We chose S. Thailand because we’ve passed it 4 times and never stayed long enough to explore. Not that we could have; because we had not cleared into Thailand. This time is different.
We completed the paperwork in Satun. Now we could visit Ko Lipe (a hot tourist destination for Thai’s – Malay’s and many foreigners). Hot would be a good pun. Of course now we are in the hot and rainy season. So there is that. After leaving Satun we spent a little time at the S tip of Tarutao. Circumnavigated a small Swiftlet sanctuary island and dinghied a short way up a river on S. Tarotao.
From there we had a weather window (read no wind) that we could motor out to Lipe. Found an anchor spot because the one good mooring had a yacht on it. We dropped the hook. There is a newish long floating dock (aka Drunk dock) near us where we could tie the dinghy off; then fifty meters of wobble walking to shore. And it was a double float which meant that W/ had a challenge climbing up. There was an older ladder similar to what swimming pools use, but one side had broken free adding to the need for more care.
We spent a couple days at Lipe. There we met an entrepreneur; Renee, on Mico Verde told us about. She has a well respected, honest tech shop (Bumphone) on Lipe. For us we didn’t need tech we needed some fresh stuff. “Follow me” she said as she walked out of her shop and down the street showing us the best place to buy fresh produce. We had lunch at a couple of restaurants and I stopped for the required Massage where ever we go. As luck would have it; or I ought to say almost luck, the yacht on the mooring ball had moved. So we retrieved our anchor and motored over there grabbing it. The place was good for about 24 hours.
The breeze had started to turn and while winds were not an issue, the swell coming around the island was making our stay at the ball uncomfortable. The boat was bobbing randomly about. So we motored to another spot that looked to be better protected. It was and wasn’t. Again there was someone sitting on what looked like the best mooring but there was another just off the dock that looked in a good place. So we tied up to that one. That night the ranger station received a good size delivery. We had some entertainment that evening. We watched as they unloaded heaps of supplies, generator, solar panels, Aluminum building supplies and what I am guessing as heaps of concrete. We had two good calm days and then the winds; I call them that but they were more puffs of air, were shifting. With nothing setting our boat clear from the dock; again another 50 m two story dock, we were floating around. And we floated close enough to the dock that one could leap from Elysium onto it. Time to move again.
The winds were forecast to increase to 15 kts from the W through the NW. Right down the channel. We checked No Foreign Land for some protection and another comfortable anchor/mooring spot. We found one about 5 nm away, dropped off this mooring and headed to another. Three moorings were available so we grabbed the one offering the most protection. Finally this island is looking a bit better. We put the ladder down, climbed into the dinghy and went for a wee bit of walking. At the again 50 m double story drunk dock we tied up and were met by one cute cat. Anyway the cat was our guide walking between us and down the beach. The place looked deserted.
It wasn’t deserted. On our stroll back I noticed an individual lounging in a hammock. I walked over and introduced us. He confirmed he was the ranger here and I asked about walking the beach. As I didn’t have any money on me I suggested we would bring the park fee in next time. As the park was “technically” closed he said not to. But we could stroll the beach and even fly the drone. I asked the cat’s name: He said “boat”. Ok, was that easier for him to say or is it really “Boat”. Hmmm
Ok; Boat escorted us back to the dinghy and even jumped aboard to check it out. As much as I want a kitten and this one seemed pretty nice it was not ours to commandeer. A minute later Boat jumped ship and we returned to ours. The following day we took some pictures and then things became uncomfortable… again. Several fishing boats arrived and anchored up. A bad omen.
Another bad night with Elysium moving more than sleep could hide. We watched the weather. We put out a flopper stopper and that eased the boats motion some. Two days later things looked a little better and we could move to the N tip of Tarutao. I had hoped we could sail. The water seemed confused. Sailing in confused water is much preferable to motoring in it.
Yes, the water was a bit confused. Seas from two directions and wind waves from a third. However we could sail ! With a sail up (we were off the wind so the mainsail wouldn’t be much use) we were making progress towards a more comfortable anchorage. A place we had anchored before.
For half the day we hand steered. I was frustrated. W/ was determined. Frustration won out. I set up the windvane self steering and bingo, the boat was taking care of herself. And we were lucky not needing to dodge heaps of fishing flags, pots, and nets. With the wx in the toilet and the fishermen hiding there were very few out. Mother nature however was not satisfied.
I pointed out to W/ a funnel forming on the cloud behind us. It had not connected from the sky to the ocean… yet. No biggie. We saw a few more and even one behind us seemed to have connected to the water. I estimated it to be a “good distance away”. Then she pointed off our starboard bow what looked like water being whipped up off the surface of the sea. Oh SHIT!
We turned away from it and watched. A water spout had formed less than 1 km from us. The ocean at its base was rising up to meet the sky. Mist all around and I’m guessing about 10 m across more or less. We watched it move walking about on the sea like a man returning from the bar at 3 am. It appeared alive; for all of 15 minutes. And in that time the waterspout outran us. Moving in the same direction as we wished to it reached the N tip of the island and; AND, then the base walked around the N tip and moved on. What a relief. We watched more funnels form in the cloud layer but didn’t see any more come close to reaching the ocean surface.
We sailed to the N of Tarutao and there we furled the sail. In the lee of the island there was little to no wind and with the current we had we didn’t wish to turn one hour into several. We anchored where we had before. No need to try something new if what we had worked.
Time to settle in for the evening. Clean up the boat, Have a late lunch. I mean late ! 🙂 And look forward to a good night’s rest.
Go Slow
Sail Far
Stay Long