Phuket adventures ( 18th March to 24th March 2012)

On the 18th of March we set off from Ao Chalong at the bottom of Phuket Island, Thailand to Yacht Haven marina in the north. It was flat calm so we motored the 30nm.
Fishermen often cut across the bow. We've been told that they believe they can transfer bad luck across to you ( If the fishing has been bad)

Traditional longtail fishing boat

We had booked a berth in advance and organised a refridgeration technician to come and re gas our system. Eric made some adaptations to the condensor as we were unable to buy another one or have one made. The system is working better than it ever has been!
Now we can have ice in our G&T's and keep icecream frozen!
We had a great internet connection so took the pleasure to talk to family on skype.. It had been awhile.

2 days later saw us on our way to Phang Nga Bay where 3 rivers run into the head of the bay.
The water is silty but suprisingly clean forming a green backdrop to the striking scenery. Most of the islands are uninhabited. Anchorages are numerous in shallow water or bouys are provided by the National Park in areas where it is deep. The most popular places are crowded with tourists during the day but in the late afternoon through to mid morning it's all yours. All bar one night we had anchorages to ourselves.
We had such fun exploring and discovering caves and hongs not mentioned in the guide book.
This was one on Koh Phanak we came across by chance.

This cave was huge inside. Around 50m in diameter and we discovered this amazing limestone stalactite/ stalacmite creation

This sunset was enjoyed at the end of a perfect day. We often lament that it would be even better if our family and friends could experience this with us

The next day we joined the crowds to navigate a 100m tunnel to an inside lagoon by kayak. As you can see by the photo one had to lie down to get through

The guide ahead of us had to deflate his canoe to get his guests through. I placed the camera on my hips and videoed as we went.

The inside lagoon

"Erica" anchored in the bay

In the afternoon we vyed with the sea canoe companies to explore some more Hongs and caves at Ko Hong

Cathy sitting on her beach

We bought fresh prawns from these fishermen and enjoyed a meal that night of BBQ fish and chilli prawns. YUM!

View from the boat at dusk

Our view in the morning

The next day we by passed James Bond island but didn't stop as it's too comercialised, but we took photos and that night watched the movie "The man with the Golden Gun" which was filmed there in the 70's

Tourists heading for the Floating village

Koh Pan Yi is a floating village built on stilts. It is a muslim fishing village but makes alot of it's revenue with up to 3000 tourists daily brought here for lunch and souvenirs

We anchored "Erica" upstream off Khao Khian and took a 4 hr return dinghy trip upriver to visit a cave which the river runs through.

The river meandered through mangroves and had many tributaries and as we had no idea where to go we had to wait until a guided boat came to follow it's path. Just incase we got lost we took photos as we went.

It was spectacular and well worth the effort

Swallows were nesting on the many ledges and crevices

From here we motored on to Koh Chong Lat and spent the night

The next day we spent at another island called Ko Hong ( Thai for room ). There were some interesting rock formations on the way. 

This was a popular beach at the south of the island

In the north of the island was a cave nestled between 2 small cliff faces. Eric set up our large torch with a battery and lugged it up the beach. We were expecting something more spectacular inside from the description in the guide book

There were just a few small bats clinging to the ceiling

Koh Hong is named after a huge internal lagoon, 200m across, accessible across a shallow reef on tides above a metre

 It was very pretty inside with towering cliffs, lush fauna and eagles soaring above. We took our morning coffee and drifted with the tide inside

On the seaward side was a pretty silica sand beach with a mermaid hanging from an outcrop!

From here we headed back to Ao Chalong, said goodbye to fellow cruising friends and prepared ourselves for the journey across the Malacca straits to Sumatra

Langkawi to Phuket ( 8th March to 14th March 2012)

We excitedly left Langkawi Island on the 8th of March for Phuket, Thailand after 6 weeks delay as described in the last blog. We were soooo looking forward to some trouble free cruising, swimming in clean water and exploring new places.
Cathy did last minute stocking of fresh meat and veges at the local market, Malaysian style

After clearing with the port office, customs and immigration we were off..

We headed for Ko Chuku. ( Ko means island in Thai). We were fortunate to be able to tie off on a mooring buoy for the night after the local tourist boats departed and relished in the peace and tranquility as the sun went down.

We were up and away at daybreak as there was an uncomfortable roll into the anchorage. We negotiated many flagged fish traps and pair trawlers necessitating strict watches.

At midday we pulled in to the island of Bulan Le where we inflated our new double inflatable kayak and paddled ashore to enjoy lunch at a resort restaurant.

In the mid afternoon we continued on to the majestic island of Koh Phetra rising 377m above sea level, passing spectacular rocks rising vertically out of the sea.

The jungle fringed cliffs are honey combed with caves and crevices and it is one of the main collection points for birds nests. We watched an eagle dive near the boat to retrieve a fish. Unfortunately too quick to capture on camera.

At first light the bird song was awesome!
The next stop after a day of light breezes which involved sails up and sails down we arrived at Koh Muk where the notorious "Emerald cave is situated.

We explored the beach at our private anchorage, which on arrival looked idyllic until we walked along the rubbish littered beach. It was interesting to see what floats in with the tide!

As the sun began to go down and the longtail tourist boats disappeared we entered the Emerald cave.

The entrance way is an 80m pitch dark passageway

leading to a completely enclosed circular, cathedral-like Hong, with a diameter of 60m.

The walls are draped in lush foliage above a patch of white silica sand.
We had it to ourselves for 20mins before other yachties arrived.
On the way out there is a glow of emerald as the sun reaches the aqua coloured water.. Most people swim in with a torch and local guide.

The next day we snorkelled under the boat and cleaned off the slime and barnacles. An exhausting but exhilarating job. We had to visit the cave again before departing this beautiful place.
Day 6 saw us anchored at the 5 island rocks of Ko Ha Yai which are small outcrops of limestone poking up out of the sea. They look like the work of a drunken bricklayer!

We enjoyed the pristine, clean water, snorkelling under the overhangs and exploring the crevices in the kayak. Eric suggested he catch a fish for dinner to have with wine...... I don't think so!

When we arrived it was flat calm but the wind picked up late in the evening and as we had no protection from the swells we decided to sail through the night to Phuket.

Night sailing is not advisable in this area due to fish traps but this stretch is deeper water so we only had the fishing boats to contend with.
We spent several days in Ao Chalong ( the southern end of Phuket) and hired a motorbike to get about. As we had been here by land previously we felt confident to join the thousands of bike riders.
We are now at Yacht Haven marina in the Nth of Phuket where a refrigeration technician will check our motor driven system. Then  we're off to explore the islands of Phang Nga Bay