Thailand continued... so then we chartered a yacht

Please excuse me if this post is a hyperbolic, excitable mish-mash - I can't help myself. Our yacht charter with Nick on his very own floating home: C-Turtle is probably the best thing I've ever done, ever will do... ever will look forward to doing again (we will definitely be going back if he'll have us). I'm addicted. 

I did warn you.

We started out from Phuket and worked our way to Phi Phi via Koh Racha Nai, Koh Racha Yai, two other jungle mounds rising out of azure sea and Koh Phi Phi itself. You can pretty much set the itinerary yourself as long as Nick is free to take you and you can get to where you want to in good time. On the first day, we arrived on our boat, ran around deck gleefully imagining ourselves tugging on ropes, hoisting sails and catching our dinner before lying back and watching our expert hosts get to it. Well someone had to mix the cocktails and keep an eye out for pirates!

Our first night, we moored by an island without another soul in sight, ate a beautiful fish dinner cooked by the extraordinarily talented Pa - resident sea chef extraudinare, and fell asleep in our gently rocking bunker by ten o' clock. The next morning, the sunlight on the water lapping at our windows woke us up and we emerged to see the sun rise over the ocean in a pastel haze. One day into rising and sleeping in time with the sun and we felt so much healthier and energetic than we had in years. 

 

Our first full day on the boat was spent meandering from snorkelling spot to snorkelling spot, each time overcoming my terror of sea beasts faster than the last. We'd swim up to rocky outlets, taking comfort in the fact that Nick was spear fishing nearby. 

A not so giant squ

We saw (of the things I can name or have since looked up): stone fish, lion fish, crocodile nosed needle fish, blue needlefish, giant starfish in all colours: pink, green, yellow neons, moray eels. Sadly you'll have to take my word for it as this is usually an above water blog, so I don't yet have an underwater camera.

Dinner! (well part of it anyway)

Pa making sure we were anchored.

Lunches were light and delicious - a diverting interval from cocktail hours (multiple), reading and swimming. A boat holiday is the perfect antidote to hotel-holiday routine where relaxation swiftly turns to boredom and days become punctuated by the next meal time. On the boat, each hour brought something different, we were never waiting around, sunbathing for the sake of it or anticipating being fed. Life moved at a different pace; both slower, and more enjoyable. That week, I swore to never go to a hotel again. Of course, we immediately did but that had always been part of the plan and was the perfect way to end the trip - watch this space for details. 

Nick caught fish, lobster and squid during the afternoons, which Pa turned into incredible Thai dishes that we washed down with white wine and vodka cocktails after sun down. 

Before setting sail, we filled out a preference form which your team (skipper and chef) prepare a rough meal plan around so you can be sure to love whatever's on the menu. You can request for drinks to be already on-board when you arrive, but the distinct lack of good quality wine across Thailand meant that we preferred to buy all ours in England duty free. 

Sunsets were spent sipping champagne and sitting on the boat edge, revelling in feeling tiny and alone against an unpopulated Renaissance canvass. One evening the sunset went on for well over an hour, turning from a sacharine whipped cream advert to an angry red line across the sky. It was so breathtaking that neither of us said a word. Our photos don't do it justice.

As we neared the end of our time at sea and started mentally preparing for the shock of being land locked once more (I'm sooo seahardy now...), we made the most of being able to explore the coastline both in and out of the water. The volcanic formations, covered in jungles beckoned with ice-white beaches which we swam out to. Every new rock formation on a cliff edge plummeted into the ocean, metres and metres beneath sea level, making for impressive (and terrifying) snorkelling - especially after listening to tales of shark sightings nearby. 

On our last day, we arrived at Phi Phi, where we had to stay one night before taking the ferry over to Koh Lanta. Nick brought us to Monkey Bay - a popular tourist beach which becomes a proper thoroughfare later in the day. We rocked up at about 9am before the other boats came in. 

I had made the mistake of not bringing my sunglasses to shore, and was genuinely blinded by the white sand, which was as fine as icing sugar between our toes. Robbie was feeling sun-weary and stuck to the shade, so I donned his over-sized Raybans to explore. It was such a treat to get to see this beach before the tourists arrived - I'd definitely recommend getting a longtail there in the early morning, if you are staying on another bit of Phi Phi ever. 

Half an hour later, Nick was back to pick us up and drive us round to the other side of the island where we would be sleeping that night. We said a fond farewell to our homely cabin and came into shore.

It was a little effort to get to this arrangement, Nick and C-Turtle aren't very internet friendly. Lucky you lot can get all the details straight from me so you're laughing. We discovered Nick through his agent Ulli, who also works for these guys: http://phuket-boatcharter.com. We started emailing him about wanting to 'spend a little time at sea, maybe as part of a group charter' which soon turned into more time at sea and a private charter with our lovely skipper Nick and our lovely chef Pa as our only company (apart from the fishes) - as you do. Email Ulli to talk more or ask me any questions you want. I'm not vulgar enough to put the price here but you should know it's a serious lot cheaper than doing the same thing in Europe and worth every penny.
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