Spirit houses and the sailing business

We enjoyed our time sailing over the last few days. It was interesting to get to know the skipper and crew, as was inevitable really since we were living together in close quarters for a few days. I suspect that if you live with just about anyone for a little while and show some interest you'll get their life story soon enough. The skipper Kunta was the German business owner of the boat, who also owned a couple of catamarans and one or two smaller monohull sailboats. He was a little older than us and has been in Thailand making a living ever since he arrived as a backpacker in the early '90's.

He is now married to a Norwegian and his kids and wife are currently back in Norway for the summer break. He has a staff of about ten Thai employees who skipper and crew the other boats. The first mate Don is a typical example of his staff. As Kunta explained it, he can't advertise in the newspaper for a qualified employee, and he needs to hire Thai people. So through word of mouth he would ask for referrals for someone with potential. Don was hired five years ago at age 16 and didn't speak any English or have any sailing experience. Nor does Kunta speak much Thai, which he said is very difficult to learn. I'm told most Thais do not finish high school, so Kunta usually ends up hiring those without a great deal of schooling.

Now Don skippers one of Kunta's other boats most of the time and is completing his high school education on the side. Kunta said he invests so much time in each employee that it is very disruptive when one of his staff leaves. It was quite interesting to interact with a young Thai person and get some glimpse into his world. If Don were to improve his English some more and continue to apply himself, I'm sure he could run a business like Kunta's one day. I think as I get older I think more about the younger generation and wish them well as they start their careers.

We woke up today in a hotel after a restful sleep with fresh sheets and towels. What a treat. I like our bathroom, which has a bathtub exposed to the the sky. Once I cleared out a few leaves which fell into the tub, I enjoyed a relaxing soak with the birds chirping. I think I also smelled marijuana wafting by, perhaps from a neighbouring bathroom. This is a very small resort with one small pool which we seem to have to ourselves most of the time. Catheleen and Elizabeth went out for pedicures and to drop off the laundry, John went along the beach for an adventure, and I enjoyed some time by the pool.

By the pool I noticed yet another spirit house, which are everywhere.  Most Thai houses or buildings have a house of spirits. Every morning the owner is supposed to feed the spirits of the land, to calm them and assure good blessings for the owner of the house. At these places you usually find all sorts of things for the spirits including incense, flowers, food, drink and little figurines representing servants to serve the spirits, dancers for entertainment, and elephants and horses for transportation. This one has all of the above. 

Fish caught by light bulbs and chill lounge music

The first mate Dong was kind enough to interact with our kids throughout the sail trip. Last night Dong took the dinghy over with John to a fishing boat in our cove to drop off soft drinks for some of the crew. There were about 20 fishing boats in the cove. Many of them were banded together in groups of four or five, all with their bows facing the same way. The boats were about 40 or 50 feet long, brightly painted in light blue or aqua with orange or red trim, all looking like miniature paddle wheel boats without the paddle wheels. There we also many fishing boats that looked much the same except they had many long booms stretching out 40 or 50 feet on both sides of the boat, about 20 feet above the water. These boats had light bulbs attached all along the booms. I understand the lights are used for night fishing, and all manner of fish are attracted to the lights and so into the fisherman's nets.

On the way to dinner Dong brought the kids to the 7-11 store, which are everywhere, to pick up some banana pancakes for dessert. The Thai-style pancakes are a special treat and there are little pancake stands everywhere. The stands consist of not much more than a fancy wheelbarrow cart with one heat plate to cook up a crepe, which is filled with bananas and Nutella, folded and cut up into squares. They are very good.

It was a restless last night on the boat as the winds picked up with light rain falling. The anchor chain clanked against the hull, the halyards hummed in the breeze, and the lines bashed and battered about. Catheleen and I both slept okay with earplugs and the careless responsibilities of passengers. The skipper and crew, on the other hand, felt the weight of responsibility for the boat and all aboard and so did not have a restful sleep. I later heard they were up top a few times through the night to check that the anchor wasn't dragging, wrapping the lines and what-not.After breakfast we sailed over to another cove and then hiked up to a small waterfall. I say hiked because that is what the skipper was expecting, based on his last visit. It turned out that nothing stays static here for long as a road and stairs had been built since. It was just as well that most of the walk was on a road since I was in flip-flops. The water was cooling, and we all enjoyed putting ourselves into the flow of the waterfall. John was concerned about the anaconda situation but he was assured that we wouldn't see any big snakes in the little stream.

I knew lunch would be special when we arrived in the Haan Yuan cove and started our way up the bolders and cliffs to the Bamboo Huts. We first passed a bamboo tattoo hut. Next up the bolders was a juice hut, and then we passed a hot-rock massage hut. After walking up along wooden walkways made with rickety sticks for posts and leftover wood for planking, we arrived to the sounds of chill lounge music in the air. With a large poster of Bob Marley on the wall, I knew this place was a bit different. In an open area there were some people lying down on mats and pillows enjoying a juice smoothy or just meditating. There were others at tables having something to eat or staring into the sea. With all the tie dye, sarongs, and young tanned people around, it did have the feel of an updated and international dropout scene. I was told that there are many backpackers and other guests who stay here long term. Some get involved taking or teaching yoga or meditation. We had lunch on the floor on pillows at a short table, and enjoyed a great meal. This is the first time we've had brown rice rather than white jasmine rice with our meal. It was actually reddish in colour and worked well with the Masaman curry and other dishes. We were served by Burmese staff, some of whom wore yellow paste on their faces. I inquired and was told that the yellow paste is traditionally used for sun protection, and is also used for show. One young man was wearing the paste on his face in stripes like I imagine a Native American warrior might look. After lunch and beach time we popped champaign that the captain brought along for our final voyage, had a toast, and then left Mae Haat with a strong breeze on a starboard tack for our way back to Koh Samui. We had a great time on this sailing trip and I was sad to see the trip end.

Komodo dragons and steering the boat

In the evening we had dinner in the same bay in Koh Tao where we were yesterday. The kids befriended the local dog named Durian. He was a big dog with black and white markings that looked like a pit bull, and the kids fawned over him shamelessly. I wonder how he got his name. We suspect he likes to eat Durian.

I think we all slept well on our second night on the boat, either because we were tired or because we were more used to sleeping on the boat. In the morning after we woke up it rained for 20 minutes or so and we needed to batten down the hatches to keep the rain out. We spent the morning in the cove paddle boarding and snorkelling. Somehow Elizabeth and John talked the first mate named Dont into giving them joy rides on a paddle board behind the dingy. John would stand up on the paddle board, holding onto a rope attached to the board for balance. 

For the afternoon we sailed back to Koh Pha Ngan and I steered the boat for much of the way with the wind running perpendicular to us on a beam reach. It was good fun and I really enjoyed it. This how John described the 'ordeal' (he commandeered my iPad when I wasn't looking and wrote this):

"Hello it's John's ambush of doom here. I just want to tell you that I almost died at the hands of Dad after he dramatically drove the sail boat. Let me back up to explain how he actually got the right to get his hands on the fate of my life, that is, how he got permission to drive the sailboat. He got bored, straight up, and the captain let him steer the boat. As you can see, I already had the urge to strand myself with a Bengal tiger watching the entire ship sink before my eyes (Elizabeth being the Bengal tiger and in the scene of the movie 'Life Of Pie'). First of all I can already say that the waves were over the top for another stupidly Dad crazy reason! He got hungry and so he was fed by mom with some papaya, which is a tasty treat AWAY FROM THE STEERING WHEEL! SO THAT WE CAN ALL ENJOY IT OURSELVES! That's what I wanted to say."

We last ended up at a beach near the Panvaman Resort, where we stayed the last two times when in Thailand. The last time we were here we  walked down to the beach from the cliffs where we had our meals at the Star Huts. This was a low key place where you could rent a hut with a sand floor and order from a restaurant that also had a sand floor. I think I managed to make it for almost two weeks in bare feet. The first time we stayed at the Panvaman we watched large lizards something like Komodo dragons roam at the bottom of the steep slope from our hotel. Sadly no Star Huts or Komodo dragons this time. The beach was transformed into a series of resorts, but was still fabulous with its white sand and views of the hills. 

Here are the kids on the dingy on the way to the Panvaman beach.

Snorkel till you drop

Last night we had dinner at the only restaurant in this small cove.  We took the dingy from our sailboat to the wharf, which consisted of two floating docks with a four foot gap between them. It was dark and at first we weren't sure how to cross the space. Elizabeth quickly discovered that there was a rope which joined these two docks, which she pulled to close the gap. So we all leaped over, with Elizabeth keeping the open water at bay like a little strong man. As we walked the remaining way along rickety decking, I imagined we were on an adventure passing obstacles like tests to be overcome.

We slept onboard in the cabins below, one in the bow and one in the stern. I don't think anyone had a really good night's sleep except perhaps for the skipper and crew, who were used to sleeping on a boat. I was told that conditions for sleeping were near ideal for this part of the world, with a fresh breeze blowing and the boat gently rocking through the night. I did find it very peaceful though to be lulled to sleep by the ebb and flow of the boat movement, with the sound of water lapping against the hull.

We started the second day on the boat with a morning of snorkeling and paddle boarding. We then slipped our moorings for our day trip to circumnavigate Koh Tao and return to the same place we started off our day. Our first stop was Shark Island for face time with the sharks, which were supposedly one meter long with black fins and not dangerous. As we snorkled around the small island, we unfortunately did not see any sharks. We did however have some difficulty crossing over one point as we tried to make our way around a rocky outcropping. As the small waves rolled in there was just enough room to float over the rocks to the other side. I should have turned around, but I didn't, and so we did get a few cuts crossing and then returning.  After feeling the sting of cuts in salt water, we returned John and Elizabeth to the boat and then Catheleen and I continued on. The coral life and fish are so varied and interesting it's hard to describe. You just have to see it for yourself. 

We stopped at a few other alcoves and beaches along the way around the island of Koh Tao. Mid-afternoon we stopped at the only town on the island called Mae Haad where the ferry crosses over from Koh Pha Ngan. The main street was bustling with activity as young backpackers made their way around, some looking for accommodations and some waiting for the ferry. It reminded me of Koh Pha Ngan years ago when it was filled with backpackers, Catheleen and I among them. 

We then stopped at one last beach before we made port for the night for more snorkeling. The skipper said we would snorkel till we drop today and we certainly had our fill. Catheleen and Elizabeth saw a large school of parrot fish and I saw a school of small fish which was so large and packed together it looked like a moving black swarm. I swam through schools of small fish today and it was interesting how they would divide up and then meet back together after I was clear of them. 

The skipper was then concerned that a storm was approaching, but after a few minutes it became clear that the storm would miss us. We did experience the remnants of the storm on the way back to our mooring with some gusts and big waves that made for a fun ride. John and Elizabeth rode at the front of the boat, which received the most movement as the boat rose and crashed in the rolling waves. The skipper had to turn around a one point so we were head to wind as a gust and wave approached.  It was quite a ride.