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Flew into Phuket.- took taxi to start of trip at Ko
Sire (on the east of Phuket) Paddled east – over-night on Ko Khai Nai and
then North up west coast KoYao Yai and
around the north coast via passage with KoYao Noi.
Crossed to Krabi Islands via Ko
Hong, Ko Dam Hok and Ko Dam Khwan. Crossed biggest open span of trip of 20km
towards KoPu and then south along Ko Klang to Ko Lanta Yai. Avoided rough
seas by taking inside mangrove passage between Ko Lanta Yai and Ko Lanta Noi
on towards Ko Bubu. Last leg via Ko
Ngai and Ko Muk – finishing trip on mainland near Laem Meng.
Most pictures below taken with a
compact Cannon digital in a diving case.
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After leaving Phuket we asked the driver to let us
off on any beach on the east of Phuket where we could build the kayak and
also camp overnight before starting the trip.
He chose the perfect spot on Ko
Sire near a sea gypsy village with a beach kiosk frequented mainly by
locals. Beach shelters provided
protection from the rain allowing us to organize our kit into dry bags. Two
of the waitresses who were not very busy with clients were both entertaining
and entertained while we were assembling the kayak and organizing the
equipment. At some stage, as may be apparent from the image above, it was not
entirely clear which pair of paddlers would be setting out in the morning and who would be waving farewell from the
beach.
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The young Thai lady (2nd waitress) above showed an intuitive
understanding of the kayak’s construction. After briefly inspecting the kayak’s structure
she started adeptly positioning pieces and fastening straps. We were
immediately convinced that given another place on our vessel she would have
proved to be a valuable 3rd crewmember.
Apparently she lived in the
nearby sea gypsy village and we surmised that
her capabilities stemmed from her people’s seafaring tradition.
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After completing our preparations, we enjoyed some
excellent Thai beach cuisine served by our new friends. After dinner, Yair
and friend engaged in a mutual language lesson.
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Kayak ready.
We optimized tent comfort by using beach restaurant shelter as a
makeshift camping platform.
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Next morning ready to set out.
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Arrival on Ko Khai Nai after first day’s paddling
and sailing. Picture taken at low tide. This little island becomes was almost
completely covered at high tide except for an area of about 100x100 meters
which has a day time bar and restaurant
built partially on stilts. A few boatloads of tourists are brought in
every day to enjoy the sun and clear waters and then the island is deserted at about 5pm. We arrived
just as the place was being evacuated by the last tourists. The owners
immediately agreed to our request to camp overnight and recommended that we
sleep on the restaurant’s deck to be safe from the tide. They even quickly
reopened the kitchen and cooked us a delicious seafood and fried rice meal,
pineapple shakes and a few beers before leaving us for the night.
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Alone on Ko Khai Nai. Yair enjoying a pineapple
shake after a long day.
KoYao Yai visible on the
horizon.
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“Bedroom” setup on the deck and behind table with meal kept warm on candle
burners thoughtfully left by the restaurant owners.
Later in the night the entire beach which is visible in the
background was covered by the tide and we slept lullabied by the sound of small waves under the
platform.
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Morning on Ko Khai Nai . Sunrise over KoYao Yai.
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Going north up the east coast of
KoYao Yai.
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The next night we camped in Ao Labu bay in Ko yao Yai. We set up tent in a
little shelter on the beach catering to local visitors. A nearby resident
offered to host us at his house in the forest. We politely declined since we
did not want to leave the kayak and other equipment alone. This did not deter
our friend: after we offered him a drink of some Thai whiskey (above) he
reciprocated with a full dinner which seemed to appear somewhat magically out
of the forest (maybe his cell-phone helped).
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After dinner we were joined by a
few of our host’s friends. Enjoying the post dinner beers..
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Rounding KoYao Yai’s north coast on very hot day.
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Heading east towards Ko Hong.
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Entrance to the Ko Hong lagoon.
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Lunch on the Krabi mainland. The joys of off season
travel:- we were often the only people around as was the case in this little
beach restaurant.
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Sailing south towards Ko Dam Hok which is seen in the right of the picture.
The white and gold building on the mainland hill is one of the Thai royal
family’s palaces.
Also passing by is a fishing
boat with long booms holding the spot lights used to attract squid at night.
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Zipping along at about 5 knots under sail to Ko Dam
Hok.
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Ko Dam Khwan in the morning.
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Ko Dam Khwan – waiting for some wind to come up before the crossing to Ko Pu.
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Low tide on Ko Dam Khwan with sand spit joining
neighboring islet.
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Mangroves on Ko Pu.
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While looking for the perfect camping spot we ran late and ended up doing a
night landing in small surf on Ko Pu.
The moonless night did not offer
any visibility and we were a bit apprehensive about possibly landing on
rocks.
A group of fishermen in a in a
passing long tail boat assured us that the place was free of rocks – and so
it was.
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After leaving Ko Pu we headed south towards Ko Lanta
bypassing Ko Klang which can be seen on our left.
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View from the bow. In calm
weather we reckoned heat exhaustion to
be a greater risk than any mishap on the water and thus kept our flotation
jackets tied to the mask.
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Leaving Ko Lanta after spending 2 days in a resort. A tropical storm was in
full blast and therefore we decided to take the protected inside passage
between Ko Lanta and Ko Klang. This still required about 3nm paddle in the
open sea to get from our beach to the channel.
Since the surf was quiet
significant in the center of the bay where we were staying we decided to
“walk” the kayak about 1/2 a nm to the edge of the bay where the ways were a
lot smaller.
Yair walking the kayak in torrential
rain.
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Leaving Ko Lanta through some big swells.
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Leaving Ko Lanta through some big swells.
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After a bit of excitement –
surf/sailing into the channel. Lanta town on the right.
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Mangroves and monkeys.
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Moored to a floating fish cages platform.
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More monkeys.
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Sailing at 5kts. Only effort - a strong lean to
starboard. Ko Bubu on the horizon.
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Lunch stop at a resort on Ko Ngai. Ko Muk, our
destination for the night, is the distant isle directly in line with the
mast.
Bamboo poles can be seen under
the kayak - we used a pair as rollers to facilitate easy hauling of the
loaded kayak up beaches prior to unpacking or for midday breaks.
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We were sometimes an attraction for boat loads of Thai sightseers – the boat
operators would change course and bring the ferries towards us.
After being ‘thoroughly’ photographed by half the boat and lots of laughs and
waves from the rest they’d continue on.
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After Ko Muk heading towards the mainland.
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We saw lots of kinds of jelly fish. Some places we
encountered a thick “soup” of small ones and had difficulty in launching or
landing without getting stung. In the open water we often saw very large specimens
near the surface like the one in the picture.
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Bow’s eye view of the crew.
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Laem Meng- end of the kayak journey.
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