With nothing pressing to deal with online, other than to answer two WhatsApp messages; one from Elaine’s sister in Ireland wondering if we were alright, since she hadn’t seen any updates from us for a number of days and a 4th of July greeting from Anne and Stuart off Time Bandit, who were celebrating in the Seychelles, we then dinghied back to a fairly large bay we’d seen on the way up to enjoy our snorkel. Fortunately there were a number of vacant mooring balls with only one occupied by a yacht. Selecting a ball closer to the shoreline, we tied up and hopped into the crystal clear water, surprised to find plenty of larger fish and healthy coral.
But, lo and behold, as we paddled around enjoying the underwater paradise, an enormous dive boat, filled with at least 50 divers and snorkelers, stopped right on top of our dinghy and offloaded their cargo!
Fortunately, by this time, we were ready to leave anyway, but had to wait at a distance for all the divers to descend and all the snorkelers to clear the area, before Elaine swam to untie the dinghy, then pulled it to a safe distance, allowing us to embark and leave. Thankfully, however, when we returned to Paw Paw, there was only ourselves and an adjacent yacht in the cove; our peaceful world had been restored! Our day was wrapped up with sundowners and a few snacks on the beach. Perfect!
However, there is always the piper to pay and, although today is our 2000th blog, marking 2000 days since we left St Lucia in the Caribbean to commence our circumnavigation, it was a refresher course in heavy weather sailing.
Without having data connectivity we had no choice but to rely on the typical meteorological indications of possible future weather developments, including the fact that the blue skies with fluffy white clouds, which had dominated our stay, had been replaced with cirrus and frontal cloud formations rather suddenly and, by sunset, clouds had started to build on the leeward side of the island. With our Anchor Plus application indicating a downward pressure trend, the lashing rain and strong winds arrived overnight. However, what we weren’t expecting was the wind shift to the south / south-southeast by early morning, churning up our beautiful calm anchorage into something resembling a washing machine. With an hour still to go to the top of the high tide and waves breaking over the reefs, we fortunately still had some protection behind the islet immediately to the south of us, but, with no idea as to whether this was the start of the bad weather or the tail-end, we decided to investigate the bay we’d snorkelled in yesterday in the hope of getting more protection. However, we needed to wait until the tide started to fall, giving us a little more protection and increasing the safety factor of getting off the mooring ball.
Unfortunately, when we reached the other bay, it was completely full of commercial squid fishing boats; clearly a good bay to be in! With that, we had no choice but to hightail it back to Phuket Island, where we knew we had a choice of a number of protected anchorages for the weather conditions. As luck would have it, we also learnt en route, when our data connectivity returned, that the weather was forecast to deteriorate even further over this week, so leaving was indeed the correct call. To say we had a very rough ride, though, for about half an hour sailing from the lee of Koh Racha Noi to the leeward side of Koh Racha Yai, was an understatement, but this was necessary in order to have the longest leg of the sail in following seas, on a broad reach versus having very large swells on the beam and on a close reach. With huge following seas, winds in excess of 22 Kts and a slither of our headsail out, we were anchored off Koh Taphoa Yai in no time at all, averaging 7.5 Kts, but reaching much higher speeds as we surfed down the waves. The last time we experienced conditions like this was sailing into Santa Marta, Columbia, after leaving St Lucia.
By the time we anchored, we were exhausted, but delighted to be back in a calm, protected anchorage. Staying simply would have been downright dangerous without a doubt! We’ll definitely be more cautious going out again for extended periods of time, though, versus being content to enjoy paradise for a day or two before returning; we need the sailing practice anyway!
After we were safely anchored we enjoyed a quick chat to Keenan who was on a stopover, then a long chat to Elaine’s folks in Ireland before having dinner and staying up late, irrespective of our fatigue levels by this stage, to catch Brooke and the grandsons before they headed off to Mexico for their summer holiday. It had been weeks since we last saw the twins as they were always sleeping when we called, given that they had “school” the next day. This meant we got more one-on-one time with William and got to chat to Capri when she was home, but we missed the laughter of our two little men. We were surprised to see how much they’d grown, although they were both delighted to tell us they were going to kindergarten. William, of course, reminded us that he was six now and going to “big school”.
Although it was sad to acknowledge that we’ve missed so much of their little lives with this pandemic, we remain, nonetheless, grateful for the technology that allows us to still connect with them on some level.
Every type of tour operator you could think of, paid a visit to this idyllic cove; fishing charters, yacht charters, huge dive boats, one stopping right on top of Paw Paw to drop off numerous divers and snorkelers then disappeared, only to return about an hour or so later, loaded with other divers and snorkelers that had been dropped off and collected somewhere else. The corker was the owner of a humongous gin palace who decided he could nudge his way into the anchorage amongst the mooring field, gave up, but then tried to nudge into the even smaller adjacent cove; its staggering just how often we see this diminished level of basic intelligence, yet somehow these people have managed to accumulate enough wealth to purchase such an expensive luxury item.
This bedlam continued over both days and all of last night too; the latter due to a crewed charter yacht which arrived early evening with a group of young adults onboard. From the minute they arrived, they spelt trouble! But, we were all young once and partying all night on the beach is what you do. However, setting off fireworks straight out over the moored yachts from midnight to sunrise, intermittently throughout the night, when they had the option of shooting them off in a different, safer direction, was profound ignorance at its best; fools and booze is a potent mix, one that could have resulted in our home going up in smoke and could have shattered a lifelong dream. While everyone enjoys a fireworks display, this was definitely not one of them, but we got to see the 4th of July fireworks upfront and personal and see the beautiful sunrise whether we liked it or not ! How we didn’t end up with damage to Paw Paw is truly a miracle!
Then, when that lot had barely packed up and returned to their yacht this morning, a power-catamaran, loaded with tourists, came screaming into the anchorage, doing at least 20 Kts, with the captain jamming the catamaran into reverse only when it was nearly on the beach, following which he reversed it up onto the beach, the passengers disembarked and the crew set up a beach picnic area for the day. This captain clearly had total disregard for anyone who might have been snorkelling in the water, including ourselves, as we’d barely returned to Paw Paw from our morning swim when this idiot came charging through.
We’d been told by cruising friends about cruising in Thailand during the height of the tourist influx, but if this was just a glimpse into what it must have been like, there is no way we would have stayed in Thailand for any length of time. Fortunately, there’s still plenty to explore and enjoy without having to deal with hoards of tourists, especially since it’s unlikely the “Phuket Sandbox” will stay open for long, if what we witnessed was anything to go on; during all this activity, there wasn’t a single mask worn or any social distancing taking place whatsoever, not even by the crews of these tour operators, which means it won’t be long before the COVID-19 cases start to increase again. Additionally, no one seems to be adhering to the guidelines that all arriving tourists had to remain on Phuket Island for 14 days and have three negative COVID-19 test results before being allowed to visit anywhere else in Thailand. The latter was the reason we decided to head south, away from civilisation and off the grid, to put some distance between ourselves and the arriving tourists, at least until we’ve been vaccinated. So much for that bright idea!
Nevertheless, we got on with enjoying our days in these beautiful surroundings under sunny, blue skies, although it was difficult not to be distracted by all the goings-on. When things settled down in the late afternoon after all the tourists had left or indeed before they arrived in the morning, we enjoyed a swim and snorkel to the beach and around the cove, testing the underwater camera again. Elaine also spent time painting, while Roy worked on his project and we’ve had time to get back into our reading. We decided a long time ago we wouldn’t let our days be spoilt by others!
Sleep deprived after last night’s antics meant an afternoon nap was definitely in order. A rain shower, however, put pay to our stargazing exploits, but we both needed an early night anyway.
While Roy practiced his flying skills, Elaine enjoyed a paddle in the water and entertained herself with the hermit crabs, followed by a meditation session after settling herself down on her beach towel. By then Roy was ready for a paddle, so Elaine had a second paddle. Unfortunately, there is always the downside to these beautiful beaches no matter where we have found them during our circumnavigation; the washed up garbage. However, in this instance, visitors have cleaned the beach and piled the garbage up in a far corner; better than nothing. As for us, we take only our memories and leave nothing but footprints.
Back onboard, after a morning coffee, we jumped back in the water; this time to enjoy a snorkel, test our underwater camera and for Roy to finish cleaning the hulls and saildrives, now that he could actually see what he was doing in the clear water. Needless to say, the fish loved the clean hulls too.
Spent from all our fun, it was time to while away the remainder of our morning in the cool breeze of the cockpit before having lunch and getting our baking activities completed; bread for Roy and gluten-free savoury cheese balls for Elaine. By mid afternoon, though, we’d retired to our cabins for a well deserved afternoon nap. By the time we surfaced, the last of the fishing boats had departed, but replaced by another yacht which arrived early evening.
Sundowners, dinner and stargazing, complete with a number of shooting stars and the Southern Cross hanging low in the night sky, wrapped up another day in paradise!
Regardless, Koh Taphao Yai was a rather quirky little anchorage. While not the most scenic, with some wrecks scattered around the various beaches, a defunct and a temporarily closed resort, as well as a few petroleum storage tanks to one side, it had life; there were other cruisers aboard versus the numerous unoccupied yachts we’ve seen everywhere else, even at anchor, there were dinghies moving between yachts, there was a constant stream of commercial squid fishing boats passing, there were “longtails” putting around and there was plenty of bird life, not to mention hearing crickets last night for the first time in forever. All of this was a welcome change from our solitary existence and being the only yacht in an anchorage. Additionally, bird-watching became an unintended pastime while we were there, revealing white-bellied sea eagles, oriental hornbills and a grey-headed fish eagle, prompting Elaine to do some research.
The siamese fireback is the national bird and, as of 2019, there were 1076 species of birds in Thailand. Of them, more than 100 are rare, 6 have been introduced by humans and 8 have been extirpated, with 72 species globally threatened.
In 1991, it was estimated that 159 resident and 23 migratory species were endangered or vulnerable due to forest clearance, illegal logging, hunting and habitat degradation. The species most affected were the large water birds, whose wetland habitat had been largely lost to agriculture, as well as various forest species, since deforestation for agriculture and logging had removed and degraded portions of the woodlands. Elaine was unable to find any evidence as to whether or not this trend was reversed or, indeed, if the pandemic and the associated lockdowns have had an impact on the bird life of Thailand, although in other countries, just the reduced noise of traffic had had significant impacts, as bird songs and mating rituals could be heard, resulting in bird populations flourishing again.
Elaine also thoroughly enjoyed her day painting, but had to sort out yet another medical insurance matter as well, where the insurer is, once again, asking for information they already have. Needless to say, with Elaine out of patience now, they certainly received more than what they had requested.
Roy had a slightly more energetic day replacing the impeller on the generator and checking the oil of both the engines and saildrives, although we both enjoyed a midday nap too. Scandalous!
Today we were up early to continue our adventures further south and, given that it was the first day of the “Phuket Sandbox” initiative, heading as far away from Phuket Island as possible could only be a good thing. However, with only local knowledge to go on, we actually had no idea how the day was going to pan out, but being early morn, we encountered many of the commercial squid fishing boats returning with their night’s catch. We were also fortunate enough to see a white-bellied sea eagle swoop down in front of Paw Paw and pick up its breakfast; brilliant!
Our first stop was Koh Hae (aka Coral Island), where we had hoped to stay, but a few circumstances prevented us from anchoring, although it looked absolutely lovely; the bottom was rocky which is never an ideal situation for our anchor, it wasn’t very well protected with the swell coming around the west end of the island and, more importantly, a huge swarm of bees decided to take a peek at Paw Paw, before continuing on, but, nevertheless, caused Roy to abandon dropping the anchor and Elaine rushing to close the saloon doors for our safety.
With that we lifted the anchor and continued south, passing Koh Racha Yai, heading for our destination of Koh Racha Noi, which far exceeded our expectations; it was the most idyllic, picturesque anchorage we’d seen in a very long time, with a small brilliant white sandy beach at the head of the bay, lapped by crystal clear blue water, so clear in fact, we could see the schools of fish by just peering over the sides of Paw Paw.
As soon as we’d picked up the mooring ball, we donned our swim wear and snorkelling gear and into the water we went. It was simply wonderful to be able to snorkel again, reminding us of Bonaire the minute we dipped our heads below the waterline, as the schools of fish came to greet us. A swim to the beach and back for a snoop around completed our water activities for the day.
Once back onboard, a tropical fruit lunch was enjoyed in the cockpit; there’s nothing like watermelon to remind you of summertime, before we each found our spot in the cockpit to while away the afternoon. Being completely secluded, Elaine also took the opportunity to enjoy a shower on the transom. Fortunately she was presentable by the time a few fishing boat anchored in the adjacent bay, then a small motorboat arrived, with a group of men who went spearfishing, following which another two fishing boats arrived; one picking up the adjacent mooring ball and the second anchoring in the adjacent bay too. As the sunset, the entire horizon lit up with green lights; the commercial squid fishing boats were back.
Our day was wrapped up on the trampoline after dinner to enjoy some stargazing, given that we were off the grid and, therefore, no ability to stream a movie, having lost connectivity shortly after leaving Koh Hae.
In a nutshell, though, today was the perfect reminder as to why we love this lifestyle as much as we do!
While Elaine toiled away, Roy cleaned our bridle, which had grown a small reef again, as well as enjoyed a brief chat to Craig, off Il Sogno and then one with Colin, off Endorphin Beta, whom we hadn’t spoken to since last seeing him and Izzie on Penang Island, Malaysia, in February last year. They were back from Krabi and fortunate enough to have secured their COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Phuket Island. This definitely gave us some hope that there was a chance we may well get our appointments soon too. We also learnt from Colin that they’d seen Paw Paw in the Boat Lagoon marina a few weeks ago, as a backdrop to a video filmed in the marina for a news media outlet in Thailand called “The Thaiger”. What are the chances of them seeing the footage, never mind the fact that Paw Paw was a “film” star and we didn’t even know it!
After our chores were complete, we dinghied ashore to enjoy another delicious lunch at the Port of Call restaurant, then went for a short walk around the marina complex to stretch our legs, before picking up our deliveries at the marina office.
Today we woke to a gloomy, rainy morning, but, by the time we’d enjoyed our breakfast, it had all cleared up, so we continued with our plan; weigh anchor and head south. First, however, we enjoyed a slow sail across the bay towards the west coast of Koh Yao Yai to make water where there was far less sediment to clog the watermaker’s filters, as well as taking the opportunity to dry out our sails. This daunder took us towards the yacht carrier that had been anchored since yesterday unloading and loading yachts; a little sad to see, as this was another indication of cruising dreams left high and dry with this pandemic.
It was lunchtime before we turned towards Phuket Island again, unfortunately motoring this time with the wind on the nose, arriving in our chosen anchorage for the night, Koh Taphao Yai, around 1500, but not before Roy enjoyed another chat to Craig, off Il Sogno, who was positioned for his arrival in the quarantine anchorage tomorrow morning and Elaine had enjoyed a chat to her folks in Ireland.
The anchorage was a little different to what we had expected in that there were, not only numerous squid fishing boats anchored, but a number of occupied cruising yachts too; we had company at last!
A perfectly timed video call from Elaine’s sister in Ireland wrapped up the day, although the news that Elaine’s youngest sister in South Africa had contracted COVID-19 again, but with far more severe symptoms than her previous bouts, was very worrying. Fortunately we understand she has improved since. We wish her and her friends a speedy recovery.
Having accumulated a myriad of errands to run, yesterday was a busy day, starting with an early morning alarm to get ready to collect our hired car. First stop was the Boat Lagoon marina for a few supplies at the chandlery and a visit to Villa Market for all our “goodies”, including Walkers shortbread, Ribena juice, Heinz baked beans, gluten-free banana loaf mix, gluten-free biscuits, Lindt chocolate, etc; in other words, the most important items!
Next stop was the mall and what a waste of two hours we had at the supposedly Apple Authorised Service Centre, iCentre, where Roy attempted to get his Apple watch repaired. Eventually we left empty handed, but with arrangements finalised directly with the Apple Support service to get it couriered to Singapore. By then it was lunchtime, so we opted for a western meal as an early dinner; marinated pork ribs, mash potatoes (fries for Roy) and steamed vegetables. It was exactly what we needed!
However, given that we had wasted so much time trying to sort out the watch, completing the rest of our provisioning became the priority and a bit of a rush, with two more grocery stores still to be visited in order to get everything we needed; a downside to shopping in many countries in this part of the world, since one store seldom has everything. In this instance, decent meat and some fresh produce had to be purchased at one store before everything else could be obtained at another. In our rush, though, we forgot a few errands that will just have to wait until we visit the mall again at some point in the future, although Elaine did manage to find some nice natural linen comfy shorts to wear aboard.
Our drive back to the marina took us through the northern, more rural areas of Phuket Island and we were amazed to see so many plantations; rubber, pineapples and bananas were the immediately obvious ones. However, by the time we got back to the marina it was the spring low tide and an almost vertical ramp down to the dinghy dock; there was absolutely no way we could get the dock cart down to the dinghy. So, Plan B; gingerly carry a bag at a time down the ramp, while clinging to the handrail so as not to slip on the wooden slats, which were wet after another downpour. Of course, getting everything sterilised before stowing was another task Elaine has grown to detest over the months of this pandemic, albeit a necessary one.
It was getting dark by the time we’d stowed all the perishable products, before Roy returned to shore to hand back the car, leaving the non-perishable items to be stowed until today.
Having walked 7.5 Km, never mind all the other physical activities, Elaine’s entire body ached, so a light snack, a shower and bed followed in quick succession, although we did see the beautiful moonrise before it was lights out.
Barely able to get out of bed this morning, Elaine enjoyed a sleep-in until the sun streamed through her porthole. Roy, however, was up with the birds and when Elaine found him in the cockpit, he’d already completed splicing the eye of one of our new mooring lines. After breakfast he completed the second one, as well as cutting the new chafe piping to size; we were ready to pick up a mooring ball again!
The rest of our day was spent napping on and off, as well as opening and closing hatches as each wave of the rain showers passed over us; we definitely had our first true experience of the southwest monsoon rainy season. By late afternoon it had all cleared, allowing Roy to jump in the water to give Paw Paw’s bottom a cursory clean. A call from Keenan, who was on a stopover in Las Vegas and a call from Terence in Australia, passed the afternoon, as we caught up on all their news. It was, however, the loud crashing noise that had us both jumping out of our wits. On a frantic search for the source we found our radar reflector in pieces on the transom; fix one thing and another breaks!
Our day was wrapped up with yet another very pretty sunset.
By 0730 we’d weighed anchor and by late morning we’d re-anchored. However, with the spring tides, we decided to anchor a little further off the beach this time, but the jury is still out on whether or not that was a good idea, as the currents flowing into the marina are causing a slight swirl. Hopefully it’s just a phenomenon at mid-tide.
After lunch and a nap, we dinghied ashore to enjoy a nice long walk through the little village close to the marina, after which an early dinner was enjoyed onboard.
While many of the homes in the village were beautifully painted in bright colours and some sat amongst pretty gardens, it was difficult not to notice the number of people living under various temporary constructions along the shoreline; something we noticed at a few of the other villages we’ve visited too; a definite sign of the economic challenges this area is facing due to the pandemic and the lack of tourist dollars.
Our day ended with a focus on the beauty of nature, though; a beautiful full moon rising in the east as the sun set in the west.
