DAY 15 - Saturday 20 February - Ko Lanta to Phi Phi Don
07°43.797N 98°46.206E
Went to the beach at 7am and walked/ran around 4km and upanchored at 9am. Sailed for a bit, motor sailed for a bit and arrived at Phi Phi Don at 1.30pm. There are heaps of resorts ashore and boats everywhere coming and going, boats on buoys and anchored and huge tourist boats and myriads of small ones, so it was hard to find a place to anchor and it was rough as boats were roaring past. We went for a snorkel - got in the dinghy to go and a huge speedboat cut across the back of our boat just as we came out from behind it and nearly collected us. I thought the huge wave from the wake was going to knock us out of the dinghy!!! Close call. Visibility was ok - not great, coral almost non existent and some fish along the drop off. Was nice to be back in amongst the fish though! Went to shore and walked down the beach past the hospital then cut across the isthmus to see the other side of the island. Went through the middle and found lots of little laneways full of shops and tour operators - heaps of little laneways. We ate dinner at a little local place and thoroughly enjoyed my spicy red curry chicken and Peter had Thai spicy chicken meat. Phi Phi Don is not a place to spend a lot of time in a boat. The constant boat traffic is very wearing and keeps the water churned up all day. Night is very quiet and a good anchorage in 17metres.
Miles: 17 Total: 5,614
DAY 16 - Sunday 21 February - Phi Phi Don - Nair Harn Bay
07°46.395N 98°18.113E
Departed Phi Phi Don at 8am and had the usual motor, motor sail, sail day arriving at Nai Harn Bay on the western side of Phuket at 3pm. Its a lovely big bay and the beach is covered in beach umbrellas and beach chairs and there are quite a few yachts in the bay. We have chosen to come here rather than go into Ao Chalon as we have been told it is rather shallow and hard to get into. We went to shore and were looking around and next thing were hailed by Braveheart and Cheshire Cat. So we all had a catch up drink together and had dinner together. There are lots of little eateries along the shore and a couple of small shops.
Miles: 32 Total: 5,646
DAY 17 - Monday 22 February - Nai Harn Bay
Caught a tuk tuk truck - bit like a troop carrier and we all headed to immigration, customs and harbour master to check into the country. This took about half an hour and we were in. We then caught a tuk tuk to the shopping centre to sort out phone cards and internet. Had a shopping centre lunch - not good. Got the phone sorted but not the internet. We then caught a tuk tuk to Patong Beach which is huge and is the place where the night life really rocks. We had a look around and a beer in an aussie bar where the tv displayed cartoons from playboy! (presumably!!!). Caught a tuk tuk back over a big range about 18k back to Nai Harn. Saw elephants parked in their garage(!) and a few more elephants a bit further on. Got back and had sundowners on Kristie 1. I bought some swimmers and forgot to bargain!!!
DAY 18 - Tuesday 23 February - Nai Harn Bay
Had a chill out day and went for a swim then walked to Cape PromThep to watch the sun set. There is a temple there dedicated to elephants with statues of elephants and people have put thousands of little elephant statues around the outside of the circle. Watched the sun set - was a bit cloudy on the horizon so didn't actually see it go into the sea. Ate on board.
DAY 19 - Wednesday 24 February - Nai Harn Bay
Hired a motor bike for the day - 300 baht ($10) and headed off to see the Big Buddha which is a huge white Buddha high on a hill made of cement and covered in white marble tiles. It is still under construction. We went to the shop and got the internet sorted, then just rode around. The Thai writing is not English letters and not a lot is written in English so by the time we realised there might be something to look at we would be past it - went back a couple of times but in the end just enjoyed the ride. We stopped at a few clothes markets on the way back but you get assailed by the stall/shop owners at every turn so it gets a bit wearing. Got back after 5 and Kristie 1 were in one bar/restaurant so they joined us because ours was cheaper and then we realised Cilantro were at another place so we eventually all joined up and had dinner. Very tiring day.
DAY 20 - Thursday 25 February - Nai Harn - Rawai
07°45.605N 98°19.165E
Not a good day to do the washing but had soaked the sheets overnight so had to continue. By the time we had everything washed and hung it was raining and it was getting quite rolly. We hung everything in the cockpit and headed to shore so Peter could get a haircut. Waves were breaking on the beach so we had to move quickly to get the dinghy in. After the haircut we both decided to have a Thai massage - 300 baht ($10). For your information "in a Thai massage, the masseuse concentrates on pressure points across the body where an abundance of energy has built up. Releasing this energy and evenly distributing it across the body to create a balance is the basis of Thai massage" (in case you were wondering!!!) It was a good hard massage and they bent us up like pretzels - if you had one every week it would definitely improve your flexibility. It poured rain while we were in there. Then we walked around to another little bay and had a call from Cilantro saying it had got too rough so they and Kristie 1 were heading around the headland to get out of the westerly swell. We launched the dinghy into the waves. When we got to the boat two of my shirts on coathangers had come off and luckily were wrapped around the back of the boat. The boat was bucking and rolling quite badly so we upanchored and went around the headland to join Kristie 1 and Cilantro. A quiet night with dinner on board and sat on the deck and watched a movie "Thankyou for Smoking" - bit weird!
Miles: 2 Total: 5,648
DAY 21 - Friday 26 February - Rawai to Kata Beach
07°49.142N 98°17.684E
Couldnt sleep so got up very early and upanchored at 9.15 and went around to Kata Beach arriving at 10.35am. It is a very busy beach with jetskis and parasails and beach covered with umbrellas and heaps and heaps of people. We went to shore at 1pm and walked around. Brian and Margaret won a free holiday in one of those time share things so went off to see about that. We came back to the boats at 4pm and went in at 6 for dinner. Peter and I shared a Tom Yum soup then I had a massaman curry which was perfect. Peter's meal was too hot for me and he had tears rolling down his cheeks. A lovely night out.
Miles- 5 Total: 5,653
All the beaches have sirens and tsunami warning signs telling you where to go in case of an earthquake and up the hill is another sign saying tsunami safety area. As you know this western side of Phuket was pretty much wiped out in the tsunami but you really couldn't tell now. We are heading slowly up the coast heading for the Simillan islands which you can only do in the NE season. When the SW's come we will tuck around in the bay the other side of Phuket island.
Hope you are all well. We currently have the internet on the boat and Katie, I was wondering how our little Rosie girl was going.
Love and Cheers
Fair winds and calm seas
Dell and Peter
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