The next leg of our trip is 9 days in Phuket, Thailand with 8 of those nights on a sailboat charter. The map below shows the general region where we will be sailing. At the end of the trip I will update with a nautical map showing our actual route.
Jan 28th.
Left Singapore for Thailand. Final gourmet buffet breakfast at Sheraton Towers. Inexpensive cab ride to the airport ($28USD). Singapore Airlines was lovely even in coach class with an unexpected meal. Arrived in Phuket airport and our drivers, arranged by Minh, were waiting for us. Took us a while to get some local currency out at the airport ATM’s. Lots of discussion on how much we needed, where was the best exchange rate.
The drive to our hotel in southern Phuket (Ao Yon) was interesting. Phuket looks like many poor rural regions around the world – ramshackle buildings along the road. Our hotel for one night was the lovely My Beach Resort. Facing west on the southeast tip of Phuket Island we had a lovely sunset from their beach bar around 6:30. The rooms were spacious and clean. We got an upgraded room that had access to a private pool the length of two regular pools.
The resort sits on a cliff so there are lots of stairs to move from street level to the rooms and the beach. There is a significant tide of as much as 5 feet every six hours. We had a lovely Thai dinner at the hotel restaurant facing the beach. Their buffet breakfast was sumptuous with western and asian food.
Jan 29th
We had time for beach walks, swimming in the infinity pool overlooking the beach and a shopping trip to town for towels and assorted sundries. And one of our crew found time for a bath on the soaker tub on their hotel patio. When our boat was ready for us, they brought a dinghy to the beach to load up all our suitcases.
We are sailing on Mahayana, a custom built Mumby 51 foot catamaran, aluminum built in a Malaysian island. The boat is operator owned by our captain Steve. We had originally been scheduled with another charter company but had to change boats because of crew illness. We are quite happy with this charter – in addition to the captain we have a Thai cook and two first mates. All of our meals are included and the food is healthy and tasty. The crew will run us to the beach in the dinghy or unload and load the water toys – SUP boards and kayaks. The cabins are a bit small but it isn’t an issue as we just sleep there.
The weather is not as hot as I expected. Mornings and evenings are cool and breezy in the high 70’s. Cabins are cool at night with open hatches and electric fans. During the day it warms up to 90 degrees so swimming is refreshing – water temps are maybe low 80’s.
Our first night on the boat we spent anchored in bay at the southern tip of Phuket. High winds were expected for a couple of days and Steve didn’t want to do a long haul sail with his newbie passengers. We swam, had massages at the beach followed by happy hour as sun went down and our first Thai dinner on board.
The skies are beautiful at night, filled with stars that we watch from the forward trampolines.
Jan 30th
Our destination was the island of Koh Roche, a motor ride for a couple of hours. The bay was very busy with day trippers – dive boats, fishing boats, long boats taxiing the passengers to the beach. We had time to swim off the back of the boat, paddle the kayaks and explore the island.
I had two highlights of the day. The first was a short SUP ride to the beach – it has probably been five years since I got on a board and it came back, like riding a bike. The other was a group hike across the island to the Bamboo Bar on Siam Bay. We were the only people on the beach. A beautiful spot. They are building a new fancy hotel (Roche Island Resort) so it will be a busy beach when the project is done.
Kop’s dinner was the best so far. We asked her to take up the spice a notch or two as we are getting acclimated to Thai foods.
Lovely evening spent on the trampoline listening to music, watching the stars and getting to know each other. We are four couples and not everyone knew each other at the start of our trip. So far everyone is very compatible and there has been no drama and none expected. Nash did leave his passport at the hotel but we will get it on the way back to the Phuket airport.