Diving Pulau Pulau Sembilan

Since the yard disaster continued and we were held for ransom until payment in full I was again stuck in Lumut yet another weekend. I was meeting Chan for dinner on Friday and he asked if I would be interested in going diving the next Sunday together with his hooligans, this time at the Sembilan Islands. These Islands are a group of nine (hence the name Sembilan (9)) located south of Pangkor Island.



Map of the Sembilans

As Chan went there already on Saturday for camping I came out with Ah Pok on Tuna II that went fishing with some other guys. At 7am Ah Pok picked me up and we went via the morning market to stockup on food and drink. We left early Sunday morning to one of the bigger Pulau Saga that had a fresh water stream too. On the way I got dejavu experience as we hit a heavy rainstorm but after that the weather turned partly overcast with sunshine.

The camp was rigged up as a big tarp in an inverted “V” to cover a raised dais where people lined up like sardines to sleep. I met Chan and was immediately thrust an Anchor in hand and as people had had breakfast we loaded onto the boat and headed for our divesites.



Beach at Pulau Lalang

Our first site was “Black Rock”, a cliff just barely jutting out of the sea with a rusty marker to warn seafarers of the navigational danger. Chan warned me of getting close to the rocks as the swell would grind me to corned beef against the barnacles and whatnot. Without saying I could see what he meant. We geared up and plopped into the drink and down I went.



The Black Rock

The 1st 10m visibility was no more than 2-3m and when going deeper it improved a bit to perhaps 5-6m, current was zero. I could hear spear guns going off like rapid fire and thought that the fishing must be good. Chan had loaned me an underwater camera so I could entertain myself while diving. Having a visibility of only 5-6m the photography was limited to close up shots only but it kept me busy. At 25m depth everything looked to be only different shades of green but whenever the flash would go off I could see the real color of every plant and organism I shot. The bottom was very rocky and had nice nooks and crannies for the fish to hide in, the corals were not that plentiful but there were loads of oysters the size of palm of my hand. I think Chan had speared the most fish during the 1st round, at least there was a queen fish, a barracuda, a bat fish and a golden grouper.

Link to my underwater pics



Ah Chan and in between dive brew

Our next dive we shifted to “White Rock”, a much bigger rock islet with a white light house on it. Ah Pok was dispatched to go onto the Island to look for birds nest. Chan told me that if they found something it was of very good quality. Unfortunately after a few minutes Ah Pok came back empty handed – somebody had looted the Island before us.



Ah Pok looking for birds nest

We got back to our diving business and geared up, Chan just told me to follow the Island nothing special to look out for. I went down again with same visibility as on White Rock, only addition was that I could feel the swell at times pushing me around even at 20m depth. I glimpsed some big fish swimming around me as well as loads of smaller tropical fish. Here was same amount of soft corals and sea urchins as well as the rope like grass thingies growing up from the seabed. I was shooting away on my camera and admiring the steep cliff walls and crevices that was present here too. Sadly, the visibility did not allow for any large scale pictures.



The White Rock

When coming up it was again Anchor time and soon enough the guys were gearing up for the 3rd and last dive, same venue. As our decompression had been so short I stayed at abt 12m depth and prowled the cliffs for something to look at. After awhile I stumbled upon a small ray-fish sleeping under a rock. It was the 1st to see in these waters although I had seen plenty of them in the Maldives before. Other than that I can’t say that the dive was that eventful, same poor visibility and swell pushing me around. In good visibility I bet the view would be marvelous. I came up and it was time for late lunch at the base camp.



Lunch at camp

At the camp I took advantage of the freshwater spring and showered the salt off. It was time for another Anchor and some roasted duck on rice. As usual food always tastes great in the great outdoors and with good company. The conversation was going in rapid fire Cantonese and I could not understand a thing, but it did not matter, Chan translated the best bits.

After the meal people started packing up the camp and I went for a stroll along the beach. The sand was clear but at the HW mark there was the usual human debris, old peieces of rope, empty bottles, slippers and so on. Abt 100m along the beach I came to a shrine that fishermen use to make offerings for a good catch. There was 9 chinese Gods in the shrine so it ought to make a strong case for a good catch. A bit further along the beach I stumbled upon a 1m long monitor lizard running into the thicket, probably as surprised by me as I of it.

The fishermens shrine

Finally the beach ended into a small rock formation that I did not want to scale as it was soon time to go back. I noticed at the water edge was sem submerged rocks that was covered in 15cm long sea limpets, they looked like armored sponges and they sure stuck to the stone like superglue. Anyway, it was time and I turned back walking along the beach to the boat just in time. We headed back to Lumut and everybody was sort of nodding off after such a heavy weekend.

The superglued organism

On the way back, Pa Ling Tau in front

Once arrived to Lumut I discovered I had forgotten my footwear on Tuna II so I was going barefeet. The boat was hauled up, emptied of gear and washed with fresh water, the loot was cleaned out and divvied up. Finally Ah Pok gave me a ride back to my hotel where I collapsed onto my bed until John called me to join him for dinner.

The loot

Diving at Pulau Jarak

Our drydock here is turning to disaster by the yard but I will get back to that later, anyway, last sunday I was invited to go for diving at Pulau Jarak and since the yard is hardly working I briefed my C/E and 1/O for my absense for the day. I left my hotel early in the morning lugging my dive gear. I was picked up by Mr. Chan, my newest acquaintance here in Lumut, we went to a local eatery and got some noodles for breakfast and then we headed for the marina opposite Grade 1 shipyard. We arrived soon enough and I saw the diveboat on a trolley being stocked up with divegear, food, fuel and whatnot. The boat was a abt 12m open monohull, same shape as they use in Maldives except that in Maldives they use mostly covered boats. Astern was fitted 2x200HP 4-stroke Yamaha outboards. Soon also other participants started to arrive and at last the crowd was abt 12 guys, all cheerily chatting in Cantonese with the phrase "tiu lei" splattered everywhere. Finally, the boat was set to go and the marina tractor floated us down the slipway and we started off towards Pulau Jarak.

Pottering out to sea along the Lumut waterfront The weather was fine and I sat with Mr. Chan at the fwd bench chatting and I was thrust a can of cold "Anchor" beer into my hand. It was abt 9am so the day was starting fine. The boat "Tuna II" was making 25kts in calm seas, but after we've passed Pulau Pangkor and headed out for open seas the waves started to grow higher. After some time we started to get overspray on the bow and I changed my wet T-shirt for my rashie. All the time the Cantonese discussion was raging as guys were changing opinions or whatever so I could not help myself asking Chan what "tiu lei" means as it was repeated so often and I could not recall it from my years in Hong Kong. The reply cannot be typed in here... 

 Our happy pilot 

By this time large dark clouds were looming in the horizon and we we're headed straight towards them. It did not take long for the waves to grow up to 2m and we started getting torrential rain over us. We all huddled in the stern where there was at least some shelter. This is the bad point of having an open boat... Finally we arrived at Pulau Jarak after some 2hrs drive (~40'). Pulau Jarak is a forested small Island that on the Chart of Straits of Malacca looks like a button in the middle of the channel. The Malaysian Military has posted a small outpost and garrison on it to control piracy in the area. The shores were lined with boulders of different sizes and the jungle came straight to shoreline. It looked pretty impenetrable, at least not with bare hands, so dense is the brush.

 

Pulau Jarak 

The rain and wind had stopped as we had passed through the weather front, the waves were still pretty high though so it was decided to dive at the inner reef first. We all geared up, some of the guys had spearguns and Mr. Chan told me how the Eastern inner reef is formed so I could get some bearings and then said this is all solo diving. No problem, a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do. I jumped in after Chan and he quickly disappeared in search of prey. I was down on a rocky bottom with corals here and there and could see huge boulders lined with corals and attached to them was clams of various species, lots of them. I also saw loads of fish in various sizes. While slowly swimming along the reef watching the action I found a lead weight and a meat chopper on the seabed. I collected them to throw away. Intermittently I could hear the "thwack" of the speargun when other guys were pursuing their prey. After abt 40min I ran out of air and had to surface, not a spectacular dive but the boulder scenery was nice. 

  Between dives relax 

After up on the boat and having changed a fresh tank to my gear I was gain offered a cold "Anchor", it went down with the other guys while watching them hauling onboard their catch which was promptly chucked in a huge icebox. The waves had come down so it was decided to go and dive the outer reef. It is located abt 200m N of the Island, we dropped anchor and geared up. Instructions were to follow the anchor line down. There was a slight current at surface but at the bottom abt 20m was ok, I could again see the big boulder formations with plenty of corals et al. Some rocks were heavily draped in torn fishing nets, this area is also popular with the trawlers. Once down I searched around slowly and saw a big crab hiding in a crevice. I started swimming along the rock wall observing big funnel and fan corals, there was also long rope like plants growing up from the bottom as well as tree like green corals. In abt 30min my air was out so I had to surface, I had also picked up a few oysters to contribute to the loot. 

 

My handpicked oyster 

Same routine happened again with the "Anchor" amid shouts of "Tiu lei". Chan told me they always competed who gets the biggest fish and he had to prove himself on the last dive. We drove around the Island to the Western side and anchored for lunch. 

 

 Pulau Jarak 

Lunch was beer, roast duck and rice with dried fish and Chinese croissants. Very taste after 2 dives. After a short rest we geared up again and dove off. Here the reef is very close to shore and has cliff like drop offs with huge boulders sprayed around. Swimming around them was like entering a maze. Again I could hear the thudding of spear guns and I saw actually 2 guys off 10m from when I saw a big Coral Grouper under a rock, I took my knife and banged my tank to get their attention and pointed under the rock, it was actually Chan that came and he speared the fish in no-time. By the time he had secured the fish on his BCD and loaded the spear gun again a school of Queen fish had approached us, so Chan just hoisted the gun and speared the closest one, the other fish swam in consternation around us and disappeared, Chan's prey was not giving up but tried to swim off too, Chan had his hands full not to loose his grip on the gun handle. Chan quickly pulled the gun to himself and then the line attached to the spear and forced the fish on the sea bottom while threading it on his BCD while removing the spear. I swam on and while coming around to the Northern side of the reef I was hit by a strong oncoming current so I decided to back track and just explore the small area I had just been scouring. Rest of the dive was pretty same as before and I was anyway short of air soon so I surfaced after 20min underwater. I swam back to the boat and waited for the other guys to arrive. It did not take long as the whole bunch was onboard and the anchor was hoisted, it was getting time to get back home.

 

Homeward bound 

We rounded to the South of the Island and I saw an Army Garrison placed there. A few guys came out of the huts and on a small beach outcrop I could see an armed sentry in a watch tower. The hutments more like resembled chalets of a resort, the soldiers on the Island really had a peaceful place for themselves (I bet they did not appreciate it that much after one month rotations). We approached the jetty and handed over a 10kg ikan bakar or something that looked like a tuna. Chan told me the soldiers only get rations to live on and I could not even see a dinghy that they could use for fishing. I guess the army does not encourage such activities when they should be looking for pirates. We waved the boys goodbye and headed back for the mainland. 

 

Another happy diver 

By this time it was partly overcast so the ride was smooth. One guy started to carve up a Rainbow Runner fish into sushi. Soon enough we were washing down raw fish dipped in Wasabi and soya sauce with beer. Everybody was happy and in happy spirits. After an uneventful trip back (we finished last drops of beer just in the channel) to the marina the boat was hauled up and the laboring part began.

 

Elvis carving up sushi 

 The boat was emptied of all dive gear, the fish was laid out and gutted, engines were flushed with fresh water. Finally after everything was stowed and fish divvied up we left back for home. Those who have been diving knows how much it exhausts one. I came to my hotel, dragged my gear in the middle of the floor and passed out on bed. 

   

Our diveboat and loot 

What a lovely way to spend a sunday...

Voyage Phuket - Lumut

We left Phuket on the 22nd Aug in order to be in Lumut a day before haul-up so I could sort out any problems from yard side as well scout out the area where I was going (it is un-charted).

Impressive clouds at Phi Phi Island

The weather was not too bad when we left but became increasingly poor the further south we went. By the time we were passing Langkawi Island it was pouring down cats and dogs and whatnot.

View to Phangnga Bay

John, our agent, who was driving down south called me and told the weather had been equally poor on the highway, only after Penang had the rain let up a bit. At sea we got westerly swell from our sb quarter that was not making the going any easier. As we had plenty of time on our hands I decided to enter from south of the Pangkor Island, the channel is wider there and I had been here in 1998 before so I sort of knew the waters. High seas were still rolling in from the Straits but as soon as we were in shelter of the Pangkor Island it stopped. The mainland side had been developed with tens of highrise buildings compared to 1998 there had been nothing there.

The Navy Colony on mainland opposite Pangkor Laut

Also the channel was better marked than in 1998, there is a 90degrees bend about halfway in the channel. Once cleared we were passing massive naval installations and greeted by the odour of a fertilizer factory that also closely resembled the smell of a brewery. I anchored in front of the Lumut International yacht club that consists of a 2 small piers and a collection of small craft. In front was also anchored a laid up navy vessel, Rahmat, that seemed it had been there a long time.

We launched our tender and took ashore Kalpana who needed medical attention as her wisdom tooth had started acting up. John met us at the pier and I got my clearance papers handed over as well. After this we headed up the channel to scout the “un-charted” area. We passed a flour mill and cargo piers until we reached a fork and took off right, shortly after, we arrived in front of Grade One shipyard. The 75m double pier where the lift was going to happen was flanked by three 60m long offshore vessels. We surveyed the waters in front of the pier and found ample water there except to the immediate west where we discovered only 3-4m of water, it appeared to be a mud flat just at the western pier end. Having done this we headed back to the ship and it was time for me to meet the yard people.

At the yard I met up with the lifting Engineers and we went through the way they wanted to lift up. It was the same as in Langkawi last year, stern first until we were inside of the piers, then stop. It appeared that the shore side was a bit shallow too. Instead of hauling the next day the yard wanted me to arrive same day at 1530hrs. Oh well, said and done, I was happy to get the show on the road. John dropped me off at the marina where I got a refreshing rain shower on the way back to the ship. We hoisted back our tender and anchor and sailed up river.

When we arrived the lifting piers I had a westerly current and wind going on and I saw it was not going to be an easy task to get the boat in with all elements at my broadside. My first attempt failed as I could not keep my bow up to the wind and current so I had to abort and try again. My 2nd attempt I was keeping my bow well up wind and tried to approach with my stern and then let my bow turn when I was easing her in between the piers. Easier said than done, I got stuck in the mudflat just west of the piers so I had to redo my approach. My 3rd attempt was successful, Saini was giving me good instructions of the situation aft and I backed in with speed. My bow fell again but I was in before it was too much. No damages either. We handed lines ashore and the yard started to position the shiplift and prepare to put is on the hard stand. My next story will about our works in Lumut, until then…

Back to work again...

So, once we arrived Phuket 6th Aug I was off the ship again on to spend my remaining vacation days, after that it would be continuous work until next May again...

I went home to Jira and just relaxed until 14th when we made a sojourn to Chumphon province to visit relatives, this time Jira's brothers mother-in-law. She has farms near Lang Suan. It was a grueling drive up north half way to Bangkok with a lunch stop in Surat Thani at a highway Co-op eatery. All and all it took us 5 1/2 hrs to get from A to B. The mother-in-law had her house high up in the hills and it was pleasantly cool in the evening, even the mozzies did not bother us too much.

After arrival though we still drove down to Lang Suan Pak Nam (Lang Suan by the Beach) and saw a huge aircraft carrier built from concrete erected on the beach. It was a memorial for King Mongkut (Rama 5th). At the market we bought seafood for dinner and also visited an aunt there. Well up in the mountains again cooking began. As it was nearing voting time some guys appeared with rice whiskey bottles and tried to get the local menfolk drunk. I guess they ended more inebriated than the guys of the house (I had no part in it).

The Kings memorial

Then saturday morning 15th we got up early and started to pick Long Kong fruit from the mother-in-law's orchard. Long Kong fruits are as sweet as Lychee's but hairless and they grow funnily straight out from the tree trunk. The fruit is very well liked by ants and the are testy too and like to bite. This discovered too when climbing up a tree and harvesting it. I was picking ants off myself for an hour afterwards.

Mother-in-law also gave concentrated Durian candy to take down South. The candy is manufactured that several Durian fruits are peeled into a wok and then put on low heat while the wok is stirred all the time. Some people also add sugar but in this case none had been added. The stirring goes on for up to 12 hrs until all liquid has been heated out and only a thick brown paste remains, this then is collected into containers and kept in a fridge. The candy can be eaten just like that and is very filling, same as the fruit in it's natural consistency.

Once we had 7 crates (abt 120kg) of Long Kong in our pick-up truck we loaded ourselves in it and headed down south again. This time we did a late lunch stop near SUrat Thani at the Phrap Pla restaurant by the sea. It had a long walkway to get to the building itself but the view was very stunning and the oysters cheap (25 THB compared to Phuket 45 THB or >). Once fed we loaded us up again and headed for the last stretch home to Trang.

Then on 19th morning it was time to travel to Phuket and sign on Kalizma. I had an handover with Avnish and he arranged a farewell party in his restaurant Kargo Curry near Laguna. The food was excellent.

Next day, 22nd Aug, it was time to cast off Phuket an head down to Lumut for our drydocking. The weather forecast looked fairly ok and what happened then, I will update you after we've completed our works in Malaysia...

Related pics here

Voyage Phuket - Langkawi - Phuket

As agreed I interrupted my vacation to take Kalizma to Langkawi and back. The purpose was to get some movement on the engines and pick up stuff that I had been shipping to John over a few months time. The main issue was to get our aft emergency exit hatch so we could install it here in Phuket before we would leave for our drydocking in Lumut.

I came onboard on the 31st and had a short recap with Avnish, confirmed we were all stocked up, sent passports for clearance and so on. On the morning of 1st Aug we left in sunny weather conditions. As we got out of the channel and sailed down Ko Yao Yai the sea got more rough, not bad but it shattered all our hopes to be able to stop for a dive during the passage. We slowed down and pottered on for 7kts and reached Royal Langkawi Yacht Club early morning.

In Langkawi I was met by our usual agent, John Orr, and the morning went swapping gossip and sorting out the business at hand. Tickets for Richard and Martula had been arranged so they could leave for their annual vacation. Later on John delivered shipments and I could see that I was missing one packet. It was again off to go sending emails to the shipper. In the evening I was invited out to Pantai Cenang for a private party.

The venue was at TJ's pizza restaurant where I had had earlier I think the best pizza I ever had in Far East. I met also previous acquaintances like Brendan and Lyn and several other familiar faces whose names I can't recall (apologies).

The Hotel at Kuah waterfront, looks like a piece from Disneyland

Monday morning on 3rd our freezer contractor started work on our freezer that had been long pending. Richard and Martula was whisked off to the airport. I got reply from shipper re: our missing parcel that it should be on the Island already. I relayed the info to John who discovered it should have flew the day before but it hadn't, then after much wrangling and knocking on doors it was finally located in the Customs warehouse. Our freezer contractor hit a few snags in his installation program that we had to postpone not only for him but also for the missing shipment of our anti marine growth system.

Tuesday 4th I woke up to nice sunny weather. Things were going my way for once. the Cathelco package was found and delivered onboard and Michael, our freezer technician started the freezer late in the evening. Only in an hour the freezer went to -15 degrees, a thing that in India was told us to be impossible. In the evening I was invited by John to come to his pad for his wife, Pam's, birthday party.

Wednesday the 5th was a disappointment weather wise, from early morning a strong breeze blew from west causing us to be pinned in the RLYC marina's N-S pier. John came to pick up the passports for clearance so I could depart when I wanted. I was constantly watching the wind meter but it refused to budge, on the contrary it went up to 40kts at times. The weather forecast was not much better, it promised better weather after 2 days. Finally, in the evening when the sunb started setting the wind came down a tad so that I deemed it safe to maneuver. I chased my crew to disconnect shore power and start engines whilst also letting John know that we were leaving.

Departure went well although I had some flies in my belly. I left my forward spring at the corner of the pier and slowly eased her over the corner and turned my stern against the wind and out of the port. Once I could see that I was good to go astern I started going slowly. Guys on the pier helped the going with fenders and I used the bow thruster to keep her off the pier. Having the bow clear of the corner I had to use my bowthruster the other way so my stern would turn more towards the port exit. The current was still flooding probably due to the strong wind that had prevailed the whole day. I cleared the wave breaker and turned around to face west and for Phuket. On the way we celebrated Jyothi's birthday in the exit channel and had some cake and dinner.

Once we entered the open seas at Pantai Cenang I confirmed the weather forecast, waves 4m high was rolling in from Indian Ocean. Luckily my stewardesses and other knew what I meant with bad weather so they had prepared the ship properly for rough seas. After entering open waters part of my crew went senseless from seasickness as usual. Luckily they were not my watchkeeping crew.

Next day was not much better, same weather prevailed and it eased down a bit while going north of Phi Phi Island, then it was easy going towards yacht haven. I missed the high water but was informed that current and wind is not bad so the marina allowed me to berth a bit later. I tied up port side along side at our usual corner without any mishaps. My crew was happy to have a stable deck under their feet again. Anyway, the cleaning started for some minor items that had broken during the passage...

Visiting kids

On the 22nd it was time to take the bus up to Bangkok and visit my kids. The bus was a VIP bus and it was frigid, luckily I had a sarong with me that I could try and warm myself. I arrived semi-deep frozen to Mor Chit the next morning.

Kids both were in good health exempting some sniffling and cough. We had a weekend of playtime as they were too busy weekdays studying. Their uncle had started a chicken and duck farm that they had fun feeding.

Pheung and Finn off to school

On the 29th evening I headed back south as I needed to get on Kalizma to take her to Langkawi. This time I took a night train. It was far more comfortable than the bus and I was prepared as I wore jeans instead of shorts.

The evening went chatting with teachers returning from a seminar in Pattaya (I wonder how those two go together). Around 9pm the train attendant came and folded all beds down and made our beds, then it was just to climb up and get some shuteye until next morning...

Car crashing in Thailand

20th I drove to Phuket to pick up my laptop. Luckily the techies had managed to save most of my data from the protected hard drive so I could be a happy camper again. The official diagnose was a faulty RAM chip. On the way back I had a misfortune to collide with a motorbike.

Not this bad though...

I was cruising on a straight double carriage road abt 80km/h and at one point I met a motorbike that just turned in front of me. As soon as I realized that they are turning to right over the road I slammed my brakes and veered to left. By this I managed to avoid a frontal crash but the motorbike did not stop or try to avoid us so they hit my right rear tire. I could see people flying like ragdolls in my rear mirror. Because of the impact I swerved 90 degrees to starboard and stopped in the middle of the road. The engine died at the same time, I just pressed the clutch to roll back a bit in order not to be in the way of other oncoming traffic.

Once off the road I got out of the car to survey what had happened I discovered 3 youths lying on the road with minor scratches and torn clothes. I had actually stopped in front of a road rescue station so I asked Jira to ask them to call for the police and her to call for the Insurance Company. The rescue people loaded the 3 boys in a car and sped them away to hospital to be checked.

After awhile a constable arrived on a motorbike to take the initial reports and photos of the scene. I checked the motorbike myself, it was a total loss. The rear drive gear had split against the road surface and my rear tyre. I had bits of metal in my flat rear tyre too as well as dents on the whole right aft portion. After a couple of hours the Insurance Company guy arrived to the location and took his photos of the scene. I drew up a picture of what happened and Jira wrote it in Thai. Once we had our tyre changed we headed for the local police station to sign their reports.

It turned out that the 3 boys and the whole kin was there too. They requested Jira if we could handle our repairs so they would handle their repairs. We said it was ok on our behalf. We learned that the boys were only 15yrs old and had borrowed the motorbike that was only 2 days old. The father of the boy that had driven was ashen probably due to the extra expense of having to buy a new motorbike. The boys came and apologized to us in person for their reckless driving. I told them they were lucky today. After awhile we were called in by the head sergeant of the station and he read th law for the boys and their parents as they were still minors under Thai law. The boy got a 400THB fine for driving without a license.

After everybody had signed the police report we were given permission to leave. We arrived home late in the evening.

This was my first real crash in my life and it was in a sense scary as I could not control the events in any way as the boys on the motorbike had other things to do than look at the oncoming traffic so they almost acted like a person jumping in front of a train. Luckily the result was not the same and no fatalities occurred. I just hope they learned a valuable lesson.

The Thai traffic statistics are terrible reading, the fatalities in a year goes to thousands and the accidents to tens of thousands, all mostly due to drunk driving, underage driving and speeding. It seems at times that Thais start driving a motorbike when they can reach the handlebars and the parents allow them(!). No wonder accidents happen.
One never knows how your day will turn out when you wake up in the morning.

Trip to Ko Samui

On the 13th the entourage packs itself in the pickup again and we head for Ko Samui to visit Jira’s younger sister. I’m still on the road to recovery but feeling ok for the trip. We drive the whole day and take the ferry at Surat Thani to Ko Samui, only 420THB for the vehicle. The ferry seems to be (judging by the old signs) a Japanese 2nd hand find. It has Airconditioned lounges, a cafeteria and foot massage to offer.

The trip only lasts for 1,5hrs and we head down to the car deck to get off. We drive around half the Island towards the airport at Chaweng beach where Plen lives with her husband. Her kids are with us as they are being looked after by her mother, they are all ecstatic of seeing mommy and daddy again. The evening is spent cooking and catching up.

14th we laze the whole day and in the afternoon go shopping for seafood, it is not that much more expensive than on the mainland. Everything else is though as the Island seems to be mostly geared up for tourists which abound compared to Phuket. I have also never seen so many English signs posted, actually more than Thai signs, all advertising for services, restaurants etc. In the evening we head down to Plen and Muk’s restaurant at the beach. All the seafood is BBQ’d there and we all have a delicious and enormous dinner.

15th is spent driving around the Island and visiting tourist spots. The 1st stop is at the Grandfather and Grandmother rock. I have no idea why they are called so but Jira’s sister is leading me onto the rocky outcrops pointing at another rock jutting up saying “that’s the grandfather rock” and we walk a bit further down towards th waters edge and she points at a cleft and asks me “Does it look the same?”. A light goes on in my head and I laugh. They also sell here locally made coconut candy that is an Island speciality. No wonder at all as coconut groves abound everywhere you drive.

2nd stop is at Namuang waterfall that is but a trickle down the mountain side into a pool of muddy water. Kids are seen splashing around there. We don’t linger long and leave after we have fed the elephants with bananas.

Next stop is at Hin Lat waterfall that is at the edge of the nature reserve that is in the middle of the Island. The water is not running much more here either but the waterfall is in several stages and has “cauldrons” of water where one can take a cooling dip. I venture up the rocks that just gets bigger and bigger the further I get. Eventually I discover the waterfall has a fork on it’s way down but as the rains have not started yet it is dry. I go up further and climb huge boulders the size of brick houses. I don’t reach th end after 1 hour so I decide to take one last dip and head back. I discover that the cauldron has many small fish that comes and pokes at me when I sit in the water listening to the birds and the trickle of water down it’s path. When I come back all are ready and waiting for me, Muk is buying Durian fruit several of them and we gorge ourselves on the King of Fruits while driving back home. Dinner was made at home this time, spicy Moo Phad Phet that burns the living daylights out of an ordinary man.

16th July was time to do temple hopping. We visited so many temples that I lost count. I “hired” a Luang Pho Daeng amulet at one temple by the beach while Jira & Co made merit with the monk. One temple that stciks in mind is one with a huge Chinese laughing Buddha surrounded by Hindu deities like Ganesh and Krishna, beside these was a giant Buddha statue with more arms than an octopus. I reckon they depicted all the postures Buddha has (Well, excepting the lying down pose). Once at home we went and visited the temple built on the hill on top of the airport, there was a magnificent view of the Island.

The Buddha and all his hand postures

17th It was tme to pack our gear together and get back to the mainland. We started early morning and arrived safe and sound to Trang same evening.

Related pics posted here...

Getting sick from local mosquitoes

Thai mosquitoes in the act

10th July I get sick. I wake up in the middle of the night to that my every joint is aching and I run a high fever, so I quaff some paracetamol and go back to bed.

Next morning I still feel bad and I can see that I am starting a rash like measles (which I suffered when I was a kid). Jira concludes it is a local sickness that is obtained from mosquito bites. I endure the whole day thinking I will get better but the fever seems to gain momentum in the evening so we head for a local doctor and her private practice.

At the Clinic the Doc seems to draw same conclusions and I get a shot and many different colored pills to take. Doc advises me that I should not drink excessively and live a regular life the following 6 months as the fever may and rash may come back. The fever lets go but the rash remains. It is bloody itchy too.

After some days the rash also fades away. Only thing remaining is a constant neck pain, like after sleeping on a bad pillow. I hope it will also disappear soon.

After doing some reserach I found out that I might have gotten "Chikungunya", roughly translated "grandmothers illness" by the Thais although the original name stems from Mozambique as it is associated with aching joints.

Below is a description from the US CDC website:

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus is a member of the genus Alphavirus, in the family Togaviridae. Chikungunya fever is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., joint swelling), laboratory testing, and the possibility of exposure to infected mosquitoes. There is no specific treatment for chikungunya fever; care is based on symptoms. Chikungunya infection is not usually fatal. Steps to prevent infection with chikungunya virus include use of insect repellent, protective clothing, and staying in areas with screens. Chikungunya virus was first isolated from the blood of a febrile patient in Tanzania in 1953, and has since been cited as the cause of numerous human epidemics in many areas of Africa and Asia and most recently in limited areas of Europe.

See original post and more info here

Bull fighting in Kantang

9th July I went with Jira’s father and Luang to watch bullfighting in Kantang. In southern Thailand one can frequently see huge bull’s grazing at he roadside and I found out the local pastime is to pitch them against each other. I suppose some of them ends up in the cooking pot as well but bull’s are definitely more popular than cows.

Bull's at it

Anyway, said and done I asked my Thai friends to make some inquiries and Jira’s father came up with the date, so off we are in the morning towards Kantang, the seaport serving Trang. We arrive to what seemed to be a market, cars are lined up along the street and parking attendants whistling and hollering. 

We are dropped off by Jira’s father and me and Luang make our way towards the entrance that is lined by snack sellers and other peddlers of bull paraphernalia. We pay 500THB/ person to gain entry for all 5 rounds. The day is divided into 4 fights per round. 

The first fight is already on and I see two huge bulls locking horns on the arena. The cacophony of people shouting bets is deafening, every time there seems to be a break imminent the noise goes into fever pitch. The fight lasts for abt 10minutes and then one of the bull’s gives up and runs away from his aggressor. The crowd goes quiet and retreats to the shadow of the lectern and waits for the next pair. 

Next pair also fight for 12 minutes and at times the bull’s just stand horns locked and pants, no-one is willing ti give up eventually one does. After that the 1st round is clear and we wait for the 2nd to start. It is opened by a bull from Jira’s district, it is a coward, he runs away as soon as he sees his opponent coming. 

Next fight goes almost same way, hardly 30 seconds of locking horns one bull retreats. 3rd fight is more interesting as one bull is clearly winning and he seems to realize that and he chases the other bull away. The winner stands seemingly unperturbed and then the loser bull suddenly attacks him from behind and almost plunges him into the dirt. The bull turns swiftly and shows who is the boss, the loser bull runs away again. 

The 4th match which sadly is the last as the organisers can’t find enough pulls to pair for a fight turns out to be the best match of all I saw. The bulls lock horns and the outcome seems to be determined as one bull bends the others head in the dirt forcing him on his knees but time and time again up he comes and gives resistance. Finally the other bull is fed up or exhausted or afraid so he gives up. 

The bullfighting day is over. I’ve lost 200 THB betting but it is no big deal. We head out among the throng of people, find Jira’s father in his pickup and head for home.

Update 2020: All the bullfighting videos are taken down from Youtube due to them violating the community standards. Oh well, huMAN natURE...

Beach hopping in Trang

6th July I hopped on our motorbike and drove with Nong Thuen towards Sikao and ended up to Khlong Son beach and port. The beach was actally called Hua Hin. It was all deserted and had some evidence of the sand eroding as it had been preserved by metal netting and sand bags. The bay must be an enormous habitat for screw shells as I saw thousands of empty shells lying in droves on the beach. After wandering around for awhile we hopped on the motorbike and drove along the neach until we reached the port.

Hua Hin beach

It was a concrete affair about 70meters long with 2 fishing boats alongside. The pier was at the shore of a khlong or river heading inland and being flanked on both sides by mangroves. The port had a large parking lot that I can only relate to the founding fathers some grandiose ideas not being realized. Apart from the fishing boats there were 2 women having a makeshift shop selling cooked food and then there were a handful of men fishing. We asked if the fishing boat would have any fresh fish to sell but apparently they were only into squid fishing and was all out. Just behind the pier a bit upriver there were some fish farms and one man on the quay knew his number and called the Owner to sell some fish to us.

Entrance to Ton Son port

After ahile 2 guys arrived and we hopped into a longtail boat and pottered to the floating fish farm. It was complete with lodgings (bedroom, kitchenette and toilet) although there was no lodger there at that time. We heaved on the nets and one guy cought Pla Kapong that we wanted. We got one white and one red Pla Kapong (maybe snapper in English, but considered the best sea water fish in the south). Once we had our catch we paddled back to the quay and then the fishes were measured and price was set. Of course the price was high as I was a farang but I’ve gotten used to it. Then we drove back home and bragged to the womenfolk that we had caught fish unawares. It took them awhile to realize we’ve fished with my wallet.

The petrified horse at Thungtong beach

In the afternoon Jira’s stepfather took me to se Thungtong and Bo Tuat beaches. The first beach was a long flat sand beach with muddy water and some large rocks going under to sea. I walked along the beach and as it was low water I could see the exposed rocky bottom and there were a couple of Thai kids looking for crabs. I also ventured on the rock bottom and could hear clams spitting water and saw occasionally a crab scuttling for shelter. Eventually I managed to catch one on my camera.

Meanwhile Jira’s father had struck conversation with local Farmer’s and I went to see what he was going on about. They also framed rubber treees and had one huge old timer tree left standing in the middle of the plot amid 2-3 yr old saplings. We walked back and headed for Bo Tuat Beach.

The old timer rubber tree

At Bo Tuat one had to climb down a steep dirt path and in fact if one would not know there was a beach I think no-one would notice it. The Beach was rockier than Thungtong, much more so. It had caves grated out by the sea in time and huge “plates” of stone lining the beach. I guess this what they call the “Geopark” in Langkawi, because of the layers of stone that can be examined and spans through thousands of year. It was totally undisturbed like some beaches I had seen in the Maldives although civilization was here too in the form of discarded slippers, empty bottles and whatnot. This beach would be ideal to spend a day at doing a BBQ. I climbed back up and we heade back home. At the local village we stopped to buy some fresh squid for dinner.

Bo Tuat beach

Trip to Hat Yai and Songkhla

3rd of July we loaded our entourage into our pick-up truck and headed for Hat Yai and Songkhla. Eventually the goal was to have me and Jira take a traditional tattoo by a Holy man (like a Brahmin). We reached Songkhla at noon and we enjoyed Samila beach and the Mermaid and Cat statues there. The beach peddlers were not as active and not as frequent as in Pattaya or Phuket beaches which I found pleasant. I bought the kids a set of spades and buckets and showed them how to build sand castles. The grown up Thais sitting in the shade probably thought I was another crazy farang playing in the sunshine, the kids were not of same opinion.

Later on we stopped and went up to Tangkuan Hill to enjoy the view and pay respect for the Temple up there. At thebottom of the hill there was a lot of monkeys and they had been made a playground over there. Monkeys alleviated the heat of the sun by jumping into a pool specially for them only.

In the afternoon we headed for Hat Yai to do some shopping and to find lodging. Eventually we booked into Siam Center hotel close to all mall’s and shopping streets. After a short shopping spree we headed for dinner to Thalee Thai seafood restaurant that served a delicious meal.

Next morning 4th July we packed into the pickup truck and heade for the outskirts of Songkhla to Singhaburi where the Holy Man resided. We met our guide and he drove ahead to the “Ajarn’s” compound following narrow streets into the Amphoe passing temples and whatnot. We learned that he only does men, even no women was allowed into the parlour so they had to wait outside. I ventured inside the parlour and saw a handful of youngsters puffing on cigarettes trying to look tough. At the end of the parlour sat the Ajarn in a white dress and beside him was 2 other guys busy tattooing 2 other clients. I suppose they were his disciples. I wai’ed the Ajarn and the shrine beside him. Then I was invited to choose a picture, it was easy for me as me and Jira had decided on a “Ha theuw” (5 rows). Once chosen I was told to sit down and wait for my turn.

I was shown a home made video of young guys going into trance in the middle of the night around a huge bonfire. They were letting the spirit of the Tiger come into their body and while this was happening they let out very Tiger-ish sounds and grunts. After that they jumped into the bonfire kicking and throwing around burning sticks. Some guys got odd ways to spend their free time…

After awhile next in the program was to donate the price of tattoo (500THB) and read a poster asking for the good fortunes involved with this tattoo. Unfortunately I don’t read Thai so our guide he read for me and I repeated after him. Then I was asked to sit legs akimbo in front of the Ajarn, breath in deeply and slowly, close my eyes and clasp my hands in front of me. I suppose the idea was to get into a meditative state. Kind of difficult when the Ajarn started hacking into my back…

I sat like that for some time and after awhile I think my legs hurt more than my back as they were getting numb, very numb. That’s also one way to get your attention elsewhere. I can’t say how long it took but I just had to extend my legs in front of me, meditation or not the legs had to get some blood. The tattoo was not that bad, only when he got over some sensitive nerve endings at my spine I felt like crawling into the floor but I persisted stoically as the gaggle fo teenagers were gawking at me and for sure betting whether I would stand it or not. For awhile I was watching another boy being tattooed by one of the disciples, could not be more than 15yrs old. He sat in the same position as I and he was huffing and puffing from pain and leaning forward and forward until his forehead touched the floor. I think he had the same idea of crawling under the floor.

Then all of a sudden the Ajarn told me he was finished. I had to prostrate in front of the Ajarn and he recited some prayer in Pali “validating” the tattoo’s power. After that I sat and made some chit-chat with the Ajarn and he gave me some instructions of what I could not eat or do, otherwise I would loose the power within. The Ajarn invited me to come back after one year to do another tattoo, who knows, maybe I will…

Processing rubber

I was given the opportunity to watch Jira’s sister’s husband processing rubber sap. In one night about 45 liters of sap is gathered by bleeding the rubber trees. This must take place daily otherwise the trees dry up like cow teats.

N. Rid cleaning up after rubber making

During rain no sap can be gathered so the Rubber farmer sleeps instead. Annually the rubber collecting stops for 3 months (approx. Jan-Apr) in order for the trees to recuperate, this is done when the tree drops all their leaves and grow new ones.

Once the sap is gathered the processing starts, 4 liters of sap is poured into a pail and mixed with 1 ltr water and 1-2dl of hardener, the mixture is stirred and then poured into a form.

This time there was a total of 12 forms filled, once the last was filled the 1st form had hardened. The Farmer then tipped the forms upside down starting from beginning and flattened the “cakes” out with a wooden bat and his feet, once this was done every flattened “cake” was fed into a roller that was operated by electric power.

The final stage was to feed them through another roller where a pattern was also made ontot the rubber “mat”. After this the mats were hanged to dry and after two days they could be sold to any rubber factory to be processed further to any plastic or rubber products that we need in our daily lives.

The whole operation took about 2hrs and will bring abt 1000 THB into the Farmer’s pocket. Some Farmer’s prefer to skip this whole process and sell the sap but there is a lot of cheating going on with middlemen, added water, measuring amounts and so-on…

To see the video I made abt it, click below:

Captain's blog June 2009

This month has gone frantically doing maintenance on the boat, carpentry, metal works, painting, varnishing, electrical jobs, flag state jobs, class jobs & preparing drydocking, F1 visit & handover. “No rest for the wicked” as they say.

G1 shipyard headoffice in Lumut, Malaysia

As for crew matters I got back Sunil and Rajaram rested from their annual vacations and I sent Vivek for his holiday.

We actually arrived from Langkawi already on the 26th May and I did not stop on the way for diving as the weather was really poor, windy and rainy all the way. We arrived at Yacht Haven 2pm with no hassles, I experienced some funny cross currents pushing us off the pier although it was slack water so my approach was a bit slow but finally we managed to tie up in an orderly fashion.

I was met by the Marina Manager Zara Tremlett on the pier after finished with all engines. Our local agents, Gordon Fernandes and Toby Koehler arrived later on in the afternoon and as we started with the official paperwork and then changing news and gossip with some Kingfisher and snacks we soon discovered it was almost midnight.

The rest of the week was spent contacting anew old contractors for planned jobs and getting worklists and quotes made up.

Next weekend 30th I visited Jira in Trang province and we did an outing to Satun and the Wang Rajan bordermarket at the Thai-Malay border. Thai nationals could wander into the Malay side and do shopping there, I could not as my visa would have been voided. Very similar to the Thai-Cambodian Aranyaprathet border market that is popular for Bangkokians to visit for shopping and gambling (in Poipet).

Near the border was the “Thaleban Nature Park” which we visited shortly on the way back. There I saw and heard mountain frogs, the noise was deafening from such small creatures.


Frog song

1st week of June we got dayworkers and contractors galore onboard and the usual maintenance hula-baloo started.

Following weekend 6th I took Richard and Jyothi out for an outing to Trang where we visited the local aquarium and sea-lion show.

14th June was the International Marathon run at Laguna and Avnish arranged for voluntary crew to sign up.

Next week I started a detox diet and had only fruit juice for next 2 weeks just to see what the effects were. The experience was not too bad but I always felt a sting of jealousy seeing people eat and it seemed to me Richard was making an effort preparing all kind of good dishes or maybe it was just my hungry imagination.

June 20th I took Saini and Kalpana to Trang province and we visited the Klong Thom Hot Springs Sa Morakot pools.

Next week went meeting with Avnish and putting him in the picture of what is happening on the yacht workwise and re: our commercial certification status. I printed out reams of statements, lists and reports covering the handover.

On the 27th was hashing day for Phuket HHH and we decided to join. Saini and me had been running there before but Martula and Richard decided to join us.

Finally, on the 28th morning I whipped out the scale and could ascertain that I had lost abt 8kg’s during my 2 weeks juice detox combined with evening jogging with Saini.

At noon we headed for Sarasin bridge with most of our crew for a handover lunch. Just after crossing the bridge, turned left to the bridge bank, there is a seafood restaurant that serves lovely and inexpensive food while watching the tide swirl by. I also enjoyed being able to eat again after 2 weeks of chugging juice. Once the lunch was devoured I took my leave and was wished a Happy vacation for the next 30 days.

I’ll keep updating you of my holiday next, until then…

Hashing with Phuket HHH

On the 27th was hashing day for Phuket HHH and we decided to join. Saini and me had been running there before but Martula and Richard decided to join us as newcomers.

The run was set quite off the treaden path, HHH signs guided us into Phuket’s redneck backwaters near the old airport road where at least 50+ runners were gathering. An obnoxious and rude Frenchman as GM was collecting registration fees and after awhile the run was explained by the hares and we were off.

I tried keeping pace with the middle of the pack but soon lost it after the trail started going up and downhill in dense brush and rubber plantations. The run was very long, abt 10km, and had 8-9 falsies laid out. The trail itself must’ve been planned with GPS as it was so ingeniously looped that at times I think we were running parallel to a previous loop. Needless to say I was knackered when I reached the end. Saini being the runner onboard finished among the first. Richard and Martula did the walkers trail so they were much better off.

I must say that having ran with 2 other hashes I think Phuket HHH is more geared towards people living in the Patong – Kamala region as well as the whole lot is quite inwards warming. Also having circles bigger than 50 persons is quite cumbersome, it does not create the hash atmosphere and this day the whole show was stolen by a bitch in heat that was being tried on by every male dog around the circle.

The star of the run...

Fees are 60THB/ member and 100 THB/ newcomer. For this sum you only get to run and participate in the circle.

Hot springs and Sa Morakot pools

This weekend I took Saini and Kalpana to Trang province and we visited the Klong Thom Hot Springs where one could sit in naturally formed cauldrons of ca 40°C hot water running down from a stream out of the jungle. According to a posted water analysis it did not contain much of any minerals at all and in fact the sulphurous smell that one usually gets was virtually not existing.

While sitting in the water I actually overheard a Bangkokian tourist asking another guy “Where do they boil all this hot water?”…

Enjoying all the boiled water...

A sign proclaimed “30minutes for good health”, there was also traditional massage stalls where one could further enhance the relaxation of a hot bath but we would have none of it as we continued onward to the ”Emerald pool” or Sa Morakot in Thai.

Up the stream

The “Emerald pool” or at some places it was written “Crystal Pool” brought up a vision of a pool full of crystals or something like that but when we arrived I saw I had my visions all wrong. It was a round pool filled with clear water that by the reflection of the greenery close by turned the water emerald color to the eye. A very picturesque scenery and there was quite a few tourists splashing around in the water.

On the way to the blue pool

The water ran from the jungle into the pool continuously, hence the water was not murky. Soon enough we wanted to go and find out where the water was coming from and we started walking along the stream that was filling the pool. We arrived to an arid area that was just like a wasteland bordering the jungle and water was running in small streams all over. The bare grey matter was just lime. Above the lime hill there was a small pool that was named “Ascetics pool” and a small “sala” had been erected beside the pool with 2 ascetic statues inside, if one wanted to do some meditation.

We continued forward on a wooden board walk deeper into the jungle and soon we were passing huge rainforest trees with enormous trunks. We took some nice snapshots of each other between the large roots and after awhile we came onto a trodden path and some signs pointing to the “Blue pool”. We ventured further until we arrived to the “Blue pool”.

The "Blue pool"

It was in the middle of the jungle, no sound around except of us and the birds. The pool was absolutely blue. Me and Saini plunged in and swam around the pool and found out it was almost 5 meters deep in the centre although it did not look like that. The water was so clear that the sense of depth could not be ascertained. The bottom was of powdery white sand so fine that if one took a handful it was washed out when you reached the surface. Small bubbles was constantly rising up to the surface and I suspect it was either methane from rotting jungle or sulphuric gases from volcanic activity. The smell was there alright. The blue color to the pool came from the depth of the water. I only missed any Elves that would come dancing out from the jungle riding unicorns, otherwise the whole scenery was very much from the imagination fo Tolkien. We were lucky we got the whole pool for ourselves the time we stayed there as on the way back we met scores of teenagers heading the way we were coming from.

Once back at the Emerald Pool it was time to walk back the 2 km to the car and head back to our lodgings. Not a bad way to spend a day, entrance cost for foreigners 200 THB/ head. The park had imposed a ban on bringing in foods too, hence all surroundings were quite clear of rubbish (same as at the Klong Thom Hot Springs).

Sunday morning Saini wanted to see the La Khaokob cave as Richard and Jyothi had bragged about it so said and done I took him and Kalpu there and they emerged exhilirated abt 40minutes later from the bowels of the Dragon. Then it was tme to head back for Phuket and to visit Kargo to see the F1 rally at Silverstone. Unfortunately Force India did not score any points on this rally either but it was the best performance from Fisichella during this season.

Laguna Marathon in Phuket

14th June was the International Marathon run at Laguna and Avnish arranged for voluntary crew to sign up.

Me, Richard, Martula and Kalpana signed up for the 10km feat and Saini signed up for the 20km half-marathon. We had wrong starting time information so we arrived abt 20minutes late from the start but it did not matter as we had electronic tags so we could be timed anyway.

After the run...

Not that it mattered, I don’t think any of us was aiming to break the world record. I was pacing myself and jogging along and soon enough the girls had ran away from me. The sun was getting hotter and hotter and at 7.5km I had to start walking and at 9.5km I forced myself to continue running, and I did until the end. Actually at the last stretch I managed to somekind of a spurt.

We all received a medal of completion. During running I saw a few runners incapacitated from sprained ankles to torn hamstrings, serious sporting can be very taxing on the body. I also saw one guy running bare feet, true to the traditional way of running the Marathon. When I was in Greece I actually met a Greek in the local hash that had done the full Marathon barefeet and did not want to repeat the feat.

The event was well organised but I and probably other runners too did not like the traffic allowed on the roads as well as the watering stations could have placed some bins afterwards where the empty water cups and sponges could have been thrown in (this was actually improvised at the last watering station). The cleaning job afterwards must’ve been enormous.

At the end runners could get free foot massage and food. The queue for the first was too long and I did not feel fot the latter so I was just tanking up on ice water and chatting with my crew while waiting for Saini to arrive from his feat. Soon enough he finished too and after awhile we headed back to Yacht Haven for a shower and and some well deserved rest.

I finished the 10.5 k's in 1.5hrs (not sure their timer tags worked correctly though?) and placed at 712th position out of 735 participants that finished their run. Interested can see the results here