WEEK 7: 20 March - 27 March -Ko Phanak to Yacht Haven Marina (anchored off)

DAY 43 - Saturday 20 March - Ko Phanak
Trepidation at the thought of going through a 200m pitch black tunnel with bats. We have to wait for the tide to rise to get in - will it be deep enough all the way through or will we rip the bottom out of our soft bottomed dinghy!! We went in about 11am with some tourists in kayaks The tunnel went in about 20m and turned right and it was pitch dark - thank goodness the kayaks all had lights as it is hard to row and shine the torch at the same time. After another 20m the tunnel turned left - still pitch dark. About another 60m further on we could see some lovely green muted light and as we got closer the ceiling started coming down and when we got up there we were very disappointed to find that the gap wasn't high enough for us to fit through. Thought of swimming through (for about 3 seconds!!) but the water was very murky. We went out with the kayakers. Cilantro and Kristie 1 turned up about an hour later so we organised to go in when the tide has dropped a bit. Its really a catch 22 with this place as at low tide there are big rocks all round the entrance and at high tide you cant get through. We tried again after 3pm - we went in our dinghy and the other four went in the other dinghy. We led the way having a vague idea now which way it went. It is sooooo dark. Got up to the hong but we still couldn't get through. We figured if we waited there for 20mins to half an hour we might have managed it but some of the party weren't keen to stay so out we went. Drifted out with the tide so we had time to use the torch and see the stalagmites and bats on the roof. You so need a kayak to get into these places, Jean and David where are you!!! We went in about 6pm to see the cave at really low tide - it had dropped about 3 metres. There were rocks and mudbanks in the tunnel. Had a walk around and went back to the boat.
DAY 44 - Sunday 21 March - Ko Phanak - Ko Hong, Phanang Bay
08°13.601N 098°30.112E
We upanchored on a fairly high tide around noon. Lots of tour boats were coming in so it was a good time to leave. We headed to Ko Hong and went around to an anchorage between three islands. Beautiful. Got in our dinghy and went to look around. It was a beautiful little bay with a cave/hong you could paddle through and come out the other side where Kristie and Cilantro were anchored. Went in again in another entrance then followed the kayaks into a little tunnel which led to a hong but once again we couldn't get through. Went out and paddled around looking at all the stalagmites and overhangs. We went back to the boat and blew up the lilo thinking we may be able to float through the hong on that. We settled in enjoying the view. The park rangers charged us 400 baht (about $14) to stay. Blew the other lilo up and slept on the deck as it was so hot.
Miles: 3 Total: 5,852
DAY 45 - Monday 22 March - Ko Hong to Koh Daeng Yai (near James Bond Island)
Happy Birthday Jean
08°16.597N 098°29.051E
We were going to take the lilo into the tunnel to get through to the hong but couldn't be bothered. Upanchored at 10am on a rising tide and motored round to an island just across from Koh Phing Kan (James Bond Island - the man with the golden gun). The bay is quite shallow but we had good depths and we anchored in 7.5m. At 1pm Kristie and we took the dinghies over to the island and as soon as we landed on the beach the ranger came down to collect our 400 baht! We took the dinghies around to a little beach which was covered in souvenir stalls and heaps and heaps of tourists and the noise of the longtail boats on the other side of the small beach. Another ranger came to check we had our ticket. We motored around the rest of the island and another couple of islands. We had a late swim on a very small beach near our boats and then returned there for sundowners. Because the bay is so shallow the water is quite murky.
Miles: 3 Total: 5,855
DAY 46 - Tuesday 23 March - Koh Daeng Yai to Koh Pan Yi
08°20.438N 098°30.319E
We left at 11am to catch the rising tide to go up to a village built on stilts up the river. The waters are very shallow all around here. We tried to cross in one place but then the water went down to .5m under the keel we prudently turned back and went a bit further down to get across. We followed the channel with enough water and arrived at the village around 1pm. We anchored opposite the village and a huge longtail quickly came out and wanted to take us on a trip up the river. The noise from the longtails was horrific. They are long boats of varying sizes with various sizes of truck engines sitting at the back with a huge shaft going out the back with a propeller on it which is how they manoeuvre. The engine has no coverings of any kind and are very noisy. Cilantro went a bit further up the river so Kristie and we joined them. We went ashore and walked through the village. It is a village built on the water on stilts with walkways all the way through it. It has a school, a mosque and a health centre and hundreds of souvenir shops and heaps of restaurants which service all the tourists on the longtails for lunch. One restaurant was open all day so we had a late lunch. One lady had a baby gibbon with a nappy on and wanted 100 baht for a photo. She shoved the gibbon into Peter's hands so we agreed 50 baht for a photo. Then another lady shoved another gibbon on Peter's shoulder while Dell took the photo. This was annoying as the little gibbon kept looking at the bigger gibbon so it took a while to get its attention for the photo. We paid the lady and then the other lady demanded 50 baht! We refused to pay that as we hadn't done a deal with her. We went back to the boats and the rangers turned up and we had to pay another 400 baht - we weren't expecting that. A couple of long thin colourful boats came past with about 16 crew rowing and counting - they seemed to be training and racing. We went back to the restaurant for dinner and I have to say it was the worst and most expensive meal we have had. So it turned out to be quite an expensive stop. To explain the fees - all this area is a National Park and it is 200 baht per person per day.
Miles: 9 Total: 5,864
DAY 47 - Wednesday 24 March - Koh Pan Yi - Yacht Haven Marina
08°10.387N 098°20.509E
Left at 9am on a low tide. We had intended to head to Krabi and Cilantro and Kristie were going to check out the Yacht Haven marina but we haven't been able to renew our internet so we are heading to Yacht Haven too. It was the hottest day we have had with not a breath of wind and we were just melting. We were very happy to get to Yacht Haven Marine at 3pm where we anchored outside the marina. We all met ashore and met Bill off Liaison who is staying in the marina. We went to the restaurant for happy hour (2 hrs) and then had dinner.
Miles: 26 Total: 5,890
DAY 48 - Thursday 25 March - anchored off Yacht Haven Marina
We met ashore at 9.30am and looked around then walked to the nearby village (Muslim) to try to sort out the internet but no go. The person there had a four month old ocelot (he told us it was a tiger) which had been found in a rubber plantation and he bought it for 3,000 baht ($100). It was pretty wild. They said when it got too big they would give it to the zoo. We walked back and tried to get a taxi but too expensive so went to the car hire place. He had a station wagon but said we wouldn't get 6 people in it and wanted to rent us 2 cars. After some negotiation we got the car for 24 hours. The backseat was about 12 inches deep. The back of it was sealed off from the car. So four of us squeezed into the back - had to get in in the same order or we didn't fit! Brian was in the front with his knees on the dash and Peter was driving and off we went aircon blasting. We went to check out Boat Lagoon marina and had lunch there, then to the shopping centre to sort out the internet. Because we hadn't renewed before the month was up we lost all the hours we had! We did some shopping which filled the back of the station wagon then drove up to the Ao Grand Po marina to check that out and then home at about 7pm - big day!
DAY 49 - Friday 26th March - anchored off Yacht Haven Marina
Today was fuel and water day. When we realised we could get the fuel 600 baht cheaper from the petrol station Cilantro and we put our jerry cans in the back of the station wagon and drove to the petrol station. Manoeuvred it all back to the boat and then went to get our water and return the car and we were all done by 12 so we went to the little cafe for lunch. Kristie took his boat into the dock at low tide and got fuel and water from the fuel boat. We went ashore at 5.30 and had a shower then met the others at the restaurant for happy hour and a meal. We could see lots of lightning around then it got really windy and a palm frond landed just next to us. We paid and Kristie and we hurried back to our boats. The calm water suddenly had huge waves on it and we got soaked getting back - exhilarating. We took down the shade cloth and Peter put out another 20m of chain. We thought we had dragged but were still the same distance from all the other boats but were a lot further back than the marina boats. We concluded that all the boats couldn't have dragged so therefore we mustn't have either!! However a boat had dragged near Kristie so they upanchored and moved out the back. Cilantro came back a little bit later when the seas had calmed and the wind dropped. We are approaching the transition period between NE & SW monsoons so it was a little lesson for us when we leave the boat to prepare it for the worst weather!!
Debbie's birthday tomorrow - so sorry we cant be there with you - miss you. We are currently in a beautiful place but the internet is intermittent and slow so will upload some photos hopefully later in the week.
Love and Cheers
Fair winds and calm seas
Dell and Peter
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