 |
| 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.
