Chasamba – Travels Across The Seas » Blog Archive

2009- From Cochin to Phuket

Filed December 31, 2009 at 6:41 am under by Administrator

It’s the last day of a good year, one in which we did all we hoped we would and experienced nearly only good experiences. After the difficulties of 2008, this year showed us the way life looks with the wind on the aft quarter! We have enjoyed every country we have visited, from Cochin, with its safe if mucky anchorage, to the Maldives where we were glad and surprised to be welcomed so warmly by wonderful people, Chagos where we met some of the most experienced cruisers in the world, Sri Lanka where we took part in their celebrations at the end of the long war, and finally Thailand, where we remembered what supermarkets look like ( and showers, and ice, and sun tan lotion, and toilet paper and..

In 2010 we will be on our way to Singapore, the Philippines and maybe Taiwan, although that is a little distant yet, the Philippines are huge and beautiful, according to what we have been told, so we will play it by ear. All we hope for is a year like this one was! We will see in the new year in Nai Harn, a well sheltered bay on the western side of Phuket. Most yachts have sailed round to Patong, only 5 miles or so away, to see the fireworks, but we really can’t be bothered- Patong is noisy at the best of times, and with over 100 yachts there it will probably be awful, with dingies buzzing all over the place, drunken parties and people being sick! Meanwhile we will have the sunset and full moon to ourselves in a tranquil empty bay.

One of the nicest experiences we had in Phuket was hauling out in the Asian-Phuket slipway, near Ratanachai. They were professional, pleasant and much cheaper than any haul out we have done in the past. We were hauled out on a cradle, a first time for us, and everything went smoothly, actually better than a travel lift, because there are less supports bothering the painting. There is a basic shower and clean toilets in the yard, and they have wifi although we didn’t manage to get it to work for some reason, anyway we were too busy and exhausted at the end of the day, as we did all the work by ourselves. We bought antifouling and topcoat locally- Thai paint is inexpensive and good. There is also a nice local restaurant with a really good cook just outside the slipway area, and we were sorry when it was time to leave!