Sailing Siam

Without going into the details of the trip, here are some of the highlights… and lowlights of our seven days.
Ko Phi Phi: Setting for the movie, “The Beach” these twin islands are gorgeous but overrun with tourists. If you haven’t seen the movie, rent it and you will get a sense of the gritty hotels, nightlife, beaches and people we have met. The islands are incredible limestone monoliths towering over the water with white sandy beaches where the ocean has eroded the cliffs away. The beach used for the movie is as spectacular as it appears in the movie, at least until 10am when a thousand or more tourists arrive on all manner of marine craft to completely obscure the 500m stretch of sand. Time for us to move on. The Emerald cave is an unforgettable experience that Mad Max suggested we swim through. We heeded his advice to leave our flashlight behind donning our life jackets and jumping into the water. Swimming into the cave was easy and as we moved 20 metres or so in, we found ourselves swimming through the emerald glow of the ocean. 100 metres in the cave makes a right turn into absolute blackness. Swimming consists mostly of feeling for the wall and making sure we don’t panic. Another very slow 100m, a right turn and daylight appears. We emerge from the end of the cave onto the most spectacular beach we have ever seen; a small 300m stretch of white sand fringing a lagoon, completely encircled with sheer cliffs and only accessible via the tunnel. Unbelievable! Anchoring offshore from a small resort and “dressing up” for dinner which at this point means something more than a bathing suit that isn’t too wrinkly, we jump in the dinghy to motor ashore. Just as we approach the beach, we get swamped by a freak wave. Sandy and sopping wet we seek out the darkest beachside table we can find hoping our drenched state will go by unnoticed. Two nights at Ko Rok Nok out of range of day trippers gave us the unspoilt beaches and snorkelling we were looking for. The water was so clear it seemed like our boat was flying over the coral. After dark, swimming through what seemed to be a star filled sky as each movement of our bodies lit water around us with phosphorescent sparkles. A sailing trip is never complete without me hurting myself, and day 4 met that requirement. Sabaii Sabaii had a hatch in the middle of the back deck through which we could climb up a swim ladder. Much to Jen’s amusement (you would have laughed yourself sick Tim) one afternoon I turned and stepped through the hatch not knowing it was open. I would have laughed too had I not straddled a steps like a human pretzel. Fortunately I got away with only a bruise, but I think I invented a new yoga pose. A few days of great sailing with the spinnaker flying and the boat cruising at 8.5 Knots. One afternoon the halyard on the gaffe broke requiring someone to go to the top of the mast to effect repairs. I rigged a seat and asked two Thai men to help pull me to the top. Due to their lack of English and a communication breakdown, (but to the amusement of the local onlookers along the beach) the seat went awry and I was stuck clinging to the top until the guys realised I needed to be lowered. Safely on deck and repairs complete we were able to sail on. We had lousy weather on the return journey having to fight wind, waves and 2 squalls with thunder and lightning. Back in Phuket alive and intact we boarded our bus and began the long 24 hour journey that would eventually find us in Myanmar (Burma).