To Phuket, Thailand

Phuket, Thailand

In order to get our radar fixed, renew our Malaysia visas, clean the bottom of the boat in clear water, try out the watermaker and just go sailing, we slipped the mooring lines and headed out 150 miles to the Thai island of Phuket. 150 miles sounds easy and it was, but it took us the best part of 5 days there and another 5 days back. We anchored at a different island each night. There are islands all over the place, so many that you have to keep a sharp lookout, it's easy to mistake one for another and end up in the wrong place. Some islands are hospitable, others are surrounded by reefs or very deep water. Most of the smaller islands are uninhabited , except for sea gypsies that go where ever the fishing is good. Some of the islands are overrun with tourists, noisy power boats and dive expeditions, some are marine sanctuaries. One can only sail during the daylight hours due to the many, many fishing boats and trawlers everywhere. They often fish in the cooler hours of the morning and evening, sleeping during the day while their boat drifts about. As we were leaving, we woke 3 fishermen lying in the bottom of their boat as they were drifting into the marina, where they were likely to bump into someone's expensive sail boat.

Cruising is such that Phuket is 150 miles away as the crow flies, and you can get there maybe by going straight, that that's no fun! Especially here with so many great islands. What works best for us is to just take off, feel the wind (if there is any) and go where you can, via the wind for free. We wanted to sail 285 degrees direct to Phuket but instead headed 335 deg. at warp speed. After 3 days of this, we tacked and headed 260 deg. to Phuket. We probably traveled 250 miles to get there, but it was free as the wind! The autopilot steered, we tried to stay in the shade and find a nice island each evening.

The first couple of days were uneventful - we motored and sailed in very light winds around Langkawi, anchoring in a large river on the north side of the . island. Next day, again sailing in light winds, we anchored at Koh Bulon Le along with several fishing boats. The anchorage was bit rolly with open sea coming around the point. Next day, the wind built to 18-25 knots and we really sailed. With the wind coming almost directly from where we wanted to go, we dropped both dagger boards, set the autopilot to sail 40 degrees off the wind and hung on while we crashed and smashed windward. Top speed for the day was 9.5 knots. The boat really sails!!! We were a bit tired that night, having covered 60 miles, so we slept well in the lee of the island Koh Lanta, not far from a very picturesque village. A very quiet and peaceful anchorage and we almost stayed another day, but pushed on. Another great sailing day in good winds to Phi Phi Don, a gorgeous island but overrun with tourists. The nice thing is, that as the sun goes down, the tourist boats load up and they all go home back to their air conditioned resorts, and we have the place nice and quiet and all to ourselves and the few other cruisers that might be anchored.

Most of the islands are spectacular, rising straight from the sea.

Getting to the Royal Phuket Marina:- don't even think about taking your boat into this marina until you have looked at the tide tables and waited for high tide. The tides here range from 0.5 to 3.5 meters (that is over 10 feet) To get into the marina you come to a particular point near the shore in a large, very shallow bay, heading in at 285 degrees. When you get to the way point, you following along some pilings, keeping them 10ft to port .You wind thru mangroves and then up a small river thru' swamp for 3-4 miles to the marina. The marina absolutely first class! But getting there is an adventure. We picked a time at high tide, 3.0 meters. As we came to the first pilings in the bay we found a large sailboat struggling thru' a shallow spot, kicking up the mud. Grounded! Not a good sign! As we carefully motored along the line of pilings, our depth sounder two or three times went to 0.9m. That means that when the tide goes down, this will be dry ground sticking up maybe 7ft! Most monohulls have a deep keep keel that protects the prop. We are a very shallow draft boat and don't have a keel so our rudders and props are the first thing to hit if we're grounded! In 2003, in our old boat, Chesapeake, we lost both our rudders at a cost of over $6,000 when we hit a reef and remember it well! Anyway, we got in OK, but have never been in such a shallow area before, at least not on purpose. the marina itself has plenty of depth, but when the tide goes out all you can see is a muddy river bank with a trickle of a stream in the center.

The local boats coming in late raise their engines and just plough their way in with mud flying. The tides are greatest near the time of a full moon, so it's possible to come into the marina at a full moon and not be able to get out until the next full moon, a month away.

We're leaving tomorrow come hell or high water!

We left the Royal Phuket Marina after being there almost a week - did not get the radar fixed! The Raymarine agent not only didn't fix the radar, but he didn't seem to care! A frustrating week of going to the workshop everyday, sometimes twice. The technicians tried hard but they just didn't know how. We left on a high tide of 3.0 meters and still had a couple fo 0.5 meter soundings on the way out! The wind was starting to kick up and came from all over the place, followed by dark clouds, we rolled out only the Genoa and slowly sailed on down to Ao Chalong where we anchored for the night - and it was a dark and stormy night, with one squall after another coming thru'.

Plenty of wind and lots of rain. The boat bucked around some but the anchored held well, straightened out the entire chain a couple of times. Lucky there was no thunder or lightning, but the rain continued until noon the next day. It was raining so hard that we stuck a couple of plastic hoses in the Bimini openings and filled plastic bottles. Free water! I only stopped when every 5 liter bottle was filled - all 5 of them!

Return to Langkawi.

After 2 nice nights, a visit ashore and some snorkeling, we left the island of Phi Phi Don in very light winds - sailed into a dark storm, rolled up the Genoa and soon had 30-35knots of wind and some rain. With the wind shifting, we took off for a distant island Koh Rok Nok some 40+ miles away. Doing well while the wind lasted , about 2 hours and doing 8 knots, then the wind shut down and left us in the nastiest sea I have seen in a long time, very short, steep waves that the boat either fell off or smashed into with a loud bang. Damn, I hate sailing!!! the seas were so bad that the rig and sails were just being hammered from side to side. Took everything down and had to motor 4 hours directly into the wind, crashing and smashing. It didn't bother Ruth as much as it frustrated me, more aptly, it pissed me off!!! I hate sailing! Want to buy a nice boat, cheap?

Nice anchorage at Rok Nok, between two islands. Next day, light winds filling in by noon, then a big wind shift with winds from behind at 20-25 knots. Dropped the Main sail and ran with the Genoa only, making 6-8 knots directly downwind.

Wind eased off to 11-13 knots, so we flew the asymmetrical Spinnaker - great downwind sailing. Passed our intended destination about 3 o'clock, so kept going to Koh Laen at the north-eastern tip of Koh Tarutao. Anchored in a nice bay. Ashore were several sea gypsies/fishermen that live in natural caves when they are not at sea in their boats. Would have gone ashore to talk to them but was dead tired from wrestling the spinnaker - and I don't speak a word of Thai. Most of the islands are uninhabited jungle, rising vertically from the ocean. The sea gypsies spend most of their lives in their small wooden boats. If the sea is calm they may drift all night while asleep, or find shelter in the lee of of an island or in a cove or go ashore if the weather is rough. The boats are long, slim and made of mahogany, similar to a large double ended canoe. They don't have a deep keel and with long-tail engines they can drive them right up on the sand at whatever speed they like. Most throw out an anchor and take the boat up to the shore, then pull themselves out the next day. The long-tail engines are unique to this part of the world. One has an engine, any engine, with a 12-15 ft steel shaft sticking out the stern that has a huge fixed 4 blade prop on the end. The engine is mounted on a gimbal and is balanced such that they can easily move the long prop shaft up, down or side to side. You often see these boats going fast with the prop barely in the water 15 ft behind and a rooster tail of water flying. It really is a trouble free boat: all working parts are above the water and easily removed.

We arrived back in Langkawi the afternoon of Aug 27, but due to a storm and plenty of wind, we anchored out behind a small island and waited for calmer weather to return to the Marina. Every time we enter or exit the dock it's a gulp-choke exercise. The boat is not scared of the ocean, but hitting hard objects or other expensive boats is scary. Toucan Tango weighs about 24 Tons, so that just a gentle tap can do a lot of damage. Try motoring your 25ft wide and 47ft long house into a slot with a little current and some cross wind. You slowly motor up to the slot with boats on either side; make your wind and current calculations; stop the boat then start your turn. You must rotate 90 degrees while staying in one spot, then move forwards or backwards into your berth. The turn is made by putting one engine into forward and the other into reverse - and do it slow and easy while watching the drift. Meanwhile, Ruth has all the fenders deployed over both sides and has at least 4 mooring lines (one at each corner) ready to be tossed. It is about 5-6 ft down to the pier from the boat, so one doesn't jump. Luckily, the marina has dock hands that come out to receive the mooring lines if you ask for help on your VHF radio.

We're now back to our air conditioning, internet, lots of water and electricity and one can just get off and walk (or take a bicycle) around, maybe even go to a restaurant. The down side is that someone has to wash all the dirty clothes, change the oil, wash the boat.