May 13-17
Hi All,
I’m writing this log sitting in the nice cool, Air-con pilot house…..sweet as……we made it safely to Royal Phuket Marina earlier today, Tuesday, 5/16…..we tried again for the 3rd time for the more popular Boat Lagoon marina next door but once again were told no room…..ugh!!!! We came in a few days earlier than planned as Kathy discovered a big LO in the Indian Ocean that was sending some rather large wind and waves our direction…..we either came in today or were stuck at Phi Phi Don for the next 3-4 days. As it was we had 15-20kt SW winds….and a squall with 35kts….60 points off port bow……and 2-4′ headseas….whoa……no big deal but we had not had those conditions in quite a while!!! Still better than the 20-30 kt winds predicted over the next few days.
BTW, it did rain 7 of the 12 days we were out and has rained buckets being back in the marina….the rainy season has arrived……but it has not cooled down much……heat index still hovering around 100….Kathy says she is never leaving the marina and AC ever again:)))))
We had a really good time at Phi Phi Don. Many people told us to avoid the place as too many tourists…..but we found a fairly decent anchorage on the NE corner and away somewhat from all the crowds. We had intended to anchor one night at the end of Ko Yao Yai island but when we got there the anchorage was too rough…..we had 15kt SE winds that day which was most unusual…..so we headed over to Phi Phi Don…..another 12 miles…..wow…..a big 4 hour day……needed a second passage beer after such a long day:))))
Mother’s Day: Kathy had a good one….well, it was ok imho….as I have said many times cruising is a lifestyle and one of the downsides is we are often away from family/friends on special occasions. It’s hard to celebrate Mom’s Day with out her sons, daughter-in-laws and now granddaughters. But, we did our best…..Kathy had champagne, we went for a long dinghy ride and some snorkeling and then ate seafood at a restaurant on the beach…..a very nice day indeed!!!
Snorkeling: Hmmm…..how can you jump in the water and still feel like you are sweating……I was so hot by the time we got to Bamboo island….about 2 miles away…… I just jumped in……the water was like a hot bath…..seriously……when I got out I thought I was still sweating….yikes. The snorkeling was a 3/10…..yep, nothing special…saw a lot of reef fish….our old favorites….all about the size of my hand…..most of the coral was dead, very little color……this area is just getting too much tourist love……ugh!!! Kathy did not join me…..snorkel snob that she is:))))……actually ever since the ER day she helped me her hip and leg have been bothering her so she wanted to take it easy and save herself for the good reefs……wherever they are….the hunt is certainly on?????
Fisherman: We have really enjoyed watching the local fisherman in their long-tail boats. We have seen all types of fishing….nets, hand lining, rod & reels, traps and the most interesting using long nets on poles to scoop up large jelly fish. We woke up one morning with about 10-12 boats all around us…..the jellies come up to the surface either after a rain or at tidal change and the fisherman just scoop them up…..in an hours time there must have been 2-300 caught. A quick google search indicated there is a big market in Japan and China for dried or preserved jelly fish…..whoa…..who knew….the fisherman can earn$15-30/day catching 100-300 jellies……the season lasts 2-4 months!!!
Long tail boat tour: We decided to take a 5 hour long-tail boat tour of Phi Phi Le and Phi Phi Don….cost, $50…..not too bad. It was great….fist stop was Maya beach on Phi Phi Le……well, that was different……the winds had come up over night and the long tail boats could not get into the beach area on the west side…..so they pull into Lasma cove on the opposite side……the cove was a bit rolly with a lot of surge…..our guide, Nem, says ok, swim about 100 yards to that rope ladder, climb up about 30 feet and then walk over to Maya beach…okee dokey……Kathy says nope…..you go…..ok, I jump out and swim for like 30 secs and I’m still in the same spot…..arghhhhhh…..I reach up to the boat and say too much current, give me my fins…..I put them on and about 5 min later make it to the rope ladder pretty winded…yikes. Now, I had one friend write me about my anxt over the birthday….she said and I quote: “….for an old geezerette. Take your meds and do some crossword puzzles.
Learn how to crochet! Oh screw it, just keep being John. Put on your pirate scarf and pretend”:)))))) So, with dry bag in my mouth and my pirate cross skull bandanna covering my head I scaled the rope ladder….just like one of the 20 somethings in front of me:)))))
I walk over to Maya beach and wow….gorgeous…..but, then I look out the Bay and see maybe 10-15 tourist boats coming……ODG…….We had read the blog of Minnie B who had been here a few years ago and they described the beach full of 87,241 tourists….yikes…..well, for me, it was only 37,241…..this is low season after all…… but still, how many bikini clad 20 somethings can you stare at:))))) So, I took a few pictures of the bay…..not the twenty somethings although it was hard to just get landscape w/o all the people……and made my way back to the boat:))))
We proceeded to view the island from the boat seeing several caves, a gorgeous hong/lagoon and then we went over to Ton Sai Bay….the main tourist area on Phi Phi Don. This was the Bay that was wiped out in the 2004 tsunami with many fatalities. But, it has been rebuilt and then some….reminded us of Gili Air in Lombok Indonesia…..one restaurant/bar tourist shop after another….we walked around, had a cold beer and some appies watching all the ferries unload a gazillion tourists. We had been warned not to anchor in the Bay as it was too busy with ferries and tourist boats as well as very noisy at night from all the music/bars. We can see why and will stay put in our NE Bay opposite the Holiday Inn resort!!
Mini-crisis onboard: Well……it is to us……as many of you know the YB’s have been known to partake in a decent bottle of wine now and then…..and, in order to be a wine “snob”, one must have wine chilled to the proper temp….and ODG…..our 50 bottle wine cooler up and died……whaaaaaaaaa!!!! So, when we got in, we took it out of the cabinet, cleaned it, said some exorcising charms but no go….the refer tech arrived first thing the next day….that means around 9am….yep, it’s broke….eye rolling here…..but Chon turned out to be a great tech and in about 30 minutes diagnosed the problem as bad thermostat….the compressor is ok…..and, music to our ears, he can fix…..either with another mechanical or a digital thermostat……but, he had to take the unit to the shop to do a proper job…..so sad seeing our little cooler going to the doc……but, Chon said, it will be good as new, but might take one week…..we gave him 4 days so we shall see if we are held wine cooler hostage or not!!! Then @ 3pm Chon calls…..all fixed, let’s chill some wine…..he brings Mr Cooler back, we get it all installed in the cabinet…..that took 1+ hour as we kept dropping various screws in no man land….arghhhhhh!!!! As I write this on Wed 5/18 it is almost down to the magical 55*F!!!! LIG again on Mystic:))))
So that is it for our cruise around Phang Nga Bay and surrounding area. We will take the next few days/week to get ourselves sorted……cleaning, provisioning, celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary this Saturday…..whoa…we haven’t figured out what to do yet as we weren’t sure we would be back to Phuket yet……
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
PS: Pictures on the website: http://mysticmoonvoyages.com/photo-gallery/nggallery/main-album/Phang-Nga-to-Phi-Phi-Don
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