Last night I was invited to a party at the owner of Coconuts Bar’s house. The bar was closed for the elections that are being held. Pretty silly law, but what can you do? I taxied into Chalong and picked up my laundry and a bite to eat. At the restaurant, they had wi-fi, so I downloaded the soft ware necessary to make my new phone work as a modem for my computer. Then Keith picked me up and we went to the party together. She worked hard and had a lavish buffet with roast duck, pork loin, scalloped potatoes, and a lot of other goodies. I was well fed.
After dinner and chatting, there were three girls visiting from Oot’s original village, and they were trained Thai masseuses. Oot asked me if I would like a massage, and I jumped at the chance. I got worked over for an hour and a half, and found out that I had muscles that I never knew were there. The girl was only about 4’10” tall and just a little thing, but she sure can crunch some bones. After it was done, I felt like new and went for a walk to let things settle down a bit. Keith then took me back to the boat. When I left, I had checked the tide chart, and high tide was as two AM. I did not pull the dink all the way up knowing that, so I only had to turn it around and push it into the rising tide, caught a wave, and I was afloat and paddled out past the surf line. What a treat! The easiest beach launch that I have had and only got wet to below my knees.
When I wrote about the King’s Cup, I forgot to tell about one of the highlights at the Chalong party. There was a fellow there that was fixed up to look like a statue. When I came through the entrance, he was standing there. He is one of those guys that doesn’t move or even blink for long stretches of time. Later, he moved to the stage area wine counter, and we had some fun with him. Cindy figured that she should tip him, so she folded twenty baht and stuck it in his pocket so that it stuck out like a fan. It was breezy, and he didn’t want his tip to blow away, so he did a real quick grab and tuck, and then struck another pose. Someone else gave him a cigarette, and lit it for him. He was smoking with hardly any movement. It was really quite cool. A lot of people posed and took pictures with him.
This morning, the weather is warm and quite breezy. I have seen gusts to 32 knots. Thank God that I’m here and not in Chalong Bay. The boat is moving around a bit and dancing on the anchor line, but actually very pleasant motion. Today, the floors come back up as I am working on the hoses and fittings beneath it. Happy B-Day to Clara's brother Doug, hope he's still keeping track of me with google earth.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Jeff's Log ~ Saturday December 15th, 2007
7 46.518N 98 18.156E Naihan Beach, Thailand
Well, I finally have my new visa, and won’t have to go through this bond affair again. Yesterday I made my visa run to Burma. There were thirty five of us on the bus for the ride to Ranong. On Thursday, I went to immigration in Phuket Town, and had to give them 22,500baht, around 700US, and they gave me my clearance to leave. Next week, I will get 20,000baht returned to me. The visa run costs 1500baht, around 50US, and it is an all day affair.
I got up at 5:00AM and met the driver at 6. It was dead low tide, which meant that I really got a good workout dragging the dink up to the dry sand line. The tides change by 3 meters here which means a 10 foot change in elevation. I had to drag the dingy about 15 yards through the sand, and there was absolutely no one around to ask for help. I really hope that the boat’s dingy gets back soon with the new fold down wheels on it. I took a large bottle of water with me to have after my workout, and by the time the driver got there, I was cooling down a bit. He cranked the ac. down for me, and we drove all around and into Phuket town picking up people in his minibus. He then rendezvoused with a big tour bus and we all got on that.
We left on the big bus at 7. At 9, we stopped at a Lion’s Club for breakfast. It was a buffet with western and Thai selections. The Thai food looked and smelled wonderful, so that’s what I had. I’m not sure of everything’s name, but I do know that one of my favorites, pad thai, was part of it. Then it was back on the bus and we didn’t stop again until Ranong where we cleared out at immigration. They then took us to the boat. The walk from the bus to the boat was through a rather foul smelling alley and warehouse. Inside the warehouse, there were people living in crudely constructed lofts, with five or six people in each family, including many small children. That has something to do with the foul smelling alley, I’m sure.
We all boarded a wooden boat, about forty feet long. There were a few young strong Thai guys to help everyone get on board. After a short trip through a very muddy bay, we came to the dock in Burma in a town called Kawthaung. There, everyone got off the boat, and we all walked across a bridge to the immigration office, got our passports stamped, and got back on the boat. In the short time that we were there, the local natives swarmed on us and were selling everything from local fresh fruit to hard liquor, and trying every tactic in the book to try to get you to buy from them. One pregnant lady had some fine looking fish and chips, so I got some of that for 10baht, about thirty cents. It was really good too!
The lady sitting in front of me was a missionary, and she started handing out 100baht notes to all of the gang. She just about started a riot because the natives became like a flock of sea gulls. She was all smiling though and said she was glad she could bring blessings to such poor people. All I can say is that if it feels good, do it. We chatted all the way back. She was from Kansas, and has been here teaching for three years.
When we got back to the dock, we boarded the bus for the short ride to Ranong immigration and checked back in. I now have a regular tourist visa, so I won’t have to go through the yacht crew bond situation again. There are visa runs that must be made every thirty days though. After check in, another short bus ride to stop at a small lunch buffet. This time, it was rice with a veggie stir fry, or veggie and chicken stir fry, with a fried egg and some watermelon slices. It was really pretty tasty.
The bus ride home was just like the one on the way up. The elevation changes make the road very steep and windy, and thusly slow for a big, high tour bus. I was a little disappointed in the scenery. The road has been there so long that nature has grown right to the road and you can’t see much except a wall of trees and very tall bamboo in the undeveloped sections. There are very few roads, so it seems like you just go from town to town because everything has to be accessible by road. The towns all pretty much look alike. Up north, there does seem to be a little more space, and some wealthier people judging by the look of some of the places we went by. For the most part though, I would call the landscaping zeros cape. What grows grows, what dies dies, and if it’s in the way, it gets burned.
I finally returned to the boat at about 9:30. It was low tide again. So I had to drag the dink all the way down to the water. A young German lad and his girlfriend were nice enough to give me a hand.
I slept very well after my long day of visa run. Next time, I’ll take a book to read.
Well, I finally have my new visa, and won’t have to go through this bond affair again. Yesterday I made my visa run to Burma. There were thirty five of us on the bus for the ride to Ranong. On Thursday, I went to immigration in Phuket Town, and had to give them 22,500baht, around 700US, and they gave me my clearance to leave. Next week, I will get 20,000baht returned to me. The visa run costs 1500baht, around 50US, and it is an all day affair.
I got up at 5:00AM and met the driver at 6. It was dead low tide, which meant that I really got a good workout dragging the dink up to the dry sand line. The tides change by 3 meters here which means a 10 foot change in elevation. I had to drag the dingy about 15 yards through the sand, and there was absolutely no one around to ask for help. I really hope that the boat’s dingy gets back soon with the new fold down wheels on it. I took a large bottle of water with me to have after my workout, and by the time the driver got there, I was cooling down a bit. He cranked the ac. down for me, and we drove all around and into Phuket town picking up people in his minibus. He then rendezvoused with a big tour bus and we all got on that.
We left on the big bus at 7. At 9, we stopped at a Lion’s Club for breakfast. It was a buffet with western and Thai selections. The Thai food looked and smelled wonderful, so that’s what I had. I’m not sure of everything’s name, but I do know that one of my favorites, pad thai, was part of it. Then it was back on the bus and we didn’t stop again until Ranong where we cleared out at immigration. They then took us to the boat. The walk from the bus to the boat was through a rather foul smelling alley and warehouse. Inside the warehouse, there were people living in crudely constructed lofts, with five or six people in each family, including many small children. That has something to do with the foul smelling alley, I’m sure.
We all boarded a wooden boat, about forty feet long. There were a few young strong Thai guys to help everyone get on board. After a short trip through a very muddy bay, we came to the dock in Burma in a town called Kawthaung. There, everyone got off the boat, and we all walked across a bridge to the immigration office, got our passports stamped, and got back on the boat. In the short time that we were there, the local natives swarmed on us and were selling everything from local fresh fruit to hard liquor, and trying every tactic in the book to try to get you to buy from them. One pregnant lady had some fine looking fish and chips, so I got some of that for 10baht, about thirty cents. It was really good too!
The lady sitting in front of me was a missionary, and she started handing out 100baht notes to all of the gang. She just about started a riot because the natives became like a flock of sea gulls. She was all smiling though and said she was glad she could bring blessings to such poor people. All I can say is that if it feels good, do it. We chatted all the way back. She was from Kansas, and has been here teaching for three years.
When we got back to the dock, we boarded the bus for the short ride to Ranong immigration and checked back in. I now have a regular tourist visa, so I won’t have to go through the yacht crew bond situation again. There are visa runs that must be made every thirty days though. After check in, another short bus ride to stop at a small lunch buffet. This time, it was rice with a veggie stir fry, or veggie and chicken stir fry, with a fried egg and some watermelon slices. It was really pretty tasty.
The bus ride home was just like the one on the way up. The elevation changes make the road very steep and windy, and thusly slow for a big, high tour bus. I was a little disappointed in the scenery. The road has been there so long that nature has grown right to the road and you can’t see much except a wall of trees and very tall bamboo in the undeveloped sections. There are very few roads, so it seems like you just go from town to town because everything has to be accessible by road. The towns all pretty much look alike. Up north, there does seem to be a little more space, and some wealthier people judging by the look of some of the places we went by. For the most part though, I would call the landscaping zeros cape. What grows grows, what dies dies, and if it’s in the way, it gets burned.
I finally returned to the boat at about 9:30. It was low tide again. So I had to drag the dink all the way down to the water. A young German lad and his girlfriend were nice enough to give me a hand.
I slept very well after my long day of visa run. Next time, I’ll take a book to read.
Jeff's Log ~ Wednesday, December 12th 2007
Yesterday the day started nice and early with the dingy repair guys coming and telling me that it’s made of Hypalon which is a material that can be repaired. They brought a loner dingy with them, and the boys and I proceeded to switch over the engine and fuel tank. I then went with them to fill out repair order and talk things over with Hans. We agreed on what repairs were necessary, and by that time, the morning was gone. I got a bite to eat, and then tried to get the paperwork needed for my visa at yet another bank. I still do not have what immigration wants, so I went to Rucker’s bungalow and told him of my woes. He gave me his marina’s telephone number, and I called there. The girl there said she could help, but I have to come in person. That will be today’s mission.
In the mean time, the loaner dingy is even harder to pull through the sand, so I decided that I would tie it to the swim area buoy line, and wade out to it on my return, when the tide would be up. Well, here comes another hard earned lesson. When the tide comes in here, it is somewhat captured because of the shape of the bay, so right at the shore line, big rolling waves are generated. The fuel tank does not have a tie down in the loaner, so in the waves, it was free to fly around, and it did. When I came back, the fuel tank was floating upside down attached to the boat with only the fuel line. I didn’t run the engine because I don’t really need salt water getting in the carburetor, so I paddled the dingy back to the boat Indian style, because there are no oar locks on this boat. Thank God that we had put the oars in when we transferred dinghies.
In the mean time, the loaner dingy is even harder to pull through the sand, so I decided that I would tie it to the swim area buoy line, and wade out to it on my return, when the tide would be up. Well, here comes another hard earned lesson. When the tide comes in here, it is somewhat captured because of the shape of the bay, so right at the shore line, big rolling waves are generated. The fuel tank does not have a tie down in the loaner, so in the waves, it was free to fly around, and it did. When I came back, the fuel tank was floating upside down attached to the boat with only the fuel line. I didn’t run the engine because I don’t really need salt water getting in the carburetor, so I paddled the dingy back to the boat Indian style, because there are no oar locks on this boat. Thank God that we had put the oars in when we transferred dinghies.
Jeff's Log ~ Monday, December 12th, 2007
After resting and recovering from the hard race on Saturday, it’s time to get to work again. Today is a holiday here, so banks and government offices are closed. I went to the dingy repair shop and met with the owner, and he is sending a man to look at the poor dink tomorrow morning. The regatta was fun. We were anchored right next to a boat named “Yo Mo”. At the fire plug, we have No- Mow. I’ll send a picture of her. I’ll try to remember to take pictures of some of the yards for you Mike.
Most people don’t have yards fixed up. The wealthier people do, the working people may not even have a yard. Some of the living areas border right on the street with barely enough room to park a car. Some people put up a corrugated steel shack and pay no rent, and have whatever happens to be there for landscaping. This is a relatively poor area. The minimum wage was just increased to 193baht per day. That is about six bucks! The length of the day is not specified either. Some workers put in twelve hour days for that. Very often, there are families of five or six living in one room with a hot plate. A lot of the cooking gets done outdoors under make shift canopies to keep the rain off of the fire. The dirt seems to be a reddish color, but not really clay-like, it seems a little looser in consistency. The sand on the beaches is very fine and smooth and covers everything that it contacts. I remove about a pound of it every day from the dingy when I bail it in the morning. Later this week, I will go back to pulling it out of the water at night again, and then a lot of that will drain when I pull the plug.
Most people don’t have yards fixed up. The wealthier people do, the working people may not even have a yard. Some of the living areas border right on the street with barely enough room to park a car. Some people put up a corrugated steel shack and pay no rent, and have whatever happens to be there for landscaping. This is a relatively poor area. The minimum wage was just increased to 193baht per day. That is about six bucks! The length of the day is not specified either. Some workers put in twelve hour days for that. Very often, there are families of five or six living in one room with a hot plate. A lot of the cooking gets done outdoors under make shift canopies to keep the rain off of the fire. The dirt seems to be a reddish color, but not really clay-like, it seems a little looser in consistency. The sand on the beaches is very fine and smooth and covers everything that it contacts. I remove about a pound of it every day from the dingy when I bail it in the morning. Later this week, I will go back to pulling it out of the water at night again, and then a lot of that will drain when I pull the plug.
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