Longtails and Hongs

We are in Thailand, to the west of Phuket in Phang Nga Bay, and today are anchored between two small islands with steep cliffs on either side. Yesterday evening we had a torrential downpour so managed to put 100 litres in the tank and do a load of laundry. This morning it is drying in the rigging, very satisfactory.

Earlier a fishing boat came by to sell us some large fresh prawns so we are set up for lunch. Food shopping isn’t always easy when island hopping, so we eat out at little beachside restaurants when we can. Cheaper than cooking aboard most of the time, and delicious. Medium hot means pretty spicy for our taste at least, but lots of flavour with fresh ingredients.

C and F are on board with us for a couple of weeks. When we met them at Phuket airport we were amazed to see that 4 other jumbo jets were arriving at the same time; thousands of tourists must come and go each week. They have just gone off in the dinghy to investigate climbing up to a rock ledge. This area to the east of Phuket is a mecca for rock climbers, in many places rope loops have been placed so that you can get one foot in from a dinghy then climb a bit and jump off into the (deep) sea below. G too had to have a go while I manned the dinghy below. Rai Lei beach is the main climbing centre with lots of budget accommodation and restaurants hidden in the jungle growth behind the beach and between the huge vertical rock outcrops. C commented that she felt quite old there! More teens and twenties than older, and from all over the world.

Russians make up the largest group of tourists, evidently they can get really cheap package holidays, flying into Phuket in jumbo jets. The locals not that keen because they stay in resorts that are not owned by Thais, and have paid up front for everything in roubles. Every day hundreds of tourists leave the main islands and resorts to travel to beaches on the smaller islands. The main form of transport is by ‘longtail’, a launch powered by what looks like an old truck engine with no cover and no silencer. It has a 3 – 5 metre shaft with a small propeller on the end, the whole of which can be raised and lowered depending on the depth of the water, and also swung from side to side to steer. extremely dangerous-looking. We are very wary of swimming when they are around. They arrive noisily and in bulk at 10am in the mornings, and have mostly left soon after 4pm. This is also the hottest time of the day, so we tend to do our exploring, snorkelling and swimming before or after this; much more pleasant.

Yes, this part of Thailand is tourist heaven, and it is really beautiful. Steep karst outcrops with fantastic dripstone formations tower above the calm sea which can be turquoise to deep blue. We are now near the end of the northwest monsoon season, the dryer part of the year, and are beginning to get rain every day so the skies are cloudier and the colours not so brilliant. There are caves to explore, and 'hongs' which are crater-like lakes connected to the sea by a tunnel or passage. We visited one where you had to swim through an 80m tunnel, mostly in pitch darkness (with a torch) and came out into a pool open to the sky and with towering cliffs all around. Another very beautiful one was reached by going under a rock arch, and had shallow water, mangroves and little bits of beach. We were early visitors and could hear monkeys chattering in the jungle growth on the slopes.

There is quite an extensive National Park protection area, but it has not prevented the destruction of coral reefs due to too much boat traffic – anchoring, hitting with propellors, and just stirring up silt and sand. We have seen no really good healthy coral growths, though it may be better at deeper depths if diving. However, compared to Indonesia and Malaysia the sea is pretty litter free, and beaches cleaner.

Life on board isn’t just visiting nice places. With four people on board the water supply was getting a bit low. This part of Thailand has no good mains water supply, and drinking water has to be bought (quite cheaply) in 20 litre containers. We visited a small town, pulled the dinghy up on the beach, and went hunting. Eventually found a small supermarket with some of the containers, so had to bring our jerry cans from the boat, transfer the water to them outside the shop (with the help of the manager) then carry them to the dinghy. A 5-min dinghy ride, hoist the cans on board, transfer the water to the tank, then repeat the process with a second load. Meanwhile those not involved trawled the very basic supermarkets, and we managed to find fresh milk, eggs, some buns and fruit. No veg at all, but Thailand is the world’s biggest canner of pineapple, and they are available everywhere as are excellent mangoes. We thought we would have a similar hunt for some petrol for the outboard yesterday, but found a little shop with jerry cans of fuel outside and a hand operated pump. No problem.

For once this blog doesn’t tell tales of equipment failure on board. We had to replace the batteries a few weeks ago; the old ones were no longer holding their charge, and turning on a tap in the morning made the lights go out! Also the autohelm suddenly was not connecting with the wheel, and trawling through the instruction manuals didn’t produce a solution. Just press all the buttons said C, and G suddenly remembered how he had dealt with the problem once before, years ago. We have now added a note to the manual.

With our computer experts on board we are hoping that this will be posted with some photos. Many have been taken over the last week or so, it is a very photogenic area with good sunsets to add to the stunning scenery.