Exploring Ao Phrang Nga

The sky was overcast and grey, not very inspiring conditions for setting sail on a 120nm passage. As the weather dictates our daily life, ordinarily we would have chosen to stay put and wait for better conditions. However, our friends were planning to arrive in Phuket to visit us in one weeks time, and we had best be on our way to meet them. We had spent the last two weeks in Telaga harbor in Langkawi, painting our mast and varnishing the interior of our boat. The calm, flat water in Telaga harbor provides an excellent anchorage for doing boat projects. It is also quiet and peaceful and has a nice community of cruisers. The sail began with light variable winds punctuated by squalls. The squalls tended to come from the direction in which we were trying to go, so even the wind that they provided was not always very helpful. During a lull with no wind, we dropped sail. A slight current was pulling us backwards. We had seen various moorings in the middle of the sea in this area that were used by local fishing boats. We decided to turn on the motor and drive towards the closest one and wait either for wind or for the current to switch in our favor. We turned on the motor and put the engine in gear. We could hear a clicking sound and the boat was not moving forward. We opened the engine compartment and discovered that the transmission was not engaging into forward gear. After some experimenting, we discovered that the problem was not with the control cables, but was a problem with the transmission itself. Reverse worked fine. We would have to sail engineless to Phuket. We hoped that we would have enough wind to make it there before our friends arrived. The rest of the sail went something like this: No wind, current pulling us backwards, drop sail, drop lightweight anchor in 200 feet, and wait for wind. Wind would come after a few hours and we would raise sail and haul up the anchor. The wind would quickly turn into a squall from the direction we were trying to go. At times the wind and wind gusts would be too strong to make much forward progress. These strong winds would then be followed by good winds for sailing (the direction would usually switch to be more advantageous) but the rain would be hammering down. The rain was so intensely heavy, it was often difficult to see beyond Chandrika’s bow. In fact, it was difficult to see, period. During one such rain, Sue could barely keep her eyes open and probably should have donned a snorkeling mask. Afterwards, her eyes felt as if she had kept them open while swimming underwater.

another squall

We eventually arrived in Ao Chalong in Phuket, where we entered the harbor at night under sail. Not having an engine, we decided to drop two anchors (we put them in tandem on one chain) just to be on the safe side. It was a good thing we did. The next few days brought the heaviest weather seen in this part of the world in the last 20 years. The strong gale brought screaming winds and blinding rain. The rain was so heavy, we actually saw the crew of one dragging sailboat appear on deck wearing wet suits, masks and snorkels. Numerous boats drug anchor or severed their mooring lines, occasionally taking out the boats downwind of them. The boat of a friend of ours washed up on shore after two other boats piled on top of it, fortunately with no damage. Since we had anchored at night under sail, we were conveniently far away from many other boats. It would not have been easy to avoid an oncoming boat as our transmission was still not working. One morning while groggily trying to sleep in the bouncing Chandrika, Graham was awoken to a waterfall of ocean water pouring in through the forward hatch and straight onto his lap. Fortunately for Sue, the bouncing had made her need to pee, so she was conveniently not in the forward berth when Chandrika’s bow dipped under a wave, sending ocean water streaming down her decks, and through her forward hatch (which was closed but not latched!). Our friends, Claudine and Jeff, from the states were due to arrive in a couple days. We had been constantly water-logged for the past 2 weeks. All of our clothes and bed sheets were dirty and soaking wet, and our forward berth was now soaked with salt water. It didn’t look like we’d be able to get things to dry before they arrived to stay with us. More importantly, we did not have a working transmission, so through the gale, Graham and Sue (twice) took the transmission off the engine, put it in a dry bag, and rowed it over 1/2 a mile to shore to take it to a mechanics. The outboard engine was, of course, not working from the constant rain. Miraculously we managed to get the transmission working and the boat somewhat presentable by the time our friends arrived. We had an excellent visit with our friends. We explored ocean caves, relaxed on beaches and in lagoons, rock climbed and road motorcycles around the island of Koh Yao Noi. Hopefully they had fun and will come back to visit us again.

Exploring Phrang Nga Bay with Claudine and Jeff Jeff and Claudine trim the jib sail a beautiful lagoon at Koh Ko Du

Jeff kayaking at Koh Phanak

Claudine climbing at Koh Yao Noi

Riding around the island of Koh Yao Noi

March - April 2011

We took one more trip down to Langkawi. This time we painted our decks and while they were drying we enjoyed hiking and swimming in the river and its waterfall pools.

Slip and slide at the Seven Wells in Telaga Harbor

May - June 2011

For the southwest monsoon season, we decided to explore Phrang Nga Bay and climb at Koh Yao Noi and some of the surrounding islands. Phrang Nga Bay contains many tall rock islands and is inhabited predominantly by Muslim fishing communities. It is quiet and peaceful and the locals are friendly. There are many caves to explore and beautiful cliffs to climb.

the village of Baan Tha Khao on Koh Yao Noi

Fishermen from Koh Yao Noi

Finally we've discovered an easier way to open a drinking coconut!

Graham cooling down with a refreshing coconut at Ao Po Nui on Koh Yao Noi

the nearby island of Koh Roi

This natural archway leads from the sea into a large hong (or chamber)

inside the island on Koh Roi.

(The photo is looking out to sea from inside the hong.)

This tunnel leads through the rock to an opening 200 feet up a vertical cliff face,

where we rappeled down to the ground.

A cave along the edge of the water on the island of Koh Khlui.

A rubber tree plantation on Koh Yao Noi.

A shack where Burmese rubber tree collectors

press the rubber sap into matts,

which are used for making latex.

A Buddhist spirit house at the rubber tree plantation.

Tarzan swinging on the vines of a banyan tree.

hiking the trails on Koh Yao Noi

When we first arrived, Graham was leading a route at a climbing area called The Mitt. When he neared the top of the climb, the stalagtite he was holding broke. He took a 10-15 foot lead fall and swung into a nest of swarming bees. The nest was about 1 to 1-1/2 cubic feet in volume and was completely covered with bees lying on top of bees on top of bees. Graham was flailing around and screaming as a massive cloud of bees surrounded him. Unfortunately he was wearing nothing but a pair of small running shorts. Sue lowered him to the ground and began swatting the bees off of him. She managed to escape with only 20 stings. Graham, however, was not so fortunate. He was stung over 200 times, with 100 of those stings being just on his face and neck alone. Unfortunately, the climbing area was not right on the water but was deep in the jungle. Any attempt to escape and hike out only agitated the bees causing them to attack and sting again. We hovered and waited for about one hour for the bees to calm down before attempting our escape. We had anti-histamines with us in our pack (and an epi pen which we fortunately did not need). Leaving our gear up at the cliff, we hiked out and Graham visited the local clinic for an anti-histamine injection. That night, Graham had a low grade fever and was nauseated. It took about 10 days for the swelling to go down enough for Graham to be able to smile using both sides of his face and for the purple dots to fade away into scars. Other than our bee experience, the climbing has been excellent.

July - September 2011