. Robert and Tina went to shore so Tina could snorkel and then Robert came back and got us so we didn’t have to launch our dinghy. We watched the monkeys play with the tourists on the beach and then did our snorkeling foray. There was not much to brag about in the fish department, but there were some beautiful patches of pink and red soft coral. Mark took his new underwater camera case with him to test it to make sure it doesn’t leak. It doesn’t. So maybe tomorrow morning we can swim over and get some photos of the colorful soft coral. As with today, high winds are predicted for tomorrow morning (earlier we had predictions for 5 knots, but weather changes), so we will hang around here for a bit before leaving. If the winds die down in the afternoon, we still might get to stop at Hin Mu Sang to try and catch a glimpse of the leopard sharks. Robert and Tina actually saw two beside Shirena today on the way here. But with or without seeing leopard sharks tomorrow, we hope to be Ao Chalong by late afternoon.
We heard from Jean and Ken on Renaissance 2000 via email this morning. They are back in Richard’s Bay, South Africa, after doing a land trip down to Cape Town. They have wifi, so as soon as we reach Ao Chalong we will try to reach them via Skype. I need to pick Jean’s brain about provisioning. She gave me one hint in this morning’s email. They left Thailand with six flats of 30 eggs each, vaselined and stored away. Most of them made it, so I guess we’ll do the same.
by Judy Handley | Dec 11, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 5, Thailand |
Day 46, Year 5: Still Here in Ko Lanta
Date: Friday, December 11, 2009
Weather: Anchorage Gusting to15 NE
Latitude: N 07 degrees 29.600 minutes
Longitude: E 099 degrees 04.322 minutes
Location: Ko Lanta SW, Thailand
Thai, Thai, easy, easy, slow, slow . . . That seems to be the life out here on Ko Lanta. And so easy to get into. A person could get used to this and never move on. But tomorrow morning we will motor/sail to the top end of Phi Phi Don to Monkey Beach. The snorkeling there might not be first class, but whatever is under the water, I am ready to see. Then very early the next morning we are going to leave and make a stop at a little rock in the middle of the sea on our way to Ao Chalong on the island of Phuket. Hin Mu Sang, known locally as Shark Point, is a place where harmless Leopard Sharks hang out. You really need to dive to see them, but I am hoping that we might catch a glimpse while snorkeling. There are moorings close to the rock where we can safely tie off Windbird while we explore. And a half mile from Hin Mu Sang is Anemone Reef that is covered with soft corals. We can dinghy there and hold on tight as there is a strong current. But, as with everything we do out here, the stop totally depends on the weather. If it is not calm, we will head on to Ao Chalong where I know life will get very busy, very fast. The provisioning for the long months ahead is started but certainly not done. I’d love to have everything but the fresh food onboard before Christmas. At least I’m making that my goal. We got an email last evening from Tory and Piet Hein of Double Dutch. Home for them is Cape Town, South Africa, and they are almost there. Tory said in the email that we’ll soon be sailing away from Phuket with a “shit load” of food on board. That statement really hit the mark!
We worked on the boat this morning and then picked up Tina and Robert at 11 am and headed to the beach. We tied the dinghy to the very long and very nice floating jetty provided by the Pimalai Resort and then went immediately to seek permission to leave it there. We were met by a security guard who understood no English but acknowledged through hand signals that the boat could be kept on the jetty. But we could not walk through the resort. So it was back to the beach where we headed for the cluster of smaller resorts a little to the north. We ducked through the Why Not? Restaurant and found a 7-11 Convenience Store in the little village where we could buy a Thai Sim card for our cell phone. We got cash in Thai Bhat from the adjacent ATM. Once we got the phones going, we walked up the hill to a little restaurant for lunch. We then walked back down the hill and wove through another little resort to get to the beach. But we found ourselves in a delightful little open-air bar with rice mats that we could relax on while having a mid-day Singha beer. And then another. We then made our way back to the dinghy; Robert, Mark, and I walking and Tina swimming. Mark and I then spent the afternoon downloading information from the internet on our upcoming travels in the Indian Ocean, working on spreadsheets that will help us with our big picture planning of where we need to be when, checked to see exactly which paper charts we have, and read through some of the cruiser website information we downloaded and printed. We spent our time at Rebak with internet doing this same thing for the Red Sea route, so late today Mark took the information we had printed on that route to Robert and Tina. When we get to Phuket we will be in search of Lonely Planets for our new route. We’re not sure we will have internet in the Ao Chalong anchorage so we were trying to get as much done today as we could. We’re doing a bit of catch-up with our late decision, but so far we think we are now on track. We just have to find those Lonely Planets as we never go anywhere without one.
by Judy Handley | Dec 10, 2009 | Sailing Logs Year 5, Thailand |
Day 45, Year 5: Ko Muk to Ko Lanta SW
Date: Thursday, December 10, 2009
Weather: Variable Wind; Anchorage Gusting to 15 NE
Latitude: N 07 degrees 29.600 minutes
Longitude: E 099 degrees 04.322 minutes
Location: Ko Lanta SW, Thailand
I love Thailand. It is beautiful, but more than that, the people are so beautiful and gracious. We motored to the island of Ko Lanta today and tonight we went ashore to the “Same, Same, But Different” restaurant on the beach. It is the most unique little beach restaurant I’ve seen since Bloody Mary’s back in Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Same, Same has a definite Buddhist theme and is just lovely. My favorite part is the huge orange lanterns that decorate the entrance. And the wait staff was terrific. They helped us ‘relearn’ a little Thai and even came out to make sure we got the dinghy safely off the beach. So I think Tina had a great birthday dinner and we all had a most relaxing evening together. And we found out via email today, that our daughter-in-law Jo’s father’s birthday was also on the December 8th. So belated happy birthday to Phil.
Tomorrow we will explore the shore and the little town behind the resorts. The shore here is lined with resorts, and right in front of us is Pimalai, a five star resort. It costs $500 US a night there for a room and $1,000 per night for a suite. But that enables us to have free wi-fi on the boat which is an added bonus and we don’t have to pay the big money. We’ll stay here tomorrow and move on to the north side of Phi Phi Don on Saturday. There’s a little island just north of Phi Phi Don where you can snorkel with leopard sharks if the weather is calm, so I’m hoping for that experience before we head to Ao Chalong on Phuket Island on Sunday.
On the not so sunny side, we are having difficulty with our electrical system. Our inverter is telling us that we are getting a draw of -500 amps continually, but that is just not possible. So now the deal is to trace down the loose wire, the short, the ‘whatever’ that is causing this. So life in paradise is always a challenge. This one has Mark stumped, but hopefully by tomorrow he will have figured out the problem.
