WEEK 9: 3 April – 9 April –Koh Pak Bia to Tarutao

DAY 57 – Saturday 3 April –Koh Pak Bia to Ko Hong (on buoy)
08°04.544N 098°40.821E
Headed for Ko Hong at a leisurely time of the morning as it was only three miles away. We circumnavigated the island then picked up a buoy around 12 noon. It was a bit overcast so headed round to the Hong in the dinghy. There was a gap which the longtails were going through so in we went. We have obviously been spoilt as we didn’t find it as spectacular as some we have seen so came back to the beautiful beach and went on a nature walk. There is actually a memorial here to the people who were killed in the tsunami. We really hadn’t comprehended the extent of it and this is the only island so far (that we have seen) that has mentioned it. They have left the remains of the longtails where they landed quite a way inland and this forms part of the walk. We came out to a beautiful beach and Dell thought we had walked to the other side of the island but we had just come out a bit further down the beach! Had a swim – beautiful. It rained. Its amazing how many people got out of the water because it rained! Went back to the beach in the late afternoon and walked around after all the tourists had gone. The outboard stopped (water in the fuel from the rain) so we rowed back to the boat. Fixed the fuel problem with a bit of metho.
Miles: 3 Total: 5,936

DAY 58– Sunday 4 April –Ko Hong
Were going to circumnavigate the island in the dinghy but it was a little rough so had a boat day. Got confirmation Debbie and Phil are coming so made plans!!!

DAY 59 – Monday 5 April – Ko Hong – Ao Chalon
07°49.228N 098°21.291E
Left Ko Hong at 7am and headed for Ao Chalon to check out and go back to Langkawi for duty free resupplies! We motored the entire way and as we were coming in the depth dropped and we were suddenly in very little water. A quick turn to port and we were ok – a near run thing! We arrived about 1.30pm and anchored amid lots of boats and buoys. Some more big boats came in on the buoys in the late afternoon so we were quite close to them but were ok. If we had realised it was a holiday tomorrow we would have checked out be we didn’t. Went to shore around 4pm and walked to Tesco supermarket for supplies for the trip to Langkawi. Found a lovely little restaurant on the beach and had the coldest beer (the weather is soooo hot!) and had dinner. We started walking back along the very long jetty and one of the buses stopped and picked us up and delivered us to our dinghy. There was a big boat tied up near where we had left the dinghy so we put all our supplies on that with the help of one of the crew and got in our dinghy off the back of their boat. Sat on the deck in the evening watching the lights of Ao Chalong and some sort of a big fire up the road.
Miles: 30 Total: 5,966

DAY 60 – Tuesday 6 April – Ao Chalon
Changri Day Holiday
We could have checked out today if we had paid the staff overtime but we chose not to. Went to shore around 4pm. There was a very smelly carcass of a skinned eel (or something) wrapped around the rope of our dinghy! Walked around for a bit then went back to our restaurant – Tamarind – and had dinner with Linger Longer and Cheshire Cat. Nice walk along the jetty to our dinghys and then the clamber down.

DAY 61 – Wednesday 7 April – Ao Chalon – Phi Phi Le
Happy Birthday Pete!
07°40.794N 098°45.86E (on Buoy)
Went to shore at 8.30am as immigration was supposed to open at 9am (that’s what it said on the door!). However, we were informed that it didn’t actually open till 10am. We managed to get through Immigration, customs and the Harbour Master in half an hour so were pulling our anchor up at 11am. We were in 4.4m of water and as we turned to port the alarm went off and said we were in 1m of water. (when our depth sounder says 1.4m we are on the ground!!) So that meant we were on the ground – Dell’s heart almost stopped and then it went back to 4.4m – quite a little heart starter for the morning!!! Followed the buoys out and there was quite a breeze so we thought we might have a good sail but then it went around on the nose – again! Arrived at Phi Phi Le around 4pm and were lucky enough to get a buoy. This is the place where the movie The Beach was made and it is quite spectacular. There are high cliffs all the way around except for the entrance and the whitest beach. Jumped off the back of the boat and there were hundreds of little fish under the boat chewing on the barnacles. Fed them some bread and was entirely surrounded – right in the middle of the school of fish – amazing! All the tour boats left except for one which took all its guests to shore to sleep on the beach. When it got dark we could see lines of fluorescence floating past the boat. What a fantastic place.

DAY 62 – Thursday 8 April – Phi Phi Le to Koh Rok Nok
07°40.794N 098°45.86E (on Buoy)
We left at 6.40am just after Liaison – had a bit of wind for a while and motor sailed and then, as always, what little wind we had went on the nose. We arrived around 2pm. We went round the island and started heading in to the channel between two islands heading for a red buoy. The depth started dropping very quickly from 19m to 2m (.6m under the keel) we did a quick about turn hoping there were no coral heads where we turned! Obviously that buoy was for shallow craft. We went back out and found a passage so went to the second buoy in but that buoy had no rope so back we went to the first one and managed to pick that up. There was a fair swell coming in so Pacific Express was bucking a bit. We saw a huge brown thing on the surface of the water – a stingray perhaps – we didn’t know but it didn’t make us feel much like jumping in the water there. Went into the beach – beautiful white sand and clear water with the most gorgeous green tinge to it. Went down to see the shrine with wooden effigies, most of which are phallic symbols, then had a swim and went for a drift snorkel with the dinghy. There were lots of little fish – when we looked back there were heaps of little fish actually following us and swimming with us! There was not much colour to the coral as apparently the coral was dynamited for fishing in 2002 but it was a good snorkel. The swell settled down and we had a comfortable night.

DAY 63 – Friday 9 April – Koh Rok Nok to Tarutao
06°38.426N 099°36.932E
It rained early in the morning so we upanchored at 6.30am and had breakfast on the way. There was no wind and if there were it would have been on the nose!! We were melting and the sweat was pouring off us!! Got into Taratuo at 4.15pm and there was quite a swell coming in. Watched a lone monkey walk along the high tide line on the beach.
Miles: 48 Total: 6,108

Love and Cheers
Fair winds and calm seas

Dell and Peter