Ko Tarutao - Life's a Beach

Ko Tarutao

 Ko Tarutao is still my favourite Thai island so far. It’s big, there are not many people and there are no commercial hotels, shops etc. The beach at Ao Talo Malaka is about a kilometre long and at low tide twice that when you can walk past the rocks. The facilities are run by the Thai National Parks and consist of chalets, dormitories and camp ground.

Life's a Beach

One day I ventured ashore to do my laundry in the camp ground facilities. Not being far from the shore I did not use the outboard motor. I had noticed the shore break. A lesson in familiarity and contempt. On returning to the dingy having showered and with a bucket of clean laundry I watch one set come through, thinking that was it and pushed the dingy out. I started rowing when one wave slapped the dingy and dumped salt water into the bucket of laundry. The next, larger wave, tipped the dingy up. The dingy went east, I went west and the laundry and bucket went south! To add injury to insult the anchor tied to the dingy gave my ankle a good tap as it was dragged to the shore by the dingy. Fortunately, I did not have a camera or mobile phone on me at the time.  I recovered most of the salty laundry and trudged back to the showers passing some Thais clearing the beach, who were very amused. The second attempt at getting back to the boat was far dryer and more successful.

Sunset over the Butangs from Ko Tarutao

 The Tarutao anchorage is not the most sheltered and the swell curves around the north of the island making the anchorage very rolly and sometime unpleasant. On New Years eve just such an event started to happen again. I decided to head to the more sheltered waters of Ko Bulan nearer the mainland. It was indeed very sheltered with only one other yacht there and the Thai squid fisherman. I retired early and was awoken at midnight thinking I was under attack only to realise the Thais were setting off fireworks to see the new year in.

Christmas at Ko Adang

 Sadiqi arrived at Ko Adang (part of the Butang group of islands) on Christmas Eve and dropped anchor near “Katrine”. Don and Jean (ex South Africans) own Sailor Foods on Langkawi – providing great pies, sausage rolls, meat, bread etc to the sailing folk. Also on board was their son, Greg, his wife, Ann and grandson, Rayson. They insisted I had dinner with them of the Spanish Mackerel that Rayson had caught on the way over from Langkawi.

Christmas morning I watched as Rayson tried to paddle against the strong tidal current and barely succeeding. Being a bright lad he paddled toward the shore to get out of the current then back to “Katrine”. Having petrol for the outboard is handy – oops. I had put my outboard on the dingy and was ready to rescue if needed. There was a fairly sombre mood on “Katrine” when I arrived. After wishing everyone a merry Christmas Don announced to me, between expletives, that one of the toilets was blocked. No wonder the sombre mood. This rather unpleasant job was soon accomplished and all was well and festive onboard “Katrine”, even more so after a hearty breakfast of bacon steaks, egg and coffee.

We gathered on the beach claiming a good spot under the trees to have Christmas lunch. The noisy longtails started to arrive soon afterwards with their snorkelling/scub diving tourists.

 

Xmas at Ko Adang

 We had an exceptional lunch of steak, sausages, prawns, vegetable salads and fruit salads. In the evening we sat around the beach bonfire enjoying the peace and serenity. A great day.

Greg, Ann, Jean and Rayson

Beach Bonfire

“Katrine” left early the following morning for Phuket. I decided to head for a more sheltered anchorage as the wind had increased and was going against the current making it very unpleasant on the boat. Heading west I soon noticed “Katrine” had turned around and was heading in the same direction as I was. The conditions were quite rough outside the shelter of the islands as I was soon to find out. The further west I went the more the conditions, wind and swell, deteriorated. I think I must have gotten soft not having been sailing for so long. I had to anchor or pick up a mooring somewhere to get the outboard motor off the back of the dingy, preferably in fairly quiet waters. This was eventually done in a not so sheltered anchorage on the north west of Ko Rawi. I decided to head around Ko Rawi and back to Ko Lipe. It was a great beat to windward  in 20 to 25 knots. The new windlass got baptised repeatedly, as on occasion the bow was submerged followed by green water washing down the decks.

The other problem I had noticed when hauling the anchor with the new windlass is that a section of the chain had worn almost halfway through. This does not make for a very good nights sleep while on achor. In the shelter of Adang I drifted and cut the worn length of chain off and reattached the Fisherman/Admiralty anchor. I headed for Sunset beach, Ko Lipe and dropped anchor.

The following day I went ashore and visited Mr Man in the refurbished Boom Boom bar and met up with friends. I can only hope that, somehow, Ko Lipe will manage to retain it’s quaint, laidback mystique.

Boom Boom Bar, Ko Lipe

Depart Telaga, Langkawi on Saturday December 24 for The Butangs

Good bye Telaga, Langkawi - for now

Hiking the mountain

Walking up the mountain Guning Mat CinCang with Rayson, Graham and Sue "Chandrika". This was one hell of a long steep hike. It made the hike up the Cable Car 2,000 feet seem, almost, like a walk in the park.

Guning Mat CinCang Summit

Provisioning the boat - food

The following boat provisioning list is a work in progress. This is a rough guide for feeding one person for one week, one month and three months. The next trick, of course, is trying to fit all the food on a 30 foot boat, then find it again when the need arises.

Sadiqi one person
Item                Amount Per Week x 4 Weeks  x  8 Weeks  
Pasta (several types)      250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Rice brown/white           500 g       2 kgs      4 kgs
Rice and Egg Noodles       100 g     400 g        1 kg
Noodles 2 minute           200 g     800 g        2 kg
Powdered Potatoe instant   100 g     400 g        1 kg
Milk  Powder               100 g     400 g        1 kg
Milk UHT                   500 ml      2 lts      4 lts
Wheat Flour                500 g       2 kg       4 kgs
Corn Flour                  -          -          1 kg
Baking Yeast                -         50 g        100 g
Baking Soda (Bicarb)        -          -          1 small box
Baking Powder               -          -          1 Tin
Soya Mince (TVP)           100 g     400 g        1 kg
Mung Beans sprouts         250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Red Beans                  250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Nuts                       250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Raisins/Saltanas           250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Cocoa Powder                -          -        500 g
Coffee                      -        500 g        1 kg
Tea                         -        100 g      200 g
Sugar Brown                100 g     400 g        1 kg
Sugar White                250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Tinned Pork                 -          2 Tin      4 Tins
Tinned Tuna                1 Tin       4 Tins     8 Tins
Tinned Corn                0.5 Tin     2 Tin      4 Tins
Tinned Peas                0.5 Tin     2 Tin      4 Tins
Tinned Fruit                -          -          4 Tins
Tinned Baked Beans          -          -          6 Tins
Tinned Mushrooms            -          -          2 Tins
Wheat Crackers             250 g       1 kg       2 kgs
Jams/Marmalade              -          -          2 jars
Vegemite                    -          -        400 g
Olive Oil                   -          -          2 lts
Cooking Oil                 -          -          2 lts
Sauce Soy                   -          -          1 lt
Tomato paste               1 Tin       4 Tins     8 Tins
Sauce Tomatoe               -          -          1 lt
Mustard                     -          -          1 jar
Curry powder                -          -        250 g
Curry paste (Thai)         2 pkt       8 pkts    16 pkts
Coconut milk powder        2 pkt       8 pkts    16 pkts
Chutney/Pickle              -          -          2 jars
Popcorn                     -          -          1 kg
Dried Mushrooms             -          -        500 g
Parmesan Cheese             -          -        250 g
Tofu in UHT boxes           -          -          4 boxes
Cereal weetbix Bran         -          -          2 boxes
Oats (quick)               100 g     400 g        1 kg

Butter                      -          -          4 tins
Cheese                     100 g     400 g        1 kg
Eggs                       3          12          -
Cabbage                     -          1          -
Permelo                    1           4
Onions                     4          16
Potatoes                   2           8
Pumkin                     -           1
Ginger fresh               -           2
Garlic                     -           6

This list has been gleaned from books, info on the internet and my personal experience and preferences so far. While near marinas or ports it is quite often cheaper to eat the local food, in South East Asia anyway, than it is to buy, cart, cook, eat and cleanup. When in places like Cocos Keeling Island and the islands off Sumatra it pays to have extra provisions.

Preparations for the sailing adventures in 2012.

Installing a new anchor windlass. Lofrans Royal manual.

Windlass

 Maintenance jobs - fixing boat in exotic places.

Installing wheels on the dingy to protect it when dragging it ashore.

Getting fuel, water, and provisions etc etc . . . . . .

Haul out – Boat Maintenance

Time to get ready to haul the boat out of the water and do the bottom maintenance. I had procrastinated over where to haul out for months. Thailand the facilities and workmanship are generally superior to that of Langkawi. I hauled out in Rabak, Langkawi. I had given this some careful thought. Sometime it is not always the best idea to go for the cheapest places. It may seem cheap at the time but end up costing more in the long run.

The haul out tasks:

• Remove old bronze antenna plate and fill the holes.
• Remove old depth transducer and fill the hole.
• Replace/service toilet thru hull fittings.
• Clean and polish the topsides.
• Repair the unwanted modification to the keel done in Sumatra.
• Clean and paint the bottom with new antifoul    Jotun Seaforce 60.

Sadiqi Hauled Out by the Travel Lift

Haul out, power wash and hard-standing costs for 9 metre vessel for 20 days -$726.00

Antifouling paint – Jotan Seaforce 60 – 10 Litres $210.00 (Any colour as long as it’s red)

Primer paint – Jotan Vinilguard - 5 Litres $42.00

Sundry items – hosepipe, sandpaper, rollers masking tape etc.- $50.00

Meals, beers, laundry, water and electricity came to around $100.00

Rebak Resort Pool

The prices at Rebak are reasonable, the services and lifting facilities are very professional. The down side is that it is as hot as all hell and plagued by mosquitoes as it is so sheltered and it is an island. You need to be well prepared with all the things you need for the job as a trip to Kuah, Langkawi will take a day. The other big benefits are:

• Spending time in the resort pool in the heat of the day
• Having a reasonably priced restaurant nearby. The thought to cooking, eating and cleaning at the end of a hard day did not appeal.
• Washing machines available for use.

I lived on the boat while she was high and dry with a fan plugged in the try and thwart the mosquitoes – it was better than nothing. It is a very social atmosphere with people working on the their boats coming over for a chat or to offer advice and opinions. The heat was formidable.

Sadiqi high and dry

There are several shipwrights there; Noel Bradley and Mark Robertson.

I also flew back to Perth to sort some outstanding issues; one being the mooring on the Swan River. Having decided to relinquish the mooring as I was unable to sell it with out selling the boat, to which it is licensed, which is overseas - damn complicated! It was a very successful trip visiting friends and managing to sort out those outstanding annoying bits of bureaucratic paper work.

On returning to Langkawi and Rebak I had the task of preparing Sadiqi’s bottom for painting. I was not all together surprised to see more small osmosis blisters than I had seen before. I did drill out some of the more sever blisters, some 200, and fill them with an epoxy filler. The port side having a higher infestation than the starboard side. This caused an extra day on the hard stand.

Osmosis blisters

I was very relieved to pull off the masking tape and prepare Sadiqi to go back into the water. With her new bottom livery of red she was lowered back into the water. Some nice touches at Rebak is the opportunity to put antifouling paint on the inaccessible areas and it be allowed to dry in the slings. On being returned to the water the staff patiently waited for me to inspect if there were any leaks such as though hulls or leaking repairs. Being lifted by a travel lift I was able to get a weight for Sadiqi for the first time – aprox 5 tonnes.

Exercise

In an attempt to keep fit I walked to the Seven Wells (Telaga Tujuh) nearby. This is roughly a three kilometre walk from the dingy dock in the Talaga Harbour Marina to the base of the waterfall. Then there is some 630 concrete steps to ascend through the rain forest before emerging onto a rocky area with the Seven holes on the rock over which the river water rushes. The views out to sea are stunning. The water is crystal clear, very cool and refreshing. After walking back down the 630 steps I bought a cold coconut to drank the milk.

On one occasion I was distracted by a child pointing at one of the dreaded Macaque Monkeys. These are monkeys with serious attitude and have become complacent around humans. This monkey sidled over to my side of the path and suddenly made a dash for my coconut. I managed to catch the coconut just in time as the damn monkey made off with the lid on my coconut. The proprietor of the kiosk, where I bought the coconut, walk over with a catapult, ging or slingshot and gave it to me.  The Crab-eating Macaque has become a real nuisance on the island. The startled looking Dusky leaf Langur are very cute and are not a problem unless you’re a leaf.

Seven Wells - 630 Steps

Butangs excursion

An excursion to the Butangs to meet up with Perth sailing friends and fellow Yacht Club members who chartered a yacht “Sweet Sue” from Phuket:

• Zac and Anne – Volare
• Barry and Anne – Momentum.

Friday October 7 I hauled anchor at first light to get and early start for the 25 mile trip to the Butangs. The winds were light, and as usual from the direction in which I was headed – North East. While motoring along and once I reached the clear blue water after leaving Langkawi I threw the fishing lure out. On several occasions I watched good size fish leap out of the water, usually with a small flock of sea birds chumming the waters. Eventually a fish must have had the temerity to take my lure as I noticed that there was no tension or vibration on the line. Alas, said fish had decided to make off with the lure breaking the 60 pound steel trace.

Sweet Sue

I rounded Ko Adang, past the east most mooring of Ko Rawi and headed to the southerly sheltered centre of Ko Rawi where I found “Sweet Sue” anchored. “Sweet Sue” is a 42 foot Jeanneau charter boat – very spacious. After dropping anchor and tidying Sadiqi I swam across and set about the serious business of reacquainting ourselves over a few beers. As it did when friends Rob and Sue visited Langkawi it seemed quite surreal to be in South East Asia with Sadiqi bobbing not far away. I dragged the Cobb bbq out of its storage spot, made a pizza base dough and took the whole lot over to Sweet Sue and made pizza.

Dinner on board Sweet Sue

The following day we decided to visit the nefarious little island of Ko Lipe. On the way over to Ko Lipe the Volvo engine stalled with a blocked fuel filter – the diesel bug having got the better of the primary fuel filter again! I managed to anchor sailing with just the jib up. I changed the fuel filter and all was good with the Volvo again. Have to keep Volvo happy.
We all ventured ashore to Ko Lipe – not the best shelter in the South West Monsoon. W had a very pleasant meal at the exorbitant price of not much more than AU$6.00 each. Ko Lipe pretty much closes during the wet South West Monsoon – so there was not much open. Places were just starting to gear up for the coming tourist season November to April.

During the night the wind shifted to the South East making for a bumpy, rolly night, added to that was the sound of to the anchor chain trying to saw through rock. When I had anchored the depth had been12 meters under the keel, when I hauled anchor in the morning there was 2.5 metres under the keel.

We had planned to anchor off Ko Tanga and have breakfast before heading our separate ways. The weather put paid to that when a storm front loomed, to the point that the fishing boats were also heading for shelter. I opted to head for the open water and headed south east back to Langkawi. “Sweet Sue” did likewise and headed north east for the shelter of Ko Bulon.

Roast Lamb on the Beach

Having been invited onto other boats for meals I decided to reciprocate and cook a meal for a few people. Sadiqi is just too small for more than 4 people to sit comfortable and eat a meal – especially in this heat. I decided to buy a leg of lamb and cook it in the little Cobb BBQ. Fortunately Don and Jean, who run Sailors Foods, came to my assistance with a chicken roasted in their Cobb and vegetables.
The victims were:

• Rob and Wendy – Aja – Fremantle -  Aus (formerly from South Africa)
• Nigel – Lemalou –– 55 foot Hartley - Thailand
• Don and Jean – Katrine – catamaran - South Africa
• Ron, Juliet, Errol and Deidre- Fountaine Pajot catamaran - South Africa
•  Me – Sadiqi – Fremantle - Aus

We congregated on one of the man made islands that protect the Telga anchorage. It was a real ex South Africa gathering as Nigel commented on the next day. The roast lamb was a real success the 1.5Kg boneless leg was just not quite enough for 11 people.
I ended up suffering an acute case of CRAFT. It was a very pleasant evening – what I can remember of it.

Phuket to Langkawi

Departed Ao Chalong Thursday 15 September. 6.30am. Good winds to start with up to 20knots with the boat slicing through the water at just over 6 knots – good sailing. The winds lasted until midday, then didn’t.

We arrived at Ko Rok Nok at 18.15 – 55 mile motor sail. I watched a spectacular sunset as I picked up a mooring. I gave the mooring  a good tug with the engine to see if it would hold. The water is crystal clear on these islands as there is no cultivation and very little habitation.

Moored off Ko Rawi. Ko Adang in the background

The following day it was a long motor sail, 45 miles, to the Butangs (Adang, Rawi, Butang and Lipe). The Volvo behaved well. I anchored toward the western end of the Butang group of islands to get protection from the wind and waves. I decided not to take mooring as the location was too close to the channel where there was a strong current. I did some snorkelling in the clear water and cleaned some of the barnacles off the bottom of the boat. It was good to actually see the bottom of the boat to clean it as opposed to bumping into things in murky water around Phuket and Langkawi.

I headed to the eastern end of Ko Rawi to get water. I picked up a mooring. I snorkelled the reef and was impressed with the coral and fish life. The season has not started in the Butangs yet so there were very few people about other than the local Cow Ley (Sea Gypsies) . After spending not a very pleasant night with the mooring bumping into the hull and rolling around in the current and swell I decided to head to Ko Tarutao. The weather was overcast and foreboding. The winds picked up 20 knots and we had a great sail on a beam reach to Tarutao doing 5 to 6 knots.

Thai fishing boats off Ko Tarutao

There were several fishing boats in the area where I anchored. Toward sunset more fishing boats arrived. I could only assume that this was a safe anchorage and the fishing boats sort shelter. I spent tow nights at Tarutoa doing chores, baking bread, reading etc.

I arrived back in Langkawi, Telaga on Wednesday September 22 just on the equinox.

Thailand Phuket

In Chalong I sadly said good bye to Nelson and Claude on “Black Swan” It was almost a year since we met up in Sebang, Sumatra. They are heading south for Danga Bay, then Borneo and the Philippines.

The Chalong anchorage was so rough the night Black Swan left with the southerly swell I decided to head for more sheltered waters. I had installed the water pump drive sprocket and the engine was working well. I headed north to Yacht Haven near the bridge that links Phuket to the mainland. Yacht Haven is a little out of the way and does not offer a great deal – a pleasant change from Chalong. Yacht Haven seems to be one of the places where toys belonging to the people with money hangout – there is some very expensive boats here. The small village near by must be predominantly Moslem with the pleasant call to prayer five times a day. It was also the end of Ramadan while here.

The anchorage is very pleasant, calm and for $18.00 a month you get to use the showers and some of the facilities of the Yacht Haven marina. I met up with Canadian George on “Thalia” a handy guy to know when it comes to Electrical, Mechanical and refrigeration. He very kindly offered to help me reduce the power consumption on my fridge. This meant evacuation the R134a refrigerant, renewing the gas, then monitoring the temperature, AMP draw and suction pressure. This was a time consuming task. However, I think I have managed to save half an Amp and I still have cold beers. I think I also have the satisfaction that I have a very low carbon footprint.

Before heading back to Chalong to check out of Thailand I decided to visit some of the islands of Phang Nga Bay North East of Phuket. I knew that Sue, Graham and Squeak the cat on “Chandrika”, the rock climbing fanatics, were in the area. I anchored near them on the east side of Ko Khlui. The following day we explored the island looking for ”Hongs”. Some of the strange sentinel like islands have large vertical holes – like a volcano crater. The film “The Beach” featured one on Railey Island not to far from where we were anchored. I learned how to gather small clams from the beach and in the mud near mangroves.

We clambered through a cave and down makeshift bamboo ladders to get into the hong on Ko Khlui . The hong would have been at least 50 metres wide at it widest part. It was stifling hot as there was no or very little wind. We entered the hong at low tide to be able to walk around, otherwise it is filled with water. 

The next day we hauled anchor and headed to Ko Batang anchored and did an exploratory lap of the island in the dingy. Sue and Graham were looking at the steep rock faces for evidence of bolts where other climbers had been. The old stainless steel bolts were corroded and rusty. Sue explained that all new bolts for climbing were made of Titanium and glued into the limestone rock. The heat and sea air reeks havoc on stainless steel. The unique vertical formations are unique to this part of the world and are formed from ancient coral reefs that were submerged then pushed up when the tectonic plates of Asia and India collided.

Hong entrance

The following day Sue, Graham and I headed for Ko Boi in the dingy. Their outboard motor was playing up so we used mine. Sue and Graham had their climbing gear and we clambered up to a known climbing wall with all Titanium rings. I then watched as Sue belayed while Graham clambered up the overhanging cliff like a gecko. I stayed firmly on the ground. Graham belayed while Sue went up and retrieved the carabinas that Graham had hooked on the rings. It was fascinating watching each of them climb. They have been climbing for over 10 years. Sailing is a by product as a means to get to climbing areas in different places around the world. I had to admire their skill, dexterity and concentration as they climbed. After a lunch of chilli tuna and pilchards on crackers we went exploring for the hong on the island then searched for clams. 

Ko Boi Hong

After a very pleasant few days it was time to return to Chalong, get provisions and check out of Thailand.

Langkawi to Phuket

The three month Malaysian visa was almost due and it was time to head to Thailand for the visa run. I had another great sail north after leaving Telaga until in the lee of Ko Tarutao then had to motor to a bay called Ao Talo Wao where I spent a few days waiting for friends Nelson and Claude on “Black Swan” to arrive.

I chose to sail to Ko Bulon Le. Black Swan chose the relative shelter of Ko Bulon. By morning I wished I had. I anchored in the one place where the waves coming around the island met – it was a rough night.

There was very little wind so we motored north. Near Ko Pethra I heard a change the exhaust – a dry rumble without the water coming out. The impeller was graunched and I noticed that the water pump shaft turned freely. I undid the water pump and bits of plastic fell out – the plastic sprocket driven by the timing cog had shattered. The Green excrement or the Green fatherless one euphemisms for the Volvo engine came to mind. I informed Black Swan of my predicament, they offered to tow me. I declined thinking that this was a sailboat and that I could sort myself out. This would have been a lot easier had there been more wind.

Glassy Seas

I spent several hours sculling the boat forward with the rudder just off Ko Kraden – barely moving. I finally dropped the anchor in 12 metres of water at 10.00pm, just as the heavens opened and I received a right soaking. At least I had a good wash. I would not have attempted going into an unknown anchorage at night if I did not have the GPS Chart plotter and Radar if needed. Anchoring without using an engine requires another technique for bedding the anchor in and avoiding dropping the chain onto of the anchor. Thanks to Dave from FCYC for pointing this method out. The anchor needs to be dropped while the boat is still moving – preferably down wind and preferably at less than one knot. .

I awoke early to listen to the wind howling – 15 knots. This was going to be interesting hauling up the anchor, all 40 metres of 8mm chain and 15 Kg of anchor, without the assistance from the engine moving the boat forward. I managed it between encouragement profanities. I do recall someone (Barry and Alan) mentioning that I should get an eclectic anchor windlass – Hmmm. With full sails raised I managed to claw off the lee shore. The winds lasted another half hour then desisted; I sailed 10 miles in 10 hours! The sails banged and slatted in the choppy seas in the little wind there was. I rationalised that one has to take the good with the bad. I tried to get as much sleep as I could as I  didn’t know when I would next get a good rest.  Before I went to sleep I set the alarm clock to go off at either after 15 or 20 minutes depending if I could see other boats around. It takes awhile to get into the routine of falling asleep quickly to get at least 10 minutes sleep. I think I was also lucky in that Friday was a public holiday in Thailand and there did not appear to be too many fishing boats around.

The wind picked up in the evening to 5 to 8 knots west south west and on fairly smooth seas Sadiqi ghosted along at around 2 knots. By midnight the winds had increased to 10 to 15 knots and Sadiqi sliced through the water under an almost full moon. Smithy the WindPilot relished being used again and did so effortlessly. I do like sailing at night when there is some wind. At around midday the wind didn’t. I even tried the Asymmetrical spinnaker – more for something to do. However, to no avail. I watched as a family of squid followed in the wake. I did have thoughts of Calamari or Salt and Pepper Squid however it was the cook’s day off. By midafternoon the winds picked up to 3 to 5 knots from the south west and Sadiqi ghosted along.

By six o clock I was approaching Ao Chalong, Phuket some 8 miles out. The wind dropped to a zephyr. I had my first real lesson in dealing with currents, or more to the point how currents deal with sailing boats without engines. It was almost a full moon, meaning Spring Tides – some 3 metres difference. I almost missed the island Ko Mai Thon where I thought I may be able to anchor, rest and wait for some wind. Fortunately, with the full moon I noticed the line of floats delineating a resort swimming area, right where I was going to drop the anchor in 6 metres of water. There was some muttering at this point and gratitude that I had spotted the netting before getting tangled in it. I tried to head south to go around the island only to see no progress. The water was moving under the boat at nearly 2 knots, the boat was not moving. OK, so head north around the island. Boat is now doing nearly 3 knots and moving through the water at 1 knot. Once around the island I had to head south again. Fortunately by this time the current had slowed as the tide was rising and I was able to make minimal progress. I sailed, more to the point drifted, through the Thai anchovy fishing fleet – with very bright fishing lights. They must have wondered who this idiot farrang was sailing through their fishing fleet. They did well to stay out of my way as I could do little other than drift.  It was with great relief that I dropped the anchor at 4.00am, without hitting anything, in Ao Chalong. It took 10 hours to sail the 8 miles before dropping the anchor. I did have a very brief thought that I’m getting to old for this sort of malarkey.

I awoke later in the morning, got myself sorted out and went ashore, thinking that it was Monday, to check in to Thailand. Alas, it was still Sunday and I got stung 600.00 TBT or $18.00 for overtime. My fault! Ao Chalong still appeared to be as frenetic as ever with the tripper boats speeding in and out from the bay all day.

It was a case of deje vu when going to the Sand Bar and seeing the same old culprits in the bar waiting for the tide to come in so they could go out to their boats.

The spare part for the water pump has been ordered and hopefully will arrive from Singapore in the next week or so.

Friends from Perth

Rob and Sue, arrived in Langkawi for a holiday. They hadn’t been to Malaysia before.  I sailed from Telaga to Datai Bay and anchored in front of their hotel; The Andaman. We had a few very pleasant days together, catching up since my departure from Fremantle, almost 18 months before. They re-introduced me to the wonderful benefits of the anti malarial prophylactic of gin and tonic. Depending on dosage any mosquito is likely to be rendered inebriated. Sue’s one comment was that she thought Sadiqi would look a little more weathered. I guess after sailing almost 4,000 miles since she last saw Sadiqi that could be expected.

The Amber Crew

We had a brisk sail from Datai Bay back to Telaga – not often that you get a nice 15 knot westerly. It was a pleasure having the gun racing crew from Amber/Blackhawk onboard. Rob’s comment, while we were slicing through the water at close to 6 knots, was that he didn’t think he had ever sailed so fast on Sadiqi before. Having good crew helps. On arriving at the Telaga anchorage the heavens opened and we all got drenched. It is the wet season.

Sailing trip

I have just returned from a brief trip to Ko Tarutoa. I could feel the onset inertia as Sadiqi and I had not moved for quite some time. I was starting to contemplate, amongst other things, growing a herb garden out the back of the boat – basil, mint, turmeric, rosemary etc. The rolling stone was gathering moss apart from the barnacles on the bottom of the boat.! After having a few beers with Nigel and Moo on “Lemalou” I suggested we go the  Ko Lipe - Butangs for a few days. The two boats headed in that direction on Saturday morning, which was also the direction from where the wind was coming from! It was a good 10 to 15 knots. Nigel had to return as oil had sprayed all over his engine room when the oil filler cap fell off. After consultation with the teddy bears as to beating to windward to another 7 to 8 hours we opted for Ko Tarutoa - the big island to the north of Langkawi. This was a pleasant sail with the wind on the beam. I spent one night on the south eastern end of Ko Tarutoa sharing the anchorage with the local Choa Le (Thai Sea Gypsies) fisherman.

It was a good sail back to Telaga, Langkawi the following day - there was 10 to 15 knots of wind from the west north west. Much stuff reorganised itself about the boat as on the return we encountered clapotis waves from the cliffs on the North West coast of Langkawi. These are waves that bounce back from a near vertical surface (cliff) and meet the prevailing waves coming the other way – giving a washing machine effect. Oh well you get that. Fortunately, I had managed to restrain the vegetables; onions, potatoes etc., that previously escaped and hid themselves until such time as their decomposition become offensive to the olfactory senses Not a good thing.

Maintenance - Telaga

New radar on the mast

The radar scanner  is finally installed and working. It only took me two days to complete the wiring – including updating wiring diagrams. As luck would have it the 10 metre cable that came with the Sitex radar scanner was half a meter too short. This meant finding suitable wires (9 wires) and joining them etc. The system is overly complicated as it is all interfaced with the Standard Horizon CP500 chart plotter, the GME VHF radio, the Comar AIS receiver, Tacktick wind/depth/boat speed and Raymarine Autopilot. Some of you are probably thinking; what if said marvellous, complicated, important, technology stops working, as is prone to happen - Murphy can defiantly swim. Well, we have a backup – actually several of them. Assuming that all the electronics don’t get completely fried by a direct hit by lightening, which has been known to happen, then the important stuff can be plugged into a computer. Failing that there is the sextant – Hmmm. This assumes, of course, that I’m able to tell the time accurately to determine longitude, which comes from an electronic clock. I do have a wrist watch.  

As you may well imagine I have an anxiety attack when I see lightening and hear thunder around, of which abound in these parts. Several weeks ago one yacht called “Mr Curley” out of Guernsey was apparently hit by lightening in the Telaga anchorage. Not to far from Sadiqi. The large yacht is made from aluminium and sustained damaged to most of it’s electronic equipment. Several other yachts nearby were said to have had some electronic equipment failure. One yacht, apparently, lost its masthead light. This brought a thought about the mast head light as it is the new LED technology with fragile electronics at the top of the mast. This may be a good plug for the old power hungry incandescent light bulbs. Then again it is rather a moot point that anything will survive a lightening strike when you are talking about tens of thousands of volts. As paranoid as I have become with this phenomena I have done a fair bit of reading on the subject. There is much contention as to fluffy or pointed lightening conductors at the very top of the mast, with thick copper cable running to the keel and the water (ground).  The consensus appears to opt for having good insurance so that all fried electronics can be replaced. Difficult to ague with that having spoken to a few yachties who have been hit by lightening. Maybe I should take up golf.

Work continues on the boat keeping me happily occupied - most of the time. Most of the manual bilge pump hoses have been replaced and one of the pumps relocated. There are still deck leaks, however the torrential leaks that used to prevail are now mere drips. The leaks have caused the headlining to part company in some places necessitate reglueing – not my favourite job. Cleaning the prolific and tenacious barnacles off the propeller, parts of the hull and the inflatable dingy is an ongoing task.

Pizza on the beach.

I had promised to make Rob and Wendy on Aja a pizza, as they had looked after Sadiqi when I had been away. The weather fortunately held and we congregated on one of the small man made islands off Telaga. I had prepared the pizza base and some toppings and asked others to bring along toppings of their choice. I fired up the COBB bbq, laid out the base then applied the toppings. Around 15 minutes later we had crispy pizza. The challenge was trying to stretch the dough to make enough pizza for the 10 people who turned up. 

• Rob and Wendy – Aja – Fremantle -  Aus
• Doug and Pam – Hely – Melbourne – Aus –37 foot wooden Sparkman and Stevens.
• Graham and Sue – Chandrika – Falmouth Maine – USA
• Nigel – Lemalou – Thailand – 55 foot Hartley
• Joseph and Marcie – Horizon – San Diego – USA – 38 foot Hans Christian
• Me – Sadiqi – Fremantle - Aus

The candidates

 It was a great night and a good way of meeting new people. The COBB bbq was a real winner – easy to use and relatively easy to clean.

Pizza Alla COBB