Newsletter 43
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
The last newsletter saw us into Phuket awaiting the arrival of our Christmas guests, but sadly they were thwarted by the UK snowfall and so the year ended, much as it had gone on, with yet another unexpected change in plans. Most of our cruising friends had opted for a boisterous Christmas in Phuket but we were in a more reflective mood and decided that a quiet anchorage was more to our taste, so we set off up north into Phangnga bay looking for hongs. Phangnga bay is famous for its towering limestone pinnacles which rise sheer from the sea and have found fame among film makers as well as millions of tourists. Many of these islets are riddled with caves, some of which penetrate deep into the interior where they open into collapsed dolines – these are the hongs. Ko Phanak (08 10.5N 098 29.22E) was our first destination and we were not disappointed – the tour boats were there in profusion and hundreds of tourists were shepherded through the caves in fleets of multi coloured kayaks, hardly the idyllic setting we had envisaged. But by 1600 all the tour boats had headed off and we had the island to ourselves and spent a few happy hours paddling into flooded passages, wading through gloopy mud and scrambling up to peer through elevated windows. And so it went on, we day sailed in shallow waters between spectacular rocky islands enjoying peace and solitude at the end of each day until on Christmas eve we ended up at our idyllic anchorage on the south side of Ko Hong (08 04.5N 098 40.8E). We had phone and internet connections so were able to contact family and friends,which was nice, as was the spaghetti bolognaise for Christmas dinner.
By way of contrast we decided to spend New Year at Krabi – famous for back packers and crag rats and millions of tourists. We anchored beneath towering cliffs far enough offshore to avoid the wash from jet boat shuttles and met up with friends on other boats from France and Belgium. We had a great time scrambling up and down into interesting holes, watching fit young climbers and dining ashore on good cheap Thai food. The New Year celebrations were outstanding with hundreds of lanterns rising into the night sky followed by a blaze of fireworks as 2010 became history and 2011 emerged full of hope, expectation and, for us, the prospect of nearly three months in the shipyard at Chebelang. So, the next day we had a good 25nm sail back to Ao Chalong where we checked out for Satun 120nm to the south ready for our haul out on Jan 8th. The NE monsoon was picking up and winds were fresh from the ENE so we motor sailed 20nm to windward and had an interesting night entry through a fleet of fishing boats to anchor in Pipi Don but had a much better angle on the wind the following day for the 60nm sail down to Ko Muk (07 21.4N 099 17.4E) Another long day took us down to a small sheltered anchorage off Ko Khao Yai before entering the river up to Chebelang at midday on January 7th. We were greeted by a mob of scruffy cruisers on the dock at Phitak Shipyard who had anticipated our arrival and, to our surprise, soon found ourselves edging on to the trolley for a haul out a day early.
The super yacht Silver Lining was still in the big shed with a final deadline launch booked for midnight on January 20th so she had sucked in all the skilled workers leaving a few boats a bit high and dry. But this actually suited us since it gave us a couple of weeks to empty Three Ships into a nearby lock up ready for some major internal renovation. A few days later we shipped the mast and we moved ashore into a house in Satun town which we share with Lew and Anne from s/v Seranity. We hired a 125cc motor bike from a cafe in town and each day have a pleasant 18km ride into the shipyard – quite a contrast from the last year afloat.
We have now been here nearly a month, enjoying living in this friendly community. Work aboard Three Ships is progressing sporadically, the quality of work is generally good although their method is messy and needs constant attention. Sourcing materials can be something of a trial and the yard shop frequently runs out of commonly used materials like marine ply and acetone. Silver Lining was launched at 0130 on Jan 21st after lots of last minute frantic activity which included a 100 ton crane, a local trawler and about 50 locals, shipyard workers and yachties heaving on lines. The building of Silver Lining at such an out of the way shipyard has been a major achievement, not only for Chris and Vikki the owners but also for the community of carpenters, welders, painters and engineers in Cheblang who have gained a huge amount of skill, experience and confidence from the process. Skills which we now hope will be put to good use aboard Three Ships.
We have three carpenters working on board at the moment re designing saloon and galley and all at a cost of £23 per day. On the down side, their English is marginally better than our Thai so constant attention is required to ensure that we’re all on the same hymn sheet – usually its fun, sometimes its frustrating and occasionally it drives us mad. The shipyard is best characterised as organised chaos littered with work stands, planks, huge chunks of wood and various detritus all overlaying a network of railway lines and steel cables used to haul boats up the slip and re position them for work in the yard. At any one time there will be up to two dozen local fishing boats and yachts in equal numbers under work. Grinding and sanding fills the air with toxic dust and masks are a bit of a must at times. Its an education watching huge wooden boats being re caulked in traditional fashion and then over coated with modern paints, and the local artist who paints huge colourful designs free hand on their bows and coach houses is brilliant. The launch of each finished boat is heralded by the snap and crackle of fire crackers to ward off evil spirits as they trundle back down into the water with garlands and offerings of food for the good spirits laid out on the foredeck – must remember that when the time comes.
It’s now a week later, so this a sort of progressive newsletter that one day might get finished a bit like the work on Three Ships. On the plus side the saloon is nearly finished, the front head is nearly there and the galley has been destroyed leaving another huge void to be filled. On the down side we had hoped that the Lexan windows would have been replaced by now but the Lexan arrived damaged and a new sheet is reported to be on the way, on Tuesday our contractor decided to go fishing without mentioning it to anyone so we were left having to direct the boys with sign language, sketches and bits of Anglo – Thai at a fairly crucial stage in the proceedings – but with some pretty unique problem solving we managed to maintain some progress – and, Thailand has run out of 6mm marine ply. And so it goes on.
Today, since our Thai visas expire in 2 days time, we decided to take a break from the shipyard and do a border run. Since we arrived by boat, Thai regulations require that a bond of £400 be paid to immigration prior to any named crew leaving the country – in this case only me since we designated Fi as a passenger when we entered, much to her disgust I might add – and when you re- enter the country you claim the bond back. So, off we go into the immigration office, fill in more paper work, lay a brick of notes on the table, get a receipt and head off on the bike to the border 25km away. The ride is pleasant and scenic through hilly limestone country interspersed with paddy fields and rubber plantations. The heat reflected off the road is unrelenting. Its Friday so the mosques are packed with the devout and the road quiet except for the usual hazards – dogs, cats, chickens, cattle, dead snakes, car drivers and on one occasion a small elephant. Traffic is random in terms of speed and direction with most people interpreting the rules of the road in a very liberal and idiosyncratic manner. Motor bikes use the ‘hard shoulder’ freely in both directions, looking right when turning left at an intersection is frowned upon, when turning right across the traffic flow, take a wide and gradual line and ignore oncoming traffic etc etc. Bike can carry up to 3 adults, one child and whatever baggage can be fitted in between, school children normally ride to school 3 up – boys with smart aggression, girls with two passengers sitting side saddle, white headscarves flapping in the wind –a magic sight. Happily bike speeds are rarely excessive and politeness and courtesy virtually guaranteed. Car driving on the other hand is characteristically political – far too much power and ambition in hands with little awareness of the outside world and margin competence – scary.
So, a short time later we arrive at the head of a deep wooded valley and the border post. We park the bike, walk out of Thailand via immigration, check into Malaysia, walk back into Thailand, check in, get given a 15 day tourist visa, have a cold drink with some delicious fried banana fritters at a road side stall and ride back to Satun. On Monday we’ll get the £400 bond refunded at Satun immigration …….and the sense in all this is……?. On the bright side, having now entered Thailand on foot rather than by boat, we seem to have a sound argument for avoiding this rather odd procedure which we will test when we do the next border run in 15 days time. Watch this space.
