THE CROSSING : MALDIVES TO THAILAND
Last day at Addu, before the long haul to Thailand
Thailand, some 1600 miles away, (3000km’s) was our next port of call and it would take us some 14 – 20 days to complete the crossing. This obviously depended on the wind as there was no way we could motor.
The plan was to head in a NE direction, crossing the equator, and up to 4 or 5 degrees north. Addu was at ½ a degree south. As we went further north, we would pick up the SW trade winds that would push us across to the East.
Well, 14 days at sea did not appeal to me at all. Again, how do I keep myself occupied for 14 days? How will the weather be? Is Shayile in top shape?I have read many books on sailing around the world with families and couples traveling, visiting various countries and passing on their experiences. Quite a few of the books I read, did not have a lot to say when it came to long crossings! Just when I wanted to know what it was like etc, they would describe arriving at their next destination. Not a whole lot on the passage. Well, I now know why. Frankly not a lot happens!! There are a few “highlights” but the majority of the time is spent reading and sleeping. Next thing you look up and 5 days have gone! Not a lot to report on!
Day 1 saw us make good progress. We covered some 110 miles. No fish, no other boats and a good way to get into the mood again. I was daunted by the prospect of being at sea for 14 – 16 days, and that was if we were lucky with the weather!
Day 2 saw us cross the equator. This was a special occasion as it was our first time on a boat. Erias and Shayile crept closer together and soon we were motoring along side each other. In true “cross the equator” style, we were ready for each other. Water balloons came out and the bombing started. I just held the course as water balloons were pelted at each other. Then out came a few flour bombs. The kids had a great time. As we settled down again, B began explaining to Dan and Jenna the significance of the equator and what it was about.
Over the next 4 days we made good progress in a NE direction. We had to motor most days for a few hours, but the sailing was ok. The swell running was large but easy as it wallowed under Shayile on its way north.
Again, entertaining Daniel and Jenna was going to be a challenge over the following 2 weeks. They were fantastic on a crossing but after days of the same thing, they did get a bit “ok, so what’s next?” Fortunately the “Are we there yet?” question never came up. We stuck up numbers showing the days at sea and the number to go. Each morning one was taken down and we were a day closer to Thailand
True to sailing, we had current against us. As we bobbed along at 5knots through the water, we only made 4 knots over ground. Frustrating but not much we could do about it.
Day 4 and we hooked a decent sized Barracuda. I filleted it and B prepared fish cakes.
On we went. Erias were with us all the time. We drifted apart, perhaps 8 miles or so, and then came together again. We chatted regularly on the VHF radio and it was great having someone to communicate with and knowing you are not totally alone, it’s certainly food for a positive spirit.
Those stunning days at sea
After 12 days at sea, we arrived at the shipping lane. This is the route that large ships take from the Malacca Straits through to India and the Middle East . Chatting to other cruisers, we were told to arrive at the shipping lane early in the morning. This would give us plenty of time to cross the lane which was some 25 miles wide. (50km’s)
From here, we were to make a right angled dash across it, looking out for ships all the time. Then we needed to resume the course heading directly towards the Nicobar Islands. This we did and first up on watch was Belinda as I went off to sleep. Later that day B woke me up to say there was a ship out there and we needed to keep an eye on it. What she did not tell me was we were crossing a highway! On the radar were no fewer than 12 ships! Not small fishing trawlers, but huge container ships and oil tankers! What a sight!
Slowly we made our way across the shipping lane. Once in a while I would call up a ship if we were on a possible collision course. By altering course a few degrees, we would avoid each other by about 2 miles or so. This continued for most of the day. As we left the shipping lane to the south of us, we turned and headed back on an easterly track towards the Nicobars.
Throughout the night, we could see many ships on our radar some 16 to 20 miles south of us. We were well clear of the lane and had no intention of wandering anywhere near it during the night.
(Interestingly, that night 2 oil tankers collided close to where we had crossed.)
We had been at sea for almost 2 weeks and so far, had had a great trip. A few days of lumpy seas, current against us and no fish, but other than that an enjoyable crossing. I kept wondering when it would change. How could we possibly have the perfect crossing!?
Big winds in the sky! Trouble brewing!
Next day it started. First the sky and clouds gave us an early warning signal. Bad weather was on the way!
The wind picked up and soon we were reefing back the sails. With the wind picking up, so did the sea. Then the slapping started as Shayile fought her way through a very upset sea that was slowly getting bigger. The squalls started forming out of the south east. Initially these were small and did not really affect us, but as time went on they began to intensify.
That night at about 7pm, we noticed a big squall coming up behind us. As it is difficult to estimate the winds generated by these squalls, we always took the precautions to reef right back and be prepared for a blow. As it crept closer, the wind intensified and with it torrential rain fall. As the wind hit 30knots, we realized we were in for a blow, the first of many. Interestingly, I could see the squall coming at us across the water. A sheet of rain and wind making its way across the ocean. I shouted to B, “lets reef quickly, this one is a big blow!” As the first gusts hit us, I turned Shayile into the wind. We managed to furl the genoa and then dropped the main sail. Perfect timing as the wind increased to over 40 knots. We then turned and ran with the weather. I was at the helm hand steering, as the auto pilot was take big strain as Shayile was tossed about. For 1 hour it continued and what a ride! With the wind reaching 48.5 knots, we registered a top speed of 10.5 knots! Not particularly fast, but certainly not the speed I try to achieve. Eventually the wind settled down to a steady 20 – 25 knots.
Throughout the night the squalls continued to come through but not quite as intense as the 7pm squall. Even with the state of the sea and the winds, Shayile held her course and chatted into my ear; “all under control mate!”
For 36 hours the weather never let up. This had a certain advantage as we were making good speed. What affected me was lack of sleep. With the continuous slapping and banging, I could not get any sound sleep. I was up most of the nights and, frankly, was getting rather tired.
On board Erias, Nadine was keen to stop at the Nicobars. We had discussed this previously with Erias, however there were certain complications. The Nicobars were a “no go” area for foreigners! We had been told this by other yachts and information given to us. So much so that yachts had been confiscated and the crew arrested. If we were going to stop, it had to be under extra ordinary circumstances!!
Kids whilst on passage
On we sailed towards the Nicobars. With the sea and wind making our lives rather difficult, we were starting to seriously consider a stop over on the
Between the 2 yachts, we decided to head for the Great Nicobar. With 3 days of hard sailing weather behind us, we needed a break.
We rounded the southern most point of the Great Nicobar and headed up the east coast, gaining protection from the SW wind. I then got on the SSB radio, and tried to contact the Indian Coast Campbell Bay Campbell Bay
At 1am in the morning, we dropped anchor just outside the harbour and immediately went to sleep.A bit about the Andaman and
The Nicobar Islands lie just south of the Andaman Islands . Both island groups form part of the Union Territory of Indian and home some of the oldest tribes in the world.
Little is known historically about these islands, but it is believed that Marco Polo set foot on one of the islands during his travels.The British first established a colony here back in 1789 and abandoned it in 1796.
In the 19th century they were annexed by the British adding them to their empire. A penal colony was set up for Indian freedom fighters in Port Blair.
When
The indigenous tribes of these islands are distinguished in 2 groups; the Onge, Sentinelese, Jarawa ands Andamanese of Negroid descent living on the Andaman Islands and the Shompen and Nicobarese of Mongoloid descent living in the Nicobars. Most of these tribes are on the verge of extinction. Outsiders attempting to make contact with some of the remote tribes have been driven off with bows and arrows. They continue to maintain a unique lifestyle living in harmony with nature just as they have done for thousands of years.
It is a very interesting subject to read up on. The Indian government is doing its best to try protect these tribes from western civilization and the dangers associated with diseases and western influences that erode and destroy these ancient tribes and they way of life.
It is for these reasons that the Nicobars are virtually out of bounds. One is able to visit the Andaman’s once the necessary visas and documentation has been completed. At the time of writing, the Nicobars were not open to the public.
Erias at anchor off the Nicobars
I woke up at 6am with someone calling us on the radio. It was Port Control. I answered and explained our position and reason for stopping. They took down all our details and asked us to stand by on channel 16. Next up we got a call from the Indian Coast guard and again we explained the situation, and that we were seeking 24 hours to rest up before heading across to Thailand
An hour later Port Control called up, giving us permission to stay for 24 hours and that we were not to leave our yachts. I thanked them for their understanding and permission to stay. I also invited them out to Shayile for a look about and a cup of coffee or tea!
We could now rest up, at anchor and charge those internal batteries!
A few hours later an inflatable boat pulled up and we had our first visitors. 4 officials came on board and introduced themselves. The visit was purely to look and see and spend some time with us. They were great and we caught up on what was happening on the Nicobars. We all took photos and soon they were on their way. Really just a social visit as visitors, (especially of our nature) was certainly very rare.
We slept and rested up for the rest of the day. It was great. That evening we had 2 local guys come out to Shayile on their boat. They came aboard and had juice and coconut crunchies. After a few photos and insisting on kissing me, they left looking as chuffed as punch!
Next morning we woke up early. I radioed port control and asked for permission to leave. They came back a while later, giving us permission to depart. We thanked them for their understanding and hospitality and sailed off in an easterly direction towards Thailand
The final stretch – Nicobars to Thailand
Having rested up anchored off the Great Nicobar, we were eager to get to Thailand
The next day we sailed on peacefully. Thailand
Next morning and now the competition was on to see who would spot land first. We all gazed at the horizon every so often trying to make out land. Daniel had a few false starts, doing his best to see land!
Midday and B was the winner. She lifted her head looked around and said, “Hey I see land!” Sure enough, up ahead in the distance were the hills of
As we closed in on the island of Phuket
Soon the wind picked up and the clouds rolled over. We reefed back and prepared for rain. Next problem was our timings. We wanted to arrive in Phuket during daylight hours but, with Murphy hard at work, we would be arriving at about 10pm that night. A nighttime arrival in squally conditions; not the kind of arrival in a foreign country one would ask for. I just hoped my Maxsea software was spot on. (The electronic charts I have on my computer.)
Erias just ahead of us as the sun rises
As we approached Phuket, the rain continued and the wind blew 20 – 25 knots. Arias were close by, about 500 meters behind us. Our destination was Ao Chalong Bay. Getting into the bay would be tricky, as there were a number of islands off the coast and it was very shallow in places. We steered in amongst the islands and, with darkness upon us, headed towards Ao Chalong. There were many fishing boats in the area and we needed to be careful. Not knowing where we were, it was pitch black, we were in 10 meters of water and there were boats all around! Great! I steered us between the mainland and the island of Koh Long.
Soon we found a spot we thought best to anchor. We really had no idea where we were anchoring but so long as we were out of the channel and relatively close to other boats at anchor, we should be ok. We dropped anchor in 4 meters of water.
We were in Thailand , the island of Phuket Indian Ocean . The last stretch from the Maldives to Thailand Kenya to Seychelles Seychelles to Chagos – 9 days, and Chagos to Maldives Indian Ocean .
It ranks as one of my biggest personal achievements!
We clubbed the wine, had a bit of dinner and prepared for bed. Daniel reminded me of the first thing I was going to do when I get to Thailand
I slept well that night. Besides waking a few times to check on the anchor and depth, it was a great night!
Next morning we jumped up and went outside to get our first look around. The Ao Chalong anchorage lay about 2 miles away, across the bay. We would never have made it in there at night! There were fishing boats, ferries, yachts, long boats and other floating devices covering the whole bay! We had infact anchored off a small resort. A perfect spot considering we had no idea where we were anchoring.
View of Ao Chalong Bay with Ko Long in the background
Soon Erias joined us and we all prepared to go ashore and relax. We all jumped into the rather sad looking Shayile ducky. It was at its end and could not hold the air. First purchase in Thailand Thailand
The rest of the afternoon was spent chatting, drinking and generally getting into the Thai mood. The kids ran around working off stored energy from the 18 days at sea. It was great to see them playing as a team and enjoying themselves.
With another fantastic lunch and a number of beers under the belt, the celebratory lunch on arriving in Thailand drew to an end. We all ambled on back to our ducky’s and headed out to the yachts. Erias and Shayile were keen to drop anchor in Ao Chalong!
We were now in Thailand!!
Ao Chalong arrival
This would be our home for the next 5 days or so as we settled into life in Thailand.
Ao Chalong is for most yachties, their first port of call in Thailand. It has customs and immigration situated on the wharf, very convenient indeed.
19th August 2006
Anchors up and we motored across the bay. Looking ahead we could see the yachts and other boats anchored in Ao Chalong. Choosing to wait and enter during the day proved a good idea as there were a number of mooring lines and other mooring debris littered within the anchorage. We each found ourselves a spot in the Ao Chalong anchorage and dropped anchor amongst the many yachts in the bay.
Ao Chalong is a very popular anchorage amongst the yachties and there must have been 80 to 100 yachts already there. With check in facilities virtually on the beach, this is usually the first port of call in Thailand
That afternoon, without wasting much time. we jumped into the dingy and headed ashore. First stop was the yacht club. Situated right on the water, it is a regular meeting place for the yachties of Phuket, convenient and full of information! There were also many restaurants and bars all along the Ao Chalong water front.
The town of Chalong was not far and, after a short walk up the road, we emerged at a very busy street. Cars, busses, motor bikes, bicycles, tuk tuks, taxis, people!! Wow, what a change. We were now back in urban civilization and the associated chaos! I quickly identified the rubber ducky repair shop. This would be my first call stop tomorrow. Our duck was “toes up” and needed replacing asap!
Back on Shayile that evening, we again took in the air of Thailand , savouring the feeling of South East Asia .
The regions first civilization was Dvaraati, established around 2000 years ago by an Austrosiatic-speaking people known as the Mon.
Theravada Buddhism was introduced to Thailand
The earliest traceable history of the Thai people picks them up in southern China Laos
By the end of the 9th century, the region succumbed to the invading Khmer empire.
However, by the 13th century, the Khmers were in no position to resist a new vibrant force in Southeast Asia – The Thais.
The Thai monarchy was firmly established around 1824 under the rule of Rama II. The Chakri dynasty is still in place today. However absolute monarchy came to an end in 1932 when a small group of military, dissatisfied with injustices of the monarchical government, staged a coup. The king was sidelined to a position of symbolic significance.
In 1938 under the leadership of one Phibun, the country was officially renamed Thailand Siam
After World War 2, many governments came and went with time and this period offers very interesting reading. The French influence in the area, the Vietnamese war, coup after coup and the will by the Thai people never to fall under colonialism control.
The Thais were dragged into the 2nd World War when the Japanese invaded the east coast and set their sights on Singapore Japan , probably in the belief that Japan
There were many post war upheavals with coups and new leaders taking control of Thailand Thailand
Thai Buddhism
Over 90% of the Thais consider themselves Theravada Buddhists, followers of the teachings of a holy man usually referred to as Buddha (Enlightened One) but more commonly known as Gautama Buddha. (I was not aware that there are some 4 Buddha’s with the 5th predicted to arrive in the year 4457AD)
Buddhists believe that Gautama Buddha was the five-hundredth incarnation of a single being. In his last incarnation, Buddha was born in Nepal
Buddha “died” at the age of eighty in India
Monkhood : Every Thai male is expected to enter the monkhood for a short period in their life. A popular time for this is around July and is referred to as Pansa. (The Buddhist lent) This period lasts for 3 months.
As many of us know, Thailand takes a hard stance on drugs and there are numerous books and stories told of foreigners arrested and tried for trafficking drugs through Thailand
Back to Shayile
Over the next 2 days, I ran around Phuket. Firstly I organized with Hans at Cholemark to replace my ducky pontoons with hyperlon pontoons. The PVC pontoons had taken a royal beating from the tropical sun and were finished. I also hired a motor bike and visited the various marinas and facilities investigating options as to where we could haul Shayile out the water and carry out much needed maintenance to her. She certainly needed anti fouling and other minor tasks to ensure she was back in shape for another season of cruising.
For the haul out, we settled on Boat Lagoon just outside Phuket Town Fiji
Over the next 2 weeks, we settled into life at Ao Chalong, getting to know the area and meeting people of Phuket. The first “locals” we met were Kevin and Francis and their son Marlin. Kevin was from SA and Francis from Australia S.A.
We based ourselves in Ao Chalong. It is not a tourist destination by any means and can be described as quite “local”. As eating out is very cheap, we chose to have one meal ashore each day. Either we ate at one of the many restaurants and eating houses or we bought Thai take-aways. There are numerous food stores where ever you go which makes choosing food very easy. Initially we made a few mistakes with orders and found pigs trotters on one occasion when we opened the packet. However we soon got used to the food, their names and what we preferred to eat. Thai food is extremely cheap. Eating at a restaurant the total bill for the 4 of us, including drinks, usually amounted to about R20 each. At the food stores it was R10 or less. This certainly made the decision to eat out a lot easier!
Ao Chalong market
Markets are very popular in Thailand and every day there is a market in one or other village. Each Sunday morning at 7am, the Ao Chalong market got underway. We would gather the baskets and head up there early in the morning. The choice of foods was unbelievable. Every kind of fruit and vegetables with many not recognizable to us. Sea food including fish of every description, prawns, squid and assorted shell foods. Then there was the unknowns – the Thai deserts and other delicacies. The numerous “butcheries” with every part of the animal hanging out and being chopped up on a tree stump. At the same market clothes were for sale at very reasonable prices. All in all it’s a great outing and best of all the goods are very fresh and the stalls very clean. Each time we would leave the market having bought a lot more than we actually needed!
B: After the quiet orderly streets of the Muslim Maldives, the hectic cramped, stall covered streets of Phuket were quite an adjustment. From a Muslim country where dogs are considered taboo and cats are a rare sight, we were thrilled at the huge array of friendly animals wandering around. There are animals asleep everywhere or wagging their tails as you pass, they never pestered us or made us fearful. In fact they all seem to be Buddhists by nature and co-exist unbelievably together! I think the fact that they are all free to run around, mostly with collars, means none of them are territorial. They all appear well fed and certainly they are never mistreated by the Thai’s. Dan and Jen loved to play on the rather litter strewn beach with all the local dogs near the Chalong yacht club.
R: Slowly we found ourselves getting into the Thai way of life and really enjoying the environment in which we were now living. The Thai way of life is great and we fell right into the mode within weeks. Being South African, the lack of security and crime stood right out. We were now in an environment and amongst a people where stealing and violet crime was virtually non existent. Not to say that everything is 100% safe. Granted the Thai mafia does have a lot of influence on business and there are mafia related incidences in the papers. However our safety and that of our possessions has almost been taken for granted. The yacht is safe at anchor with all the doors and windows open, our ducky is safe on the beach whilst we go shopping, our bags and wallets are ours and there is no need to be constantly vigilant for would be muggers. It’s fantastic!
I must relate the story of Gary, a South African guy now living in Thailand. One afternoon he went to Patong on his motor bike to buy some clothing. He did the shopping and then got “caught up” in a pub with some mates. Forty-plenty beers later, he stumbled out and went to where his bike was parked. Through eyes that were rolling around in his skull, he could not locate his bike. Up and down he weaved, trying to identify his bike. With no success and hours later, he caught a taxi home in the belief that his bike had been stolen. 4 days later, the exact location as to where he had parked his bike in Patong flashed back into memory. He jumped in a taxi and headed out. There he found his bike with his helmet and the clothing he had bought 4 days earlier still in the basket of the bike! It had not been touched! We all had a good giggle relating that situation to it happening in SA!
Dan & Jenna – happy to be in Thailand!
September 2006
With the haul out teed up, it was soon time to leave Ao Chalong and head up to Boat Lagoon. We set off and headed up the coast, a distance of some 15 miles. Our plan was to spend 2 days at an island just off the entrance to Boat Lagoon before going in. We arrived at Ko Rang Yai and dropped anchor. This island is, or maybe was, known for its pearl farms. Next day we went ashore at the resort to check it out and have lunch. There was no sign of any pearl farms and the only indication of pearl activity was a shop selling pearls. It seemed as though the pearl farming business was no more. Although an attractive little island, the resort did exude a feel of “old and tired”. It needed new life and blood. However in its defense, and that of many other resorts on the islands, it was the off season and things may change dramatically when the season starts.
We had lunch at the restaurant with baby cats and peacocks keeping us company. We then wandered down to the beach and found ourselves a spot. B and I relaxed whilst Daniel and Jenna went off playing and exploring. While sitting there I complained to B that a mozzie had bitten me. Later we went back to Shayile and had supper. It was then that we both realized that we had been eaten by “no-see-ims.” Sand flies had bitten us all over.
I have to explain that I am seriously scared of the little buggers. Initially the bites are not itchy, but then they start. When one starts to scratch, there is no stopping the constant itch. These bites then develop heads and, if aggravated enough through scratching, turn septic. Terrible creatures! The only way is not to scratch and to apply plenty of cream to the bites. After 3 days of this, they tend to subside. As I am kind of allergic to many things, I react quite badly. The bites developed into huge welts and I needed to take anti-histamine tablets.
With legs looking like a plucked chickens, we upped anchor the next morning and headed towards Boat Lagoon.
B: Ha, ha I admit to being fairly amused at how miserable Rob was after being devoured, he forgets I had over 100 bites in Madagascar
The Haul out at Boat Lagoon
The entrance to Boat Lagoon is interesting. The marina is built on a river surrounded by mangrove swamps. As it is a very shallow entrance and the channel into Boat Lagoon is marked with pylons. One follows these in for about 2 miles before emerging at the marina. Most yachts have to wait until high tide, some even spring highs, to get in.
What an organized facility. As we entered the marina, we were greeted by a rubber duck who directed us to a mooring. There we waited and soon it was our time to be hauled out. With efficiency yet to be experienced both in SA and on our travels, we were hauled out and positioned on the hard. The contractor that I had chosen to carry out the anti fouling was there and supervised the proceedings. As soon as Shayile was settled, we went out and explored the area. Boat Lagoon is a beautiful marina offering all the amenities and services required to carry out work on boats. We quickly found the pool and the eating areas.
Next day the working team got busy and began cleaning and scraping the hull for antifouling. Again I must stress the work ethic I experienced at Boat Lagoon. These guys got stuck in and did not stop! We were suitably impressed with the way they worked even whilst not under any form of supervision.
Whilst they worked under Shayile, myself and Christian got busy with other tasks and repairs that needed doing.
Over the next 8 days, we restored Shayile to “formed glory”. It was great to see her all polished up and ready to hit the water again.
Haulout at Boat Lagoon
B: This was no picnic, we lived in stripped down circumstances. It poured with rain most of the time so the boat was hot, stuffy and mouldy. The toilets were squat ones for the workers and the showers were a good kilometer away. Jenna and I subscribed to the bucket and chuck–it the next morning as it was a very dodgy climb down off a wet slippery boat which was high in the air and had no soft water below it. We loved the pool and walking up the road for good cheap meals but Dan and Jenna weren’t thrilled with the all tossed together nature of the Thai food plus sometimes “No Hot, No spice” got lost in translation.
This was also our first supermarket experience and the potato chips will give you some idea of how different the food is here. You may choose from Seafood Mayonnaise, Salmon Teriyaki, Spicy Thai Hotplate, Nori Seaweed, Extra BBQ, German Sausage or plain crisps! Buying milk is tricky as there are so many flavoured, sweetened, soured etc types and brown bread is sold in little half packets with crust on only one side. There are sweets and chocolates from all over the world and our two had a lovely time spending ten rand each on scary teeth and hamburger sweets and all sorts of wonderful things, good value here. But anything foreign like cheese, ham, bacon, pizza, pastries and baked goods are very expensive. Or maybe they just seem expensive when one Camembert costs R21 and we all could have had lunch at a food stall for the same price.
R: A classic experience went down whilst we were on the hard in Boat Lagoon. Having lived on the water on Shayile for over a year now, I was very accustomed to movement and water. My body was certainly not used to motionless nights! Shayile was positioned next to the main entrance road to Boat Lagoon and there was frequent traffic in and out over a noisy drain grate. One night I went to sleep and Belinda remained awake reading her book. All of a sudden, I yelled, jumped up, and bounded across to the port hole and looked out! With big eyes, I cursed and bolted upstairs. With B trying to get answers she followed me up. I dashed for the helm and looked ahead. There I saw a yacht directly in front of me! More cursing and I swung the helm at the same time reversing both engines. I then looked astern and more cursing as I was surrounded by yachts! Back to the helm…! With B telling me to relax, I soon came to my senses. Taking a few deep breaths, I then started to laugh. B then started to laugh and soon we were both in hysterics!
Whilst sleeping a bus had driven by. I thought this was our engines and we were under way. As I looked out I saw the lights of the bus going by and I thought we were going forward. (Know what I mean?) With more lights in the background, I imagined we were in a marina or anchorage. Problem! I jumped up and then saw a yacht directly in front of us. I swung the helm and reversed the engines to take evasive action. Looking behind me I saw more yachts and realized we were in the shit. We had sailed into an anchorage with no one looking out!!! What an experience! With my heart pounding and both of us laughing ourselves silly, we decided to amble off back to bed and get a good nights sleep! Is this the first sign of having been on board for too long??!
B: This was a total scream, Rob was completely frantic, stark naked and his eyeballs almost fell out of their sockets when he turned around to see another boat right up behind him! He never knew it was possible to parallel park a yacht! Silly boy, we always have one of us awake on watch when underway but we had just spent two- thirds of a month with a sleep cycle of 3 hours at a time!
R: At Boat Lagoon we met Philip and Anne on the yacht Abracadabra. She was having a lot of work done to her and had been out the water for some 3 months already. Philip was from Pretoria Aspen in America Kata Beach
B: Anne invited me to go for a walk to the bakery where we had a cappuccino and the kids had shakes and pastries. It was great to sit and chat in such civilized surroundings but made me a little nostalgic for my girlfriends and all my favourite coffee shops! While sitting there we were stalked by various tourists, all Asian, who couldn’t get enough photos of Jenna, and the white blonde Annalieze and little Jaybez who has lovely long blonde curls.
Cradle for lifting boats out of the water
R: After 9 days of work, Shayile was ready to go back into the water and again, with great organization from the staff at Boat Lagoon, we were floating off and motoring out of the marina. Not all work went down smoothly I must say. The electronics were supposed to have been fixed. Key being the wind instrument and our outside radar. Within minutes both had packed up. So much for that! I immediately called them and told them to meet me at Yacht Haven in 2 days time. They would have to be fixed again.
Further to this I handed my primary anchor in for re galvanizing. We would be without an anchor for 2 weeks or so whilst it was re galvanized, or so we thought.
We motored out the channel and soon we were under sail. We decided this time to head up to Yacht Haven for a week or 2. A visa run was due soon which meant we would have to leave Shayile for a few days. I was not keen to leave her at anchor, but preferred to have her safely on a walk on in a marina. We headed up to Yacht Haven, a marina on the NE side of Phuket Island
We arrived at Yacht Haven and dropped anchor. I had taken out our second anchor and arranged it for anchoring. Unfortunately I could not use the anchor windlass. (The winch for letting out and pulling up the anchor) Anchoring would now need to be done by hand and it’s not an easy task especially pulling it up!
Yacht Haven is a wonderful marina, kind of isolated from the rest of the Phuket. First up we rented a car and drove around the whole of Phuket Island
The visa run saga
Our visas expired on the 20th September and it was now time to do “the visa run”. Essentially what happens is one is granted a 1 month tourist visa. Each month you need to renew the visa by exiting Thailand Malaysia or Burma Thailand and into Burma Burma and back into Thailand
We decided to hire a car and drive up to the border, making it bit of a sight seeing trip.
As mentioned, I was not keen to leave Shayile at anchor and we took her into the marina and tied her up. In the event of any adverse weather, she would be safe on the walk on.
On the 18th September, we left for Ranong, the Thailand border town with Burma
Kuraburi Greenview Resort
On the morning of the 19th September, we woke up to news. There had been a military coup in Bangkok
On reaching the border post, we noticed how quiet it was. On closer inspection and asking a few questions to other weary travelers sitting outside, we were told the border was closed indefinitely. Great, and we only had 1 day left on our visa! With nothing happening at the border post, we tried the airport. This to was closed down completely and military personal milled around outside. We then decided to drive back to Phuket and try another plan.
Tsunami damage on road back from Ranong
After a long drive back to Phuket, we decided the next best thing to do would be to fly out to Malaysia and do the visas run that way. At Phuket airport we got to work trying to, 1. Get information on the status of the border posts and, 2. Buy air tickets.
Air tickets were provisionally confirmed, but with the high cost of the tickets for the whole family, I made one last ditch attempt to see if the Ranong border had perhaps reopened. The telephone conversation was interesting. “Has the border post at Ranong reopened?” Yes came the reply. “Great, could we head back up there?” Yes came the reply once again. One last question. “Could we re-enter Thailand once back from Burma
We booked our tickets and that evening we flew down to Khula Lumpur.
We arrived in Khula Lumpur at 12.30am and immediately caught a shuttle out to the hotel where we were to stay for a few short hours. At 1am in the morning we were checked into the hotel and in bed.
We were up at 5.30am the next morning and caught the shuttle bus back at the airport. We checked out of Malaysia, boarded the plane and within 1 hour, we were back in Phuket and checked back into Thailand. The visa run was over! We could now stay another month!
B: Rob’s account manages to sound very matter of fact and very smoothly handled. The truth is that nothing went as planned, everything was a mess. The customs official refused to speak English to us when we were quite aware from our previous days visit that he was fluent in English. Everything revolved around an exit permit that stated we were leaving via Ranong border and we had to drive another 45 minutes into Phuket town to have this Tippexed out for goodness sake, with no accompanying signature and then it was OK. We could have done it ourselves if only we read Thai. That was a joke by the way as the Thai language has 42 letters, 2 have since, thank Buddha, become obsolete. There appears to be little need for spaces and the sentences appear to join up into one long snake. Not for the faint hearted to try and learn, it does at least go from left to right but it may as well go from up to down.
Anyway we all loved finally taking off and had a lovely spicy meal on Malaysian airlines even if I had to beg for wine which was available, just not offered. It was after all Rob’s birthday, poor bugger, it had been a shocker.
Enjoying the comforts of a hotel room!
We took the last room available at the budget hotel near the airport, the executive suite i.e. it had a table and six chairs which I would have swapped for another pillow as all four of us had to share a king-sized bed. It would have been even more fun if we hadn’t set the aircon so high and woken up freezing without the duvet or if we hadn’t stayed up so long amused by the novelty of TV and a remote. Plus I would have got a lot more sleep if I hadn’t insisted on 3 long showers but it was such a novelty to have as much hot running water as I liked.
So after 4 hours of sleep, we lost an hour somewhere between Phuket and KL, we awoke too early for a bleary buffet breakfast. AAAaaarg, no bacon, back in a Muslim country plus not much was recognizable except those horrible little stale pastries which are clearly sold worldwide. So we got shuttled back to the airport and left the shopping mecca of KL without so much as a look at it. Very sad indeed. Thank goodness we had a car for the week, better rate, as this would have been impossible without our lovely Honda Hire Car.
R: We headed up to Yacht Haven where Shayile was safely on the walk on.
It was at this stage that I received a call from Simon, our traveling companion in Africa , aboard his yacht “Karisma”. Simon was working in Tanzania Thailand
