Laccam Harbour (#1) to Outram Island

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Ian McHenry
28 Dec 2011 | Start: 0855, finish: 1730 | Eng hrs: 1812.9 – 1815.1 | Avg RPM 2,500 | Conditions: Big seas (~3m) with 15-20kt winds

Anchored too close to coral, should anchor more west of coral patch next to starboard nav beacon next time. Anchor chain stuck around coral. Adam dove 4 times to free up the anchor in 5.5m of water. Finally came free, and headed for Inglis Island. Good winds leaving the channel – once we brought out the heady, left it reefed to Rolly Tasker logo (about 2/3). Left Pilot reef to port and passed closely to the breakers off Havelock #3. Tacked to go north. Steady wind and big seas. Boat handled okay – inner shrouds flapping, especially port side. Will test at anchor if they make a musical tone or not, but it isn’t looking good. Passed tip at John Lawrence and surf looked ok. Henry Lawrence looked like it had good surf the length of the east side as well, but need to check the depths. Also, swell was quite large. Approximately 2nm from Inglis, took in the heady and started the engine as course we couldn’t point high enough to avoid the rocks ahead without tacking, and we didn’t want to go too far out of our way today. Easy anchor to west of sand spit around northwest side in sand, 7m. Seas still big, but dinghy in was okay. Beautiful, deserted island, but snorkeling was non-existent. Dead coral, and very little of it. Lots of nice shells all over the beach, untouched. Ate lunch (nutella and PB sandwiches), relaxed, and walked through the banyan jungle to top of sandstone bluffs along south side. As we had anchored, alarm for engine went off after we switched to neutral. Checked gearbox oil and engine oil – levels ok. Remembered engine guys had knocked off a rubber cap on the coolant temperature sensor when re-aligning the compressor bracket. The screw had worked its way out (presumably due to more intense vibrations in neutral than when underway), and was shorting on a stabilizer arm for the compressor. Put screw back in w/o washer and jimmied the rubber boot back on. Alarm went away and the temperature gauge was working again. 3.5nm motor to Outram Island. Easy anchor in 12.5m with amazingly calm protection to the west of the reef despite the large swell breaking over the eastern side of the island.

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Havelock #7 Beach to Laccam Harbour (#1) via Elephant Bay

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Ian McHenry
27 Dec 2011 | Start: 0615, finish: 0100 | Eng hrs: 1810.6 – 1812.9 | Avg RPM: 2,200 | Conditions: 6-10kt winds N/NE, 1m swell

Early start at #7, going to get to Elephant Bay the easy way after our hiking fiasco.  Motor sailed, tough to sail going north, and only 6-10kts of breeze for most of it.  Seems like there is always a reason why sailing is difficult or impossible – feel guilty for using the motor as frequently as we do.  Anchored just off a shelf in 10m and snorkeled to shore.  Very close to 3m bombies.  Visibility pretty poor, apparently due to recent rains and the sea temperature last year reaching 31 degrees Celsius, which bleached the coral, algae came, etc.  Deserted beach full of white corpses of once-majestic trees, white sand, hermit crabs, and small water snakes.  The tourist boats began to arrive around 9am, Indian tourists changing into their swimming costumes all over the beach.  Found some reasonable snorkeling visibility away from the many streams / rivers coming into the sea from the beach.  Angel fish, parrot fish, puffers, etc but nothing magnificent.  Picked up anchor and motored to Laccam, along the way I managed to spill a cup of tea, which instantly stained the white gelcoat in many places, as well as a shirt being laundered on the sugar scoop – oops.  Took several hours of working with bleach to eliminate the tea trail.  Ian and I went to get Airtel credit (R240 each), then continued to #3 for Internet to submit docs for our CAIT.  Luckily dial-up worked – slowly.  Got eggs, limes, sodas, snacks, and bread.  Back to the boat, Payal made aloo masala sandwiches, and we had a couple drinks before going ashore again.  For dinner, Café del Mar at Barefoot Scuba.  Got scuba spots and advice, they refill tanks for R300, and even picked up an Indian flag from a nice guy named Gaurav (the flag subsequently disintegrated in the wind and blew away, unfortunately).  Ran the dinghy aground on coral heading into shore in pitch blackness.  Paddled back out to the boat using – shocker – the oars.

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Lazy day at Havelock #7

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Ian McHenry
Not much good snorkeling, but stunning jungle meets beach scenery. Lots of local Indian tourists, few farang. Plenty of transport options including a public bus, and restaurants and food stalls, but not a real village, just a beach spot catering to tourists.

Walked a long way (~4km) in bare feet looking for the start of an unmarked jungle trail to Elephant Bay. We finally found it with the majority of our patience spent. Turned back after 30 minutes wading through knee-deep mud on a rough, unclear trail with no markings. Better to sail there.

Police kick everyone off the beach every day at dusk. We landed the dinghy in the evening with the intention of going to #3 for dinner and Internet, and had to negotiate with the police who seemed to be looking for a handout. Payal got involved and told them we had no food on the boat, and we desperately needed to email documents which we could only do in #3. After some discussion, they changed their tone and were giving us restaurant recommendations in #3 shortly thereafter (we should have listened more carefully than we did).

Motor bike ride over to #3, terrible dinner at a seafood restaurant in #3 after waiting an hour (and ordering samosas to tide us over in the meantime). Internet was down – dial-up from BSDN but the phone lines were not working. Soaked on the way back to the boat from the breakers.

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Port Blair to Havelock #7

Posted on December 25, 2010 by Ian McHenry
25 Dec 2011 | Start 1306, finish: 1800 | Eng hrs: 1805.4 – 1810.6 | Avg RPM: 2,500 | Conditions: 1m seas with 20kt winds on the bow, increasing to heavy chop
After provisioning in Port Blair and unsuccessfully trying to activate Airtel data plan on our phones (in fact, foreigners are not even allowed to have SIM cards in India!), we departed Chatham Island. Did not radio CONTROL before leaving, and they later called and politely scolded us. Due to our late start, we would arrive after dark (sun sets at 5pm). Motored into the wind. Mainsail did nothing, or hurt our speed, so we pulled that in too. Easy motor, lots of ferries going to Havelock. Payal got sick from her first (rough) time at sea in conjunction with a cold she was fighting. Easy anchor in 9m, gently sloping sand all the way. Could have gone in closer.
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Koh Phanak to Koh Hong via Koh Ping Kan and Koh Pan Yi

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Ian McHenry
12/12/2010 11:00 to 18:00
Engine hrs 1752.2 start, 1762.3 stop
Rainy all morning, clear in afternoon, raining at dusk with 28 kts squalls
Rainy morning spent uploading blog entries. Still raining as we passed Koh hong and the cave entrance, so shot the curl around E side of Koh Hong and headed to James Bond Island (Koh Ping Kan). Beautiful karsts everywhere, shallow but not too shallow – have to keep a decent eye on the depth gauge. Charts generally on the safe side wrt depths (deeper in reality). Rain cleared after lunch anchored by James Bond Island, dinghy ashored. Dodged persistent ranger wanting 200 baht / px park fee. Bollywood movie filming on beachside. Swam to the pinnacle, Ian climbed up a bit and jumped off. Back to the boat to get money to pay ranger, who offered 500 baht price w/ no ticket (vs. 600 baht w/ ticket). First taste of corruption in Thailand. Insisted on tickets so we could use them throughout the Phang-nga park waters, so he took us to the legit HQ to buy. Motored to Koh Panyi, the village on stilts at the base of a cliff. Batteries got down below 80% with 3 days of docking and good sailing. Anchored around NE side behind massive limestone wall. Gets shallow quickly. Dinghy around to back side (west side) where more authentic, walked through labyrinth of houses / stalls – very much like an arab bazaar. Great early supper of seafood fried rice and sweet tea / sweet roti. Dan bought some pearl earrings and a wooden spoon (lady asked 250 baht, Ian said 30, agreed on 50). As soon as sails out on way back, slammed into a 27 kt squall. Turn into wind, sails in, then U turn to avoid shallow water dead ahead. Motor into Koh Hong anchorage around SE side, away from the 4 other boats on the E side.
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Royal Phuket YC to Koh Phanak

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Ian McHenry
11/12/2010 12:15 to 16:00
1755.5 engine hrs start, 1757.2 engine hours stop
Calm seas, frequent rain gusts
Left Royal Phuket on time with rising tide (high 2.9m at 13:56). Motor out of channel and sails up, engine off almost immediately. Beautiful sail up through Phang-nga bay. Rain would roll in bursts, up to 20 kts but on beam or slightly behind with little swell. Anchored very close in on E side of Phanak by a little hong where seacanoe trips stop. Swam to shore, little free solo rock climbing. Long tail fisherman showed up and sold us 16 giant prawns for 200 baht – best shrimp ever tasted. Put in a red curry w/ veggies and opened a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. Almost no rolling all night.
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