BUTANG ISLANDS TO PHUKET, THAILAND

January 5, 2015  Monday

The plan for today is to sail to Ko Rok Nok (07-12.804’ N x  099-04.171’ E) which is 43 nm from Ko Rawi in the Butang Islands.  “Ko” is the Thai word for island.  We get an early start and let go of the mooring buoy at 0548 hrs.  The NE Monsoon winds blow steadily throughout the night and into the late morning and then start to taper off and die out.  On this trip we alternated between being able to sail with main and jib and motor sailing.  There isn't a lot of swell here in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal.  Wind against current causes a little but the minute the current and wind are together things are reasonably calm.  The NE Monsoon has moments when it is blowing 20+ kts but they don’t last that long.  There are occasional Thunder Storms that have to be watched.  The overall average wind speed is between 10-15 kts and dying out in the afternoon.

At 1530 hrs we picked up a mooring buoy.  It was quite calm on the the eastern side of Ko Rok Nok but I could see that if a NE-E’ly wind started blowing, conditions could deteriorate quickly.  The area is quite scenic with white sandy beaches.  This is one of Gary’s favorite places:  previously, he had speared a 3 lb lobster and been told that there are bigger ones.  We had a very quiet night on the mooring.

January 6, 2015  Tuesday

Today was dedicated to exploring Ko Rok Nok.  We launched our dinghy and picked up Gary and his daughter Jasmine.  There is a Ranger Station on Rok Nok and they, sometimes, collect a fee for use of the National Park.  A well established trail leads up the mountain to spectacular views of other islands that we will by-passing.  Also, on Rok Nok there are large Monitor Lizards.  We haven’t seen any of these since the Komodo Islands in Indonesia.  They must be a different species and do not grow quite as big.  We saw one that was about 3-4’ long.  There were no precautionary signs so, I assume, they are not as dangerous as the ones in Komodo National Park.  The view from the top of the mountain was impressive, especially, since the haze associated with Trade Winds and the Tropics was absent.  There is great snorkeling with an abundance of beautiful coral.  We would be more than happy to visit this very charming place.

January 7, 2015 Wednesday

The voyage plan for today is to sail to Maya Beach on Ko Phi Phi Li (07-41.2’ N x 98-46.1’ E) or Monkey Beach on Ko Phi Phi Don (07-44.664’ N x 98-45.690’ E).  The distance is only 34 nm so we might stop at some of the islands enroute.  Maya Beach on Ko Phi Phi Li has been made famous by the movie “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  The staging for the movie can still be seen as one sails by the eastern side.  Maya beach is one of those island paradise places that people spend lots of money to get to.  If you have a sailboat, getting there late  in the afternoon and staying overnight offers the opportunity to do some exploring, snorkeling  and leaving early, before the flotilla of “Long Tails” carrying tourists, out of Phuket, gets there.  After that, it becomes a zoo scene with monkeys and tourists watching each other.

At 1000 hrs, our friends on “Starship”, decided to make a “swim stop” at Ko Ha Yai (07-24.7’ N x 98-52.9’ E).  This is a group of small islands with many moorings and is part of the Thai National Park System.  Park Rangers were there and collecting $28 US for 2 people and a boat.  The place is popular with divers and snorklers and we saw, at least, 20 dive boats in the area.  We opted to drift until our friends were finished swimming with their daughter.  By 1200 hrs, we were on our way once again.

We decided to spend the evening on a mooring at Monkey Bay on  Ko Phi Phi Don (07-44.676’ N x 98-45.674’ E’).  There are two of the King’s Moorings in the Bay and one was taken, so we rafted up alongside “Starship” for the evening.  Another lovely bay displaying a glorious sunset, accompanied by birds and monkeys.  The granite stone of the Butang Islands has given way to limestone which forms caves with stalactites and stalagmites.  Where there is water, there is dense growth and jungle:  In this environment, mosquitoes flourish.  If the winds go calm, the heat and humidity are oppressive.

January 8, 2014  Thursday

We are now on our next to last sail on “Solstice” for this season.  We departed Monkey Bay at 0748 hrs for Ao Chalong Bay, Phuket (07-49.446’ N x 98-21.196’ E) about 25 nm to the WNW.  Chalong is the major check in point for entry into Thailand.  Our friends on Starship have arranged for us to have a mooring for a few weeks so it makes motoring in and picking it up a breeze.

At 1312 hrs, we picked up the mooring belonging to “Capella” – a Vagabond 42 -.  We know these sailors from our last trip to Phuket almost 5 years ago.  It’s a good strong mooring so we won’t have to worry about it and sleep soundly.  Tomorrow, January 9, I will check in at Customs, Immigration and Harbor Master.

January 09, 2015  Chalong Bay on a mooring.

Cleared Customs, Immigration and Harbor Master this morning and completed everything within an hour’s time.  It was an easy process and done electronically so that future extensions can be processed quickly.  I do not plan to stay in Chalong for too long as I want to get “Solstice” to Boat Lagoon which is about 18 nm to the North on Phuket Island.  Also, we have to use the dinghy to motor back and forth to the Chalong pier.  Chalong is a huge port with a flotilla of passenger boats, charter boats,  fishing boats, yachts and more yachts.  There is some kind of repair service for most things.  It just takes a little asking around.  I am fortunate because our friends are part of this commercial scene and know everyone and most places where things can be had.  It will be our friend, Gary, that will make the necessary arrangements to buy and install a new Beta Marine diesel engine.  He is the Beta Marine Dealer for this part of Thailand.

January 10-11, 2015  Saturday and Sunday

We find that it has been quite windy in Chalong Bay during the night and early morning.  It sets up a chop and is a little rolly.  Nothing uncomfortable but one likes a calm anchorage.  I am anxious to get “Solstice” to Boat Lagoon so that I can start organizing the work that has to be done in order to install the new engine.  I plan to leave for Boat Lagoon tomorrow morning.

January 12, 2015 Monday

0912 hrs, drop mooring lines at Chalong Bay and get underway for Boat Lagoon (07-57.827’ N x 98-23.204’ E) which is about 19 nm to the north of Chalong on Phuket Island.  The wind is out of the ENE and the outgoing current against the wind causes a choppy 4’ sea.  The Valiant 40 negotiates this almost effortlessly.  I don’t want to push the engine or transmission too hard on this last leg.  Once we are heading a little West of North, we set a reefed genoa for the 20 kt ENE’ly wind and motor sail at 6.5 kts.  By 1200 hrs, we’re at the entry point for Boat Lagoon and have to wait on their pilot and a High Water.  We drop anchor and take it easy observing other boats coming and going out of Boat Lagoon.  At 1330 hrs, the pilot and one assistant show up to take us into our berth.  Originally, we were told that we would have to go directly onto a hard stand as no wet berths were available.  Things change and now we have a wet berth for a few days.  This makes life simpler and allows us to organize what we need to do before going on the hard stand.  We make fast to Berth  B-18 at 1412 hrs.

Boat Lagoon is one large Resort Complex with marina facilities and haul out travel lifts.  There are many different kinds of yachts here from super power yachts to the more modest sailboats.  Many different vendors and luxury items are strung out in the shops lining the complex.  There are restaurants within the immediate area and some on the perimeters.  Anything inside Boat Lagoon is much more expensive than going a few blocks outside.  What becomes immediately obvious is the presence of foreigners in the Phuket area.  It is a mecca for Westerners to vacation, retire, open businesses and find good-looking Thai women.  There is a lot of hubris and arrogance running around which I try to avoid.  So here we are at the destination we chose to repower the boat.  Now, the stress of putting the whole engine install package together begins.